The Immortal 5 The Beginning: Rena's Story

Rena's past returns

She was standing at the water’s edge leaning on the railing waiting for him. She never saw the other man who was watching her. Somewhere in the distance the clock struck midnight. Anton was late. She figured he'd run and it turned out he had. He didn't want to die, none of their kind ever wanted to die. She heard someone approaching. Turning her head slightly she saw that it was the police doing their rounds. They nodded their heads as they went past. Rena pushed off the railing with rising anger. She took one more look at the river and turned to return to her hotel. As she walked the man who was watching her followed as she made her way back to the hotel. Rena finally registered that someone was following her she stopped and looked around, figuring it was a drunk looking for some money. Seeing no one she continued walking. But she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following her. Maybe it’s my imagination playing with me. She thought. Little did Rena know that the thing that was following her was a vampire and an old friend. And that he had been following her since he found out she had arrived in New Orleans. He was learning everything he could about her.

Rena stopped outside her hotel and looked around again. And this time she saw him. He was standing just outside the circle of light cast by the street post. She couldn't make out anything about him. She took one last look around and when her gaze fell to where he was standing he was gone. Rena looked around but couldn't see him walking anywhere. She just shook it off and went inside.

As she walked through the lobby she waved to the night clerk, who was used to seeing people come in at all hours. She reached the elevator and punched the up button while waited she thought back to that man she saw. Something about him was familiar to her. Just as that thought slide into her mind the doors opened and she stepped in. She pushed the button to get to her floor. As the elevator rose she thought about how good a shower would feel. The doors slide open on her floor and she moved down the hall to her door. As she went in she began to undress. As she disrobed she thought again of the man across the street. Why was he standing there watching her? All she could remember was he was tall and well built. She went to remove her bra when she saw him sitting in her room in the dark. She dove over the bed and went reaching for her dagger that was under her pillow.

"I mean you no harm. I just want to talk to you Rena." As he spoke she was up and off the bed standing with her legs parted ready for a fight.

Rena stared at him with her dagger in a defensive position. He began to rise. When he moved she placed the dagger higher to protect herself. He smiled and shook his head.

"You always did have a quick temper. I remember when I first met you. You were nothing more than a scrapper who was just skin and bones."

"How in the hell do you know me?" she asked in outrage.

"I have known you most of your unnatural life. As most people mispronounce your name as Rena I, however, know you as Renalynn. It’s the name I gave you when

you had none. Do you now know me, my love?"

“That’s bullshit and you know it, my mother gave me that name.” she watched as he nodded in agreement.

“But since you told me that I have always called you that I do not like the shorter version you seemed to like.”

Rena’s jaw sagged to the top of her chest. No one has ever mentioned that name since her mother died. But this couldn't be him, she saw him die. Watched as the stake was placed in his chest and then she ran fearing for her own life. She saw how he watched her reaction to his news. She was recovering her wits quickly and getting even angrier.

“Calm down little one, I know you are getting angry but please I have had enough for one night."

"Do not call me that, you have no right to. If you know who I am then tell me something."

"Anything, my love."

"Where on my body do I keep my dagger?"

He had the balls to laugh at this.

"You keep it here" he moved and placed his hand at the small of her back. "at the small of your back where your jacket hides it."

The feel of his hand on her back was making her thoughts scramble. He felt like Adrian and even smelled like him too. She had to move but she couldn't.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

As he begun to speak she saw them. His white as pearl fangs. She could see the light reflecting softly off them.

"You know who I am. I am the one who knows your every thought. I know everything about you even the way your heart beats how it is speeding up right now. How you fear the way I make you feel. I have always made you feel this way. Even as I tasted your blood for the first time you felt this way."

“You think you know me but you don’t.”

She pushed away from him. Bending to pick up the dagger from where it dropped from her fingers when he touched her.

"You’re supposed to be dead. I saw them put the stake in your chest. Why are you here?"

Her words came out as a harsh whisper towards the end. He didn't answer right away. He looked a little uneasy. He looked down for a moment but when he looked up into her eyes she saw something that was close to regret.

"We had to make it look like I was being killed so you would leave our coven. It was for your protection. My love for you was getting in the way of my judgment. I couldn't think straight. I had to let you go. Xander told me that my death was the only way to get you to leave. Total fear and grief was what had to drive you away. I never meant to hurt you but I had to do what I had to do to keep you safe. It was to save your life."

