1 comments/ 25355 views/ 11 favorites When Darkness Calls Ch. 01 By: SleepingLove When death stares you boldly in the face, can you possibly turn away? Light had never really given much time to ponder this notion, seeing as the situation to ponder it had never really came up, until now of course. Had anyone asked her, she probably would have replied with a sensible, "No." Seeing as how death was unequivocally a part of a human being's life. She had been told numerous times by her elders throughout her twenty-two years that the second you were first born, the moment you take your first breath, you are merely taking one monotonous step towards you imminent demise. A depressing train of thought? Perhaps. But, nevertheless, extremely true in meaning. But had she thought of her own? Not in the very least. It had probably been the farthest thing from her mind. She had never really thought herself to be immortal, but to die? Perhaps the thought of one's death is not the uppermost priority for a specific reason. Death loomed closer. Light wished she could at least die in a faintly proper way, maybe even in her sleep if she was lucky. A death such as this wasn't even remotely civilized or humane. Death must come in many forms, why did it have to come to her in this particular one? Red eyes loomed close to her face, a livid ruby color trained on her. The body attached to those jewel eyes was beautiful, as most of his kind most likely were. The chalky skin covering him almost glowed in the dark and cold alleyway, like diamonds were embedded into his skin, twinkling at her humorously. It reminded her of the mornings by her cottage, when the grass glowed with droplets of rain. Shiny brown hair hung in the ruby eyes, carelessly making its strong-angled face even more beautiful. Could death truly be beautiful? For she knew it was death because she could feel herself slowly dying. The two burning teeth plunged in her neck testified to that. Death dropped her carefully and slowly to the cold ground, blood covered its mouth and ran in droplets down the front of its black clothes. The eyes of ruby she vividly remembered had dimmed to soft amber and he looked at her with horror, with regret. Though she could not see it very well because her sight was fading. He kneeled down slowly at her side, running a dark blond strand of her hair through his cold and fingers and sighed with grief. "I'm so sorry..." he whispered, "But once you wake up again, it will be better." The last thing she saw was that face looking down at her. "I won't leave you." he muttered. She felt herself slipping.... ***** Earlier that same day... It was a usual Monday morning, well, mostly usual. Besides the fact that Light felt an oddly excited sensation that morning, like something wonderful was going to happen. The rain and light outside her window even seemed to be somewhat extraordinary. Instead of the usual murky fog and rainy drizzle, the light seemed to glow with a strange green intensity and the rain came down like snowflakes. Although, it was nearly impossible for it to snow in Babylon, the town she lived in. All the weather ever provided in this town was an endless turbulence of heretic and somewhat depressing rain. It got so cold sometimes that the rain would pour down the paved road and freeze all the way over, dangerous weather for driving, especially in the vehicle she drove in, a slug-bug. However dangerous the task was, she still needed to make a decent living. Light worked at the veterinary clinic, down the Babylon's main street where she took in the occasional cat, dog or cattle. There really weren't that many people in Babylon, which was one of the reasons why she had chosen this town to live in, and the closest city was Pampa, which was 50 miles away. So pet options for the people were limited, as was the activity of business at the clinic. However limited the pets were, she owned a canary that she had acquired on one of her previous vacations. Demo, (the bird, obviously) was the only companion she had in her house, and she had no other family nearby. So Demo was like a little baby to her. Demo, at the moment was tweeting happily by the window in his golden cage, oblivious to the outside world in his own little birdie dreamland. Sometimes it was nice to be oblivious. She slowly moved away from the window and sighed heavily as she went into the bathroom to do her normal routine. Take quick bath, take toothpaste pill, brush hair, get dressed, and apply a quick brush of mascara and lip gloss. Light pulled her jeans up and smoothed her hands down her white shirt, satisfied with that part of her appearance, she began to apply make-up. After she swiped on her lip gloss, she stuck her tongue and licked her lips, realizing with a faint horror that it was the same she had worn since she had been in Junior High. Bubble Gum flavored. How pathetic. She almost even felt like a child while looking in the mirror, minus their incredible exuberance. Much really hadn't changed since Junior High. The same 5''3 feet height, the same 102 pound frame, the same dark blond hair, and the same hazel eyes she had acquired from her mother. Though she looked older. Her eyes no longer sparkled with innocence and excitement; they instead shone with wariness and intelligence. And there was a faint scar on the corner of her mouth where a cabinet had once hit her. Light tossed one more hate-filled look at the dreaded lip gloss and clipped her watch underneath her black rain coat. She rushed quickly towards the door and quickly slipped on her usual rain boots and grabbed the red umbrella that seemed to precociously sit along the line of the door and scuttled out onto her front porch. It was still faintly sprinkling outside. The droplets fell delicately onto the ground, making it sparkle with a gleaming point of light that seemed to come from the sun. The glare forming from the grass, shining into her eyes. The constant rain in Babylon meant that all of the lawns were lush and green. Light's front yard was an emerald green and the sun's rays shone upon it and seemed to bounce mythical lights, causing the surface of the glass to see somewhat mirror-like. A beautiful natural phenomenon that she saw on a daily basis. This is what she loved about the morning. She strolled down the sidewalk talking in all of this, smelling the air perfumed with flowers. It was incredibly pleasant, calming her senses and pulling together all of her thoughts. It was almost as if a garden was surrounding her, as if she didn't have a single care in the entire world. Light climbed into her yellow slug-bug, dreading the thought of driving on the ice. She turned the key, expecting the worst possibly scenario...the car not starting. Surprisingly, the car started with amazing ease and she could see that this was going to be a good day as had formerly suspected. ***** Sometimes Dante wished that he could be normal. Normality and its trivial matters somehow appealed to him compared to things that faded as his memories because less and less clear. The memories were slowly evolving into something that seemed another world...perhaps even a dream if it were possibly for him to sleep. But he knew that he would never be able to go back to the blissfully ignorant phase of humanity again. Most people would be saddened with this concept, but Dante had to admit to himself that he wasn't even really considered a person. As he stared into the darkness, he felt no sadness. Darkness was good in some ways. It showed the good points of the light, and provided some, like him, with comfort beyond life. He stared into the empty space below his perch on the library's roof and looked at the stone gargoyle to his right, touching it with a slow movement and feeling the cold stone beneath his equally cold palm. He felt the bone-weary tiredness again, the weariness never stopped. Weary of having to resort to such tedious measures to live. If what he was doing could be considered living. He supposed if someone defined living as the ability to maintain and support one's existence, it could almost be counted as that. Though the way he was supporting his existence was abominable. He supposed over the centuries he should have grown accustomed to his way of life. But it was quite difficult. Although he only killed certain people: murderers , prostitutes , child molesters , and other inexcusable members of society, it left him somehow hollow with each drop of blood that touched