Bloody Memories

I glanced at Lucien briefly, not turning away from the window. “You were followed?” My voice was cold, accusatory.

Lucien snorted. “Of course not. I always cover my tracks well.”

“Obviously not.” I said pointedly, shoving my hands into the pockets of my slacks.

“Perhaps they followed you.” Lucien suggested, his voice as cold as mine.

“You think someone in the city recognized him?” Evangeline hissed fearfully.

“I would have noticed if someone had.” I snapped sharply.

“Angie.” Lucien turned to the girl. “That package I gave you earlier, go retrieve it.” The girl didn't answer, her eyes undoubtedly fixed on the danger just outside. “Open it, you'll know what to do. Now, hurry.” His voice was urgent. She scrambled to her feet and ran into the kitchen.

I continued watching the trio outside. They appeared to be bantering with each other, smiling broadly. Were they Nora's goons, triumphant in finding their target? Or just a random trio who had spotted Lucien and decided to follow? Knowing my luck, they were from Nora.

The one in the center stepped forward. There was a swagger in his step that said he felt he was the leader of the group. He had platinum blond hair tied back at his neck, and a muscular build. He wore black leather; boots, pants, gloves, and jacket. His attire was an overstatement, an obnoxious one. I wondered what he was compensating for.

I watched him calmly, with my hands in my pockets, as he walked right up to the glass. He rapped on it with his knuckle, his lips moving. A false smile played across them.

His tap made no sound, nor did I hear what he said. Sound proofing. Katrina had put everything into the house that she could think of.

I shook my head apologetically, putting one finger behind my ear. Sorry, can't hear you.

His fake smile fell away. He took a step back, spreading out his hands on either side, palms up. His meaning was obvious: Come out.

I shrugged, shaking my head again, my hands back in their pockets. I didn't feel like it.

The two vampires that had stayed back laughed to themselves. The vampire in front of me narrowed his eyes. He pulled back his arm and punched the glass.

He had obviously expected his hand to go right through the glass, and was very surprised when his fist just bounced off. I couldn't help but grin at him.

That made him angry. He turned to the other two, ordering them to do something, pointing at the trees about a hundred yards away. He then turned back to me, smiling smugly while the other two ran to the trees.

Lucien spoke up then. “What do you think they are planning?”

I shrugged. “No idea. We'll find out soon enough, I expect.”

They returned quickly, carrying a very large boulder between them. My eyebrows raised. “You think they could break in here?” I asked Lucien conversationally. I wasn't concerned, merely curious.

“The glass hasn't been tested extensively against vampire ingenuity.” Lucien said nervously. “It wouldn't be too demeaning if we took cover right now.” I sensed him moving away from me, towards the stairs.

The lead vampire hefted up the boulder that the other two had brought him. He was the strongest of the three, then. I stood my ground, not blinking. Finally, something interesting was happening.

The boulder was granite, so when it was hurled against the glass, it was the glass that gave way. I caught the boulder with both hands, but the force of the blow sent me backwards. My back hit the counter with a crack of broken wood.

The crash through the glass had weakened the boulder considerably. It took nothing for me to crush it into pieces. “This might turn out the be more fun than I thought.” I commented drily.

Movement at my side caught my attention. Evangeline crouched down over the counter, the silver gun in her hands, her focus on the three vampires stepping into the living room. As I watched, she began firing on the group.

Silver bullets ripped through the air, but vampires were fast and Evangeline probably didn't have much practice with fast-moving targets. When she emptied her clip, she had only scored grazing wounds. Still, the vampires were wary now. Silver stung like a bitch.

I admired her form for the few seconds it took her to empty the clip. The physical resemblance to Katrina was uncanny, as long as you didn't count her hair color. After the gun was emptied, she ducked back behind the counter to reload. I pushed myself to my feet.

The living room was fairly destroyed. This angered me, I didn't like my things to be destroyed. I walked slowly over to the trio. They watched me, pleased with their show of strength. “You know, I liked that couch.” My voice was low and threatening. The white leather upholstery had bullet holes as well as fragments of glass embedded into it. I spread my arms out. “It tied the whole room together.”

