Vergil warily walked up the familiar worn stairs of Lauren's apartment complex. The place was quiet; it was nearly one in the morning. He was not looking forward to waking her, as her disposition was particularly annoying, but it couldn't be helped. That girl, she had her wires crossed. Wake her up for a party and she would be there, wake her up for what may be the fate of the world, and somehow the story wasn't the same. He had been away for a several weeks and all the trails he had stumbled across were coming up as long cold or dead end ploys rigged by the Queen. So far, Lauren had provided him with one of the three key artifacts, her luck might prove useful tonight as well.
He paused, his senses twitching. There was the smell of blood on the air, he dismissed it. It was faint, most likely left-overs from the landlord. Then he turned the corner and discovered the boy. He was a pale thing, with dark brown black hair and black eyes. A child of the night, he'd seen them before, but never so young. The boy was sitting in the middle of the stair way holding a pigeon in both his hands. His small mouth was working furiously, draining the blood from the small creature. He was so focused on feeding, he didn't acknowledged Vergil until he was done with the small beast a moment later. The boy held the dead bird in his hands for a moment, revering his prey as so few did, before breaking it's neck and gently placing it in a shoe box next to him. For a young one, he had honor.
"Dead things don't feel pain," Vergil interrupted his silent reverie. He'd noticed the boy's hesitation. With a start, the boy looked up, Vergil watched as the panic flare and died in his young eyes. He rubbed the rouge from his lips as if by long time habit as his eyes trailed to the sword at Vergil's hand.
"I know," The boy said quietly, "I can't help it. Some one found….a girl at my old school, found one once, after I had thrown it away. We had to move because of that, so now, I have to make it look like the death was…different." He studied Vergil more closely. "You're the man who nearly killed Cage."
"I'm the one," Vergil acknowledged. What the hell, Lauren and her annoying mouth could wait for a few moments. He took a seat next to the boy. "It bothers you that he's still alive?"
"If you meant to kill him, then you're a sloppy killer," the boy replied. "If you didn't mean to, then you're a fool." Vergil closed his eyes briefly. A child critic.
"Why should I kill a worthless man? He's not worth the energy it would take to end his life," Vergil replied. This child wasn't a full dhampire, no dhampire could drain animal blood the way the boy had. Most would have been revolted by it, the same way vampires were. A lust for human-like blood was one trait the dhampire and vampire shared.
"The lives he affects aren't worthless. He hurt Miss Star, he tried to hurt my mother, he hurt the lady who lived next door to him seven years ago. I agree, he is pathetic, but the people he ends up hurting aren't," the boy pointed out. There was the quiet anger in his voice that Vergil could recognize and respect. He regarded the boy.
"How so?" Vergil asked. The boy stared at him, a look of puzzlement on his face. Vergil expanded his thoughts, aware that even if he did so, the boy still might be confused. "Humans all die eventually, does it matter the cause?"
"You know the answer to that question," the boy replied firmly. "Or at least you should. In any case she's not home."
"Pardon?" Vergil asked him. The boy must have been twice his apparent age. Vampire ages were worse to guess than demon ages. At least with demons, you knew the age to be at least over a thousand. The boy had any uncanny way of keeping the conversation off balanced, a peculiar ability vampires seemed to have in spades.
"Miss Star, she's not home. Hasn't been for the last couple of weeks, she left the day after you did. I don't know where to though. She might have left you a note, she does that you know. Leaves notes behind, people use to come to her house every night and sleep over. Mostly they were people who had no where else to go. She did that more when she wore black all the time. I've been wondering why none of them come by as much lately," the boy stood up, shoe box in hand. "I guess it's because she doesn't wear just black anymore." Vergil looked at the boy. He was making his mysterious bloodline proud with his latest little epitaph. What would wearing black have to do with people stopping by her home frequently?
"Do you know if she went searching for a specific artifact or antique?" Vergil asked. His hand brushed the hilt of his sword before edging away a moment latter. The boy was harmless enough. Nothing would come of killing him. The boy shrugged.
"If you're looking for that kind of stuff, you should go find the Empress. She left here an hour ago. If anyone knows about things like that, it would be Empress Blood Rayne," the boy went down a few steps before stopping and turning to face the half demon. "You can find her if you need to, my mother did. I think she wants the Empress to kill my father."
Vergil said nothing, but considered the advice. If it was sound he was indebted to the child but if it wasn't sound… Either way, it was a trail he hadn't had a few moments ago. That at the very least demanded a payment in return. A ghost of a smile dusted Vergil's lips, he had just the thing the boy would be interested in.
"If you truly want to kill the land lord, do it wisely. The rest will take care of itself, so long as you place the body at the bottom of the stair well," Vergil told the boy. The spirit bound into the man's flesh would be cursing his name long after the human's bones were ash, with any luck. He stood and brushed the dirt from his jacket.
"I'll keep that in mind," the boy said. "You should go find Miss Star if she doesn't return soon. My mother is still indebted to her, and to you as well, I guess. Should you ever want a favor, my name is Will, William Jones. My mother is Elizabeth." Without another word, the boy turned and left. After a moment Vergil did the same, heading in the opposite direction to Lauren's apartment.