his mouth. He should be used to it. But he wasn't.... Taking a humans life had never appealed to him, but to live, or whatever he was doing, he would have to deal with it. There was no way to avoid it, the lust for blood never left him even in his most composed moments, and he was an elder vampire. It surprised him increasingly that the younger vamps never seemed to get caught. He supposed the police thought it was some sort of cult or some other ridiculous thing, of course he knew that they would just turn the other cheek if they knew. Frequent numbers of the attacks had been showing up in Pampa lately, and he faintly wondered who was making all of the young vamps. If the vampire had ever been caught, would he surely not be sent to The Judgement? Although, only elder vampires could change humans, so it probably had centuries of experience. The Judgement controlled most of the vampire community, and was the most ruthless and unforgiving committee of tracking vamps. So he supposed that they had already caught onto what was happening in Pampa. He just wondered why they did not act, it really wasn't their style. They were usually right in the middle of things. Once in a blue moon, a vampire would go insane, or simply want revenge and try to expose their own race. The Judgement took care of all situations of securing our secret from the humans, and in return the human government feigned being oblivious, although one percent of their population depleted per year, due to us. It had been that way for years down, the corruption of the government had occurred during the Rising Era, when the vamps had come out of hiding and demanded that the eightieth president, Jeanette LiQuer had given them a choice of the freedom to feed or starting a war. LiQuer, being the businesswoman had immediately gone for sacrificing some of her population to losing all of it; it had been a wise choice, but also a cowardly one in Dante's opinion. He hadn't wanted anything to do with that war. Now they were on their hundred and twentieth president, Barney Bridges, who compromised quite well and just turned the other cheek, though not sacrificing as much as LiQuer had. The number of unexplained injuries in the morgue in LiQuer's time had caused uproar from the humans, whom contributed the increasing number of deaths from some type of drug to a new disease, and eventually LiQuer had been assassinated. It was hard to believe that all this had happened centuries before, because it seemed almost yesterday to Dante, though he had heard the older you got, the quickly the years...decades....centuries past. He sometimes wondered how quickly eternity would pass. Dante looked off the building and watched as the intended prey of the vampires scuttled on the sidewalk. They almost looked like ants from this vantage point, very tiny ants. And he wondered if that is what he looked like when he had been human. An ant? Dante looked down the building and felt the wind caressing his cheek and pulling the smell of the humans to him like a siren. Hunger ripped through him like an avalanche, the muscles in his stomach quivering. He felt the flow of venom in his mouth, and swallowed with discomfort. He hissed through his teeth and he knew his eyes had begun to glow with a ruby glow. The scent that previously comforted him on the wind now tormented him. Dante listened to the bubbles of voices below him and sighed with a resignation of fate, he hadn't fed in a long time, and he knew that now was the time. If he didn't feed now it would just be more difficult later to find a proper morsel of prey. He sat up on the building and slowly put one foot over the side of the building. And jumped into the darkness, landing on the sidewalk without a sound. He went hunting. ***** Light closed up the door to the veterinary clinic, mentally sighing with weariness. There hadn't been much business that day, but their new shipment of equipment had partly came in and she more than usually had to unload every piece of it. Though, there was still quite a bit of medicine in Pampa that she had to pick up. The rain hadn't really been that bad that day, so she decided that today was as good as any other day, maybe even better than other days. Instead of the usual blackness of clouds overhead, the horizon loomed over the mountain in an intoxicating bouquet of purples, blues, and pinks. Nature always amazed her. So, after locking up the clinic, she sighed with weariness and resignation, and hopped into the slug-bug, hoping to god that the luck from the morning hadn't worn off yet. And apparently it hadn't, because the car started as smoothly as it had this morning. She wondered what the catch was. When Darkness Calls Ch. 02 The road flew away beneath Light's tires with surprising clarity. Twilight had long since passed and the sky was an unbelievable shade of black, she hadn't been expecting it to darken so quickly, or she would have waited another day to pick up the equipment. But she was afraid if she didn't do it while it wasn't raining, while the weather was nice, she wouldn't get a chance to for a while. Pampa was quite a drive and winter season was approaching with a steady and secure pace. Light tried to keep her eyes firmly on the was flowing gently in the soft wind; fields beyond fences were littered with clear ponds and creaks, dark road in front of her, but the landscape in the country had a somewhat ethereal beauty. The slowly-dying grass on the side of the road where she supposed some farmers kept their cattle. Although they could process the cows in plants, clone them, or even systematically raise them, some people preferred their meat to be natural. It was one of the issues that had been plaguing discussions for decades. Some people had suspicions that the new diseases that were revealing themselves to the community came from the artificial food. Light personally didn't really concern herself with those matters, although she supposed it was possible for infected foods to cause air-borne diseases. So, many people contributed the many deaths in Pampa to the disease. Although, she didn't think that accounted for the many people that were never found. The death population to Pampa had steadily increased since years before, when LiQuer had been in office. At least that was what she had read in her many college text-books. Although, she supposed, it was wrong to leak that information to mouldable growing adults. It would plant it in their head that the government was planning something. It was incredibly interesting how many rumors had spread about the Congress, but she supposed that it was just bubble-minded nonsense. Light forced her attention out of her musing, and again focused on the dark road, trying to not fall asleep. She won the battle with her eyelids, and focused on the bright lights that were shining at the end of the road. Pampa was the capital of the country. It was a major place for immigrants, musicians, celebrities, and important people. It was like Seattle in the early 21 century, a city that never slept. Although, there were fewer thieves and robbers in this era than there were in that century, you could never be too careful in city. Light knew this, and for that reason held a stun gun in her possession. She had never used it, and hoped that she would never have to. Tall skyscrapers touched the black sky; they all were lit up like Christmas Trees, some with small botanical gardens which held gardens on the top of then. Gardens were very popular in this day and age, if you were a businessman on break, you knew where you wanted to go, the garden. It was the only place where you could see flowers in the city, and feel like you could relax. Flowers were very few in commodity, because over the centuries of cutting down rainforests, the flower population had depleted. So seeing a rose or tulip, or some other kind of fancy flower was a special experience. Companies in the city usually wanted to make their employees comfortable, because they were afraid. After the year 2929, people who were not satisfied with their jobs had formed unions and simply walked out. They called it the second Depression because it was a time of hunger and poverty, and the people who had quit their jobs were too stubborn to come back. So the businesses had finally broke down and provided them with luxuries. Light's veterinary clinic was considered extremely old-fashioned; she much preferred it to be that way. The clinic instead of being