Lilith/Cain

Over half her pieces were gone at this point. She reached for her remaining Knight, finally giving her Queen a rest. As soon as she touched it, it turned white. "Now this is definitely cheating."

"Looks like we've switched knights." Her opponent let out that same breathless laugh. Why did the sound of it make her heart ache?

On the other side of the board, her black knight sat with her opponent's pieces. "Anyone else would have turned over the board by now," she remarked.

"Sadly you are not that wise."

"It's not about wisdom. I just don't have the luxury of choice."

"So you've noticed them as well."

She glanced to the side of the small table just barely large enough to contain the board. Black briars seethed under and around them, just outside of the unknown light source illuminating from overhead. "Of course, but I don't mean those. The stakes are too high. Everything rides on this game. Win or lose I have to play through till the very end." She looked her opponent in the eyes. "That's why I'm going to win. The only other choice is losing everything."

"It's still your turn," her opponent pointed out graciously.

She looked down at the board, her fingers on the white knight. "I still have my Rook."

She tried to lift her fingers from the white piece but a thin black vine wrapped around her wrist. The thorns dug into her skin, drawing blood.

She blinked at it, but made no movement to pull away. "Well then, looks like the deck stacked against me is increasing in size."

"You've already started your move. You have to follow through no matter the consequences."

"So it appears." She picked up the piece, studying it as she held it over the board.

Her own pieces were made of black glass that glittered red deep in their cores. The white piece sparkled like crystal, throwing off rainbow gleams.

She placed it down, outside the safety of her other pieces. "Looks like I have some bait now."

During this time the blood drawn by the thorns had slid down her wrist, thin strands collecting on the underside. When she lifted her hand up off of the knight a single fat drop broke free.

It hit the knight and splattered. Tiny droplets sprayed the board around it. Red ran over it, staining the crystal.

"That's ominous," she remarked without concern.

"Just a bit," her opponent agreed. "Things will only get tougher for you from here on. You'll lose a lot more than just blood."

"The same goes for you." Those black briars were thick over her opponent, binding limbs in place.

"These? They've been like this for a while."

"Is that why I can't truly see you?"

"What do you mean? They're not covering my face."

"That's true enough, but I still cannot describe it. It's more than not knowing it. I cannot perceive it. But..."

"But?"

"I'll recognize it when I finally reach you. I'll know you for who you are."

"Well then, I am looking forward to meeting you in person."

"Oh, I don't doubt that one bit."

xxxXXXxxx

Angie opened her eyes, banishing the visions that lurked on the backs of her eyelids.

The cordless phone was to her ear. Florence answered, suspicious. "Who is this?"

"Hello Florence. I'm surprised I got you." The Mary must be docked near a cellphone tower.

"Sweet Angie, what brings your lovely voice to my ear?"

"I need to speak to Donovan." With no one nearby to observe her she had sunk into her weariness, making her voice heavy.

"He's sleeping right now, but I'll rouse him for you."

"Thank you." She rubbed her eyes with her free hand. Rainbow sparks were generated by the motion, till her vision bled through crimson. She let out a sigh.

"Gabriel is still missing, I take it?" Florence asked gently.

"Still M.I.A. I've come across an annoying lead, though. I want to talk to Donovan and see just how much it's worth." She gave the front door an annoyed glance.

"Hold on just one moment." She heard shuffling as Florence removed his cellphone from his ear. There was a pounding of a fist on wood. "Oy, Captain! Get your lazy ass out of bed! You have an urgent call!" There was the dull sound of muffled swearing. "You can sleep when you're finally staked and left to rot in the sun!" Louder swearing, not so muffled. "So you want me to tell Angie to call back later, or what? With the way you navigate we won't reach port again for another decade!"

There was more shuffling. Angie pulled the phone away from her ear in irritation. She put it back when she heard Donovan's voice. "Did you find Gabriel, lass?" His voice was without a single trace of sleepiness.

"Not yet, but we're getting closer. I wanted to ask you some questions that might help us find him."

"I'll tell you anything. What did you want to know?"

"Tell me more about when you two first met. You found him near Alaska, you said. Can you tell me about the circumstances?"

He let out a small, frustrated noise. "That was literally centuries ago. I'm not sure how much I can recall..."

"Any detail you can remember would be a big help. I'm in Alaska now, following his trail. I might not be too far from where you originally found him."

"Why would he be so far North?"

"I'm hoping you can tell me. What happened that day? How did you find him?"

He thought for a moment. "My memory is a bit hazy, so I don't recall what brought the Mary up that far, but we came across him by accident."

"How so?"

"On the way back to the ship a sudden storm kicked up. There was snow everywhere, blinding us. We got turned around and stumbled upon him. He was mostly buried in the snow, just his hand sticking out, like he was trying to crawl out when he froze solid."

"How long do you think he'd been like that?"

"There was no way to tell. Could have been days, months, even years. Vampires preserve well when frozen, but don't ask me how I know that."

"Describe how he was when you first uncovered him."

"Small. He was a wee thing back then, barely taller than my hip and thin as a rail. His clothes were torn and he was covered in blood. Not his own, someone else's."

"Did he ever say whose?"

"Nay, he had no memory of before he was frozen. The mind is a weak and vulnerable organ, even ours. It will shy away from things that are too painful to bear."

