Authors Notes: Umm, a little sexual content in this one but it goes nowhere. Raine discovers a nice little gift she has, ummm, she has a little fun. Also, be sure to tell me what you think of the fight scene. And Crimson shows her....um.....let`s say, humerouse side.

Embrace the Thorn Chapter 2: The Gifts
Akkiko

Raine blinked against the light twinkling in her eyes. Sunlight from the early mourning. She sat up and groaned as her spine crackled. She had slept on a park bench, and now she regretted it. A few people stopping by glanced at her and clucked or shot her looks of sympathy. "Poor girl, probably abused and now she`s gonna sell herself. She`s so pale, barely looks human."

Raine blinked and sat up, looking around frantically. Who had said that? How pale was she? What was different about her now? She saw a woman finally. She was older, maybe in her sixties. She was staring at Raine with her small beady eyes and a frown set in her deeply wrinkled face. Raine stood up and walked over to her slowly. "What did you say?"

The old woman glanced up at her and frowned, pulling out a pen and a pad of paper. In big, black letters across the top she wrote the word "mute". Raine smiled politely and walked away, feeling the heat in her cheeks as she blushed. Who had said it then? Probably someone passing by or something. She decided to shrug it off and so she began to walk at a slow pase down the street, but the sun. It was warm and kind, but it was also harsh. She finally ducked into an ali for shelter from it. She knew that was a mistake when she heard jeering laughter at the end of the ali, and it was moving towards her. She glanced up the ali and groaned again. It was a group of at least eight men. Some of them had chains while others had knives. She wouldn`t have been surprised if some even had a gun. She knew that they had seen her and so she walked into the middle of the ali, looking around for a possable means of escape, but saw none. The ali was a dead end, and they were blocking the only entrance.

They finally approuched her and circled around her slowly, grinning as they went. "Well Jake, what have we here?"

Jake, who looked like the leader, smiled at her and licked his lips as he ran his hand through his longish black hair. "A little girl who`s lost, maybe we can help her out." He now looked her right in the eye and smiled suductively. "What you say doll?"

She consintrated on her breathing, keeping it slow and even. She swept her hand over her shoulder, brushing her hair back to reveal not only her shaply shoulder but also the two small punture wounds on her neck. What she didn`t notice was that they were already scars. "Let me go."

They all laughed suddenly and Jake rushed at her, making her take a few steps back and right into the arms of another man. He whipped her around and flung her into the cornor of the ali. Jake walked up to her, pressing hard against her so that she could barely breath. He chuckled at her as he ran his finger over her jawline. "I get first dibs," he said quietly as he leaned closer to her, kissing her cheek lightly.

"Punch him." She blinked and looked out of the cornor of her eye to see Crimson leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. "Punch him and you`ll win, don`t worry, you have instincts as far as fighitng goes, or I would hope you do anyway." Raine clamped her eyes shut as Jake pressed his lips to her jawline and began to kiss a trail down her shoulder. Crimson watched him with mounting intrust, Raine felt mounting discomfort. Crimson shrugged. "Or you could let him have his way, I`m sure he`ll be gentle - for a gang member at least."

Raine pressed her back against the wall and shut her eyes as his hand found the button to her jeans and undid them. "Good point." She had to fight, even if just for the knowledge that she tried. She pressed her hands into his shoulders and threw him off her with strength she didn`t recall summoning. She blinked when he went hurtling into the wall, leaving a large dent in the brick.

He stood up painfully and growled. "I was going to be nice, but now it`s gonna hurt girl!" She sighed and glanced at the spot Crimson had been, only to find her gone.

"Great," she mumbled to herself, "get me in trouble then bounce." She closed her eyes when she felt something in the air. Her hair stood up on her arm and her entire body began to tingle. Her arm took on a mind of it`s own, whipping out to her left. She felt a slight sting as the long chain that had been thrown at her wrapped around her wrist. She pulled a little bit, only wanting to take it from it`s owner so she would have a wepon but instead she ended up stretching the links and finally they snapped in a small rainfall of metal.

That was when she cried out in sudden pain as a knife stabbed deep into her arm. Jake leaned against the wall grinning slightly as he watched her crumble to the ground. "Make sure she can fight Dante, that`s where all the fun is." Dante painfully wrenched the knife from her arm and kicked her in the ribs, cracking one of them. She cried out and fell on her side whimpering in pain. Jake smiled as four men held her down dispite her kicking and screaming. "That`s right baby, scream."

He knelt between her legs, running a finger down her sleek stomach and grinning when she whimpered. Raine tried to pull away but stopped suddenly. The pain was gone. She had just been stabbed in the arm and her ribs had been broken, yet there was no pain. She looked out of the cornor of her eye to see Crimson smiling at her knowingly. "He won`t get you." Raine felt a power welling up inside her that set her whole body on fire it seemed. The men all cursed and let go, Jake included. She closed her eyes finally as the power ravenged her and lifted her from the ground, finally escalating. She screamed, feeling the waves of energy flowing out of her and into them. She didn`t know when she opened her eyes, but she saw all the men screaming before they collapsed. When they did she felt a slight bit of energy enter her. Finally Crimson smiled at her. "Alright, I think that should do." Raine dropped hard to the ground and gasped slightly. Sweat dripped down her face in torents as she lay there. Her eyes became heavy until they were pulled closed and she was forsed into a deep sleep.