computer-operated was operated by Light herself, and her grouchy and pretty secretary, Faith Barter. Many of the companies nowadays were operated solely by computers, but Light hadn't relied on computers since the Great Computer Crash of 3034. She had chosen her profession because of her love of animals, and she knew that however the decades changed culture and technology, that doctors would always be needed. Light was always awed by Pampa's advanced technology though. Seeing all of the new and fairly useful things at windows, or the screen that stood for all to see in the middle of the city, was pleasant. Except when she was shopping with Faith, who constantly grouched that her high heels were leaving blisters on the back of her feet. Light got to the supply building and parked her car, pushing the button on her key-ring to lock and protect her vehicle against thieves. She pulled her hood over her head against the cold air, and made her way across the parking lot to the building door. Inside, there was a receptionist with a friendly smile. The word on her name-tag held a smiley face around it, Marylen. "Name?" Marylen bubbled with a charming smile. "Light Solomon." she replied. The receptionist touched a pad in front of her and swiftly sorted through a various number of names, stopping when she arrived at Light's. "Ummm...ok...so you ordered medical supplies?" "Yes, I did. Are they in yet?" Light asked, hoping to god she didn't make this trip for nothing. "They just got in yesterday, come with me to the back room and I will get them for you." Marylen stepped from behind the podium and motioned for Light to follow her. The door at the back of the room was where all the recent deliveries were kept, Light knew from the many times she had come to Pampa. Merylen pushed through the door and stepped into the room which was lined with rows of boxes that were in alphabetical order. Then she stepped up to another podium and pressed a couple of buttons. The box of medical supplies she was looking for lit up, signalling that it was the one she was looking for. Light went and grabbed the box from its place in the wall, moving back towards the door as Merylen stepped off the podium, and then slowly made her way back towards the entrance of the supply building. Merylen showed her to the door and waved to her as she passed from the warm security of the building into the stifling and freezing night air. Light's stomach growled with hunger as she made her way to the car. She looked around the block and saw a diner just at the corner. "Clara's Country Cooking" it said on the entrance. She decided to stop in and order some food. Light went to the entrance of the diner and peeked in, taking in the cosy-looking seats, the over-head lights, and the warm and friendly atmosphere. The room was in the shape of a large "D", a counter and bar facing the outermost corner of the diner. It was a pleasant place all-together, a little old-fashioned maybe, but Light loved things that were old-fashioned. A waitress sat at a stool beside the bar, looking broadly into space. Light cleared her throat slightly and the unnatural red-head turned in her seat with a slightly sour face. Light took a seat at one of the booths of the diner and the woman came sauntering over. The woman handed her a plastic-covered menu and waited patiently with her pen poised above a yellow pad of paper. Light considered the choices on the menu and turned to the woman and said, "I think that I will have an iced tea and a chicken salad." The woman scribbled the order down quickly and turned her slightly up-turned nose towards Light. "Is that all that I can get you?" she said in a voice that practically screamed I-don't-give-a-damn-about-your-order. "No, thank you though." Light said in a dismissive way, fiddling with the fork and spoon on the checkered table clothe in front of her. There weren't very many people in the restraunt. There was a couple in a booth by the corner, whispering in hushed tones to each other, which made Light blush and turn away. There was the waitress, who was waiting for the cook to finish her order, and there was a man in a booth by the window with neon-blue hair, piercings in various body parts, and dark clothes on. Light turned her attention back to fiddling with the silverware, and waited patiently for her order. She grew bored with it, and then looked out at the dark sky. There were many orange post-lights in the street, but the street was still fairly dark. She wondered idly what all roamed the streets at night. It wasn't as if it was completely bereft of thieves and perhaps even worse. The waitress came to her table, pulling her attention from the darkness. She turned her eyes toward the salad and tea, and slid a straw into the amber liquid. She sipped it slowly, savoring the taste, and then picked up her fork and dipped it systematically into her salad. The waitress came back by, giving her the tab and leaving. Light finished her food and put a tip on the table, paying her tab as she went out the door. She decided to take a short-cut to her car and went into a near-by alley. The alley was full of shadows, and she regretted her decision, then she registered someone was following her. She tried to hurry down the alley, but found that the shadow ran quickly, and she found herself being pushed to the ground. The man from the diner stood hovering over her, a knife in his hand; he looked like a cold-blooded killer from her point of view. His eyes were glazed over, and Light knew that he was on some kind of drug. She was afraid. "Please, take my money! Anything!" she sobbed and tried to hand him her purse. He simply smiled down at her and raised the blade... ***** Dante had fed earlier, but the delicious smell of blood floating in the air hit him like a wrecking ball, a battering ram. He sniffed in the air and filled his nose with the scent, let the particles soak through his brain and burn into his memory. He knew that his eyes, yet again, were glowing red. But he couldn't help it. Because the smell that was in his nostrils now was the best he had smelled in all of his life. If he had ever known that the smell even possibly existed, he would have combed the entire earth for it. Looked in every country, searched under every rock and in every cranny. He followed the smell like a man in the desert, desperate for a drink of water. The smell led him to a dark alleyway. There were two people in the formally mentioned alleyway. One was a man with blue hair, holding a bloodied knife. The features of the other he couldn't see, but he knew that it was the one whose blood was on the knife. A growl came from deep in his throat, and the blue-haired man turned slowly around. He supposed he looked like a monster with thirst now, actually he knew, because the young man quickly dropped the knife and ran like the flames of hell were at his heels. Dante found himself walking towards the body; the body which he found was that of a woman. Her lips were almost bloodless and she was shivering convulsively from head to toe. Even through his lust for her blood, he looked into the hazel eyes of the woman, and felt an outrageous amount of pity for her. Her every breath seemed laboured as she clutched the side of her slender neck where the man had stabbed her and her long dark blond hair was plastered by sweat to her forehead. Her eyes fastened unfocused upon him and her breathing continuously began to become more infrequent and laboured as the seconds ticked by. But however much pity he had for the poor creature, the lust was too much. He moved his lips to the place where the knife had plunged in her neck and sunk his teeth in. All of his senses exploded as the blood hit the back of his throat. It was like liquid fire, the best blood that he had ever tasted, but as the blood flow began to weaken, he pulled back. For some insane reason, he wanted to save this woman, wanted to protect her. So he would. "I'm so sorry....." he whispered, feeling as if his non-beating heart would fall from the territory of his chest. "But once you wake up, it will be better," he crooned as her breathing cut off; the only indicator that she was still alive was by the movement of her unfocused eyes. "I won't leave you." Dante said, mostly to himself. A moment after he said that, she died. When Darkness Calls Ch. 03 It was cold. Freezing cold, and in eternal darkness. In Light's dream it was cold; the air seemed as if a block of ice had blown