Dead Souls

Disclaimer: And here is my sequel to Darklight! The title, as probably suspected, was inspired by Nine Inch Nails "Dead Souls". I heard the song and somehow, the inspiration for this fic sprang into my head. Well, like most of my fics, I have a certain...free speech within this one.

"And I knew my vision of the garden of savage beauty had been a true vision. There was meaning in the world, yes, and laws, and inevitability, but they had only to do with the aesthetic and in this Savage Garden, these innocent ones belonged in the vampire's arms. A thousand other things can be said about the world, but only aesthetic principles can be verified, and these things alone remain the same."

-Anne Rice

"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows."

-Pope Paul VI

By: VampireQueenAkasha

"You have to ask...? Really...? Well, It's...It's because I am your friend..."

-Abel Nightroad

Chapter Three: Gathering Memory

Earth

Rome, Italy

Nyssa did not go too quietly to the church the next day. There were still remnants of madness in her eyes, but she was more with it now that she had tasted Abel's blood, tasted her memories within it. More herself.

Abel smiled at her as he took her to her former room. "Do you remember this room?" he asked, "I ordered it to remain as it was the day you died."

Nyssa's slightly bloodshot eyes wandered around the room. She sniffed the air slightly and touched everything. Finally, she turned to the priest standing in the doorway, her eyes still filled with confusion, but at least they did not show any evil or malice.

"F - Father ... this was ... " she began.

Abel approached her with sadness in his eyes. "Nyssa, I'm sorry, I just ... I wanted things back the way they were, and ... " He trailed off and stared down with a growl. How selfish was he! She had died and he was rushing to get her to remember! He looked up at her. "I'm sorry. Forgive me. I should not be rushing you into this."

Nyssa smiled faintly. "It's alright." she replied. She noticed a dusty bottle of beer and cocked her head. She picked it up and popped the cork off. With a faint grin, she began to guzzle the contents down really quick. It was cool to her throat and tasted pretty good. She started to remember how much she enjoyed alcohol.

"Father Nightroad!" a harsh, and quite familiar voice called, "Father Night - " Cardinal Francesco walked into the room and sighed. "Ahh, there you are, now we ... " He trailed off and his eyes grew wide in shock at the sight of Nyssa. "V - Vampire!"

Nyssa glared right back.

"Y - You ... you're here!" Francesco gasped. "It must be witchcraft!" He turned and started to go. "I must inform the ... "

"Hold it!" Nyssa hissed. He did and she menacingly approached him. "My memory may be for shit, but I am starting to remember what an ass you were." She waved a clawed finger at him. "Don't think I can forget a wrinkled face like yours."

Francesco snarled at glared right back. "Well, it's not so hard for this 'old man' to forget a blasphemous blood-sucking toad like you!" he spat.

"Are you calling me a toad?" Nyssa snarled.

Francesco got in her face. "Yes! The one with the warts!"

"I'd rather have one than be one!" Nyssa shot back.

Abel gasped and pushed between the two, separating them before they would tear each other apart. "Alright, you two, let's behave like adults!" he told them. "Now there's no need to fight like this! We're in a church!"

Francesco nodded angrily, straightening his collar. "Father Nightroad is right." he said, still shaken at the presence of the former dead vampire. "We will discuss this later ... vampire." With that, he turned and walked down the halls and out of sight.

Nyssa angrily called after him. "OH GO SIT ON A TACK, YA' WRINKLED OLD CRONE!" she shouted. She sighed and looked back at a grinning Abel. "What?"

Abel was just so delighted to see and hear Nyssa again. "Glad to have you back, Nyssa." he told her.

O

William gasped when he heard the news. "What?"

"What?" Hugue said, shocked.

"When?" Vaclav added.

"She's here!" Abel told the three. "You have to come and see her! She's back from the grave!" He did a silly little dance. "I don't believe it, but she's really here! She's really alive and kicking!" He grabbed William's hand tightly. "Come on, William, you have to see!"

William grunted and fumbled with his pipe as he was dragged into the hallway. "Well, alright, Abel, you're all worked up now," he said, "Take a deep breath before you pass out."

They stopped in front of Nyssa's door and could hear singing just behind it. Abel paused and gasped softly. Nyssa was singing. And it was amazingly beautiful. He had never really heard her sing in some time now.

"Toll no bell for me, Father
But let this cup of suffering pass from me
Send me no shepherd to heal my world
But the Angel - the dream foretold
Prayed more than thrice for You to see
The wolf of loneliness in me
... not my own will but Yours be done ...

You wake up, where's the tomb?
Will Easter come, enter my room?
The lord weeps with me
But my tears fall for you"

Abel and William walked into the room and Nyssa was sitting by the window. It was open and she held a small Vampire Bat in her hands. She petted it gently with two fingers, smiling and singing to it in a deep, vibrant, and still beautiful voice.

