Fiddling with my necklace, I was standing in the hospital where I spend a lot of my time but this time it wasn't for a class, my mother had been admitted. Dr. Carlisle Cullen arrived personally to help us out. He would be staying in the area for a while. It made me curious and happy that we had all these connections. While Dr. Russell is one of our vampire doctors, he had gotten a little power hungry. He and Dr. Ursa are our top doctors in this area, but Russell think's he's better than all others and doesn't need to answer to anyone.
Yes we do have rules we have to follow because we're living in the human world and I do the best I can like bringing Mama here when we could do this at home, such a simple thing but if the humans catch on then it would be bad for all of us.
Anyway my grandma first met Carlisle when she was passing through Volterra and stopped to admire the village, they became close friends within minutes the friendship was so deep. He delivered my Mama, aunts and us kids so he was the smart choice when choosing a reliable doctor. He was even kind enough to drop whatever he was doing to run all the way up here just to do this.
Nick was sitting on a chair, reading one of Godric's journals, he's been trying hard to focus on school and his other studies, he stopped fighting me on reading the journals and started getting better.
I sighed looking down at the cans of soda in my hands noticing it was trembling a bit. I shook it off, now wasn't the time to let my emotions drop. I needed to be strong, Nicky needed me. I walked over to him and held a can out. Nick looked up at me, taking it quietly, I sat down and opened my own. I took a small drink.
"So what is a cat scan exactly?" Nick asked. "And will it work on us?"
"It's an X-ray" I told him catching the hint. "They detect bone, and joint problems, like complex bone fractures, tumors and stuff like that but I don't know why they're using it on Mama, that's why Dr. Cullens here."
"He was a close friend of grandma's?"
"Yeah really close." I told him. "Grandma and Grandpa got into a fight once and Grandma left him, that's when she met Carlisle and Esther Lovelace, she's Athena's mother. They were like family despite being from different worlds... they both helped deliver all of the babies in our family including us."
"That's kinda cool.." He said making me smile, I put my arm around him and hugged him. I felt my arm hurt, I rolled my eyes ignoring it, I sighed getting up looking at the door marked 'examination room' for a moment before I sighed again entering.
"Hi."
Mom and Dr. Cullen turned, I glanced him over my eyes adjusted to the darkened room. I saw a set of CAT scan images stuck on a lighted wall.
"May I come in?"
"Oh of course honey." Mama told me. "Uh where's Nick?"
"Uh reading I let him borrow Grandpa's book." I told her giving Dr. Cullen a smile.
"Excuse me Cami." Dr. Cullen said patting Mama's shoulder in a friendly way. "I'm just gonna check on the status of the OR"
He walked past me, giving me a gentle look and walked out.
"The OR?" I repeated looking at Mom. "I thought Dr. Cullen didn't use human methods."
"He has to follow their laws, the same as we do, it makes it less suspicious " Mama told me. "He says I'm...lucky there's one available on such short notice. Some people wait for days, sometimes, weeks."
"What did they find?" I asked sitting beside her.
"A shadow. I've got a shadow" She said making me frown, I glanced at the scans. "Somewhere...over there...he showed it to me...they have to do a biopsy to find out exactly what is it."
Mom noticed my face and brought me into a hug.
"Carlisle says it's too early to be concerned." Mom told me, I could hear her voice breaking.
"Right." I muttered pulling back. "Your probably just overworked."
"Just a shadow."
We smiled at each other bravely. I turned to look at the images again, feeling like something dreadful was going to happen.
-----
I sighed finding Nick in an armchair with his head tilted back asleep. I took my leather jacket and draped it over him, just staring at him.
I heard footsteps coming approaching and saw the doctor, I straightened up walking over to him.
"Everything went fine." Dr. Cullen told me.
"Do we have the results yet?" I asked not skipping a beat.
"Just like Anna, straight to the point." He said giving me a small thoughtful smile and gestured me to a chair. "Let's sit down over here for a minute."
