The Immortal 5 The Beginning: Rena's Story

Adrian's disappearance

All three girls nodded their heads saying that it was a good idea. Rena climbed out from under her blankets. She crawled to the end of her bed and looked up to see the girls covering their mouths to stifle their giggles. She just glared at them. She sat down and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Omri and she got off the bed at the same time. Rena was the first to move to the door. She linked her arms with her sisters and walked out of the room only looking back to see if Omri was following them which he was. They made their way down the stairs. When the entered the hallway they heard Riley talking on the phone but they couldn’t make out what he was saying. They entered the kitchen as he hung the phone up.

He turned as he heard them enter. He didn’t look very happy.

“Rena, I don’t think you’re going to like what I am about to say to you. But I guess I have to tell you now before Xander gets here tonight.”

Rena looked confused and concerned. She didn’t like the way Riley was looking at her.

“Honey, Adrian never made it home last night. Xander is getting worried because Adrian never stays out past dawn. He doesn’t know what is going on, he can’t sense Adrian anywhere. It’s like he dropped off the face of the earth.”

Riley watched as the blood drained from Rena’s face. She looked at everyone in the room.

“The last time I saw him was when he put me in my bed. Where could he have gone?”

No one had an answer to that question. But kali spoke first.

“I remember that he left with Xander. They left around twelve thirty complaining that we didn’t have anything substantial for them to eat. I guess they went out to feed before going home.”

Rena did not know what to think. Her mind was swirling with thoughts. It wasn’t until someone had knocked on the back down that she came out of her own form of chaos. She watched Riley open the door with what seemed like a detached point of view. She watched him sign for something. It wasn’t until he closed the door and turned did she see the envelope in his hand.

“Do you want me to read it to you?”

Rena nodded her head because she couldn’t bring herself to read another life changing letter. She didn’t feel that it was in her best interest to read it quietly. She watched him use his finger to slide the opening off of the backside of the envelope.

“Rena my love,

I couldn’t tell you last night what I needed to. Xander may have called you by now. But I had to leave you. I do not know when I’ll be back. Do not worry I am not returning to the darkness. I needed to go because if I had stayed I think would have killed you. We have been apart for too long. I need to find out who I really am before we ever think about getting back together. I will return to you.

Forever yours,

Adrian”

Rena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It didn’t sound like Adrian. It was to polished. Adrian would have never in all the time she has known him speak like that. She reached over the table and snatched the letter from Riley’s fingers. She sat down in her chair and began to read it herself.

“This doesn’t sound at all like him. He would never say those things to me. This is way too polished for Adrian. The thing is, that if this was from Adrian, it would have started out with Renalynn not Rena. And this isn’t even his handwriting. damn, Anton must have him.”

She crumbled the note in her hand she was getting angry at the whole situation. And with her anger the room started vibrating.

“Rena, if he does indeed have Adrian what are we going to do?”

Rena smiled and went to get her purse. When she returned to the kitchen. She had her address book in her hand. She sat it down and opened it. They watched as she flipped to the page she wanted. She picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Keith, its Rena. Can you and Marcus come to my house right away?”

She listened for a minute, before she spoke again.

“Okay I’ll see you in an hour.’

With that she hung up the phone and turned to her family who was waiting for her to explain. She chose her next words carefully.

“I have to go after Anton and this time I have to kill him. He won’t make this easy for me. Keith and Marcus are two people who hate Anton as much as me maybe even more so. They have been helping me locate him for years, they couldn’t find him. They have a lot of information on him so that’s why they are coming here. They are going to help me, wait they are going to help us find Anton and bring him down once and for all.”

Kali looked a little scared.

“Rena, isn’t he that guy that had Omri kid knapped?”

Rena nodded her head. Every one stared at her. Omri was the first to break the silence.

“Rena, are you sure this is what you need to do?”

Rena looked at him for a minute.

“You all saw the letter last night. The writing is the same. Besides, Adrian never calls me his love or Rena that is how I know that Anton wrote that second letter and that is why I have to do this.”

