Hello to the second installment of 'Shadows within Darkness'. I´m having the flu right now so my brain´s mush, but I hope you like it anyway (I wrote this before I got ill anyway... but it might suffice as an apology for the lack of introduction or lengthy comment or whatever.)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. But I do own the vampire-clichés I invented (and if vampy´s can sparkle and get away with it I can make up my own implausible rules...)
Warnings: No sparkly vampires, sorry.
Summary: In the first installment, Vincent hunted down Yazoo, thinking he was a criminal who could not be redeemed. Apparently he could, so Vincent set him free and erased his memories. Yazoo´s reunion with his brothers was shortlived, though, because stuff happened and Vincent had to take him in again, telling Yazoo that his brothers were dead. After some moping and being difficult Yazoo slowly warms up to Vincent´s human maid Aeris and later he also gets friendly with Vincent. More super interesting stuff happens to the point where Vincent and Yazoo have hot, steaming, page filling sex. Eventually Yazoo accidently finds out that Vincent is a vampire and is like -_- But he accepts it and they life happily for a while, till the point where Cloud Strife pops up, eager to marry Aeris. Yazoo doesn´t agree, despite Aeris being in love with Cloud etc. pp. In the end Vincent has enough of it, since Yazoo starts prusuing the idea of Vincent making him a vampire as well. So he tries to marry Yazoo off to Tifa and arranges the marriage with Aeris and Cloud, believing that it is the best for all of them. Yazoo doesn´t think so though, and believes that since his Master has no further use of him he should end his life. That in turn leaves Vincent with the only choice of either letting him die or making him a vampire, and he does choose the latter option. Yazoo then - mad for blood- accidently kills Aeris, but refuses to acknowledge that it was his fault. And that´s where we are now...
Bah, just go read it if you haven´t already :D
Thanks to jsakurachan1 for the awesome betaing!
1
They made their way through the night, following the glowing silver path of the crescent moon coming through the forest canopy, leaving the town behind quickly. Under normal circumstances Yazoo would have staggered and stumbled over the uneven ground, branches and stones laying hidden in the shadows of the long grass. But with his new, amazing senses it wasn´t difficult to avoid them, and even the poor light that would normally have made him getting lost in the wood within minutes was no problem at all. A strangely violet vision was overlacing with his normal view, making things visible even through solid textures. Every now and then a night creature was passing by, and the young vampire noticed with interest the fine network of red lines where their pulsing arteries and veins provided their host with blood that ran through their frail, warm bodies.
He had to hurry to not loose the completely black figure of his master though -as the blood he´d stolen from his victim had run cold already- and Vincent didn´t leave him time to admire the new sensations that the change brought.
Swiftly leading from ahead the older vampire didn´t look either left nor right, just holding his gaze stiffly straight ahead, finding his way with routinized accuracy.
Eventually, after an hour of walking, a little opening replaced the old trees and high bushes. A small, almost overgrown path was leading to a crumbled stone ruin, that seemed to have been a church or a convent before it had fallen apart. To search for a roof was futile; all that was left were some remains of formerly strong, thick walls, now overgrown by ivy and weed. The front was fairly intact, a high, glassless window had crumbled halfway, and the heavy wooden doors were rotting away in their angles, leaving the ground with splinters. This particular building was where Vincent was heading for..
Sliping into the dark hall, where some lonely pillars held themself up against natures claim, they made their way through the aisle until they came to the destroyed remains of an altar. A hidden side door, that was totally overgrown by ivy, was opened by dextrous hands, and after a short backglance to brief himself that Yazoo was still following him, Vincent led the young man down the pitchblack, broken winding stairs. There was neither air nor light down here, but Yazoo´s vision had changed to full ultra violet mode now and he followed his master down on steady feet. Inwardly he found it amusing that Vincent, who so loathed and feared the church was sleeping in a former one.
Eventually they made it into a high, albeit small, candle lit room. Besides the rusty candle bearers and the huge mountains of waxdrops under them, there was a small, old desk, stuffed with books that looked so old and precious Yazoo was sure he had never seen anything comensurable in Vincent´s official library. Naturally his interest was sparked, but before he could walk over and have a look Vincent motioned him with a stiff gesture towards a coffin, that was standing against the wall in the back. There was another one, more towards the exit, making Yazoo incline his head in wonder. There wasn´t another one of them here, was there?
Or maybe Vincent had taken precautions for his arrival, inwardly considering the possibility even though he had denied it. But the oaken, velvet laced burial cases looked ancient, and Yazoo just couldn´t imagine Vincent obtaining him an already used coffin… That would just be gross.
