Crimson Rebirth

Part 15

The days that followed lulled Gene into a pattern of getting up, taking care of the animals, getting Addy up and fed and then turning around and taking care of Oryn. Then while the pair played inside, she would do chores she saw needed to be done, from cleaning the mats to making sure all the dishes are cleaned, dried, and put away, to dusting.

Anything to keep her busy until lunch. Once everyone ate, she put Oryn down for his nap, and Addy as well if she could manage it, while she cleaned up from lunch and finished any cleaning that needed to be done. Then a bit more playtime, a snack, more playtime until dinner, then baths. After baths which usually resulted in Gene getting soaked, dry and in pajamas, then usually a story before bed. Addy had her favorite by her bedside every night, and by the time Gene would finish reading, the two year old would be fast asleep.

In those days, Lusitania had not only managed to figure out where she was, but sent clothing to her, much to Gene's appreciation and utter confoundment. How the woman worked was well beyond her, but the gesture was appreciated. She could only wash the same dress so many times.

After she got the kids in bed, Genevieve did a final walk about the farm, checking a final time on the animals for the night, her gown a pretty cream color that complemented her hair beautifully, with burgundy accents that brought out her eyes. Her eyes darted carefully about in the moonlight, alert for any animals that may have gotten out of the barn, or any predators looking for a quick nighttime meal.

However, something different greeted her ears before her eyes rested upon him.

"Hello, poppet." Came a voice laced with poison from directly behind her, a voice that could have easily been regarded as sweet. It made her blood run cold, and terror pump through her heart.

In the pure, moonless darkness of the pasture, Jaxton Nightwing had found her.

She took a staggered step back, nearly falling into something in the pasture, not exactly wanting to know what she could've fell in. "H-How did you find me?!" Gene managed to say, rooted in place by fear.

"Oh, I picked up on the scent of shit and dirt and followed it all the way to you~" He purred, his onyx eyes looking her over. "Honestly, I will never understand why you were such a prize. Forever late, forever covered in dirt and smelling of the most random assortment of herbs. Honestly, I only recall one meeting with you where you looked less like a rat that crawled out of a hole in the ground and more like the lady you are supposed to be."

"Never claimed to be a lady...." Gene said, moving away from the pasture, slowly. If she could get close to the house, she'd have a chance to grab the kids and escape.

Not sure to where, not sure how, but she was going to manage, one way or another.

Once she was out of the pasture, she turned and ran back towards the house. Unfortunately, Jaxton was able to see what she was doing. "Oh, poppet, how predictable you are."

His hand lashed around her throat, slamming the back of her skull into the back of the house. So close... She thought, knowing that the door was only a little ways away from her.

"You know, once I am through with you, maybe I'll go inside... I can smell the children, you know. Neither of them are yours, but I know how you are about children."

Her eyes widened in shock and surprise, then fury. I don't care what happens to me, but he will NOT TOUCH THEM! Her mind roared in defiance, even though her lungs were screaming for air. Something inside of her snapped, and instead of focusing on not fighting back, she focused on surviving. She focused on protecting the two sleeping children who had no idea what was going on, even as Jaxton's fingers were leaving bruises around her neck. Even as she could feel her body starting to go limp and her vision start to fade.

She briefly remembered the woman from earlier, Ryvna, and almost instinctively, her leg lashed out, catching Jaxton right in his vampire manhood.

He yelped, fingers loosening enough for her to breathe, right before he resumed trying to strangle the life out of her. This wasn't some vampire looking for a meal.

This was a vampire hell-bent on death. Her death.

At least she expected it this time, and had time to pray to the Goddess that this would work. With the breath left in her lungs, she managed to croak.

"Avo api."

Just like all those years before with Riskel, the rose seeds that Gene planted with Addy earlier that day sprung to life, growing as though they had been growing for weeks in the span of moments. Thorns the size of daggers latched onto Jaxton's legs, creeping around his body, digging into his skin and causing him to drop Genevieve's throat, a strangled scream in his throat. The red roses blooming on the thorny stems seemed almost...... Ironic.

He bled more and more the more he struggled, and he struggled mightily, murder written in his eyes. Gene sucked in air as though all the world didn't have enough, pain around her neck.

That murderous intent was the last look on his face.

The thorns wrapped around Jaxton in a deadly cocoon, ripping right through his chest, his stomach, his flesh cleaved through by the thorns like a knife through butter. As they wrapped around his face, the light had long left his eyes, though his scowl remained, a thorn piercing his heart. His dead eyes bore through Genevieve, who winced at the sight.

At what she had done.

As the thorns settled around the now-dead Jaxton Nightwing, Genevieve pulled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees, and stared.

She stared at the bush that she grew that killed someone.

She killed someone!

The reality hit her harder than she expected, slamming the air from her chest again as she tried to suck in another breath. Tears started forming in the back of her eyes, her willfully keeping them from coming forward. No, she couldn't cry, not with the kids just inside, peacefully asleep. If they heard her, they would come out and see what happened.

And she couldn't do that to them.

Her eyes fixated back onto the rose bush, feeling like a claw gripped her heart and wasn't letting it go. She sat there for maybe minutes, maybe hours.

The only time she looked up was when she heard the gentle sound of wings coming towards the house.