Yep, I'm back, with a new record for updating.
A few months later and Carmilla couldn't help but feel proud of her fledgling. Chazz was learning quickly, absorbing everything that she taught him. However, this was also a problem in itself. It was clear that it was still his intention to leave as soon as he could. That needed to change. While admittedly, as the stronger of the two and therefore the leader, Carmilla could force him to stay, she preferred the idea of him staying willingly. It should hopefully be easy enough to coax him into remaining with her… however, keeping him on her side when he discovered her intentions for the two other Academy students, that would be difficult. Snapping back to reality, she observed her child as he lured a drunken woman over to where they were standing. The transformation into a vampire suited him: his pale skin was now completely perfect and missing several scars only obvious to a vampire's eyes (he still refused to tell her how he had obtained them); his eyes were now hypnotically beautiful, most of the time remaining the same grey colour as before, albeit with a haunting quality. The only time that they were red now was when he was hunting or had only just fed. Especially when he dressed in the clothes she chose for him, he was very attractive, making him perfect for hunting with. As his most recent victim swooned in his arms, his mouth at her throat, his eyes watching carefully to judge how much he could afford to take (the most skilled vampires barely left a trace; the victim would be anaemic for a while, but that was it). When he was finished he left the girl sitting against the doorway she had been aiming for in the first place. Wiping his mouth and checking his appearance, Chazz rejoined Carmilla.
"Are you done here?" he asked.
Carmilla nodded, turning to smile at him.
"Yes. I was thinking that we'd go somewhere, test your self control in crowded places." The younger vampire's eyes lit up.
"Really?" he said. His sire had been reluctant to allow such a thing until she was certain he was ready. Or, as he put it, until she could stall no longer.
"Yes." she replied. "You managed well enough in smaller groups. Now let's see how you manage a big crowd of people." With a follow-me gesture, she began to walk towards the nearest road. When a taxi approached she hailed it. They both got in.
"So where are we going?" asked Chazz.
"Have you heard of the Underground Duelling Arena?"
"Sure. Everyone has, but barely anyone knows where it is. That's where we're going?"
"Yes, and it isn't cheap, so I'd appreciate it," she paused, lowered her voice. "If you hypnotised the driver into not charging us."
"Easily done. Man, I haven't seen a duel in ages."
"Yes, I thought you'd enjoy it. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask where your deck was."
"Probably still at my brother's place, if they haven't moved it or something. I didn't have it the night I…" he trailed off for a moment. "…Y'know, turned, because I didn't want to lose it or have it stolen."
"We'll try to pick it up at some point then. We might need it soon."
"Why?"
"I have business to attend to soon. Let's just say you'll be getting back to the real world soon enough."
Chazz frowned at her vague answer, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the taxi stopped. Sighing, he leaned over the driver's seat to hypnotise the driver into thinking that Chazz had just handed him the correct money.
The two vampires walked around the back of a large building. A burly man was standing in front of a large metal door. He nodded when Carmilla spoke to him quietly and handed him a stack of notes. Passing back two tickets, he opened the door for them. Inside, another man handed them both masks. Glancing around, Chazz realised why Carmilla had insisted on choosing what he wore tonight. Everyone there was in formal wear (the two vampires included). A woman came over, checked their tickets and led them to a table. Carmilla ordered a bottle of wine, and to Chazz's surprise, there were none of the usual questions about whether he was old enough to legally drink. Still, he mused, considering the whole operation was completely illegal, one more crime was hardly going to matter.
Although it was possible for vampires to survive on an all-blood diet, they could still eat and drink like humans. Carmilla was fond of wine, especially red, as it could be mixed with blood. She had encouraged Chazz to try some, and usually allowed him to drink whatever she was drinking when they were out. However, as he was only sixteen, this did raise eyebrows in some places. No one here seemed to care though. They were all focused on the arena, which was, at the moment, empty. The air was thick with the scents of emotions, especially one Chazz had never smelt before. The nearest he could compare to was the bloodlust that still occasionally effected him. With a slight start, he realised that it almost was. Almost everyone in this room was desperate to see bloodshed. Rolling his eyes, Chazz glanced around, looking for people it'd be useful to be near should all the bloodlust in the room trigger his own. The people sitting on their own, with shabbier formal wear than those who it would be awkward to get alone.
