Another Long Night (Alora)

[Vincent]

Vincent sighs as he slumps back in his chair, rubbing his eyes with his hands. The study was dark, isolated. Eva was asleep he figured, and he was the only one awake in the castle, hidden alone in his study, in the darkness. The soft glow of a computer monitor lit his face, and revealed that he wasn't having the best of times lately. His hair was unkempt, face haggard, clothing rumpled, and he had just a general run down look to him. He was dressed in just normal jeans and a t-shirt for once, and he rests his forehead against the desk, sighing softly. "The compound is unstable...have to stabilize it...need a drink..." he mutters wearily, opening a bottle of scotch he had on the table next to him, taking a huge draw on it. He clears his throat, before fingers began dancing across the key board again, trying to stabilize his new compound. He didn't even remember what it was for now, for he'd been working for weeks on end, but he remembered he needed it for something. Was it a killing agent? Fuel? Constructive, destructive, affected growth, what? He couldn't say. He shakes his head, eyes moving in and out of focus, and he grits his teeth, taking another draw on the scotch. He had taken enough blood for the day, so he was still going strong, but he was about to work himself into an early grave.

He frowns, staring at the screen as he types something in almost questioningly, and smiles lightly as it succeeds in finally stabilizing the compound. He reads the screen for his answer, checking over his notes from weeks ago, trying to determine what it was. "Right, new synthetic fibers, gotta start on that...compound...ammunition, explosive mixture suspend in a glass casing..." he murmurs as he reads over the notes, leaning back again, looking at the scotch and shaking his head. He stands up, moving over to his cabinet and replacing the bottle, instead moving to his coffee maker and making himself a steaming cup as he stared out the window. It was dark, the thunderstorm going strong outside as rain pounded down against the castle. It would probably become snow soon, this high in the mountains. He sips his coffee as he watches the lightning flash, before sinking back into his chair, resting his head on the desk. Just for a moment, he told himself, before he slowly drifted off.

[†The Blood Countess†]

"Ugh," Alora slammed the door behind her and casted aside her cloak to the rack standing by the frame. A simple use of the wind was all she needed to ensure it would land exactly where it was meant to go. The Blue Butterfly was back on the job, but this time, it was with Vincent's consent as long as she promised to not run off again like the past few times. Alora kept that vow to the fullest.

Her jet black hair, which had grown a considerable amount --an inch past her collarbone--was swept back into a low angled ponytail but messy due to her earlier assignment. Alora took out a house containing supplies for The Blood Dynasty and that was possibly one of the most dangerous assignments she had in a long time. Best to leave the life threatening details from Vincent...after she gets rid of the bullets imbedded in her midsection...

---

"Vincent?" Alora cautiously opened the door to his room only to find her close friend had fallen asleep. Was he overworking himself again? She shook her head, shut the door behind her, and used a soft wind to gradually wake him. The assassin was foolish enough to hug him when he drifted off and that made him react rather...negatively. Long story short, she ended up on the floor and was seeing stars for a few minutes.

[Vincent]

The wind begin stirring around him, and deep within his mind, he knew what it was. But he couldn't control himself, his eyes snap open, as his hands curl into claws, eyes wide and darting as a snarl tore up from the pit of his stomach. A shadow moved, his hand burst through the stone and mortar, before whirling on another shadow, rending furrows in the stone as thunder boomed and he hurled his desk through the window. He stood hunched over in the flickering light, lit only by the flashes of lightning that came through the shattered window, staring out into the dark, as within his mind the screams continued. His body shudders as he draws in ragged breaths, stumbling back into the far corner of the room, slumping down into the shadows as he shut his eyes, forcing the memories away, forcing down the tears trying to burst. 'No, no more...stay away..." he mutters into his knees, pausing only for a breath, "I'm sorry..." he whispers, a single tear trailing down his face.

The wind howling forced his head up. Wind, door slam...Alora had returned. He forces himself up, forcing the tears back and drying his eyes before going to his study door. He opened it and forced a smile for her, "Hey there kid." he says, hugging her tightly, unaware that his body was still shaking, if only just. But perceptive Alora would notice. "Welcome back, Eva's missed you. I was just doing alot of work lately, guess I drifted off." he says with a chuckle. He couldn't tell her, she could never know what was in his head, no one could. He couldn't tell her that the reason he slept so rarely was because...because he was terrified. His past had been returning, haunting him, tormenting him. "How'd the job go? Aside from being shot. You smell like blood, burnt flesh and lead." he says, wrinkling his nose. Great, more death around him. Someone else he cared for dodging death by the skin of their teeth. "You have to be more careful Alora, you can't keep going like this. You know you have my entire family to help you on these jobs. Linx, Leon and I are more than willing." he says softly.

