Chapter 13: Vampire Requiem

Two nights later, I still wasn't sure how I felt about the possibilities of my clan's possessions being traded for profit among humans. As I soaked in the bath on the evening before the auction, I still struggled to process my emotions. Fran had already admitted he had worked with angel blood before, but I was too afraid to ask if he had ever ran into any other angel materials in his line of work.

I started talking to myself out loud. "What if we do find something tomorrow? I don't want another incident like the other night…"

I felt really conflicted and lost. Van had been keeping a stringent distance between us, so I had resorted to practicing by myself out in an obscure area of the garden for a few hours after dinner every night. Open on my desk were some graphical maps of London, a book about advanced medical procedures, and several sheets of paper with several of Impey's personal recipes jotted down.

I suspected that Cardia was in the same boat as me, learning all she could from the men in such a short period, and the thought passed my mind that I should work just as hard. Under all of that was a couple of music sheets I had been working on, as well as the notes on what I had found in several of Saint's history books that seemed to indicate something I should know. I gave up trying to figure out my feelings and just settled on attempting to get a good night's rest.

I pulled the plug on the large claw footed bathtub and stood up, in doing so, I caught sight of my back in the mirror. The lines on my back just seemed to be growing. The two vertical lacerations on my shoulders had healed just as completely as the rest of me since that other morning. Even remotely thinking about it still made me blush...Still, I wondered why that had happened.

Getting out of the tub, I hit a slick of water. I managed to slip and fall onto the tile with an ungraceful landing as possible. In my tumbles, I had thrown out my hand to stop my fall. In the process I had scrapped across the edge of the sink. My silver blood raced over the tiles from a jagged cut on my hand.

Interested, I licked it and waited for something to happen. Nothing did, and the blood continued to drip onto the tile. I sighed and wrapped my hand in a towel. "Guess I can't keep myself in one piece even if I tried."

I sighed realizing I would need to make a trip to visit Fran before I retired for the night. "So much for a early bedtime…" I growled as I struggled to put my clothes on one handed. I gave up halfway through messing with all my buckles and ties. Frumpled, and most of my attire just pulled losely into place, I wandered down the halls towards Fran's lab.

I held my hand just above my heart and knocked with my good one. "Uhh, excuse me Fran?"

There was the sound of beakers clanging against each other, and soon there was the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door.

Fran unlocked the door, and pulled it open to reveal a wet and rather disgruntled looking Sierra.

"Sierra, what happened?" Fran's face immediately turned to one of concern, and he noticed her holding her hand in an awkward position.

"What did you do now?" Fran felt the need to pinch the bridge of his nose as Sierra explained that she had tripped getting out of the bathtub. "What am I going to do with you?" Fran asked her with a concerned smile as he lead Sierra inside his lab.

Sierra sat down on the bench as Fran went to get his medical supplies.

I unwrapped my hand and stopped applying pressure on it once Fran sat back down.

"Let's see what you did this time." Fran pulled back the towel and winced. "This looks kind of bad." Fran started to wipe away the access blood. "Maybe it's not as bad as I thought." Fran revised his inspection after cleaning the wound. It was a nasty looking cut, but it was just on the pad, and about two inches long.

Sierra hissed as Fran disinfected the wound and then applied his healing salve onto her hand. "Hey, Fran?"

Fran was a little involved in his work. "Hmmm?"

Sierra watched as he applied padding and then started to wrap the wound. "I was wondering if you had ever worked with other angel materials?"

Fran was thrown off guard by the serious question. "What? No!" Fran's quick response was a bit panicked.

Sierra a bit distressed herself held up her good hand to stop him. "I just wanted to know if it was possible!"

Fran adjusted his glasses looking a bit relieved. "I have read some strange things on the properties of angels vs vampire materials, but after the incident with Zicterium, I tried to move more toward plant based alchemy and pharmaceuticals."

I leaned forward intently. "Is there a way I can read these materials?"

Fran's mouth had gone dry at Sierra's innocent actions. Sierra's warm, sweet, scent overrode the chemical smells of his lab in this confined space. Her partially open shirt, completely untied, allowed him to make out the tops of her ample breasts. To add to his distress the dampness of her hair, soaked through her white shirt. The whole situation was giving him more problems then Fran cared to admit.