He was startled when the arena cage was suddenly lit up. The duel was about to start. The first duellist was some obscure has-been who had been a legit tournament name for a while until Kaiba crushed him in a duel. Clearly it had done his career no favours. And the other duellist-
Chazz froze and felt Carmilla tense next to him. They both recognised the other duellist, one as a former enemy and victim, the other as a former classmate and ally.
Zane? thought Chazz. Certainly the clothes were different, and the scent indicated emotions that Chazz would have never thought the other boy was capable of, but the face was unmistakable.
Chazz had heard the rumours about the horrors of Underground Duelling, but in the reality it was much worse. It was bad enough seeing both duellists clearly in agony every time they lost life points, but the eagerness of the crowd made it a hundred times worse. Rather than bring on his bloodlust like he had expected, the scene made him rather glad he was no longer the same species as the people at the other tables. When his opponent finally collapsed with zero life points and Zane was declared the winner, he glanced out of the arena into the audience. For a moment he and Chazz made eye contact. Then Chazz looked away, leaned back in his chair and took a sip of wine. When he looked back, Zane was gone. Another duel was to begin shortly.
"Well," said Carmilla. "That was unexpected, but not necessarily a bad thing. I had been meaning to seek him out eventually."
"Seek out?" asked Chazz suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"
Carmilla sighed.
"I suppose it's only fair you know," she said. "The thing is, I had been hoping, in the not-too-distant future, to add to our family." Chazz's eyes narrowed but he said nothing. "I miss having others of my own type around, you see. I have a few people in mind," here she nodded to the stage to indicate Zane. "But obviously I had to make sure you were able to control yourself first."
"I see." said Chazz.
"But of course I will always wish for you to be in my family Chazz." she continued. "You are my child, and nothing will change that."
Chazz was slightly worried by the fact that this reassured him, but he let it drop. Carmilla had saved him, taken him in and raised him, which was a hell of a lot more than anyone else had done in a long time.
"Ok." he said. "But I want to talk to him first. On my own."
When Carmilla nodded her consent, he stood and left the room.
Finding Zane was relatively easy; all he had to do was follow his scent. What was a pain was getting past security, and more than once it'd taken a strong dose of hypnosis to get through. Finally he found the right door. From the sound of things, Zane's manager was in there with him. Chazz slipped easily into the shadows and waited. He allowed Zane's manager to leave and walk past before catching his attention.
"Hey." he said quietly. The man spun around, and he caught him in a hypnotic gaze instantly. "Zane wants to be left alone. No-one is to bother him all night." With a dazed nod, the manager left, and Chazz silently entered the room.
Zane was sitting with his back to the door when Chazz entered. Due to the natural stealth of a vampire, his presence didn't even register with the other boy. After a moment, Chazz decided to announce himself.
"All hail the Hell Kaiser." he said.
Zane spun around instantly, trying to disguise the start he gave when Chazz spoke. He glared at him.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"You don't recognise me?" asked Chazz, feigning hurt and remembering that he was still wearing the mask. "It's been a while, but not that long." He removed the mask. "Looks like we've both changed."
The effect was instant. Zane expression changed to one of shock before he forced himself to calm down. Chazz… he thought.
A little while after his transformation into Hell Kaiser, Zane had received several messages from his old classmates. Chazz had never returned to Duel Academy, and his brothers had reported him missing the day before term had restarted. After a search, Chazz's bag had been found abandoned in an alleyway, along with blood. Lots of blood. More than a person could safely lose. Chazz's blood. The unspoken conclusion of the police had been that Chazz was most probably dead.
And yet, here he stood, smartly dressed, but looking like he was still missing the blood he'd lost months ago, if his paler that ever complexion was anything to go by. His eyes had changed too, but Zane couldn't put his finger on why.
Finally pulling himself together, Zane spoke.
"A lot of people think you're dead. You just disappeared." he said.
"Things came up." said Chazz. "I've been busy." he examined his nails.
"Busy?" said Zane, angry in spite of himself. "Too busy to call someone, anyone, and tell them that you're alive? Everyone thinks you're dead! There was a big search for you! They found your bag, and your blood, all over an alleyway!"
"They found my bag?" said Chazz, interestedly. "I don't suppose you know where it is now, do you?"
Zane felt his temper rise even further.
"How are you missing the point here? Everyone at Duel Academy thinks you're dead!"
"The only time that would be an issue is if I ever wanted to re-enrol. As I don't, no problem."
Zane was stunned into silence. That was callous, even by his own standards! Pulling himself together, he tried another angle.
