Lilith/Cain

“And you’re sure this is where he is?” Chris gave his step-sister a little dubious side-eye.

She closed the laptop with a snap and looked out the front window. “Yep. GPS says this is the spot.”

Chris leaned forward, both gloved hands on the steering wheel. He squinted through the windshield. “How do we know it’s not bugging out on us? Or maybe he just dropped his phone here?”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “This is the place. We took your little side trip and got rewarded by nearly being killed, now we’re starting our actual investigation.”

In the backseat, Azri looked back and forth at the pair nervously. He was still wearing his red sweater and jeans while the pair in the front seat were dressed in heavy coats.

“Investigate?” Chris asked incredulously. He looked back through the windshield. “Investigate what?”

A deep expanse of fresh white snow lay stretched out all around them, their own tire tracks the only mar in the blankness.

Angie grabbed her bag from the backseat. She opened her door and stepped out. “Come on, losers. We’re wasting daylight.” Her boots crunched through the thin layer of ice covering the snow as she started walking away.

Chris glanced at Azri, who shrugged. He rolled his eyes and cut the engine. “Come on.” He opened his own door and stepped out.

Azri picked up a battered umbrella and followed him. He opened it up, shading himself from the glaring sunlight. One of the spokes was bent and drooped forlornly. He flicked the tip of it and let out a sigh. “Why do I always get dragged into impossible situations?”

“Hey,” Chris turned to him. “It is way too early in the game to be pondering that existential crap.” Behind him, Angie stopped about fifty feet away, looking down at her feet. Azri focused his eyes on her.

Chris continued talking. “Save it for the final moments when all hope seems lost.” He noticed Azri wasn’t paying attention to him and waved. “Hello?”

The ground suddenly gave way underneath Angie and she disappeared from view. Azri lifted up one finger. “Uhm…”

Chris looked back. When he didn’t see his sister he started running towards where she’d been standing. Before he could reach it he too dropped down into the snow and out of sight.

Azri let out another sigh, this one longer, his shoulders drooping not unlike his umbrella. “I really hope you’re worth all this effort,” he muttered. He picked this way through the snow, using Chris’ gargantuan footsteps as a guide. He found the hole and stopped at the edge. Even his keen eyes could only make out pitch blackness within. “Well then.”

He tossed his umbrella aside as he stepped off the edge and dropped down into the darkness.

xxxXXXxxx

Chris sat up and groaned. He put both hands to the small of his back. “Anyone catch the number of that bus?” He looked up at where he fell through. Sunlight was a small disk far above him.

Azri stood next to him, brushing snow off his shoulders. More trickled down from above. “I didn’t catch the number, but the destination is ‘right into madness’.”

Chris looked at him, then over at Angie, who was calmly walking away from the group. “Stellar.”

He got to his feet shakily. The shock of the fall had gone through both of his legs, but he was surprisingly unharmed. The pile of snow he’d landed on must have broken his fall.

They had dropped down into a massive natural cave, dimly lit by at least a dozen holes in the top. The holes were perfectly circular, and did not appear to be naturally formed.

“Did you manage to land okay?” Chris asked as he caught up to Angie. She wasn’t limping, so that was probably a good sign.

“My good leg broke my fall,” she replied without turning. The cave had tapered off to a narrow tunnel, and she was peering down it intently. He was confused for a moment, before realizing that she now referred to her fake leg as her ‘good’ one.

He unzipped the backpack she was wearing and pulled out two flashlights. He handed one to her and secured her pack again. They turned on their flashlights and pointed them down the tunnel. It stretched before them, past the range of their beams.

“There’s something there,” Angie stated. She bent down and picked up something from the smooth floor. She held it under her flashlight, revealing a piece of black briar that had been broken from its vine. She twirled it between her fingers. “This is the place.”

“If you’re sure...”

She looked at him. “This is the place,” she repeated.

“Then let’s go.”

xxxXXXxxx

Angie tried to quell the swelling trepidation in her chest. After all this time, they were finally here, but what was waiting for them?

The ground was so smooth and flat it had to be man-made. Or was it vampire-made? It wasn’t natural, and that was what mattered.

