~O~

There had been something in the air that morning that told Alice that something wasn't quite right; she had had this feeling since they contacted Shun's grandfather and learned that the raven-haired teen was missing, but the foreboding feeling seemed to have reached a high-point that morning.

Alice didn't like it the least bit, and when she walked into the sitting room where the others were gathered, she knew that something was wrong from their shocked and grim expressions. "What's wrong, guys?" she asked cautiously, not really wanting to know.

All of her friends had their eyes locked on an average-sized plasma screen TV, and it appeared that they were watching the local news.

Marucho tore his shocked gaze from the TV and told Alice, "It's horrible. A string of brutal murders took place last night. The authorities are guessing about a hundred people were slaughtered. What makes it worse is that each one of the victims were completely drained of their blood."

Dan, who was sitting beside the short blond, shook his head and added in his two-cents by saying, "This whole thing is really messed up. People are saying its some sick gang running around and doing this. All I know is that I really have no desire to go out into the city at night anymore until these psychos are caught."

There was a chorus of agreements to Dan's statement. Alice looked back at the TV and saw as they began to repeat the story for anyone who may have just been tuning into the channel. A thought then occurred to Alice, and it left a foul taste in her mouth, and made her stomach do a small flip.

"What…What if Shun….," she started but couldn't even bring herself to finish out the sentence. Dan abruptly stood up and shook his head. "No. Don't even say or think about that, Alice!" he snapped.

She lowered her gaze down onto the carpeted floor of the room and said softly, "I can't help but think that he might have gotten caught up in this, Dan. I mean, he went missing a couple nights ago, and as far as we know, he hasn't returned to his grandfather's house. And with all of this craziness going on in the city, it's only natural that I start assuming things like this."

Alice hated to think that Shun might have ended up as one of the poor victims that were being reported about on the news. She shuddered at the thought of him being one of those constantly growing numbers of brutally murdered people.

Runo picked up on Alice's distress and walked over to the orange-haired girl. "Alice, Shun's alright. I'm sure he's back at his grandfather's now. Listen, how about we give the old man a call and see?" Alice looked at Runo, the person that she considered to be one of her best friends in the whole world, the one she could depend on to be there for her, even in the worst of times.

Alice wanted to know if Shun really was back at his grandfather's, but at the same time, she had no desire to know due to fear that they would learn that he was still missing. And if he was still missing, then all Alice could do was fear the worst had happened to the raven-haired teen.

Her chest ached when she thought about him being gone forever, dead. But she would never know if this was the case if they didn't call and see. So, Alice nodded her head and said, "Sure. Let's give them a call." Runo smiled sadly, which made Alice realize that the bluenette was just as scared of the truth as she was.

Marucho had overheard their conversation and was already dialing the number to Shun's on his cell phone. The short blond set the phone the coffee table in front of him and clicked the speaker button so everyone could hear the call. After about five rings, somebody picked up.

"Yes? Who's calling me at this hour in the morning?" a gruff voice asked in an irate fashion. Dan's face lit up with his usual, childish grin and he shouted into the phone, "Hey, Gramps!" On the other side, Alice could hear grumbling. "Daniel, what did I tell you about calling me that?" the old man growled on the other end of the line.

Dan laughed nervously and apologized again for forgetting, but Alice really wondered if the brunette did forget, or if he was just doing it to aggravate the elderly man. Marucho rolled his eyes at Dan and turned his attention back to the phone. He said into the device, "We just wanted to know if Shun has come back yet. All of us are a bit worried, you know, with all the murders that happened last night."

An uncomfortable silence hung on the phone, and with each passing second, Alice's heart felt like it kept speeding up with anticipation. Finally, the old man sighed and said, "No, he hasn't returned back since the night I sent him to get my arthritis medicine."

Alice felt like her heart dropped down into her stomach with the weight of those words. Shun hadn't gone back to his home yet. He had been missing for days now. And with savage murderers out prowling on the streets at night, she could only have horrible thoughts in her mind.