Rena couldn't believe what was being said to her. They betrayed her. Took her love and destroyed it. The anger she felt was just as fierce as it was when she first felt it. Adrian never saw what was coming because her first move came from behind him. The chair was the first object she could think of so it had to be the one he had just vacated. It rose from its place with the anger she felt inside and when she let go it slammed into his back. The force of the blow from the chair slamming into his back had him falling to his knees gasping for air. Rena was never able to finish her on-slaunt because just as Adrian hit the floor Omri came busting into her room. He saw Adrian on his hands and knees breathing heavily. He was looking at Rena as if he had never seen her before. The look on her face and the black void in her eyes made his blood run cold. The man on the floor was slowly getting up as Rena spoke.

"How could you, Adrian? You left me alone and afraid that I was next. For two hundred years I lived in fear that I would be found and then killed just like you. But you want to know what gave me the strength to go on without fear. In my fear I found my power it gave me the strength to move on without you in my life. And what I just gave you is nothing compared to what I can really do."

She looked around the room for something else to throw at him just to release some of the anger. But as she looked around the room her gaze fell to the floor she noticed the light and looked up she finally saw Omri. The haze of blinding rage all but disappeared in an instant leaving her cold and weak. Her gaze drifted back to Adrian who was now standing and seemed to be alright but looks can be deceiving.

"Rena, you okay? I heard the noise and I came." his gaze moved from her to the man staring at her.

"Omri this is Adrian my old friend who I thought was dead until this night. Adrian this is Omri my brother. I’m ok, Omri go back to your room. I’ll see you in the morning."

She indicated to Adrian she began to move across the room to Omri’s side. as she spoke the last words, the look he gave her said that he didn’t believe her so he let her usher him out the door. As the door closed behind him she was beginning to feel the force of Adrian’s rage. There was a subtle vibrating of the air in the room, and it was in the way he stood. She knew that he was angry but that was nothing compared to the thunderous look upon his face. She knew she pushed her luck with the chair.

"That was the wrong way to handle this situation. I never thought you could come into such power, but now I have to see what it has come to. But first I have to do this."

He moved faster then she remembered, she was pinned against the wall and his hard chest. She watched as his head bent to take her mouth and as his mouth touched hers she brought knee up to connect with the most sensitive part of his body. But he seemed to know what she was going to do. And he kissed her but when his tongue entered her mouth she bit down until she tasted the slight metallic essence of his blood. Adrian pushed away from her and the wall; he watched as her spite his blood from her mouth. Watched as she wiped the blood and spite from her lips, she spoke as she did this.

"Never again Adrian. I am not the same girl I used to be. I am not weak or defenseless. I am not going to be under your power ever again."

"You will always be mine Renalynn. Never forget that. You are mine forever.

You are bound to me for eternity."

She knew what he meant, but she didn't show that she did. He moved towards the door. With a final look at her that said he was staking his claim one more time. She knew she would see him again. When the door closed she slumped against the wall feeling empty, she always did after using her power like that. But she had to fight to keep her sanity. She had to fight what she knew was a losing battle. Rena slid out of her clothes and walked over to the bed. Sleep would be a good reprieve from tonight’s events. She crawled between the sheets and sighed. The last thought that entered her brain before she slept was how much she was going to regret having seen Adrian again. As she slept she dreamed of a time that she thought she forgot.

She was out for her nightly walk when she heard the sound of angry voices in the distance, she couldn’t make out what they were saying but she could tell that it wasn’t going to be a good night for some one. As she drew closer she saw that Adrian and Xander were surrounded by the coven. She still couldn’t make out what they were saying. She crept closer, as she did so she saw that the crowd surged in on them. She watched as one of the coven members raised a stake and drove it into Adrian’s chest. She heard him scream in pain and collapse in a heap onto the ground. She screamed but nothing came out. She nothing after that because she had already turned and begun to run as fast as she could fear that she was next. The life she knew was now over. She didn’t know what she was going to do. The only thing that was running through her head was to get away, far away.

