Dare sighed unhappily and knelt near the two corpses, drawing an 'A' in front of him by touching his hand to his forehead, followed by touching his chest, just above the lungs, and bringing his thumb across his throat.
Prayer done, he carefully examined the two corpses, finding something strange on their necks. Both had deep bites that went to the bone, but there was no significant blood-loss, somehow. And it had been done by a human teeth.
Frowning lightly, he rubbed his fingers together, finding a black powdery residue had gathered there. It looked like something he would find at a train, and he would know. That's where he got the ingredients for his face-paint.
And besides a few splatters on the floor and the graffiti on the wall, there wasn't much in the way of blood around the house, and given the wounds inflicted on the bodies, that shouldn't have been the case.
Withdrawing from the putrid house, Dare made his way back to Evan King. "The West's are dead." He said bluntly.
The older man reeled back in shock, blinking heavily. "Oh my lord," He muttered to himself. "Those poor folks…those bastards! The Family killed them, didn't they?"
The sniper nodded. "From what I could tell, that seems to be the case. The graffiti on the wall said 'The Family', so I could be wrong."
King ignored his sarcasm, angrily scratching at an itch on his balding head. "Wait," he paused, "Did you find the body of a boy?"
Dare shook his head. "No, only the bodies of an older male and an older female."
King sat heavily in his chair. "That's right, I remember seeing Ian with Vance, the leader of the Family. I thought I was just drunk." He mutters. "Anyway, I need you to go lookin' for the Family. If they have Ian, he needs to be rescued! And I have to guard Arefu, so that just leaves you."
The younger man sighed lightly, frowning when he rubbed his fingers together. "Are there any train yards nearby?" He asked suddenly, remembering the residue he found on the bodies.
King frowned for a second, before his expression lightened and he snapped his fingers. "There's a train yard some miles east of here, I think it's Meresti Metro or somethin' like that."
Dare resisted the urge to roll his eyes. That was super helpful. He balked as he remembered just who had sent him to Arefu and why.Shit. I've got to tell Lucy her parents are dead.
Waving goodbye to the aging man, the sniper set off back towards Megaton, keeping the directions towards the Metro Station in mind while he quickly walked.
The sniper above the gate-I really need to learn his name-gave Dare a strange look as he strode back through the gates and made his way straight to Moriarty's Saloon. Stepping in, he found the bar to be empty except for Gob and Nova, though he suspected that was because they didn't have anything to really do around Megaton.
"Dare? What are you doing back here so early for, pal?" Gob asked, setting down the glass he always seemed to be cleaning.
He sighed and shrugged. "I need to see Lucy West. Do you know where she lives?" He questioned simply, keeping his face expressionless.
Gob frowned lightly. "Uh, yeah, I do. Why do you want to see her, though?"
Nova, shaking her short red hair, gave a scoff of disbelief. "Oh, come on!" She groaned, "Every time you come in here, I give you my best looks and you just ignore me! And now, you talk to West once, and now you're asking for her house? Do I have to strip myself and dance, or something?"
Dare blinked once, his jaw working without a word coming out. "What?" He finally managed. "Best looks?"
"Yeah!" Nova tilted her head down, her short, messy bangs to brush above her dark blue eyes, which were locked onto his, her lips quirking up a little at the edges. She trailed her eyes down from his to his crotch and licked her lips. "See? That's my 'come-fuck-me' look, and you ignore me every time!"
More like 'I-will-rape-you' look, Dare thought to himself. Out loud, he said, "Nova, I have never once paid for sex, and I'm not going to start now."
The red-haired prostitute gave him a dry, slightly offended look. "I said it's my 'come-fuck-me' look, not my 'come-pay-me-so-I-can-fall-asleep-halfway-through' look. I'm more than just a whore, you know."
"Until you pay me back, not really." Moriarty interjected, coming out of his back room looking greasy as usual. "So, why'd you want to see Lucy for, eh?" He asked, a greedy gleam in his eye.
"She asked me to check on her family in Arefu." Dare replied shortly, "I just got back and I need to tell her what I found."