[†The Blood Countess†]

"Hey..." she smiled at him and returned the embrace, sighing in content. After such a stressful evening, this is what she needed to gradually unwind for relaxing since the next assignment won't be for at least a week or more. Smiling still, her shortened nails gently caressed his skin where her hands were planted,"Yeah, you drifted off, so, I decided to wake you up so you can go to your bed-you've been at this for far too long." Soon after the leftover shock had worn off, it was then she noticed something: he was shaking. Why would Vincent be like this? Did something happen while she was away?

Concern took the wheel, "I don't care about how the job went," the assassin pulled back from his embrace just enough to look into his eyes, "you're not doing well at all. Come on," Alora took his hand in hers, weaving her fingers with his to further tighten the grip, "and don't argue with me. We're going to your room and getting you ready for bed. Once you get some rest, then, we can talk about how my assignment went."

[Vincent]

As she began to force him to his room, he rips his arms from her. "I'm not a child, so don't presume to order me around." he hissed, whirling on his heel and disappearing back into his study. he lashes out with his foot, kicking the chair out into the storm that had avoided his destruction, snarling in rage. Movement, a flash of crimson outside caught his eye. His head snaps up, and focuses in on the figure in the storm. "No..." he gasps, in his voice...fear. The figure, one from his long and turbulent past had resurfaced. "You're dead! Why are you still alive!?" he roars in fear and rage, hands clenching, white knuckled as his body trembles. Michael wasn't the only ghost from his past, there were far worse creatures than he in Vincents life. He drops to his knees as the figure draws a blade, crossing a line in the dirt, spitting on Vincent's grounds.

"Helios." he voice whispers, so soft only Vincent could hear, but the name roared in his ears. He howls in rage, ripping his sword from the wall. Not his katana, the blade given to him by the samurai who'd trained him, but a much more ancient blade, from the days of the Spartans. He rushes forward, throwing all his strength and wait behind the attack, bringing it down in a lightning swift arc to cleave the man in twain...but was foiled. The man deflected it with metal vambraces, bringing him in close to Vincent, the blade plunging through his ribs, puncturing his lung. "You've run this long, but not anymore. It's time you paid for your crimes." the man says gently. Vincent blinked, fear in his eyes, a tear trailing down as the man shoves the blade further, the end of the blade appearing out his back.

He steps back from Vincent, holding him up by his hair as he pulled the blade out in a slow and twisting fashion, causing excruciating pain, tearing open his stomach. The blade swings, faster than any eye could follow, and Vincent's limbs are severed, and torso cut free from his waist. The point of the sword was pressed through his throat, severing the wind pipe and carotid artery, before resting against his chest, beginning it's slow plunge to Vincent's heart, and his final death. The only sound made, over the roar of thunder, the torrential down pour, was a single, solitary sound...a whimper. He mouthed the words, I'm sorry, and his head tilted back, staring up into the sky as he knew his end came at last. He was afraid, and the rain descended, and his eyes fluttered, tears mixing in. The pain halted for a moment, and a flash of lightning lit up the home, and Vincent's eyes and those of his killer locked onto a single form. Alora. She stood in the broken window of his study, shocked, as Vincent's torso fell into the mud, the man spitting on him before turning and walking away.

"You won't be so lucky again." he says softly, the words carried by the wind. No sound reached Vincent's ears as his eyes stared upwards into the rain, glazed over and unblinking. Why wasn't he dead? Why couldn't it finally end? After all these years, he knew the truth. He knew why Michael had changed, the identity to his master, and what had really happened all those years ago, in Sparta...where his dark life had begun.

[†The Blood Countess†]

An unearthly screech ripped from the assassin's throat, and she shot down to the mud after the one who attacked Vincent; he was gone soon as she blinked. Eyes, usually solid black, had turned a piercing, blood-chilling blue while she eyed the surroundings in search of the male who easily took him down. Her canines had elongated to their full extent, giving her appearance a savage, feral look to it. Still having that look about her, she slowly turned to face Vincent, but mainly over her shoulder.

It took a few breaths to calm the assassin down, but, it was accomplished. Alora said nothing and rushed to the dismembered Vincent's side, panic stricken What could she do?! Was he going to die or...?!

MOM! WHAT HAPPENED?! Eva shouted from her window.

"GET SOME BLOOD PACKETS NOW!" Alora returned, and eased Vincent's head into her lap, tears streaming down her face, mingling with the rain.

"What just happened...?"