"Okay, now here's the sticky question. Was he with someone else when you found him? Was there anyone else buried in the snow?"

There was a long silence. When he spoke again, Donovan's voice was hollow. "We didn't think to look..."

"I thought as much."

"What have you discovered up there?"

She decided to put her feet up on the beat-up ottoman in front of the couch. She'd done a lot more walking than she was used to and both of her legs hurt. Above the knee, at least. "I'm not completely sure yet, but I think Gabriel has a brother, maybe a twin. During my search I found someone who looks exactly like him. He says he was found buried in the snow half a century ago."

"You're not completely sure?"

"This guy looks too much like him. Their fingerprints are the same. Even twins have different sets of fingerprints."

"This doesn't bode well, then. You be careful, young Angie. Don't let a familiar face sway you from your search."

"Don't worry, Donovan. I'm keeping my eye on the prize."

"When you do catch that slippery eel, give him a good swift kick from me."

She snorted. "He'll be lucky to get away with just that much." A soft voice spoke up in the background. "Is that Nymph?"

"Aye, let me hand the phone over before I lose an appendage."

"Angie." Nymph's voice was light and sweet, and filled with a warmth that seeped into her tired bones. "A dark shadow follows Gabriel. If you're not careful it will consume you as well."

"How's your eyes, Nymph?" Angie asked gently, feeling a sting in her own eyes. Nymph had lost their eyesight trying to put out a fire that had almost sunk the Mary.

"I am healing as well as expected, though I still have a decade or so of recovery ahead of me. Sadly, I am not blessed with vampiric healing." Their voice was rueful. "That does not mean I have lost all of my forms of sight. I see that shadow still, when I think of the two of you."

"We'll be okay. We always are. Shadows can't stand up to light, not even the deepest darkness can."

"If you plan on shining a light into this darkness, then you must also be willing to accept the ugly truths you reveal by doing so. Please keep that in mind."

Her throat tightened. "I will," she said gruffly. She cleared her throat, trying to swallow the lump swelling in it. "We've been through a lot. Surely losing the house or going up against a vampire mafioso is tougher than conducting a simple search and rescue."

"You're going to lose a lot more than your leg this time. I can feel it. There is still time to turn back and go home. If you continue down the path you're on, you'll have to give up the most important thing. If you want to be happy."

"The most important thing is also my happiness, so you don't have to worry. I'm not leaving unless I have both."

"I wish you the best, for that is all I can do from here. If only I were with you."

Tears sprang to Angie's eyes at the sadness in their voice. "That's okay Nymph. Your blessing is more than enough."

"Yet I cannot help but feel partially responsible. Your Nosferatu carries my blood in his veins. Perhaps that was the catalyst that caused his mind to fracture so."

She gripped the phone. "What do you mean?"

"I can feel him even now, through the blood we both now share. I tried locating him, but his soul, his very essence, is split in two. His mind must be chaos, pulling him backwards while driving him forward. He would not have left your side if it weren't for this tear, I want you to know that."

"It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself. I think whatever it was that happened to him was because of Manigault. It was during that fight that he went dark."

"Ah yes, the Nosferatu that sees all truths. Or did see, as he no longer walks this plane. Perhaps his eyes uncovered a truth that Gabriel could not bear."

"Well, I'll find out soon enough. He's going to run out of North at this point."

"Indeed. I hope you've dressed warmly."

"I did, Nymph. You take care as well. Don't let Donovan cause any trouble."

"That is far beyond even my capabilities." Their voice was wry. "Take care, in all things."

Donovan took the phone back. "Anything else I can help you with, lass?"

She shrugged even though no one was around to see her. "Only if you know anything about Lilith."

"Vague legends at best."

"Oh? Like what?"

"She has every ability that any vampire might have."

"Well that's just lovely."

"All vampire lines trace back to her. The leaders of the four main families all claimed to have been turned by her."

"Four families? I only know of two." She was speaking of Nora's and Yuki's families.

"Two of the families are lost. Now that Manigault is dead, the only one left is the youngest: Matsumoto Tsukishiro."

"She only turned those four?"

"Supposedly there was someone she turned before them. It's said that she killed and drained him to increase her own strength."

"Geez, that's awful."

"Aye, there are no stories celebrating Lilith's kindness."

"She's weak to the usual suspects though, right? Fire, silver, sunlight?"

"....possibly?"

Angie swore under her breath. She heard heavy footsteps on the porch steps outside. "I gotta go Donovan, but don't move out of port if you can. I'm going to update you as the search progresses. Is that okay?"

"That's fine. We'll stay here till you get back in touch. Hopefully with Gabriel."

"Fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later." She placed the phone on the charger just as the door opened. Chris and Azri entered, Chris has the first aid kit under his arm.

"I'm going to go stitch this up and then I'll be ready for some food."

Azri pointed down the hall. "You can use the bathroom down here." Once Chris was gone he plopped himself on the couch next to Angie. "So, you're not from around here I take it?" he asked cheerfully.

She gave him a dark glower.

He put his hands together. "You know what? I'm going to go see if I know how to cook food. Excuse me." He got up and left the room quickly.

Angie leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. She let out a long, slow sigh.