"Fran?" I asked as Fran's blush just got larger. "Is something wrong?"

Fran averted his eyes and managed a response. "No…"

I looked down and seen what was causing Fran's adverse reaction to me.

"Oh, I am sorry!" I clutched my shirt closed and tried to tie it.

Fran got up suddenly with an air of restless energy. "Wait, I think I have one of the articles. Hold on a second." Fran's face was still bright red as he went to one of his numerous bookshelves and began scanning the stacks.

I had my own problems, trying to get the shirt tied and looking semi presentable.

Fran came back a few minutes after he observed that Sierra had stopped fussing, having got her clothes in some semblance of order. Fran handed over a leaf of papers. "This is all I have right now on the subject. I am sorry I don't have the original works."

I took the papers from Fran with a smile. "Thanks Fran!" I leaped up and hugged him before racing off.

Fran was left feeling more than a little distressed at what had just occurred, as the smell of Sierra's clean scent lingered in his lab. Thoughts raced through his head as he shut and locked the door to his lab. Fran leaned against the back of the door brushing one hand through his hair as he let out a huge sigh of relief.

I made it back to my room, and looked at the time with a sudden yelp. I dropped the papers onto my bedside table and struggled out of my street clothes and into my nightgown before crawling into bed.

The day of the auction I woke up and dressed practically.

I pulled on the black jacket Saint had given me, with white corset and boots to contrast it. I went to go buckle on my rapier, and made a quick assessment that I would need to adjust the belt to ride on my other hip. After a slight struggle, I managed to get the belt buckled into place. I got to the door before I remembered I also needed to follow Fran's instructions. I sat down at the table for another minute to fetch Fran's healing salve and proceed to clean and freshly bandage my hand. The cut didn't look that much better than it had last night, but the bleeding had stopped and it was not inherently bothering me, so I did not care. After putting the lid on the salve, I left to go down to breakfast.

"So after lunch we are going to head down to the site to check in." Lupin's voice made it past my morning daze.

"Huh? What?"

My response went unnoticed as Cardia's voiced a concern. "But Lupin weren't we kicked out of the gambling house?"

Saint chuckled softly as Lupin tried to explain to Sierra what had gone on before she had joined the household. "We might have been thrown out of the boardwalk due to a certain someone shooting up the place on us." Lupin directed his gaze to Van Helsing who was pointedly ignoring the barbed comments.

"But Lupin, didn't your gambling also get us in trouble before Van Helsing showed up?" Cardia's innocent question had Impey burst out laughing.

Lupin was at a loss. "Umm...ahhh..That might have happened as well."

Van's voice quieted the table. "If I show up, there shouldn't be any problems regardless."

Fran assessed Van's statement. "Well, it is a bodyguard position, having a famous war hero such as yourself show up, would just give them a better advantage."

Van folded his arms and responded. "I'll leave early and have a word with them."

Impey caught sight of Sierra's disappointment. "Have you never been to the boardwalk?" His overly cheerful voice caught me off guard.

"Um, not that I can remember." I admitted openly as Impey pulled me up next to him.

"Then it's a good thing you are going with us!"

My amazed face must have been funny because a couple of the guys stifled a laugh."If you say so, Impey."

A little after noon, the whole group was waiting at the edge of the river.

I turned to Saint. "There are some really weird people here."

My eyes darted left and right in high anxiety. The composition of the crowd was bewildering to me.

"Scantily clad females, proper ladies, men in suits, men with no shirts. Entertainers eating swords and belching fire." I listed off what I saw to him, trying to process what was happening around me. The noises and sudden bangs around me made my head spin.

Impey caught sight of my malfunctioning, overloaded system, and started laughing. "Haha, look at Sierra! She's broken."

A few minutes later I gave up trying to process all the information I was overloaded with and just acted. I approached a shady man next to us that had been hanging around next to us for some time and nonchalantly relieved him of his purse.

"Oi! What do you think you are doing!" The shady man yelled at me in anger.

"Isn't that normal here? I just watched you slash those two gentleman's purses, and remove that ladie's 20 karat gold necklace." I asked misunderstanding why he was angrily shouting at me. Saint managed to spot me a few seconds after this exchange started to happen.