She was out of breath. That was the only reason she stopped. Hoping that she was far enough away from the coven that they wouldn’t come after her. She stopped in front of a tree. As she leaned her body against the trunk. She tried to clear the image of Adrian being killed from her head. It was too painful to think about. She had to go on she needed to move on, but she didn’t know if she could make it on her own after living life with the coven. It was a life that was now ingrained into her existence. Nothing would be the same. As she thought this her hand went to her chest where the mark of her soul mate was. The mark Adrian had made on their wedding day. It would be her reminder that life could and would change no matter how happy or secure she thought she was. The one thing she knew that she would never allow to happen again was to let herself care for some one. She was never going top let anyone that close to her again. This was a vow that she intended to keep and nothing or nobody was going to make her break.

She pushed of the tree. Still breathing hard she made her way to the city. To get lost in the crowds. She moved through the crowd and as she did so she began to notice that when she bumped into people that they never really paid her much attention. She started reaching of the gold pouches that were on their waists. When she couldn’t carry anymore she moved to an alley way to count the money that she had taken to save her life. she came out with more than enough money to get out of the city that claimed her life. Enough money to go across the ocean and begin again. Not to her homeland but maybe England. She looked up and to the river this was a major decision for her she wished that she had someone to talk it over with. It was then and only then did she finally break down and cry. She felt the loss so deep she couldn’t bear it anymore. She cried till she couldn’t cry no more. Then she picked herself up and with her the money. She knew what she had to do. It meant leaving here and starting anew, but to save her life she needed to do this. She moved to the docks as the sun began to rise. She looked over her shoulder to see if they had come for her but she saw no one. Not even her friend Xander, maybe they had killed him to. All she knew was survival at this time. To keep herself alive.

She woke with a start. She was sweating and crying. She knew that the reappearance of Adrian meant trouble. She settled back and waited for sleep to claim her again. But it didn’t come for a while. It was a restless night for Rena. But when the sun rose the next morning she had finally fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

When Rena came down the next morning she saw Omri at the counter. He was checking out for the both of them. When the clerk moved away to finish the check, he looked over to the stairs and saw her. He knew that she wasn't ready to talk but, there was something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. He saw that look last night that fighting look. Someone had to have put it there. He had never, since knowing her, seen that look in her eyes like he saw last night.

"Omri, I have some place to visit before we leave. I would like you to come with me." she said as she reached him.

They came to a stop in front of an old run down French colonial two story plantation house. It was falling apart; it wasn’t the grand house that she remembered it once being. Visions of how it used to be swept through her. Rena opened her car door and climbed out slowly. Omri was walking around the car to be at her side as she closed the door. He was watching her as she looked over the house. When she looked at him her eyes were filled with haunted shadows. She was assailed with memories as she looked at the house, she looked over at Omri again, smiling she held out her hand he took her hand and she led him into the courtyard. Omri could feel the pain and joy coming from it was all around the house. It seemed to surround the area, but he could feel Rena’s pain more than anything.

"I was brought to this house when I was, oh, five hundred or so. It was a grand house back in its day. The paint was pristine white with blue shudders. In the windows were think dark blue curtains. Adrian brought me here when I was lost and at the time he seemed so nice. I never really noticed that he only went out at night. Because I was never allowed inside. It was when I was coming back to the house from a long walk that I saw him taking a life. She was some common w***e from the quarter I guess. He held in what seemed like a lovers' embrace but when he raised his head and I saw her blood on his teeth and dripping down his mouth it finally struck me that he was a vampire. He seemed to sense me so when he looked up and saw me he let go of the woman’s body. Her body slid to the ground lifeless and not moving and then when she hit this spot right here I took off running." she pointed to the ground next to her and she shivered and wrapped her arms around her stomach "I ran like I never ran before. I was really scared. He knew I was scared and he used it against me. He taunted me, vampires did that. He said things to me that made my skin crawl. I was to be his next meal he said. That he never cared about me. I was still running when I ran into a vampire hunting party.” she pointed around the corner where a patch of wood stood.

