Chapter Twenty-Three: Cell Life.....May I suggest you don't go to jail...

I was lying on the stone cold floor, my eyes open, but gazing at nothing. The night had passed without event, or sight of human life, well supernatural life.

That vision, both calmed my nerves about the conversation with the Vampire Lord and unsettled me. They truly had thought about giving me up, succumbed to the doubts of having a child. I guess every child wants to think their parents are better than everybody else's.

Had I given up hope relatively quickly about being saved? Yeah, pretty much, I was just hoping that Jake and Chris had gotten away somehow. I hoped Jake would have a long and happy life, even when he was truly alone, without me.

But I had to keep my thoughts from straying back to that particular one, focusing even more intently on the back wall of the small cell. It reeked of mildew, and vines ran up and down the walls. I heard the faint buzzing sounds of mosquitoes past my ears, and I had at least half a dozen bites on various parts of my body. My hand drifted from my side to scratch the itch showing itself on the one on my leg.

I felt dirty, grimy, and well.... Dirty. Sleep that had so far evaded my senses was coming back after hours of nothingness and nightlife. I closed my eyes, feeling the grime in the insides of my eyelids.

It was in no time that another pleasant vision filled my senses, taunting me with its promises of good times ahead.

"Kenz, hurry up, we're hungry," Jake said, but he was fourteen, I shockingly took in his taller more grown up physique. His light brown hair was still in curls, hanging over his eyes, which were slowly turning into a shade of silver, creating a beautiful blend between it and the natural green. His voice was so much deeper than his little four year old one, making me do a double take. I was present in this, like all the others, a lost soul in the middle of a beautiful scene that could have been my life, or was, but I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened.

Then the door opened and Chris stepped in, a little boy, right around five years old, was laughing on top of his shoulders. Chris chuckled as the little boy tugged at his black hair, sticking it up on end.

"Honey, we're home!" he called, and two little girls came bursting in after him, both looking only six, identical from head to toe. All three of the children were tall for the age they were, long brownish black hair that was miraculous in the dying sunlight streaming in from the open window. Their eyes shone with wonder, totally a shade of turquoise that reminded you of the ocean. "Momma, I got you flowers," one of the two little girls said, than ran into the kitchen, the other hot on her heels.

"Hey, hey, hold your horses; I got to get this macaroni out there..." I heard me saying, trying to keep the laughter from bubbling out. The kitchen door pushed open, revealing me with a pan of oven-baked macaroni in my hands, roasted bread crumbs resting on the top. I looked...older, I held myself higher, making me taller than I really was, and the smile that was on my face, I wouldn't have thought that possible from someone like me.

"Hi, honey," I said, and as I watching I looked between myself and Chris, the look that was planted in our eyes, could be described nothing less that totally and irritably in love. I set the pan on the table, all pristine with the cups and silverware set, ready for all of us to sit down and eat. I walked over to Chris and kissed him on the cheek, "Glad your home,"

I put two and two together, and realization dawned on me as I realized me and Chris were married. That was the only explanation, the little children running around us, chasing each other. Was this how my life is supposed to be? I had never seen myself as a housewife, or a mom for that matter. But this, this just fit, I could've have walked into her shoes and felt right in place, in this perfect wonderland.

Eventually all the kids settled down enough to sit down and eat with the rest of us. Jake kept on telling stuff about his friend, Dylan, and how they managed to pull a huge prank on the seniors, to get them back for throwing pennies at them at the penny drive, all the freshman got caught in the uproar. I saw myself looking at him sternly, but their was still a smile on my face, giving me away, "Don't do it again, but I do agree it was funny,"

All laughs and smiles. This is how it should've ended. But I was in a world were my parents didn't exist anymore, my brother and Chris were in mortal danger, and these little children didn't exist. But could it?

I woke up as I heard a crash come down at the entrance of the cell blocks. I scrambled up, pressing myself against the bars trying to see what all the commotion was about. Was it Chris? Had he come to save me? My hopes were soaring, and I couldn't help the giddy smile on my face.

"Drop me, you bunch of crack heads," I heard a semi-familiar voice growl, and there was a responding snarl from one of the guards. Lucy? What the heck was she doing here?

Lucy came into view, her legs swinging up in the air, as both guards struggled to keep her from thrashing out of their hold. A third opened the cell door, and she was thrown in, spitting out the dirt and grime that came into her mouth. She leaped up and was charging for one of the guards; in a blur he pulled out a syringe, the same kind they used to sedate me on the way here. I wanted to yell out, but my mouth was cemented shut.

Then she did something unexpected, she did a baseball move, and slid on the ground between his legs. She jumped up and grabbed his wrist effectively knocking the syringe away from both of them, it rolled towards my feet. She was a blur of fur and anger, and soon all three of the guards were out, permantaly. She was panting and swearing up a storm, but looked totally unharmed.

As she caught her breath, she started to walk towards one of the guards picking off the set of keys from his belt, "Come on, we have to go, now!"

But my feet were planted where they were, "Where's Chris and Jake?"

"Now's not the time..."

"Where's Chris and Jake?" I asked more urgently.

"That's the objective at the moment!"

"Where's Chris and Jake!" I screamed.

She froze, looking me in the eye, there was a hidden type of pain deep in their depths. We stood like that a couple of minutes, before she let out a heaved sigh, "Kenz..."

"Where are they?" I whispered.

"Kenz...... They're dead."