He pulled me over to a set of chairs and sat down.
"No." I told him quietly. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but just please tell me?"
"Your mother has...." He told me pausing for a moment before finishing. "Glioblastoma multiform...in short terms cancer."
"what?" I muttered almost whimpering. "how can that happen? how can someone like us get it?, I mean we're not exactly human, not completely."
"I don't know, it's never happened before." He said sighing, laying a friendly hand on my shoulder. "This is a first I've ever heard of any vampire dying this way, Dhampir's are unknown to a lot of us there's a lot we don't know but you know true deaths are different for everyone."
"There's no cure? I mean maybe some kind of special blood that can heal her?" I asked sighing, and glanced down at my hands.
"I'm afraid not." He said making me frown deeper. "I know this is very difficult. It's hard to believe my niece and goddaughter having to go through this."
"What can we do?"
"Make her comfortable."
I stared at him, feeling the tears build up.
"Excuse me doc." A voice said.
I looked seeing Ben.
"But Dr. Isaacs needs your help in ICU."
"Excuse me, Victoria." Dr. Cullen told me, his eyes were filled with pain and sorrow. He gave my shoulder a pat and walked away.
Ben sat down next to me.
"Thought you looked like you needed a break." Ben told me.
"You mean Isaacs didn't need him?" I asked crossing my arms, hugging myself.
"Well, I'm sure someone does somewhere, they always do. From what I know he really is a good doctor. Your mom's in good hands."
"Thanks Ben." I muttered faking a smile, knowing it was a lie.
"Yeah, I'm gonna tell you the same thing. Give yourself a break. Listen, your mom's gonna be unconscious for at least another six, seven hours."
"A break?" I repeated.
"Well, I just mean go out, get some air. Come back later on this evening, talk to the doc then if you want. My unsolicited advice of the day." Ben told me before leaving. I leaned my head back and sighed.
"Vi?"
I looked up seeing Nicky approach and got up to hug him.
"It's bad isn't it?" He asked wrapping his arms around me.
"We'll talk about it later." I told him, pulling back and grabbed my coat, putting it on. "I have to do something."
"What are you going to do?"
"I need to talk to Giles and Buffy, just do me a favor go to school, keep your grades up and then come to the shop afterwards...and I'll take grandpa's journal with me."
"What about mom?" He asked handing me the book, I put it in my bag protectively.
"Dr. Cullen is here, he'll let us know if anything happens." I told him.
He nodded, we got ready and walked out together.
-----
"So I figured there has to be some kind of mystical cure, right? I mean, like a, a potion, or a spell or something. A Dhampir with cancer just doesn't make sense, there has to be something magical...we have to look." I said sitting at a table with Anya, Xander, Tara, Buffy and Willow. Giles was standing, leaning his hands on the table. "Something that can cure a Dhampir....I know Dr. Cullen said there wasn't one but I have to try."
"We can look ... I mean, we will, but ... I haven't seen anything." Willow told me
"The truth is, uh, the ... mystical and the medical aren't meant to mix, Tori. Sorry, um .. .the human mind is very delicate. Too much can go wrong." Giles added
"My mother isn't fully human Giles." I retorted.
"Still." Tara said "I've heard stories about people trying healing spells ... if we did something, it could make things a lot worse, Tori."
"We've done just about enough making things worse for one day, haven't we?" Anya asked my eyes snapped over to her.
Everyone looked at me guilty.
"Why?" I asked glancing at Buffy and then back at Anya. "What do you mean?"
"Uh, nothing. Anya broke a...bippity boppity boo." Buffy said glaring at the ex demon. "A thing. Don't worry about it."
"I did not! I didn't break-" Anya protested.
"Anya, Victoria doesn't need to hear about your...clumsiness right now." Giles told her.
"My clumsiness." Anya said sighing Buffy and Willow gave her a meaningful look. "Like...me. Slippery, slippery...butterfingers."