"Boring." The older man muttered, lighting a cigarette. "Her house is about a minute's walk away from yours. It's the big two-story one, you can't miss it."
The sniper nodded shortly and left, Nova's parting comment of, "Come find me later!" echoing behind him, making his way to the third-largest house in Megaton. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
"One second!" Lucy called, muffled by the door. About a minute later, she finally pulled it open, her blonde hair loose, blinking in the sunlight. "Dare? What are you doing?"
He scratched his cheek, wondering how to start the conversation. "Can I come inside?" He asked carefully.
Blinking, she nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure." Once Dare had stepped inside and the door was closed, she wrapped her robe around her tightly and brushed her hair out of her face. "So, what's this about?"
"Uh, well, I went Arefu this morning," He started slowly, "And…"
"What?" She asked worriedly, "Did something happen?"
Dare licked his lips, "Yeah. Your-ah….your parents…aren't alive anymore." He bit out slowly.
Lucy's mouth dropped, tears gathering in her hazel eyes. "What?" She gasped in shock.
"Yeah…" He muttered with sorrow in his voice. "It seems like they've been dead for awhile…I'm really sorry, Lucy."
The blonde woman let out a choked sob, crying softly into her hands. Dare stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, only for Lucy to turn and bury her face in his chest, shaking. Taken by surprise, he responded by gently putting his arms around her and patting her back.
He knew what it was like to lose his parents. It was a truth of the Wasteland: what you love will inevitably die, maybe in a horrible fashion. It was best to get used to eventually hearing the news of your loved ones dying. It was bound to happen at some point.
After a few minutes, Lucy drew away, wiping her face on her sleeve. "Sorry, I got tears on your clothes," She mumbled, rubbing her red eyes. "You didn't say anything about my brother, though? Is he still alive?"
Dare shrugged tentatively. "I don't know for certain, but I think so. He wasn't there, and I didn't find enough blood for three people." Or two people, actually. "Whoever killed your parents might've kidnapped him as well. They call themselves 'The Family', and according to Evan King, they've been attacking Arefu for awhile."
Narrowing her eyes angrily, Lucy growled out, "Do you know where they hide?"
"I believe so," He replied quietly, "A train station some miles east of here. I'm going investigate there."
"I want to come with you." She stated determinedly. Not waiting for his reply, she quickly moved up the stairs and entered her room. He could barely hear the shuffling of clothes as she hurriedly got dressed. A minute later, she emerged once more fully dressed, wearing a black leather coat that had no sleeves, the edges of a tank-top peeking out from her collar, with reinforced pants and combat boots.
Lucy had a ten-millimeter SMG secured to her belt, and a battered assault rifle slung over her shoulder. "I'm ready." She announced, coming down to meet him.
He nodded and made to leave. She locked her house up behind them and followed him as he walked to his house. "Hang on a second. I need to grab something." Dare told her before entering his house.
Silver looked up from her plate as he came through the door, a pleasantly surprised expression on her face. "Dare! You're back already?" She asked happily, slipping out of her seat and stepping gingerly around the table.
Sighing, the sniper shook his head. "Just about to go back out, actually. I just need to grab something." He pulled his sniper rifle from his back and set it on a table, replacing it on his back with his hunting rifle. "I didn't get to say this last night, but I got this shotgun for you."
Frowning at the fact that he had to leave again, Silver arched an eyebrow in question. "For what?" She asked, leaning on his arm.
"Just in case. If someone tries to break in, or someone who's not Moira tries to come in…" He tapped the shotgun meaningfully. "It's got a full clip, and I think I've got some shells lying around if you need them. Hopefully you won't, but, you know."
Silver nodded and grasped his arm, pulling him around to face her. "Thanks. Come back safe, okay?" She went up on the tip of her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
Dare gave her a small smile and leaned down to kiss her back. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I should be back before nighttime." He replied, squeezing her gently.
Having said his goodbye, Dare exited his house and strode towards the exit, where Lucy was waiting for him a small, worried scowl on her face. "Let's go," He ordered, popping a piece of gum into his mouth.