The shady guy pulled a beaten knife out from under his coat. My eyes narrowed in on the sunlight reflecting off the battered piece of metal in his hand.

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you?" I asked him as I dodged his first swipe.

"Bitch! Give it back, along with anything else you have on you of value! Before I cut you wide open!"

The exchange was definitely attracting attention now. Saint came in from behind the man and grabbed his hand in one definitive action. "My apologies good sir, but she is with me."

I sensed Lupin and Impey came up behind me. I felt a slight tug on my hand as Lupin relieved me of my snatched purse.

The guy realized he was outnumbered and put his knife away, growling. "You better watch your back."

Saint let him go and the guy fled into the crowd. "Well that was interesting." He commented as Impey gushed over me. "I took my eyes off you for one minute and this happens?" Saint's voice had a tone of disapproval.

I bowed my head in submission. "My apologies, I didn't mean to cause trouble."

Van's hard, annoyed, voice sounded from behind us causing my hair to stand up on end. I shot forward and hid behind Saint, my heart racing. Lupin raised his eyebrows but didn't comment.

"We are free to go in." Van's voice cut the crowd as Fran and Cardia came back with several sticks of a cloud like substance in pink and blue colors.

"Are you alright?" Cardia asked me as I tried to regain my composure.

"Ga!" I flocked behind Impey.

"I think she might be in the middle of a sensory overload." Saint observed as Cardia peeked behind Impey's back. Impey thought the whole thing was hilarious and wouldn't stop laughing at me.

"Here." Cardia offered me a stick of pink cloud like substance. "Try this, its really good."

I stood with my back against Impey and accepted Cardia's offering.

"How do I eat this?" I asked as the group started to move in. Saint forced me into a position towards the middle of the group. Cardia took a small bite out of hers from the top and her face dissolved into a bliss.

"Huh…" I looked down at mine and took a small bite off the top. The substance dissolved in my mouth almost instantly.

Impey stuck his head down next to my treat and took a large bite off the top. "Tastes pretty good doesn't it?"

I scowled up at the tall redhead. "Eat your own!" I moved mine over to my other hand and noticed Van was standing next to me. Through my lashes I examined his expression as I took another bite of my treat. It was his typical expression, slightly annoyed, slightly stoic.

Cardia was sharing with Lupin up front, and Impey had commandeered the extra candy from Fran, having already finished his first one. Saint was slowly eating his as he walked next to Fran. I offered mine to Van. "Would you like to try some? I think it's really good!" Van's expression didn't change as he refused. A tad bit hurt I took another bite from mine.

A gloved hand from behind reached between us and pulled a portion of my treat off the top. I looked over my shoulder to see Saint munching on the pink candy. Saint licked the side of his lip seductively. "Would you like to try some of mine?" Saint held out the blue one towards me and my eyes shined.

"Yes please!" I just took a bite out of Saint's blue one. "Oh, its raspberry flavored!"

Saint chuckled at my reaction. "Do you enjoy it?" I nodded happily.

Fran spoke up. "It's called Fairy Floss, its a new treat here at the boardwalk."

I took another bite of mine. "It's got such a unique texture!"

Saint offered me the rest of his blue one in my bliss. "Would it suit you to consume the rest of mine?"

My eyes grew huge. "Umm, I don't want to take your fairy floss away…" I shyly offered mine in exchange for his.

Saint accepted my offer with a impish smile and passed me his blue one. I finished my snack as we got to the main building towards the back of the boardwalk.

The building was huge, built with an nondescript tan brick. I looked up at the doors as two bouncers approached us. Van stepped out front to have a word with them.

Saint looked over at me gasping up at the building in wonder. "My lady?"

I turned towards him. "What?"

"Hold still." I noticed I couldn't see anyone else as an array of armed men paraded in front of us.

Saint's face was really close to mine. "Saint?!"

He quickly rubbed his thumb over my lip and onto my cheek, causing me to freeze completely in place.

"There!" His smile had a very mischievous quality to it. "You had a bit of candy stuck to your lip and I could not resist." His calm voice made my heart do back flips and I felt the heat rising to my face.

