Chapter 42 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

As me and Omri stand in the safety of the corridor, staring out of the open doorway, we are both a little baffled and astonished as we closely watch Shadow playing outside in the sunshine with Cosmic and his cat. 

Shadow had done a disappearing act earlier, we could not find him anywhere, which really panicked us.  We thought he was asleep in his cot, so we took our eye off him for a while, and when Omri went to check on him, he had gone.  After searching the den from top to bottom, discovering where he actually was ... outside ... panicked us even more!!

Shadow had climbed out of his cot, somehow picked the door lock to escape the room he was in, and had then climbed up the main staircase, two flights of stairs, and up onto ground floor level.  Shadow had dragged a chair to the door, which he climbed onto so that he could reach the door release button, and busted himself out of the den, and outside.

The little boy is scaring me with some of the things that he is doing, especially his strength and intelligence, which definitely do not fit with him still being in a toddlers body.

He is not a naughty boy, just a very head strong and inquisitive one.  Since the day that Honey sat him outside in the sunlight, he has not stopped harping on about it.  He has kept on asking continuously to go out in the sunshine, he even says he likes it, even though he keeps on saying that Honey is naughty for burning him.  He did not like the rats out there, but he liked being out in the warm sunshine so he keeps telling me.

I have tried to explain to him so many times, since that day, that he is a vampire and he can not go out in the sun and he can only go outside at night.

I guess he has just proved otherwise!!!

We are watching Shadow in amazement, who is running around outside during the daytime, laughing and squealing like any normal toddler would be playing outside in the fresh air.  The hot sun's rays, surprising, do not seem to be affecting him in the slightest.  Cosmic is outside and watching him very closely, the slightest sign that it is affecting him and he will be straight inside.  He has been out there for over half an hour, that we know to, but still I am not comfortable about him being out there!!

It seriously does not make any sense with him being a vampire, for the sun not to be burning and disintegrating him.  I take a few steps forward, moving out from the safe shelter of the doorway, and stand out in the direct sunlight.

"You crazy fool what are you doing?!"  Omri shouts at me as he tries to pull me back inside.

"Leave me, I want to see how long it takes."  I snap at him

"Sometimes Jazz you are a stupid idiot!!"  Omri snaps at me as he watches me with concern.

I stand out in the strong sunlight, regardless of Omri's protests.  It does not even take a minute before I can feel the sun's rays burning into my skin painfully.  I hold my hand out, the pain of the sun's rays hitting it, is excruciating, and I can actually see the dark smoke starting to rise off my skin as it starts to blister.  Omri yanks me back inside.

"What are you trying to do ... destroy yourself!!  Idiot!!"  he tuts at me   

"Damn that hurt!!"

 Omri grabs my hand and takes a good look at the blisters that have bubbled up on my skin.

"You know that is going to hurt you for days, and it serves you right!!  Don't come moaning to me when you are in agony or your hand drops off!!"  

"Don't be so dramatic!!"  I start to really laugh at him  "Oh Omri sometimes you kill me!!"

"Cast your mind back a few years, that idiot that we had living here, Mars.  He thought he knew it all, especially about dodging sunlight, you remember he was always flitting about in the daytime, he used to come back in some chronic states, sometimes he was hardly recognizable he was burnt so much!!"

"Yeah I remember, he stood in the living room and slow cooked!!  It took him hours to disintegrate while bits of him kept dropping off."  I start laughing again  "It was the funniest thing I have ever seen, especially when he lost his head!!"

"It is not funny Jazz!!  Sometimes the cooking process as you call it, does not stop even after you have come out of the sunlight!!  You saw exactly that happen to Mars!!"

"Chill out Omri!!"  I laugh at him  "I was out there for less than two minutes, a few blisters is nothing compared to what he used to do to himself!!  Man you fuss worse than my Mother sometimes!!"

"Yes mate, and as I remember it, your Mother was ALWAYS having to try and talk some sense into you because of all the stupid stuff you used to do!!"

Omri smirks at me and we both stand there laughing for a while as he keeps giving me sidewards glances which sets him off laughing again.  He is probably, like I am, thinking about some of the stupid stuff that we did as kids.  Generally the stupid things we did were my not so bright ideas that I always used to drag him into, which usually ended up getting us both into trouble with our parents. 

"Talking about my Mother, it is that time of year again.  It is your turn to take a trip out with Cos, to check on our families."  I glance at Omri nervously remembering that I had to come back last time to tell him that his Father had passed away which really cut him up.

"Jazz ... I am not sure I can face doing it anymore!!"  he looks at me glumly  "Why do we do it to ourselves, when we just get hurt every time!?  You know we are going to have to watch ALL of our family members fade away one by one, with our immortal lives, it is inevitable.  My Mother and your parents are getting old and close to their time, we always expect to outlive our parents, but my wife and children ... I could not take it!!  I have been watching you torment yourself over having to live for the rest of eternity without Celeste and it has made me think ... I would just rather not know when it happens, that would just hurt too much!!"  he closes his eyes for a few moments and just stands there, I know he is getting upset.  "We have to live for eternity with our demons and I know mine are never going to leave me!!  I know I will have to deal and accept it one day, but for the next seventy years or so, I can at least hope my children are still happily walking this earth!"