The two of them walked quickly across the Wasteland, though it was obvious to the sniper that the blonde woman was restraining herself from taking off and running. Only the fact that Dare was leading and running was a good way to draw bad attention to yourself in the Wastes stopped her.
As they crested a short hill, a ruined train yard came into view. Stopping, Dare drew a monocular that he had fashioned from a broken pair of binoculars and put it to his eye, scanning the seemingly-empty yard. "Ah," he grunted, spotting a lone Raider near the tunnel entrances, who was waving a baseball bat around and muttering crazily.
"See someone?" Lucy asked tensely, fingering her SMG.
Dare nodded, storing his scope away and pulling his hunting rifle off of his back. "Yup. One Raider." He sighted on the human's head and flicked off the safety. One pull of the trigger, and the Raiders' head jerked back, the body collapsing to the ground. "We're clear."
Setting his rifle on his back and drawing his pistol, Dare led the way to the tunnels, checking around the old train cars for potential enemies or traps. Finding none, he cracked open the door to the service tunnel and crept inside.
Walking through the crumbling tunnels, the two of them stayed silent, knowing that their words would echo. Dare suddenly stopped, pointing at the ground. "Trip Wire." He whispered, pulling out his knife and kneeling near the trap. With a quick, careful slice, he disarmed the wire. "We must be on the right track."
"Either that, or some sadistic asshole just wanted to kill someone." Lucy muttered quietly. "You think there are more?"
Keeping his eyes pointed near the ground, the sniper nodded once. "There's never just one trap."
Slowly, the pair snuck through the tunnels, disarming the many traps they came across, which included a pair of bear traps. They also became aware that, in addition to the tripwires that led to rigged shotguns and the bear traps, whoever lived in the tunnel also left frag mines.
Lucy stepped ahead of Dare and slipped on a rock, sending her stumbling forward. She stopped herself before falling over, but something beeped near her foot. Recognizing the tone, the sniper rushed forward and tackled the woman away, just as the frag mine she stepped near went off.
The noise of the explosion rang in their ears as pieces of rubble rained down on them. Dare rolled off of Lucy and checked himself for injuries; finding none, he turned to the blond and held out a hand. "Are you alright?"
Lucy patted herself down, finding that she was sore but uninjured. "Yeah, I am. Thanks to you." She took his hand and was pulled onto her feet. "You saved my life. "She muttered in disbelief.
Dare shrugged, wiggling a finger in his ear. "Seems like it. Let's keep going."
Shaking her head at his simple reply, Lucy followed him as he took the lead going into the depths of the tunnels.
They encountered several more traps, including a baby carriage that was rigged with multiple mines. A mechanical baby doll head was placed inside and wired to battery, so that it would cry to draw attention to it.
It didn't really work on the pair. As soon as they heard a baby's cry, Dare narrowed his eyes and took cover behind a pile of rubble before shooting the carriage once. It exploded, and he traded wary looks with Lucy. "Whoever set that up either has a twisted sense of humor or is seriously messed up." He muttered as the smoke faded. Lucy nodded in agreement.
They eventually came to end of the tunnel, which was caved in, barring their passage. However, at their feet was a manhole cover, which looked to have been moved recently.
They worked together to lift the metal cover away before descending the ladder into a well-lit passageway. It looked like the other tunnel, except clean and well lit. It only took them two steps before they reached another human being.
A bearded man in combat armor stood behind a wall of sandbags with a shotgun pointed at them. "You'd better start talking real fast, or I'll end the both of you." He growled. "What the hell are you doing the territory of The Family?"
Lucy scowled at the name, clenching her fist, though Dare spoke up. "We're looking for Ian West. Do you have him?" He asked simply.
"Ian West?" The man replied confusedly. "How do you know that name?"
The sniper pointed at an angry Lucy. "She's his sister, and we're trying to see if he's okay." He explained.
