From The Grey House:
The smell of the place hit him like a brick the second the door started to open. Vincent turned his head slightly, thankful he didn’t have to breathe. The smell was hard down here: this was a place of death and decay. He saw the crossbow point before he saw Mierka. Vincent smiled at her once the door was fully opened. The petite blond looked at his face carefully before moving the crossbow. He leaned in and kissed her cheek.
From The Grey House:
She sighed. “I don’t know who else. It was after I found out how crazy this world really was. I freed a werewolf when I was trapped in a Slayers house. The werewolf was human and in a cage. He asked for my help. I freed him, and he turned Blitzkreig and killed the Slayer. I used alcohol to bury the memory. Woke up one day with a vampire bite on my wrist. I knew then that I had to change my ways or lose myself completely.”
He gazed at her, intrigued. He did not know this story. “One day, you will tell me all your stories.”
From The Grey House:
Charlie stood and continued his search of the house. The kitchen was the only other room with anything out of place. Whoever took her came while she was eating breakfast. There was a bowl of congealed cereal sitting on the kitchen table. A hard piece of half eaten toast was next to it, along with a glass of orange juice. A breeze came through the open window and ruffled the paper napkin being held down by the butter stained knife.
Charlie stood clenching his fists, regulating his breathing. There was no use for his wolf form now. Calmed, he took out his cell and called Rebecca.
From The Grey House:
Vincent closed the door tightly behind him and continued to the main staircase. A very wealthy San Franciscan built the house in the late 1800’s. Vincent acquired it in the early 1900’s and made repairs and renovations to most of the house and restored the grand marble staircase. He enjoyed walking down a large sweeping marble staircase. It made for a grand entrance. Reaching ground level, he turned right walked a few steps and turned right again, walking beside then under the staircase.
From The Grey House:
He arrived back at the house close to sunrise. Rebecca was waiting for him in their room.
“What happened?” She sounded like his alpha.
“She’s been kidnapped. He thinks a Slayer has her.”
“Is he going to look for her?”
“Justin is, yes.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re home.” She sounded relieved.
“Vincent knew everything before I told him. Knows more than I do. Made me tell him anyway.” He sounded defeated. She watched him undress, admiring his sleek toned form from the bed.
“I told him I gave you permission.” No hint of regret.
He sagged. “Are you in trouble?”
“I spoke to him as soon as you left, so no.”
He slipped into bed with her, spooning with her. “If I got you in trouble, I’ll never forgive myself.”
She giggled. “I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”
From The Grey House:
Miguel and Dean moved to let her pass. She went slowly but steadily to the hall leading to the bathroom, trying very hard not to look around. She stepped into a thankfully empty, thankfully clean bathroom. She sat on the toilet, taking care of business, trying to think of a way to leave a message. It wasn’t until she was reaching for the toilet paper that it hit her.
She finished up, then washed her hands, observing the mirror the whole time. She usually had lipstick and blush with her, but all her make-up was in her house. Dean gave her some lip balm some time ago, to help her chapped lips. It was clear, but it might still work. She slipped her lip balm out of her pocket and regarded the green see-through plastic stick. It was half used. Hoping it was enough; she uncapped it and started writing. She had just finished the word bomb when the door opened.
From The Grey House:
“That only proves how far she’s willing to go to deceive you. You need to forget about her. She’ll end up killing you.”
“Interesting. The Slayer said that about me to her. I wonder which version will prove correct.” Vincent was still pacing, letting the banter continue, only half listening. He was concentrating more on the problem at hand. How to find the humans? He turned to his Alpha wolf. “Rebecca. I need you to go to the address Natalia gave us. Go now. Take a homing device with you. Find a way to plant it on her before she’s picked up. When you have a secure location, I’ll have two more wolves come out to meet you. I’m hoping she won’t be picked up until morning, but you never know.”
