-24-

Mathew trembled, the night was drafty and his shirt was lacking sleeves. "Damn, this is a big house." Mathew commented. 

"Not really." Jamie told him. "We still do not know where Jaylee is though."

Jamie sighed, "Mathew, you can still back out. Jaylee is not your responsibility after all, she is mine and if I had corrected her, things would not have gotten this far."

Mathew smiled. "Jamie when I came here Jaylee was not my responsibility, now she's family. She's a pain in my butt and a thorn in my side, but she's still family." He patted Jamie's shoulder. "And even if she wasn't, after all the kindness you've shown me it would be my pleasure to help you." Mathew thought for a minute and then said, "You have no reason to correct Jaylee, if you thought you did, you would have a long time ago. Many of the occult support her cause, but none are as brave as she is to actually pursue it."

For the first time in centuries, Jamie felt tears burn the back of her eyes. "You are such a loving boy." She took a deep breath and swallowed the emotions that were coming up. "Right, you search for Jaylee and I'll try to find Vita."

Mathew had wandered around the ground floor of the mansion and he couldn't help but frown. Jamie had said that the place was not that large, but obviously they had different definitions of the word. The stereo in the corner of the dining room caught his attention, classical music spilled from its speakers and he had to smirk at the irony. Such beautiful music for such an ugly situation.

"Aren't you a yummy little morsel." A musical voice said behind him. He turned just as a lovely woman wrapped herself around him.

"Oh yes, somebody who can help me. I'm looking for a girl about this tall, blond hair, blue eyes, have you seen her?"

"Ah yes, our house guest. Ms. Alto said that she is not allowed visitors."

"I'm sure she'll want to see me."

Jamie had been in Vita's house many times, never had she thought that she'd be in there under such circumstances. Vita was sitting casually in her sitting area, Jamie took a seat. "Vita, I am looking for my daughter."

Vita smirked, "I knew you would come. Jamie, I have tried numerous times to...get through to your daughter. You know as well as I do how delicate our balance is, and how important it is not to upset this balance."

"Vita, you're so set in your ways, it's time for a change."

"It was time for a change in the eighteenth century and it led to many of our brothers and sisters being brutally murdered."

"You keep dwelling on that Vita, times have changed and so have people, they allow men to lie with men, black people are no longer slaves to whites. Humans have become understanding."

"How understanding will you think them while you watch them rip your little grandson to shreds and burn the pieces?"

Jamie growled, "Where is my daughter Vita?"

"I'm a married man, so you understand right?" Mathew was saying to his assailant's lifeless body. Jamie and Jaylee did not come downstairs yet, so he figured that things were probably not going smoothly. The vampire was not allowing him to leave the dining room, so he bashed her head into the wall. He didn't exactly kill her, she would heal up in about an hour, hopefully by then he, Jamie and Jaylee would be long gone.

"I see you brought your pet, I'm sure he was the cause of all the commotion downstairs." Vita commented. "You should take him and leave, it doesn't matter where Jaylee is, she cannot be helped."

"What have you done to my daughter?" Jamie growled.

"I did nothing." Vita replied, a smug look on her face. 

As she said that a door opened and a man came out. "It is done." He announced.

"What have you done to my child!" Jamie squealed and pounced from her chair onto Vita. Although the vampires moved faster than he could see, Mathew raced from his place at the archway and tackled Vita's goon, who was too shocked by Jamie's actions to react quickly.

For a full ten minutes, punches, kicks and insults were thrown around the room. Mathew landed a heavy kick to Vita's thug's stomach and followed with a roundhouse kick to the back of the man's head. The man straightened, Mathew's heart skipped a beat, he'd landed his heaviest blows if that didn't fall the man he was sure that he was dead. To his relief the man toppled backward.

"The room! Go to the room!" Jamie shouted to Mathew, a snarling Vita made to go after him, Jamie grabbed the woman by her hair and neck and yanked her backward.

Again Mathew's heart jumped. Jaylee was lying limp on a bed. True he and Jaylee never got along but he didn't hate the woman and she could be dead. No, no she couldn't, she couldn't be dead because it would hurt Snowie too much. It would hurt Egypt and Sahara and Cupid and Mathew loved those children as much as his own son.

"Jamie, the hell?" Mathew nearly bounced right back through the door he'd stepped out of at the sight he met. "Are you feeding? We have to get out of here."

"No, I'm cutting his throat so it'll take him longer to heal. Get Jaylee out of here, I'm going to build me a bonfire."