The lead vampire snorted. “What kind of fairy are you?” He sneered.

“Ah, I'm just looking for a reason to kick your ass.” I admitted.

Evangeline sprang back from behind the counter. “That'll cost us a trip to Ikea.” She said conversationally. “That should be fun.” She kept her gun trained on the vampires, myself included.

My mouth widened in a grimace. “Perfect. Have any of you three ever been shopping with this woman? It's an absolute nightmare. You'll be lucky if I just kill you.”

I sensed Lucien slipping back into the room behind me. I wondered what he had been up to, but I didn't take my attention away from the trio. I just barely sensed him sliding something across the remains of the counter to Evangeline.

“Perhaps we can talk this out civilly.” Lucien said calmly. He stepped forward to stand beside me, while making sure not to block Evangeline's line of fire. “Before someone gets hurt.” His tone indicated that we wouldn't be the injured party.

The leader shrugged. “I guess we could come to an agreement. We won't harm the meat sack,” He nodded to indicate Evangeline. “As long as he comes quietly.” He nodded to me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Lucien cut me off with a stern look. I decided to let that slide, just this once. “Who sent you to retrieve him?” He asked smoothly.

The leader smiled, showing off his fangs. “You must be David Lucien. Lady Nora said you were the smart one.” His two lackeys snickered.

It took effort not to roll my eyes. These three were young, The leader looked to be in his early twenties, and one of the lackeys looked barely over seventeen. It wasn't just in physical appearance, they were young to being a vampire as well. I gave them three years, tops. Nora was underestimating me by sending infants to do her dirty work.

“'Lady' Nora?” I asked, quirking up one eyebrow. “Nora always was a century or two behind the times.”

All three turned to me at once, their expressions threatening. Nora had gotten to them, I could see. It was the special gift she had over males. Say one word against her and they went insane.

“Look, if you won't come willingly.” The leader stepped up to me. “Then we'll just take you by force.” His hand shot out, aimed for my shoulder.

I slipped aside easily, grabbing his arm under his elbow. With a twist of my arm I sent him flying into the kitchen. Evangeline dove behind the counter as he flew over her and into the butcher block table. The heavy table stood up under the assault as the vampire hit it with a sickening crack.

My lips widened into a smile. “That sounded like a few ribs broken.” I said to the two remaining standing vampires. “Plus a fractured skull.”

“You couldn't have thrown him somewhere else, could you?” Evangeline muttered irritably. I ignored her.

The pair in front of me advanced as one, ready to attack. Lucien and I stepped forward to meet them, and the fight really began.

********

It was all over fairly quickly, but a lot happened in that few seconds. I didn't see too much of what occurred in the living room. My attention was on the the vampire who was now in the kitchen, thanks to the vampire that lived here.

I wasn't going to give him a chance to recover and heal. I opened fire immediately, pumping his chest with hot silver. He fell back onto the table after I emptied the clip into him, but he was still twitching.

“David, how do I keep one of you bastards down?” I shouted as I reached into the box he had given me. I pulled out a fistful of silver bullets and ejected the clip from my gun. I hurried to refill it, dropping a few bullets on my haste.

“Aim for his head.” David answered. I heard a high-pitched scream then, and I cringed even though I knew it wasn't from anyone on my team (this is assuming I had a team in this madness). I didn't dare turn around, afraid of what I might see.

I got to my feet, slotting the clip back into the gun and pulling the slide back, loading a bullet into the chamber. I walked over to the prone vampire.

He was in a lot of pain, I could see that. I had hit him point blank with the entire clip and smoke was rising from his chest. His teeth were gritted against the pain, he was struggling to block it out so he could get to his feet.

I lifted up the gun, pointing it at the vampire's head. A sudden lump rose up in my throat and I tried to swallow it down. I knew I was in danger, that this thing before me was just a monster, but I had never killed anyone before. I didn't think I could.

My hand began to tremble, the point of the gun wavering. I drew in a deep breath to steady myself. That was when he attacked. One fist flying up, aimed for my face.