The other vampire threw him an impatient look, and mentally shrugging, the silver haired man crawled into the shadowed box. It was a little too small, his feet and head bumbing against the dark wood, but he was too tired to care, because as soon as he had come to a lying position, his limbs became heavy and numb, his eyes closing automatically. The last thing he saw was the face of Vincent hovering over him and silently closing the weighty lid.
*
It was dark.
That was he first thing he realised upon coming back to his senses. It was just utterly and thoroughly pitch black around him. No light source was to be found, no matter where he looked. Surprisingly, though, he could see himself. Holding a white hand before his eyes Yazoo made sure that he was still there and then his eyes shifted back into he darkness.
Where was he?! And why was no one else there? Where was his master, and Aeris…?
Eyes going wide, the sudden memory of the maid lying at his feet, cold and dead, invaded his thoughts. And with it the overwhelming knowledge that she wouldn´t ever smile at him again, never make him cookies, listen to the stories he would read to her, pressed down on his slim shoulders.
She was gone and he was utterly alone. Again.
Suddenly the darkness seemed to tighten around him, coming nearer and threatening to swallow him, but he couldn´t do anything but stare into the blackness that was all around him, leaving no route to escape the inevitable.
He was waiting though, patiently waiting for the cold to come and save him, make things better, freeze everything, built a wall between him and the fact that Aeris was gone, that he had killed her…
But nothing happened. The darkness only seemed to thicken and slowly something akin to panic was rising in his guts.
Was this punishment for what he´d done? But he hadn´t actually done anything, had he? It wasn´t his fault, he didn´t have control about himself at that time and he certainly hadn´t wished for what had happened! It had been an accident, the ice said so, and…!
And it didn´t change the facts that Aeris was dead and that he had taken her life one bit.
Averting his eyes from the somehow shifting mass around him he looked to… where the ground would have been if there had been a concept of direction here at all.
Just when he was certain that he would be swallowed a light laughter from somewhere penetrated the darkness and made him look up again.
Eyes searching, he tried to locate the source of the chuckling, desperate for company or someone who could bring sense to his confusion.
"My poor, dear little boy," the voice said benignly.
Yazoo looked up, blinking. "Aeris?"
"Yes my dear," Aeris, or rather her voice, answered. By now he still hadn´t been able to spot her, but somehow the darkness had stopped moving towards him and was just lazily swirling around.
Yazoo shifted, disbelieve and scepticism evident on his face.
"Ah, don´t look like this," the maid chuckled, and the silver haired young man was almost certain that he felt something light stroking over his cheek.
"How… can this be?" he asked with narrowed eyes, even more confused. "I killed you."
"Yes, that you did," was the answer, but it did held no resentments.
"But then…"
"I told you, didn´t I?" the maid interrupted softly "I will never leave you alone…"
Looking down at the hands folded in his lab, Yazoo shook his head slightly, trying to comprehend what was going on. Why was she not mad?
"It wasn´t your fault, Yazoo." Aeris sighed. "I know that you would never want to hurt me. It was an unfortunate accident, and I was partially at fault, too. I caused you so much grief…"
The feeling on his cheek was there again, this time lasting longer. The youth closed his eyes, enjoying her familiar presence and desperately trying to savour it.
The darkness seemed to shift again suddenly, though, almost giving off a nervous, restless feeling.
The voice sighed, and the touch was interrupted.
"I am afraid I have to leave now," Aeris sighed again, sounding somewhat apologetic.
"But-" Panic seemed to overtake Yazoo upon the prospect of being left alone in this madness again. He felt that he was somewhat pulled away, everything becoming blurry and distant.
"Don´t worry my dear, it´s alright," the voice assured, and he could almost see her warmly smiling at him. "You might not remember when you wake up, but never forget: whatever happens, my blood is part of you now, as am I. And I will never leave you, no matter what."
It was funny. Although he had no way to know that she was speaking the truth, or that this just wasn´t a perversion his broken mind was playing on him, he knew deep inside that she was right and it put something inside him to rest.
And with that last thought Yazoo lost conciousness again.
*
Vincent sat on a rock, ignoring the still form beside him. The dull candle light flickered through their dusty sleeping room, casting strange shadows on the rough walls and the stoned curved ceiling.
Naturally, as he had grown stronger by the time and had more power, he also had awakened a lot earlier than his pupil. Vincent expected the boy -for in his view Yazoo was still ridicoulus young compared to himself- to not wake before midnight. That had provided him with some time to take care of certain matters, such as returning to the mansion. Hidden in the shadows, he had to find out however, that it wouldn´t turn out to be wise going near there for quite a while. His house had been in an uproar, people going in an out. Apparently Aeris´ death had been found out sooner than he could have wished for. It had been foolish to just leave her the previous night, but the vampire hadn´t had the nerve to bother with her lifeless form and Yazoo, so he guessed it couldn´t be helped.