"I guess ... it must be harder for you, I don't have children to worry about."  I smile at him sympathetically and I understand completely where he is coming from.  "You talking about demons ... It is the guilt that eats me up and I don't think it really hit me until we turned you.  I know my parents have always presumed I was murdered because of Ice's statement, even though they only found my blood but not my body, so they have had some kind of closure at least.  However it is you, you are still listed as a missing person, you vanished without a trace or reason.  They are probably still wandering, hurting and looking for you ... we did that to them!!"  I roll my eyes at him  "Sometimes I wander what they must be thinking, it is pretty mad with us being best mates since we were in our diapers and we both just go and vanish!!  Both of our families are probably still waiting for our bodies to turn up!"

"I know, we have the same demons, that also gets to me too!!  Even though they knew I was only given six months at most and I would have been long gone by now anyway.  However, the way we went about it, it is never going to be final for them is it!!  They will have to live with it for the rest of their lives, wandering why and what happened to me."  Omri mumbles miserably.  "I quite often think now, I should have just accepted my fate and let my illness take me, it would have been so much easier for them.  I was selfish and I don't think I will ever forgive myself!!  Like it was not bad enough for them, my vanishing act just made it so much harder for them."

"You should try not to beat yourself up so much, it was my stupid idea and my fault, you should not blame yourself when I did not think it through properly!!  I should have known better, You were not in your right mind, so scared at the time at the thought of fading like most mortals are because they don't know there is another world beyond the mortal one."  I roll my eyes   "I keep trying to tell myself, I know I was stupid, but fate had you running into the immortal me down that dark alley for a good reason ..."

"Yes I guess I could look at it that way, but it will never make it right for them will it!!"  he rolls his eyes  "It is not like we can go back now and fix it ... and I have to admit ... it takes all of my willpower, when I am so close to them, to stop myself from stepping out of the shadows and saying look here I am, I am fine, you can stop wandering and hurting now."

"Yeah I know that feeling ..."  I mumble  "I have been tempted to do that myself!"

"So we are agreed ... no more home visits?"

I just nod my agreement and smile as we exchange a meaningful glance.  We both look outside and stand silently with our thoughts, watching Shadow and Cosmic running around.  They are playing tag which amuses me, Cosmic does not stand a chance even with a head start.  Me and Omri both start howling as we watch Shadow shoot at speed in front of us, catching up with Cosmic in seconds, Shadow grabs his lower legs and rugby tackles Cosmic to the ground.  That kid is just amazing.

"You know Omri, I am beginning to think Shadow is something else!!  He is doing things not even the originals can do!!  Now he is walking around in the daytime like he is a mortal!  He is a day walker like the wereberry's!!"  I laugh as he rolls his eyes at me.  "It's almost like he is half mortal / half immortal.

"I think that sun has gone straight to your already tapped head and puddled it completely!!"  he laughs at me.  "He can't be half mortal and half immortal, he is either one or the other!!"

"No, think about it logically Omri ...."

By rights, Shadow should never have been born.  From the moment the venom took a hold of him, he should have frozen as he was, but he actually grew and developed inside the womb just like a mortal baby, which I never expected.  He is now growing just like a mortal child, which is something that had worried me, I was scared after he was born that he would remain a baby forever!!  He eats mortal food without a problem, he is always downstairs scoffing Limes food, if we tried it we would be throwing up for days, he has not had a bad reaction from the food once, I actually think his body is digesting it.  He sleeps like a mortal, whereas we have not slept a wink since we were bitten.  Then there is his vampire side, he does everything that a vampberry or vampire does, and more ...

"Now he is running around in the sunlight and it is doing absolutely nothing to him!!"

"He could well just grow out of these things when he gets older."

"I am not sure that he will!!"  he frowns at me  "If his body is tolerating these things now, why would it ever change?  He does not even crave blood like we do, he can eat mortal food, and that seems to satisfy his appetite just as well.  It's like he has the best of both worlds.  He can be a vampire or a mortal and survive as either."

"I don't know I would go that far!!"  he laughs at me  "He still has a heart that does not beat, his body still runs on the venom running through his veins, he is a vampberry and I think when he grows up these things might well balance themselves out and he will just be a normal vampberry or original like the rest of us."  he smiles at me  "Don't forget, this is all unknown territory with him being born a vampberry, everything might change by the time is a young adult, you could well just be over thinking everything.

"Omri there is nothing normal about Shadow, he is special ... just look at him for berry's sake ... he is running around in the sunlight, growing, eating, and sleeping just like a mortal!!  He is already showing signs that his vampire abilities are greater than an originals, hell some of the things he is doing, I have never seen or heard of before!!  What is that face touching thing that he does all about?!  He fried my brain the first time he did it to me, he doesn't even need eye contact to get into anyone's head, and he connects physically with spirits for berry's sake, who does that?!"

I point outside towards Shadow who has just punched Cosmic's leg and has the spirit hopping around and holding his leg like he is in pain.  We both stand laughing at them, especially Cosmic who is almost crying like a baby.

"Okay, I guess I can see some of the points you are making."  Omri laughs  "Can you get into his head, because I can't!!"

"No, he throws it straight back at me and laughs while he is doing it, the little monkey!!"  we both laugh  "Just like Tapestry, Shadow has special abilities and I seriously would not be surprised if he has not inherited some of it from Tapestry being his biological Father, who for a mortal is seriously something else!!  It is almost like they both have a foot in both the mortal and immortal worlds, both of them doing things they seriously should not be able to do!!"  I laugh nervously  "You know it scares me, if Tapestry and Shadow do ever get together, jointly I am frightened about what they might be capable of doing together, especially if they get that Father and Son bond going between them!!"

While me and Omri are talking I glance back to watch Shadow and Cosmic.  I frown at Shadow as I notice he has stopped suddenly and is just staring at me.  I wander why he is just standing and staring at me intensely while I am talking, almost like he is listening to our conversation.