The man's eyebrows went up. "Really? Huh, Ian mentioned a sister." He paused in thought, examining them. Finally, he said, "Alright, you can come in. You'll want to talk to Vance, he's the leader of The Family. Just remember that I've got my eyes on you. We all do."
Stepping around the wall, the pair entered the metro station, finding it to be just as clean and well-lit as the tunnel. Several benches were lined up like pews in a church, with the lobby overhead bearing a string of lights. In between the benches were a few tables pushed together with numerous chairs.
The men and women standing around gave the visitors wary looks, watching them as they carefully ascended the steps to find a man standing in the lobby. He had short, dark red hair and a pale, ruddy face, wearing a battered duster and looking at them with curious eyes.
"And who are you two?" He asked in a calm voice.
"My name is Dare, and this is Lucy West." Dare introduced, nodding politely.
The man nodded back, his eyes on Lucy. "I see. My name is Vance, and I'm the leader of this little family. You must be Ian's sister, correct?"
Lucy stepped forward aggressively. "Yeah, I am. Where are you keeping my brother imprisoned?" She asked shortly, looking murderous.
Vance frowned in what looked like dismay. "Imprisoned?" He voiced with confusion. "Ian isn't being held against his will, here."
"That's not what his home looked like." Dare replied dryly.
"Where's my brother?" Lucy questioned again, narrowing her eyes.
Vance held his hands up in surrender. "He's staying in the meditation chambers. Holly, dear," He turned to a woman with messy dark-blonde hair. "Can you take this young woman to see Ian, please? She's his sister, and she's worried about him."
The blonde West gave Holly a suspicious look, before shooting a concerned look at Dare. "I'll be fine." He said shortly, waving her away.
Nodding, Lucy followed after the other woman, leaving Dare alone with Vance. "So, what exactly is 'The Family'?" The sniper asked warily. "Because from what I've heard, you seem like just another gang."
The leader of The Family shook his head. "We are not a gang. As the name should imply, we are a family. Brothers and sisters in bonds...most of us." Vance explained with an irritated face.
"And how is attacking an innocent town and killing two of it's residents make your 'family' not a gang?" Dare questioned sarcastically.
The leader groaned softly, palming his face. "That...one of our brethren had been going out at night without my permission. I waited until he snuck off a few days ago, and I followed him to Arefu, to find that he had been attacking the town's Brahmin. While we were there, I heard screams and terrible noises coming from a nearby home." Vance paused, looking sorrowful.
"What?" The sniper asked with a frown.
"First, let me explain something about us, The Family." The leader of the Family started slowly. "We have all felt a craving for something, something that, should we get it, would cause us to be viewed as monsters. I discovered a book, detailing creatures that I found myself fascinated with, and a safer way for people like me."
The marks on the corpses' necks, the lack of blood… "Are you saying...that you're a clan of Vampires?" Dare questioned incredulously.
Vance gave him a very surprised and slightly pleased look. "In a fashion. The vampires I read about were immortal, inhumanly beautiful and terrible creatures. We are very much human, but I have fashioned a life for The Family and I based on them." He explained carefully. "The cravings we used to have...they were for human flesh. I had partaken of it more than a few times, and I always felt like an animal afterward. Discovering vampires, and learning how to nourish myself from the blood, and not the flesh made me into a new man. I am not much of leader, but I do my best to teach those who follow me."
Dare hummed in thought, his sharp eyes narrowed on the 'vampire'. "If you do not partake of flesh...then why did you kill the Wests? From your story, it sounded like it wasn't you."
Vance lowered his head with a sigh. "It wasn't I, nor my brethren. It was Ian West who killed his parents. He suffered from the craving much like we do, but he couldn't control it. I don't know what happened that night, but it resulted in young Ian tearing his parents' throats out with his teeth. I and my brethren managed to restrain him and bring him here. He wished to be taught to control the craving, to become more than an animal." He explained sadly. "I have taken him in, to teach how to be one of us."
The sniper frowned slightly. "This blood you feed from...where do you get it?" The threat of being shot if the answer was unsatisfactory hung behind the question like a guillotine.