His power over lower beasts had come in handy, as he had ordered the generic housemice to obey his will and mentally occupied their bodies. Through their eyes and ears he had followed the peoples conversations about murder and the suspicious wounds on her neck. The pervert priest had been summoned to exorcise her and give her the last rites, but the man only spitted with rage that certainly it had been the demonic master of this household who had sucked her blood and kidnapped or even killed (by judging from the blood) his student.
The two healers from the night before were also there, nervously fidgeting under the inquiries of the mayor, who had come here himself after he had heard that his soon to be son-in-law was nowhere to be found. Aeris dead body lay on the ground still, only covered by a blood stained blanket which suggested, that she hand´t been found for very long. As he made the mouse leave the room and ransacking the other rooms, he found the one or other plunderer enriching themselves with his belongings. Vincent made a mental note of their faces, and hurried through the house, eventually coming to the backyard. The brown mouse slipped through the leaned on kitchen door, her black button eyes scanning the dark court.
It was totally empty, save for one hunched figure kneeling on the floor. From the blond shock of hair, the vampire instantly knew who he was facing, but Cloud was to absorbed in his grief, rocking back and forth manically, a hand pressed to his mouth, to notice the mouse´s presence. Vincent knew very well about his desperation to loose the only woman he had every truly loved and devoted his very existence to.
Even more so as he had experinced a rather bizare encounter with the young man. Initially he hadn´t planned on meeting him at all, but after the marriage discussion he´d had with his strict father the boy had suddenly appeared before him as he was just about to leave the estate, obviously having eavesdropped on their conversation. He had fallen to his knees, attempting to kiss the vampire´s feet and assuring him of his eternal gratitude, swearing to his life that he would do everything within his power and even beyond to make Aeris happy.
As it turned out now, Vincent had utterly betrayed his trust into him, and the vampire averted his eyes. What happened couldn´t be made undone and he doubted that Cloud would understand his reasoning even if he had tried to explain it to him. It was quaint though, that the only person Vincent had thought to be safe while being with him, still had fallen victim to their abnormal thirst in the end.
Sighing he left the mice´s small minds. He was finished here, for once and for all.
Atrabilious, he went after one of the robbers, a merchant that had gotten to wealth by shady business and the one or other murder. The vampire didn´t bother to take him anywhere this time, just assaulting him in a dark side alley before the man even knew what was happening and discarding of his corpse on the usual place. Then he had searched for a convenient victim for his pupil, made it faint and, throwing it over his shoulder, had left the town again.
By no chance would he allow Yazoo to go hunting by himself, he´d seen the uncontrolable youth bring ruin upon them one time too often already. He´d have to teach him the basics and rules first before there was any thinking about going out together. Besides, the townspeople were still searching for Yazoo and being sighted in the city´s streets certainly wasn´t something Vincent needed to have.
He was thrown out of his revery when the coffin lid suddenly hit the ceiling, clattering to the ground and coming to lay beside the burial case in an awkward angle. Soon after, Yazoo´s upper body emerged from the box, hands clinging to the rim as he tried to comprehend why he´d woken in such a cramped, smothery place.
Vincent wasn´t surprised, though. It had taken him ages to get over the horror that was thinking that he´d been burried alive.
Dizzy, Yazoo shook his head a little to clear it, brows furrowed. Something else took his attention soon enough, as his narrowed eyes searched the room and came to rest on the unconcious figure resting beside Vincent´s feet.
Absent-mindedly he licked his lips, gaze becoming avid, and slowly he crept out of the coffin.
While his eyes were still glued on the still form as if nothing else in the world was existent, he gracefully crawled over the old stone ground on all fours. Slowly razor sharp, perly teeth slid over his moist lips, his feral eyes boring into the victim from behind long tresses that hung into his face.
When Yazoo was just about to reach out for the woman Vincents booted foot made contact with his forehead, holding the boy in place.
Growling, two furious slitted eyes shot up at the unimpressed vampire, who had crossed his arms over his chest and calmly looked back at the kneeling young man.
After a moment the boy stilled, face relaxing in resignation, but not without occasional hungry glances thrown into the victims direction.
Satisfied, Vincent withdrew his foot, allowing him to drink. It was absolutely essential that Yazoo knew who his master was; he´d rather not think about what disaster would occur if the boy ran rampant.
Quietly, he watched the young vampire regale himself with the womans blood, the old hag only sighing as she went to the other side, her fitlhy white hair spilling on the floor, and her wrinkled face becoming slack again. At least she didn´t have to suffer any pain now anymore.
