Vanilla Lace

There was another loud crash of thunder, and Analiese stood firmly against the stonewalls of the spiral staircase at the back of the church, one she used to so innocently climb as she led the younger Bill up to her residence. Her memories faded when Bill’s screams got louder, intimidating her further with each roll of the thunder.

She knew Frederic didn’t want to let him in, for when one invites a vampire in, he would eternally be granted access no matter what. Frederic knew that Bill would turn irrepressible in no time, and he did not want to let such a person in.

Her tears flowed endlessly. She could remember the very first time she met Bill here. They were so innocent, so pure, and they didn’t judge each other at all. The littlest thing about Bill captured Analiese right from the start, and she never let the littlest things go. Thinking back, she knew that there was nothing now that could stop them from being together. What’s done is done, and she knew that the future was what she was going to face. With him. By his side.

Without a word, without a single sound but her rapid heart beating, she raced down the stairs swiftly, her tears on the verge of spilling. “Bill,” she muttered under her breath, unable to drown out his cries in the terrorizing background.

“Ana! Please! Ana!”

Frederic stared firmly at one Bill Kaulitz, his eyes taking in the way the boy was firmly gripping at the wrought iron gate, shaking tremendously at the cold he was feeling that slowly, just very slowly penetrated his skin. He was still, after all, human at the least. The iciness nipped at him, but he braced himself.

“You disgust me, boy!” Frederic said, his elderly voice quaking with age. “I said go away—”

“Bill!”

The black-haired teenager shot up instantly, feeling his heart calling out to him, and literally. His heart raced posthaste as his gaze was directed straight past the old church keeper.

“Ana?!” Bill stared.

“Get up there!” Frederic shouted at the girl who came running towards them.

“Come here,” Bill said, ignoring the man. His eyes were watery, and the tears that flowed were lost in the rain. “Come here, please!”

He held out his hands through the gates, reaching desperately for the mahogany-haired girl. Frederic was aggravated deeply, and he raised his broom to smack at Bill’s outstretched arms.

“NO!” He hollered. He threatened Analiese with the broom next. “You ignorant brat, you’d better step back. You’re not letting him in!”

“Please, Frederic! I beg you, please! Let him in,” Analiese pled desperately.

“Let me in!” Bill cried. “Ana, come here!”

“Why don’t you go out?” Frederic snapped back. He was slightly softened at the heart-wrenching sight of the two young lovers, but he tried to pay no mind to it. “Go out and NEVER come back again!”

“This is the only home I know!” Analiese said and ignored the old man, running to Bill, and surprisingly, all Frederic did was stand firmly footed on the ground.

She pulled at the iron latch that was behind the wall, and the gate swung open. The next moment, Bill’s lips collided with her at the same time their bodies met. He held her close, his drenched body absorbing what little warmth she had left on her as they kissed feverishly. It wasn’t long when she pulled away, much to Bill’s reluctance.

“I thought they had you,” she cried softly, ridding his beautiful pale face of the dark wet locks that covered it. She cupped his face lovingly.

“They did, but I ran away,” he breathed, teeth chattering slightly. “Two of them, two vampires, they tried to take me with them but I ran away and . . . I don’t know what, Ana. I don’t know what happened back there. I . . . I can’t really talk right now—”

“Then don’t,” Analiese cut him off with a quick kiss as soon as she pulled Bill’s face down to her. The teenage boy pulled apart this time, and they embraced. He gulped, and he nerved himself for a string of verbal assaults from Frederic as the two males stared at each other.

“Please,” Bill begged, staring at him with his head tilted, his hand going down to find Analiese’s. “Don’t make me go. This is the only place I know right now that they probably wouldn’t find me. Please, Frederic. At least, let me stay here until we figure things out.”

“Figure things out?!” Frederic barked. “And how long are you going to take? Two centuries, will that be enough?”

His derision was caustic for a man his age, and Bill was definitely daunted. Bill knew that the older Germans appreciated reverence, and he hoped to God that Frederic had at least the heart to accept him into the church and invite him in.

Bill took another piteous glance at the church keeper and took a step forward before dropping on his knees without hesitation.