When she finally could breath normally she sat up and gasped. The moon hung in a comforting orb over her, but that wasn`t the most surprising thing. They were dead, all of them. The walls were littered with dents marking where they had been thrown. She had killed them. Raine looked at her body now. Her skin was glowing in a yellowish color. As she stared at it the glowing stopped steadily until her skin turned white. She frowned and stood up. "What was that?"

Crimson smiled at her and walked over to Jake, kicking him a little bit with a look of disgust on her face. "It was nothing, just a small sample of your potentual." Raine gasped slightly at her. That was a sample? Scarey.

"Ah, the new one." She jumped at the voice behind her and turned to see Clint. He was alone from the looks of it, but there was soemthing about him that worried her. His eyes. They were traveling up and down her body as thugh she were a trophy or a hoarse for sale. He took a step towards her. "I thought I felt some power, childe."

Crimson growled in annoyance. "Oh, forgot about him. Need to get rid of the sire so you`ll be sireless." Raine didn`t look at her, but Crimson knew that she didn`t have a clue as to what sireless meant, no one had explained it to her after all. "You`ll be your own woman."

Clint frowned and stopped approuching her, his mucles tencing up. "Who`s here?"

Crimson smiled at him and cocked her head. "What do you think Raine, should I have a little fun with him? You`re the only one who can see me but everyone can feel me." Raine shook her head slightly, hoping Clint didn`t see her. Crimson decided to disregard her and so she began to walk slowly around him. "Hmm, he has a cute butt."

"There`s no one here."

Clint looked around the ali finally with a grin. The bodies littering the ground showed what had happened just a few hours earlier. "Looks like you`ve dicovered your power. I picked a good childe."

Crimson suddenly sent out a burst of energy which he felt. She grinned when he turned around but saw nothing. Crimson smiled at him and sent out another burst of energy before looking at Raine. "Do you know how famouse you`ll be if you defeat him?" Raine was getting annoyed with Crimson. If she replyed to her she would look crazy.

That was when she caught the jist of Clint`s thoughts, and the things he wanted to do to her. He grinned when he saw her reaction of horror. "Why me?"

Clint smiled at her as she blinked. Had she said that? She had been thinking it, but she didn`t know she had said it out loud. "Hmm, you are loosing yourself to the virus. It is ravenging your body. Your bones will become stronger, your muscles will be pure energy, and your mind will no longer exist."

Raine glanced nervousely at Crimson, who only smiled. "Yeah, if you weren`t a mythical creature that is."

"We found her!" Both Clint and Raine looked up. The top of the building was lined with vampires, all of them wearing black uniforms.

Clint growled before turning to her. "We will meet again!"

He shrivled out of view and left Raine alone - in a manner of speaking. Crimson gasped suddenly and Raine looked at her. She was staring hard at a cornor of the building. Raine followed her gaze and gasped when she saw the man standing there. He was the man from the library, and he was looking at her in contempt. "Who is he?"

Crimson`s eyes became over taken with fear suddenly. "Stay away from him, don`t let him near you! He`ll be your death!"

A laugh suddenly echoed through the ali, it was from him. Raine began to tremble at his gaze. "We won`t hurt you." She didn`t respond to the man who was now standing in front of her. He followed her gaze and frowned, not seeing any threat. "Raine, we won`t hurt you."

"Who is he Crimson!"

The man in front of her frowned. Vampires rarely bit those who were mentally disturbed. He could only assume that there was someone from the virus there. There were two very powerful entities in the ali that weren`t his own people. "Raine?"

Raine didn`t hear him, she only saw the man on the building, glaring at her with every ounce of scorn he could muster. Crimson sunk into the shadows and in the moonlight Raine saw a silver trail as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Go with them, they`re the only one`s who can protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

Crimson shook her head slowly. "I`ll explain later."

The man disappeared suddenly and Raine blinked, turning to the vampire who stood in front of her looking concerned. "Who are you?"

He sighed and took a small cloth out of a pocket on his pants. "My name is Res, I`m here to help you."

She backed away from him as she stared at him in fear. "Help me what?"

He looked at her finally with a look that scared her. Concern, or hatred, she wasn`t sure. "Keep your mind alive." With a casual shrug he stepped towards her, holding the cloth in front of him. "You got a bloody lip." She flinched slightly when he put the cloth to her lip, then her mouth opened in realization. He frowned and growled slightly, covering her mouth and nose with the cloth and pressing it hard against her. Her lungs filled with the fumes and her body slumped against the wall as darkness pulled over her like a thick blanket.

Authors Notes: DUN DUN DUN!!!!!! Who is that man, what is to become of Raine, what is she? Hee hee, won`t be updating until I get some major feedback. Need ideas as always. Thanks to Lyndaura for insperation! Ta ta for now, enjoy biting your nails in antisipation. MWAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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