deeply into it. The darkness was a whole other thing. There was no compromising with the darkness, it was as if someone had pulled blindfold over her eyes and shut out her vision. The only light that could have possibly been there would have been if she had imagined it, and that was an unattainable talent. She just wished that the darkness would stop. The cold, she could handle. But the darkness seemed almost alive, though Light knew better than that. But, it seemed like a poison that was slowly draining into her very core. The pain registered later than the darkness and cold. It felt like her insides were coming out, like someone or something was slowly sticking pins and needles deeply into her skin and pulling them out in slow and agonizing movements. The worst pain was in her heart, as it was slowly dying down. But what was worst than the darkness, coldness, or even the pain was the silence. Usually, Light loved silence to collect her scattered and disjoined thoughts, but this silence was unnatural. Because, in this silence, Light couldn't hear herself breath. ***** As soon as Dante got back home, he set the shaking and convulsing woman on the couch, trying to comfort her by holding her hand. He knew she couldn't feel his presence, because she was too far gone in the pain. It was fairly common for her to feel pain as all of her body functions shut down and began to change to fit her future life style. He supposed he held her cold and clammy hands to comfort himself more than her. In some humans it wouldn't really work, or they would lose their mind through the fog of pain and agony. And the thought of that happening to this woman was making his thoughts somewhat muddled and anxious. Blood no longer flowed so freely from her neck, and he could see that from some of his blood he had sprinkled on the wound was slowly beginning to close it together with a thin layer of skin. Her eyes were rolled back in her head and her body constantly surged up with stabs of pain. He knew that pain, because he had experience it centuries ago, it was hard to even keep your mind as you felt it throughout your body. Dante just hoped that nobody was home, he didn't want to be questioned about this certain aspect at the moment. He had never changed a human before and he was faintly starting to panic. Not because of what they (meaning the four other younger vampires that were under his wing) would think, but he didn't really know anything to do that would stop the pain or hurry the process. The woman seemed young enough though, so the change probably wouldn't last but about several more hours at most. Most changes occurred within a 20 hour period, but she looked relatively close to progressing stages. The first part occurred when all the body parts stopped what they were doing, and then when the venom began to litter throughout her body....the other...well the others would come soon enough. It really wasn't even fairly pleasant. Dante had watched the transformation before, but didn't have the faintest idea what to do. And he would have responsibility for the woman once she finally finished her change...if she did finish, due to him being the one or the "patron" who changed her. Dante ran to the bathroom and grabbed a green towel, sprinkling it with cool water, then he ran back into the living room where she was slowly calming down. He dabbed at her forehead and brushed her hair back from her face, hoping this wouldn't last much longer. His nerves were being stretched thin, it was as if he were having a baby or something. Despite the relatively dark mood he was having, he had to laugh at the notion. She moaned as if the pain, this was the part he hated. When the screaming began. But to his relief, she quieted down and her eyes began to twitch restlessly. And then, to his complete surprise, her eyes opened as if the motion was costing her a lot of pain. Her eyes fastened upon him and he could see the pain in the hazel depths. But she didn't scream. She just simply sat there and looked at him. For a while anyway, and then she ran her hand up to his face, and said, "It burns." He tried to make his smile comforting, but he knew it didn't even relatively get past his eyes. But he tried never the less, and grasped her hand as if she were a lifeboat and he was drowning. She smiled in response, though she still gasped and twitched with pain once in a while. He tried not to concentrate on the pain, and found himself focusing on her fingers lazily tracing his face. "I'm not in heaven, am I?" she questioned and he could see sorrow shining through her eyes. "I'll admit," she continued in the same sleepy tone, "That you could rightly be an angel, but heaven can't hurt this much, can it?" he didn't want to answer this question, it touched a dormant part in him for some odd reason, and scared him. He simply covered her hand with his and watched as she slowly faded back into oblivion. ****** Light opened her eyes. Well, at least she attempted to open her eyes. But the pain that the motion sent through every particle of her being stopped her. The pain had faintly began to numb from the tips of her fingers, and she found that she could concentrate on her surroundings somewhat. She felt cold. Not really all over, but in some parts of her body, the coldness had consumed her. Light tried to move any part of her body, but to her displeasure, nothing on her personnel would budge an inch. So she tried concentrating harder. The worst pain was in her neck, but she clung to that pain because it felt somewhat different than the others. This pain felt more like it had been inflicted on the outer surface of her body rather than on the inside. Most of her body felt as if her insides were being slowly taken out. She groaned slightly and finally managed to open one of her eyes a small slit. To her surprise she saw an angel. The angel looked at her, and was humming. She knew that he was doing it unconsciously. It seemed as if he didn't even really realize that he was doing it. When he saw that he eyes had opened, he looked somewhat surprised. It was amusing to watch the play of emotions run throughout his face, even though the pain was unbearable. He had been dabbing her head with a refreshingly pleasant-feeling towel, but then he stopped, staring down at her with molten amber eyes. She idly thought that those were the most gorgeous eyes that she had ever seen. The eyes, at this moment had a small furrow in the middle of them. He seemed to not even notice he was doing that either. She reached up to his face, running her fingers along his jaw-line. The muscles in his jaw twitched as she ran her fingers along it. Then the pain came. "It burns." she said quietly. He smiled a sad smile at her, and she faintly wondered how it would look to actually see him laugh. What type of laugh would he have? Would it be a strong baritone? Or perhaps it was a high, yet masculine, soprano. She frowned as the pain hit her again, trying to concentrate on learning the shape of his face. "I'm not in heaven, am I?" she asked this more to herself than to the angel in front of her. "I'll admit," she paused for a moment to look into his eyes. "That you could rightly be an angel, but heaven can't hurt this much, could it?" The pain coursed through her body again. The last thing she saw was those eyes.........those molten amber eyes. She drifted into her dreams carrying only that last memory. When Darkness Calls Ch. 04 Darkness plagued her for days, flowing her in and out of consciousness, taking her to the outside world of reality only giving her glimpses, and then cruelly pulling her back. She saw the angel many times, he always seemed to be just above the darkness. Voices streamed in and out sometimes, different voices, but the one she never seemed to fail hearing was his. A sweet baritone that crawled over her like a caress from the wind, a velvet voice. She longed to open her eyes, longed to see a sprinkle of light, longed to be able to touch and taste just to know that she was still alive. Was this hell? Was she dead? No. She could feel the numbness going over her body like a thick blanket, can you feel if you're dead? Light's eyes desperately tried to open, tried to climb out of the suffocating darkness, trying to escape the imaginary hands clasping and reaching for her. Then her eyelids slowly came up. It was better in the darkness. ***** It was two days after he brought the woman into his mansion that the fledglings came