Tuesday 27 May 2014

Chapter 28 - part 2 - Gen 2 - Tapestry


I storm out of the living room, absolutely LIVID with Maizie!!

I lean against the wall trying to catch my breath and calm myself down while I wait for River to catch up with me.  That woman makes me so angry!!  She was supposed to set up a little tiff - an argument  ... not one of our old performances for everyone to watch, especially not my boys!!



Fudge and I think she nearly got me too - I felt her starting to mess in my head again!!  I dread to think what she might have done while she was in there!!  I don't think she actually managed to do anything, I don't feel any different, but would I even know?   I'm just glad that Jazz was there to stop her again - but one of these days I'm not going to be so lucky and I dread to think about what she might do if she gets the opportunity!

She is vindictive enough to try and ruin me completely and I'm scared she will get into my head and make me do something that I don't want to do.  She would use her vampberry abilities to nobble me, I think she'd do anything to hurt me and get back at me for choosing Lilly instead of her, she has proved that by hiding River from me in spite!!

She has thrown Lilly at me so many times over the past nine months, it's not funny anymore!!  For me this was all dead and buried over twenty years ago!   She's acting like it was just yesterday and it is ridiculous!!  She's dredging up a load of old feeling that I really don't want to be feeling any more.  She has brought it all back, reminding me of just how awful my life was back then, how horrible I felt and how much I hated myself at the time.

As soon as this nightmare is over and the boys are back home, I will never have to step foot in this place again, I won't have to see Maizie ever again and that can not come quick enough for me!!!  She is one of the reasons why I can't come here in the future - if Jazz wants to see me it will have to be away from this place which I know is really hacking Jazz off, but he understands why I have to do it this way.

The idea of the argument was so that I could storm out like I'm upset and River chase after me so we could get out of the room without Tapestry, while Jazz, Mulberry and Cosmic keep him there and amuse him so that he doesn't follow or come looking for us.

There is just one more thing remaining to do before we can get on with preparing the boys for their reappearance in town tomorrow.  Something that Tapestry can not be a part of and something he can NEVER find out!!  I really am not looking forward to this because River doesn't even know what is coming yet and I know he really is not going to like it one little bit!!

I HATE all of this deception.



River grabs my arm suddenly, making me open my eyes and I stand up to face him, I'd been so wrapped up in my own thoughts I had not even heard him coming.

"Dad?! What the hell was all that about in there ... please tell me you DON'T still have feelings for THAT woman!!"  he looks pretty angry.

Great this is all I need!  Did they not see that we were actually fighting in there?!

"Yeah ... just one - HATRED!!"

I try to laugh it off hoping he will not want to talk about it for too long.  I'm a little embarrassed that Tapestry and River saw us like that, but she wound me up to the point where I just snapped straight back into it.  Maizie always used to get me when she told me not to walk away from her.  I'm not really sure why but it always used to make me see red because I always used to try to walk away from the arguments that she started but I rarely ever managed to.

"THAT woman as you call her, is still your Mother at the end of the day River.  I know you are not very happy with her right now but you shouldn't really be talking about her like that!"   I frown at him.  It doesn't really matter what she's done, she is still his Mother, you only ever get one and I would never let the triplets talk about Lilly that way, not that they ever have cause too!

"No!! she has NEVER been my Mother and I don't need a lecture off you about what I should and shouldn't call her!!"  he laughs sarcastically  "and DON'T you get trying to change the subject either!!"  he snaps at me  "You two were FLIRTING with each other, even Tap saw it!!"

"NO!!  She was the only one flirting and playing games ... Look, we used to fight like that all the time, even worse, we used to smash our room up regularly, she just loves to throw things especially at me!!"  I laugh remembering the state our room used to get into sometimes, she used to smash everything up using me as target practice.  "She was just winding me up in there, trying to remind me of something I'd really much rather forget!!"


"Trying to remind you of what?"  I can see he's getting irritated.  "I know she still loves you ... please tell me you don't feel the same way!!"

"No River, I'm sorry but I've NEVER remotely loved your Mother, most of the time I didn't even like her.  I've loved Lilly probably from the very first day she walked into our boarding school ... your Mother, she was just a distraction like the string of other girlfriends that I had when I was your age because Lilly was with Cosmic - they all knew how I felt about Lilly, Maizie was just stupid enough to think she could change me!!"

"That still doesn't tell me what she was trying to remind you of!!"

I stare at him for a moment, I wish I hadn't said that now!!  This really isn't something I should be telling my son especially about his own Mother.  I get the feeling he isn't going to give up until he gets an answer out of me that he is satisfied with.  I already feel like I know him pretty well, even though this is only the third time that I've actually seen him face to face I've spent the last nine months talking to him on the phone virtually every day and while we have spoken about a lot of things - one subject we haven't touched on is mine and his mothers relationship.

"Maizie was by far the worst of my girlfriends even though she lasted for over 3 years and there was only two reasons why she lasted so long, she was a very good distraction because she was constantly on my back giving me hell I hardly had the chance to think of anything else  ... and when we used to fight, she used to go off like a tornado at the slightest thing and there was only one way I could ever stop her ... all our fights used to end the same way and it was the only good thing about our relationship." 



River stands there scratching his head and frowning at me, he really isn't getting it is he.

"I made a STUPID mistake thinking about something the night she brought Honey to me drained.  I didn't realize she could read my mind I knew nothing about vampberrys.  We started fighting over why she had hidden you from me ... it made me think about how all of our fights used to end in the past ... she heard me think about it so every opportunity she's had since she keeps trying to remind me and wind me up with it.  I'm really not sure why or what her game is exactly."

"Are you ever going to get to the point?  Just say it!!"

"I hoped you'd get it and I wouldn't actually have to spell it out to you!!"  I roll my eyes at him   "She keeps trying to remind me about our wild bedroom activities that used to end all our fights - it was the only time we weren't yelling at each other!"   

"WOW!! TOO MUCH information!!"  he starts laughing  "Next you'll be telling me that's where I came from!!"

"Well you did ask!!  I laugh at the expression on his face for a moment. "Don't worry about me and your Mother I hate that woman even more than you probably do!!"

"Was I an accident?"  I thought that was a really strange question for him to ask.  I don't really know how he will take the answer to that question, but all I can do is tell him the truth.

"I think your Mother planned you, she stopped having her injection and didn't tell me!!  I think a baby might just have been another pawn in her game, only I really don't know why she played it the way she did.  She walked out knowing she was pregnant and I still don't know why she never told me.  For me yeah I guess you were an accident, I didn't even think her getting pregnant was a possibility."   I see his face drop maybe I shouldn't have said it quite like that, now I've upset him!  "That doesn't mean I'm not happy that it happened now I actually know about you, because I am happy.  I only wished I had known at the time because you would have been with me not your Grandmother!!"




"Maizie is actually starting to scare me."  I tell him because I'm not actually sure that they realized what she was trying to do to me in there.  "She tried to get into my head back there and it isn't the first time either.  Jazz has had to stop her quite a few times over the past nine months - I'm scared of what she might do if she does get into my head and Jazz isn't around to stop her!!"

"I wouldn't put it past her she's a twisted cow!!  I'll just have to make sure I don't leave you alone while we are in this place!!"  he scratches his head and pulls a face.  "I wish Jazz would send her off to another den so she is out of our hair - I for one would not miss her for a moment and I doubt anyone else would either!!"

"He can't, he's worried about what she might spill, you know how spiteful she is!!  She knows everything which is way too much so he has to keep her close to make sure she doesn't cause any trouble!!  She is one of the reasons why Jazz had to get this den closed down to keep everyone away from her and of course you know the other reason - he needs to keep Shadow hidden." 

"Has she told you how and why she has become one of them?"  I shake my head because she hasn't and truthfully I haven't even thought or bothered to ask her.  "She won't tell me - just something else she hides."  he laughs for a moment  "Who named the baby Shadow?"

"Jazz did , it's actually quite fitting for him don't you think!!  I can't wait to hear what daft name Tapestry comes up with for the little girl " 

We both stand laughing for a moment I for one have visions of him calling her something silly, like after one of his game console characters, we're having bets at home on some of the stupid names he might come up with.  Banana being everyone's favourite guess for a name because banana is Tapestry's favourite - if it's not banana flavoured he doesn't want to know!

"Come on we need to hurry up before Tapestry starts to get suspicious because we've been away for too long!"



