A/N: Hello, hello on this wet and dreary Sunday (at least, where I live it is) to all of you, my lovelies! Well...I finally managed to get another chapter done! And yes, I named it after a Blue Oyster Cult song. Shut up.
Anways, I'd like to thank Kairi's-twin, LunarLycan87, and, of course, SpeedDemon315 for their wonderful reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own Van Helsing. As always. Because Stephen Sommers is greedy.
Disclaimer II: (Yes, this is the name of a Seether album. Again, shut up) I don't own the wonderful Thanatos Itzal Wakahisa. He belongs to SpeedDemon315 and is on loan...
Chapter Fourteen: Don't Fear the Reaper
Alana reclined in the wingback chair behind her desk, crossing one leg over the other and slouching slightly, quite bored. Her crystal ball sat on her desk, the dense white fog within dancing idly around a vision of a pale, sickly Catherine, sleeping like the dead in the Vatican infirmary.
There came a knock on the thick, oaken door to her office. When Alana didn't chase the visitor away, the doors creaked open, and Nickelia strode in, crossing the room to Alana and stopping before the desk. Alana gave a genuinely kind smile.
"What is it, my dear daughter?" she asked, sitting up, propping her elbows on the desk and weaving her fingers together.
"I simply wanted to see how things were," Nickelia said, smiling at the vampiress. "I grow weary of being down in the dungeons, with only Matthias and his little bed-warmer as company. And I don't wish to witness any foreplay of his, not today."
Alana rolled her eyes. "I may have to have a word with him about that…"
"So, how are things, Mother?"
"Quite dull and lifeless, most unfortunately," Alana sighed. She gestured to the crystal ball sitting upon her desk. "Catherine's of no use to me, not in her present state. She spends half her days unconscious or asleep, and when she's awake, she's either hacking up blood, vomiting, or having an epileptic fit. Her system's starting to shut down from all the residual dark magic in her system. She's got…perhaps two weeks left."
"So I guess this means no more massacres at the Vatican?" Nickelia asked, her face falling in disappointment.
Alana shook her head. "For now, that's what it means. I'm sorry, my dear Nikki."
"So…what do we do? How do we defeat that wretch, Van Helsing? He's out there somewhere, lying in wait…no doubt he and the rest of his ragtag little troupe are plotting our downfall as we speak…"
"We defeat them by any and all means necessary," Alana said, her hands tensing in anger. "And as soon as possible…" She gestured to her bookshelf, which now looked as though it was significantly less packed than usual. "They sent someone from their ragtag little band to come in here and raid my personal library!"
Nickelia gasped, and just as she was about to respond, a knock came to the door. Without even waiting for a response, the door swung open as Matthias strode in. His shirt was conspicuously absent, and blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, leaving no guess as to what he had been in the middle of.
"My Lady Alana," he said, striding towards her desk. "There's a man at the door and he wishes to see you…"
"A man, you say?" Alana asked, one brow lifting in curiosity. "Tell me…do you recognize him as any of those among Van Helsing's allies?"
Matthias shook his head. "No…he looks a little like the mutt, Alexsei…but it's not him."
"Very well," Alana said, standing to her feet. "Did you invite this gentleman in, Matthias?"
The guard blinked in mild surprise. "Well…no…I didn't let him in because I didn't trust him…"
Alana rolled her eyes before leaving her office, moving towards the front door, closely flanked by Nickelia and Matthias. As she moved down the front staircase, she caught a scent…not of one person, but of seven…six of whom were dead…but alive at the same time, and not vampires. Her curiosity piqued, Alana crossed the hall, opening the front door of Drakebane Manor.
A small crowd of people stood on the front stoop, with a man who looked close to Alana's age at the front of the little group. His attention was directed elsewhere at the moment, but as soon as she opened the door, his attention shifted to her.
She was, admittedly, a bit taken by surprise with the man's looks. His raven hair, thick and wavy as Alana's own, fell to his shoulders, framing a handsome, strong-jawed face with a trimmed, well-kept black moustache and goatee. A scar on his left cheekbone marred his otherwise pale, handsome face, though it added a rough, devilish sort of charm to him. A long ebony robe that appeared more like a trench coat hung down almost to his ankles, but had been left open in the front. A close fitting, dark-grey shirt showed off his muscular, athletic torso, while sable leather pants clung to his muscular legs. The entire dark ensemble was completed with a pair of ebony boots; Alana spied the hilt of a saber under his robes, just barely hidden by the fabric.
My, my…nice and easy on the eyes, aren't we? She thought to herself, opening the door a bit wider to allow the man and his companions inside.
"Terribly sorry about making you wait," she purred as the man stepped inside, flanked by his companions. "But now, I welcome you graciously into my home…"
"I take it you're the Dark Vampire Sorceress of Transylvania?" he asked in a soft sort of voice with an implacable accent. "I've heard your name circling rather profusely amongst the rabble down in the local hamlet…"
A wicked grin curled Alana's rosy lips. "I would be her, yes. Alana Isabelle Tremarie, at you service. Might I inquire as to your name, sir?"