It was all adding up, and the picture it was making was not a pretty one. Marucho nodded, his expression grim, and he said into the phone, "Alright, thanks for telling us. Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice day." He then ended the call and set the phone back on the table, where he stared at it for a while, lost in his thoughts.

The room was dead silent after that. Dan was the one who shattered it though. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he said, "Hey, we still don't know if something bad really happened to him. So, let's not start assuming he's dead or anything. If we wait around long enough, he'll turn up. He always does."

Everyone nodded, but the doubt still hung thick in the air, and Alice knew that they were all waiting for Shun's name to appear up there on the news report among the names of the other victims.

~O~

Sinclair had been rather surprised when the human had tried to make a break for it. It was quite apparent that the raven-haired boy had been weak and drained from all of his strength, and yet, he had somehow managed to run all the way to the main door of the enclave.

Although, once the little bout of energy wore off, the human crashed and went out like a light. Now, the Vampire Lord leaned against the doorframe of the room where they kept the human, watching the blankets rise and fall as the human continued to struggle with his breathing. "Sinclair," a voice said from behind.

The Vampire Lord glanced over his shoulder and saw Alucard. "Always addressing me informally when you please and when nobody else is around, aren't you, Alucard?" Sinclair mused aloud. It didn't anger him when somebody didn't formally address him, even though it was a sign of respect in the eyes of the Society; the formalities were something that Sinclair had never been too absorbed in.

Alucard cleared his throat and corrected himself by saying, "Sir." The Vampire Lord smiled in amusement at his second-in-command and how easy it was to get the half human-half Vampire being to bend to his will. "Yes?" Sinclair asked while turning back to look into the room that had been given to the human.

He could sense Alucard shifting around uncomfortably behind him. "I heard about the commotion with the human earlier yesterday, and that Zoran saw him," the second-in-command started. Sinclair closed his eyes and asked, "And what's that got to do with anything?"

Alucard now stood beside Sinclair in the doorway. He said, "I know how Zoran is when he sees something he's not exactly used to. I just wanted to make sure he was alright." Sinclair's lips curled up into an amused smile. "Always caring and looking out for Zoran, when you can't stand his brother Loran. I will never understand that, Alucard," the Vampire Lord mused and opened his eyes.

When he did, he saw Alucard's stark purple eyes narrowed at him. "Could you please just tell me where Zoran is so I can check in on him?" he asked. Sinclair could pick up on the growing agitation in his second-in-command's voice, and it took everything in his power not to chuckle from amusement.

The Vampire Lord looked down the cavernous hallway and said, "Zoran locked himself in his chamber after we got the human back under control. He hasn't let anyone inside, not even Loran. But you, Alucard, he might let in. He seems to favor you." Alucard nodded, thanked Sinclair for his time, then headed towards Zoran's room.

The Vampire Lord remained standing in the doorway, a slight grin on his lips. He, unlike most of his Clan, knew about Zoran's dark past, just as he knew of everyone's past. The only other ones who knew about Zoran were Loran and Alucard. Sinclair had to admit that the young Vampire's story was sad, even to him.

Loran and Zoran, the two brothers, had both been from a well-to-do Nobel family with fairly high status in the Society. And because they were from such a Nobel family, many other Vampires wondered why they involved themselves in Sinclair's Blood Ring and Clan.

That was where the rest of their story came into play. Zoran, unlike his brother, wasn't exactly as open and easy to read. The young Vampire mainly kept to himself and stayed quiet, and not many others in the Clan knew what the reason was for his strange behavior. But the truth was the Zoran hated what he was.

He hated being a Vampire, he hated his bloodline, he hated himself. There had been many a time when Sinclair heard the young Vampire referring to himself as a monster.