I start walking down the cold dingy corridor, following River who knows the way a lot better than I do, if I am to lead the way I will probably get us lost.  It doesn't matter how many times I come into this place I really can not stand or get used to the smell of the damp and blood that hangs thickly in the air.  I smell a lot of blood at work, but this is different, it's stale blood, it's enough to turn my stomach!!  I really don't know how River used to spend so much time in this place.  Suddenly River grabs my arm.

"Dad wait!!"  he says as he pulls me back a little to a door we have just walked past.  "I just want to check on something."

He pulls a brick out of the wall and reaches into the hole and pulls out a key before he replaces the brick.  He unlocks the door and pulls me through it quickly and closing it behind us quietly.  I hear him laughing. The room is pitch black and I can hardly see a thing so I'm wandering where we are.  There is a sudden flash of light close by me and I see River standing there holding a torch like the ones on the walls everywhere that provide the only lighting in this place.

He starts to light a load of small candles that begin filling the room with light and places the torch back onto the wall where he had taken it from while it was dark.  It's obvious by his actions that he's been in this room before.

I jump at the sight of the body that I see lying on what appears to be a solid stone block.  A very pale woman with dark hair.  Her feet are chained and she has something sticking out of her chest.  I walk closer just like River does.  I find the sight alarming, he doesn't he finds it amusing so I frown at him.

"I guessed she would still be in here!"  he laughs 




This room is very strange and it starts to give me the creeps a little but I think that the body is helping with that!!   Its only a very small room that has three stone blocks, a stone chair and nothing else in it.

River pulls a face when I ask him what this place is.  He starts to explain that this room is usually where their drained victims are dumped until their bodies are disposed of - buried within the warehouse grounds.  He thinks that probably everyone who has ever mysteriously disappeared without a trace from Sugar Valley is probably buried within the warehouse grounds somewhere.  He said that this is where Tapestry and Honey were probably destined to end up if he hadn't stumbled across them and Jazz hadn't been my friend - this knocks me sick for a moment thinking about what could have happened. 

"So who is she?"  I ask staring down at the lifeless body wandering why if she's faded why is she chained and why does she not smell, she doesn't appear to be rotting.

"That is Celeste - Jazz's wife - I KNEW he wouldn't be able to dispose of her!!" 

River runs his hand over her face and arm like he's feeling her skin then starts knocking her arm like a door and the sound that comes back really surprises me - it sounds like she is solid.  I stare down at her face and can't help but notice how attractive she is, but she is wearing the strangest clothes that I've ever seen.

"How old would you say she is?"  he smirks at me.  I tell him I think she's probably in her early thirty's and he starts howling at me hysterically.  "More like six hundred and thirty!!"  he carries on laughing at me.  I tell him to stop being stupid  "Straight up - she is over six hundred years old - all of the originals are, I've met some who are even older ... Dad you do know vampires live FOREVER don't you - they don't die of old age or illness, they have to be killed.  Shadow and Jazz could very well be still here in another six hundred years time!!"  I just sit there wide eyed, I knew they lived a lot longer than we did, but not literally forever!!

"Do you have your flash light?"  he asks me so I take it out of my pocket and hand it too him and watch as he shines the light into her open eyes to check her pupils.  "Fixed and dilated"  he mumbles "Look you would think she has faded wouldn't you!" 

I lean over and look at what he's trying to show me.  I can see they are fixed and dilated but I can't help but notice her strange eyes which distracts and confuses me.  I sit down on the stone chair in the corner of the room as I continue to stare at her wandering why Shadow has those eyes but none of the other vampberrys do.

  

"She has the same eyes as Shadow ... they are the strangest eyes that I've ever seen!"

"Really!?"  River glances up at me and I can see he is really surprised  "Celeste in an original,  a vampire not a vampberry - she is not a berry I'm not sure you can see - black hair, white skin - red eyes.  Those eyes are unique to original vampires, all originals have them."  he smiles at me  "Fudge, Jazz guessed right ... Shadow is an original vampberry ... the FIRST original vampberry ... he is going to be a whole heap of trouble while he's growing up!!"

I don't really understand what he means by Shadow being trouble when he grows up.  I have tried not to get too involved with the boy as much as it hurts, even though he is my first Grandson.  He's a vampberry and can not be a part of our lives.  It is killing me that I am having to pretend he doesn't exist - In fact he won't exist to me very soon when this nightmare is all over once Jazz has wiped him from my memories and rewritten him in as fading at birth.  I will believe the lies that I have to tell Tapestry.  I have had too many sleepless nights over this situation and wiping the boy from my memory is the only way that I can live with myself.  I have had River hidden from me his entire life, I know exactly how it feels, there is NOW WAY that I could knowingly do that to Tapestry ... hide his son from him, but we have no other choice, for Tapestry's sake.

"Absolutely nothing ... its quite extraordinary!"  River has continued to check the vampire over while I've been lost in my own thoughts.

"So she is not faded even though she looks it?"  I ask him a little confused. I really don't understand all this vampire stuff, Jazz has not really explained too much to me, and this woman is confusing me even more as I feel her arm and she just feels like solid cold stone.

 
"Faded no ... she's dormant, as long as that silver dagger stays in her chest she'll stay like this forever ... pull the knife out and she'll be as alive as Jazz and Maizie."  he laughs then  "I want to do an autopsy on her but I doubt Jazz would let me - not that I'd get into her anyway she's solid!"  he stands there scratching his head.

He explains that he wants to find a cure for vampires and vampberrys and he's done a lot of research and experiments on their blood and venom, one of the reasons why he has spend so much time training to do autopsy's at the hospital, his other reason his passion being forensics which disappoints me a little because I would love to drag him into neurology.

I stand back and watch him for a moment and can't help but smile at him, I can see that the state of this woman is absolutely fascinating him and he wants to get to the bottom of it, he wants to know exactly what is going on with her body - you can see the passion in what he's doing.

"When am I going to get to see Ocean?"  he asks suddenly

"As soon as we bring you up from theatre, we'll get Gravel to give us some space so that we can tell Tap about Honey and the twins and pretend to tell you about Ocean, Winter can bring him in then, providing Tapestry doesn't go psycho of course!!  I'm dreading it!!  How do you think he's going to take it?"  he rolls his eyes at me.

"He's going to hate you - us - for hiding this from him!!  Those babies in particular really cut him up, even more than Honey I think, you know how he reacted to Winter being pregnant!  When he finds out his babies actually are here - I think he's going to blow - he is seriously going to hate me - I had to sit and watch him grieving and said nothing!!"

"I'll tell him that I didn't tell you either, I'll take all the blame for it.  There is no point him hating and falling out with the both of us!!  He is going to need you ... he's closer to you than he's ever been to Coral and Mosaic, and he's lost his only two good friends, Honey and Storm."   I laugh suddenly  "Babies aside, he probably won't talk to me forever anyway once he sees what I've done to his bedroom and music room I've moved virtually everything and he's going to kick off big time because he has to have everything exactly where he wants it and he hates anyone messing with his things and space ... I seriously don't know how you got him to lose his hat!!"  He just stands there laughing at me.

"He has you wrapped round his little finger ... these tantrums he throws with you he does it on purpose because he knows you give into him!!  He gave up throwing tantrums with me because I don't give in!!"  he is now really laughing at me  "You are not getting back the same boy who left nine months ago - he's capable of a lot more than you give him credit for and you seriously need to stop suffocating him ....."

He stops talking and just stands there laughing for a moment while he watches the candles that suddenly start dancing around like a draft has just blown through them.

"We've got company - Cosmic or Storm."  he says laughing quite loudly "Cosmic spies for Jazz!!"


We leave the room when I've had to remind him we are dawdling again and need to get a move on.  River extinguishes the candles and torch returning the room into total darkness.  He locks the door and replaces the key and we carry on again down the dimly lit corridor.  I glance at my watch, we have already been away from Tapestry for well over an hour and we haven't even reached our intended destination yet.

We go down two flights of steps to the door at the bottom. Jazz has converted the whole of the bottom floor of the vampberry den into a separate living area for his new little family.  River again knows exactly which brick the key is hidden under.

"Oh well here goes"  he takes a deep breath and smiles at me.  "Even though I hate that my little nephew is a vampberry - I'm quite fascinated by the whole thing - I never thought I'd see a vampire baby - I just hope he is not going to grow up into a monster!!"