"We don't kill random Wastelanders for their blood," The Lead vampire scoffed, offended. "There are those who give their blood willingly, and we also draw sustenance from the blood of Brahmin, as well."
Satisfied by the the answer, Dare stiffened as a thought occurred to him. "If Arefu were to donate blood for your family, would you protect them from the roaming threat in the Wastes?" He asked bluntly.
Startled, Vance looked away and cupped his chin, thinking hard. "I believe that would be beneficial for both of us...yes." He looked up at Dare, who he just noticed stood over him by several inches, with a hopeful visage. "I know the journey from Arefu to here is long, but if I could impose on you to deliver a proposal there, I would much appreciate it."
The sniper nodded slowly. "I expect payment, so you know."
"I do know, and I have just the thing." With that, Vance departed, presumably to his quarters.
With nothing to do for the time being, Dare retrieved a rolled up pack of paper from one of his pouches, smoothing it out to look at the red cover, titled with Chinese characters. By the translation on the inside, it was a Special Operations Manual for Chinese Stealth Forces, deployed Pre-War. Apparently, someone had gotten ahold of an original copy and managed to translate it, before copying that and redistributing it.
More than half of the manual was unreadable; but what was made for a very interesting read. It outlined ways to reduce noise while being stealthy, and the right spots where it would be best to slip a knife, and in some odd cases, a sword, into an enemy.
Dare knew most of it, but the way they described how to walk was very interesting. He would attempt it later.
Looking up from the booklet, he spied a red-eyed Lucy slowly walking toward him, her gaze wearily fixed on the ground. Rolling it up and stuffing it away, he remained silent as the blonde West leaned against the railing beside him, crossing her arms.
It was obvious that she didn't want to speak, so they remained in silence. Eventually, Vance returned with two pieces of paper, one that was the regular tan color, and the other being a light blue.
"I have my proposal, and your payment." He announced, handing both papers to Dare. The sniper tucked the proposal away and unrolled the blueprints, looking on the designs for a weapon that incorporated a fuel tank from a motorcycle, along with a handle bar and a fuel hose with a blade, to create a flaming sword. The top of the paper had the word 'Shishkebab' written at the top.
"It's the blueprints for a weapon I created," Vance explained at the Dare's odd look. "I am rather fond of it, and I believe you may have use for it."
"I see. Thank you." Dare would've preferred an actual weapon or caps to just blueprints, but he could see the value in it. It was an improvised weapon that could be very damaging in the right hands. Not his hands, though. Knives were as far as his experience with bladed weaponry went. Though he had wielded a Chinese sword against a Raider before.
"You have my thanks as well." Holly interjected, nodding gratefully to the two while shooting Lucy a sympathetic look.
"While we were coming in, we disarmed most of your traps." Dare notified the two vampires.
Vance nodded understandingly. "I see. When you next see Robert, please give him the explosives you recovered, so that he may rebuild our defenses."
"The guard?" Dare asked, to clarify.
"Yes."
With nothing else to say, the two Wastelanders left the coven of vampires, and after dropping off the explosives to the grumbling guard, made their way back to the surface.
The sun had long since passed its zenith, and was now on the way to descending. In less flowery terms, it was early evening. The silence between the two stayed, hanging heavy in the air as their boots crunched on dry rock and grass. Even when Arefu came into view, Lucy stayed quietly despondent, occasionally sniffing.
Dare handled Evan King, letting the blonde retrieve her parents corpses from their former home while he handed off the proposal. The man had thanked him and paid him a hundred caps for service.
After about an hour, Lucy emerged from her house, shaken and teary-faced, but a little more at peace than before. She had wrapped the bodies in the sheets from the bed and enlisted Dare to help her bury them under the onramp overpass that served as Arefu's ground.
It took awhile to dig the hole and cover it back up, and by the time they finished, the sun was stretching the last fingers of sunlight over the horizon, reaching across the world in a penultimate flare of light. Once the hole had been filled and marked with a pair of simple wooden crosses, Lucy spoke for the first time in several hours when she bid goodbye to Evan King as they set off back to Megaton.