Rebecca nodded, going back upstairs to retrieve a transmitter from the security office. She left quickly, hoping to get to the safe house before Natalia did to scope out the location. Anthony gave the werewolf a hard look as she left, once again stating his opinion by his look and body language.
From The Grey House:
Rebecca paused, a small bottle of peroxide in one hand, cotton balls in the other. Her mission had been to gather information, not give it. She knew that the easiest way to get a person to talk was to talk back. If she stuck to Vincent’s rule of never elaborating, she could probably answer quite a few questions without divulging too much information. She soaked the cotton balls.
“Deal.” She examined the claw marks. “I did some damage, but it looks like the whip marks are worse. I’ve got to disinfect your wounds. Brace yourself.” She watched as Natalia took a few deep breaths, then used the cotton ball to clean the wounds. “Why did you come here with the Slayers?”
As I will most probably be busy with other things tomorrow, I am posting tomorrow’s post today. It’s a Christmas story for all ages. Regardless of what you celebrate, I hope tomorrow is a fun one!
A Snowflake for Mia
Mom was driving Mia to school one day. They were alone in the van. It was close to Christmas, and Mia had doubts that Santa was real. Her older brother and sister didn’t say too much about it, but Mia was starting to wonder. Mom hoped Mia would hold on to the belief for one more year. It had been a tough one. Dad lost his job and mom was having a hard time getting a full time job. They were making things work, but Mia always seemed to take things to heart.
At a stoplight, Mom turned to Mia. “So did you write a letter to Santa this year?”
Mia shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I can mail it for you.”
Mia turned to look her mother in the eyes. “If I wrote one, you have to promise not to read it. It’s for Santa only.”
Mom smiled, but frowned at the same time. “Of course, Mia. It’s private. I know that.”
Mia sighed as Mom turned back to the road. Mia dug out the letter from her backpack, but held onto it until they were stopped in front of the school. She turned to her mom and let her take the plain white envelope. It was sealed and addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole. She had even put her name and address in the top left corner and a stamp in the right top corner. Mom looked to Mia as she unbuckled her seat belt.
“Don’t tell Maddy and Jordan that I wrote to Santa.”
“I won’t, sweetie.”
Mia gave her mom a quick hug and hurried out of the van. Mom watched Mia join her friends in the schoolyard and left. Mom placed the letter in her laptop bag and headed off to work. She was glad that Mia still believed in Santa, but unfortunately, Mia had been acting up in school and at home. She might be on the naughty list this year. Mom knew though, that sometimes children on the naughty list were still given gifts. No one deserved a bad Christmas.
She arrived at work, but with too many things on her mind, didn’t notice that the letter was sticking too far out of her bag. She picked everything up, closed the car door and headed inside. The wind picked up before she reached the door and pulled the letter out of her bag. It carried the letter high up into the clouds, where it joined many other letters addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole.
The letters to Santa were taken away, far, far, away, to a mailbox outside a cozy cottage at the North Pole. They settled into the box, which was soon opened by an elf. He was an old elf, and had helped Santa with the mail for generations. He hoped to be helping for a long time to come.
A happy smile on his face, he carried the latest letters to Santa and placed them on the grand wooden desk. In the fireplace, the fire crackled and sent warmth throughout the room. It lit the room up as well, but there was a candle on the desk, for more light. The elf nodded to Santa and went on his way. There were more letters, always more letters.
Santa looked down at the pile of letters in front of him. He sifted through them, separating them into ‘naughty’ and ‘nice’ by name. He knew the very bad ones, and he knew the very good ones. He knew the ones that were trying to be good, but were having problems due to reasons they couldn’t help. It wasn’t easy being good, and Santa understood that.
When he found Mia’s letter, he paused. She had been trying so hard to be good, but things were tough. He sighed but smiled. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and opened her letter with a silver letter opener. It had a candy cane handle. The envelope parted easily and he carefully took out the letter. He read it twice. He read it a third time as he composed a response in his head. He didn’t always respond, but this one, this one needed a response.