I gave them a look not believing it.
"What happened and why do I feel like I need to go home before the clock strikes twelve?" I asked looking at Buffy.
"The uh....demon woman was here." Buffy told me embarrassed. "The one who attacked you.."
I looked at them alarmed.
"It's no biggie, she-she just got an amulet and a bloodstone." Willow said.
"That can create a monster." Anya added.
"Okay, biggie." Buffy said.
"Are you guys okay though?" I asked. "I mean no one got hurt right?"
"Oh no, thankfully, no, uh, no violence to speak of."
"Okay, so, that's good..." I asked not understanding why they all looked guilty and Buffy looked ashamed of herself. "How did she get away with this bad mojo stuff?"
They looked at each other in embarrassment.
"Giles sold it to her." Buffy told me whispering, throwing a narrowed look at Giles accusingly.
I looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.
"I , I, I... I didn't know it was her! I mean, how could I?" Giles retorted sighing avoiding us. "If it's any consolation, I may have overcharged her."
"Anya figured out what the demon lady's up to." Tara said making me look at her.
"Yeah, a few thousand years ago there was this cult, the temple of Sobek" Anya said.
"Sobek?" I asked confused. "Reptile demon right?"
"Right." Anya said nodding. "Sobekites were reptile worshippers."
"Just once I would like to run into a cult of bunny worshippers." Xander said causing Anya to get angry.
"Great. Thank you very much for those nightmares."
"Sorry." Xander muttered.
"Anyway, their high priest Khul had great mystic powers. He, um, forged an amulet with transmogrifying crystal."
"Transmogrifying is changing a living thing into a different kind of thing." Willow said.
"We've managed to decipher the markings that were on the bloodstone that I sold - that she left with. Um, cobra. She's going to transmogrify a cobra"
"Okay, so she's making a snake-monster. What for? What does it do?" I asked crossing my arms, I felt like this was formilar a snake demon...coming for me...
"That's the part..." Buffy said clearing her throat. "We're working on it."
"Well, you keep working on it I'll go kill it." I told them flatly and stood up to leave.
"Tori."
"What?" I asked turning back. "I'm going."
"Tor this chick creamed you last time." Buffy told me. "Let me go with you."
"Thanks but last time I wasn't ready for her, I am now." I told her. "Besides you know how I feel about snakes...especially snake demons."
"But you-"
"But what? Buffy?" I asked sighing. "I can't just sit here, I have to do something...can you look after Nick for me? Maybe get Dawn to hang out with him for the day?"
Buffy nodded. I turned walking out.
----
I managed to track the woman in red to the sunnydale zoo. I watched her and another man probably her follower messing with the snakes. I rolled my eyes, I hated snakes. I already took down one snake-demon, do I really have to go through it again.
"Sobek, grant the power ..." The male demon chanted. "that it may mold this wretched creature ... that it may be reborn ... that it may serve ... ah! Dark incantations! Always overwritten!" The demon stopped chanting and looked at the woman uncertain. "Why can't they just cut to the-"
Using their distraction to my advantage, I sped in and tackled the woman, slamming her into a wall.
"Fight?" I asked smirking sweetly.
I kicked the woman in the face.
"No fair- " She yelled, I kicked her again. "attacking-" I punched her in the stomach and then in the face. "When I wasn't even looking!" I grabbed her head and slammed it against the wall with all the force I could muster.
"Ow!"
The woman grabbed my hand, removed it from her head and slammed me back into the wall, I cracked it slightly.
"No, this is no good." She said I rose to my feet, glaring at her and tried to punch her, she grabbed my arm and pulled it behind my back. "I'm out of the moment." She braced her other hand against my shoulder. "and your not giving me anything I can use. Dreg! I'm not hearing chanting."
She punched me in the face and then slammed me against the wall. I was getting tired of this fight.
