Swallowed in Darkness
Chapter One: A Meeting in the Night
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or any YYH characters. Sithe, Sickle, and any other characters not connected to YYH are my own unless otherwise stated.
Four boys walked softly down a street in silence as darkness loomed overhead. Stars were faint above, and a pale cresent moon shone down on the otherwise seemingly empty street. Their shadows wavered between the illuminated street and the dark patches of shadow cast by unseen items. A cold wind rustled their hair and clothing, chilling them.
"Why are we out here again?" complained a tall red-head. "I mean, come on! It's the weekend! We should be at a bar partying or something!"
"Quit complaining, moron. Some fresh air will do you good. Might even rid you of that God-awful stench you produce." replied the short, black-haired guy in front of him. His black cloak fluttered around him in the wind, blending with the night that surrounded them. The red haired fool glared at the other's back.
"Watch it shrimp-boy! You don't want to be on the sharp edge of my sword!"
"And you don't want to be on the sharp edge of mine, fool. Your's is energy - mine is steel." the shorter replied. A second red-head sighed, brushing some rather long strands from his emerald vision and glancing upwards at the endless sea of glimmering stars. The other three glanced at him.
"Say...You're being awfully quiet tonight, Yusuke. Something up?" the annoying red-head asked. The last guy shook his head and ran a quick hand through his slicked hair.
"Just so friggin' bored, Kuwabara. No more tournaments, no more detective cases...Hell, no more fighting against demons that wanna shred us to peices and then some." Yusuke sighed, picking up the pace of his stride. Kuwabara heaved a sigh as well.
"Yeah, it's different. The most exciting thing that'll happen to us now is more schooling and girls. And schooling's the easiest out of those two." the big oaf replied, folding his hands behind his head. The other red-head glanced at the shortest member of the crew.
"Well...That's not entirely true, now is it Hiei? About the most exciting part, I mean." the red-head stated with a grin. Hiei scoffed.
"Personally I find vampires rather...lacking in anything that will hold my attention for long, Kurama." shorty responded. Kuwabara stopped dead in his tracks and Yusuke face-planted into the sidewalk.
"WHAT!!!" the two screamed, their voices echoing in the darkened street. Kurama and Hiei glanced at each other and chuckled.
"Vampires, fools. Vampires." Hiei responded, continueing down the street. Kurama followed, swiftly tailing the shorter demon like a shadow. The other two stood dumbstruck in the back, mouths ajar in a gape. A shadow flickered before them, they looked at one another, then ran to catch up to their demonic friends.
"Uh, Hiei? Did you just say..." Yusuke began questioning, before the shorter male cut him off with a single nod.
"Yes, Yusuke. They are why Kurama and I brought you out here. They are the leaders of an elite group. And they are standing behind you, waiting to begin our conference."
Yusuke and Kuwabara turned, coming face-to-face with a male and female. Kuwabara tripped on his feet and fell on his ass with a gasp. The two vampires raised eyebrows, and then the female glanced at her male partner. He shrugged, and silently gestured towards Hiei and Kurama. The female nodded, then turned to the fox demon and fire demon.
"Good evening, gentlemen. We are glad you could make it." she said, before extending her hand to her partner. "This is Sickle; I am Sithe." Kurama bowed, and Hiei nodded.
"Sickle and Sithe of the Assassination Squad for the Vampiric Race. Seems fitting." Kurama stated, righting himself. The female, Sithe, flashed him a pearly grin. Sickle bared his teeth slightly in a warning to Kurama at his partner's gesture towards the fox demon.
"Uh...Conference?" Kuwabara asked, "For what?" Sickle looked at the orange-haired teen, momentarily breaking his glare aimed at Kurama.
"He is supposed to help us? This little fool?" Kuwabara turned red in the face at the male vampire's words.
"Hey! Why do you freaks even need us? Can't you just drain your enemies of blood or something?" the two vampires looked at each other before releasing waves of laughter.
"Hey! What's so funny you fanged freaks?" Kuwabara shouted in anger, making the two vampires laugh harder. Kurama chuckled slightly and Hiei rolled his eyes.