Omri went to the counter and picked up the letter form last night. He reread that one and went and picked up the one Rena had crumpled. He smoothed it out and brought it back to the other one. He laid them side by side. He saw the similarities immediately. His head shot up and he looked over to Rena.

“Omri, I won’t do this alone in this I need my whole family behind me.”

No one noticed that during this whole discussion that Breanna had gone still. It was only until she spoke that they noticed.

“Rena, there will be a great fight. Many shall die, but none of our family will

parish. You will fight Anton. It will be an explosive battle between the two of you. Things and people will fly through the air. You will be hurt and he will think he has the upper hand. You will be victorious.”

With a shake Breanna came out of her daze. She could remember everything. And she didn’t want to remember anything at all. It was a gruesome premonition. Rena walked over to her and hugged her. She ran her hands up and down Breanna’s spine. Rena murmured that everything was going to be alright.

“Did Xander say if he was going to be coming over?”

Riley nodded his head.

“He’ll be here at dusk.”

Rena let go of Breanna to turn to her family. She took in everything about them.

“We have to plan. When Keith and Marcus get here you will understand why I need to do this.”

Rena went to the refrigerator and began to get the things for breakfast out.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. No one spoke. The sound of the doorbell chiming throughout the house was deafening. Riley went to answer it. They heard him talking to whoever was at the door. A moment later he came in to the kitchen with Keith and Marcus.

“Rena, good morning.”

They nodded to everyone else in the room. Rena stood and was addressed by Marcus.

“Can we talk somewhere that is more private?”

Rena looked over her shoulder to her family.

“Whatever is said, can be said in front of my family. Don’t worry they know everything. They can be trusted.”

Marcus looked over at Keith. And Keith nodded for him to go ahead.

“We have everything that we could get our hands on. It might not be enough for us to go ahead with. But we thought it might help. This is what we had, and we got a little more since we last talked.”

Keith pulled a folder, a really thick folder, from his briefcase. He handed it to Rena. She took the folder and returned to her seat. She braced herself for what she was about to see. It was a little unnerving. She opened the folder. And what she found wasn’t what she expected. There were sheets of profiles of everyone she knew. First thing that stood out the most to her was a picture of her and Omri when they were in New Orleans. They were in front of the old Victorian home. Then she found another picture of Rena and Omri outside her house yesterday. It seemed a little surreal. Like it never really happened.

She looked up at Keith and he nodded. She moved he pictures aside and began to look through the pages and pages of profiles. Some had dates of when she first met them. Then there were other dates. Dates that her friends were killed and then buried. There were notes of how they were to be killed and when it was to happen. Rena could not believe her eyes he went through and killed everyone she ever loved. There were seven pages at the back of the folder and the names on those pages were that of her friends and

family. She felt her eyes fill with tears. She saw the maps and other pages but she couldn’t bring herself to put the pages she held down.

She looked up to see the concern on her family’s faces.

“Why is he doing this to me? I have never net him before he killed Justine. Why in in the name of all the gods is he killing off everyone that I knew and loved. He knows almost everything about me. It’s like he’s had someone watching me every day of my life. Ever since I went back to Italy.”

The looks of matched shock cross every one of her family. It was strange that he knew almost everything about her. She turned to look at Keith and Marcus. Whom she knew had nothing to do with this. She knew this because they owed her their lives.

“This is sick. I cannot believe all of this. Why is this happening?”

Breanna asked the question that nobody wanted to voice.

“Rena, do you think because you are older than him that he may be doing this because he wants to be the one who is the leader of all our kind? That he wants to be the only elder in the world?”

Rena hadn’t thought about that. It could be true. But why, she wasn’t the only elder in the world. Why would he target her. She couldn’t come to an answer.

“May be but I don’t see how I am not the only elder left in this world there are many older then I am. So why come after me?”

Kali looked at Omri who looked at Riley. They were getting even more concerned.

“Anton’s English right?”