With a strangely excited feeling rising in his stomach he observed Yazoo licking his bloody lips with half-lidded eyes, head thrown back as he was still experiencing the bliss that came with the aftermath of drinking.
Indignantly he ignored it. Now surely wasn´t the time for such things.
They had to set some things straight first, and as soon as Yazoo was back down to earth, he ordered him to take a seat on the chair in front of the desk.
"Very well. Do you, by any chance, remember anything of the previous night´s events?" the vampire asked as he had the full attention of his student, who expectantly watched him sitting on his rock with one leg bent.
The young vampire nodded after a thoughtful look, his demeanor not leaking anything about what he might have thought about it.
"I see."Vincent leaned forward a little, his left elbow resting on his bent leg, as he gave his protégé a scrutinizing gander with narrowed eyes.
Yazoo just returned his look calmly, arms lying casually on the vermiculated armrest.
"Well then, I am certain that you already noticed that your current condition differs remarkably from your living form."
It was a rhetorical question, if a question at all, and Yazoo did not feel the need to answer it, nor did the other vampire expect him too, because he just continued.
"I will teach you the essential differences now, so listen well, I will not repeat myself."
This time, the ghost of a smirk graced Yazoo´s luscious lips, accompanied by an excited sparkling in his big, gorgeous eyes.
It pained the other vampire that Yazoo was unable to see the serious formidableness of his condition and instead seemed to be amazed and eager even.. The confrontation with reality would deflate him soon enough, but Vincent wished he could spare him from this…
"First: We subsist from blood, and blood alone. Human blood is the most suitable for us, and one body provides us with enough energy for one night. Should it be necessary, however, you can get by with the blood of lower beasts for a certain, restricted amount of time."
As fast as lightening Vincent caught a mouse that scurried beside his rock, and carefully held it in his palm for demonstration purposes.
Yazoo wrinkled his nose a little, looking not very enthusiastic as he watched the mouse sniffle at his masters finger and climbing his arm to sit on his shoulder.
He seriously doubted that there was ever a situation that would made him desperate enough to suck mouse blood!
"The mechanisms should already be known by you. It mostly is a process that will happen automatically. However, there are restrictions concerning the selection and handling of your victims."
The older vampire´s gaze became sharp, as he sat the mouse back on the floor and made sure that the other was following, which was rather unnecessary, because the boy hung on his every word.
"Although I said earlier that every human´s blood potentially will suffice, you will never ever break that one rule again I am going to tell you now: You will under no circumstances feast from the innocent and pure."
Yazoo tilted his head, the unspoken question of how the other expected him to know who was innocent and who was not lingering in the air.
'You will know just the same way I know what you are thinking at this very moment.'
Yazoo backed away in surprise, looking displeased to hear his master invading his thoughts.
"Do not worry, I am not interested in your cogitations. You will learn to read humans minds soon, and distinguish the important ones from the trivials, as well as shutting your own." The vampire assured.
"Suitable victims will be those who killed, benefitted purposely from the misfortune of others, or do not appreciate their fellow human´s lifes value. Therefore, men that killed out of necessity, be it in self-defience or by accident, will not be pursued. Ill intention is the criterion here."
Yazoo looked rather sceptical, but did not protest, so Vincent continued with his lecture.
"After you choose a victim you will not simply feast on it, but show yourself before it and coax it to follow you to the place I will show you when the time comes. Normally this will be not an issue, the premise of easily taking advantage of you will be enough to make them more than willing to follow you. After you have them savely in our estate, without anyone noticing your party, you will offer your guest a bath and a rich meal. Even though they are wretched human beings, their last hours alive shall be as pleasant as possible."
The vampire pressed his lips together briefly, then his sonourous, deep voice filled the small cellar again.
"If they refuse to, you will threaten them with canceling the meeting at once. If they still refuse, it can not be helped and you will take them without the aforementioned procedure. Should they follow your orders however, you will take them as soon as they show any signs of wanting to harm you. If you believe that there is still some possibility for redemption, you will point their misbehavior out to them and judge if their change of mind is trustworthy or just an unfounded promise to escape death. In case the former event occurs, you will let them go and erase their memories of yourself, but not of the promise they made and the fear they felt. Should the latter happen, you will just proceed as planned and feast on them.
"There is one more thing, however. While you drink from them, you will observe their last thoughts. Should anything indicate that they are still somewhat human inside, you will let them live and proceed the exact same way, like I told you in case of remediable victims.
Did you understand everything what I said?"
The other vampire nodded, albeit not looking too enthusiastical.