I can't help but think that smile is soon going to be wiped off his face when he walks into that room!  He is going to find something that he is really not going to like at all!!

"Well if he takes after Tapestry in anyway he probably will be a little monster!!"  we both stand laughing for a moment.


River unlocks the door and I take a very deep breath ... I am really dreading this because he doesn't know.

We were hardly inside the room before she comes flying at me

"SO ... WHAT is that colourless THING that Tapestry has got upstairs?!"  she shouts as she flies at me.  "It didn't take him long to replace me did it!!"  she hisses at me quite nastily  "I guess you two are loving this -  especially him over there with the brat - he never wanted us two together in the first place!!  Well he's got what he wanted now hasn't he!!"

Honey is yelling quite angrily - raging vampberry's scare me to death!!


Honey completely ignores River and starts to move closer to me.  She stops suddenly with a jerk as Omri flashes across the room and grabs her pulling her back and away from me.  I am really glad that he is here right now. 

"OMRI GET OFF ME!!"  she tries to fight him but he is too strong for her and she is getting nowhere.  "Shut up Storm you jerk I wasn't going to hurt him you moron - isn't it time you passed over you are already getting on my nerves!!"  she shouts.

Fudge I don't think I'm ever going to get used to knowing Cosmic and Storm are lurking around.

"Honey calm down please!!"  Omri says to her quietly, she turns to glare at him.

"You can shut up too Omri!!  Where is Jazz?  Go and fetch him - I'm sick of being shut up down here with that squealing brat!!"

Omri tries to reason with her but he is not getting anywhere, she is ripping shreds out of him and he just stands there and takes it, he's even laughing at her as she yells at him.  I know she is hard to handle, Jazz has told me that they are having a right nightmare with her.

It really breaks my heart to see what Honey has turned into, and I know it is really upsetting Sunny.  Firstly she is now one of them, a blood sucking creatures - that we can cope with like we do now with Jazz.  It is mainly the fact that she is really not herself anymore, she is so far removed from the sweet little girl that she used to be.

Jazz says that Honey has lost ALL of her mortal emotions, she has now become an evil cold hearted monster in every sense of the word!!  She has even turned on Sunny and she's emotionless to the point where she doesn't even want anything to do with her own child.  There is only one person that she is remotely interested in or civil too - Jazz.


"HONEY PACK IT IN!!"  Sunny shouts as he gets up off the chair carrying the baby.  "You have already been told who Crystal is!!  Stop being a bitch ... Fudge!!  You have lost all your mortal emotions remember so what do you really care about who Tapestry has upstairs!!"  he laughs sarcastically  "And might I remind you ... Jazz ... pot calling the kettle black!!"

"Like it's any of your business what I do with Jazz!!"  she snaps at Sunny  "Why are you even here anyway?  Go back to your mortal world, you are stinking the place up!!"  she hisses at Sunny quite nastily.  "You can take that brat with you that you seem so attached to - give him to Tapestry - I don't want him here or you!!"

I can see the hurt in Sunny's face.  One thing that has really back fired on us through all of this - turning Honey into a vampberry because of what she has now become.  I think if Sunny had seen before hand what she was going to become he would have just let her slip away instead of trying to hang onto her.

"Well someone has to look after your son because you obviously aren't going to!!"  he snaps at her quite angrily  "You would just leave Shadow to scream the place down and the last thing we need right now is Tapestry hearing him crying!!"

All Honey can do is stand there laughing.




River just stands there staring at Honey with his mouth and eyes wide open.  Maybe I should have warned him that Shadow is not the only person he would find hidden away in this room. I should have prepared him, I should have told him the truth, I should have told him she is still with us instead of just letting him witness the horrible monster that she has become.

"Dad you said she had faded!!"  River is obviously shocked and I can see he's getting upset.

"Well like you've told me - technically she has faded hasn't she, I just didn't tell you she is now one of them.  Jazz thought it best we didn't tell you while you were away or over the phone, he didn't think you would handle it very well and you might have given the game away ... he knows how upset you get over the whole turning and vampire thing ..."

"TOO RIGHT I DO!!"  he yells angrily  "WHO chose to do THAT to her?  Just look at her!!  That isn't Honey - she's a monster!!"  he is now livid like Jazz warned us that he would be.  

"I'm sorry River!!!  I should have prepared you before we came in here!"

"That is not the point!!  You should not have brought me in here at all ... you should have carried on lying to me!!  I didn't want to see this!!  It is bad enough that I have to lie to Tapestry about his son - now THIS!!!"

Of course it was Sunny's choice to have Honey turned.  When it came to it - it was either that or let her fade and Sunny couldn't stand there and watch her fade.  Even though we had talked it over until we were blue in the face and we had decided NOT to turn her, but when the time came he just couldn't let her slip away when there was another option to keep her here. 




As soon as the girl was born Jazz had to turn her, she never would have survived through the birth of the boy.  Her pregnancy was a really bad one, the vampire baby had taken too much out of her.  I was very shocked that both babies were born developed perfectly like babies should be.  I didn't expect the girl to survive at all and luck had her coming first or we might have had two vampire babies on our hands, if she had come second by the time she was born the venom would have taken hold of her and she would have been a vampberry just like her twin brother. 

"I'm sorry River but I just couldn't stand back and watch my daughter fade when there was another option!!"  he looks down and the baby  "I didn't think she would end up like this!!  Jazz did warn us that she might not be herself any more but even he's shocked at how void of emotion she's become."

"So when are you going to tell Tapestry about Honey and Shadow?"  River looks from me to Sunny. "How the hell is he ever going to cope with this ... especially her!!"

"Never ... we've decided it's best he never knows about either of them, we are going to tell him they have both faded."  Sunny tells him 

"WHAT?!  You can't do that!!"  he's not happy as he glares back at me  "How can YOU of all people even think about doing that after what Maizie did to you?!"  I can see he's getting angry and understandably.

"We have to River ...." he cuts my words off before I can say anything 

"I'm sorry I can not do it - I am NOT hiding this from him!!"

River is getting exceptionally angry with me and I understand perfectly why.  I reacted in pretty much the same way when it was first suggested, but once he calms down and hears our reasoning, I hope he'll understand why we have to do it this way!!  I'm not sure that he can even look at me anymore as he continuously stares at the baby in Sunny's arms.   

"There was me worrying that Tap was rushing into his relationship with Crystal too quickly and how he is not going to cope when her memories have been wiped away and she doesn't know him again ... "  he yells at me  "I thought that was your worry too - but it wasn't was it Dad!!  Your worry was Honey still being alive!!"



I am a little amused by Sunny who hands Shadow to River probably trying to help calm him down a little.  Sunny stands back a few paces and starts laughing as he looks from me to River and back again and mumbles 'oh fudge we now have two little orange nerds to contend with!!'  I hadn't thought that this is the first time Sunny has actually seen River properly.

River glances at Sunny then just stares down at the baby in his arms and starts to cry.  Jazz warned me that he wouldn't take Honey being turned well or hold it together very well when he sees Shadow.  He suspects that Tapestry if he was to be told the truth would take it a whole lot better than River.  Jazz also warned me he is over emotional and cries a lot which I'm just beginning to see.

"I DON'T like this anymore than you do River!!  What sort of life is Tapestry going to have knowing that Honey and Shadow are vampberrys and we especially have to think about the other baby too - she is normal remember and she especially needs protecting from this immortal world!!"  he stands there shaking his head while he is still really crying

"River when this is all over I don't want either you or Tapestry having anything to do with these creatures and their world.  Tapestry has a chance to make something of himself and do something constructive with his life regardless of his disabilities with his music career, which he won't be able to do if he has his vampberry girlfriend and son hanging round his neck.  That little girl, what sort of life is she going to have growing up knowing her Mother and Brother are vampberrys - she needs to be kept well out of this world, she doesn't even need to know it exists.  I am scared that Tapestry is stupid enough to want to become one of them and take his daughter with him if he knows that Honey and his son are in this world!!" 

River just stands there staring at me blankly saying nothing.  I don't know how much of this he is taking in, or even if he is going to listen to anything that I'm saying.  

"Then there is Crystal - what is that going to do to him, he's going to have to chose between them and I think you can see yourself that boy loves Crystal, it was never like that for him with Honey even though he might have thought it at the time.  He would NEVER cope with Honey like she is now!!  Would you really want him tied to this world and a vampberry?! Just think about what all this is going to do to him River?  Besides it's what Honey wants!!" 

