DURABLE (completed)

Willingly Stepped Into The Fire

Nikki wasn't human at all! In fact, she was a biogenetically engineered vampire-werewolf hybrid that had been implanted into Sue-Ann Winspere. If he hadn't seen the numerous case files of past and ongoing experiments with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it; but here it was, all laid out for him.

It didn't make any sense though. Yeah, there were several humans, mostly scientists, who knew about the supernatural race but there was no way they knew enough to make a successful clone much less to create one from scratch.

Something was wrong! No human could run this company successfully. It had to be a supernatural, and if he was right, it was a vampire.

During his last meeting with the four seated councilmen, he had noticed some odd behavior. It was only now that he was looking at the information in front of him that he figured it out.

The men were under a powerful mezmur. A mezmur was when a vampire would essentially hypnotize other beings and turn them into puppets. Very few vampires could do this, and if memory served him right, only the oldest of old had truly mastered it.

He had to find out who was behind this. With a quick click, he copied all the files to a thumb drive and continued searching through the mainframe computer. There was something that had been bothering him about P.O.A.H for a while now. Who was the owner?

As he dug deeper, there was a sudden, quick, flicker of light. The computer's camera had been activated! Josiah swore, swiftly detached the thumb drive, and scuttled out the room.

His digging seemed to have tripped some type of alarm. Whoever was behind P.O.A.H did not want to be found. Chances are he had just painted a giant target on his back.

Moss-colored eyes gleamed in the dark as it stared at the photo of the young wolf who had often been used to get rid of his enemies. It seemed that he had slipped up somewhere and now he was being investigated. It didn't matter though; his treasure was almost in his grasp. As for Josiah Walker, his usefulness had come to an end.

*****

When we found Nikki, she was in the stall unconscious. Mrs. Winspere and I managed to get her in the elevator and into their car with little commotion.

I hopped into the car and could tell that Mr. Winspere wanted to stop me but his wife gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head and he stepped on the gas.

Luckily, or so they claimed, we were close to their lab. Within minutes we were able to get her inside and plugged up to so many machines that my head spun.

While medicine was not my forte, there were a few instruments that I recognized, and thankfully the rest didn't look as though they were too dangerous.

In a flash, Mr. Winspere, who I hadn't even realized had left the room, re-appeared over Nikki and stuck her with a giant needle.

"Hey-" just as I was about to voice my alarm Nikki came to with a cough. A look of panic flared in her eyes when she saw her father over her. I quickly hurried over and held her hand. "Hey sweetie, I'm here."

With an audible sigh, she calmed down and sat up. "I'm sorry about breakfast. I have been having-" "Don't worry I already explained it to them." I interrupted and squeezed her hand in reassurance."Yes, Tianna has explained everything. She is a good friend. I am glad you found someone to be there for you when we couldn't be."

Mrs. Winspere' eyes glistened, but I wasn't buying it. Just a few seconds before Nikki woke up; she had shot me a look filled with contempt and annoyance.

Mr. Winspere jumped in, "but, we are here now and will take care of you." I wasn't surprised. Something told me that they would eventually try to get rid of me, so I was prepared. I jumped in before Nikki could say anything that would jeopardize her parents' willingness to help.

"I know we have just met Mr. and Mrs. Winspere and you don't know anything about me, but I have been by Nikki's sides for the last five years and I know everything about her. I can't, in good conscious leave now in her hour of need. I have to stay and support her."

There was a tense silence as Nikki's parents communicated with just their eyes. Nikki looked at them pleadingly while holding my hands in a death grip. After a few more seconds passed, they nodded, and Mrs. Winspere replied, "you are right my dear, and you have been a good friend indeed.

Since you are here, why don't you help us get Nikki situated? We need to take several blood samples and run a battery of tests. We will know in a few hours just how dire her condition is."

I nodded graciously and said thanks but not before shooting her a triumphant look. They may have fooled Nikki, but I saw through their act although I just couldn't understand why they were behaving like this. Even as I sent her that look, I knew they would try another way to get Nikki by herself. A few hours had passed, and slowly the results of the tests began to come back.

At first, they had been excited but as the day wore on and the rest of the test results came in the happiness that had been pouring from them earlier vanished. Although I was talking to Nikki about trivial things to distract her from the constant probes and prick, I was paying close attention to her parents so I didn't miss when Mr. Winspere stepped into the corner and made a phone call.

For the first time since entering the lab, the haughty look he had been wearing disappeared, and he looked anxious. Whoever he was talking to seem to scare him shitless. His lips hardly moved and I realized that whoever was on the other side of the phone was either someone he had a healthy dose of fear of or his boss.

The conversation didn't last more than a few minutes but his dark skin glistened with sweat by the time he hung up. On unsteady legs, he walked over to his wife and whispered something in her ear.

She blanched and looked over at Nikki and then at me. She gave Nikki a blazing look of scorn mixed with triumph but the moment her gaze shifted to me she assumed a sad, lost look.

I could tell that they had figured out how to get me away from Nikki and the theatrics were about to begin. However, since Nikki had rescued me from my husband, Michael, and taken me out of that house, I had found my courage again. She had saved me, and my baby's lives, so I refuse to allow her to be dragged into whatever scheme her parents were concocting.