home. Dante had been caring for the young woman tediously, and worried most of the time like a mother hen, her condition didn't seem to be recovering. She had frequent spells of consciousness, only coming in and out of them for short periods of time. Each time, she simply drank some of the blood he had in his pantry (meaning animals, which weren't as satisfying as human blood) or cried, she didn't seem to take in her surroundings. It was as if she were in her own little world. Her lovely hazel eyes were vacant, and they didn't seem to focus. After Dante had gotten the woman settled in and her condition stabilized, he sniffed his way back to her car, hoping to find something to tell him who she was. A purse perhaps? He hadn't found anything and he supposed the punk who had stabbed her took off with her purse. Dante had been continuously scouting Pampa looking for the blue-haired man, hoping he could find and kill him. He felt a strange blazing rage towards the boy and didn't even stop to ask himself why. It was simply his nature to hold grudges. So all the time she had stayed in his home, nothing had really been accomplished and it would be harder from here on, since his adopted protégées' had come home. Dante tended to take very troublesome vampires, because he loved to have a challenge and see them come out as successful, modern vampires. They had been on a trip to Italy to speak with one of The Judgment leaders, Jamie McLeish about the out-of-control younger vampires, it was one of the projects he had set out for them. They had been excited about it. He, himself, had discussed it many times (being an elder), and was tired of running off to Italy every couple of months. The four fledglings were quite young in vampire years, he supposed considered babies. The oldest was Chaos, a twenty-three boy who had been turned only six months ago, and who was his favorite student. The prospect of adventure and a noble title excited all them: Abel, Chaos, Lucrestia, and Alice. He had been like them at a time in his life, well non-life. Dante had been changed prior to the 19th Century, so after a couple of thousand years, you kind of just got tired. He looked just as he had at the age of twenty-five, the age he was turned. Vampires tended to not change very much after their transformation, their features and talents were simply intensified. So, if nothing else about him was to change, at least his preferences could. The young woman he had turned hadn't yet taken in the vampiric features, she still had human blood in her system, but in about two days, she would become pale and extremely thirsty. However, she looked beautiful now, so he really couldn't imagine it would really change the intensity so much. Dante forced his mind off of his musings and watched as the black limo in which his little protégées' had taken drive up the vast and long tree-shrouded drive-way and watched as they all jumped out. Little Alice jumped out of the front seat with the driver and ran full-speed towards the house. Alice was a bit of an outsider among the other vampires, besides with Fabrian, who he suspected had interest romantically in Alice. She had been found in an alleyway two months ago, with what they thought was another of the out-of-control vampire feastings. It was common for some of them to make mistakes and accidentally turn the humans. Her auburn hair bounced off of shoulder as she ran, and before he knew what she was doing, she launched herself into his arms. The others got out more slowly, their gracefulness portraying their distaste at Alice's behavior. Cold-eyed, blond-haired Abel looked at her with a speculative gaze, and him with what he presumed was envy. Lucrestia with her nose up in the air and her curly black hair pinned up gracefully, and Chaos with a disinterested and immensely bored gaze in his dark eyes, and his bronze hair hanging in unruly locks. Alice beamed at him and let go, gracefully stepping from the stairs to grab her suitcase. As the young vampires drew closer, Chaos's eyes sharpened first and then narrowed on Dante. "You smell different." he said in his usual murmur. The others gazes sharpened and their nostrils flared, and then their gazes became wide and somewhat confused. Then, they all turned towards the entrance of the house and set their black suitcases down in the hallway. "Someone is here." Abel said. Dante motioned for them to sit on the plush black sofa that sat in the parlor. They cautiously took a seat and some of them fidgeted, but all of their gazes were trained on him. "I...have some news." he said in a solemn tone, staring at each one of them. "Two days ago, I was in Pampa hunting." he paused, watching them. "And....?" said Chaos impatiently. "And there was a particular incident..." "Was it about the rouge vampires?" Abel interrupted and everyone tuned to give him a glare worthy of a vampire. Then, they all looked back towards him. "It was cold that night. I jumped onto the library roof, looking for prey, and I did find prey." he paused again. "And I smelt blood. Beautiful, floral smelling, rich blood, it was the sweetest smell that had every tainted my nostrils. So I followed the trail." he noticed most of the young vampires were listening intently. "Then I found where the smell originated. The woman...she....was hurt. I...couldn't leave her." he said and felt a burning pain in his chest, ashamed at the words coming so desperately and hard from his dry mouth. "Oh! Where is she?" Alice asked, a slight sparkle in her eyes. He suspected she wanted a woman friend, since Lucrestia was so indifferent. Alice was the youngest of them all, barely eighteen years old. "Alice....the woman isn't doing well, I believe the change and stress of the situation has taken a tole on her physically and emotionally." her face fell as he said this, and she stood gracefully up. "Still...where is she? I would like to see her." she said in a slightly gloomy tone. "You could just sniff her out, it would be good practice munchkin." Chaos said offhandedly, seemingly in his own world. Alice jumped up and began sniffing furiously, her talents weren't quite up to par yet. Fabrian laughed at this and Lucrestia sniffled slightly, stood up, and walked upstairs to her room. Alice continued to sniff and followed her way to the woman's current room in the east wing of the house. Abel, Chaos, and Dante followed . All of the young ones had wide eyes as they looked at the woman. He couldn't really blame them, she looked beautiful, but just the same, he stood off to the side watching them. The woman was knocked out, knocked out because vampires couldn't sleep. The marks from where the knife had hit it's mark were jagged and red. Her hair was spread out on the cotton pillow, and made her look like an angel. Her soft pink lips were parted slightly... "She's pretty." Alice cooed and brushed a strand of the woman's hair from her face with her fingertips. "Yeah, Lucrestia isn't going to be too happy about this." Fabrian said and grinned. "Lucrestia is bitter, she likes nothing." Chaos retorted. All of them were making Dante very nervous. They were very close to the woman's bed. They must of sensed his distress because they left when they got a good look at him. "Ummm...come on guys, lets go unpack." Chaos said, and pulled the other two out of the room by the scruffs of their neck. After they were all gone, Dante wandered to the bed, looking at the woman with his head tilted. He reached down and brushed a lock of hair off her head. Her eyes opened. When Darkness Calls Ch. 05 The angel stood stiffly beside the foreign bed and Light blinked her eyes again to clear her fuzzy vision. She slowly sat up and looked around the room. It was wide, with flowing white curtains and a spectacular view of the forest. There were dark oak dressers facing the window on the right side of the room and the carpet was a rich burgundy. Light let her gaze roam and then it locked onto the angel. "What...where...I..." She got the words out forcibly, her voice hoarse. She was trying to remember, trying to form a rational thought. "May I ask whom you are?" The angel said in his velvet voice. Light rose up and put her feet over the side of the queen-sized bed, holding the scarlet comforter against her naked breasts, and put her head in her heads, trying to focus past the pounding in her head. "I will give you a moment of peace miss, although we desperately need to talk." he murmured in a rough tone, and turned