Chapter Ten: A Kill…and Consequences
AN: Hmm…what shall I do next?
Seiya moved through the trees as quietly as the laws of the universe would allow. He was determined not to waste any more time. If that leech was after Serena, he would put a stop to it. No one was allowed to harm her, much less destroy her as this monster planned to do. The thought of what that bloodsucker wanted to do with her made Seiya's blood boil. That leech must never be allowed to touch her…that was why he was going completely against his father's orders and sneaking out. He had to nip this in the bud and do it quickly.
The thing was, nobody was willing to take the offensive and strike first. Matthias said he understood how he felt, but he was not willing to put the whole pack in danger by attacking without any knowledge of how this vampire worked. As a result, Seiya would just have to do it on his own; the consequences could go to that hot, scary underground world where the leech would soon be. If he waited around for the rest of the pack to act, Serena would die…
Seiya shuddered at the thought. He couldn't let his angel be carried away into darkness, let the light of those blue eyes fade…he couldn't let her beauty and loving heart, or her warmth, be stolen from the world. The dark-haired youth tried not to let his imagination get out of control and show him horrible images of her death, or her lying still and cold, her eyes closed in sleep, never to wake again. Even more dreadful was the thought of what the leech would do to her…she would be cold still, bound eternally to darkness, never to feel the warmth of the sun again. She could never endure that…and he would not let that be taken from her.
As he got into wilder parts of the woods, he phased into his wolf form, and began sniffing for vampires.
+What do you think you're doing?+
Seiya let out a yelp as Sean's thought-speak echoed in his mind. +Uh…taking a walk.+ Smooth, Seiya, he thought.
+Taking a walk, my Aunt Petunia!+
+Dude, who would name their kid Petunia?+
+Shut up. Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get yourself into?+
+Who cares? Serena always comes first…I have to protect her.+
+Good luck doing that while being dead. Did you even bother to think this through? If you attack that leech, who has probably been around since the Revolution or something, you'll die!+
Seiya snorted, or made a noise that would have been a snort had he been human. +I won't die, Sean.+
+Either you're really stupid, or you're insane.+
+Or I just have balls.+ Seiya almost felt Kakyuu smacking him upside the head. She disliked crude talk like that. So did Taiki…and Serena, for that matter. Yaten didn't really care.
+Christ, you're insane! Listen to me! You're going to get yourself killed!+
+If I die, at least I'll die knowing I did something to protect the girl I love!+
+If you die, someone'll have to tell your family and your girl…how do you think they'd take that?+
+I don't have time for this…get out of my head!+
Seiya heard Sean's mental sigh. Finally; +I can see that you're not gonna let this go; okay, wait up. Derek and I will be with you shortly.+
+Really?+
+Yeah…somebody's gotta keep you from getting yourself killed.+
+Thanks.+
+Thank me later; we just might get ourselves killed.+
Seiya rolled his eyes, but he waited. A few minutes later, a huge white wolf and a medium-sized gray wolf joined him. Sean and Derek had arrived. Derek gave Seiya an annoyed, 'Why did you drag me into this' look, and Sean wore an expression of long-suffering. Even though they were all wolves, they could all see what the others were feeling. Seiya, a large, black wolf, began sniffing for the enemy again, and he caught a whiff. He moved in the direction of the smell, revolting though it was, and followed it. Sean and Derek were at his heels.
The trail led them out of the woods, through back-country roads, and all the way to an old mansion on the outskirts of town. The scent was almost overwhelming; the place was crawling with vampires. Seiya almost gagged, as did his companions. They'd definitely found something, all right…but how could they take on so many? They were only three, and it smelled like there must be at least half-a-dozen vampires in the building.
Sean cursed. +I didn't know there were so many…who is this leech, to have so many minions?+
+He's probably the equivalent of a leech king or something,+ Seiya replied grimly. +We met one of his minions; apparently he has more.+
+Wonderful.+ Derek let out a whine. +We're screwed.+
+Don't say that! We just need to take a few out.+
+Here's your chance.+
Seiya barely managed to dodge as a pale, gray-eyed, blonde man came at him from the right. It was a leech. Growling, he lunged, and closed his jaw around the thing's throat. Sean called out a warning, but he was too late. Seiya was sent sprawling, and another leech, this time with dark hair and eyes, was in front of him.
"Jadeite, you moron, didn't you hear Darien tell you not to go after the dogs by yourself?" the dark-haired one snapped.