“Please,” he said, his voice weak, words almost inaudible with a clap of thunder from the sky. He hoped fervently that Frederic would grant him entry. His brown eyes glimmered with hope as Analiese hugged him from behind, also on her knees.

The older man frowned and grumbled under his breath, staring at Analiese and Bill, his eyes twitching. It seemed like a long while before anyone made a sound. There was silent sobbing, and it came from the girl, and Frederic hated weakness, but he had to admit, this unexpected act of respect really moved him.

“Get up,” he said, throwing his broom aside, pulling the gate open wider. He was still grumbling under his breath, making way for the drenched young couple to enter the church. At the same time, a clash of thunder occurred, and it startled the younger ones for a split second, and Frederic groaned.

“Thank you,” Bill said, grinning immediately, a subtle weariness showing on his face. He was tempted to embrace Frederic, but decidedly against it as soon as he noted how the man slammed the gate shut, pulling the lock shut with such force that the iron reverberated momentarily.

“Thank you so much,” Analiese clenched her fist, also resisting the urge to give Frederic a kiss on the cheek. “Frederic, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for being so kind. I just knew you had a heart.”

The girl beamed when she said that, and she was entirely truthful. Bill interlaced his fingers with hers, pulling her closer to him as he watched Frederic for a reaction.

The old church keeper turned to stare at the two youths. He closed his eyes for a while and rubbed his face, shivering slightly from the cold wind that blew.

Ignoring them for a while, he went deeper inside. At the same time, he spoke, “You don’t know what you’re getting yourselves into, the both of you.” He sat carefully on a pew and looked at Bill and Analiese as they stood before him. “You have no idea.”

Bill swallowed awkwardly and said, “Please, tell us everything you know. You seem to know a lot.”

Analiese looked at the old man and awaited his answer.

“You can never be together,” he said. “Something just tells me so.”

“Why?” Bill frowned. He didn’t understand at all. “Why do you sound so sure of it?”

“I just do,” Frederic replied, and he stared at Ana. “Try all you want, my dear, but you will never get past this thick skull of mine. That’s the only reason why I live and breath this church.”

Frederic tapped the side of his head and looked tiredly at the two, unknowing teenagers. Bill shook his head. “I still don’t get it,” he said. He tried to penetrate Frederic’s mind. “What the . . . I can’t—”

“You cannot,” he said bluntly. “I have the ability to withstand mental intrusion, and only people who can do this are church protectors . . . among a few other things.” He received an intimidatingly peculiar glare from Bill, and he immediately shouted in protest. “What is your problem, boy? Never seen an old, senile man guarding a church? Do you think your little godlike power can get through anyone?”

Bill furrowed his thick brows together, his grip on Analiese’s hand slowly loosening as he leaned in a bit. “But you . . . but I read your mind! You were thinking of Ana, that she was in the church—”

“He did that on purpose,” Analiese said suddenly, cutting Bill off but for a reason. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked intently at Frederic, getting down on her knees to be almost at level with the old man. “You did, didn’t you?”

The old man sighed and looked away.

“You care,” Analiese continued. A smile slowly emerged on her face, and Bill’s eyes dilated slightly at the conclusion. “You do care.”

Bill rubbed his face and pushed his wet hair aside, eyeing the two before him without blinking for a long while.

Analiese sniffled and looked at the old man and gently touched his face. “If you really do care, please tell me right now, how I can make Bill human again?” She had been asking that since the moment she got here hours ago, but he feigned innocence. She knew he was.

At that moment, the teenage boy’s eyes grew wide and he grabbed Analiese’s arm instinctively. “What are you talking about?!” He exclaimed. “I don’t want to go back to being human!”

Analiese stared back at him in surprise, completely off guard to his reaction. “What do you mean you don’t want to, Bill? You have to go back!”

“No, I don’t want to!” Bill countered in a firmer voice as he gazed at her with dark eyes clouded with newfound exasperation. For once, he felt so disappointed in this girl for wanting him to be human again. He knew that this way, it would be harder for them to be together, and she knew it.

“You have no choice,” she snapped, shrugging him off.

Frederic started, “Wait, the both of you—”

Bill intervened, “This is my body, and this is my choice and I’m not going back. I’m leaving everything. I want to be with you, Ana. I want to prove Frederic wrong!”