"You don't think he can actually hear what we are saying quietly from out there do you?"  I frown at Omri who laughs

"Knowing Shadow, on his current form, probably yes!!"  Omri chuckles

Suddenly Shadow takes his attention off me, he swings round and stands there staring over towards the wall.  Cosmic tries to tickle him and he brushes Cosmic off, and continues to stand there staring.  Something else that he can do that vampberrys and vampires can not do, he can physically connect with spirits which I seriously do not think that I will ever get my head around.  Up until now we have always thought that spirits were the strongest of us immortals, because nothing and nobody can physically touch them.  Now that Shadow can, I am beginning to wander, just exactly what is he?!  As it stands he is already showing signs of being one on his own.

"Gangy is coming!!"  he starts to squeal, then starts to run towards the wall.

I am a little surprised because as yet I do not hear Sunny coming, I frown at Omri who shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, he does not hear him either.  We both stand and listen and it takes another few seconds before I start to pick up on Sunny's thoughts and the sound of his beating heart.  That boy must have heard him coming a good minute or two ahead of us.

"Cos grab him!!"  I shout quickly  "Don't let him see how Sunny is getting in, or we might just have him escaping the grounds completely!!"

Cosmic grabs him and turns so that Shadow is facing us just in time for the wall opening which Sunny slips through quickly before it closes behind him.  Sunny looks a little shocked and I hear what he is thinking as he spots Cosmic stood outside holding Shadow.  Obviously he can not see Cosmic, all Sunny can see is Shadow suspended in mid air, which I should imagine looks a little frightening from his point of view.  Sunny drops the food shopping bags on the floor as he watches Cosmic put Shadow down, who automatically runs to Sunny.

"Me's outside in the sunshine!!"  Shadow giggles at him 

"Yes I can see!"  Sunny replies but he is frowning at me as he picks him up and carries him quickly inside.  I just stand laughing at the concern and confusion on his face and the thoughts running through his mind.  Cosmic is left to bring in the shopping bags which Sunny has now completely forgotten about.

"It seems your Grandson has another mortal string to his bow.  The sunlight is doing absolutely nothing too him."  I hold out my blistered hand to show Sunny  "Unlike me!"  his eyes widen as he stares at my hand then checks Shadows skin which is unmarked, I can hear the panic running through his head.

"You know, he actually feels ... warmer than he normally does!"  he frowns at me as he holds his hand on Shadows forehead like he is checking his temperature.  "I nearly had heart failure when I saw him outside!!  Are you sure the sun is not harming him?"

"See for yourself, he's as happy as larry, he is loving it, his skin is unmarked and he has been outside for over half an hour, whereas, I was out for two seconds and you can see what it did to me."  I start laughing  "The pain was excruciating and I was smokin!!"

"Why take him out?"  he frowns at me  "Why risk it?"

"It wasn't through choice, trust me!!   He escaped when we were not looking!!"  I laugh at Sunny as I point to the chair  "He let himself out, the sneaky little monkey.  I think we are going to have to do something with that door to make it Shadow proof, although I am not sure what, because he even managed to pick the lock to unlock his bedroom door!!"

We walk down the two flights of stairs and corridor quietly as we make our way to Shadows rooms.  I keep myself amused listening to the thoughts running through Sunny's head which are pretty comical sometimes.

"Gangy, what did you bring me?" 

Shadow asks as soon as Sunny has put him down on the floor, he does not generally hold him for too long because he can not take the coldness that comes from the boy.   Sunny has made a rod for his own back, keep bringing Shadow little presents when he comes to visit, now he expects something every time he visits.

"I am not sure that you have been a good boy!"  Sunny frowns at him. "Pulling your little escape stunt!!"

"Me has been a good boy!!"  he says dramatically  "Ask Daddy!!  Me's not hurt, me's not run off or broken anything - I only went outside with my cat, so where is the drama!!"  

Omri turns away and I can hear him sniggering behind me.  I feel like laughing at what he has just said myself, and hearing Omri is making it very hard for me not to join him. What comes out of his mouth sometimes is so grown up and it is very comical coming out of a toddlers mouth. 

"Oh just give him whatever, or we will not hear the last of it!!"  I mumble trying not to laugh  "He has been very good up until his little escape trick!!"

"Yay!!"  Shadow starts to laugh and get excited.

"Granddad will give you your present on one condition!!   In future you ASK to go outside and one of the spirits will take you - it is not safe for you to go outside on your own!!  I am not happy that you ignored me when I said you could not go out!!  Go out on your own like that again and there will be no more presents for a whole month!!"

"Okay Daddy me ask!"  he says quietly then he turns to Sunny  "Me have present now!  Me be a good boy, no more escaping!!"  he grins at Sunny and we can not help but laugh at him.

"Shadow how did you open your door when it was locked?"  I frown at him.  He giggles as he pulls a key out of his pocket.  I frown at him as I check my pocket, it is not my key.  "Where has this key come from?"

"Honey gives it Lime."  I am shocked for a moment and ask him how he has it.  "She did not want it, Lime asked me to give it to you, but me forgets."  I ask him how long he has had the key and he just shrugs his shoulders.  I think he must have had it for a day or two because Honey has been locked up since yesterday.

"I am seriously going to swing for Honey!!"  I snap at Sunny.  "You see, this is the sort of shit we are having to put up with ALL the time ... Honey gave Lime the master key for berry's sake, she could have just walked right out of here if she had a mind to!!  Your daughter will be lucky to see this year out, I am seriously losing my patients with her antics!!"