"What?!"  he looks up at me and frowns

"I think you can see that Honey is not the sweet little girl that she used to be ... she's lost all of her mortal emotions apparently - she is now a prize evil cold callous bitch who puts even Maizie and Lime to shame!!  Suddenly she feels nothing for Tapestry she has lost all that, she doesn't even like her own Dad or child, she won't have anything to do with Shadow, Omri and Jazz are looking after the boy all of the time - One more thing - she is now bound with Jazz."  he looks up a little shocked.




"You mean Honey and Jazz are ..."  he starts laughing and he looks towards Omri.

"Yes River!  Jazz is the only thing Honey does seem bothered about at the moment.  Jazz didn't think it would happen when he turned her because he thought he was still bound with Celeste, but it seems their bind must have broken the moment that he plunged that dagger into her chest.  Mate, I think you know how it works, they can't bind with two people and that bind can't be broken unless one of them is disposed of ... I'm not sure that a mortal / immortal partnership has ever been done or is even possible!  Honey is not remotely interested in Tapestry anymore she's fixated on Jazz, so does Tapestry really need to go through the torment?"

River and Omri stand staring at each other for a moment   

"Mate, your Dad is right - Tapestry knowing about Honey and Shadow will only ruin his life, he is going to be tied to our world forever when he doesn't need to be!!  You also need to think, Tapestry needs to be kept well out of this world completely.  If the Originals ever find out about him and what he is capable of in mortal form, you know they will take him don't you and probably his children!!  If that happens there won't be a damn thing we can do about it!!  We were seriously lucky that Celeste never got to tell anyone about him, next time we might not be so lucky."

"I thought Jazz has had this den closed down?"  River asks Omri

"He has mate, but it doesn't mean that they won't come in the future - It only needs Tapestry to be here and one of them turn up and there is no hiding him once they have spotted him - he needs to leave here tomorrow and never come back for his own safety as well as everyone else's!!"




I think River really took in what Omri told him because his face seemed to soften a little, he has lost all the anger lines from off his face and he appears to be deep in thought. 

"Omri is right River, Tapestry knowing that Honey and Shadow are still here is going to do him absolutely no good in the slightest!!   So why cause him grief and keep him tied to this world when he doesn't need it - it's all for the best that he never knows about either of them River!  We tell him they have both faded and he can get on with his life in peace with no grief or danger!"

"How can you even live with yourself Dad!?"

"I can't at the moment, but once this is all over Jazz is wiping the boy and Honey from my memory, he's going to rewrite my memories so that I believe Shadow was still born and Honey faded during childbirth ... I will not have to lie to Tapestry because it is what I will believe!!"  he just stares at me blankly  "Don't think I've made this decision lightly because I haven't!!  I'm doing what I think is best for everyone especially Tapestry and that little girl!!!"  he's now silent as he stares back down at the baby  "Most of us are going to have them both wiped away - Winter, Mulberry, Me and I suggest you do the same!!  Only Sunny is going to remember - he has chosen to keep it that way."

He stands there just not saying anything for ages

"What good is it going to do Tapestry to know his son is a vampberry - do you really want him to have to carry the burden of having to hide him away from EVERYONE especially his daughter, for the rest of his life?  He can't have his memories erased like the rest of us remember ... It's best he never knows about them being here in the first place!!"

"OKAY!! ... Okay!!"  he says as he bursts into tears again  "I'll do it but I'm far from happy with this!!  I want it all wiped away now - including THAT woman!!" 

River gives me a look that I don't really like and I'm really not sure its a good idea that he has Maizie wiped away, she is his Mother.  I get the feeling that is what that look is for, I think he knows I'm going to try and talk him out of removing his Mothers existence from his head. 

"Don't you EVEN START over THAT woman!!  It's my head and I want her gone!!  You better tell Jazz he is going to have to do it today - because if I have to watch Tapestry cracking up over his faded kid I'm not going to be able to hold my tongue!!  I want it gone before I leave here!!  I want all three of them faded in my head."

River looks at Omri for a moment and pulls a face which sets him off crying again.  "I'm sorry mate, but it looks like it might be the end of the road for you and me, I can't ever step foot in this place again!!"

"I can meet you outside, that's not a problem!"  Omri says




The door unlocks and Jazz walks into the room. 

"You lot need to hurry up, Tapestry is getting twitchy."  he says after he's locked the door behind him.  I'm not really sure why the door is being kept locked, it might be to keep Tapestry from wandering in here or to keep Honey in, I'm not sure that Jazz trusts her completely not to go wandering off and messing everything up by letting Tapestry see her.

He tells Storm that Crystal has woken up and he needs him to go and help Cosmic sort her out and to fetch Tapestry on the way because he is with Mulberry visiting their green pet.  I am not really very happy that Tapestry is visiting Lime!!  It amuses me the way that they call Lime their green pet, I suppose she is like a caged animal.  I wander how Storm feels about them having her locked up here and calling her their pet as she is his Mother. 

"He hates her Mango for what she's done to everyone!!  He doesn't even blame Forrest for fading him, he blames Lime."  Jazz laughs at me because he has just been listening to my thoughts.  "He wouldn't be here if he didn't hate her - so you don't have to worry about him letting her out or anything!!  Its stopping him from fading her that is my worry!"

Honey heard Jazz and she flew across the room.

"How long is this going to take - I'm sick of being shut up down here - that baby keeps squealing and he is driving me mad!!"  she says to him in a completely different tone of voice than she uses with the rest of us.  For a moment she sounds almost normal all but for what she is saying - the old Honey would have loved that kid to bits!!


Watching Jazz and Honey together has taken some getting used to.  It feels very strange for both me and Sunny to watch.  At first it felt a lot like Coral and Gravel, it doesn't look or feel right.  My main worry for Coral is that when she is my age Gravel is going to be my parents age, he is going to be elderly and then their age difference is going to be very evident and he will fade and leave her behind and she is going to suffer.  But I know it won't be like that with Jazz and Honey.

Even though in our minds Jazz is the same age as us, both me and Sunny have to keep reminding ourselves that realistically Jazz was not much older than Honey when Lime tried to fade him and he was turned into a vampberry.  Jazz was in his early 20's and that is the age that he will always be, and now I know that they live forever, they are not going to face any of the problems that Coral will, Jazz and Honey are both going to be in their 20's forever.  Sunny is quite comfortable with the situation and that is all that really matters because he is the only one of us who will know that Honey is in this world and not in the cemetery like the rest of us will believe.

Jazz is the only person that Honey will listen to or be pleasant to - he has her wrapped around his little finger, if he says jump she jumps.  Realistically again its a very a good job that they have bound together or there really would have been no controlling the monster that she has turned into at all.

After a few quiet words from Jazz Honey goes off quietly smiling into one of the other room taking Sunny with her, without causing any more trouble.



Jazz takes the baby off River.  He has really surprised me with how he has taken to the roll of playing Dad to Shadow - like a duck to water - he is obsessed with the little boy, which makes it a lot easier for me to leave my Grandson here with him.  I know that he is the best person to bring the boy up being a vampberry himself.  For Jazz Shadow will be the son that he will never be able to have himself but has always wanted.

They already seem to have formed some sort of bond, the only time Shadow comes to life is when Jazz has got him, the baby is always giggling when Jazz has him and I've not heard him do that with anyone else.  Jazz thinks it could be because it was his venom that actually turned the baby into a vamberry in the first place and also the second dose he would have had when he turned Honey while she was still carrying him.  He thinks that might have formed a bond between them but he won't know until Shadow is older.

"I hear you have been to visit Celeste."  Jazz says between laughing at Shadow who is trying to bite his nose  "You need to stop doing that little man because when you've got teeth its going to hurt!!"  he laughs at the baby who giggles back at him.  Jazz gives River a side ward glance  "Well River?  And you can pack that singing in your head I want to hear what you are thinking!!"  River just laughs at him.

"Yeah I guessed either Cosmic or Storm were lurking!!  I was curious, I wanted to see what that dagger did to her ... you need to dispose of her!!"

"I know I do!!"  he looks at River thoughtfully  "Cos is going to do it soon when I'm not around to stop him, he's waiting for a nice sunny day ... and no you are not cutting her up!!"


"We need to get a move on, we have a very big problem going on upstairs Mango!!"  I frown at him as he face goes deadly serious.

