Beautiful Nightshade

Chapter 1

"Ankh."

Uncle froze, startling the fourteen men at the two tables he was standing in between. A huge grin broke out on his face and he whipped around beaming. "My sweet Nightshade!"

"Who is that?" Luke gasped as they took in the woman smiling sweetly at Uncle.

She had on worn ripped jeans, well worn high top off brand Converse, and a deep dark purple thin tee-shirt. Her dark brown hair was almost black and she had sad dull dark brown eyes.

"What are you doing here Sweet Nightshade?" Uncle asked as he hugged her tightly. She flinched and winced making Uncle and the men notice instantly.

"I just felt like visiting you for a few days," She smiled at him. "Can't a girl surprise her favorite Godfather?"

Uncle burst out laughing, "I'm your only godfather."

"She's fucking beautiful," Gabe whispered and the rest of the men nodded.

"Ankhy! Ankhy! Ankhy!" a little brunette girl came out mysteriously from behind the woman and clung to Uncle's leg.

"My sweet precious flower!" Uncle smiled as he picked her up and tossed her in the air a few times making her squeal in excitement. The little girl was a spitting image of the woman. Uncle wrapped his arm around the woman and kissed the top of her head. "You know where the spare key is. Once I'm done here I will go to the store and get some food for the both of you since there's none in the apartment. Stay as long as you want, you know you are always welcome."

"Thank you, Ankh," She whispered into his chest.

A clearing of the throat made Uncle turn back to the group and chuckle, "Sorry Boys, this is my goddaughter and her daughter. I haven't seen them in about a year except over the phone. This is a complete and welcoming surprise. My sweet Nightshade, these are my nephews I told you about. Actually, they will be your neighbors."

"They are the ones that take up the rest of the floor?" The woman asked and Uncle nodded. "Hi, I'm Belladonna and this is my two year old daughter Calla Lily."

"Calla like the Greek word beautiful?" A tall man asked and Belladonna nodded. He looked like a Greek god and had an accent that reminded her of some of the Greek shows she use to watch.

"I read about the flowers in a Greek mythology story and looked them up. They are so beautiful and so I named my daughter after their beauty," She said softly as she looked at her daughter.

"Are you Greek?" the man asked and she shook her head.

"No, not that I am aware of," She smiled, "But that doesn't stop me from loving the country and other countries I have fascination with." She shrugged, "Anyway, I guess since we will be neighbors for a few days, I want to apologize ahead of time if she keeps you up at night, she is going through some sleep regression right now."

"It's fine," another man said shaking his head. He had one blue eye and one green eye which she found absolutely fascinating. "We are all up and down all night so it's no problem, if anything our constant coming and going may wake her up."

"I'm sure we will be just fine," She smiled as she took her daughter from Uncle.

"Let me introduce you to everyone," Uncle smiled as he started pointing to the group. "Marc Weiland, Owen Blackbourne, Axel Toma, Brandon and Corey Henshaw, North and Luke Taylor, Silas Korba, Kota Lee, Raven Ravenstahl, Nathan Griffin, Victor Morgan, Dr. Sean Green, and Gabriel Coleman. Come with me, I'll will get you that key," Uncle said and she nodded.

"Nice to meet you," She whispered as she shifted her daughter to hold her better then follow Uncle to the back. "Thank you Ankh," She said as someone leaned against the hall and listened. "I really appreciate this, I promise it's only for a few days."

"I don't care how long you are here," Uncle said as he opened and shut a drawer. "Are you and her okay? I can have Doc look at the both of you without giving anything away, he won't ask questions."

"We are okay this time," She sighed, "I can't stay long. I won't allow him to cause you problems. This is my situation to deal with, I just need a few days to figure everything out."

"I'm always here for you My Sweet Nightshade," he said softly. "For anything and everything."

The person could hear Uncle and her hugging, "Thank you Ankh," She said muffled into Uncle's shirt. "I really thought this one would be different."

"I'm sorry," Uncle sighed, "You will find true love one day when you least expect it."

She scoffed and sniffled, "I won't hold my breath on it." The figure stood and disappeared into the darkness of the back hallway.