"I've been called the Reaper of All Souls," he said, his smoky emerald eyes glinting darkly at the sound of his title. "But, Lady Alana, you and your compatriots may call me Thanatos. Thanatos Itzal Wakahisa."
Alana nodded. "Well, then, Thanatos…it's a pleasure to meet you. May I inquire as to the identities of your companions?"
"Ah, you mean my loyal servants. Certainly. This is Jacob… Edward… Clarissa… Ukon… Magna…and Blanca."
He gestured to each of them in turn as he spoke. Jacob was a man who looked to be in his later years, with strands of silver shot through his inky hair and a demonic glint in his dark eyes. Edward was younger, lingering towards the back of the group, running a hand through his spiky, dark hair, his dark eyes devoid of any emotion. Blanca, a young woman with creamy mocha skin and curly dark hair hung close to Jacob, occasionally reaching out to let her hand run down his arm affectionately, as if they were perhaps more than companions. Like Edward, Magna, an older, weathered woman with silvery hair, lingered towards the back, her eyes fixed on those whom Thanatos was speaking to. Ukon, a slight Oriental man with twin katanas strapped to his back, stayed at Thanatos's side, as if he was the dark-haired man's personal bodyguard. Clarissa, a stunning young woman with thick, burnet tresses and shimmering topaz eyes, kept casting seducing glances at Matthias, who was staring openly at her curvaceous frame.
"Now, may I inquire as to your two companions, Lady Alana?" Thanatos asked.
"There's no need to stand on ceremony and address me as such; I will respond to Alana," she said to him, a bit of a purr in her voice. "This is my daughter, Nickelia Tremarie, and my chief guard, Matthias Jonas."
Thanatos gave a brief nod. "A pleasure. And now…down to business. Alana…if I may speak to you in private?"
Alana nodded. "Of course." She then turned to Nickelia and Matthias. "Nikki, my dear, would you and Matthias be so kind as to find rooms for Thanatos and his accomplices?" She leaned close, so her words were audible to Nickelia only. "Watch him like a hawk, my darling daughter, especially around the one called Clarissa. You know I don't trust him around gorgeous women…"
The young hybrid nodded. "I shall, Mother."
Alana smiled, then turned towards the staircase, beckoning for Thanatos to follow her. "Come now, Thanatos…I believe we'll be most open to negotiation in my study. My daughter and my guard shall find suitable quarters for you and your accomplices."
He nodded, ascending the stairs behind her and, once in her office, taking a seat before her desk. She moved to sit behind her desk, eyeing his seated form when she sat. For a moment, silence ruled the room. And then…
"There's something unnatural about your followers, Thanatos," she said, leaning forward. "They all have the scent of the undead about them…and yet, none of them are vampires. How is this so?"
"I'd like to amend your statement, Alana," he responded calmly, almost politely, in fact. "Edward is a vampire, or rather, part vampire. A demon-vampire hybrid, though with a dominant vampiric side. But other than that-"
"-None of them are vampires," she restated. "Care to share?"
"It's quite simple, actually," he stated, smoothly crossing one leg over the other, the leather of his pants glistening in the candlelight of her office. "They all had their separate lives, to begin with. They all died, or were killed." A devilish little smirk crossed his face, and he produced a blackened rosary from a pocket of his robe, dangling it so Alana could see it. "I brought them back to life."
The same devilish smile crept over Alana's face. "You're a necromancer…"
He nodded. "Indeed, I am. How else do you think I earned a title such as The Reaper of All Souls?"
"True, true," Alana conceded, nodding. She knit her fingers together, her cold chestnut eyes never leaving his shrewd viridian ones. "Now, tell me…what is it you hope to gain from an alliance with me? Are you seeking Van Helsing's death as well?"
"A bit, I suppose, as he is a meddlesome fool," Thanatos responded, knitting his pale, slender fingers together as Alana had. "But, at the same time…I suppose one could say I have a desire to sever ties with many events of my past."
Alana quirked an eyebrow. "And you believe I can help you with this?"
"I have no doubt you'll give me something to do, which will serve to keep me distracted, then, my mind shall not dwell on the past."
Alana nodded, seeing the logic in his statement. "I see…so, you wish to form an alliance with me?"
"Do you wish to form an alliance at all?" Thanatos asked. "After all, you'll hardly benefit from an unwilling union of powers."
Alana's eyes flashed angrily. "For two and a half centuries, Gabriel Van Helsing, and his brat of a sister as well, has been the bane of my existence…his mere presence in this world is a constant thorn in my side that I am unable to remove. But now…you have come along, offering to help me rid myself of this obnoxious thorn…I would be a fool not to accept your offer."
A smirk crossed the necromancer's lips. "Then yes, I shall form an alliance with you, Alana."
"Excellent…" she chuckled. "Now…just to make things official…this needs documentation."
Her slender, pale fingers opened a drawer on her right, deftly removing several furled scrolls and placing them on her desk. Thanatos watched in detached observation…though his curiosity was piqued by a moldering, yellowed scroll that Alana placed with the utmost care on her desk. He reached out and tapped it, surprised when the aged scroll didn't crumble at his touch.
"Some of these appear to be quite old," he commented, seemingly indifferent, but there was an underlying note of curiosity in his voice. "This one in particularly. Why bother keeping them?"