He starts to tell us that Crystal apparently is totally silent just like Tapestry and he thinks that he is not going to be able to get into her head.  He hadn't noticed when she was first brought into the room because of mine and Maizie's carry on.   Tapestry has told him that she sees and communicates with spirits so he now thinks that might be what is making them different - vampires and vampberrys can't touch spirit minds so it makes sense that whatever is letting Tapestry and Crystal see spirits is what is stopping the vamps from getting into their minds.  But he still can't work out why Tapestry can get into vampire and vampberry minds when Cosmic can't because they have tried.

If the vampberrys can not get into Crystals head to wipe her memories then we are in trouble.  She knows way too much about the boys life over the past six months ... it's bad enough having to worry about Tapestry not slipping up and blowing this whole thing apart.

"FUDGE!!"  River says suddenly  "I never even gave it a thought - I should have done, because I know she's been seeing and talking to Storm!!  That is what made Tapestry notice her in the first place, she started having a go at Storm for something he said about her."  he pulls a really worried face at Jazz  "There is no way Crystal is going to be able to keep the last six months of her life a secret - she's too naive and immature, she been homeless and isolated away from the world because she's colourless since she was a small child living like an animal in the woods.  She's only just learning how the world works, we have got no hope of making her understand whats going on here or that she's got to keep it a secret!!!"

My head blows because I really don't think I can take anymore!!

Jazz stands staring at me, his eyes look almost like they have glazed over as he watches me carefully.   I know he can read what is going through my head and I'm now struggling to control it.  I wander if he can also feel my pain?  All the time I've been down here, I've been trying to hold it together now the time has come ... I can't!!

My mind is running wild and I really can't concentrate on anything else, not even the problem we have to face upstairs, as I bite on my bottom lip trying very hard not to make a fool of myself by cracking up in front of everyone, which I know is coming and I won't be able to stop.


Jazz holds the baby out for me to take.

I shake my head because I can't - if I do I'll never want to let him go!!

I watch Jazz putting Shadow in his crib and all I want to do is cry.


My heart is breaking because I know I'm never going to see that little boy again!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday 23 May 2014

Chapter 28 - part 1 - Gen 2 - Tapestry


I follow River nervously down the long dark corridor taking very deep breaths as I go.

We make our way quickly down a flight of stone steps, then along another dark and dimly lit corridor.  The whole place feels extremely cold and eerie.  The flickering flames from the torches that dimly light the way are casting moving shadows that are dancing on the walls and floors, making me very nervous and jumpy.  Our footsteps are also echoing loudly around us, unnerving me, as we make our way deeper in the den.  I realize the entire vampberry den must be below ground level, there is not a single window in the place making it really cold and dark.

I am starting to really panic inside and I'm not sure why.  I know it is not going to be anything like the first time that I was here in this vampberry den.  I am not their prisoner this time for a start.  Really I know I should not have anything to be scared of, it's not like Jazz or Maizie are going to hurt us ... I think its the thought of the other vampberrys that River has told me that live here who are worrying me.

I also think it is just the feel and the smell of the place that is making me remember things that I would really much rather forget!!


If I had a choice I wouldn't be here at all, but unfortunately spending one more night here is a necessity.  We can't resurface in town tomorrow appearing like we are or nobody will ever believe the story that we have to tell.  They will never believe that Manderine has held us captive and mistreated us for the past nine months.  As well as acting the part we also have to look the part, we need to be dirty, have dirty and torn clothes, look battered and bruised ... this is what I really am not looking forward to.

River opens a door and pushes me through it, while he giggles at me.  I think he can tell that I am very nervous.  I spot Jazz and Cosmic standing together talking.  Their conversation stops abruptly when they hear the door opening and they look in our direction smiling as we enter the room.

We are in what looks like an open plan kitchen and living room.  I just stand there looking around a little fascinated by my surroundings ... for vampires they seem pretty civilized, which really surprises me.  I am not really sure what I expected, but I didn't expect this.

As I glance around the room I see a stereo, desk and computer, a very large television, book cases, rugs, sofa's, a table and chairs, even pot plants and ornaments.  I giggle in my head when I spot the xbox on the floor underneath the TV, no doubt that is Cosmic.   Then I notice the cooker in the fully equipped kitchen.  Why would they even have a cooker here?  but logically I've known all along they must have a cooker here ... they used to cook us meals.  I'm an idiot!!

It almost looks like a normal living room and kitchen except for the decorating.  I stare at the bare walls and floor, they are exactly the same as they were down in the basement, this makes me shudder just remembering our cage.

The cage that I've been told Manderine is STILL occupying.  I imagine that she must be going out of her mind down there all alone!!  I remember the boredom when it was just me and Honey, and even with River and Manderine for company, it was still very boring because there was nothing to do down there but sleep and sit around talking and the days dragged.  It's strange how I haven't though about any of this stuff for a long time and now it is all coming flooding back to me, just because I'm here.



"The wanderer returns!!"  I hear Cosmic laughing.  "Man you've changed!!"

"Like you haven't just traveled back from Raspberry Hill airport with me Cosmic!!"  I grin at him as we walk over to where he is standing with Jazz.  I am really happy to see him here because he always makes me feel safe.

I see River frowning at me in confusion. I don't suppose River knew that Cosmic was in the car with us coming back from the airport. I hadn't spoken to Cosmic on the journey back, so used to ignoring his and Storms presence when other people are around.  I was way too busy just staring out of the window waiting for Sugar Valley to appear. I felt like an excited child when I started to recognize the familiar sights of home.

"Where's your hat Tap?"  Cosmic is laughing at me and I laugh with him. The times he's watched me kick off over not having my hat on my head.  Like the times when Coral and Mosaic used to sneak into my room while I was sleeping, they'd pinch all of my hats including the one off my head and hide them just for fun to watch me kick off and get into trouble.  I guess he finds it amusing not seeing me wearing my hat now.

"Here Tap, your Dad asked me to give you these."  Jazz holds out his hand ... my clear contacts.  "You need to lose those orange contacts, your goggles and those earrings!!"  he smiles at me.  I take the contacts off him and can't help but touch his cold hand which makes me shudder.  It makes me wander how they can even be comfortable with themselves being so cold.  I take my glasses straight off, remove the orange contacts and replace them with my clear ones.  I take my earrings out and hand them to him ... I didn't have my ears pierced before, it's a good job they have thought about them because I wouldn't have done.  "You look almost normal again!!"

The door opens and a new vampire who I've never seen before walks into the room.


I freeze at the sight of the unknown vampire, and automatically grab for River.

I am suddenly very scared and getting a flashback of the two strange vampires that had come down to our cage pretending to be friendly when all they really wanted to do was suck the life out of me and Honey.  I feel comfortable with Jazz but this new vampberry already has my nerves jangling ... I think my past experiences have affected me a lot more than I thought they had!!  I really want to get out of this place!!  River, Jazz and Cosmic all start laughing at me.

"Relax Tap, Omri doesn't bite ... well not often!!"  I stare at River wide eyed who is now laughing like everyone else. I'm thinking that's not a very good joke for him to make after what I've been through!!  "Omri is the nice vampberry that I've told you about remember!  Relax he won't hurt you!"

"River ... I thought I could smell you mate!!"  Omri is laughing  "Man am I glad to see you are back!!"  he comes straight over and hugs River which really surprises me.  I quickly take a few backward steps away from River and Omri, just knowing he's a vampberry is making me very nervous.  "Man you look different!!  Have you run out of hair dye?"  he says as he ruffs River's hair up a little and River punches his arm playfully telling him he doesn't look like he's aged a day since he's been away then hugs Omri again.  I laugh in my head a little ... another lame joke from River. Vampberry's never age!!


I know River has told me that he gets on really well with Omri, because he didn't lose any of his mortal emotions when he was turned, unlike most vampberrys.   So Omri is basically human all but for his blood sucking habits and vampire abilities.  I didn't realize they were such good mates, they are definitely acting like they are.

Omri starts to study me curiously.

"So I am guessing this is the silent one you've been telling me about!"  he says smiling at me "extraordinary!! and I though you was having me on Jazz!!"  he waves his hand around me like he's trying to find something.  "I can't hear or smell him ... Without seeing him, you'd never know he was here!!"  he smiles at me.

"Watch this ..."  River says and he moves really close to me and puts his arms around me, then stands there grinning at Omri, who now seems really confused as he studies both of us curiously.

