*Guys, I am getting insanely excited about this and where I am considering leading it to. Ren has a long road ahead of him, at least for right now. I want to know how YOU think Renier will end up? What exactly he will become in the future? It's hard to tell. I hope you are all enjoying this fanfiction I am pulling together, I really am having fun writing it.*
*Reyes's POV*
There was rustling ahead of me, I heard it in the dead of my sleep. Instinctively, I rolled off the plush bed I was resting on and crouched in my defense, in case I would come face to face with an intruder with ill intent. I quickly scanned the room with a hunters precision for any foreign form that did not belong to the usual surrounds, then slowly moved closer to the end table, where I stored a few of my weapons used for defense. And pleasure. After sliding my hand in the top drawer my fingers almost immediately wrapped around the hilt of a dagger. I slipped it out, the blade held firm in my grasp, and slinked towards the entrance.
There the intruders were. Four figures walked cautiously down the stairs to the base of the entryway. It would be an uneven fight, but I could take them as long as I remained focused. I acted swiftly, and took the smallest, wrapping my arms around.... the female intruder and pressed the tip of the blade firmly against the throb of her carotid artery. She resisted and tried to pull away but I held her still and was just about to deliver the death blow when I heard, "What the fuck, Reyes!"
It was Strider.
Suddenly, I was body slammed and unable to defend myself due to my shock with the encounter. Someone covered me with the bulk of their weight, holding me down. In the split of a second, light flooded the room and I could see everyone who had entered the premises unannounced. Sabin was the person holding me hostage under his weight. Lucien was at the light switch, looking at me with his blue and brown eyes with an intensity that froze the marrow in my bones. Strider was standing in front Danika, in a protective stance, blocking her halfway from my view. And Danika was shaking with a tear stained face, rubbing the side of her neck.... Where I had the knife held.
"Oh my Gods, I am so sorry, Danika. I'm so sorry." I shoved Sabin off me and raced to my woman. Strider stepped out of the way so I had clearance. Danika flinched at first as I approached her, but eventually loosened up and let me wrap my arms around her lean body. We sat together in silence as I embraced her. I kissed the top of her as her shaking subsided and whispered, "I'm sorry." Ever so slowly, Danika put her hand on my chest and pushed me away. My stomach churned until I looked in her eyes and realized it wasn't rejection, it was concern and focus. She wasn't just here to see, she had a purpose. "What's going on? Why are you here?"
She raised her chin and stared me dead in the eye, her gaze stubborn. "You are coming home. Tonight."
At first I wanted to assume she was just joking, but I looked around the room, at the three warriors who accompanied her and realized it wasn't a joke and they would not defend my decision on this. They were her back up. All three of the men were standing at various posts in the open room, focused on their mutual objective. "What? No, you guys all know why I can't go back. It isn't safe, for anyone." I turned my back, to avoid the glare Danika was surely about to try to murder me with, and lowered my gaze, to avoid making visual contact with her army.
"Yes, actually, you will be returning home with us tonight," Danika barked and bounded around to stand directly in front of me. "Look at me, you stubborn, ass." She snagged my chin and directed my face to be in front of her own. "We all know why you don't want to go back. You are afraid to face what happened years ago with your son. But we also know why you need to go home. Your son needs you. More than ever."
"He is better without me," was all I could muster out.
Danika was quiet and I almost began to believe she would throw the white flag, but my woman is stubborn, and as much of a warrior as I am. She will always fight for what she wants and for what she feels is right. She tore her gaze from me and focused on Lucien, who shared her serious demeanor. She nodded in his direction and he moved towards my bed where he tore the pack he was carrying on his back that I hadn't noticed earlier, unzipped it, and poured the contents over the surface of my sheets. "You may not realize it at this exact moment, Reyes, but you will soon. Renier needs you right now and we don't know how to get him through this."
Lucien gestured towards the heap on my bed and then backed away, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to be too close. I took his place on the side of my bed and riffled through the contents. Each new thing I seen made my heart clench with ache more. There was blood. Lots of blood, on linen, paper, pens, and knives. Lots of knives. One knife in particular stuck out to me. I grasped its hilt and brought it away from the pile of biohazards. It was one of my old knives, that Renier had apparently found and decided to make apart of his collection. It was one of my favorite knives to perform surgery on myself with. And apparently Renier had found a liking for it as well.
Renier is inflicting pain and injuries on himself.
My son had inherited my curse.
***
The fortress hadn't changed much, besides the proof of more occupants and families living within it. It had been over a decade since I have last inhabited the building, since I placed myself in isolation.