Alana's dusky eyes flickered upwards, to see which scroll Thanatos was referring to. A knowing sort of look crossed her face. "Ah…see, those scrolls contain documentation of some of the most important events of the Drakebane Coven. That happens to be the creed of the coven, laid down by Lamia Arcanhae-the founder of this coven-in 1375…before you ask, yes, there were vampires before Dracula. Those vampires were mostly the same as modern vampires, though some-like Lamia-were born of a union between a demon and a human."
"Interesting," the self-proclaimed reaper commented. His fingers moved from the aging, yellowed creed to another furled scroll. "And this one?"
"It's a…a treaty, shall we say?" she explained, producing a blank roll of parchment. Her fingers reached for her raven feather quill. "Signed on November 22nd, 1495, between Lamia Arcanhae and a young, down-on-her-luck, nearly suicidal French white witch known as Lilith Freniere. With this, Lilith bound herself to the coven as Lamia's protégé…and the second leader, after Lamia's unexpected demise less than a year later."
The scritch-scratching of her quill filled the room. The dark-haired necromancer let his fingers move to another scroll, this one bound by a frayed burgundy ribbon. "And this one..?"
The noise of Alana's quill stopped instantly as she looked up at the scroll. "Ah, that one, yes, that one. That's one of particular importance, at least…it is to me. That's the treaty I signed with Lilith, thus binding myself to this coven as Lilith's apprentice…and, when she was ruthlessly slain by none other than Catherine Van Helsing in 1697…I took her place, fulfilling my contract." She reached out and fondly stroked the ribbon. "In addition to binding this contract with my name and my blood…I bound the scroll with the ribbon from my hair. Ironic, no?"
"Rather," Thanatos said, dry humor in his voice. "Now, will I need to bind my alliance pledge with my blood?"
"Only a drop," she reassured him, dipping her quill into the inkwell and signing her name at the bottom of the scroll. She then lifted the quill, placing the sharp tip against her finger. A second later, a drop of black blood, almost indistinguishable from the ink the contract was written in, welled on the fleshy pad of her slender finger. She pressed her finger to the parchment, next to her name, leaving a bloody imprint of her fingerprint upon the document. Satisfied with her work, she pushed the parchment to Thanatos.
"Simple as that. You name, a drop of blood, and we'll be partners in this campaign of mine to snuff out Van Helsing and his ragtag little cohorts." She sucked lightly on her finger to clean off the blood, holding out the quill to him. "Sign away, dear Thanatos."
The necromancer quirked a brow at Alana's words-no one had used the word "dear" when addressing him for as long as he could remember-but he took the quill and signed his name. Then, repeating Alana's actions, he pricked his finger with the point of the quill and contributed his own bloody fingerprint-crimson, in stark contrast to the vampiress's onyx blood-to the document.
"Signed and bound," he stated placidly, gently pushing the scroll back in Alana's direction. As he did, she reached to take it…and both their hands met, fingers brushing against each other in a manner most unexpected.
But perhaps what was even more unexpected-and surprising-was the reaction that came from that simple accident. A pleasant shiver shot down Alana's spine, causing her back to arch suddenly, her shoulders stiffening in surprise. Meanwhile, a bit of a strange sensation came to Thanatos's stomach, a feeling that had lain dormant within him for a long time…
"Apologies," he muttered, almost brusquely, trying to take his mind off the feeling squirming in his gut.
"The fault is my own," Alana insisted quickly, sounding a bit flustered. "Should look where I put my hands…"
She trailed off, muttering something under her breath, at the same time, waving a hand over the parchment, quickly drying the ink with a spell. She bound the scroll with a length of black ribbon, then placed it in her desk, replacing the other scrolls as well. Once her desk was cleared, she glanced back up at Thanatos, a bit of consternation in her dusky eyes.
"Well, now that we've got that settled…best go check up on Nickelia and Matthias," she said, quickly reverting to her cool demeanor (though it seemed more forced than natural). "See if they've found fitting quarters for you and your servants…and I must make sure that, despite the presence of your one girl Clarissa, Matthias has managed to keep his pants on…"
-muttering under breath-Someone's got a cruuuuuuuuuuuuush...
Alana: Shut up, you silly girl! I do not have a crush on him!
What? How the Hell did you hear me?
Alana: -rolls eyes- Vampire, remember? Hearing like a vampire?
Oh, yeah...wait, are you the only one here today?
Alana: None of your other precious muses were in this chapter. So yes, you're stuck with me, Aurora. Suck it up.
-muttering under breath- Bitch...
Alana: Excuse me?
Nothing! Anyways...you liking your new business partner, shall we say...
Alana: Well...he certainly is easy on the eyes...
Damn straight he is! Especially in leather pants...
Alana: Oh, God, you're turning into a drooling fangirl...
Oh, I am not!
Alana: Denial is the first stage of acceptance, Aurora.
Oh, bite me, Alana...-eyes go wide- Not literally!
Alana: -rolls eyes and resumes reading magazine-
Anyways...so, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I will try to give you another chapter soon, provided the holiday season doesn't get to busy! Thanks for reading!