"You really are a fool." Hiei stated, drawing Kuwabara's attention away from the giggling vampires. "Those are only facts of fiction. Vampires are not bloodthirsty at night. They do not turn others into vampires. And they are not restricted to the night alone."
"Huh?" Yusuke and Kuwabara said in unison, blinking a few times. The two vampires finally stopped laughing.
"Real vampires can walk in daylight, with only a few true side effects. They do have somewhat enhanced abilities, but nothing like telepathy and other rubbish Hollywood pulls out of its ass." Sickle explained.
"However, our enhanced abilities can be dulled in daylight. It doesn't kill us, it just tires us out much quicker than at night." Sithe added. Kuwabara's face screwed up in confusion. Yusuke patted him on the back.
"But uh...Do real vamps actually have the uh..." Yusuke pointed at his canine teeth. Sithe flashed a grin that was...
"See? Fangless." Sickle said with a tone that screamed dangerous in all ways possible. Hiei scoffed.
"Sorry to say, you two aren't much different than everyday mortals." the demon stated, suddenly even further disinterested in the case than before.
"Which is why we need help. We do have some abilities, but they won't be as strong or as effective in daylight against our foe as we need them to be." Sithe explained.
"Uh...Just who are you guys fighting anyways?" Yusuke asked. Sithe sighed.
"...Truth is, my brother. You see..." the female held out her hand, revealing a daimond ring on her ring finger, "Sickle and I are engaged. However..."
"Your brother disagrees and doesn't want the marriage to take place." Kurama finished. Sithe nodded.
"Um...so you need us why?" Yusuke inquired.
"We work for ASVR, Assassination Squad for the Vampiric Race, a force that kills those in the vampire community for unjust acts towards the human race or other individuals of all races in alliance with the vampiric race. Our rivals are those who work for the ISUR, or Inquiry Squad of the Universal Races. They work towards imprisonment of the unjust vampires, which is dangerous." Sickle explained, "Because vampires, although not entirely dependent on human blood, still drink blood like humans do alcohol. If crime-linked vampires are kept alive, they are given chance to escape, and return to the darker side of murder, blood drinking, theft...ect."
"And her brother comes in where?" Hiei questioned.
"My brother is the lead director of the ISUR. His inquiry and containment of criminal vampires rivals the jobs of our assassinations. My brother interfers with any of our clan's movements, attacks, and even stalks." Sithe further explained.
"Stalks?" Kuwabara asked.
"When we track and pursue our targets, before we attack. The time when we gather information." Sickle stated, wrapping an arm around Sithe's waist to ward off the night's slight chill. For a moment the group stood silent, listening to the whispers of wind slither past.
"Oh...so like stalkers? People your mom always tells you to stay away from? And we're helping them?" Kuwabara questioned. Sickle cringed. Kurama and Hiei exchanged uneasy glances.
"How many vampires make up your...clan was it?" Kurama asked after a while. The two vamps looked at each other, then raised eyebrows.
"Well, let's see...Sin, Trace, Lance, Shadow, Raven, Crow, Flint..." Sithe began.
"Link, Skye, Talon, Paige, Striker, Blur...I think that's all." Sickle finished.
"Fifthteen in your clan total." Kurama stated flatly. The couple nodded. Kuwabara's eye twitched.
"Where the Hell do you guys get these names?!" he exclaimed. The vamps grinned.
"Wouldn't you like to know." they said in unison.
"What is your brother's name?" Hiei inquired.
"Sling." Sithe replied, spitting the name out like sour lemonade with too much sourness. It remained quiet for a few minutes, as each person attempted to take in the mouthful of information they'd gathered that night. Finally, Yusuke spoke.
"Final question for now; how are we supposed to help? You know, what do we do?"
"Our main goal is to dismantle the ISUV. However, my brother will suspect this, and thus has no doubt hired assassins to kill Sickle and possibly myself. He may have hired demons, or well equiped humans, or even other races I don't want to bring to light." Sithe responded, shivering at other races.
"Fun. Guess the summer won't be so boring after all." Yusuke said.