I blinked as a hand shot out from over my shoulder, grabbing the vampire's fist, holding it firmly just inches from my face. Another hand slid over mine that held the gun, his trigger finger over mine. Without any hesitation, he fired. The vampire on the table jerked once, then lay still.

I exhaled shakily.

The vampire dropped the fist. I could see his profile as he leaned over my shoulder. His expression was one of disgust. “Hesitation is a sign of weakness.” He said, and I knew that his disgust was for me.

I swallowed. He wasn't holding anything but my hand, but I could sense him, just barely an inch behind me, almost touching. My skin prickled like a live wire. “I'm not a killer.” I said, my voice rough.

“Those that do not kill...” He said softly, pulling my hand up slowly. I tried to pull away but his grip was like steel. He pressed the point of the gun to my chest, right over my heart. “... are doomed to die.”

I wanted to scream, to cry and shake, to struggle to escape. I reined myself under control and slipped my free hand into the pocket of my jeans. “Maybe I shouldn't have shown you mercy when I did, then.” I said as calmly as I could as I brought my hand up to his, closing it over his wrist.

His skin sizzled as I gripped it with the silver glove. He hissed in pain as I twisted his wrist, pointing the gun away from my chest. He dropped my hand and I released him.

I spun around, stepping away from him as I did. Adrenaline sent blood pounding in my ears. I was angry, but I had no words to put to it, so I just glared at him, breathing heavily.

He held his burned wrist gingerly with his other hand. His own glare could have melted iron. I glanced over at David while he seethed. David stood in the wreckage that was the living room, kneeling over a fallen vampire. “This one's still alive.” He called.

“Perfect.” The vampire turned away from me. He was next to David quicker than my eyes could follow. I followed at a more human pace.

As I stepped around the counter, I saw the vampire that wasn't still alive. Or, most of him anyway. He was missing his head. I looked away quickly, not trusting my stomach.

David stepped aside as the vampire knelt down to the younger flunkey. He was the unlucky one who was still alive. Unlucky because whatever the vampire had in mind for him wouldn't be good.

He gripped the flunkey by his shirt, lifting him up one-handed. He was in pretty bad shape; one arm dangled uselessly, and his eyes seemed unable to focus. His head lolled to one side like a drunk. “Never... tell you a thing...” He murmured slowly.

“Oh, I'm sure Nora's trained you well.” The vampire answered. He pulled the younger vampire close, his face just inches away. “And I really don't want to spend the time and energy I would need to torture information I don't want out of you.”

“So kill me...” The younger vampire said. I got the impression that he felt he was being exceptionally brave.

“Trust me, I will.” He answered back.

David stepped toward the pair, looking alarmed. “What are you-” Before he could finish, the vampire pushed him back with his free hand. The force of the blow was so strong that David hit the wall under the TV and cracked the plaster.

I consider shooting him, but I couldn't bring myself to raise my gun. I was spellbound, unable to look away as the vampire lowered his mouth to the younger one's throat.

I knew that he was drinking the younger one's blood, I could see his throat move as he swallowed, but no single drop of blood escaped his lips. I guessed it wouldn't look like it did in the movies, with blood everywhere. A vampire wouldn't want to waste it's food by being messy.

My mind fluttered around in my head like a caged butterfly, landing on thoughts randomly, trying to distract myself from the horror in my stomach.

Once he was done, the vampire dropped his victim as if he were nothing. The younger vampire lay still. Dead. My stomach lurched. This was becoming too much too fast.

Still, I couldn't tear my eyes away as he began to change once again. The silver wounds on his cheek and wrist healed rapidly, leaving his skin unblemished. His skin color deepened a few shades, looking much more lifelike. Even his hair looked healthier, a thicker, richer black.

The last change I had seen him undergo turned him from a middle-aged man to a young man. He had still looked gaunt then, almost spindly. Now, that skinny frame was filling out under his clothes, muscle tissue rapidly building over his bones.