Sunny just stares wide eyed at me but does not say anything because Shadow is now pulling on his hand waiting for his present.  Sunny laughs at him as he pulls, what looks like, a brand new PSP out of his pocket and hands it to Shadow.  He tells him there are two games with it and next time he comes he will bring him some new games.  I am surprised because he usually only brings him small things.

Shadow starts squealing when he takes the PSP off him, and starts to inspect it, he tries to press a few buttons then the smiles drops off his face.

"Not a phone!!"  he pouts  "Me wants a phone!!" 

I laugh at Shadow, he must have thought Sunny had brought him a phone.  My hand automatically flies to check my pocket and am happy to feel my own phone still safely in it's place.  Shadow is very good at swiping my phone without me even realizing it.  Sunny also checks his pocket as he laughs, he must know exactly what I am thinking.

"And why do you want a phone Shadow?"  Sunny laughs at him

"Me wants my own phone to talk to my friends!!"  he mumbles sulkily.  I can see he is not very happy as he stares down at the PSP that is sat in his lap.

"You mean you want a phone so that you can pester me with a thousand phone calls a day, more like!!"  Sunny laughs  "I am sure your Dad agrees with me, you are no where near old enough for a phone yet!!  When you are a bit older then we will think about it!!"  he frowns at Shadow then  "Besides all your friends live here, so you do not really need a phone do you Shadow!!"

"Me is old enough!!  I can read and count and me knows how to work a phone easy."  I can not help but laugh at some of the the things he says sometimes  "Me wants to speak to Tappy, he is my friend!!"  

"Your cat does not have a phone Shadow!"  I frown at him wandering why he keeps on insisting about talking to Tappy on the phone, he has mentioned it a lot lately and it is really starting to bug me.

"No not that Tappy silly!!   Do you not know yet that cat's do not talk!!"   he says with attitude almost like he's the adult and we are the children.  "Me wants to talk to T a p e s t r y!!

"Oh fudge!!"  Sunny chokes

Hell!!  All this time I thought he was talking about his cat and he wasn't!!  I just stand and stare at Shadow who now is fiddling about with the PSP and trying to fathom how it works.  I stand quietly and watch as Sunny shows him how it works and how to put the game disk in.  When Shadow is happily playing away on the game I pull Sunny to one side, out of Shadow's earshot, not that it makes much difference, he can probably still hear us as well as hear Sunnys thoughts anyway.

Probably one of the biggest mistakes that we have made, is having Sunny around Shadow, the boy is capable of reading his thoughts and picking through his head to find any information that he wants.  By the time I realized how stupid I had been it was too late to part them, especially for Shadow. 

"I AM going to swing for that daughter of yours, this is all her fault!!  I knew we would not get away with her letting Shadow see Tapestry!!  I hoped he would just forget about Tap after a while!!"  I roll my eyes at Sunny  "Obviously he isn't forgetting him is he!!"

"Well I did warn you not to let him keep calling that damn cat Tappy didn't I!!"  Omri scoffs  "I told you this would happen!!  He is never going to forget that night in the cemetery when he named the cat after him!!"  he laughs then  "Storm is not helping either!!  I caught him and Shadow watching the music charts on the television the other day, of course Tapestry's song came on, Shadow recognized him straight away!!  I suspect it is not the first time that Shadow has seen Tap on the television either because he knew the other guy with him was called Rocky!!  Plus Shadow sat there singing the song like he had heard it before!!"  he pulls a face  "Storm did not act like he knew Tap, but he still let Shadow sit there watching it when he knows he saw Tap in the cemetery!!"

Sunny had brought the cat for Shadow a few days after Honey had let Shadow sit talking to Tapestry in the cemetery.  Shadow insisted he wanted to call the cat Tappy and he turned away every name that we tried to suggest for the cat, our favourite being Marmalade but Shadow wouldn't have it, even when we started to call the cat Marmalade, Shadow continued to call him Tappy, and we eventually gave up.

Now I hear that Shadow is seeing Tapestry on the television ... trying to keep Shadow and Tapestry apart, I can see now that this is turning out to be a total nightmare.  I am now seriously at a loss about what to do to avoid the car crash that I can see is heading in our direction!!  I get a horrible feeling that Shadow is not going to let this drop until he gets to Tapestry.  Here was me, when all this started, thinking that it would be Tapestry who would be the problem and it would be him we would struggle to keep away from Shadow.  Thanks to Honey Shadow is the one, and I seriously would not be surprised if he does not already know that Tapestry is his real Father.

"Where is Honey anyway?"

"Oh so finally you remember to inquire after that nightmare child of yours, that you have lumbered me with!!"  I laugh at him sarcastically.

"What has she done now?"

"She is locked in her cage, you might guess, she has been playing up again.  She has been hanging around Mango's house again stalking Tapestry!!  Like an IDIOT Storm told Honey that he was home from his travels!"

"I'm sorry!!  I rue the day I made you turn her ... I know I should have just let her go like you and Mango begged me to!!"  he frowns at me  "I don't get why she keeps doing it, she says she has no feelings for Tapestry and it's not like she is interested in Vanilla, so why does she keep stalking him?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I have tried talking to her about it, but all I get is attitude!!"  I mumble  "I have a sneaky feeling it might actually be Crystal that she is trying to get her hands on not Tapestry!"