"Another beauty
Loved by a Beast
Another tale of infinitely dreams
Your eyes they were my paradise
Your smile made my sun rise

Forgive me, for I don't know what I gain
Alone in this garden of pain
Enchantment has but one truth:
I weep to have what I fear to lose"

"Nyssa!" William gasped.

The vampire yelped slightly and sighed. "Well, hellfire!" she snapped, rising, "Can't a vampire get a moment's peace around he ... " She trailed off and smiled faintly. "Oh, hi there, William."

The professor stared at her in amazement. "You remember me?" he said.

Nyssa nodded. "Yeah. Abel's been recapping everything with me." she replied. She paused and grinned. "'Course I ran into that Cardinal Douche Bag earlier. He was just easy to remember." She paused and glanced over at a breathless Abel, brows raised.

William reached out and took Nyssa's hand. "Could you come with me, please?" he said.

Shrugging, the vampire followed him down the halls, to his laboratory. There, he began to give Nyssa many different tests. He shined a light into her eyes, which still shone sighs of hunger, but not nearly as bad as before. Her teeth still seemed to chatter at the smell of his skin and blood, but she seemed to have more control over it. Through time, he figured she'd be able to return completely to her old self. He was about to place a stethoscope to her chest, but Nyssa grabbed it and spoke into it.

"Uh, what point is this?" she said, raising an amused brow.

William took the stethoscope from his ears and sighed. "Well, you seem to be in good shape ... for a ... " He hesitated and stared at Nyssa with a painful smile. "A ... walking ... "

Nyssa laughed. "Walking dead girl, you can say it." she told him.

"How ... how is this possible?" Vaclav asked her, amazed. "How did you come back?"

Nyssa was silent for the moment. "Technically, I DID die." she explained, "I passed on to the void where all members of my race go. Neither heaven or hell. Just ... purgatory. A place where only already dead beings like us are allowed."

Nyssa was drifting into a black void, swimming effortlessly. She blinked slightly and looked up, dazed at the sight of an incoming plains. Gasping, Nyssa swam closer and discovered she truly was in a field of beautiful flowers.

"The afterlife was certainly a wonderful place. I was at peace. I could feed and feed on things and they would not die. I was truly in paradise."

Nyssa sank her teeth into the flesh of a deer and sighed, sated and happy. After her meal, she noticed a castle over the horizon. Nyssa smiled and started to walk, but she froze. Frowning, Nyssa glanced back and noticed she was being pulled. Pulled out of her paradise. Pulled back to that horrible place ... Life.

"I had died, and like all vampires brought back, memories remain in death."

Nyssa shrieked as she was sucked right out of paradise and back toward reality, toward Earth. Slamming back into her body, that was when Nyssa came up out of her grave, hungry, wanton and wicked in her approach.

Nyssa sighed sadly. "And so ... the pain of reality came crashing down upon me. Without memory, without remorse or love. I was ... nothing."

Abel smiled down at her, placing a hand on hers. "We're here for you, Nyssa." he told her, with a gentle smile. "We are here."

Nyssa managed a faint smile.

O

The orphanage was in an uproar from what had happened. Nyssa and Abel went to pay a visit, only to discover the corpse of Sister Rice being wheeled away on a gurney. Nyssa looked down with a soft gasp and noticed the children standing there.

The second Nyssa was seen, they screamed and pointed at her. "It was her!" one of the boys wailed, "She did it!"

Nyssa's eyes grew wide as two cops started for her with guns. "Come on, ma'am!" one snapped, "You're coming with us!" Nyssa snarled and seized them both in only one hand. With a sharp grunt, she flung them through the air, high into the sky and out of sight.

The children cried out as Nyssa walked over to them. "No! Stay away!" they cried.

"Children, it's me." Nyssa said, softly, pain in her eyes. "It's Auntie Nyssa, I'm ... "

"No!" a girl cried, "You're a bad woman! You killed Sister Rice!" The children rushed at Nyssa and began to kick at her; she didn't flinch at all. She stood there in despair, watching their angry faces. The only one who did not partake was Catherine. She stared with huge, sorrowful eyes.

Nyssa bit her lip and gritted her teeth. She turned and walked away to the main gates, leaning against it. Abel stared at her with pity and walked over to the children. He bent down to them and began to talk.

Nyssa rubbed her forehead with a growl. With a slight grunt, she stared down and noticed Catherine standing there.

"What?" Nyssa grumbled, "Are you going to rub it in too?"

Catherine looked up at her and put her arms around her waist. Nyssa gave a startled grunt and stared down. Soon, all of the children were walking up and hugging her. Nyssa looked back at Abel with surprise.

"What did you tell them?" she asked, softly.

Abel chuckled tenderly. "Everything."

Nyssa bit her lip, forcing the tears back and she returned the embrace to all of them. She would take this one step at a time. One step.

O

Note-The song Nyssa is singing is part of "Gethsemane" by Nightwish. Well, soon the real action will begin! I promise you that!