He unbuttoned his white shirt quickly, exploring his chest with his fingers. “Not even a scar!” He exclaimed. All traces of the bullet wound I had given him were gone. I finally turned my eyes away from his chest as I felt my face heat up. The adrenaline from the fight must still be in my system.

He turned to David. “Lucien, look at me!” He said, spreading his arms out wide. “I haven't felt this alive in ages!”

David wore a weary expression as he got to his feet. He sighed heavily. “You look good, but you shouldn't have done that.” He looked around at the remains of the living room. “Everything is such a mess.”

It was then that the vampire did the most surprising thing I had seen that night. He walked over to David and embraced him firmly for a second. Then, he pulled back a little, his hands on David's shoulders. “You fought well tonight.” He beamed. “I'm proud of you.”

“I'm not proud of myself.” David admitted sadly. He was staring down at the body of the headless vampire. “I have not killed in years, human or vampire. I thought I had put it behind me.”

The vampire took David's face in his hands and leaned his forehead against David's, forcing David to look at him. It was such an intimate gesture that I cast my eyes to the floor. “You were protecting yourself, and me, the only family you have left. There is no shame in that.” I heard the vampire whisper. “I may not agree with the life you've built for yourself while I was gone, but know that as long as you are in charge of your life, that you live the way that you want to, I will be proud of you.”

After a few moments I looked up. The two vampires were standing away from each other, facing me, both looking more relaxed. “So, you two are related.” I said awkwardly. I had decided that this was the safest subject to talk about, under the circumstances. “Were you brothers, before you... changed?”

The vampire shook his head. “Lucien's my son.” He put a hand on David's shoulder. “My only son, now.”

I tried not to let my surprise show on my face, but it was hard to control. As I looked back and forth between them, I could see the resemblance. They had the same color hair, the same skin coloring, but it was deeper than that. Their faces were mostly different, but I could see a few little details, the shape of the jaw, the lines of their shoulders, that were the same. “Oh.” I said, that being the only thing my mind could think of in response.

“That's what I came to talk to my father about. While he was... asleep, Nora killed my older brother, Lucifer.” For a brief second an old pain flickered across David's face.

In contrast, the vampire's pain was fresh. His face flushed in anger. “I will kill her, rip her limb from limb.” He vowed. “It's been such a long time, I could forgive her for every other thing she has stolen from me, but not this. I will destroy her.”

“Nora is supposed to be a big shot, right, if she can just send goons after us whenever she wants?” I blurted out. “Plus she's your ex, so that has to suck. How are you supposed to take her down by yourself?”

“It's worse than that.” David said, smiling grimly. “Nora is my mother.”

My eyes widened. This situation was becoming all kinds of weird. “Your... mother.” I echoed. “Lucifer's too?” David nodded. Before, I could almost understand Nora. The vampire was a real pain in the ass and I could easily believe that he had done something heinous to her that had enraged her to the point of wanting to take him down. But, a mother killing her own son? That kind of thing I would never understand. “...damn.” I said. I certainly was eloquent tonight.

“For now, let's just clean up this mess.” David said. He looked around again, as if wondering where to start.

The vampire sighed and bent down. He lifted up the younger vampire's body up over his shoulder as if he were a sack flour. “We can dig a grave in the pines.” He suggested brightly. “About three hundred yards north of here. I picked out a perfect spot when I first moved in.”

“I bet that's something they don't put in real estate brochures.” I muttered as I picked my way through the living room, avoiding the broken glass. “'Lovely grave site on property'.”

David gave me a long look. “Perhaps you should go turn in.” He suggested. “You look drained.”

Actually, I felt like passing out. I wanted to object. I was still hoping to listen in on any conversations, but I knew David was right. I needed some rest, and I really didn't want to clean up the living room. “All right.” I said after a minute. I headed for the stairs.

The vampire was halfway through the broken window with his parcel when he turned back. “Hey, no fair. She has to help, too.” He objected. “Isn't cleaning her job?”

“I don't think I put 'corpse disposal' in her contract.” David said wryly. He hefted up the other vampire corpse. He also leaned behind the couch to retrieve his head. At that point, I hurried upstairs before my stomach gave out entirely.