"Hey!" Impey's tall frame was waving to us. "We are heading inside!"

Saint waved his understanding. "Oh dear." He looked at me. "Sierra?"

His voice sounded kind of distant as I wavered in place. My chest felt like it was burning. I felt a strong presence near me as Saint wrapped his arm around me to hold me steady. "It seems my teasing as quite upset you."

I started to focus again as his words processed through my head. Saint's piercing light teal eyes forced me to see only them.

"Saint?" I blinked a few times is surprise.

Saint watched as Sierra's eyes started to focus their silver color residing back to their normal blue. "I think we had best go inside. Can you walk?"

All I could see was Saint's concerned face. Shook my head as if to clear the cobwebs.

"Saint?" I clutched my head.

"Give it a minute." Saint's concerned voice reached the small space between us as he held me close.

My world started to clear as I took deeper breaths. I started laughing.

Saint looked at me in surprise. "What is so funny?" He seemed to want to know.

I took a deep breath. "I seriously thought you were going to kiss me!" I laughed unable to help myself, and wipped the tears from my eyes. "I forgot how to breathe."

Saint's expression turned into a very interested one. "So what would have happened if I had?"

I hurriedly brought my hands up waving them around in a panic."I don't know!"

Saint's smile curled into the most mischievous smirk I had ever seen. "Perhaps another time." He offered his arm and we made our way into the building. While we walked I considered the complications I had been involved in recently as if in a daze.

Cardia looked back to see Saint leading a dazed Sierra into the building. "Lupin, what's wrong with Sierra?"

Lupin's keen eyes evaluated the pair walking through the doors. "That is a good question."

Cardia looked around the auction. Everyone was giving them a wide berth, it seemed that Van Helsing's reputation had proceeded him.

I stepped into the cooler building and examined the surrounding company. Trigger happy gunslingers, hard boiled types, and cut throats seemed milling around the place in large numbers. Van was easy to make out, as he stood in a circle all to himself near the front of the stage. The others stood off a little to the side, and seemed to be talking to different people. I assumed they were working on gathering information.

A larger man shifted in front of me blocking my way towards the stage. "Excuse us?" I tried to push past him, and he finally looked down at me with a strange leer.

"Ladies shouldn't be here unattended." I scowled up at him then looked behind me for Saint. Saint stood back towards the entrance reviewing and speaking with the nearby auction attendants, leaving me virtually alone.

A faint chill broke out on my spine as I realized I had never even suspected Saint had left my side as the guys in front of me started crowding around, pinching me off on three sides.

"If you want a good time, well, we aren't going to complain." The big one in front of me cracked his knuckles as if he meant business. I realized I was surround at this point. I kept my cool, my hand reaching for my weapon and slowly moved into a defensive stance.

"She's such a hottie! I bet she would fetch a super high price." Another one from my side me reached out to touch me.

I took a deep breath deciding on my reaction. "Back off!" My voice was low and menacing.

The group of guys around me laughed at my bark. "Oh, the little lady thinks she can fight?" "Does the kitten need some milk!" "I'll give her some milk!"

The one in front of me made his move, reaching out his hand out toward me. I slid between his guard with ease and slammed my elbow into his stomach. I distinctly heard bones breaking. Not stopping now that the action had started, I leap up and slammed my boot across his face, sending him sailing to the ground. I didn't stop to see if he got back up.

His friends, surprised at my resistance, attacked together. I dodged the first one and followed him, downing him with the move Van had used to subdue me in the alley. I targeted his pressure point at the base of his neck and he dropped like a rock. I used my momentum to hop over him and landed a flying kick into the remaining ones middle. Landed gracefully on my feet, I straightened up as all three fell to the ground either unconscious or in pain, dusting my hands off.

"What do you think your doing?" I looked over as a small flock of black and white dressed attendants hurrying towards me.

I put my arms up in protest. "They attacked me first!" A couple of guys that had heard and witness the exchange nodded in agreement. "The lass was just trying to get pass, more towards the stage. That one over there and his pals, seemed to think she would be easy pickings."

I folded arms together and sniffed highly offended. "That's what they get for underestimating me."

A couple of heavy footsteps sounded out on the floorboards behind me. I looked over towards the source of the steps to see Van standing there, looking slightly smug. "This is my apprentice, I trust we do not have any problems here gentlemen?"

