2.

Gabriel had his plan set in motion to some degree. He knew what he wanted and how to get it; it was just a matter of timing now. He was a patient man but there are those who oppose his thoughts and ideals. Jimmy Salto, for one, had been the most vocal in his opposition. He had also been quite physical too. Gabriel and Jimmy fought quite regularly. These fights were took place both on verbal and on physical battle fields and more often than not, left behind a path of destruction.

Jimmy Salto is a full-blooded vampire. Unlike Gabriel, Jimmy is restricted to nighttime movement, or movement that occurred nocturnally. The sun light would have a much more immediate effect on him. If exposed to sunlight Jimmy would instantly begin to burn and it would only take a matter of seconds until such exposure would cause his death. With that being what it is, Jimmy is strong, powerful, and extremely influential. His influence upon his kind probably would even come close to the level of influence to which Gabriel Holds.

This Jimmy Salto, he is tall; dark skinned and generally looks like what you would expect a typical Vampire to look like if there is anything typical about Vampires. He believes that day walkers are weak, to him they are reckless, they lack restraint, and this is why as far as he is concerned that day walkers are close to extinction, and despite the past he definitely has no interest in their survival. For Gabriel it had always been a lot more than just about the survival.

The couple of years after that family vacation brought hardship to Janice. The loss of one parent is always a difficult thing, but she was dealing with the loss of both her parents. Janice still saw her sister regularly but that brought little comfort. Janice had retreated into her own private darkness, a darkness which had actually existed within her for quite some time prior to the moment she embraced it a whole more, no longer would it remain tucked away in its own little corner.

It was now time. Gabriel, of course, was saddened by the deaths of Brian and Denise. He knew his activity or introduction quickened their demise but at that too, it did also open the door to move forward. Janice had grown, from being the young lady that Gabriel first met to become a young independent woman.

Gabriel quietly sat in a bar with Alice. He had ordered a whiskey but had yet to touch it. Alice took a sip from her large glass of red wine. Knowing Gabriel, the barman did not question him when he ordered a drink for Alice too. A couple of years or so may have passed but she still looked fifteen years old. Janice had certainly left fifteen behind when that family vacation ended.

'Is she ready?' eagerly asked Alice being both excited and carefree at the same time.

'As ready as she is going to be.'

Change was in the air; Gabriel could feel it.

'Good.'

Alice giggled, spun around on her stool to face away from the bar while trying not to spill the glass of wine she held in her right hand.

Beginning to feel uneasy, Gabriel glanced around at his surroundings, and he saw what he had expected to see sitting at the far corner of the bar. There was a long way to go until the morning would bring back the day light and that thought was not sitting well with Gabriel.

'Go make sure your sister is safe, bring Nickolas with you.'

Alice was about to respond childishly but upon receiving an ordering glance, she did as Gabriel asked. As soon as Alice left, Jimmy Salto got up out of his seat. He approached Gabriel. For a moment at least, he would leave violence off the shelf. He is ready for such a thing twenty-four seven. First see where words might get him.

'Don't do this', he said looking Gabriel in the eyes.

'I need to do this, and you have no right to stop me.'

'You know it will create an all-out war.'

'If anything, it will prevent war.'

Jimmy's fangs descend as he reached into his three-quarter length black leather jacket to bring out his long razor-sharp sword more hoping Gabriel would see reason. To Gabriel, it was Jimmy who needed to see reason.

'We were friends once Jimmy, there is no need for this.'

'Once, was a very long time ago, and as long as you are planning what you are planning, there is always a need for this.'

At this stage panic had swept through the bar and people were quickly vacating it. Many had seen this all too often in the past and were ready for what would come next. Jimmy wasting little time swung the blade directly towards Gabriel's neck, missing as Gabriel dropped to the ground and out of the blade's way. In doing so he was able to connect with a punch to Jimmy's solar plexus and further following that, he hit Jimmy in the face as his head moved forward into the punch in reaction to the first blow.

The two men quickly regain composure. A stand-off between them doesn't last long. The sword lay on the ground in between them. Gabriel now allowed his own fangs to lower. Punches were thrown, some connected, and some were blocked. Tables and chairs were smashed, glass shattered while neither man gained an upper hand.

The sound of sirens outside hastened Gabriel's desire to leave. Jimmy attempts to take advantage of the slight distraction that the sirens bring though Gabriel sees it coming, he uses the momentum from Jimmy's oncoming run to pick him up and slam him through a table and onto the ground. The sword was within Gabriel's reach, and he used it directing the tip of the blade right into Jimmy's chest, pausing before thrusting it further into Jimmy's body.

Police soon enter the bar to find destruction and a pool of blood confined onto a single spot atop a demolished table. There is none injured near-by that table and there are no signs of anyone within the immediate vicinity either alive or dead.

'What the hell happened here?' one officer asked another.

'I don't know, and I am not sure if I want to know.'

****

Having turned nineteen months prior, Janice was ready for a change. She wanted more from life than what she had been living through of late. She wanted something, anything. She had struggled with her loneliness and the aftermath of the deaths of both her parents. She thought of following in the footsteps of her mother and build a business of her own, but Gabriel would be stepping back into her life and would also soon rid her of those thoughts.

'From our very first meeting I knew we would have something special. You became part of something big that day. You know that right?'

'Sure' Janice replied.

'Your destiny is calling now Janice; it is right in front of you, are you ready?'