"River you have also now disappeared ... is he hiding you?"  he says wide eyed and starts to wave his hand around us again.  He looks at Jazz then and frowns.

"Omri don't even ask how he is doing that because I don't have a clue!!"  Jazz starts laughing  "All I know is the kid is far from normal and he doesn't even know what's going on with himself - I think he's an Alien!!"  Jazz is really laughing at his own joke. 

"He saved us from becoming a midnight snack in Sandalwood Heights by doing that!!  A hungry vampberry was stood less than ten feet from us, looking for his next meal, and he didn't know we were even there!!"  River says laughing as he steps away from me and starts to tell Omri the story in full.


I'm glad he can laugh about it because I can't!!   Just the thought of that night in the motel room still scares me to death.  Four hungry vampberrys on the prowl for food, Storm managing to get rid of them luckily because he wouldn't have stood a chance on his own trying to protect us from that many of them if he had ended up having to fight them.  I can't help but think about the six drunk guys that Storm sent the vampberrys after who did become their meal.  It stopped the vampberry from coming into the motel room and finding us, so they copped it in our place.

"Hi I'm Omri."  he says smiling and holding his hand out to me. I look at his hand for a moment before I shake it nervously and I tell him my name and smile back at him.  He seems nice enough and I'm starting to relax a little, if he's a friend of River's then he can't be all bad!  His freezing cold hand makes me shudder, I really hate having to touch them!

"Tapestry, how would you like to show Omri your special party trick?!"  Jazz starts laughing and winks at me pointing to his eyes like I didn't know what he meant.  "Omri, see if you can get into his head because me and Maizie can't ... not even Celeste could."

I look at the expression on Jazz's face when he mentions Celeste, he seems sad for a moment.  I wander what actually happened to her? ... River only mentioned that she's sleeping permanently because of the silver dagger that Jazz stabbed through her chest, but he never actually said if they had disposed of her completely.  I'm not sure that River even knows himself.

Omri frowns at Jazz then looks at me, so I smile at him ... I have been dying to try this again to see if I can still do it.  I've never tried it with a mortal because I presume I can only do it with vampberrys and vampires.

I step a little closer to Omri who still seems a little unsure as he keeps glancing nervously back at Jazz, probably because he is continuously laughing.  Jazz knows what's coming and Omri wouldn't have a clue that I can compel a vampberry, unless Jazz has already told him.

I tell Omri it's okay and eventually he leans forward and makes eye contact with me.  Straight away I feel the strange feeling behind my eyes  "MAKE US A COFFEE PLEASE."  I say to him loudly in my head.


Omri stays standing there because I haven't broken the eye contact yet, and I don't because something suddenly feels very strange.  As I see his eyes starting to glow brighter, the feeling in the back of my eyes seems to be getting stronger, more intense, almost to the point where it hurts, which has not happened when I've done this before.

A sharp pain shoots through my head which almost knocks me sick.  I can suddenly see pictures in my head ... flashes of something ... movement ... this is crazy!!

Suddenly Manderine's face jumps out at me.  I can see her face as clear as anything like she is standing there right in front of me even though I know that she isn't.  What is this crazy stuff?  Manderine is laughing, that evil laugh of hers.  I move away from her face as her surroundings start to come into focus and I notice she has something in her hand ... a plate of food ... which starts flying towards me as she throws it.   It feels really strange I can see the plate hurtling towards me but I don't feel the normal reflex of trying to dodge it I just stand there watching it getting closer to me.  Almost like it's coming at me in slow motion.  The plate of food doesn't reach me anyway, it smashes up against the cage bars that have also now appeared in front of me - something else that I know isn't really there its all in my head.

I start to look around and can clearly see our cage now, but it looks different.  It is not as bare as it was when me and Honey occupied it.  There is a metal table and two chairs, a book case, there is also a television sat in the corner of the cage, the bench and crates are no longer there and in their place is a sofa.  Manderine is standing there still laughing in my face so I ignore the cage and refocus back on her, as I do she seems to get louder and louder almost to the point where I want to put my hands over my ears.   Her evil laugh is echoing very loudly around inside my head, it's almost like it's irritating me more than it usually would, to the point where it's driving me crazy and I can't stand it any more.

I pull away from the eye contact quickly shouting and holding my head while I'm trying to catch my breath and make sense of what just happened.

"What's wrong Tap?"  I feel two cold hands on my arms.  Jazz is now in front of me with a strange expression on his face asking me what just happened?  "Why didn't you break eye contact straight away?"

"I don't know ... I saw flashes of something - pictures in my head." 




"What did you see Tap?" 

"Manderine, I saw her in my head ... throwing a plate of food at me but it hit the cage bars and smashed ... she was laughing in my face, I could see her and hear her evil laugh in my head!!"  I say frowning at Jazz  I see him glance towards Omri who is now making his way towards the kitchen area.  Jazz looks really puzzled as he keeps looking between me and Omri as he is scratch his head.

"Is that all you saw Manderine?"

"No, I saw the cage, but it didn't look anything like it did when I occupied it, it was strange!!"  I laugh at myself thinking I'm going mental for a moment, it was almost like some mixed up dream that doesn't make any sense and isn't real  "There was a table and two chairs, television, book case, sofa - the crates and bench have gone ...."

"FUDGE TAP!!"  I frown at him when he starts roaring with laughter  "You are not mortal!!"  he says laughing.  "I think your abilities might have grown up with you ... I think, no I'm certain you have just read Omri's mind ... he has only just come back up from feeding our green pet and yes we have given her those things that you just mentioned to keep her quiet and we had to remove all the wood because she nearly got Omri with a piece of crate."  he frowns at Omri who is now just standing in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil.  "What did you tell him to do?"

"I told him to make us coffee."  he laughs at me.  We stand and watch Omri making coffee, he brings over two mugs, Jazz takes one and Omri gives me a mug then just stands there in front of me.  I pass my mug to River because I don't really want it, making coffee was just the first thing that I thought of telling him to do.  Jazz reminds me I need to free him, so I have to make eye contact with him again and tell him he's free to go.  This time I don't hang around, I get that feeling again, the intensified pain behind my eyes but I break the eye contact quickly just in case I start to see things again.

Omri stands there in a daze for a few moments, before he looks around the room in confusion and asks what just happened, why does his head feel fuzzy like he's just had an original in it?

"Tapestry just compelled you ... thanks for the coffee Omri!!"  Jazz laughs at Omri who is now frowning at the mugs of coffee, completely confused.  "Tell me what just happened when you went down to feed our green pet?"



"Lime has got a right crank on her today.  She says she's sick of eating spag bol and demanded something else, I wouldn't mind but it's been weeks since she's been given it!! When I refused to cook her something else and told her that's all shes getting, she thought she'd launched it at me.  I just left her too it, that laugh of her's goes straight through me!! She can eat it off the floor for all I care!!" 

"Well I'll be damned!!"  Jazz is now looking pretty shocked because I actually did see that in his head ... I really don't know how I've managed to do that, just like compelling them, it is all really confusing me.  Omri saying her laugh goes straight through him made me wander.

"You really HATE her laugh don't you!!"

"Yes, to the point where it nearly drives me crazy and I just want to choke her to shut her up!!"  he laughs then gives me a strange look.

I think that is why her laughter in my head was irritating me more than it normal would. I think I might have been feeling how he feels about it. Like me not having the reflex of trying to dodge the plate, I was seeing it through Omri's eyes not mine ... or am I just letting myself get carried away with this?

"Hang on Jazz ... he can't compel me he's mortal!!"  Omri frowns at me then at Jazz

"Omri, not only can this mortal compel vampberry's and originals, he sees and communicates with spirts and he's just read your mind!! While you was making coffee, he told us about the plate throwing which he saw while you two had eye contact ... I'm seriously beginning to think he might just be the secret weapon that the originals have been looking for!!  If he can do this as a mortal I dread to think what he might be capable of in vampire form!!"

"Jazz ... why are you telling him this ... because I'm telling you now ... I'm not running again, I'd rather live in Comic and Storms world than go through that again!!  I thought the whole point of us running in the first place was to keep me a secret!!" 

I snap at him quite angrily wandering why he is stood there telling this 'new' vampire about what I'm capable of, isn't he supposed to be keeping the secret not telling it!?




"Don't worry Tap ... Omri is one of us, he's bound to me because I'm the one who turned him he won't cross me.  You can trust him with your life which isn't in any danger anymore." 

