disclaimer : I own nothing.

Oceans of Time

Chapter 3 : Dynamics

It was a surprisingly warm night, but Marlow himself never liked the warmth. He much prefered the weather cool or neutral, for in in the warm climate the group was usually more sluggish.

It was a small town in Mexico where they had found themselves, but tonight it was not a feast, not a night to go all out. Tonight they were practicing their cunning, how quiet they could be and if they could slip into and out of houses quickly and effectively without too much commotion.

He was not taking part in the night's activities, he had requested that blood be brought back to him at the end of the night. He had also requested that Iris should stay by his side instead of take part.

"I need someone to help me," he reasoned, "If anything should get out of hand."

He had been keeping a steady eye on the newcomer, the boy. The boy would slink about and always looked scared. All were scared originally with their powers when they received them. Many were scared at first of their craving for blood, but it always got the better of them and they ate.

The boy, who was named Otieno Villemont in his mortal life, was learning the language fast. It helped that he was young and his vocal chords were more malleable than those of people who had been turned at an older age.

Tonight was only his seventh night in the group, and he was not hunting.

"What is wrong?" Marlow asked him.

"I do not know." Otieno said, "I cannot hunt this way. I must hunt in a pack, I am not experienced enough to do it alone."

"Then you must learn," Marlow said, "and tonight you shall learn. You won't always have a pack to help you."

Otieno nodded sullenly.

"Iris," Marlow said, turning to her, "Teach him how to hunt quietly."

"Yes sir." she said.

"It is not all that difficult," she said to Otieno, "Come."

There was a nearby house and Iris picked the lock, "It's not hard to do," she said, "If the lock is big enough, like this, use your nail."

Being so newly changed, his nails were not that impressive yet. They were only slightly longer than average.

"If the lock is small, a thin piece of metal will do if you have one."

They slipped inside and headed to the bedroom, it was of a little girl. It was easy for one of Otieno's first kills.

"Do not make a noise. I know you will want to. Bite down on her neck, hard enough to snap it. The deed will be done."

Otieno had a try at it, opening his mouth as wide as he could, his fangs protruding out. He bit into her. There was no scream from either, the girl died instantly. When he finished eating he pulled away. "It wasn't hard."

"No, it isn't."

They rejoined Marlow on the skirts of the town near the ocean where their ship was not far from land.

"He did well." Iris informed him.

"Good. It is good to see your learning fast, boy."

The members of the group began to collect back where Marlow had been. They each brought their offering of blood to him, a little sad to see it go, but knowing if they did not there would be consequences.

All was fine until Arvin returned. He returned with a mortal. A turned mortal.

He was grinning as he always did, holding the sleeping woman in his arms. Somehow, he had managed to bite her her hard enough to make her pass out but not enough to kill her.

"Look what I found!" he said triumphantly, "She's quite pretty, I'm going to take her as a mate."

Marlow looked on disgusted.

"A mate? She is a mortal!"

"Not anymore, she'll be one of us soon."

Marlow grunted, "No, she won't, get rid of her."

Arvin snarled, "Why should I? I want her for a mate, I'm going to keep her."

"I said get rid of her, Arvin, now, or I will!"

"But why?" the younger vampire protested.

"We already have too many in our ranks, any more and we'll be noticable, we'll be targets. We added another member just last week, that was enough for a year."

"Then kill him and take her!"

Marlow was quickly losing his temper.

"The boy has proved to be a good hunter, we can use him. We can't use a woman who you want to change merely to keep as a mate. It's not good for the group. If you wish to take a mate, there are females in our group, and you can take one of them!"

"I want this one."

"You won't have her!" Marlow shouted, "Zurial, take off her head."

Zurial stepped forward, afraid to make his leader angry but also afraid to make Arvin, one of the most vicious of the group, angry too. He stood and watched to see what the two did.

Arvin growled but dropped the woman to the ground, "Have it your way, Marlow. It's always your way."

Arvin shoved past him, and went wading through the water to the ship. The group desended on once again for their daytime hibernation, Zurial being the last one on, having had to deal with the mortal on shore.

Iris automatically went to Marlow's quarters, she did every time now.

He drank the blood that was collected for him slowly, from a cup even, which was odd for him. He seemed tired and restless, so Iris sat near him, hoping to console him someway.

"You know, you taught Otieno well. I know you've been presiding over him as of late, and I will take over from now on. He will be my protege."

"That's fine, sir, if it's what you want."

"Oh, it's what I want alright." he scratched his head, "Arvin made me quite mad tonight."

"I could see that."

"He knows my word goes. He knew I wasn't going to let him do that. He was just testing me, I know he was. If there's one rebel who suceeds there will be more. I need to keep order, you see, even if no one likes it. It's for their own good. Start making more of us and suddenly there's not enough food anymore. It could be disaster."

Iris listened to him as he went on. He went on about how they needed to preserve themselves, but she didn't really hear any of it. She was concentrating on the way his voice sounded, it was a powerful, masculine voice. She had long forgot what the languages of mortals sounded like, but she wondered how he would sound speaking them.

When he finished he shook his head, "I am weary, Iris, from too many thoughts. Lay with me today? It will help me rest."

Up until this point they had slept in the same quarters but in different parts, one in the bed and one either on the ground or in a chair.

"Yes, sir, I will." she said, trying to hide her joy at this sudden proposition.

He laid with his back to her, but she faced him, and gazed at his large frame as she felt the darkness of rest take over her.