STEFAN (Completed)

Part 18

Stefan knew the moment Marina died because of their link. She had taken his blood and he had her blood in his system. He greeted her death with mixed feelings. Sadness. Indifference. He had wanted to deal with her in his own way but he had been cheated out of his revenge.

"It didn't have to end like this, Marina." He thought.

If only she hadn't been so stubborn, they could have been together right now in their home. Her daughter would have been his daughter. But Marina had been too stubborn to accept his love. She had chosen Sergei. She had betrayed him. For four years he had been converted to a Renegade toy. They abused his body at will. He intended to make them pay for what they had done to him. Every single one of them and that included the familiar on her way to the basement.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the door was quietly pushed open and closed. He watched as the Familiar made her way in the dark using a pen light. A torch light would have given her away. She cursed lightly as she stumbled over an object but didn't fall. Stefan would have been amused if he wasn't mega pissed.

She was Lorena Banderas, a Renegade with a sick crush on him. She also looked a lot like Marina. The resemblance was uncanny. She had been coming to the basement after dark since his incarceration. She was always hanging around. Her father was responsible for the electrodes on his body. He had watched her help her father there in the basement lab.

It was obvious to anyone with eyes that she was infatuated with the ancient vampire. When no one else was around and she thought that Stefan had shut down his heart and lungs, she would come close to Stefan avoiding his face, not that it was difficult, seeing that she was short. She would come close enough to touch him. Light feathery touches over the planes of his malnourished torso.

She would have died of shame if she had known that he was aware of her touches. She was painfully shy. Once, she had attempted to pull out his stakes and he had growled fiercely at her. He didn't want her close. He knew what she was capable of. He had so much poison in his bloodstream because of her. She might be shy but she was an angel of mercy. She had emptied the contents of a monstrous injection into him with the intention of killing him.

She touched him like she cared and then went back to poison him. She was no better than Marina. It was amazing how alike both women were. They could pass for twins if one were to disregard her height and the scar on her neck. It hadn't been there the first time he had seen her. She must have pissed off an animal or perhaps a Renegade who had shape shifted.

She had covered his nakedness with a scarf when Sergei had left Stefan nude in order to humiliate him. For that, he was grateful. But she had to have an ulterior motive for her actions.

Once, she had climbed up a stool and kissed him lightly on the lips not caring about his unkempt appearance. His skin clung to his back and he didn't look so good. The scent of her blood had intoxicated him. His fangs had pierced her lips and she had drawn back immediately, almost falling off the stool and she had fled the room.

He had got a taste of her blood and it was more potent than any wine. He had to have more of it but she wasn't offering it to him.

He didn't blame her for her refusal because he knew he would drain her without a thought as to her mortality simply because she was a Renegade, and all Renegades, whether mortal or immortal were enemies. She must also know that the moment he got free, there would be hell to pay and the fact that she had saved him would make no difference to him.

She had disappeared for a few weeks after the stolen kiss, returning with the scar. Now, she moved close to him. He saw the book in her hands. She was going to read to him from one of her romance novels. She lifted a stool as silently as possible and placed it close by. She sat quietly, using the pen light to guide her.