 "She had better not!!  I have only just found my sister, if Honey does anything to Crystal, I will be disposing of her myself!!"  Sunny snaps  "Oh berry!!  Wait until Honey finds out Crystal is pregnant and Tap and Crystal are getting married.  I am not telling her because I know it is just going to send her off on one!!"  Sunny mumbles  "Quite frankly, she scares the hell out me when she roars!!"

"SHE is going to blow this whole thing apart, I can see it!!  The way she is carrying on someone is bound to see her eventually"  I pull a face at Sunny  "I think she has also already done too much damage, letting Shadow see Tapestry, and it is only a matter of time before this blows right up in our face!!"

"Tapestry does not have a clue still!!  He has gone very quiet about the night in the cemetery, he does not even mention it anymore.  I think he has brought the drunken hallucination and has forgotten about it."  Sunny mumbles

"Well I hope you are right!!"  I smile at him  "Are you still up to watching Shadow later?  It is River night tonight and I need to get out of here for a few hours before I go totally crazy!!"

"Yeah, I have got the rest of the day, I might even stay over."  he smirks at me  "I have told Ruby I'm going over to Apple Falls to spend the day with my parents.  I am not sure she actually believed me, she knows I am hardly speaking to them at the moment."  he laughs  "I swear she thinks I am having an affair!!"

"Omri ... Lime is hungry, she wants her dinner."  Shadow says suddenly

  

"She wants maccy cheese."  he grins at me  "Me go see Lime now."

"Oh she does does she!"  Me and Omri both start to laugh at him.

I think he is just being crafty, he wants macaroni cheese and he is using Lime as an excuse to get it.  Shadow knows I always moans a little when he asks for food instead of blood, not that I don't want him eating food, but because I worry that he is not taking in enough blood which in my mind is what he is supposed to be surviving on.  I can not hear Lime from up here so I doubt that he can.   I hear a thought flash through Sunny's mind at the mention of macaroni cheese which amuses me.

"Omri I think Lime Sunny and Shadow want mac and cheese for their dinner."  I smile at him  "Don't forget Shadow's blood, he will be drinking that before he eats any maccy cheese!" 

I hear Shadow start grumbling a little, which I thought he might, he is always telling me blood is yucky and he prefers the taste of food.

"Don't forget my choccy puddin!!"  Shadow grins at Omri 

"Blood, macaroni cheese and choclate pudding, you are going to have belly ache!!"  Omri laughs as he starts heading for the door.

Shadow puts the PSP down on the floor and wanders off over to the television and turns it on.  It did not take him long to get fed up with that!  He plonks himself down on the floor and start flicking through the channels on the remote until he finds the music channel.  He sits there singing away to the song that is on, I think we can already see that he has inherited Tapestry's musical talent.  Shadow is always singing and is obsessed with music.

Now I am not happy about Shadow watching the music channel knowing any moment Tapestry could pop up on the screen for him to see.

I decide to take him away from the television and I have the perfect excuse taking him down to Limes cage where he wants to be anyway so he can help her eat her food.

"Where is Maizie, I have not seen her for a while."  Sunny asks me as we are walking down the stairs, distracting me from my thoughts.

"She's running the sewers with Saffy during the day time."  I roll my eyes  "At night me, Cos and Omri have to run the town.  The Raspberry Hill, Apple Hill and Sugar Falls lot keep coming into town, you would be wise not to let your kids out after dark!!"  I pull a face at him  "They think Sugar Valley is easy pickings now that this den is closed down.  They do not realize there are three of us still living here."

"Why not just go and tell them and warn them off." he frowns at me 

"We can't!!  We want the immortal world to forget the three of us exist, and we can't go advertising the fact that we are still here.  They don't know that Honey and Shadow exist and we don't want them making unexpected visits.  The moment any of them spot Shadow, we will be in trouble and have the originals on our back - they will probably try to take him."  I can see the panic on his face as well as hear the thoughts running through his mind  "Once he is a young adult, then we won't have a worry, he will just blend in with the rest of us and they will never know he was born and grew up being a vampire."

As soon as we reach the bottom of the basement steps Shadow demands to be put down.  He amuses me as he shoots across the room to the cage then squeezes himself through the bars in the door, which he can just about fit through, making a beeline for Lime who is sat reading a book.

Lime puts her book straight down and picks Shadow up and starts to make a fuss of him.  Sometimes I think that Shadow prefers Lime over me, and that she is his favourite person in the world. He would live down here with her if I let him, but I think she is the only Mother figure that he has in his life and has become very attached to her.  Honey and Maizie both avoid him like the plague like they can not stand the sight of him and have as little to do with him as possible.  I have already had Shadow asking me why I keep her locked up down here which was a pretty awkward conversation.

It is pretty amazing how Lime has changed with time, it is very rare that I ever hear any of her evil thoughts running through her mind, even when I am hidden from her sight and she does not realize that I am listening to the thoughts running through her head.  Really the only time I ever hear anything nasty it is usually directed at Honey, who is just as nasty in return.  She has totally fallen in love with Shadow, and he seems to have helped to mellow her into a better person.  Even Storm has started to sit down here watching her, I think Lime is slowly starting to grow on him.

I have spent a lot of time down here with Lime since Shadow has been visiting her and we have talked a lot.  I even think she regrets her evil past and is happy down here and does not resent being locked up here any more because she knows this is the far better option, she would rather this than a lifetime in prison and I think that Shadow has a lot to do with her happiness.  Her cage door is no longer locked, she has free run of the whole basement when she wants it, so that she is not totally confined to her cage, not that she ventures out very often.  It is the door at the top of the basement steps that we now keep locked.