The attendants immediately recognized him and bowed out of sight within seconds. A few of them manged to grab the men who were laying on the floor and haul them to their feet with little patience.

"We have some questions for you!" The attendance barked as they escorted the brutes out of the building.

"That was some pretty lethal work back there." Van was still waiting for me.

I turned around to address him. "Gee, I wonder where I learned that?"

Van actually managed a sly smile at my sarcasm.

I approached him warily. "So what was that comment about being your apprentice?"

Whatever smile had been there was quickly replaced by a stoic expression. "It was an excuse, don't bother yourself with it."

I nodded in agreement. "Ya, I agree. We would actually need to train together for me to be considered an apprentice."

Van stopped walking as he listened to my barbed comment, and he looked down at me with a scowl.

I scowled back up at him, giving as good as I got.

"Sierra!" Fran came up in a panic. "What was that about?"

I continued to scowl at Van Helsing as I answered Fran. "They seemed to think I would make a decent prostitute."

Both guys faces turned a little paler as I ground out the words in distaste.

"Well..aha...Least you took care of them." Fran was trying to pacify me. I sighed and looked away from Van's unrelentingly gaze, flustered.

Saint came back over a little while after we secured the corner nearest to the stage. "Well now, this is exciting."

I was sitting on the ground next to Cardia chatting as he approached. Saint crouched down next to me. "There has just been a notice from the thief saying he will strike at 10 pm."

We all nodded, we had heard several hushed whispers of that rumor already.

"There is one more interesting bit of information, Sierra, I think you will be deeply interested in." Saint paused for a moment assessing my response. "In addition to the crest of the dragon, there will also be the crest of the house of Azrael."

My eyes flashed at the mention of my house name, but I made no comment.

Cardia spoke up. "What do you mean Saint Germain?"

"Ah.." Saint left off on his comment as I reached out and grabbed his jacket.

"Drop it." I left the comment off with a frigid voice that broke no argument. "I am going for a walk."

Impey watched as Sierra retreated. "Is it wise to let her go like that?"

Saint looked troubled. "Perhaps I should not have said anything?"

Lupin was already back to networking and seeing what he could find out about the house of Azrael.

"I'll go." Van stood up and didn't wait for approval before turning to follow Sierra.

"Since when does he...?" Impey was cut off by Fran.

"I think it's a good idea, no one will bother her with Van watching." Fran observed as Van cut through the crowd.

I directly headed towards the bar portion of the auction hoping to score a drink and maybe get some information. As I approached the bar I felt someone come up behind me. I tensed as Van's deep voice reached my ears.

"What are you doing?"

I stopped at the bar, ignoring him and attempted to get the bar tender's attention.

Van pulled up next to me with a visible frown. "What exactly were you planning on accomplishing here?" His gruff voice, did not sound impressed by my sudden decision making skills.

I sighed and looked up at him. "Care to buy me a drink?"

Van's eyes took on a look of muted surprise as he examined Sierra more closely. Her eyes looked dead to him. The expression on her face looked hauntingly familiar. "I don't think that is a good idea." His voice was measured as he responded to her request.

"That's fine." I tapped the guy's shoulder next to me and gave him a forced smile. "Hey handsome, care to buy a lady a drink?"

The guy turned around to see who was addressing him. I smiled at him doing my best to convince him to oblige with my request. Oblivious to me, Van was standing behind me, looking like he might murder someone.

"Ah well, I would love to sweetheart but that man behind you seems quite defensive of your pretty face, perhaps you should ask him?" The guy turned around to get back to his prior conversation. I turned around to address the barkeep.

"What'll you have?"

I addressed the tender in a voice completely devoid of emotion. "Whisky."

The bar keep looked at me and then at Van. "Are you buying?"

Van's gaze could have murdered the entire room as he grudgingly set the coins on the counter. "Make it two." The irate hunter hissed.

The barkeep was fairly good at minding his own business. He poured the glasses and set them in front of the couple without so much as another word.

I took the glass in hand and rolled it. I watched the amber liquid twirl around in its container before taking a sip. "Do you normally drink on the job?" I asked the barbed question to Van.

