"Alexandre, what's wrong?" I asked in a panic. He only growled in answer. I clutched the seat and one hand flew to my stomach protectively. Hey look at that, I was developing feelings for the little parasite. The car sped up. "Alexandre!" I screeched and he glanced at me. His expression softened for a moment, then he took in my hand and his face suddenly hardened into a mask of rage like I had never seen. I thought the car would flip when he spun off the road into the pawn shop parking lot abruptly. I squeaked and held onto the car frame. Alexandre was out of the car before it had fully stopped, his phone discarded on the seat behind him. I picked it up and unlocked it with his pass-code. It was the day he found me, we had shared them with each other. I looked at his recent messages.
The first was a picture of our ultrasound. I blinked. The second a message
Congratulations Dad
It read.
The next:
Hope nothing happens to your happy little family
There was a picture of his old car attached at the end. It seemed innocuous enough, but the threat was abundantly clear. A snarl ripped out of my throat and I tore my way from the car. Slamming my way into the pawn shop, I saw Alexandre holding a man in the air by his throat. His posture stiffened.
"Go back to the car Carys." He said calmly. The man's eyes bulged, but I eyed him coldly as I stepped forward.
"They threatened our baby." I growled, tensed, wanting to rip out some throats. Alexandre felt his coat pockets with his free hand and cursed softly, realizing he was missing his phone.
"I don't want you involved in this." Alexandre's voice held a note of pleading. The man he was holding was slowly going red in the face.
"He can't breathe." I pointed out nonchalantly, circling.
Alexandre glanced from me to the man and lowered him to the floor, still gripping his throat. The man gasped and his round face regained a less angry color.
"I swear I had nothing to do with it!" The man babbled quickly and Alexandre squeezed his throat. I recognized the voice as one from our first visit.
"Enough!" He hissed at the portly man. I kept circling, waiting for an opening. I wanted to rip him limb from limb. Alexandre eyed me warily.
"I can assure you sir, that the only thing standing between you and death right now is me." He said coldly and glanced at me again. "Unlike me, my mate here does not have control over her emotional responses yet. You've threatened her child, you see, and now I think she intends to kill you." The man began babbling again, his eyes rolling wildly. I noted the blood vessels had burst in his eyes.
"Hush. This is the third time someone from your organization has come after my family." He pulled the man close to his face. "And I will. not. have. it." He snarled. A noise from behind the counter grabbed my attention and I quickly ran the few steps to the counter, leaping over the glass case in front of me to stand atop it, looking down. A younger man looked up at me, startled, a shotgun in his hands. His brown eyes widened and he tilted the gun in my direction. I snapped. Growling, I dropped on top of him and ripped the weapon from his hands. I broke his wrists for good measure and tossed him over the counter. He whimpered and begged for mercy. I recognized his voice as the one Alexandre had threatened the first time he'd stopped in with me in the car. The portly man in Alexandre's hands eye's bulged again.
"What are you?" He asked the room in general with fear, and Alexandre moved up next to him.
"It doesn't matter, because you will not remember this. All you will remember is that we are extremely dangerous and terrifying, and have friends in high places that came here to threaten you today. Understand? You will delete any surveillance you have of this day." Alexandre's voice was a growl, but the command rang throughout the statement. The guy nodded, eyes glazed. "And if you don't call off your cronies, then I will come back here and kill you, and work my way through your organization and you will never see me coming, and never know what to expect. I will just be the last thing you see. If you dare to touch one hair on the the head of my wife, child, or anyone else I care for. I WILL find you. Do you understand?" Alexandre shook the man and he trembled, breaking out into a cold sweat. I didn't know what he was seeing, but it must have been impressive. When he turned his attention to the guy on the floor, the young guy flinched and tried to scoot away, holding his wrists awkwardly.
"I should have killed you the first time you insulted my wife." He sneered. I held out a hand.
"Let me have him." I quietly insisted.
"Carys, what do you intend to do?" Alexandre looked at me with worry.
"Baby's hungry." I said, running my finger tips across my stomach, and the corner of Alexandre's mouth lifted into a slight smile.
"Don't drain him, no matter how tempting." He threatened and I nodded. I didn't want a new convert, I just wanted to sink my teeth into this fool, and make it as painful and long lasting as I could. I did a careful double check to be sure he was a healthy donor and grinned when I found that, aside from being a particularly foul smelling and unwashed specimen, he was fine. I grinned, and he nervously tried to scoot back, holding his hands up to shield his face, wrists hanging limply.
"What are you going to do?!" He yelled, eyes rolling wildly, and I could smell the panic coming off of him in waves. It excited my vampire side.
"Sshh, just relax..." I replied and sent his mind an image of the scariest creature I could muster attacking him as I ripped at his throat and greedily lapped at the blood while he screamed. I was not gentle and made sure that the damage would leave scars. Alexandre left him the memory I had created, and made him believe that was who attacked him in the store. He felt it was fitting punishment for everyone to think he was crazy. I just shrugged and licked my fingers, rubbing my lower stomach lazily. Alexandre escorted me from the shop, the men laying on the pawnshop floor in a daze behind us.
"You said 'our baby'." Alexandre spoke suddenly as we were headed home.
"Huh?" I asked. I was feeling a little queasy and wondering if my recent feeding session was going to set off my nausea again.
"You called it 'our baby'." Alexandre repeated with a grin. "You usually just refer to it as an 'it'. He pulled into the drive. I was silent for a moment, uncomfortable.
"I'm still not convinced it won't grown horns and a tail later, but seeing it on the screen today made me feel a little better." I said with a shrug. Alexandre burst out laughing.
"Carys, that's what you've been worried about?" He parked and brought my fingers to his lips for a kiss.
"Well..." I hedged "Listen, I know they used to make up stories about succubi and incubi and vampire babies and demon babies and whatever to explain birth defects and the like, but up until a little over a year ago, I never even thought vampires were actually real ok, and now look!" I exclaimed, gesturing at us. "And then I thought, well, the virus fundamentally alters our biology, right? It's like having rabies, or AIDS, but more. It gets right into our code and changes what we are. So what mutations, what changes, is it making to this baby? What is it going to be Alexandre? Is it going to be a human child? How? Or will it be a vampire and how will that even work? I'm still scared Alexandre, very, but maybe I can feel a little better now that I know it's not terribly deformed. Yet." I sighed, and Alexandre did too.
"Carys, you're forgetting one thing this virus does." He said patiently. I looked at him blankly. "It makes us better versions of humanity, it makes us healthier, stronger, it gives us long life, it heals us when there's something wrong... Our baby's going to be perfect." He leaned over and placed a hand on the small bump and kissed me on the cheek.
"I think we have one other problem though." I told him quietly.
"What's that?" He asked with a small smile.
"Someone in your doctor's office shared our ultrasound. Someone can't be trusted." I murmured.
"I know." He sighed and clenched his teeth.