[Vincent]

His regeneration was already hard at work, fixing his throat, closing his veins and arteries to keep from bleeding out. "Hold...hold the limbs next to me, the regeneration will reattach them faster than regrowing." he says softly. How could he tell her the truth? How could he tell her the true monster that he was? His body trembles, not from the cold, but from sorrow. "Alora...I'm going away, and I don't think I'm returning." he says softly as his body reattached the limbs, and he forced himself up, leaning on her for support. He stumbled into the house, taking the blood packets from Eva gratefully, downing them quickly, slaking the worst of his thirst and pain. He sits down in the conference room, sparking a fire in the fire place, remaining silent for a few moments. "Let me tell you a story..." he begins, and launches into his tale.

"Long ago, in ancient Greece, Sparta was still a city-state, with the elite Spartan Hoplites the most feared warriors throughout the lands. None could match the might of Sparta's armies, and many fell in their wake. When I was born, I was raised as everyone else. Many years passed, and my brother was raised as I was. Eventually, my family was slaughtered, and my brother went missing, after King Leonidas and his men held off the Persians at the Hot Gates. I went to fight, found my brother, and became a vampire, and wandered the world for millenia seeking his end, this you already know. But...it's not the full truth. The family slaughtered was a family that had taken me and my brother in. I am...I was, the heir to the throne of Sparta. Our true father was King Leonidas...and he was also the one who turned my brother Michael." he whispers softly.

"The man you saw...was my father, Leonidas. After he turned Michael, he made him slaughter the family that had adopted us, and wanted Michael to make me one of them...to be the true family, and remain the greatest warriors for all eternity. Michael, however, had been twisted by hate for me, as our adopted family always paid me more attention. I was older than he, and always drew more attention, and was always better with the blade. He decided to slaughter the family, turn me, and leave me for dead." he says quietly. "No...that's not true. That's what I want to be true. It was me that slaughtered that family. I...I don't remember why, just a voice, haunting my dreams, telling me to kill them. I killed them, our mother and father...our younger brother...our sister...I slaughtered them without remorse or hesitation. Over these long centuries, I've slaughtered countless more like them, with that voice in my dreams forcing me on...always in my head when I sleep, even now, when I wake it follows me."

He closes his eyes, ashamed of himself. "And now...my father has returned, with Michael at his side no doubt, determined to finally kill me for not joining them. For not saving Sparta...for not...not being there at my father's side when he marched to Thermopylae. I knew...for so long I knew. My adopted father told me the truth, and that I was being raised by them because there was a war brewing, and they might have targeted me to get to my father. When...when the fighting ended, and I had joined the ranks of the undead, I descended into Persia under the moons light...and slaughtered countless cities and villages in the name of Sparta, of vengeance. Man, woman and child, soldier or not died at my hands, and I drank my dark fill. Eventually, I fled, ashamed of what I had become, and the rest of my past...it's the truth. I tried...I tried so hard!" he chokes off a sob at the end, staring deep into her eyes, his own filled with torment, anguish and self hate. "I tried so hard...to make things right...to atone...I tried..." he ends, his tone almost begging, begging that she believed him as he dropped his head into his hands, wanting to die.

[†The Blood Countess†]

Alora sat there, completely dumbfounded at the words Vincent shared with her. So it was him who did those horrible deeds and not his brother? And that was...no. No it couldn't be. Leonidas couldn't have--! He died at the field! She was about to go after one of the most fearsome, skilled warriors in a heartbeat had it not been for Vincent's injuries. The vampire wrapped the blanket she had put on herself tighter, trying to starve off the sudden chill that wracked her body.

"Vincent..."

It troubled her deeply to see him in this state. The blanket fell from her as she stood and she did the first thing that came to mind: she held him close. Her fingers tenderly ran though his still damp hair whilst her lips pressed affectionately on the top of his head.

"...listen to me, and listen well, love," Alora whispered, "you've been doing good after all these years. Had it not been for you, Eva and myself probably would have been dead. Others would have been dead." She trailed off, deciding to leave the rest of what she wanted to say to herself. For now.

And we love you, Vincent, Eva said, we're a family now.../b]

[Vincent]

He wanted to shake his head, to make them understand. How could they love a terrible monster like him? But...he knew what he had to do now. He inhales, steadying himself, and he pulls himself gently from Alora, rising, and standing tall. He held his head high, fires blazing in his eyes, and he looked at the two of them. The only family he cared for. "Thank you, both of you." he says, pulling both of them into a tight embrace, steadying himself for the task that was about to come. "Go get some rest, both of you. I'll need both of your help when the sun sets tomorrow evening. I'll be in the garage. Please, do not fight me on this. And Alora, I promise, I won't leave without saying anything. And when I do go, if you want, you're coming with me. This vendetta is personal, but it'll also go to striking a blow against the Blood Dynasty. Michael is involved with them, I'm sure of it, and our father has been working with him." he says, smiling lightly as he turns on his heel, moving swiftly through the home.