He scowled as he took a drink and ignored me. I continued on, unperturbed by his lack of a response. "I have been trying for most of the week to figure out how I feel about my family heirlooms being sold for profit here."

I took a drink as Van stood next to me silently. The hunter had a carefully guarded look on his face. I looked up at him feeling nothing but an blank emptiness. "What do you think?"

I took another sip from the glass not expecting him to answer me. "...Here is the conclusion I came to. I don't want everyone wasting money on me."

Van set down an empty glass in front of him. "Then what is the purpose of this?"

I shot him a look over my glass and chugged the remainder in my glass. "...I just wanted to stop feeling for a little while."

Van set down another set of coins. "Does this make it better?" His voice was kind of bitter as the barkeep refilled our glasses.

I took the second drink and shotgunned it. "Unless you have a better way of suppressing emotions, this will just need to do for now."

The bartender watched me kill the second glass and panicked. Urgently, he tugged on Van's sleeve to get his attention. "That's our highest proof, and your lady there just drank two glasses!"

Van shrugged him off and offered me his mostly untouched glass."I think she could use it."

I looked at the amber liquid in the glass he was offering me and took it with shaking arms. "Thank you."

Van's face was extremely bitter as he watched Sierra down the third glass in less then 15 minutes. Sierra set the glass on the counter and leaned up against Van who froze at the close contact.

"Funny. I thought you would push me away." Sierra's voice sounded small as she played with the empty glass. They stood there for a few minutes before Sierra spoke up.

"Should we go for that walk now?" Sierra asked as Van checked his watch, 15 minutes to 9.

"A short one." His voice was guarded as she drew away from him. It left a cold spot on his arm where she had been moments before.

Sierra lead him up to the third story and out onto the balcony.

"How did you know about this place?" Van asked as Sierra stood on the edge of the balcony.

"I watched several people coming and going from this area." Her voice was as dead as her eyes were. Somehow, it bothered Van even more than when he had seen her in tears. He waited near her as she turned to face the river, her back to him, so Van couldn't see her expression. The wind swept off the water, tugging playfully at her outfit, and made her hair trail out behind her in long silver strands.

"I remember more now." My voice sounded dead to even me. "I remember when they broke my wings to keep me from escaping." I raked my dead stare across the water as I continued in a lifeless manor. "I remember my acceptance into the Royal Guard. It's the only reason they keep me alive you know, because I was useful."

I leaned my head behind me to glance at Van's expression. "I remember Finis laughing as he ordered my family killed right before my eyes."

Van couldn't think of anything to say as Sierra's confession continued. It was another path of misery and betrayal at the hands of his most hated enemy. Van gritted his hands in rage as Sierra's story continued.

I turned around to lean on the balcony, facing Van fully now, as I continued to express bits of my memories. "The queen ordered the attack on my clan because of what she learned our blood could do..."

As I dropped incoherent parts of my past I leaned over the balcony and looked down. "It seems like the auction is going to be starting soon." I leaned over a little to far and felt myself start to fall backward.

Van watched abesently as Sierra leaned out, absorbed in his own thoughts, until she just let go of the railing.

"Sierra!" Van caught me by grabbing my hand as I let my entire body fall.

I looked up at him with dead eyes. "Just let me go. I'll be alright." Van scowled his normally annoyed look and pulled me up with ease.

"Are you trying to die?!" His outburst, along with my fall, had attracted the attention of the people around us.

I leaned into him, my breath reeking of whisky and bad decisions as whispered. "Is that any different then you?"

I slandered off leaving Van rooted, momentarily, to the spot.

Nine thirty rolled around before I got back to the group with Van trailing a little bit behind me looking severely annoyed.

"Sierra!" Impey rushed over. "I was so worried about you!"

He picked me up and twirled me around. Impey's expression changed to that of horror, as he watched my face as it took on a unhealthy looking green color. Impey immediately set me down and I reeled, dizzy, and completely unsteady on my feet.

"You smell like...VAN!" Impey's voice was full of concern, and harsh disapproval, but I couldn't bring myself to care. "She reeks of alcohol!"

This gathered the attention of the rest of the crew and they crowded around.