Analiese glared back at him and stood up, facing the towering young man. She raised her voice slightly at him. “I love you, Bill, if you don’t already know that! And because I love you, I want you to be safe. Being a damn vampire is never a good thing, and you will live to regret it one day. Being hunted is a daily thing especially since the day I so stupidly turned you. When the day comes, you will experience so much pain during the transformation and life after wouldn’t be beautiful. I wish we never met, and I would have never caused you so much—”

“But I would be with you,” Bill cut her off weakly in reply, straight from his heart. He stared at her softly, making the girl go weak. “And that alone makes it beautiful already.”

Inside, deep inside, Bill was hurting from what Analiese had said in a moment of anger, obviously spawned from his own stubbornness.

He thought, how could she think that turning him was stupid? It was an act of unrequited love at that point of time, turning someone who would think she was a total stranger. The chances of Bill ever returning Analiese’s love were low, but she took it, and never really saw further than saving his life or he would have died.
The thoughts ran through his mind on replay, and his eyes grew red, and Analiese stared at the boy before her, entirely overcome by guilt and depression. How could loving someone be so difficult?

“You sound like you regret deeply for saving my life,” Bill continued, the pain in his eyes evident. “Do you really?”

Analiese covered her face with both of her hands and started to shiver in guilt. She had never meant to say that, and Bill could tell, he could get past her thin walls in her mind, and he knew she didn't meant a word about stupidly turning him.

“Bill, I did not mean to say that—”

“I really can’t live without you,” Bill murmured for a start, his pale, white exterior contrasting the gloominess in his eyes. He sighed, and swallowed before continuing. “The only time I wished I never met you was the time when I hadn’t known you. I never knew you were the reason I was alone all these years, no matter how little I’ve lived.

“If you go, if you make me go, you will still be the reason I will still be alone. And I don’t want to be alone, Analiese. I hate being alone. I don’t know why, but I love you more each day, and I can’t seem to stop, and I’m sorry. I’ll give everything I have. I’ll take my money and leave with you for wherever suits us best in this world.

“And if you still think so, I’ll let you know that you turning me wasn’t stupid. At all. The stupid part would be that if I actually give in to you right now and give up on us. I don’t believe there’s another one like you out there for me, because I’ve seen how much you love me. I know no other girl will make the sacrifices you made, no other girl will be able to give me new life and I swear to God if you go, it will be the beginning of the end of me knowing I let someone like you slip away.”

By this time, Analiese was drowning in her pool of tears, and she was shaking slightly. Frederic had his head hung low, entirely in awe of witnessing such a scene.

“You can let me know now, once and for all, if you have even the slightest glimmer of hope that we can be together in the end, after everything. If you do, please make me stay, and don’t try to find a way to make me human again. We will run away from here. If you don’t, I will walk out of this church right now, out of Halle and return to Berlin and turn myself in to the Embassy. I will wait for you to find a way to turn me back, or wait and become a full vampire . . . alone . . . if you don’t find a cure in time, in two weeks.”

Bill waited for the girl’s response. He thought about it, and his reverse psychology was unintentional, but there was nothing to be undone. It was the truth. They were on the run for more than a month, and each time they spoke, his affection for her grew. It escalated, and he saw how much she was meant for him, and what sacrifices she made for him. He knew he couldn’t be wrong. Analiese was the one.

Analiese sobbed hard, and she was torn in making such a major decision, one after another. To follow Bill or not? To save Bill or not? To leave him or not? Why wasn’t anything easy for her in life? Why did she have to be given choices like that, and everyone of them involved Bill? Why did she even have to be born, at all? It was all too obvious right now she existed for him and only him, and she can never look back. He was the reason she was here, and she knew better than to break his heart.

“But I love you,” she mumbled, pulling Bill closer by the neck. He appropriately rested his temple against hers, head tilted downwards to accommodate. Their eyes were closed, and she shakily continued. “I could never hurt you.”

“You want me to leave, don’t you?” Bill stated as-a-matter-of-factly. His redness in the eyes were concealed, and he inevitably watered up, being the overly sensitive boy he was, even physically. “You really want me to?”