Everyone, all of my old friends and their lovers, embraced me with hugs of welcome and warm words when they discovered my presence. Paris, even tried to joke with me, but I am not in a very joking mood. Actually, I feel horrible, after the news I had just discovered. Paris, the Keeper of Promiscuity, knows exactly what I know about my son and his current cursed condition. I can tell how he is interacting with me, my old friend is trying to lighten the dark mood I am currently experiencing. When he realizes his attempts are futile he places his elbow on my shoulder and quietly said, "Ren is going to be just fine. All we need to do help him work this out."
"Work it out?" I scoffed. "There is no working it out, this is a curse he will have to live with until the day he dies."
"I'm not talking about a cure, my friend. I am speaking of coping mechanisms, so he doesn't go postal on anyone."
"You think he would? That he is a threat to others?"
Paris considered his words carefully. "I am not saying he would, but with the way he has been acting, I do think it is a possibility." I didn't respond and just sat, thinking about the turmoil my son must be experiencing right now. When I didn't respond Paris tried to recover his words. "Don't worry. Like I said, we all will help him through this. But we cannot do it without you."
"I agree," Danika snuck up behind us. "He doesn't have to face this alone, Reyes, and you are the only one here who knows almost exactly what he is going through, what he is feeling."
I nodded in acknowledgement. "So, where is Renier, anyway?"
Danika's gaze softened a little and she sighed. "He is out with Urban and Ever. I think it might be good for him, seeing something other than the four walls of his room."
"Urban and Ever? Maddox's kids? I haven't heard of them in forever. How old are they now?" I question.
"Are you asking how old they really are or how old they are after Anya tossed them in the Cage of Compulsion and ordered them to grow up a little?" The voice responded with a chuckle. I turned around to see Maddox, the Keeper of Violence, and the father of Urban and Ever. We shared an brotherly embrace and I inquired about their genuine age. "They are both eighteen, a little too old for Ashlyn and I, but apparently not old enough for Anya."
His remark resulted in a short laugh from me.
As if on cue, the front doors of the fortress slammed shut and the twins raced inside the main lounge, where everyone was congregated. Urban was tall, and bulky, with his fathers violet eyes and dark hair while Ever was the spitting image of her mother with honey colored hair and eyes. They almost catapulted into us, but their reflexes are good and they were able to stop before making a dog-pile.
Ever seemed frantic as she asked, "Have y'all seen Ren? Has he came home?"
Urban pushed past his sister as he called up the stairs for my son.
"No, I thought he was with you," Danika replied as she moved towards the half-demon young girl. "He left a note in the room claiming he was."
"He was with us, but Urban pissed him off so he went outside to catch a breather. When I went back to check on him, he was gone," Ever hastily explained.
Urban reappeared, disappointed with the lack of results after he went upstairs in search of Renier. "We've looked everywhere for him. He wasn't in the club or any of the surrounding areas. We assumed he went home but we are wrong."
"Wait, the club?" Danika interviewed. "What club?"
"Uh, Spades."
Aeron, the former Keeper of Wrath, advanced towards the boy, "Spades? Do you mean THE Spades?! Why did you take him to Spades? And why the hell are you going there?"
"What's Spades?" Danika question, concerned by Aerons reaction.
"Spades isn't just a club. It's a bleeder den. They don't just take your blood, varying with what supernatural being are attending that night, they'll bleed your energy, motivation, soul, and even your life. It is a frequent for vampires, some unbound demons, spirits, and there has even been indication that some Succubus or Succubi will attend. It can be very dangerous for someone who is not aware of the dangers."
"I am very aware of the dangers that may lurk in Spades, but I am also aware of the pleasure and fun that it can foster," Urban retorted, getting defensive because of the accusations.
"You may have been aware of the dangers," I replied to Maddox's son swiftly, "but, was my son made aware of the dangers when you brought him there?" Silence. It may be because of my arrival after years of isolation or it was because he never thought to inform Renier of what evil could lurk in the bleeder den, known as Spades. Probably both. "No? So will you please tell me why the hell you took him there in the first place?!"
Urban began with nothing more than stammers, as he tried to form words but couldn't quite reach the pronunciation stage. Finally, he gained composure and said, "He was going through some shit and I thought getting him to have fun would be good for him."
"So you thought that taking him to a bleeder den blind will help him through whatever he is going through? And then you managed to piss him off, so he left, and you can't find him. Do you realize how much trouble he might be in, right this very second?"
"Yes, sir," Urban responded, lowering his eyes in defeat.
No one bothered to intervene until Danika appeared behind me, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Or, Ren could be out, getting some fresh air, trying to gain his own composure. Urban's intentions were good, even if we all see the idiocy in them. He loves Renier as a brother and would never intentionally put him in harms way, I know that for a fact. Now you need to calm down. Instead of tearing the boy a new rear orifice, how about let's join the twins efforts in finding our son. He is out there somewhere and he will not stay away for long."
Danika's demeanor was so calm and collected but I could feel her intense worry for her son, who is out there somewhere.