I think about the key that Shadow just handed to me.  Lime could so easily have opened the basement door with that key.  I need to ask her about it.
 

Lime starts to smile when Omri walks through the cage door carrying a tray which contains, a large bowl of macaroni cheese, Shadow's blood and chocolate pudding, which he places down on the table.

"You must have read my mind!"  she laughs  "I was just thinking a while back that I fancied mac and cheese for dinner."

"No Shadow did the mind reading!  He told us what you wanted for dinner." 

I laugh at Lime as I take Shadow off her.   I frown at Shadow for a moment, wandering just how far he can actually hear as I place him in his high chair.  It is a lot damn father than I can hear, I know that much, he has shown that a few times today.

It goes pretty quiet while Lime, Sunny and Shadow start to eat their food.  I glance over to Honey's cage and see she is standing by the bars just quietly watching and listening to everyone, while she drinks the blood that Omri gave her when he first came down with the food.  I can see the scowl on her face and doubt she will be quiet for long.  Sunny and Lime, distract me away from Honey, when they start to chat quietly among themselves about the up and coming wedding of his Son Carmine and her daughter Fern.  I hear him promise to bring in the wedding photographs for her to see, then the conversation moves onto Parsley.

I watch with amusement, standing here now watching them, especially Lime, it is hard to believe that she is the same person that we went to school with, the vindictive evil bitch, that did not have time for idol conversation, because she was always too busy bullying and being mean to everyone.  I forget sometimes about all of the things that she has done to us all, especially that it is her fault that I now have this immortal life, because of the new person that she has become.

"That's it you lot just ignore me like total morons!!  While you play happy families over there and I'm left locked up in this stupid cage a lone!!"

 I wandered how long it would be before Honey started.  We all just stare over at her, none of us saying anything.  It is not like she would want to be in here with us anyway, she always wants to be as far away from Shadow as possible and Honey and Lime do nothing but fight.

"Dad help me!!  You need to tell them, they can not keep locking me up in here like I am a naughty child!!"

"Oh suddenly I am your Dad again ... when you want something!!  I am usually the interfering berry hole stinking up the place remember!!"  Sunny snaps at Honey  "You are locked up because you are behaving like a naughty child Honey, when you start behaving like a grown up and stop playing your stupid games, Jazz will let you out!!"

"I might have known you would take his side!!"  she snaps  "You have always been a SHIT and rubbish Dad!!"

"It's not a matter of taking sides!!"  Sunny almost yells at her  "You are a liability, with whatever stupid game you are playing!!  Stalking Tapestry and hanging around Mango's all the time ... the way you are carrying on you are going to be seen by someone, which will ruin a lot of peoples lives especially your Mothers!!  It will destroy her if she ever found out the truth."

"I couldn't give a shit about that red slut!!"

"WELL I DO!!!  And that is exactly why you are stopping in that cage, because you can not be trusted to act like a grown up and follow a few simple requests that are not even unreasonable!!  Even Shadow is better behaved than you!!"  Sunny yells at her  "Just don't talk to me Honey, until you have a civil tongue in your head, especially if you are going to talk about your Mother like that!!"

"Fine!!  You bore me anyway!!"  she snaps.

"Jaaaaazzzzzz"  she says suddenly in that horrible sickly seductive voice of hers, which means she only has one thing on her mind, sex.  She used to use it to manipulate me to get what she wanted, and like a fool I used to fall for it all too easily, but not any more!!

"Forget it Honey!!"  I snap at her while Omri sniggers, he knows what game she is trying to play, because I have moaned enough to him about it, especially when I know I have stupidly fell for it!!  "You have not got a hope in hell!!  I can hardly look at you because of all the headaches you are giving me, I think I would rather have Lime mauling me right now."

"Yeah I bet!!  I can see she's realing you in slowly!!  You want to watch that green bitch Jazz!!  This goody two shoes act of her's is all fake to fool you!!"  Honey switches  "She forgets I can read her mind!!  She is always plotting in her head to escape and expose you all, when you are not around to hear it!!"  Honey spits out nastily  "I would watch your back because one of these days there will be wood stuck in it!!   She's planning to do one and take your precious brat with her too!!"

Lime just stares at me as I stare at Omri while we listen to the thoughts rampaging quite loudly through her head.  I kind of laugh a little at what actually is going through her mind, that if she ever manage to get her hands on some wood it would not be my back she would stick it in, it would be Honey's!!

I think about the key.

"Seriously Jazz I have not!!  She is talking crap!!"  she says calmly when I turn to look at her.  "I think you know I am actually quite happy now being here, well I was until you started locking her up down here!!"

"Why did you give Shadow the key, why not give it me, or Omri yourself?"  I ask her

"I would have if either of you had come to collect him, but you sent a spirit.  I can't talk to them can I, so I told Shadow to give it to you."  she answers without hesitation.

"When did she give you the key?"  she tells me three days ago  "Why didn't you keep, hide and use the key to get out of here?"

"I would be pretty damn stupid to swap this life for a prison one and I think you know it!!"  She smiles at me  "I gave the key to Shadow because I wanted rid of it straight away, just in case she went running straight to you and you found it in my cage and believed her crap!!  I guessed she was up to something."

Honey stands in her cage cackling like a witch. I can tell that it is Lime who is telling the truth and Honey is the one lying.  This is why Honey gave her the key and she is just trying to stir up trouble, as usual.  I swear she thrives on it just like Lime used to.

"I believe her!"  Omri mumbles

"Yeah so do I!"

"Don't you listen to her Jazz, you are stupid if you do!!  She is an evil conniving bitch!!"  Honey yells.  "She stole that key off me!!" 

