CHAPTER 2.2: He ain't heavy he's my brother

Audra arrived at Dr Parsons office bright and early.  She wasn't usually a morning person but the anticipation of finally curing her vampirism had given her all the incentive she needed.

Walking through the lab she passed machines that were flashing and beeping, and a board which looked as though it had been filled with research.  Could Dr Parsons have started already?

Janella Parsons noticed the curious look on Audra's face as she perused her research board.


"You're wondering how I compiled all this information overnight?" She asked genially.


"The truth is my interest in researching vampires began long before you walked into my lab." She explained, "Although i must admit i had never thought of researching the possibility of a cure, i was more interested in harnessing the powers that accompany the virus."

Great she's just some power hungry nut!  Audra thought.
"Maybe i made a mistake." She mumbled as she backed away towards the door.

"Wait!" Dr Parsons called, "I think you must have misunderstood me.  I don't want your powers for myself, good heavens no!"


Dr Parsons sat Audra down an explained that she had always wanted to find a way to limit a vampires powers so that vampires and humans would be on a level playing field.


"But if we can find a cure then finding a way to stop the most powerful and deadly vampires could only be a step away." Audra concluded.


"Then we should stop debating and get to work!"  Dr Parsons declared.

Audra sat in the chair as Dr Parsons took the controls.  The machine made a loud whirring sound as it spun Audra around.


"Don't be afraid!" Dr Parsons yelled over the machines infernal racket, "This won't hurt you.  I'm just going to scan your body to identify exactly how the virus has taken hold."

The machine started beeping and flashing like crazy and Audra thought it was about to explode, but instead a large part of the machine expanded and covered her entire body.  As the scan explored her DNA she felt a flash of heat, it was uncomfortable but not painful.

Once the scan was complete, Audra jumped from the chair.  She was glad it was over.


Dr Parsons seemed engrossed in the screen and the readings the machine had produced so Audra got dressed for work and left her to it.

It had been a relatively quiet day in the Bridgeport ER so Audra helped Mischa to stock the emergency supplies in each of the trauma rooms, when she was paged to the front desk.


A thief had been injured during his arrest and needed stitches in his forehead, this was Audra's first time stitching a real live Sim, at Med school they had practised on joints of meat and cadavers!

 Audra thought she made a pretty good job of stitching someone who was still alive, and when she was done she went through to the waiting area to tell the policeman that the criminal was all fixed up ready to go to jail.


She stopped dead in her tracks when she came face to face with Patrick Sawyer, her ex boyfriend from school.


He was a couple of grades above her and Audra had not seen him since he graduated.

"Audra!" He exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."


"I wasn't expecting you either!  Did you bring that thief in?"


"Yes that was all my handy work!" He proclaimed, seeming rather pleased with himself.

Patrick told Audra all about how the thief had snatched an old ladies purse in town.


"I chased him clear over the bridge, then i tackled him to the ground, I guess his face got a little banged up on the way though."  He stated proudly.

"Oh so now you're a big tough cop i guess you're OK with fighting?" Audra asked, "Looks like things have changed since school."


"Come on Audra it's not the same, you beating up Cassandra and me catching a criminal!" He shook his head, "I mean i never meant for him to bust open his head but yeah I'm not sorry for him, the guys a low life he belongs in jail."


"But all i did was stand up to a bully and you let the whole school think that i was some sort of nut case."  Audra exclaimed.

Patrick shuffled uncomfortably and regarded his feet for a while before answering,
"You're right I should have said something but honestly Audra seeing you that day kinda scared me, I mean you were wild."


Audra stared at Patrick, he had been her first love, long before she had become so commitment phoebic.  She hated herself for it but the first cut really had been the deepest and she knew she still had feelings for Patrick, maybe she even loved him. 

"It's been real nice seeing you again Audra." He said fixing her with a flirty look, "You think maybe i could take you out to dinner sometime?"


"It was nice to see you too Patrick, but I don't think that's a good idea."  She answered leaving him standing stunned in the waiting area she walked back to the trauma room.


"You can release this patient to the officer outside."  She instructed Mischa.


While Audra was busy trying to forget her first love her brothers were having varying success with the ladies.

Blake had thrown himself into his work and  was now constantly in demand for his handyman skills, but his love life was none existent.  It wasn't that he didn't meet women they were always calling him up asking him to come fix something even though sometimes there was nothing broken!

But none of the women he met compared to Marissa, unfortunately she was still his brothers girl.

At least they were friends again. 

After his mothers death, Marissa had been a rock for him and Bobby and they had all put the night of the dance behind them.

Marissa was now working as an interior designer, she called Blake one day in need of his services.

"Blake I need you to come over right away!" She yelled down the phone, Blake could hear the sounds of gushing water in the background, it didn't sound good!

"I'll be right there Marissa, just sit tight."

Marissa had been fixing up an old apartment down town to use as a show home for her clients to see, but so far she'd had nothing but problems.