“You have your band, Bill. You are famous. Millions of people know you. Millions of people will know about the vampires, and millions of people can cause Hell, and I don’t want that. It’s true what Frederic says. We can’t be together either way at the end.”

Bill nodded, stroking her cheeks lovingly. “But I love you,” he whispered, a tear fell down his face.

Analiese bobbed her head slightly in acknowledgement, her lower jaw quivering as she ran her fingers shakily through his damp locks and gripped them firmly. “God...” she said with a soft sigh, their noses pressing against each other’s.

Frederic rubbed his face as he snapped out of the overly impassioned display of childish affection, shaking his head and regaining his usual testy self. Grumbling under his breath like he was used to, he hobbled away along the pew and went and disappeared behind a door leading to another part of the church.

They barely noticed when the old church keeper slipped away, and soon, they realized they were alone, the heavy rain outside playing a dramatic soundtrack to their sentiments.

Out of nowhere, a sudden lust was triggered in between them. The longer they stared at each other through teary eyes, the more determined they were to put this all behind.

I want you.

Bill penetrated deep into Analiese’s mind and he knew she felt the same. It was reaffirmed with her mutual response. Physically.

She took his hand and pulled him away with her across the church and up the stairs. “You will not be safe here after the storm, the church will get brighter,” she reasoned, gritting her teeth after.

“The attic?” Bill tried, his hand slightly slippery in her grip, but he raced up with her, behind her, and he tried not to let go. His heart was beating fast, and he licked his emerging fangs swiftly over.

“Yes,” Analiese said without looking at him. She took him with her across the top level and past the same paintings he saw when he first crossed this part of the church. Unconsciously, he was thrown back to the day he first roamed this place with Analiese. It seemed only like yesterday.

The two young adults were running slowly along the dusty red carpet on the floor until there was another loud clang of thunder following no more than two seconds after the brightest flash of lightening. Analiese jumped back in shock, and she collided into Bill who held her tightly.

“Don’t be scared,” he told her, squeezing her hand.

Analiese nodded. She was about to walk on when she had the sudden urge to kiss him right there and then. The darkness around failed intimidated them, and she pulled her courage and pulled him down for a fierce kiss, their lips crashing in a split second. She was fervid, and he was equally as ardent as she was. They were thinking of the same thing.

Bill rammed her up against the wall and there was yet another flash of lightning, but the thunder did not alarm either of them. Their heated selves were ready and desperate for more. In an instant, he had her riding his waist as she was lifted up firmly. She was extremely light, and he had the strength of an evolving vampire. Slowly, he pushed open the door that was her room and laid her on a bed in a corner, climbing over her as he tore off his damp suit. Everything was perfect.

* * *

Lucas von Habsburg takes his seat at the parlor, having his usual breakfast with his wife. There were abundant food on the table; sweet and sticky pastries aplenty fresh from the oven from the royal Habsburg kitchen, and an endless supply of coffee and tea, the richest kind from places far off. It was a life rich for him, and he appreciated every bit. Most of all, he appreciated his wife, Julia.

She took his hand in his, and the couple was about to say their morning prayer before they ate, but into the room stormed a towering man dressed respectably in a dark uniform. He was recognizably someone of high power, as Julia noticed the badges he honored on his attire, and he was panting slightly while he stared slightly at the two. She knew that, once again, he would have to miss a part of breakfast with her.

“Julia,” Lucas looked at her sorrily as he squeezed her hand. “I—”

“Go ahead,” the light brown-haired woman smiled understandingly. “I’ll wait.”

“No,” he said. “You go ahead.”

Lucas took her hand and gave her a kiss on her hand before leaving with the general. Off the two highly remarkable men went, out of the hushed parlor and along the cream-colored, high ceiling corridor lined with countless paintings and portraits of timeless elegance. Lucas paid no attention to them, as usual, as he rushed down the intricately designed Russian blue carpet, straight to his study.

“This better be good, Mikael,” Lucas said to his minor, unlocking the large and heavy oak door, turning the golden-plated handle down to push open and reveal a wide and spacious treasury of books galore.

The middle-aged man stared at the general, who followed him closely, and the door closed behind them and Lucas sat on his throne behind his elaborately carved 17th century desk.

“I assure you that,” the general nodded, and sat as soon as Lucas gestured for him to do so.