"SAYS YOU!!!"  Lime jumps up and yells across the room.  "And just how did I manage to do that mind reading vampire, when I am locked in this cage?!  You are ten times stronger than me and I am not superwoman!!"  she laughs sarcastically  "You need to come up with more believable stories if you are going to play stupid games child ... especially with me!!"

"Honey BIG FAT LIAR!!"  Suddenly Shadow pipes up  "Me sees Honey do it!!  She throws the key in the cage and tells Lime to let herself out and do one!!"

"Oh see, now she has brain washed my kid!!"  Honey yells

"Your kid!!  Call yourself a Mother ... YOU ARE A JOKE!!"  Lime yells back.

Away they blow!!  Honey and Lime start yelling and screaming at each other, the old Lime and especially her viscous tongue comes out and she gives Honey as good as she is getting.  Women are suck vile creatures when they are bitching, especially these two!!

"Me no like Honey!!  She nasty liar!!  I want Lime to be my Mommy not HER!!"  Shadow says as he shuts himself inside his toy box, slamming the lid shut quite violently.  I do not know whether to laugh or cry!!

"I think it is cage building time again."  Omri mumbles to me  "I think these two need separating!!  This is not good for Shadow to have to listen to and it is upsetting him!!"

"I know!!" 

I stand and watch as Lime and Honey yell abuse at each other.  I knew with Honey being turned that this situation was going to be hard ... but I never expected it to be this bad!!  With her losing all of her mortal emotions, it has turned her into an uncontrollable monster and this into an almost impossible situation to deal with.  In normal circumstances I would just have disposed of her to rid us of the unnecessary problems that we are having to go through.  It is only her being Shadow's Mother that is saving her skin, I do not want him to hate me when he is older.  She has pushed me so far that not even Sunny's friendship is enough to stop me from disposing of her anymore!!

I should have stood my ground when Sunny was in front of me begging me to turn her instead of not doing what I knew was best, letting her go.  I notice Sunny is just sitting silently watching all this and does not say a word, he is not even trying to shut Honey up.

This whole Tapestry Shadow situation and keeping them permanently apart, has been made impossible by her.  If we had continued as we started and meant to go on, his name would not ever have been mentioned again down here, for Shadow to hear.  As I stand here now I hear it being slung about by both Lime and Honey, and think about how many times I have said it myself today.  I realize it is constantly being heard by Shadow and we are fighting a losing battle, he himself has Tapestry's name etched into his brain. I have seriously made a right balls up of this!!

Cosmic and Storm come floating down the stairs laughing

"I love a good cat fight!!"  Cosmic laughs  "We can hear the squealing from upstairs!!"

"I thought I had better warn you, Tapestry is going with River to your hide out tonight to see you and Omri."  Storm smiles at me.

Suddenly the lid springs off Shadows toy box and he pops up.

"Me come Daddy, me want to see Tapestry!!" Shadow says as he grins at me  "He's my friend!"

"NO!!  You can not see Tapestry!!"  I shout at him quite sharply. 

I can see that I have now upset him, it is not often that I ever have to shout at him and he does not like it when I do.  Lime stops yelling at Honey and rushes over to pick Shadow up, she just glares at me like an over protective Mother would.  I just put my head in my hands while I am shaking my head.  This situation is getting to me that much, now I am taking it out on Shadow when I should not be!!

"I am Sorry Shadow!!  Daddy didn't mean to shout!!"  I smile at him  "We will talk about you seeing Tapestry later!"

"Oops Sorry!!"  Storm mumbles as he stares wide eyed at Shadow and covers his mouth.

Storm starts to mumble his apologies, he thought that Shadow was asleep upstairs seeing as he could not see him.  I tell him to shut up and forget about it, he was not to know he was hiding in his toy box and the damage was done way before he just opened his big mouth!!  Everyone just stands staring at me, they can see I am getting angry.

I tell Cosmic and Storm to take Honey up to the cold room, out of my sight, and to lock her in there and guard the door while I work out what we are going to do with her. 

While the spirits are wrestling with Honey, I watch Lime as she sits down on the floor with Shadow and they start to read a book together.  Shadow is reading Lime's book to her, and it is not a children's book that he is reading either.  He is pretty amazing for a toddler, he can read any book in the book case perfectly, whether he actually understands what he is reading is a different matter.

"Can you move her out of the basement, or put a brick wall up between us, so me and Shadow do not have to see or hear her!!"  Lime asks as she looks up from the book.  "I am sick of her upsetting him!!  She says some vile things to him when you are not around!!"  she pulls a face  "Just please don't stop Shadow from coming down here because of her!!"

I stand and smile down at her for a moment.  I had not thought of that, building a brick wall.  I was only thinking about building another cage somewhere else in the den well away from this basement.

"Actually that is not such a bad idea!!"  I smile at Lime who looks worried for a second and I hear what flashes through her mind.  "I think that is exactly what we will do, build a wall between the two cages."   she smiles with relief, she thought I was going to stop Shadow from visiting her.  "However, I am going to to stop Shadow coming down here, but only until the wall is built."  her face drops a little  "I think you know yourself, he should not be around this!!  Hopefully it should only take us a few days to get that wall up - I want this headache over as quick as you do and I think you know Shadow will be giving me a headache over not coming down here!!"

Lime is not happy about the few days break away from Shadow, but she understands why I have to do it.  Sunny is starting to irritate me when he continues to ignore the commotion going on and shows no concern while Cosmic and Storm drag Honey up the basement steps.  Instead he mutters  "Peace at last!!" then turns on the television and he lies down making himself comfortable on Limes bed.