He descends into his garage, kicking aside everything in his way as he moved to fire up his forge. He tears off his tattered shirt, quickly setting metal into the heat as he pumped the bellows. It would be a long time until he was truly ready to face his father, but he had to start immediately. He worked all through the night and day, and if anyone had cared to check, they'd hear the incessant ringing of his hammer on the anvil, of power tools as he modified his vehicle of choice, his old motorcycle, and the hiss as water met molten metals. He paused not for food nor drink, he didn't stop to rest, and worked tirelessly. When evening fell once more, he settled back, easing up his brutal pace, sending a servant to gather Alora and Eva if they were ready in the study once more. He moves slowly this time, sinking into a chair as he pulled on a new shirt, gratefully thanking a servant that brought him a bottle of blood as he waited, sorting through things in his mind.

[†The Blood Countess†]

Both of the girls embraced him in turn. The Blue Butterfly, shortly after Vincent's explanation, brought a sense of ease to her worried mind and she nodded while offering a smile.

Will do, Vincent--you can count on us! Eva exclaimed and gave him a thumbs up. While you do that, the security system needs an update, so, I'll be downstairs in front of the master computer system should you have a need for me.

"Don't overdo it," Alora said and after kissing him on the cheek, she walked out of the room with her daughter. Perhaps she could teach her a thing or two about how those computers work to help locate some things she may need. Eva had managed to get one of the numerous satellites to do her bidding by locking in on numerous targets' locations--this made her mother's job a lot easier at times.

While waiting for Vincent, Eva immediately began her job while her mother watched from over the shoulder. Alora knew better than to interrupt her daughter when she was hard at work --it's a shame she's over a hundred yet still looks like a child-- and remained deathly silent. Sometimes, the little genius forgot she was even there.

Vincent wishes to see you.

Eva and Alora followed after the servant, entering the room where he was. The doors were closed behind them, and they waited for what he had to say...

[Vincent]

He remained in silence until they finally arrived, and the doors were shut behind them. He rubs his eyes wearily, motioning for them to take a seat and be comfortable. He waited a few moments, collecting his thoughts, before finally speaking, staring into the fire. "Soon, very soon now, the time will come when I must face down my family, and put an end to this nightmare once and for all. Either I shall be slain, or emerge victorious. Either way, that is a fight I will handle on my own, there will be NO interference, understand?" he said, shifting his eyes to Alora. "However, up until that point, I will need your assistance. They will have many servants, of that I'm certain, and I will need help tracking down everything they can use as a resource, or safe house. Eva, I need you to dig up everything you can on them, hack every computer in the world if you have to. I need to know Michaels safe houses, anything owned by them where they might stockpile weapons or supplies. Safe houses shall be the first to go, I know already where they are awaiting me." he says, his eyes seeing the past instead of the present.

[color=red}"I do ask one thing of you Alora, and...it's something I'd rather not, but know I must. I want you to stand with me at the duel, and be my second. Should I die, I want you to finish the job if you can. I'm working in my forge for that very end, I'm crafting a weapon for you, one that shall be my masterpiece."[/color] he says, focusing back on the here and now. "I also would like for you to stockpile supplies here, if you can. Blood, munitions, and crafting materials. I'm running low on what I have, and what I'm using is almost impossible to get. It may take some work, but if you can, I need japanese steel. The ore they dig up from the mountain that the emperor only gives to craftsman on rare and the most special occasions. That is the only material I'm willing to use crafting this weapon for you." he says solemnly. "I need a fair amount of it actually, to complete what I'm working on, but as much as you can get will be fine." he adds, falling silent, waiting for any questions or input they had.

[†The Blood Countess†]

Alora opened her mouth to protest against Vincent's wish to fight alone, but he beat her by resuming talking. A hint of sorrow shone through her solid black eyes at the thought of having to let him do this without help, yet there was nothing she could do when he's made up his mind. Sometimes, she hated how hard headed he could be. What if he didn't get out of this fight alive? The thought of losing him...

"Don't worry!" Eva flashed him a confident smile and raised a fist into the air, "You can always count on me, Vinnie! You can count on both of us! We don't let you down."

"Huh? What? Oh...! Yeah, you can count on us," The Blue Butterfly had, sad to say, lost herself in her thoughts on the future possibilities; most of them did not sit well with her. A tug on her shirt from Eva chased them away for the time being.

"I'll crack as many computers as I can," the small vampire cracked her fingers and wiggled them once they were loosened, "not a single one shall escape my evil, cyber clutches until I get those answers. Mwaha!"

Finally, the assassin mustered a smile at her daughter's enthusiasm.