"Yes, Glory." The demon Dreg said and resumed chanting I looked at the Glory woman finally knowing her name. She lifted me to my feet, I hissed.
"Hey, hey. Work with me here." She told me flinging me backwards against another wall. I growled in pain sliding down to sit on the floor. "There!" She grabbed me by the hair and kneed me in the face, she then pulled me up and flung me against another wall.
"That feels more real, don't you think?" She asked.
I spat out the blood, turning on my stomach in pain. I stared as the Glory woman approached, she grabbed my throat and lifted me into the air. I grabbed ahold of her hand, keeping my emotions masked and just glared at her.
"Even if I do have to carry your performance."
She threw me acrossed the room, I crashed through the snake case, making the glass shatter.
"Scene!"
"Cir hayyan win-hud!"
"Arise." Glory said walking towards the vase. "Arise."
"Cir hayyan win-hud!"
"Arise!"
I watched intently as the vase rocked wildly back and forth. Suddenly it exploded and a creature burst out of it. I stared at it in horror, it wasn't as big as the Mayor-snake but it was pretty big, with arms. It hissed swaying back and forth. Oh why'd it have to be a snake.
"He is arisen!"
"Bout damn time!" Glory exclaimed smiling.
Staring at the monster, I managed to pick myself up, holding onto my wounds, I climbed out of the cage unnoticed. Keeping my eyes on them, I backed up leaving the building and ran towards the hospital.
-----
By the time I made it to the entrance I was fully healed, I pulled out my phone and dialed Giles number and leaned against the outside for a second.
"Magic Box, your one-stop spot to shop for-"
"Giles it's me." I told him
"Victoria! Are you alright?"
"No, I'm really not" I said walking in and sitting down in a seat."I couldn't stop her...I couldn't even slow her down."
"Where are you?"
"Sunnydale Memorial."
"Are you badly hurt? B-buffy and I'll come right over."
"No I just wanted to warn you that thing she conjured." I said wincing. "It's loose...it's a big thing, not Mayor big but it's pretty lethal looking."
"Do you know why she raised it?" Giles asked.
"I don't know yet." I told him honestly.
"I'll warn Buffy and we'll get weapons, we'll fan out-."
"Wait." I told him remembering something. "What time is it?"
"Half past four, why?"
"Schools out, Nick will be on his way to you and Buffy....Giles-"
"Understood, we'll keep him safe here until you arrive." Giles told me.
"Thanks." I muttered quietly. "And Giles..."
"Yes?"
"Nicky's kind of fragile right now, he knows things are bad, he can sense it but he doesn't know what it is." I told him.
"We'll not say a word."
"Well my mom's gonna wake up soon...I should be there..."
"She's in good and loving hands Tori, there's nothing really you can do." He told me.
"Okay bye."
I hung up, and walked off through the halls attempting to without limping. It was healing but it would take a while.
-----
I sat on the bed next to Mama, talking with Dr. Cullen, Mama reacted turning her head towards me, I saw tears in her eyes and moved closer to hug her. Her body was tense and full of sadness. She composed herself and pulled back from me and turned to us with a fake smile.
I frowned.
----
Entering the magic box a few minutes later, a customer had exited holding a bag, I smiled holding the door open. The person gave me a smile and nodded.
I entered afterwards to see Buffy and Dawn yawn, Giles putting on his suit jacket and Willow was at the counter reading, looking tired. Nick had sensed my presence and jumped up to hug me tightly. I rubbed his back soothingly.
"Is she awake yet?"
"Yeah kid." I told him pulling back to look him in the eyes. "She's waiting for us."
"Can we take her home now?"
I looked at him, attempting to smile and sighed.
"Yes." I told him. "We need to talk, go get your stuff."
Nick frowned at that, and turned to gather his stuff, and walked towards the forefront waiting.
I turned to Buffy and Giles, and Will, they gave me sympathetic frowns, I sighed shaking it off and forced a blank face.