his way to the door, then pausing for a moment at the entrance. "You may address me as Dante, there are some clothes in the wardrobe you may wear. When you feel well enough, come downstairs and all will be revealed." And with that final word, the mysterious angel left. Light stood on shaky legs and walked to the wardrobe. Something was wrong, and she tried to pinpoint the difference. She didn't feel the same as usual, it was as if everything was magnified, she could hear a light thumping and smell rust and salt. She leaned against the wardrobe as she arrived there, letting it support her entire length and weight, resting her pounding head against the cool surface. Time seemed to blend together. Raising her hand up, she put it on her neck and ran her hand across the expanse of it. She was surprised to find something unfamiliar, a small indention about the size and width of a full-sized egg. It had very thin skin on it, like it was healing, and it was tender. She raised both hands up and cupped her neck, trying futilely to remember, just a glimmer of something. But all she remembered was pain. A blinding and overwhelming pain that melted everything else. Light groaned and gripped the knobs that kept the dresser closed, and pulled. It was an effort on her part, she felt like shit. There were many kinds of clothes in the wide expanse of the closet, of all different shapes and sizes. From faded woman's jeans and clean t-shirts, to sequined dresses. None of the shoes there would fit her, but she managed to find a comfortable pair of pants and a thin, faded shirt. She couldn't find a bra. After she was finished dressing, there was a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead. Light just plopped on the floor and caught her breath. Every movement of her ribs seemed to be exhausting. She leaned the back of her blond head against the dresser, listening to the thumping. "Are you alright, miss?" a masculine voice said from the door, it wasn't the angel though, instead there was a bronze-haired man standing at the door. He wasn't as muscular as the angel, but he looked strong, and he had a slight smile on his features. He looked friendly, and his dark eyes were open, but it didn't mean she trusted the angel or him. Light backed her way into the corner, until she felt her back muscles aching, he must of taken that as conformation that she wasn't alright because his mouth tightened and he stepped forward. She simply closed her eyes, and tried to tune everything out. "Chaos." she heard from the doorway and leaned farther back into the corner. "Leave now, this isn't the time." she knew that voice from anywhere, it was the angel, and to her surprise he sounded slightly aggravated. The man named Chaos sighed and she opened her eyes, looking forward. He was about a foot away from her, and the angel was standing in the doorway. Chaos abruptly turned on his feet and left the room, nodding at the angel as he passed. Light shook her head. No. He wasn't an angel, he said his name was Dante, she needed to remember that. "I'm terribly sorry, Chaos isn't really that much of a people person." The man named Dante said to her conversationally, and she noticed that he had brought a tray of something up. "You didn't come down for so long, that some of them were beginning to worry." he said grudgingly and set the platter down. "I see." she said, and was surprised at how her voice sounded. She didn't even recognize it, it sounded so rough and strangled. She looked curiously at the platter that sat on her bed. There wasn't anything there except for a large, clear glass filled with a red liquid. "I don't have an appetite, I'm feeling funny." she said and was surprised when the corners of his mouth turned up. "Drink anyway." he murmured and grabbed the glass off of the tray, shoving it towards her. It was the same smell that had tainted her nostrils earlier, salt and iron. He looked at her curiously as she examined the liquid, eyeing it reproachfully. "What...is this?" she asked. "Blood, animal blood to be exact." he said simply and pushed it up towards her trembling mouth. "No! No! Please stop...please...no." she whimpered and spit up when he poured some of the blood into her mouth. It tasted good, but this was crazy! He expected her to drink blood?! "Stop!" she shouted loudly. He just grimaced and tried a different approach. He quickly put the liquid into her mouth and before she could spit it back up, his lips were on her own. She gasped in surprise and the liquid went down her throat. His fingers circled her neck and followed the downward path that the blood made. He pressed her braless chest to his and his mouth slanted and made a slight suction. His tongue made contact with hers, and he lightly explored her mouth, groaning and then pulling away. His eyes had fire in them, and she wondered what he saw in her own, because they immediately dimmed down as he examined her. "That was extremely rude, I apologize. But, you really need to eat." he said almost desperately and put the cup into her hands. "If you don't want me to force all of it into your mouth the same way, drink." She was scared at the threat, and in an act of self-preservation gulped down a large amount of the liquid. It burned her tongue as it went down, but was satisfying as it got to her stomach. When the cup was drained, she simply dropped the cut and put her head up to her knees. She couldn't see Dante, but knew that he was staring. She could feel it. "What...what's wrong with me?" she stammered and slammed her eyes closed, hoping her expression wouldn't give away how scared she was. But he was a predator, she didn't know how she knew that, but she knew he was. And he could sense her fear. She felt his hand drop to her shoulder, a calming gesture. Then, from nearby, she heard a vicious growl. ***** After the woman had woke, Dante left the room quickly, irritated that she couldn't really speak well. If he had to admit it to himself, he would have to say he was almost eager to speak with her. To just learn a little about her to erase the cloud of elusiveness and mystery surrounding her in exotic waves. She was enticing, even in a confused and dazed state. He found himself thinking about the way she had pulled the cover over her beautiful breasts. He knew they were beautiful because when he had taken all of the bloody clothes from her body. They were a full handful, with light pink nipples dusting the tops. And a small crescent shaped birth mark on the right one. They had been mesmerizing, but he couldn't allow that to get in his way of being her patron. Patrons protected their students. Sheltered them, fed them, and took care of all of their potential need. They didn't have fantasies about their students; they didn't desire their students. But he had to admit, she was very desirable. He was disgusted at himself. Alice, Fabrian, and Chaos were in the living room. Alice and Chaos playing a game of chess beside the blazing fire and Fabrian flipping through the channels on the wide-screen television. When he came into the room, they all turned their heads toward him. He knew what they wanted to ask. He sighed. "Just ask." he muttered and plopped into the a pale brown leather couch and stretched his legs out. He flipped one of his hands over his eyes and waited for what he knew was coming. "How is she?" Alice was the first to actually have the courage to ask. "She's...awake." Dante said and looked over at his students. They seemed to have gone back to their original tasks, but he saw that they were looking at him from the corner of their eyes. And he closed his eyes and rested. An hour passed by slowly when he finally started wondering what was happening with the woman. Didn't he ask her to come down? Chaos must have noticed what was bothering him, because he gracefully stood up and smoothed his hands down his black jeans, then walked over to Dante. "I'm going to go check on her." Chaos said offhandedly to Dante. He didn't like that idea, but nodded anyway. Chaos smiled widely and marched up the stairs, heading towards the woman's room. Though he was only walking, it was faster than a human pace. Dante groaned and rolled off the couch, flipping his feet forward and landing on the floor. He went to the kitchen quickly and grabbed a tray that he had fixed earlier. He then trailed off to the woman's room. "Are you all right, miss?" he heard Chaos ask and went to the doorway. The woman was huddled in the corner with