**Note: It's been six months since I first started this sequel. It's been a
long road, but this is probably one of my favorites that I've written so
far. I hope ya'll like it.**

PART 1

A KINGDOM AS GREAT II
By:Renee'

      Jessie pulled her hair up and secured it with a shiny clip as she peered
into her mirror.  She glanced up to see behind her and watched her husband
thoughtfully as he wiggled into his pants.  He glanced over to see her
peering at his reflection, and he gave a playful wink.
      "You peeping at me?"  She smiled mischievously, sending a warm wave down
his spine.
      "You know it."  She turned in her seat and rested her face on her hand so
she could look at him easier.
      "I know we're running late.  Just give me a minute."  Jonny said as he
started to button up his shirt.
      "That's not what I was thinking."  Jessie said almost matter-of-factly.
      "Then what was that look for?"  He asked as she slowly walked over to where
he stood.
      "I was just thinking what a waste it is that you put on so much clothes."
He seemed confused.
      "I'm just wearing a shirt and pants."  She smiled and leaned forward.
      "That's just..." She finished her sentence by whispering in his ear.  His
blue eyes widened as a blushed smile spread across his face.
      "Didn't that already get us in trouble before?"  He asked as he wrapped his
arms around her waist.
      "Whatever do you mean?"  She asked playfully as she leaned up and kissed
him deeply.  After just a few moments the silence was cracked by the sound
of a baby crying from another room.
      "That's the trouble I meant."  Jonny pointed out with a smile.
      "Oh yes, our dear little Emily."  Jessie walked away from her husband and
adjusted her black dress for the last time as she peered into the mirror.
"Only two weeks old and she has her father's timing."
      Jonny watched her body move under the snug black material as he slid on his
jacket.  "Normally I would defend myself and argue with you, but I'm finding
it a little hard to concentrate."  Jessie turned and smiled at him as he
continued.  "Please let's just go, get this over with, and get back to the
part where you dig through my many layers of clothes."
      Jessie kissed him quickly.  "You got it."
      They made their way down the hall where the baby-sitter sat with the
newborn.  Jessie picked up her young daughter and held her close.  She
didn't know why she agreed to meet her friend from work and her husband for
dinner.  Jessie just liked staying home with Jonny and the baby.  She just
figured she needed to go on a double date.
      "Have fun Mr. and Mrs. Quest."  Their twenty year old baby-sitter called to
them as they reached the door.
      "Thanks Natalie."  Jessie started.  "We'll try to be home by 10:30."
      And with that, they were gone.  They never saw the dark figure that sat in
the tree outside the nursery.  It watched with a thoughtful patience that is
rare for most people this day and age.  From the angle the stranger had,
Natalie was clearly visible as she rocked the small infant.  Both were alone
and so unaware.
      "Right this way."  The hostess said as she led the couple over to a table
off to the side of the large room.  Cassie and Drake were holding menus when
Jonny and Jessie walked up.  They started to stand but Jonny held up his
hand.
      "No, keep checking those menus.  I don't know what to order in these
places."  He shook Drake's hand while Jessie gave her office friend Cassie a
warm hug.  The two couples spent the beginning of their night talking about
work and Jonny and Jessie's new baby.
      The house was actually quite charming.  It was brick and two stories.  The
front door was French with a thick beautiful window that allowed only a
faint image appear from the opposite side.  They had left the porch light
on, so the wicker furniture could be seen sitting on the right side by the
door.  It was practically picture perfect.
      The figure moved from shadow to shadow with liquid ease.  No one would have
been able to see him, if there was even anyone around.  The Quests liked
their privacy back at Quest Compound, and it wasn't any different with
Jonny's little get-away house out in the middle of a wooded area.  The
figure knew this was one of his many homes, but this one held a certain
appeal to him.
      Natalie sat Emily down almost half an hour ago and decided it was safe to
sit in the living room to watch TV.  It really wasn't that late, but the
comfortable couch and the faint sound of the TV suddenly left her eyes
heavy.  Quietly she slipped off into a deep sleep.
      The figure walked from the shadows and placed one of his hands onto the
door.  He could feel the house's heartbeat.  It wasn't actually the house's
but the ones that were in it.  First he felt the deep and steady beating of
a strong heart.  It felt like it was near.  After concentrating harder, the
faint sound of a small heart hummed from he's fingers to his chest where it
sat warm and heavy.
      Almost as if the stranger was in the home, he could see himself walking
into the living room, across the tan carpet, and up the stairs.  Slowly he
would ascend until he came into a hallway.  The first door to his left would