My Dearest Mia,
Life is not always easy, even for children. I know that you have been trying to be good this year, and I know what has made it so hard. You are an amazing young girl. Thank you for asking for your family to be ok. Thank you for thinking of others before yourself. I know that you will always be a wonderful person.
Because of your generosity, I am sending you a special snowflake. It is from the North Pole and will never melt. It will shine brightly like a star, but only if you truly believe. Be good, Mia and always keep love in your heart.
Santa Claus
Once the letter was written, he placed it in an envelope and sealed it. He addressed it to Mia and placed it to the side. He called for his elves. Three came to help. Santa and his elves went to the factory and found the perfect round glass ornament. Then they dressed warmly and took the ornament outside. One of the elves took off the silver cap and handed the round ornament to Santa Claus. Santa Claus, love in his heart, looked up at the clear skies and spoke out loud.
“Now, I know it’s not supposed to snow tonight, but Mia needs a little magic in her life, right now. All I need is one snowflake.”
From the dark skies a star blinked. It continued to blink and seemed to fall at the same time. It did not grow as it came closer, but stayed small and bright. Santa caught it in the ornament, took the cap from the elf and closed it. The four went back inside, placed a bow on the cap and found a good box for the gift. They packaged it up, and one of the elves ran for the letter.
Letter and box in hand, Santa took the gift outside again and raised his hands. He whispered Mia’s name and address and the wind picked up. The gift left his hands as he laughed.
“Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas Mia!”
As his laughter echoed in the cold North Pole, the wind took the gift to its new home.
Many, many miles away, in another cold place called the Midwest, the gift landed on Mia’s front door. The wind, urged on by Christmas magic, rang the doorbell.
Inside the house, little feet ran to the door. Mia, expecting a friend, opened the door and looked around. No one was there, but there was a box on the step. It had her name on it. She frowned and picked it up. The return address said Santa.
“Mom! Come look!”
Mom came into the hallway as Mia was closing the door. She saw the package in Mia’s hands and frowned. “What is it?”
Mia looked to her mom in happy confusion. “It’s from Santa. Can I open it?”
Mom came to look at the package. It did in fact say Santa Claus North Pole. She felt guilty though, as she never mailed the letter. She was sure she had lost it. “Sure. Honey. You can open it. Let’s go into the living room.”
Mom wasn’t sure if it was from Santa, but she didn’t want to break Mia’s happiness. They went into the living room and Mia settled on the floor in front of the coffee table. She carefully opened the envelope, read the letter and gasped. She then quickly opened the packaged and gasped again as she saw the glowing snowflake in the glass ornament. It shimmered in the glass as if alive. She took it out of the box. It wasn’t warm, but it was as bright as a star, and it wasn’t melting.
“Mom?” She looked at her mom. “Is this really from Santa?”
Mom looked to the glass ornament in awe. Like the letter said, she couldn’t see the light, but it was still a snowflake in an ornament and it was not melting. “Of course, honey. Who else could it be from?”
Mia smiled at the ornament as love filled her heart for Santa, and for her family. She placed the ornament on the tree and knew she would try and be a better person. Like the letter said, it was hard being a kid, but she would do what she could to help her family.
From the Christmas tree, the snowflake gave off more light, as if it agreed with her thoughts. It made her smile again as she turned to give her mom a great big hug.
“Merry Christmas, Mommy.”
“Merry Christmas, Mia.”
From The Grey House:
His friend called an hour later with the news. Markus was still human, but Edwin had been trying to seduce him to his side. Markus, happy with his current boss, kept denying the vampire. Joseph, wanting to keep the human safe, had placed him on Vincent’s private jet. Markus was being sent to New York. It was safer for him there. Vincent’s sire, Lorraine, ran the city and was always happy to shelter Vincent’s friends, especially of the male variety. Although Vincent was glad Markus was safe, he was rather perturbed. He was losing two of his most loyal humans on the same night. It left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
Cat Stark 