Rena nodded not seeing where he was going with this she let him continue.

“Weren’t we in England around 1791?”

She nodded again this time a frown creasing her forehead.

“Weren’t you around twelve hundred at the time?”

She nodded again.

“Riley what are you getting at; you are not making any sense.”

She watched as he sat down across the table from her. She watched as he pulled the folder towards him. And she watched as he went through the folder like a mad man. He didn’t stop until he found the one page he had been looking for. He handed the page to Rena.

“Oh my god. This is Anton’s’ profile. He was twenty seven when we were in England. But how does this give me any idea why he is doing this. Wait, he could have met us at any time or place while we were there. But why on god’s green earth did I do to make him want to know every little detail in my life? I mean, I think I would remember what I did.”

She couldn’t figure it out. Anton is an older man she couldn’t remember what he would look like then because years have changed his appearance. But he was so much younger than her. He was at least twelve hundred years younger than her. But why take Adrian he had nothing to do with this fight at all. Anton must have known that she really did care for him. But she wasn’t about to admit that to anyone. She wasn’t ready to admit it to herself.

“Rena, you seemed to have left us a minute. What are you thinking about?”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell them but she had a feeling that Omri already knew what she had been thinking about.

“I want this day to be over. I want to be free of a man who apparently wants me dead. I want a life where I don’t have to look over my shoulder every day. I want to stop wondering which one of my friends or family will be the next to die. I want to live a life to where the only thing I have to worry about is what dress to wear or what to cook for dinner. I also want only to have to worry about fighting when I have to defend myself. I can’t believe when I first walked away from my first fight after I had died that this is where my life would be today. I had different dreams. My life is great except for what Anton is doing to me but I wouldn’t change this for the world. I love my life I just want Anton out of it.”

She watched as her family nodded their heads in agreement. Anton had to be dealt with. First they needed to find out where he was hiding Adrian. That would be the hardest of all because he could have had him sent anywhere in the world with daylight to keep him in check. They needed Xander’s help. Night fall couldn’t come fast enough.

Rena pulled out the maps and spread out the one of Anton’s’ own hide out here in the city. It was a blue print of the house but there was no room that didn’t have any windows. They all had widows to where the rooms were all lit, and for once in her life Rena couldn’t figure out why he would live in a house that had all these windows.

“Rena night fall approaches. Xander will be here in a minute.”

Rena couldn’t believe she spent most of the day staring at this blue print. Trying to figure out which room would he more likely to keep Adrian in. They all had the same amount of windows expect one. She couldn’t believe that it had been staring her in the face the entire time. It was the smallest room in the house barely noticeable, but it was indeed there.

“Omri, Riley, Every one please come here I think I have found something.”

She was so excited over this find that she couldn’t contain her joy. She hugged Omri.

“I have found a room that he could be keeping Adrian in. It is the only room with one window. Enough shadow to keep hidden in. He could be there. Omri, I need you to do me a favor. Can you try and sense if Adrian is there. Please, you have the prints here in front of you. You know what Adrian looks like you have felt him before haven’t you?”

He nodded his head but he thought it best to wait for Xander.

“If we want this done right, I want to wait for Xander. He has a better link to Adrian then anyone in this room. Except for you, Rena, but you have anger clouding your mind. Xander only feels one thing in his life. To try and make as many vampires as he can before he is taken by a slayer. He made Adrian so, his link is stronger than anyone’s. I will wait for him to arrive. Riley has the sun gone down all the way? Enough for Xander to travel?”

Riley nodded his head they knew that Xander would be here at any time. All they had to do was wait. Which they didn’t have to wait very long because the doorbell chimed telling them that he had arrived. Rena couldn’t bring herself to answer it. So Kali

went to answer it. Instead she was followed by Xander when she returned to the kitchen. Rena felt a shiver of fear, what if they couldn’t sense him at all. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe Anton didn’t have Adrian in that house. She didn’t want to be wrong. This had to be the right answer. He had to be in that house in that tiny one window room.