her eyes tightly closed, her lips were trembling and she looked on the verge of fainting. Apparently it was because of Chaos. He was standing about a foot from the woman. "Chaos." he said, angry at himself for being angry. It's not like Chaos meant to scare her. "Leave now, this isn't the time." Dante told Chaos with a glint in his eyes. Chaos simply smirked at him, and walked towards the door. He nodded in a mocking way as he headed past him. Dante scowled after Chaos and then turned his attention back to the young woman. Her hair was wild, and her face was pale. He didn't really know if it was pale from the vampiric transformation or if she was just scared. He suspected that it was both. "I'm terribly sorry, Chaos isn't really that much of a people pleaser." he said as a way of apology, and turned the tray that he had brought towards the bed. "You didn't come down for so long, that some of us were beginning to worry." he said. He almost felt embarrassed, he had worried about her the most. Then he set the platter down. "I see." she said speculatively. Her voice was strangled. Then she looked over to the platter he had set down, obvious curiosity in her hazel eyes. "I don't have an appetite, I'm feeling funny." the woman said and he raised his eyes up, he knew. "Drink anyway." he said, worried about her lack of appetite. He didn't want her to become weak. He grabbed the glass and forced it towards her. "What...is this?" she asked almost suspiciously. He decided to give her the truth. "Blood, animal blood to be exact." he said promptly and tried yet again to push it towards her. "No! No! Please stop...please...no." this plea surprised him, but he couldn't give up. "Stop!" she shouted. He grimaced, secretly relishing what he was going to have to do. He put the blood into her beautiful mouth and then, his lips. She gasped, and he took the opportunity to thrust his tongue in her mouth. His fingers circled her chest, and he realized that she was braless. He made a slight suction with his mouth and explored her mouth, loving the taste. He felt his erection pushing against his pants, and pulled away with a groan. She, however, looked afraid. "That was extremely rude, I apologize. But, you really need to eat." he said with renewed desperation and put the cup in her hands, noticing that they were trembling. "If you don't want me to force all of it into your mouth the same way, drink." He was disappointed when she obeyed, wanting to repeat the earth-shattering kiss. When the cup tumbled to the floor, she curled up. He watched her with apprehensive eyes. "What...what's wrong with me?" she said on the verge of tears. Her fear reeked the air. He felt for her, felt her pain and fear. He reached his hand down, and gripped her soft shoulder, and from the direction of the doorway he heard the single most menacing, and vicious growl of rage. When Darkness Calls Ch. 06 The ominous wail didn't seem to faze the ethereally beautiful man. As soon as he turned his lovely amber eyes to the doorway, he turned them back towards her, a slightly bored expression on his ashen eerie face. Light felt alarm course through her body as she looked in the path to a lovely, well, more than lovely woman. Her black, curly hair was curled up gracefully as if it has always been so beautiful. Her electric green eyes were fixed on Light murderously. The man named Dante must have noticed her fright, because he looked at her with a slight smile on his pale face, and placed a long arm around her shoulders. This made the woman frown even deeper. "This is Lucrestia." The man said with that same secretive smile, and then all of a sudden his smile turned into a frown. "Is...something the matter?" Light asked quietly, staring at the slight imperfection of a frown on his otherwise perfect face. "I just realized that I don't even know your name." Dante said with an air of ease, even as the black haired beauty watched them. Then, he turned towards the woman and with a wave of one of his long, white fingered hand, the woman disappeared. "You want to know my...name?" She stuttered through these words, a result of his speculation and closeness. His arm was still wrapped securely around her narrow shoulders. "Well, a name doesn't really mean that much. But it would be an easier way to address you." He said conversationally, and lightly tapped his head, as if to say "duh." "My name is Light, Mr. Dante." She said warily, and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. His brows furrowed for a moment, and then smoothed out again. "I wonder...how did you get such a strange name." he didn't seem to direct this question to her, but was talking to himself. "My mother, died when I was born. Her name was named Aaylah, which they said meant "light bearer." So they named me Light." She attempted to explain this, feeling like brainless moron. She looked back over at the man and found that he was staring at her again, with that same small secretive smile on his lovely face. "Well, Light, I have four other people, one of whom you just saw. And we really must talk." The mysterious man seemed to be worried, because his brow furrowed up again, and he pushed his brown hair out of his eyes. She faintly noticed that his hair was to his nose, and made him look kind of like a rock star. "How old are you?" She asked curiously. He looked very young and vulnerable with his brown furrowed in consternation. "I am twenty-five." He said, and looked towards her as if he were thinking very deeply. "You don't really look twenty-five." Light said suspiciously and then moved a little bit away from him. He seemed to realize that his arm was still surrounding her, and moved it, sitting his chin in his beautiful hand. "I don't look my real age." Dante said with a slightly ironic smile. Then, he moved his hand to her arm and pressed her forward. "What are you doing?" Light said, panicked and surprised. She tried to drag her hand back to her own body. He simply exhaled heavily and hauled her forward. "We are going to go meet the other house occupants. They have been worried about you, miss." He said quietly. "We have some explanations to give to you." She let herself be pulled forward. When he pulled her through the door, she wanted to crawl right back inside the now-familiar room. The strangeness of this house scared her like nothing else ever could. The doorways were high arches that looked probably from the nineteenth century. The floors had an unfamiliar wooden texture, and all of the smells that were in her nose confused her. "Why did you make me drink blood earlier?' Light asked with a mixture of fear and confusion. Wondering if she could trust this man, and hoping she didn't fall for trusting him. He looked her squarely in the eyes, stopping and running his hand from her shoulder, up to her face. "It is necessary for our kind to live." He whispered, and grimaced as if in dire pain. His amber molten eyes darkened with despair. And she couldn't help it. She knew she should be afraid, but she couldn't bring herself to fear this man. To feel anything terribly bad accept a sense of foreboding. She lifted her own hand and placed it over his hand that covered her face, luxuriating in the contact of another person. "Excuse me for asking...but...what do you mean?" her lips barely moved as she said this, but the words managed to spill out. "What...what are you?" His face darkened when she asked this. Instead of the usual beauty and lightness that seemed to be on it, she saw deeper. These shadows told of misery...and darkness...and even...pain. Pain so unbearable that no normal human would be able to hold it in their body. Pain that racked and burned the soul. It confirmed to her that he was not human. "Vampire, I suppose the humans call us." He said in a low voice, warily, almost as if he were testing her reaction. His eyes stayed glued to her. His dark quirked eyebrows lowered in indecision. "I...I can't be one." Her voice was slightly hysterical as she said this, and she dropped her hands like she had touched a fire, and began to shake her head. She backed up and his eyes followed her. "V...vampire...haven't...haven't they been...gone for centuries?" She stuttered almost uncontrollably, and he raised his hands over his head and slowly began walking towards her. Before she knew what was happening she was backed in a corner. He was in front of her, a wary expression on his pale and handsome face. "I'm afraid so...do you remember anything