Her boots stepped on something that made a dry snapping sound. She aimed her flashlight at the floor. More pieces of briar, withered and black.

The tunnel narrowed the further they went, till they were forced to make their way in single file. Angie was first, with Chris close behind. Azri trailed behind them, looking bored. “I’m hungry,” he complained. “Angie, give me one of those bottles in your bag.”

“They’re not for you,” she told him.

“Oh come on, you have so many.”

“No.”

“Cheapskate.”

She stopped and turned, looking at him around Chris’ shoulder. “Let me fill you in on something. Your lookalike has probably not fed the entire time he was gone. I’m betting he’s going to be pretty thirsty when we find him. I don’t plan on risking our hides worst comes to worst. Though, as the only vampire in our group, you should be more worried than us. He tends to prefer vampire blood over human.”

He stared at her. “I’m suddenly not hungry.”

“That’s wise.” She turned back around and continued walking.

They soon reached another wide open space. The only problem was that it it was beneath them.

Chris knelt down next to the hole, shining his light down and all around. “It’s a long drop and there’s no light,” he concluded.

“Dammit. We should have brought some rope with us.” Angie frowned as she knelt down as well. She pulled a quarter out of her pocket and tossed it down. Far below she heard a tiny ping.

“Well, we weren’t expecting any dungeon exploring, were we?”

Azri peered down the hole as well. His expression was unconcerned. “I’ll go first.” They both stared at him. “What? I’m the only one that can see in the dark.”

Chris and Angie looked at each other. “I don’t trust him,” Chris stated.

“What other options do we have?”

He looked back down the hole. “No good ones.”

She looked up at Azri. “Find a way for us to get down safely. Don’t go on ahead without us.”

“I’m not an idiot. I’m not going anywhere without you two. Now budge over.” He nudged Chris with his foot. Chris moved out of the way and Azri jumped down and disappeared.

They didn’t hear him land, but that could have been due to his vampireness. “Is there any way for us to get down there?” Angie called down to him.

“Apart from the painfully obvious,” Chris added.

Far below, Azri's voice traveled back up to them faintly. "Give me just one second..." It trailed off.

"Hey!" Chris yelled. "No going on ahead!"

Suddenly the area underneath the pair filled with light. From their vantage point they could see a smooth stone floor. The light wasn't too bright, and reflected pale blue.

Azri appeared in view again, looking up. "Okay, one of you jump down."

"You're kidding right?"

"I am not." He held up both hands. "Come on, I'll catch you."

Chris turned to Angie. "He's completely insane." He was surprised to see her get to her feet. "H-hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna jump down," she stated simply.

"You can't-" He reached for her, but wasn't in time to stop her from stepping off the edge.

Down below, Azri jumped upwards. He met Angie halfway through her descent and caught her, then he landed lightly on his own feet with her in his arms.

He released her immediately and she took a step back. He looked up at Chris, expectant. "Okay, your turn."

"It's official," he called down to them. "I'm the only sane member of this party."

Angie cupped her hands around her mouth. "Get your ass down here or I'm leaving it behind!"

Chris got to his feet. "I hate everything about this." He took a breath and jumped.

Azri sprang up and caught him as effortlessly as he did Angie. He landed on his feet and held Chris Damsel-style. Chris had his eyes shut tightly. It was a few seconds after they'd landed that he decided to open one of them ever so slightly.

"You're perfectly safe," Azri assured him.

"Then put me down." Chris narrowed his eyes at him.

Azri set him back on his feet. He looked around and was soon completely absorbed by their surroundings.

The trio stood in the center of a massive cavern that seemed to be made entirely out of crystal. The floor was flat, but the walls were uncut, as if they stood inside a giant geode.

"How did you turn on the light?" Angie focused on Azri.

"That's what you're focusing on?" Chris asked her.

She shrugged. "It's important. Well?"

Azri looked at her in confusion. "I..." He looked over at the far wall. There was an opening in the crystal that was cut clean and smooth. Set into the wall next to it was a large glass lantern. The fire inside was a bright blue. He frowned. "I'm not sure."

"You've been here before."
His confusion increased. "I don't recall..."

She walked past him, heading for the opening. "Let's go." The two males followed after her.