Lucas kept silent and stared at Mikael, eyebrows raised as if telling him to start. The man nodded and did so.

“An unidentified man called the Embassy in Berlin this morning,” he said. “And by morning, I meant 2.18am, and he was using a number that is now no longer valid. We could not track him down exactly, since the conversation only lasted twenty-nine seconds, unfortunately, and it wasn’t long enough, and I do apologize on behalf of the team.”

“What did he say?” Lucas creased his eyebrows towards each other, leaning in slightly.

“He mentioned that he had Bill Kaulitz, the teenage boy, and that since we had one of them with us, they wanted to do a mutual exchange,” the sandy blond-haired man replied.

“I’m surprised Bill is still alive,” Lucas said, a hand on the table in front of him, his long, lean fingers tapping the glass covering slightly. His gaze tore from the pictures of Julia and him and his son, Tobias, under the protective layer, and he stared up at Mikael. “What else?”

“I have the recording here,” Mikael said, pulling out a small recorder that had the audio clip of the unidentified man’s voice. He pressed the play button and put it on the desk in between them, watching Lucas’ face as the voice came on.

Listen up carefully for I am going to say this only once, and there is no way you will say no to this. We know that you want Bill Kaulitz, and we know you have no need for that vampire you now hold captive. Bring him, alive, in one piece, to the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna on 21st October, this Monday, and we shall do a mutual exchange. We take Karl, and you take Bill, end of story. The time to meet is 2300. Do not play smart with us, because you know how this will end if you do.

There was a slight scuffling as the phone was put down abruptly, and Mikael pressed the stop button and kept the recorder. His hazel brown eyes raised his gaze to meet the Royal Highness’.

“The Central Cemetery in Vienna . . . and that vampire?” Lucas remarked, an eyebrow arched as he remained in contemplation. He wondered what could have made the anonymous man describe him that way.

“We are sure it’s one of them, sir,” Mikael stated firmly without blinking. “All we could find out was that the call was made from somewhere in Berlin, but Berlin, sir, is a very large populous city…”

Lucas nodded in agreement. It was mutually understood that Berlin was a large city, and it would take forever to try and find someone that they had no idea how he looked like or where he resided. He forgave when Mikael hadn’t sent the search army out.

“Understood,” the older man said. He ran his calloused fingers through his smooth, sienna hair and traveled his hand down his face to try and rub his weariness off. “21st October,” he mumbled. And he stared past Mikael.

“Monday. That’s three days from now.”

“That’s correct, sir,” the blond nodded with a serious look.

“So how is Karl?”

“He’s fine, sir. We have put him in the observatory, him being the first full vampire we’ve had in our captive since the 19th century. He has shown some interesting traits, might I add.”

Lucas looked peculiar. “Interest me, then,” he said plainly.

“All I’ve heard so far is that Karl refuses to eat at all, and keeps entirely quiet and stares at the glass panel forever. And yes, sir, I mean literally forever. He doesn’t blink, he doesn’t breathe, and just last night, all he does is knock his head against the glass window.”

“I think, yes, vampires do not have a need to breathe. I’m not sure if they blink or not, but why, Mikael, would he do something like that?”

“To pass the time? When we talk to him, his replies would be sarcastic despite speaking no more than twenty words altogether since the past two days with us. Very sardonic, sir. He reveals absolutely nothing, and not even his name. We heard the other vampire screaming his name that day, but when we called him by that, he did not respond at all. His age isn’t clear, but he appears to have the physicality of a late-twenties man and seems to be of pure Austrian descent. He could be from around two hundred to four hundred years old. And one thing he did yesterday was that he rammed his head against the observatory window so hard that the room shook, and we thought he was really crazy but he was not hurt.”

The brown-haired man rubbed his chin slightly, contemplating this very interesting vampire. “Is there nothing like him in our past records?”

“He’s very cutting, and that’s something new,” Mikael gave a short smile. “He is insistent, consistent and much stronger than any vampire we have had.”

“And how many vampires have we had?”

“With him, and counting Bill, it would be twenty-seven, sir, since the 13th century,” the blond-haired answered.