be open, and he would quietly slip in.  He would see the room in a faint
blue glow as the moon reflected its borrowed light in through the mini
blinds that were left at a half rise.  In a white crib by the back left
corner, there would be Emily.  The perfect life that awed him, chilled him
to the soul.  He would be able to feel her strength and innocence.
      With the excitement of a youth going to school for the first time, the
stranger held the front doorknob in his hand.  It was going to be this easy,
and there was no one who could stop him.
      Jessie sat down her countless glass of wine and felt the alcohol warm her
insides as she listened to Cassie describe her wedding night.
      "I was so nervous.  It's not that I hadn't spent the last two years with
Drake, or that we hadn't made love a hundred times before, but this time it
was different."
      "I know what you mean."  Jessie added as she watched Jonny listen to
Drake's story that held all of his attention.
      "I mean,"  Cassie continued. "No matter how linked you are, how much you
experienced together, you still learn and grow from one another.  The past
ten years have been the most challenging, yet the most exciting years of my
life."  She stopped and watched her husband.  "I fall in love with him every
time I look at him."  Jessie turned to her and the woman blushed.
      "I know it sounds silly."  She confessed.  Jessie shook her head.
      "No,"  She started as she turned to Jonny who caught her eye and gave her a
heart melting smile.  "I know exactly how you feel."
      It must had been around 11:45 when Jonny pulled their car into the
driveway.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Just as Jonny killed the
engine, Jessie reached over and kissed him long and deep.
      "Wow that was nice."  He said as she sat back into her seat.  "Did you do
something wrong?  You haven't been this loving since before Emily was born."
      "Oh it's been building for some time now."  She smiled from the dark at
him.  "I guess since everything is great and how I want it, I feel like I
can finally enjoy life."
      "I'm happy too."  Jonny said as he returned with a kiss of his own.  "Let's
go check on Emily.  Then it's time for you to hold up your end of this date
night deal."  She smiled and gave him a playful wink, like the one he gave
her at the beginning of the night.
      "Who am I to break a deal?"
      The house was quiet as they crept in.  Jessie started to head upstairs
while Jonny walked over to the couch.  He could see Natalie sleeping
soundly.  Her cheeks were pink and she had a peaceful smile on her face.
Jonny hated to wake her, but he knew she had school and a real job that she
would have to tend to tomorrow.
      "Natalie, wake up.  Sorry we got in late."  Jonny shook her gently.
"Natalie, you need me to give you a ride?  If you're too tired I'll give you
a lift."  When she wouldn't respond he shook a little harder.  That's when
he got a strange feeling.  Normally when someone has been asleep for a
while, the air around them was warm and cozy.  The air around them at that
moment was cold and thin.  Looking at her now, it seemed like she was
purposely set up to look like she was asleep.  A sickening feeling spread
from Jonny's core to the tip of his fingers and pierced his gut until his
breath was caught in his throat.
      He opened his mouth and a scream echoed around him, but it wasn't his
voice.  He hadn't screamed, Jessie beat him to it.  It wasn't until she
screamed a second time that he realized it and ran for Emily's room.
      Half expecting to find what he saw downstairs, yet half wishing she was
only missing, Jonny stumbled into the nursery.  The little white crib was
empty, and the window was open, the mini blinds were bent and slumped.
Suddenly that same sensation that he felt downstairs, consumed Jonny and a
scream of anger burst from his lungs as he called out the window into the
watchful night.
      Deep in the nearby woods the stranger turned when he heard the angry
scream.  Emily shuddered as she sensed her father's pain.  At that moment,
he knew she was everything he had hoped she would be.  He knew it then and
more so now.
      "We can't call the police."  Jessie said as she paced back and forth.
      "I know we have to keep our low profile.  We can find her."  Jessie grabbed
a pair of tennis shoes and switched from her heels to them but kept her
dress on.  They went outside and studied the house, trying to find any
evidence.
      "He went on foot."  Jonny said as he found footprints leading into the
woods.
      "How long ago?"  Jessie asked.
      "I can't tell."
      Jessie closed her eyes and tried to hear her daughter's worried thoughts.
When she couldn't even sense her presence, she broke down into tears.
      "I can't feel her.  I can't feel my baby."  Jonny held his wife as she
cried.
      Emily laid sleeping in the stranger's arms as he watched intensly.  She was
perfect.  So small and fragile, yet she also seemed strong enough to do more
than most would ever dream about.  He rubbed her soft head, feeling his
heart weigh down his chest.  It was the most exciting feeling he had ever
experienced, but he knew that it wasn't time yet.  He was going to have to
wait, but she was worth it.  Someday.