"So you're completely fine with letting everyone, including your family, believe that you died?" He made a noise of disgust and went to turn away. However, by the time he did, Chazz was standing so close to him that they were face to face. He was startled into silence. How had the other boy moved that fast?
Chazz smiled icily, the expression making a chill enter the room.
"Who said I didn't?" he replied.
In all fairness, Chazz admitted silently to himself, the statement was done for mere shock factor. But its effect was amusing to watch. Zane had jerked himself away, crashing into a chair and falling to the ground. Still smiling, Chazz had stepped over so that he was crouching where the older boy was sprawled on his back. When Zane realised their close proximity, he tried to scramble away, his heartbeat so fast it sounded like a roar to Chazz's sensitive hearing. Chazz took Zane's wrist, preventing him from escaping. The other boy flinched at the iciness of the vampire's skin. Almost instantly his hand felt numb. Slowly, Chazz crouched and brought Zane's hand to his neck, pressing the other's warm hand against where his pulse used to be, allowing the other boy to register its absence.
"Oh god…" breathed Zane, eyes wide.
"Quite the opposite." Chazz corrected him, his eyes turning red.
With an low, inhuman growl, he lifted Zane's wrist so it was near his mouth. He could smell the other's blood, hot and sweet thanks to the adrenaline now pumping through his system. Brushing the other boy's wrist against one razor sharp fang, Chazz broke the skin slightly, enough to draw blood, but not much. Unable to resist teasing Zane some more, Chazz ran the finger of his free hand through the trickle of blood before licking it clean. Zane was frozen, trapped, unable to do anything but watch. Sighing, Chazz stood upright, still holding Zane's wrist and pulling him to his feet. Surprised, Zane looked at him. Pausing for a moment, Chazz closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were back to grey.
"I guess I'll take my leave." he said smoothly. "But don't worry, I'll be back soon enough, that's a promise." Zane's eyes widened in horror as he tried to get his breathing back under control. "But, for now, let's not tell anyone about our little meeting, hmm?"
Zane nodded, willing to agree to anything if it meant that that Chazz would leave sooner.
"Fine," he said.
"Good boy." replied Chazz. He waved casually as he left. "See you around."
It was several days later that Zane saw the article. It was a tiny thing, barely noticeable, reporting a break in at the Domino police station. Zane shuddered as he read that the only things stolen was evidence from a closed missing persons case. He was certain he knew the culprit - Chazz must have decided to hunt down his misplaced belongings. He was just glad that no-one had encountered the vampire - for that was what he had to be - while he was retrieving his bag. Knowing how badly Chazz had unsettled him with just a few well chosen words and actions, Zane dreaded to think what the vampire could do when his intentions were murderous. Noting that the sun was setting, he went around the small flat he lived in, checking that all the doors and windows were locked. After his close encounter of the fanged kind, Zane had been reluctant to go out at night, especially alone. Knowing the other, his efforts were probably useless, but Zane certainly wasn't going to invite the vampire in. He'd researched as much information as possible, but where different sources clashed, he had no way of knowing which, if any, of the books or articles he found were correct. The only definitely legitimate information he had was what he had learned from the only other vampire he'd ever met - Carmilla. That told him a little, at least. Vampires could hypnotise others and often had other powers, usually connected to the shadows. She, at least, had seemed to have some connections with animals, especially bats. It wasn't much but it was something. Zane shifted as his gaze settled on the phone in the corner. How would Chazz know if he made the others aware… he froze that though in it's tracks. It was too risky. Carmilla had used bats to spy on the students at Duel Academy. Chazz may be able to do something similar. Another thought caught his attention. If Chazz was a vampire, then who had turned him? That wasn't a happy thought. It meant that there was more vampires out there… Sighing, Zane stood and stretched. He felt too cooped up in his flat… surely he should be alright if he stayed in public, well lit areas. Suddenly desperate to leave, Zane opened his door and walked down the hallway.
As Zane left the building, a flock of bats took off into the sky, determined to tell their mistress that her target had taken the bait. When she heard this, Carmilla smirked. The trace of her magic left in Zane's mind had been enough to place thoughts in his head. Now he would go straight to where Chazz was waiting, and her first fledgling would lead her soon-to-be second back to her. Sending a few bats to watch over her child and his prey, Carmilla sat back in the large house she and Chazz had set up a nest in, and waited.
Heehee... Chazz is so mean! I bet no-one ever thought they'd feel sorry for Hell Kaiser, huh?
Review please!