"Did you take her out drinking?!" Impey's voice was attracting the attention of the people around us.

"Impey, shut up." My dead voice cut through his protests. I held up three coins I had snatched out of the purse earlier. "I am perfectly capable of getting my own drinks. Thanks."

Van scowled at the coins in my hand and in resentment for my actions, went off on his own. Impey's dejected voice fussed over me while the rest of them looked at me with concern.

"Sierra?" Fran had succeeded in separating me from the rest of the group. "What's wrong?"

Fran's overly concerned face, made me clam up all together. The last thing I wanted to tell him were the very things I had just confessed to Van. I was terrified on what kind of reaction Fran would have if he did find out. Fran's hand found my face and my arms.

"You're so cold!" He struggled out of his jacket and tried to drape it around my shoulders.

I pushed it back to him. "We are starting soon, keep it."

Fran bit his lip in worry as Sierra pushed him away.

In truth, the auction for a cursed Aztec crown, had just finished and they were wheeling out a golden sword shaped necklace set with rubies. A golden dragon entwined itself around the blade. The bidding started and all the mercenaries held their breath to see if the thief would appear.

"That pendent strangely entices me as an antique collector." Saint's sullen voice rose from behind me.

Impey gasp in amazement. "I have need seen you controlled by greed before Saint-G!"

From the second story I heard the twinkling sound of glass shattering. I looked up just in time to see a kid drop down from the second story balcony. The kid took out two of the guards as he came over the railing. Not human, my brain registered the kids movements as more guards were defeated without much effort. I realized, latently, I should have been moving, but as bullets started to fly I decided to wait and assess the situation.

A small blond haired and golden eyed thief raised his voice as he jumped down from the second story.

"Hear me humans!" He approached the stage, as the mercenaries around him attacked him. "I have come to take back with is rightfully mine!" The vampire took out a score of guards before he was able to get to his goal. Walking confidently up to his prize, the young vampire's eyes radiated heat and uncontrolled rage. "I am King of the Night, Leader of the Nosferatu, and heir to the Delacroix name! I am Delacroix II"

A piece of the puzzle clinked into place for me he raged. That's why he is after vampire treasures.

In that moment I absolved to help him. I made my way away from the group, towards the primary fuse boxes. It only took a single twist to break the shut off valve, and the whole place went dark. I moved towards the thief's nearest escape route.

The thief halted at the sudden change of plans, but took advantage of the confusion. He stopped staring Van Helsing down and bolted out the back door.

Lupin's voice whispered somewhere near me, spurning the group to action."Hold on, calm down. He is to quick for us, we will never be able to catch him that way!"

I didn't say anything as Lupin continued. "That is very unlike Van Helsing, he isn't normally that heated. I wonder what has gotten into him..."

In the mess of confusion, its hard to make out what Lupin is saying, but I felt compelled to stay and try to listen.

"Don't worry. Even though he's got an attitude, we won't desert him. He's one of us. Lets see if we can out maneuver them."

I let the group charge off before me, while I survived the crowd in the darkness. Satisfied that no one would interfere with my plans, I exited the building and promptly took off after the others.

I caught up with them in a nearby park.

Cardia's soft voice rose out of the night. "We are not here to harm you." I heard her trying to negotiate with Delacroix.

"If you are not here to capture me, or harm me what do you plan to do with me?" The kid's voice rang out, his voice still highly volatile and untrusting. It seemed like Delacroix was still on high alert and not trusting us at all.

I approached from behind my group and just stood in the back as Lupin's voice answered him. "We want you to give yourself up, we know someone who is trustworthy in the yard who would listen to you."

The boy's face froze. "Huh?"

Cardia's voice tried to soothe him further. "We understand you are just taking what is rightfully yours."

Rightfully his. It didn't matter who, it was still just a trinket. It wasn't going to bring back the dead, and his current actions were only going to succeed in getting him hurt or killed. My ears picked up furious footsteps approaching from the other side. I turned to observe as, a flustered Van Helsing, appeared almost out of nowhere guns locked on the tiny vampire.

The boy's almost calm demeanor evaporated at the sight of the formidable vampire slayer. "You!" He spat the word as if it was lethal.

Van didn't flinch as he lowered the guns a hair. "Delacroix, or should I call you Dracula now?"