It was rather uncommon for a Vampire to fear and loathe himself as much as Zoran did; he even went far enough as the keep his face and mouth covered, just in case he lost control of his Bloodlust and attacked somebody, despite the fact that his bloodline ensured that he could not lose control of the basic need to drink blood.

And what Alucard had mentioned about how Zoran reacted to seeing things he was not used to was also bound to his past. Sinclair had heard the young Vampire mumbling the word "monster" after they subdued the human, and the Vampire Lord knew what was running through Zoran's mind; it was a dark, horrible memory.

Loran had been the one to inform Sinclair of what had been the breaking point for them to leave their Noble home and seek refuge elsewhere. It wasn't just because that their father was incredibly corrupt, but that he was also very abusive towards Zoran because of the young Vampire's views of himself and his bloodline.

And it had been one day when their father overheard Zoran telling his brother how he hated everything that he was, and their father had finally had enough. Their father had told Zoran that if he thought of himself as a monster, then he would make him one.

And that was when their own father gouged out Zoran's eye, leaving him partially blind. Sinclair shook his head at the story and memories that the two brothers had entrusted him with. Their father was another reason that the Vampire Lord had no desire to be a part of the Society.

Any place where members of the elite are that cruel and that twisted, was a place that he didn't want to be anywhere near. Although, it made Sinclair a bit hypocritical, seeing as he ran an illegal Blood Ring.

But at least he wasn't corrupt and twisted; he just did it for the sake of doing it, and for the thrill of the unexpected that he craved so much. Sinclair sighed and glanced back into the dark room that housed the unconscious human one last time before leaving and returning to his own chamber.

~O~

Alexander gazed longingly down at the gallon jugs that were filled with the precious liquid of life. The jugs covered a great deal of space in their underground lair, and just the sight of them was enough to get his mouth watering. They had brought in this haul of blood after going out into the city and draining hundreds of people from the crimson liquid.

Some of his underlings had fed while out, but most of them brought back their gallon jugs filled to the top like they were supposed to. They had to do this in order to start up a surplus a blood in order to take down Sinclair. And by the looks of things, they were making good progress.

But they still needed more. They would always need more. Alexander did a quick count of how many jugs of blood sat before him; a bit over two-hundred. It was a start. He turned to the Vampire that he had appointed as his second-in-command, a highly emaciated-looking fellow by the name of Sykes.

Alexander said to him, "Organize another group for tomorrow night. I have a new target in mind." Sykes, rubbing his hands together nervously, which he did when his latest high began to wear off, asked, "What is this new target?" Alexander picked up one of the jugs of blood and took a small sip from the container.

When he put it down, he told Sykes, "One of Sinclair's shipments is being transported across town to the dealer over there. I want you to lead a group of my underlings there and steal the shipment so we can get some of Sinclair's premium supply."

Sykes shifted one his feet nervously, either from withdrawal or from uncertainty of Alexander's plan. "Alright, sir. I'll start forming a group right away," he said and skulked off somewhere else in the tunnel. Alexander's eyes shifted back down to the containers of blood, and he found himself lifting one up and carrying it back to the tunnel that he had called his new home.

He tore the plastic cap off again and tilted the mouth of the container back so the contents could pour down his throat. The blood had turned cold and started to congeal into a thicker liquid, but he didn't mind; blood was blood. In a matter of seconds, the jug was empty, and Alexander leaned against the concrete wall of his tunnel, feeling like a bloated tick or other kind of parasite.

He slid down the wall and sat at its base, his mind a foggy haze as his body absorbed tried to process the large amount of blood he had just consumed. The best way Alexander could describe how he was feeling would have been to say that he felt like he was drunk, or on the verge of it.

But even though it was a good feeling, it didn't match anywhere near like the feeling he got when he drank the crimson liquid from the Blood Ring. His body ached with longing for the drug of his choice, but he knew that there was none within his reach. Not yet, at least. After their raid on Sinclair's shipment, he would have the precious item back in his hands.


nothing new to report so read and leave a review on the way out. ~Copperpelt~