He starts to explain that he has had to make a few alteration to the den to keep the vampire world away from it.  He says he is too involved with the mortals now to ever go back.  Now that Cosmic, Sunny, my Dad and himself are back together he can't break away again, he only wished that Alpines brain was not damaged because if it wasn't he too would be here with the rest of his school mates. He also pointed out that Omri was actually his childhood best mate back home before his parents sent him away to the boarding school, he is actually his oldest friend, so Omri is no threat whatsoever.

After he was sure that me and River were a safe distance away from Sugar Valley, he reported Celeste and her guards as missing to the Original Council.  After Celeste and her six guards 'mysteriously' disappeared he managed to pursue the Original Council to close down the den making them believe it was too dangerous to keep open.  He told the Council that he thought another immortal race, possibly the wereberrys, are picking off the vampberrys in this area and they were responsible for Celeste and her guards disappearances.  They sent guards to watch the place and Cosmic kept disposing of them until the Council agreed with Jazz's theory's and closed the place down.

All of the other vampberry residence have been moved to other dens.  There is only the three of them living here now Maizie, Omri and himself who are the only ones who knew the truth about what really is going on here.  The three of them have detached themselves away from the pack so to speak.  Jazz is playing the distraught husband who refuses to leave the den delusionally thinking his wife might still come back one day.  Maizie is playing the mixed berry, even though we know she really isn't one, so to them she has no choice but to stay here.  Omri is playing the puppet who is bound to Jazz so where Jazz is he has to be ... the Council have brought there excuses and they have just left them and the den completely alone.  He hopes over time they will forget about them and the den completely.

Luckily this being a colour mix town has helped as it has never been a very popular den anyway because of the colour code which even reaks havoc in the vampire world.  The dens in Cherry Hill and Berry Shores were abandoned years ago as he doesn't think there are actually any mixed berry vampberrys in existence.  The only reason that the den here in Sugar valley has stayed active is because of him and Maizie having ties here and both being drawn to this town, Maizie because of my Dad and River and Jazz because of his school mates.

I am a little amused that all the time that Jazz is talking to me he is avoiding making any sort of eye contact with me.  His eyes are moving around to different points of my face, but he doesn't look me in the eyes once - almost like he's too scared too.


"Maizie is the only bad apple in this camp and the only one we need to be worrying about!!   She's the only one here likely to spill your secret and there is only one reason why I can't dispose of her - River."

"Don't worry about me Jazz, dispose of her - do us all a favour!! That woman is nothing but a menace!!"  River starts laughing.  I wander if he really means that - I could never imagine talking about my Mother like that!!

"Talk of the devil and it shall appear!!" Jazz starts to laughs as he looks towards the door.

 Seconds later the door flies open quite forcefully. 

"Mango!!"  I hear Maizie squeal as she rushes into the room.

Maizie flies across the room and throws herself at River and tries to hug him.  I watch with amusement at the look of disgust which flash across his face as he pushes her away from him.  I know how angry he is with her right now!

"Get off me woman ... NOW you are calling me Mango ... you are a joke!!  Well you can forget it I meant what I said - I want NOTHING to do with you EVER AGAIN!!"

Maizie tries to calm River down but he's not having any of it.  I know he is angry with her for a lot of reasons.  On top of her dumping him on his Grandmother when he was a baby and her keeping him and Dad apart on purpose for the whole of his life ... he also now blames her for everything that has happened over the past nine months of our lives because she is the vampberry who helped Manderine to bring me and Honey here to the vampberry den.  What I think is getting him the most is that he has a son that he has not been able to see yet and he blames Maizie for it.

"DON'T you dare go anywhere near that boy EVER again he is having NO vampberrys in his life, especially not you!! ... Dad and Winter had no right to let you see him!!!  Ocean is NOT your Grandson as you have NEVER been my Mother!!!   He will be told you have faded - just like you will be to me when this is all over - FADED!!"  She made the mistake of telling him she has seen Ocean which set River off into a total rage.

They start arguing quite badly they are slinging all sorts at each other and the air is blue from all the language flying between them.   I stand there like Jazz, Omri and Cosmic, watching with amusement.

I jump when I hear Dad suddenly yelling from behind me.


Maize and River go silent when he yells at them to stop.  I am really surprised that Dad is here and that he knows how to get into the vampberry den.  When I turn to look at him I see he's carrying Crystal in his arms and Mulberry is right behind him.  He walks over to the couch and lies Crystal down.  Maizie starts sniggering.

"Oh here he comes ... I see you've collected yourself another colourless THING!!   Are you sick of your current freak already Mango?!  What's that a younger replacement?!"  she starts cackling almost like Manderine does.  I see my Dads face switch into evil mode.

"Maizie just quit it will you ... you never know when to stop do you!!  ... she is Tapestry's girlfriend if you really must know and you heard what River said ... just leave him alone he doesn't have to listen to your tripe if he doesn't want to!!"

"Oh that's right ... I might have known, this is your doing isn't it ... I should have known you would go poisoning the boy against me the first chance you get!!"  she flies across the room quickly to Dad and starts pushing him in the chest.

"You've done that all by yourself Maizie, you've needed no help from me on that score!!"  he starts yelling at her angrily  "You blew it Maizie with your spiteful game - which you still haven't given either of us a truthful explanation for yet!!"

"I think you know the reason ... "  and off she goes screaming in his face, I heard my Mothers name mentions a few times which makes Dad start to yell back at her.  She pushes him forcefully in the chest again which makes him very angry.

"Give it a rest bitch you know that high pitched squeal of yours gets my back up!!"  she squeals in his face purposefully.  Dad just pulls a face at her and starts to walk across the room like he's about to storm out through the door.

"DON'T you walk away from me Muffin!!!"  she yells which makes Dad spin round angrily. "I haven't finished with you yet!!"

"DON'T you even try to come with all the old crap Maizie - you are over 20 years too late -  I don't have to take your shit anymore!!"  Dad yells back at her "Boy have I NOT missed your whiny nagging face for one second!!"

Maizie grabs the xbox controls up off the sofa and throws them at Dad. I don't believe what I'm watching.

"And off they go!!"  Cosmic starts sniggering  "Boys you are about to be entertained!!"



"Just like I haven't missed your sniveling pompous face!!"  Maizie screams at Dad who ducks out of the way of the controls that fly past him and smash into the wall.  I hear Cosmic moaning about the broken controls that are now lying on the floor in millions of pieces.

"I see your aim hasn't improved any Maizie!!"  he laughs sarcastically "You are still a shit shot!!"  she flies at him smashing him into the wall, she's got him pinned there and their faces are inches apart as they are scowling at each other quite nastily.

"Your pulse is racing again Mango!!"  she starts laughing

"Get off me bitch - Don't even think about trying to play that game!!"  he starts to struggle but she has him pinned against the wall.  I look at Jazz - I think he needs to stop her.  "I've already told you Maizie, not even if my life depends on it!!  You are never getting your claws into me again!!"  he snaps at her quite nastily 

"Oh don't tempt me my little muffin ... you forget, I can now make you do anything I damn well want you to do!!"  Dad suddenly turns his face away from her, I think to avoid eye contact, she starts laughing at him.  "Why fight me when you know it's what you really want!!"

"Dream on Bitch!!  Over my faded body!!  Dad says

"That can be arranged quite easily!!"  she says as she goes for his neck hovering there like she's about to bite him.  I can see her teeth actually touching his skin then she runs her tongue seductively up his neck.   "Better still I'll turn you ... then you will never get away from me!!"  she mumbles in his ear.

I really don't like where this is going!!


Jazz yells at her and she glances quickly towards him. 

"Get off me bitch!!"  Dad takes her by surprise while Jazz has her distracted.  He pushes her forcefully and she goes flying backwards.  "Of course now you are just cheating ... this isn't a fair fight anymore is it!!  Touch me like that again and I won't be responsible for my actions!!"  he starts laughing suddenly  "I'd get away with it too, because the police already think Lime has done you in!!"

Maizie springs to her feet grabbing the candle stick off the table and launches it at Dad, he ducks but not quite quick enough, he calls her a bitch as it bounces off his back and he then flies at her. They are standing there their faces inches apart and start yelling and screaming at each other.  Stuff I'm not sure we are meant to be listening too, old stuff involving my Mother, their past relationship and River ...  I think they must have quite a lot of unfinished business that hasn't yet been sorted out.  Fudge!!  Is this how they always used to carry on ... it's no wander they split up!!  It's probably a good thing that River never saw his parents together when he was younger - they would have sent him deranged!!

