Vampire Clan
(Chapter one)
The night was cold and dark but for a frosty crescent of moon riding high in the sky. Only a few people were out on the streets... some of them were human, others were not. A boy walked confidently down a dark alleyway that ran thru the centre of town. Anyone looking at him would have thought him too young to be out alone at this time... but appearences were deceiving. He was a vampire, 650 years old and his name was Liam. He was hunting, looking for a suitable victim; maybe a homeless person, a thief or anyone else that he considered deserving. Not all his victims died; some were spared.
In a nearby church, a teenage girl walked to the front pew and knelt to pray. She murmured the words over and over again; not believing one minute that such a gesture would save her soul from the eternal damnation that she was sure it was destined for. Her long black hair fell over her face, obscuring it. She was also a vampire; born 17 years ago. A tear ran down her cheek and that was surprising; Gabrielle Van Helsing wasn't given to tears. She reached up and obliterated the treacherous teardrop as she bent her head once more. Finishing her prayers, Gabrielle exited the church lost in thought.
"Nilly! Time to go out!" Nilly sighed inwardly at the sound of her foster father's voice. She hated having to go out to feed every night; however, she knew what would happen to her if she didn't. The slender brown haired girl slipped quietly out of the house. She walked down the street, her grey eyes flashing with boredom. "There's never any true game around here," she grumbled. Nilly reached a bench and sat down, sighing as she did so. A teenager walked over to her. "What's the matter?" he asked curiously. "I'm sad..." she replied. "About what?" "My puppy in the alleyway. He won't live til tomorrow... he followed me here, but he won't come out." The teenager looked sympathetic. "I'm good with dogs, I'll go and get him for you." He walked into the alleyway and started whistling and calling, "Here Fido!"
Gabrielle passed by Nilly. She rolled her eyes at the crudity of this vampire's hunting technique. "I have my own ways of feeding," said Nilly, stung by the unspoken criticism. She called to the teenager, "He's further in... I'd go in and get him, but I'm scared of the dark." The boy walked further into the shadow and Nilly followed him. "Idiot," remarked Gabrielle as the sounds of the teenager's death sounded faintly. Nilly walked back out, wiping the blood from her mouth. "I botched that. He shouldn't have struggled... I need to work on my mind bolts." "I could help you, but you're probably as lacking in manners as your victim." Nilly glared at her. "Shut up. He put up a fight." "Indeed," replied Gabrielle. "But you still should not have killed." "I try not to, but it's hard for me to keep a map of the town in my head. I'm affected with amnesia, sometimes I just lose whole images."
In the same alleyway, but further down, a teenage girl was walking home from a disco. She'd decided not to wait for a bus, but to walk thru the alleyway instead. She'd heard a few stories about girls who had been found dead in this alleyway, but it could never happen to her... she shivered, and tried to pull her miniskirt down so it covered her knees. She gave up, as it was too short to do the job and walked on, tottering slightly in her 4 inch stilettos. Before she knew what had happened, she had been knocked to the ground by an invisible blow. She screamed; the throat tearing scream of the female in mortal peril... for about 3 seconds before the scream was cut off. Liam had paralysed her mind; he took her in his arms and bit into her throat. This girl was to be lucky; Liam had no desire to kill tonight and he merely drank enough blood to sustain him before laying her body down on the ground. He took off the mind paralysis; she'd come round in about 5 minutes. Liam melted into the shadows... walking down the alleyway he came across the crudely decapitated body of the boy. "New vampire, obviously," he thought contemptously. "He or she won't last long with such carelessness."
"I'm off," Nilly said abruptly to Gabrielle. She wanted to get back home to practice her mental powers. Gabrielle merely shrugged in reply. Liam watched her go. Gently, he probed her mind; he hadn't seen this vampire before. He withdrew from the girl's mind, and looked at her companion. Recognising her as Gabrielle Van Helsing, he did away with the thought of probing her mind; she'd be on to him in a second. Nilly walked away towards the beach. She sat down and watched the waves break on the shore. "Natho..." she thought. Gabrielle also left; she had a contract to complete and she needed to be in a certain place at just the right time. Nilly sat on the fog shrouded beach; lost in thought.Grey sand and dark blue waves... they reminded her of her lost love. "Stop thinking about him... he's dead," she mentally scolded herself, but it was hard not to, with the sea being the exact colour of Natho's eyes. Lost in thought, Nilly stared into the sea.