The boy was shaking, whether in fear or in hate I couldn't tell."How dare you! Have...you no shame at all?!"

The sounds of the search Van was leading got closer. Lights could be seen peeking through the trees and the yelling was getting louder by the second. The anger the young vampire was consuming him and he heated yelled his fury at Van. "I will be waiting in the place where you killed my father!" With that the vampire leaped past another set of bushes and was gone.

The group stood around trying to figure out what to do.

I felt my attention span waning as my intoxicated body was deprived of entertainment. I looked around at the lights and shouting coming from all around us and felt distinctly uneasily.

"Sierra?" Saint's voice drifted towards me as my stance instinctively coiled into a more defensible position. "We are leaving."

I looked at his hand, as the rest of the group waited for me a few feet off.

"Coming." I ignored Saint's hand and shouldered forward by myself.

Behind me Saint gave a troubled look to the rest of the group.

We got back to the mansion a little later that night. The mostly waxed moon left just a sliver of pale light to see by, and the clouds rolled high in the sky.

My thoughts were as turbulent as the sky above me.

Lupin was the one who made the suggestion. "Van Helsing, would you mind if we accompany you tomorrow?"

Van's response was indifferent. "I don't care."

"Right then we should all try to be up before the morning light!" Everyone nodded and we all split our different ways.

I should have been tired, I should have wanted to go to sleep. Instead, I was in the middle of thinking I was going to die.

"I am never drinking again!" I growled holding my head and brushing my teeth. "Need water...no wait, tea."

The idea of drinking something, anything, to get the burning taste out of my throat was appealing. I wandered down to the kitchens to make a nightcap. My head reeled with each and every step I took painful. The feeling like I was going to puke more then once overtook me and I had to fight the nausea down as I waited for the tea kettle to warm.

I finished heating the water and seeped the lavender in the hot liquid. I looked at the off colored water as I waited for it to cool with a heavy, pained, scowl. My ears picked up on the sound of a door behind closed, and I had to sate my curiosity by peaking out the window. It was Van, he was standing in the middle of the garden with a heavy expression on his face.

Unsure of the damage I had caused with my earlier comments, but feeling a distinct need to not be alone. I exited the kitchen gripping with my steaming mug of tea like a lifeline.

I approached the hunter cautiously. Van still had not moved...and he didn't appear to be doing anything in particular.

"Van Helsing?" My voice came out as a slight disturbance in the calm night.

Van turned around to see who was calling him. "Oh, its you."

His comment seemed less angry and more dismissive, they weren't anything I could work with.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked as I crawled up on the stone ledge closest to him.

"Thinking."

Typical short answer, I puffed my cheeks up in irritation but let it go. It had taken a lot for me to admit the things I had today, Van was probably thinking about his past as well. I wanted to ask, but I didn't have the heart to interrupt. Quietly, I sipped my tea. In truth, Van was probably the one I felt closest to out of the group, and I was the most at ease with the irritable soldier. It bothered me something fierce that he never seemed to be on the better ends of my attention.

I sighed into my tea, upset by how things were turning out.

"What's wrong?" Van's low voice inquired.

"Just thinking."

Van shifted, his hard combat boots making a distinctive sound on the pavers beneath him.

"If you want to talk..." His voice sounded a bit conflicted at the statement.

I shook my head slowly, in relief I could feel my hangover was easing. "No. I think I have done enough sharing for one day."

I reached behind me and plucked a blossom from the overgrown garden behind me.

"Though," I examined the flower in front of me and willed it to open. The blossom obliged, breaking out into a beautifully, small, white periwinkle that seemed to sparkle in the sparse moonlight. "I am worried about the little vampire."

My eyes settled on him. "And you, to a point."

Van shifted uncomfortably. "There is no reason to worry about me."

I chuckled softly to myself and muttered under my breath. "If you say so."

I got up, my cup now devoid of tea. "I am going to go to bed now, Mr. Van Helsing, try not to stay up all night."

As I passed by him, I stopped and offered him the freshly bloomed periwinkle.

Van stared at the flower being presented to him before accepting it.

My face broke out into a small, sad, smile and I left him alone out in the garden with his thoughts.