"So any monster reptile sightings?" I asked.
"None." Giles said.
"I did a mini-patrol earlier." Buffy told us. "But biggie snake was no where to be-"
Suddenly there was a big sound of glass breaking. We turned seeing the snake creature had burst in through the window. It slithered inside and reared up, looking at us.
I hissed at it ready to fight when it smacked a near by display case with one arm and it toppled over me. I growled struggling to get up.
The snake moved toward Nick who growled as it loomed over him. The eyes glowed red. Nick stared at it and the snake stared back. I finally threw the case off me and got to my feet seeing it turn and slither back out the way it came quickly.
I rushed over to the Nick.
"Nicky you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah I didn't panic." He told me proudly. "I stayed strong and stood my ground"
"Good job." I told him.
"Why was the big snake afraid of Nick?" Willow asked.
I shared a look with Buffy in realization.
"Oh my godric, it knows!" I exclaimed running out after it.
I ran out into the street, stopping to stare at the huge snake slithering down the middle of the street, people ran out of it's path screaming. I took off running after it. Giles and Buffy were behind me attempting to keep up in Giles car.
As we rounded a corner, the creature used it's tail and shoved a dumpster into the car's path. I managed to jump over it and then turned watching Giles swerve to avoid it and crashed into a pile of garbage bags. I quickly ran over to them making sure they were okay.
"I've gotta stop this monster before it gets back to Glory." I told them.
"Glory?" Buffy asked.
"That's what he called her Buffy, She's gonna know Nick's the key if we don't-"
"We will. Go We'll be right behind you."
I nodded, and turned running after the thing.
----
I watched the snake tear down a section of fence covered with a tarp and ran acrossed a wide expanse of grass. I let a little smirk at the chase. The creature knocked over a bike path. I paused to grab a chain link from another second of fence as it fled into a more wooded area.
I growled leaping off a large rock and landed on it's back. I looped the chain around it's neck causing it to rear up and thrashed but I held on tightly. It fought wildly until it's eyes finally turned gray. I let go of the chain, which dropped to the ground.
Buffy and Giles finally caught up to me.
The snake reared up again, throwing me off. I flew off and landed on my back, I jumped back to my feet instantly. The snake turned to growl at me, I growled back and punched it in the face, making it reel backwards.
I jumped on top of it again, punching it in the face, repeatedly. The thing kept thrashing until it finally died. I continued punching it, growling with every blow.
"I...HATE....SNAKES!"
----
By the time I got home, it was dark out, Buffy and Giles were taking care of the aftermath. I was in Mama's room, sitting on the bed with her.
We were talking about telling Nick, although he wasn't going to understand the mating thing he needed to know. We are taught at a young age to about the true deaths. My Mama was dying and there was nothing anyone could do. A Dhampir had cancer, my mama had it.
"You want me to stay?" I asked.
"yeah, I think we should both tell him.." Mama told me.
"Okay." I said nodding standing up.
"Oh do I have bad hair?" She joked putting her hands on her head. "I don't look like a scary mom do I?"
"Of course not Mama" I told her smiling. "You look beautiful."
"Okay. Let's do this." Mom said putting a hand on my arm. "Stay close."
"Always." I muttered, giving her a kiss on the cheek and turned to the door. I opened it seeing Nick standing there, he stared at me nervously and walked over to hug Mom.
I paused for a moment to watch their embrace.
"Vi?"
I heard Mama, and turned walking back into her room. Seeing Nick sitting by her side, I climbed up on the other side and we cuddled into each other for support.
-----------------------
Updated 12/18/2020
Another chapter...so hopefully you like it, I had to change Camillia's illness
And YES Dr. Cullen, no haters! Twilight might not be everyone's favorite but do you realize how hard it is to create something? when vampires have been a thing forever? I mean there are over a thousand Dracula stories that people have kinda overdone in my opinion.! XD
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