      Jessie sat next to Natalie.  Jonny had first thought she was dead, but she
seemed more like she fainted.  Slowly the young woman opened her eyes and
looked around confused.  "What happened?"
      "I was hoping you could tell me."  Jessie said with little emotion.
      "I just remember waking to the sound of the door opening, then waking up
again just now."  She rubbed her head.  "This doesn't make sense."
      Jessie stood up and walked over to the entrance of the room next to Jonny.
"It sounds more and more like a full blood.  Only a full blood could
hypnotize Natalie into a state so deep that she almost appeared dead.  I had
to use a lot of power to search into her consciousness to bring her back.
Whoever it was, is very good."  Jonny nodded and turned to Natalie who
hadn't heard what was said while she gathered up her things.
      "Do you need me to take you home?"  She shook her head.
      "No I'm fine.  Can I say goodnight to Emily before I leave?"  Jonny glanced
at Jess who only walked out of the room.
      "Naw I'm afraid she'll wake up.  You know how she can be."  They smiled at
each other.
      "Don't I know it.  I'll see you guys later.  I have to be in class early
tomorrow."
      "Goodnight Natalie and thanks."  She closed the door behind her as she
walked out to her car.
      "He must be with her and blocking her thoughts from me."  Jessie said
angrily as she returned into the living room.
      "I don't think he'll hurt her.  If that was his intentions then we would
have found her dead in her crib."   Jessie shuttered.
      "Oh don't even get my mind going with that thought."  He pulled her close
to him.
      "I'm sorry, but I do believe that she's okay."
      "I hope you're right."  She lifted her head off his chest and turned toward
the rear of the house.
      "What's wrong?"
      "I can sense her.   She's not far from here."  Jessie ran for the door and
Jonny followed quickly.
      The trees scattered almost as numerously as the stars that shone from above
the woods.  The full moon crawled across the sky, watching the couple as
they searched frantically for their young daughter.  Jessie felt her heart
pound in her temple as she listened to that familiar sound of Emily's own
pulse.  She could almost feel her inside of her, like she was just a short
time ago.  Almost as if she had been following the white rabbit from the
Alice in Wonderland story, she went straight to where Emily laid.
      The infant was wrapped in her baby blanket that Natalie had wrapped her in
earlier and laid in a bed of leaves that someone took a great deal of time
preparing.  Jonny ran up next to Jessie and the two watched her has she
slept with a little smile on her face.  They didn't say a word as Jessie
picked up Emily carefully in her arms.  Jonny leaned over his wife's
shoulder and kissed Emily on the forehead.  As Jessie began to walk back
toward the house, Jonny paused for a moment to look at the surroundings.
Why would someone go through so much trouble to steal a baby, just to leave
her to be found?  The whole area gave Jonny a weird feeling and he shook the
feeling almost a quickly as it started.  He began to believe the trees had
eyes and were watching him.  After deciding that there was no immediate
danger, he turned around and caught up with his family.
      The dark stranger sat on the very tip of the large round tree where gravity
wouldn't have allowed any human to be.  The moon shone on his back as the
wind blew his short brown hair around his green eyes.  He was young, very
young, but he knew at that moment that he had already found her.  They were
destined to be.  It was like the legend of Prince Binx.  He wrapped his arms
around himself as a cool breezed chilled him.  He imagined how warm she had
been when he held his Emily.

END PART 1
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  I'll send part two out tomorrow.  Tell me what you think so far.
evelyndec@yahoo.com