Liam decided to walk down the beach. Every time he set eyes on Gabrielle, memories jumped up... not of her, but of a girl he had once loved. She was dead, so there was no point in thinking of her... he pushed the memory to the back of his mind again. Walking down the beach, he saw the girl who's mind he'd read. She had very confused memories, and he doubted that she understood them herself. He also noticed the drama playing out on a street next to the beach, but as far as he was concerned it didn't interest him at all. He watched though for want of something to do.
The focal point of the drama was a man running for his life, gasping for breath and his eyes wide with fear at what pursued him. Foam trickled from the side of his mouth. Then, a young girl with long black hair stepped out in front of him. "Help me!" he cried. "Save me from her!" Gabrielle smiled, but not at him. "Hello, Erin," she said to the girl who was running up close behind the man. Instantly, the man realised that he was in trouble, but it was too late to save himself. Gabrielle leapt up and dropkicked the man to the ground, breaking his neck. Erin, who had long red hair and dark green eyes, sniggered. "That guy is a gomadan if I ever saw one," she commented. Gabrielle grinned again. "Personally, I prefer the term 'fucking retard'." "Whatever happened to being nice, Gabrielle?" "Being nice went out of the window with my innocence about four years ago." Erin noticed Liam standing there and remarked, "You're the depressed bugger, right?" Liam glared at her. "No I'm not." "You certainly act like it; you never smile, you never laugh..." "You sound like you're describing yourself, Erin!" remarked Gabrielle. Liam glared at Erin. "I don't think you'd ever understand, even if I did tell you," he said to her, before moving off down the beach. Gabrielle tried to hide her smile as she said to Erin, "Looks like everyone finds you annoying, Erin." "Not everyone!" "Just the people who haven't met you yet," Gabrielle remarked.
Nilly walked down the beach, lost in melancoly thoughts. She sat down eventually on a tree stump; it had been a great Sequioa once, but had been blasted by lightning some time before. Liam walked in the same direction for a while, but his attention was distracted by a homeless girl in her sleeping bag. He fed from her, but didn't kill her; today, he didn't feel like killing. Looking up at the sound of Erin arguing with Gabrielle, he remarked on Gabrielle's last comment, "I couldn't agree more." Gabrielle replied, "They should count themselves lucky, you know, that they haven't met her." "I agree with that too." Erin scowled. "You don't even know me!" "Nor do I want to." Gabrielle grinned. "That's the smartest thing I've heard all day!" Erin scowled again. Liam smiled. Gabrielle looked at him in shock. "A smile! If I was the fainting type I'd be unconcious right now." Over by the tree stump, Nilly glared at them. "Do you mind being quiet? I'm trying to think." Gabrielle yelled back. "I'm not the one who's screaming!" "Still, shut up." Nilly angrily got up and started walking back to her home.
Gabrielle shrugged, and turned to Liam. "Just out of interest, do you know anything that could kill a supposed immortal vampire? Cuz I think it's time my dear father suffers for his many sins." She spat out the words venomously. Nilly, who had turned back out of curiosity, said, "Only a werewolf can kill a vampire I think." "I'll make a note of it," replied Gabrielle. "Who are you guys anyways? I'm Niltiac Tsegrah. Just so you know, I don't really remember a whole lot from my past, though I think he knows." She nodded at Liam. "My mind is sensitive. So I know when someone's reading it." Gabrielle held out her hand to shake. "I'm Gabrielle Van Helsing." Nilly shook her hand. "I knew a Van Helsing a few centuries ago. Very nice man. He saved me from Dracula." She winced at the memory. "He nearly drank me dry... I never liked Dracula much." "My mother did," commented Gabrielle dryly. "She slept with his friend and that's how I came into existance." Nilly sighed at the word "friend". "I don't have many friends; my foster family won't let me out very often, except to feed." "At least you have a family, mine don't count," said Gabrielle. "And I'll be your friend if you want." Nilly's face lit up. "Thanks. I'd better be getting back now, my foster father throws a fit if I'm not back on time." "Bye then, and I'll see you tomorrow night." Gabrielle looked around, and saw that Liam had gone. "He's gone, without even saying goodbye. I mean, how rude." Nilly smiled, then she walked off in the direction of her house.