Xander moved in front of her. She couldn’t read his expression. But what she did see in his eyes was something close to regret over the loss of Adrian. But she couldn’t be for sure. The pain was to close to home to actually recognize. Omri put his hand on Xander’s shoulder to break the gaze that he had with Rena. When he looked at Omri, Rena had the chance to get her thoughts under control.

“It’s time.”

That was he said. Xander seemed to know right away what Omri needed him to do. They walked over to the table. When Xander saw the house layout on the table. He immediately saw that one room that had alluded her until just before Xander had arrived. His head shot up and he stared at Rena.

“This is the only room that he would be kept in. It has the most shadow. I fear that we have little time. What is it that you need me to do and I’ll do it.”

Rena looked over Xander’s shoulder to Omri and nodded her head for him to begin.

“What I need you to do is just concentrate on Adrian. Think of only him, basically I need you to begin tracking him and I’ll do the rest. Stand in front of me.” Omri pointed to the floor about a foot away from where he was standing himself.

“Close your eyes and think about Adrian.”

She watched as Xander closed his eyes. Omri put his hands on either side of Xander’s head. He, too, closed his eyes. They stayed that way for several moments when Xander suddenly broke free of the hold. He was panting but he could not believe what Omri had showed him. It was a sickening sight. Adrian had been burnt by the sun light and was in severe pain. It was like he was in Adrian’s place feeling everything that he felt. He was glad that the sun had gone down or Adrian may not have survived the day.

He looked over at Rena who was waiting to hear what they had seen. She was afraid that something was wrong and by the look on their faces she was right. Adrian was in danger and it was far worse than she ever thought. She was getting impatient. Why weren’t they telling her what was going on.

“Somebody had better tell me what you just saw. Is Adrian alright? Tell me something.”

Neither one knew how to tell her what they had seen. It was a disturbing sight. They couldn’t get the image of Adrian’s burnt body out of their heads.

“Anton is a sick bastard. He left Adrian in the sun light and some of his body got burned really badly. It will take a while for the regeneration process to take effect. I fear if we leave him there much longer Anton will kill him even if the sunlight doesn’t do it for him.”

Rena couldn’t believe anything that was being said. She had to have proof. She knew what needed to be done.

“I want you to show me. I know what you’re going to say. That it will probably

not work. But I need to see what you saw. I have to know what is happening to him. I need to see the damage that the sun has done to the man who not only cares about me but who needs our help. So are you going to show me or do I have to make you?”

Omri looked at her and knew that this was what she had to do. That she was meant to see what they had seen. He knew that it was not going to be a pretty sight. But this was something that she had to do. He nodded his head and watched as she moved to stand in front of him. She knew that she couldn’t back down now. That she had to see what they saw. She watched as Omri raised his hands to the sides of her head. He closed his eyes and she followed his lead. She wasn’t prepared for what she saw. The burns on his body were horrible. But she could see that he was mending due to the regeneration from being a vampire. She knew that he couldn’t see or hear her but she had to see his face. The smell of burnt flesh was overpowering. So much so that she almost passed out form it.

She stopped in front of him and saw the damage done to his face. There were cuts that seemed to be mending. She saw that his mouth was parted and that his fangs were ripped out but were growing back. She reached her hand out as if to touch his face when his head lifted and she could have sworn that he saw her. Because he looked directly at her or so she thought. When his eyes opened she saw the darkness beginning to spread through them. She had to get back. She opened her eyes and couldn’t believe what she had seen. “We have to hurry. The darkness is spreading through him faster than we thought. If we don’t go and get him now we may never save him from himself. I saw the darkness in his eyes. I know that when that happens there is no saving him except to kill him. And I don’t want to have to kill him.”

She was on the verge of tears when Xander came up to stand in front of her. He placed his hand under her chin to force her to look in to his eyes. What she saw there was not what she expected. She saw, what she thought, was compassion but Xander was not one to show emotion. She had always doubted he had any.