 With Blake on the case the busted pipe was soon fixed, but there was still the overflowing toilet to look at and he was soaked through.

"Give me that shirt, i'll hang it out to dry." Marissa offered, shaking her head at Blake.

She knew he would of just worn it the rest of the day and probably caught a cold for his troubles. He was always helping others but never gave a thought to himself.

As Blake handed her his shirt she couldn't help but stare, where did he get those muscles? 

Marissa mopped up the puddle the broken pipe had left, she couldn't stop thinking about Blake. OK so he was kind and considerate but his shyness had been a barrier to anything other than friendship between them. 

So why now could she not remove the image of his shirtless chest from her mind!  Was she attracted to Blake?

"That's it all fixed."  Blake called to Marissa, "You know I think the place is really starting to take shape."

Marissa laughed, "You are ever the optimist Blake.  Honestly I think i made a huge mistake ploughing all my money into it, I don't know what I was thinking."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Blake encouraged, "You are a talented designer, I just know this place is going to be amazing."

Without thinking Marissa drew Blake into a hug and whispered, "Thank you so much, you don't know what that means to me." 

Hearing Blake encourage her dream was too much to take when her own boyfriend hadn't even bothered to look at the apartment.  He was too busy trying to become the next superstar chef to care.

Marissa felt Blakes strong arms around her and heard his kind words ringing in her ears.

As he pulled away from her embrace their cheeks brushed and Marissa drew her lips to his.

They only kissed for the briefest of seconds then Blake pulled away, his face flaming bright red in shame.

"Blake it's Ok." She started but he cut her off.

"No Marissa it's not, I can't do this to Bobby."  He explained as he grabbed his tools and left her apartment.

She could still feel the weight of his kiss on her lips, it tingled delightfully.  Bobby's kisses never felt that way!

Marissa had felt for a while that things were over between her and Bobby, but she had just allowed their relationship to drag on.  She decided it needed to stop.

but when she called to ask him to come over and talk, Bobby had just replied, "What's the point Marissa we both know it's over."  and promptly hung up on her.

Why should he have to go and listen to her excuses?  Bobby thought.

If she couldn't wait for him while he got his career going then they were never going to work. 

He headed to the local bar with a few of the waiters from the bistro instead.

Who should he meet there but Cassandra Wells, one of the hottest girls from school.  Bobby had always had a crush on her but she only went out with football players back then.

"Hey I know you!" Cassandra purred, "You're Bobby Traytor right?"

"Yes i remember you used to date Amber!  You know i always thought you were way too good for her." 

Were his ears hearing right?  Did Cassandra Wells just come onto him?  Bobby couldn't believe his luck.

And it just kept on getting better.

And better!

The next morning Audra woke early again to meet with Dr Parsons, she was just heating up a batch of plasma pancakes, Bobbys signiture recipe, when.........

"Well, well.  Audra Traytor, you sure did good for yourself." Cassandra sneered sarcastically as she regarded the pokey cabin.

Audra spun round, she would recognise that nasty tone of voice anywhere, but what on earth was Cassandra doing in her house, in her underwear!

"What in hell do you think you are doing?" Audra shouted, "Get out of my house!"

But Cassandra just stood there smirking until Bobby walked in.

"Hey gorgeous!"  He smiled giving her a playful pat on the behind, "You sleep ok?"

"Bobby what the hell are you doing bringing her into my home?" Audra yelled.

"You're home?  I have more of a right to this place than you, my father worked to give us all this, you're just some mistake he made before he met my mom."  Bobby spat.

Audra could see he was furious, she wanted to calm him down but Cassandra stood at Bobby's side encouraging him.

"What's going on out here?" Blake had been woken up by all the shouting coming from the kitchen, he had seen his brother turn on their sister. 

"Why are you two fighting?  Bob you know Dad left Audra in charge, that was his decision and you should respect it."  Blake lectured, but Bobby was having none of it.

"Like hell I do!  She doesn't belong here with us she's not real family."  Bobby retorted, his anger rising ever greater.

"That's right Bobby."  Cassandra piped up.

Blake hadn't noticed her until then, "What on earth is she doing here?"  he asked his twin, "Please don't tell me you cheated on Marissa with this?" 

How could Bobby do this after Blake had turned Marissa away, he thought Bobby really loved her.

"Don't you talk about Cassie that way!" Bobby screamed his anger boiling over, "And ask for Marissa she broke up with me last night so i can do what i want!"

Bobby lunged at Blake and starting punching and kicking him, Audra looked on in horror as the twins scrambled around the kitchen floor.

Cassandra just smiled, she was loving that she had caused all this mayhem.

Even though Bobby had initiated the fight he was no match for his twin and Blake had set him firmly in his place.

"To hell with both of you, i'm out of here!" Bobby had declared, his pride clearly wounded.  he grabbed a bag of his clothes and with cassandra in tow he left the Traytor household for good.

Audra suspected that this may have been Cassandras plan all along, but Bobby was a grown man and she couldn't stand in his way.

Chapter2.1

Chapter2.3