Jazz starts laughing at me and River, we are both stood there staring at them wide eyed.  I'm not sure either of us can believe what we are watching ... Dad and Maizie both have a strange look on their faces like they have switched and are oblivious to everyone else in the room as they concentrate on ripping shreds out of each other.  I've never seen my Dad like this before, I've hardly ever seen him have cross words with my Mother ... this is just total madness!!  Has he forgotten me and River are in the room?!  Are they actually flirting or fighting??!!  That's what I can't work out!!

Suddenly it goes silent as they stop screaming at each other after Maizie has smashed Dad into the wall for a second time.  At first I think she might have hurt him by the look on his face, but I'm a little worried that the silence means that she is actually inside his head.

Jazz flies across the room suddenly and drags Maizie off Dad. Jazz looks really angry.

Dad just stands there looking really dazed. 



"Fudge Maizie ... I'm getting sick of this and I've warned you already, don't make me choose between the two of you because you know you'll lose!!" Jazz shouts at her nastily and they start hissing at each other like vampberrys do.  "Try to mess in his head just one more time and I WILL dispose of you!!  Leave him alone and GET OVER IT!!!"  He yells as he drags Maizie away "... go and make yourself useful ... your green pet's cage needs mucking out, she's been throwing food again!!"

Dad starts swearing under his breath after he's pulled himself together and storms out of the room looking upset ... River goes chasing after him.  I go to follow them but Mulberry stops me, telling me to leave them River will sort him out he doesn't need the both of us.  I glance at Cosmic who is chuckling away to himself before I look at Mulberry wandering what he thought about that performance!

"Yes ... hilarious isn't it ... that's how they always used to carry on!!  I don't know how they didn't kill each other!!  Me and your Mother used to be in hysterics watching them perform!   I think it's what they call a love hate relationship, they loved to hate each other!!  Berry knows where River came from!!"  Cosmic is laughing quite loudly and he can hardly talk  "Mulberry sat crying the first time he saw them like this - he was a teenager - but then they did smash up the kitchen in front of him, but he wasn't the only one crying Prelude had only just sorted the kitchen out after your Mother nearly burnt it down trying to cook!!"  he starts to laugh even louder looking at Mulberry who has sat down reading a book and is totally oblivious of what Cosmic is saying about him.

This is just all too weird, watching Dad and Maizie together then hearing Cosmic talk about him and Mom together ... it just doesn't seem right!!  I stand staring down at Crystal, while Cosmic continue to laugh, surprised she didn't wake up through all the racket even if she is sedated.



I sit down on the couch by Crystal and move her head onto my lap while she continues to sleep off the sedation.  I'm really worried about how scared she is going to be and how she is going to react when she wakes up.  While she is okay with me Storm and River, she's getting used to Dad and Mulberry, it's everyone else.  As soon as she sees Maizie Jazz or Omri she is going to freak and probably scream the place down.  I don't think she will even bother about Cosmic, she didn't react to Denims son wandering around the place, spirits don't seem to bother her in the slightest it's just people.

"Cosmic have you seen Honey?"  I ask Cosmic who just frowns at me for a moment then looks at Jazz and Mulberry almost nervously, before looking back to me. Why does he look confused?  I see Mulberry look up from his book.   "Honey's spirit, have you seen her?"

"No Tap we haven't seen her ... "  Jazz says suddenly but I realize he's intensely staring at Crystal with a strange look on his face.  "I think she must have passed straight over."  I stare at him for a moment, something doesn't feel right here.  Cosmic hesitated too much and looks confused, even a little shifty ... why?  Why is Jazz staring at Crystal like that?

I hadn't even thought about that happening ... all the time I've been away I have banked on Honey's spirit being here like Storms when I get back, this has helped to make it a little easier to bare.  Knowing that she isn't here - that kind of felt like a punch in the stomach for a moment.  I stare down at Crystal trying to sort out my feelings.  It makes me sad to think that I am NEVER going to see Honey again and that her life is really over and that she isn't going to be hanging around like Storm, but I'm not going to dwell on it.  I have done my grieving for her a few times over the past nine months, I don't need to do it again!!  I need to try and forget about her and the babies!!  

"I'm sorry Tap!!"  Cosmic says quietly 



Storm comes floating through the wall, stops and stares at me then slouches down on the floor up against the wall and just sits there saying nothing and staring down at the floor.  He looks upset.

"What's up with your face Storm?"  I ask him laughing, he quickly glances up at me then back down to the floor.  I notice Mulberry staring in the direction that I'm staring and he has a strange expression on his face. "I thought you'd be happy to be home!  Have you been for a wander round? Spill the gossip!"  I say to him, he ignores me at first and puts his head in his hands.

"You don't even want to know what's been going on while we've been away!!"  he says not even looking at me.  Hell!!  I really don't like the sound of that!!

"Come on Storm tell me - what's rattled your cage?" I say to him but he just shakes his head and says nothing.  I want to ask him if it's Bayleaf who's upset him but I can't because Mulberry is in here.

"Someone been messing with your grave Storm?"  Cosmic asks laughing  "I've kept it nicely polished for you while you've been away!!"  normally Storm would have laughed at something like that, but he's not amused right now something must have really upset him. 

"Just shut up man!!  You're not even funny!!"  he snaps at Cosmic who is now frowning at him then asks what's up  "Yes I have been to the bone yard as it happens ... so you tell me Cosmic!!"  he says.

Suddenly there is just a blur as Cosmic flies across the room and grabs Storm and pulls him straight through the wall into another room.  What on earth is that all about?!



Why am I starting to get the feeling that something is going on or has gone on that I'm being kept in the dark about again!?  Mulberry is just standing there confused still staring at the spot where Storm had been sat ... he would be confused he doesn't see or hear either Storm or Cosmic. 

"So who's that you've got there?"  Jazz asks really frowning at Crystal, it's almost like a look of great concern now.

"Crystal ... Jazz why are you staring at her like that?"  I ask him because it's now really bothering me, he has been doing it for ages.

"She's silent!!"  he looks up at me and frowns before looking back at Crystal  "I never noticed her silence because of Mango and Maizies carry on ... I actually forget she was there ... why is she silent?"  he frowns at me again  "Move away from her Tap!"  he says so I get up and step away from her thinking I'm probably hiding her like I do with River.  An evil look flashes across Jazz's face as he continues to stare down at her.  He mumbles that he can not smell her or hear anything coming from her at all.  He now looks angry as well as very confused. "Please tell me there are not two of you!!   This is crazy!?  Why the hell is she silent??!!"

"Oh FUDGE!!"  I say and Jazz looks up at me, I really don't like the look on his face.  "She sees and communicates with spirits like I do."  I tell him almost cringing because I never even gave a thought to there being a possibility that she could have been just like me.

"Really!?"  he looks at me thoughtfully for a moment.  "Now I guess we really are in trouble Tapestry!!  You should have warned me she is just like you ... she should never have come here!!"  I can see how angry he is as he glares at me.

"How the hell was I suppose to know ... you forget I'm not a vampberry!!"  I snap at him

"You knew she could see and communicate with spirits, that in itself is unusual for a mortal that should have made you think!!he snaps at me and he's starting to make me snap.

"I'm the thick idiot remember with only half a brain so I don't think!!"  he frowns at Crystal again for a moment.  "and I am not the only one who hasn't been thinking - River and Storm both know she sees and talks to spirits!!"

"You want to HOPE I can get into that head of hers when she wakes up - but I've got a really NASTY feeling she is just like you!!"  he laughs almost sarcastically for a moment  "I thought you was a one off ... now it looks like there might be two of you ... it's pretty ironic that you should find each other!!"



I have to think about this for a moment.  If he can't get into her head then he can't wipe away her memories of our time together in Rainbow Valley.  Crystal knows way too much, she knows we have been in Rainbow Valley for the last 6 months - she knows me, River, Winter, Dad, Mulberry.  I know she kept the secret of my colourless eyes from Denim but I doubt she would even understand or be capable of keeping the last 6 months a secret!!

Oh Fudge!!  What the hell are we going to do if Jazz can't get into Crystals head?


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Omri is a self sim belonging to one of my sim friends from The Simpletons Forum 
Thank you for letting me berry and use your sim Omri - I'll try to be gentle with him!!
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