"I thought I could handle it, Nephrite. Mind your own damn business."
The two began to argue, and the three wolves seized the opportunity. They attacked, and the two vampires were quickly mere collections of limbs and other parts. The three quickly took their human forms, lit a match, and destroyed the remains. Quietly, they disappeared into the night. As they returned to the den, all of them felt a mix of fatigue, exhilaration, mild disgust, and grim triumph. That quickly faded when they entered and found Matthias waiting for them.
"You three. Outside. Now."
Minutes Later
"Gentlemen, what do you have to say for yourselves?"
"We took down two leeches on their own turf," Derek replied. "That's two less we have to worry about."
"Were you seen?"
All three boys looked at each other, thinking, and trying to come up with an answer. None of them knew. Seiya remembered his father well enough to recognize the look on his face; Matthias Kou was very displeased with all three of them, and he, as his son, was not going to catch any breaks. Sean looked at Seiya, and then at Derek. All three looked guilty. Matthias frowned when none of them responded to his inquiry.
"Boys?" he asked impatiently. "I'm waiting."
"We don't know," Derek finally answered in a small voice.
Matthias' face showed no emotion, but they could all tell that he was angry and alarmed. "I see. You mean to tell me that there is a chance that the vampires might have gotten a good enough look at the three of you that you could be recognized later?"
Trying not to gulp, Seiya forced himself to look his father in the eyes and nod.
"Do you three have any idea how great a risk you took tonight? You not only risked yourselves, but you may well have endangered the entire pack. For all we know, one of them followed you."
"We didn't smell anything," Derek piped up. "The two we took out were alone."
"Do you know for sure that you were not followed?"
No response. Matthias sighed.
"I am very disappointed in all three of you. I'd expected better judgment from all of you. I thought I'd made it clear to you that you were not to go hunting vampires on your own."
"We went as a group," Sean objected.
"You are young and inexperienced."
"Wait, Dad." Seiya spoke up. "Don't blame Sean and Derek. It was my idea. I was the one who went out hunting vampires. They came after me to stop me, but I was being pig-headed, and dragged them along. If they hadn't come, I'd be dead."
"Do you swear to me that that is the truth? All of you?"
In concert, the three replied, "Yes."
"So you decided to hunt vampires on your own?" Matthias asked of his son.
"Yeah…I couldn't just sit back and let that leech go after Serena."
"Seiya has a point…Matthias, he wants to make her his bride," Sean piped up.
"I am aware of that fact…but your actions were foolish. I understand how you feel, Seiya, but that doesn't mean you can afford to be impulsive and defy direct orders. I specifically told all of you not to do this."
"Yes, sir," the three chorused. They couldn't win.
"Do you understand why I told you not to hunt on your own?"
"We could have died," Seiya replied, "And we endanger others."
"Very well. Since you three deliberately disobeyed me, I have no choice but to penalize you. You three have two weeks of dish duty."
All three groaned. Dish duty was the most disgusting, boring chore that everyone in the pack despised. That was why the worst punishment possible was dish duty, and why no one really acted out. Now, because they'd decided to hunt vampires on their home base, they'd gotten stuck with two whole weeks of it. Seiya sighed, and his friends sighed with him.
"It starts this morning at breakfast. Good night."
Needless to say, breakfast was not a happy affair for them, and Seiya caught a ton of grief from Sean and Derek for dragging them into this.
"Hey, you guys decided to go with me," he grumbled. "It's not like I held you at knifepoint and threatened to kill you if you didn't come."
"You were stupid enough to disobey Matthias," Sean retorted. "You know the rule; if you see someone walking out, you have to go with them."
"How was I supposed to know you were awake?" Seiya snapped.
Derek put in helpfully, "Sean snores when he's asleep. He's right next to you…if you'd used your ears, you would've known he was awake."
Sean glared at Derek. "I do not snore," he hissed.
"Yes, you do."
"I don't."
"You do."
"Shut up."
"Not happening."
"Both of you, knock it off!" Seiya growled. "Are you trying to get us more dish duty?"
That threat was enough to shut both of them up, and they continued to scrape half-eaten eggs off the plates.
"Kakyuu, if you can hear me, I'm sorry I said you had it easy doing the dishes," Seiya said quietly. "I just want you to know I was dead wrong."
"Sorry, Mom," Derek murmured.
"Amen!" Sean snorted.