“They mistook me for a vampire and put a stake in my heart.” she placed a hand over heart “They didn't realize until it was too late, the mistake they made I was dying and Adrian watched with a sick sense of joy." Rena moved to the porch as she spoke. Placing the hand that was on her heart on the pilling rail of the front steps that lead up to the porch. "They left me to die and I did, it was painful. But when I woke I was here on the porch. I was lying right here on the steps my head was here. He was sitting there" she pointed to an old swing that was hanging on its last legs "watching me as I woke. He said nothing until I moved to run again. It wasn't what he said but how he said it. The tone in his voice was unlike I had ever heard before. In his voice I heard the disbelief that I was alive. It all began that night the first time he had ever seen me die. I scared him he said. He had never in his life seen what he had just seen. He said he wouldn't touch me and he never did."

She stopped at the door of the ancient house. Torn between wanting to go in and wanting to turn and get back in the car. Omri walked up to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. When she looked over her shoulder she smiled a sad smile. And with that she went in.

"I never set foot inside this house before that night. I stayed over there in that hut" she pointed to a small building over to the left side of the house that was visible through the window "Adrian told me that night that since I died and lived again I could come inside and meet his people. They never really knew what to think of me. His coven was quite large for an area like this area was back then. They were nice and all but I could see in their eyes that they didn't want me here. Over the next couple of days Adrian treated me like a doll until I went off on him. I took up my dagger and went after him. He was shocked they all were. He never thought I would actually take up arms against him and then the whole house was in an uproar. We fought neither backing down until Xander intervened.” she walked further into the house as she spoke.

“Xander was the covens’ leader. After that fight Xander set to training me but he was amazed at what I already knew. He showed me what made a vampire tick and he showed me how to bring one down if the need be. He made sure when I was to fight again I could do some serious damage. But Adrian still watched me. I blew up in his face again about it. I didn't know what to think at the time. I was scared of what was happening in my life."

They had moved into the living room as she spoke. Omri watched the feelings cross her face. She stopped in front of a doorway and turned to face him.

"It was here that we argued about his staring problem. Everyone was out when it happened, and it was a heated argument. I mean the anger that was vibrating in this room was felt by everyone when they had returned. Xander had enough of our fighting. So he sat us down and told us exactly what we where hiding from. He told us that we fought because we loved each other. I laughed at the thought that two immortals where in love with each other. He said it started early for us both. That he was sick of us hiding from that fact. Then he locked us in that room behind you and told us to fight it out or kill each other trying to get out. We didn't speak the entire time we were locked in there. Finally Xander let us out only when he thought that we had made up. But, boy was he wrong. Adrian became a grouch when I was mentioned. I never spoke to him. We were still hiding from the fact that we were meant for each other." She looked down for a moment before she began again.

"Xander and the others made us talk to one another. He and the others formed a circle here.” pointing to where two old chairs stood “preventing us from leaving. We talked and fought. Everyone heard what we had to say to each other. We fought until he said those four words I love you Renalynn, it was the name that only he called me. It shut me up very quickly. You could hear a pin drop for the silence was so loud. I never knew what it was like to be loved until that moment. Then I fainted. I awoke with Adrian bending over me. Soon after that we were married two months later. We where happy together or so I thought. Then not even five years later the second most gut wrenching experience I had ever had happened in my life. I was out walking," she paused to take a deep breath "there was a path that I followed everyday while Adrian slept. It was dark by the time I returned I always stayed out till then,” she moved to the back door as she spoke “I saw the coven standing around Xander and Adrian. Then I saw it, the stake driven into my beloved Adrian. I never saw Adrian die; I just assumed he was dead. I ran, I don't know how long I ran for. I was so scared that I was next. For over two hundred years, I lived in fear they were still coming for me. To start my life over I took a ship across the seas and ended up in Japan. Then one not so very special day I found my power. I have never been afraid since. Not till Adrian showed up again last night."

Omri didn't know what to say Rena never spoke about herself or her past before at least not like this.

"I know he hurt you Rena. But he can't hurt you anymore. You’re a different person a stronger person. You are your own woman. Adrian can never take that away. Come; let me take you away from this place. Too many bad memories here for you. Let’s go home.'

Rena nodded her head in agreement. She took Omri's outstretched hand. And allowed him to lead her out and away from the house. They never saw Adrian who was standing in the shadows of the house. Nor had they saw the look that crossed his face from what he had just heard come from her lips about him and his coven. He had to follow her. He watched as she started to climb into the car and turn to give the house they shared one final look as if to finally say goodbye.