"We're not getting very far through that," Chris commented, nodding at the opening.
It was completely clogged up by thick black briars. The thorns were at least two inches long, and glistened wetly in the light.

Angie reached out for the briars, Chris put a hand on her shoulder. "Hold on now, those look poisonous. We're not getting through that without getting shredded."

"Nonsense. We're expected." She took a step forward.

To his surprise the briars retreated on their own, revealing a smooth corridor.

"This does nothing to ease my concerns. If anything, this just deepens them."

“Stop being so dramatic.” Her back was to him, but he could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me. Evie.”

She rolled her eyes again as she continued down the corridor. “I’m not.”

The briar continued to abate as she advanced, but only enough to let them pass. The walls of the corridor remained covered.

Angie stopped so suddenly that Chris bumped into her back. His hands went to her shoulders to steady the both of them. Over the top of her head he saw what had made her pause.

Inside the twisted briar, a figure could be seen. It was no one he could recognize, and the briar bound them tightly.

He pulled out his long knife and started pushing past Angie. She gripped his forearm. "What are you doing?"

Her voice was tight in a way he'd never heard before. He looked down at her face. Her eyes were wide with terror and lines of tension were etched into her face. "Don't go near it." Her voice sounded strangled in her throat.

"They're trapped, I'm just going to cut them out," he told her patiently.

Her gloved fingers dug into his arm. If he was without his coat and she without those gloves, she would be drawing blood. "Don't. Don't even touch it."

"It? Evie, someone is trapped. Are you really going to ignore someone in need?"

She shook her head painfully slow, her eyes bulging. "That thing is beyond our help..."

He shrugged her hand off roughly. "What's gotten into you?"

She drew her gun and pointed it at the person trapped in the briar. Before he could stop her, she pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot was tremendous in the small space. Both humans winced.

Chris was ready to launch a horrified tirade, until he saw what was really trapped in the briar. A bare skeleton hung from the thorny brambles. It was completely clean and unmarked, except for a bullet hole in the center of its forehead.

"What?" he asked in confusion. "But..."

Angie holstered her pistol and continued on. She made sure to avoid touching the skeleton as she passed. Chris followed her silently.

Azri was in the back of the group once again. He paused when he reached the skeleton. The only thing holding it together was the briar. He grasped the skull by the jawbone, turning it slightly. All of the teeth were sharp points. "Hmmm." He released the skull and continued after the pair.

"Was that influence just now?" Chris asked softly.

"Yes." The strain in her voice had lessened, but it was still tight. "Powerful influence. Don't believe anything you see."

"You saw through it?" His voice deepened in concern. "How?"

She didn't reply. Instead It was Azri that spoke. "What's influence?"

"Like you don't know about vampire mind magic," Chris said sarcastically.

"The marked don't have magic," Azri scoffed. "That's absurd."

"I'm sure there's a proper scientific explanation for it, pheromones or some such. I don't care. It looks like frickin' magic, so I'm calling it that."

"I still don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"Are you serious?" The sarcasm in his voice threatened to go down to dangerous levels.

"He is," Angie spoke up then.

"Oh come on, don't all vampires use influence?"

"All the ones I've met did, except for Azri. He doesn't have any at all." Chris stared at the back of her head, stunned. "That's why he resorted to popping our tires and trying to drug us first. He didn't have any other powers at his disposal."

Chris looked over his shoulder at Azri, who only shrugged helplessly.

"That's not the strange thing, though," Angie continued. Chris turned back to her. "Even the weakest vampire has basic influence to change their appearance. Without it, they'd look like a walking corpse. Gray skin, hollow eyes, the whole nine."

Chris glanced back at Azri again. "He looks fine to me."

"Isn't that so strange, though? He doesn't have any influence, not a drop, but he still looks normal to you. Why?"

"I haven't the foggiest. What does he look like to you?"

"A vampire," she answered grimly.

Something was going on with his little sister, Chris could see it plain as day. At first he thought she had hardened up due to the trauma of losing her leg, but it was deeper than that. Something inside of her had changed, down to her core. It colored everything she saw and thus her every action.

He worried that the kind, foolish little sister he’d grown up with was gone forever.