Suddenly I start to get really narked, his daughter is causing us a right nightmare and he is kicking back on the bed like he doesn't have a care or worry in the world!!  He is not the one having to constantly deal with all his daughters shit ... I am!!  It is his fault that she is here at all, in vampberry form!!

"Make yourself at home Sunny like you don't have a care in the world, while you leave me to deal with your headache!!"  I snap at him sarcastically  "Is the bed comfy enough for you, would you like me to fetch you another pillow?" 

"No I am fine thanks!!"  he mumbles without taking his eyes off the screen.  I think he is only half listening, engrossed in the TV program that he is watching, he does not even react to the sarcastic tone in my voice.  Sometimes he is a joke!!

"I would take your shoes off mind, or you might have the Mrs yelling at you for dirtying her clean sheets."  Omri starts sniggering.

"No he can keep his shoes on!!"  Lime snaps  "I am used to him messing up my sheets, which I would much rather he did than having the stink of his feet!!  Have you smelt his feet!!"

"Oh so that is what you two get up to when I leave you alone together down here!!"  I laugh  "Messing up the bed sheets hey, you kept that one quiet!!"

"Grow up Jazz!!  Me and Lime are you having a laugh!!"  Sunny snaps  "Shadow is always here with us remember!!  She reads and plays with him while I relax and watch TV.  It is the only time I get any peace and quiet to watch the television without having my head pecked!!"  he pulls a face at me  "Compared to my house, it is peaceful and cosy down here, I do not know why Lime is always complaining."

"When was the last time you actually heard me complaining Sunshine?!  You are the only nag around here!!"  she snaps  "If it is so bad at home and you like it so much down here then you are welcome to it!!"  Lime laughs sarcastically  "It was nice and peaceful until your yellow brat moved into the cage next door!!  I am sure Jazz can find you a bed, then maybe you might try controlling that nightmare brat of yours!!"

"There you go Sunny, Lime just offered to share her pad with you!!"  I laugh at the pair of them who are both pulling faces at me  "We can get that bed changed for a double one in a flash if you want, and I am sure the wife won't mind sharing you!!  After all she is very caring and sharing herself, as I remember!"

Sunny cuts his eyes at me, he hates it when any of us remind him of what the three of us used to get up to at school with Ruby.  I know he doesn't like it but I feel like digging at him right now!

"Daddy can I have a school bike?"  Shadow suddenly asks innocently  "Me can rides it outside in the sunshine."

"OH BERRY!!!"  I choke

Sunny lies there frowning while me and Omri just fall to pieces and howl in hysterics because we heard what Lime was just thinking.  Shadow has obviously just picked up on the word bike, because Lime was thinking about Ruby being the school bike.  Of course Shadow is thinking of a bike with wheels, he does not understand what the term 'school bike' actually means.

"Shadow your Granddad is the best one to ask about school bikes"  Lime smiles at Shadow, I don't know how she is managing to keep her face straight.

"Gangy can you get me a school bike?!   I don't want a red bike called Ruby like yours."  Shadow mumbles  "I want an orange one!"

"What the hell have you lot been telling him!?"  Sunny snaps quite nastily as he sits bolt upright.

"Nothing!!"  I can hardly speak for laughing as I point at Lime  "He heard what she is thinking!!"

"I was just thinking about Ruby, the red bike that you all used to have so much fun riding all around school until you broke it when that rubber thing burst!!  That's all!!"  Lime says trying to look innocent.  Sunny just scowls at her in response. 

What she has just said totally cracks me up!!  Especially as all she actually thought was "Oh yes I remember Ruby, Sunny's red school bike."

"Naughty me, I forgot for a second that Shadow is listening to my thoughts.  I doubt he really wants to hear about how his Granddad was naughty at school and broke the school bicycle" Lime smirks  "You spoiled the other boys fun when the bike was sent away to be fixed!!  They really enjoyed riding that bike!!" 

"Just shut up Lime you are not even funny!!"  Sunny snaps at Lime nastily.

Lime suddenly starts thinking loudly.  "Shadow you should ask your Grandad to get you a town bike instead, they are better than school bikes.  Strawberry Tart is a nice name for a town bike."

"There isn't any Gravel outside is there Jazz?"  Lime says out loud as she smirks at me  "We wouldn't want Shadow to get hurt!"

"Lime Stop ...."   I am now double over and can hardly breath, I feel like my sides are about to split open.  I can't believe she even worked Gravel into it!!  Even though Lime has never met Strawberry, she does not like her very much, mainly because Sunny has stupidly filled Lime in on what his daughter has done to her son, Parsley.

Lime starts to crack up with me and Omri, while Sunny just lies there glaring at us.

"Me no like Strawberry Tart!!"  Shadow mumbles.  "Yakky!"

This just sets the three of us off laughing hysterically again.  Shadow does not have a clue what this conversation is really about or what he is saying innocently, but it is so funny from where we are standing!!  Even Shadow starts laughing but I think only because he can see that we are laughing so much. 

"Okay!!  So why do I get the feeling you lot are having a laugh at my expense!!"  Sunny snaps

"Probably because we are Sunny!!"  I mumble through my laughter 

"Piss off Jazz!!  Don't you have a brick wall to build!!"  he snaps

Yes I do!!  Trust him to be the one to point it out!!

I ignore him, seriously needing this laugh right now.

It is helping to stop me from doing what I really want to do ....

Permanently dispose of his daughter!!


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