"Do not even think of arguing or questioning my decision," Vincent added, just in case, but Yazoo remained silent anyway, though looking resigned.
"Very well then. Let us continue with the second point: your body."
Yazoo shifted in his seat, giving the impression of absolute interest.
Sighing the red cloaked man continued.
"You should have noticed by now that your eyesight and your hearing abilities have far exceeded those of human beings. They will allow you to live through the night unharmed and provide you with the necessary informations. Your movements are faster now, and your reaction time is remarkably shorter. Your new physical strength far outreaches your former. I already mentioned that you will be able to read humans minds too. As time goes by, you will become stronger and your abilities will become more powerful, eventually enabling you to… transform."
Yazoo didn´t fail to notice the short pause, and curiously awaited an explanation, as to what it was with this transformation, but Vincent didn´t elaborate the matter any further.
"To a certain extend you can make lower creatures obey your will. These include mice, rats, snakes, bats and wolves even."
The other found that this all sounded far too good to be true and suspected that there had to be a snag to it, and surely Vincent pointed it out to him soon enough.
"You are not as immortal and invincible as it may seem, however. There are dangers and risks that you must be aware of at all times.
"The first and most crucial one is sunlight. What is a vital necessity to mankind is our greatest foe.. You will notice the arrival of dawn automatically and you should return to your coffin instantly then. If not, it might happen that your body will just slip into dormancy, leaving you unprotected outside." He inwardly whinced at the memory of his failure to follow this particular rule not so very long ago.
"Your coffin is another necessity, you cannot go without it."
"Permit me to remark that you were very well without your coffin that day…" Yazoo spoke up, head tilted.
"Did that seem to be the case?" Vincent answered coldly, not pleased with the interruption at all. "I will inform you that I was not and had to suffer the consequences for a few nights after. The only reason I withstood that day was due to my superiour power and my age. Do not be mistaken child, you would not survive the day outside your coffin for an hour."
Impressed, the young vampire shut his mouth and politely listened to the rest of Vincents explanation.
The vampires mouth felt already dry by now, he wasn´t used to that much talking, and there was so much he had to consider and remember…
Licking his lips behind his collar, he continued in a morose manner.
"Besides the daylight holy ground and sacred items are poison to us as well. We cannot touch the cross, or holy water, or go into christian buildings that still serve the purpose of worshipping god. Furthermore we are not able to stand pure silver. Its effect will become less severe when assorted with other metals. As far as I know, it cannot kill us though.. Nothing can, aside from the sunlight."
Yazoo looked positively delighted, much to Vincents dismay.
"Now, are there any questions?"
He groaned as the young vampire declared that, yes, he had indeed some questions.
"Very well then. But just to your information: I will not answer any questions concerning myself."
The silver haired teens corners of his mouth twiched a little in disappointment, as 90% of his questions evaporated into thin air.
"What about stakes through the heart?"
"Nonsense. It might be painful, but it cannot kill us for our hearts are already dead. Decapitation might be another subject, but I am not eager to find out about its validity."
"Hn. Garlic?"
Vincent stared at him blankly for a moment. "…Where did you get that idea from? How can a mere onion harm us?"
Yazoo stuck his bottom lip out, folding his arms over his chest. "Well, it said so in the tales. And apparently you forbid Aeris to cook with garlic or eat it, so to suggest the assumption that you had ulterior motives is not that off." He lifted one single eyebrow to underline his point.
"I did so because I simply do not appreciate the smell of it," the vampire informed him, shaking his head, adding tiredly, "Is there something else you need to ask or can we call it a day now?"
His implemented half-order went ignored when Yazoo tilted his head thoughtfully, looking through the room and eyes coming to a halt on the wall next to him.
"Yes, there is still a question that remains unanswered."
Impatiantly waving his hand to gesture the boy to speak, Vincent gave his permission, although reluctantly.
"Whose coffin is that? "
The other vampire´s face paled quite remarkably, startling Yazoo, for he hadn´t intended his innocent question to make his master look so sick and pained. The cloaked man regained his composure quickly however, saying curtly, and not very convincing "No ones."
Frowning, Yazoo just took it, not wanting to upset Vincent any further then he already was.
"Now go back into your coffin, dawn is not far." He gracefully rose from his stone, turning his back towards his pupil.
Yazoo just did as he was told, slipping into 'his' coffin and instantly falling into rigidity, arms crossing over his chest by themselves.
Vincent went over to get the heavy lid and effortlessly lifted it from the ground to place it on the coffin. Before he closed it, however, he took a tormented look inside, and shook his head.
TBC
Please accept my apologies for not commenting on the last reviews to SwD, I need an aspirin and some sleep now.
Review please?