Gabriel placed his right hand on Janice's face. She smiled and answered with a 'yes'. Always in awe of Gabriel, Janice could feel her spirits immediately lift. The young lady had indeed become a woman.

For the following nine months or so, Gabriel protected Janice and the child she was carrying. Those nine months came and went, and the day of birth soon came to be and was not without its difficulties. Mid-afternoon was when Janice went into labour. The pain she felt, the pain that she endured was far worse than she could ever have imagined. Nothing the nurses tried at the hospital seemed to help her at all.

Afternoon was turning into evening, an evening that was bringing a nighttime sky with it. The pain was unbearable, and Janice had turned quite pale and was more than beginning to weaken. Gabriel stayed at her side as long as he could, but he knew they would be coming. He could smell it. The darkening sky was indeed bringing them. They would be coming on two fronts.

The time came for Gabriel to leave Janice's side. Those around him were too busy to notice that Gabriel lowered his fangs. His sole purpose was to protect his soon to be born son and the lady who was about to give birth.

Gabriel's followers were ready to stand by him. Darkness came and so too did Jimmy Salto and his full-blooded following. The fighting began and quite viciously at that. Janice crashed and it was now a race to see to her child. The baby boy was born and rushed into a separate room. Resuscitation attempts on Janice began as Gabriel and Jimmy once more came face to face.

'Don't do this' Gabriel pleaded.

Jimmy removed his glasses and stared into Gabriel's eyes, for Jimmy, there was more than a score to be settled, he had his own belief and convictions. He had to stop what was happening. Gabriel needed to get to Janice, to get her and the infant out safely and Jimmy allowed Gabriel to walk away from him. As Gabriel made his way to Janice, he turned to look at Jimmy, Gabriel knew where Jimmy was about to go to.

Janice lay alone and lifeless, nothing more could be done for her. Gabriel, upon her return to her side, had no other option than to sink his fangs into her neck and restore life at the cost of forever changing her. Jimmy came to stand over the newborn child. First the doctors then Gabriel. It seemed a choice being made twice, save a mother, or save a child. The survival of the child is everything for Gabriel and he needed to trust that Jimmy would see the light so to speak.

The child is separated from his parents by some distance, and he is not alone. Jimmy raised his sword. Those who had not vacated the area pleaded with him. Jimmy may be able to kill with ease, but he was not an animal. He was unable to take the life of a newborn child, even believing that the child is an aberration, he could not do what he had come to do. Gabriel needed to get himself and Janice as far away from the hospital as he could, leave trust with hospital staff, and this is what he did.

The changes within Janice were immediate; sure, death itself had been intercepted. Leaving with Gabriel made her panic; she so badly wanted her child. Gabriel told her it would be safer to leave him where he was. He trusted in the power of what he felt, it told him that Jimmy would not kill an infant. Besides that, Janice had died and had been brought back unconventionally. She could not now just get up and go get her son. As well as that, Gabriel was unsure as to what the boy would become though that partly was the point.

Human or Vampire. If the child turned out to be just human, then leaving him where he was, would be the best thing for him. The boy would have a safe and healthy life. If there was Vampire in his blood then he may just be the saviour that Gabriel had hoped for, the saviour he wanted and planned for. Janice did manage to leave a note with the request that her son be named Seth.

The surprise and wonder from the doctors as well as the nurses upon returning to find that the mother of the newborn infant was not where she had been left. Only the note with the instruction to name the boy was found. Not an everyday occurrence is a relatively safe comment to make.

Dawn was nearing and Gabriel would be confronted. A man, one man stood before him.

'Great' Gabriel thought to himself, 'Lucius, impeccable timing my friend.'

'Oh, friends now, are we?'

The two stood no more than fifteen feet apart. This 'meeting' took place within the hospital not all so far from the exit Gabriel had been heading for. Lucius was confident with the fact that despite what has been and still is happening that he would be just fine. With there being so much going on at this particular moment, and having had gone on, there would be very little attention paid towards Lucius despite the fact that he is a hunter, someone who takes the lives of what he believes to be the un-natural.

Gabriel himself was not going to harm Lucius in any way for that would take away from his ultimate goal, lead things down a different path, and Lucius had not come with the intent of going to war. He like Jimmy Salto would never take the life of an infant. Seeing it however ...

Janice was close by too and this would be somewhat of a distraction for Gabriel. He would love to stay and have quite the discussion with Lucius though his more immediate concern was leaving with Janice. After a slight pause Lucius would speak again.

'I hear congratulations are in order.'

'Why? Did you win something?'

'Funny ... I hear you have a new addition.'

Gabriel looked towards Janice before looking back at Lucius.

'It was a necessity. Please ... I ask of you ...'

'Don't worry, as you put it ... friend, I am not here for you other than to congratulate you, I am not here for her, why I did come here was and is to tell you that although I am a hunter, I do not hunt that which cannot fend for itself. I will not harm any child, I know what you are trying to do, can't say I agree with it though I had to put my two cents in anyways.'

There was a moment's silence. Gabriel gave Lucius a nod. Lucius stared back, turned and left. Gabriel did not hang around. He soon left the building with Janice.

For a very long time Gabriel would stay out of the way. He not so much went into hiding but more so kept to himself and waited, waiting for the right time. Rumours spread as to his demise. He would not be seen. Word spread that Jimmy Salto had ended Gabriel Grimmel's existence. Few knew the truth. As for the newborn child, a boy named Seth. ... Well Seth may be Janice's son but he is also the son of a Vampire ...