that happened?" He asked. "I remember the cold...and pain...and you....I thought you were an angel come to take me home. Perhaps I was mistaken when I though I'd be accepted into heaven." She groaned and sagged against the wooden wall. "Perhaps." A slight smile curved his lips, and he backed away, his hands in his black pockets. "Don't vampires have fangs...and not eat human food? Because I still have a hunger for chocolate cake." She said, and continued babbling. "I mean, I guess that the cheesy flicks that vampires were in didn't portray them correctly, but I've never really taken time to look at the features and attributes of them. I didn't know I'd need it later. I always knew that something like this was going to happen...." She groaned nosily, her head pounding. "Ahhh...well I suppose I should wait to explain it to you until we are with my fledglings. They are newer than I, and can sympathize with you in a more direct way. I don't really remember my turn..." he said and his voice was as if it flowed with the air. They went past an indoor fountain, and Light leaned over it. There were sparkling goldfish there, swimming happily around in their little underwater world. "Chinese goldfish, they say it brings you good luck." A slightly familiar voice said directly behind her. The man she had met earlier, Chaos, stood beside Dante, they were both watching her. She felt an unfamiliar blush come on her face. "Come on. We have to go to the west wing. I think Fabrian and Alice are there. I honestly have no idea where Lucrestia is." Dante said quickly, and with what she thought was aggravation. She looked over at the bronze haired man, she had to remember him as Chaos, and he was smiling a wicked smile at Dante. "Of course." Light said, and went up towards them. They both led the way down a winding hall, which came out to a flight of elegant stairs. They walked down them, and she noticed that Chaos kept staring at her. "Err....is there something on my face?" She asked, and wished she had shut up. Dante's gaze flickered over to Chaos's. "Of course not, just your nose and eyes, and luscious mouth." Chaos flashed his pearly white teeth. "Hey!" She heard the feminine voice before she saw it when they entered what seemed to be a large living room. The voice came from behind her, and she turned around to see what seemed to be a petite girl. There seemed to be something swirling unnaturally in her eyes. She had a bright smile on her perfect face, and a blond haired man stood beside her with a slight frown on his own perfect face. Light turned around and almost screamed. The woman that she had seen earlier in the doorway was behind her. A scowl was her face and with glowing eyes a deep, deep vivid red that she remembered. Light dropped to the floor on her butt, and she faintly heard Dante growling at the woman. The woman continued to look at Light as if she were a rat being hypnotized by a snake. "I think that is enough, Lucrestia." Dante said, and the woman seemed to battle herself. She finally backed away. The petite girl came towards Light, and lifted her hands toward her, offering to help her up. Light grabbed her hand, and let her propel her up. The girl had more strength in her than she looked. "Thank you Alice." Dante said to the small girl and she beamed at him. Then, she turned her gaze back to Light. "You're in our family now." Chaos proclaimed. The girl, Alice, grinned wildly at him, and slapped him in the age-old gesture of a high five. Dante smiled with Alice, and Fabrian seemed to glow when he looked at Alice's grinning face. Lucrestia simply stared at their exchange, her black haired glistening. And while they were all doing this, as a "family", Light was plotting on a way to escape from this place. And soon. When Darkness Calls Ch. 07 It was a long day. The hours seemed to string by so slowly, slower than Dante could ever remember in his inhuman life. He supposed it shouldn't be surprise him that with an infinite amount of time, that it could become unbearably boring. But he had to admit to himself that it was because of his guest. Ever since the family had met in the living room, she had stayed in her room, and the last time he had checked on her, she had been staring blankly at the ceiling, seeming to contemplate something very hard. This didn't surprise him either; he hadn't taken the news of being a vampire so easily. He didn't really know any immortal that had taken with stroll being a vampire. Dante stared into the fireplace, contemplating his own thoughts as Light probably was at that very moment. He didn't see the flickering flames in front of him though, his memories rushed through his head like a moving picture. And he felt bad. Why had he changed her? He could have controlled his hunger; at least he thought he could. Could it have been possible to keep her alive without infecting her with this curse? Surely she deserved to be alive...to be truly alive. Not the pale imitation that the vampires cast like a shadow. It was impossible not to linger on all of these thoughts, impossible to let go when he knew that the only option to keep her alive had been killing her. But the question: "what if?" These thoughts lingered in his head like a plague, taunting him with their futility. Dante sighed. "Hum...well I haven't heard that sigh from the great "Dante" before." Dante jumped at the sound of this voice, turning around to stare into Chaos's dark eyes. Chaos smiled in amusement at the sight of Dante jumping in his seat. It wasn't really considered easy to scare Dante, because he was so tuned In with the house. But living in the same house for at least fifty years could definentely do that to you. "Sorry bout that. I just wanted to see how you were doing and tell you that Xavier called about twenty minutes ago from you office. He seemed to want some information about that chick so he could put her on file." Dante stopped Chaos from speaking with a wave from his hand. "He can wait, that man is so impatient. When Alice came in, I must have had about one hundred calls." Dante groaned. Xavier was what could probably be called an administrator of the vampire community. It was necessary for The Judgment to have a record on every vampire. "Yep." Chaos said in a bored tone, looking out the black window. "But I suppose it's to be expected. The younger vampires are always a challenge, especially when we are so close to the humans' city." Dante sighed at the end of this sentence, looking away from his student and back to the spitting fireplace. "TEACHER!!!" the scream caught both of the men by surprise, and this time they both jumped up in their seats. The scream had come from up the stairs, where the others were, and it sounded as if the scream had issued from Alice. She came rushing through the door, her hair wild, her body movements a blur to the human eye. Dante's heart stopped in his chest, and he knew what she was going to say, but it still pained him to even hear it. "She's gone." ***** Light sat in the shadow of her former life. Her house stood in front of her, and she looked up to her bedroom window. It was hard to believe it had only been days since she had been in the one place that was hers, the one place she felt completely safe. It filled with a sense of peace that was almost overpowering. The mere sight of the house did that to her. Those...people hadn't been lying...about the power. Light had ran all the way to her house from the mansion, it hadn't taken that much to get past the various vampires; they kept to themselves quite a bit. She could feel it rushing through her veins like a drug. It was dizzying to feel this much power. And she was thirsty...so thirsty. Tears pricked at her eyelids. She was home, it was over. The steps looked like a written invitation to come inside, so she did. But not with that inhuman speed, she took small steps, savoring the reunion. The inside of the house looked no different than the outside, except the absence of noise. It was dead quiet in her sanctuary. Light wandered through the silent house, taking in the new scents that she had never noticed when she had been human. Then she stopped, and held her breath, the smell of death reeked the air; but what could have...? She stopped dead in her tracks at her bedroom, and turned to the little golden cage in the corner of her room. Dropping on her knees, she looked towards her best friend, her baby, and her pet. Demo was dead. She wondered how the dead could cry.