Lucas face turned into one of utter disappointment. The number of centuries as compare to the number of vampires captured was very upsetting. He laughed slightly to himself, his angular face maintaining the stoic look. “We are such a letdown, are we not, General?”

Mikael politely smiled and shook his head, looking too obviously courteous about what he was going to say. “They are good hiders, sir. It is evident,” he said albeit awkwardly.

“And evidently so,” Lucas said, sighing. “Tell me about Bill’s observations.”

“With more sunlight, he could turn unstoppable in less than ten days,” he said. “This means he could be like an animal, a mature one, lusting for blood just like any turned vampire we’ve had. Out of the twenty-seven, we have only six excluding Bill who have been turned and out of all six, all of them reacted the same way—bloodthirsty and raging, and knows no humane sense at all from periods ranging from six to eighteen months. However, they were all captured during the Black Death.”

“I see,” Lucas nodded, intrigued. “Were they affected by the plague?”

“Vampires were known to not be affected by plagues since their body is already a dead vessel, and it could be so that they are not affected. There were no clear records back then. Possibilities include them being affected in human form before being turned. One of them was female, who was apparently affected and she was pregnant and the premature baby survived and lived to be a very normal human being with no records of his mother. She may have died in observation.”

“Interesting,” Lucas smiled slightly at the facts. “I never knew. Shows how much I’ve been sheltered from these things all my life. What about the turned male vampires?”

“I’m not too sure on that, but I think they all survived for years in our observatory and died only when our tests go wrong. One of them, if I remember correctly, was due to an extreme excess of sunlight and he combusted spontaneously and was burned to ashes. With limited technological advances then, it was not specified how it happened, neither was it logically explained. Then again, sir, we must consider that all these were very long ago. Who knows, they have evolved to be stronger, just like Karl apparently is. He shuns sunlight strongly but he survives some, and we have not put him up for the extreme tests yet.”

“Don’t. And yes, indeed, it is too long ago to consider,” Lucas sighed. Rubbing his forehead. “This is going to be new, Mikael, new to our findings. First things first: we get Bill. But now, press Karl for answers to all your questions. I need a new encyclopedia on vampires compiled. You know my father always said, ‘The more you know about your enemy, the more you know how to defeat it.’ And I firmly stand by that.”

Mikael stood up and nodded. “Yes, Your Highness—”

“And wait, what about the girl who turned him, General? Any news on her?”

Mikael shook his head, “Not at the moment. No one has seen her. Neither Franz Bruckner nor Tom Kaulitz, Bill’s doctor and brother respectively have said to have come in contact with her since the day Bill left the hospital with her.”

Lucas nodded in acknowledgement. He couldn’t stand the thought of a young vampire girl being so reckless, leading to such chaos.

“But sir, when we get Bill, how do we shelter him from the public eye? He appears to be extremely well known, unfortunately. He’s from a . . . rock band, and he’s the lead singer, and he’s hounded for every single day by the press and paparazzi. His mother constantly contacts us, but his brother Tom is helping us in keeping this a secret.”

“Of all things,” Lucas rolled his eyes sideways, proceeding to stare past another chair and out over the window. “We’ll talk about it when we have Bill. Meantime, make Tom stall. Just prepare at least a dozen men with our best weapons made of silver encapsulating holy water, or whatever it is that these abominations fear.”

“Yes, sir,” Mikael nodded again. “One more thing, sir. The man on the phone has warned us, but I am suggesting we should keep our extra men around the area discreet, no?”

“Of course,” Lucas said curtly, standing up as well. He faced the general. “Good job, General. When this is over, you shall see to your rewards.”

Mikael let out a smile, humbled. “You are too kind, Your Highness,” he bowed lowly.

Lucas smiled halfway and nodded at him. “Dismissed,” he said, raising a hand. The blond did the same, much more firmer and poised, and he took a step back before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

Karl remained in the same position he was in, watching the glass wall very closely as he constantly knocked his forehead against it. He had been in the same position for over a day. The researchers paid little attention to him as they went about their daily work, knowing they could see him but he couldn't see them. It was a different observatory as compared to the one Bill was in. All of a sudden, the vampire stopped. His eyes stared deeply into the glass window, and he smiled to himself when he noticed a very tiny crack invisible to the human eye forming.