It had been a long day for both of them, though more so for the blonde, understandably. They stopped on a small outcropping of rock to eat a meal of a couple cans of Pork'n'Beans.
"A mercenary was messing around with our Brahmin one day," Lucy suddenly spoke up, her hazel eyes fixed on him.. "My brother and I, we went out to stop him, but he was drunk, I think. He smacked Ian around and made him hit his head on a rock. After that, he just leapt up, snarling like an animal, and ripped the merc's throat out with his teeth. I managed to calm him down and comfort him, and we hid the body and any evidence."
Dare nodded slowly. "How do you feel about Ian joining The Family?" He asked carefully.
The blonde Wastelander shook her head. "I never should've left him alone," She murmured regretfully. "I thought it was just a one-time thing, but as you saw, it wasn't. If those weirdos can keep Ian safe and give him some peace, that's all I need to let him stay."
"I understand."
They finished off their meal and resumed their journey to their home as the sun fully sunk over the horizon, leaving the world a light grey that approaching black.
Dare waved up to the Sniper and escorted Lucy to her home. They stood at the door in silence while Lucy thought. Finally, she turned to the sniper and wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks for everything today, Dare." She muttered into his shoulder, squeezing him slightly. "It wasn't the best day, but thank you for what you've done."
"No problem." He replied quietly, patting her back.
She broke away from him and gave him watery smile, along with a small peck on the cheek. "I owe you a drink." Lucy stated firmly. "Come find me in a couple days, and I'll buy a drink at the Saloon."
Dare nodded simply. "I will. Have a good night."
The blonde Wastelander returned the sentiment and entered her house. Dare sighed to himself and made his way back home, unlocking the door with his key, coming inside to find Wadsworth bothering about on the stove cooking something. The oddest sound, though, came from a room behind the kitchen. It was the sound of splashing water.
"Ah, Master, you are home!" The Mr. Handy greeted him enthusiastically. "Dinner is getting, sir, and Miss Silver is waiting for you in the bath!"
"Bath?" Dare mostly asked himself, setting his weapons and pouches on the table.
"Indeed, sir. The young Miss and myself tackled that filthy thing with great vigour while you were gone. It took quite the effort and a veritable pint of elbow grease, but we managed to make it spotless!" The butler robot replied happily.
The sniper paused as the words sunk in, setting the top part of his armor down. Striding past the floating robot, he slowly opened the door to find the once-filthy bathtub was now clean and full of soapy, hot water...and Silver, her bright, silver-blonde hair and pale, smooth skin covered with suds.
"Dare!" She greeted him happily, looking like a little kid playing with a fascinating new toy. "This so awesome! It took a long time, but it's totally worth it!"
"Do you have room in there for me?" He asked with a sly smile.
Silver stood up in the tub, and Dare was reminded that she was all woman. Dripping in soapy bubbles, but very, very naked. Silver gave him a very sultry look, peeking out at him from under soaked blonde bangs with glittering eyes. "Oh, I have plenty of room in here…" She whispered sexily, trailing her fingers down her sternum, between her breasts, over her stomach to cup her nether lips.
Dare stepped forward and pulled her into a smoldering kiss, separating to pull his shirt over his head. Silver helped divest him of his clothing, and the bathroom was filled with sounds moans and splashing water.
Wadsworth would be annoyed to find that he had to clean the bathtub again.
…
…
…
A/N: And that's it for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
I just finished my second week of Psych classes, and it's still really interesting. Science isn't my strong point, but it's interesting.
So, why does Dare draw an 'A'? I'm not telling, nor am I about the pairing. That would just spoil what I have planned.
Something I've noticed in fanfiction that I hate, and I mean 'hate' is when authors write a story, mostly crossovers, where they just keep the same damn pairing. To name a few: Issei and Asia, fucking hate that one because I hate Issei; Rito and Haruna, not a big problem, but almost everyone does it, and christ, it's so damn staid; Kirito and Asuna, their romance sucked, as far as I'm concerned. It was like the met again and then the next episode they're living together.
That's just a few out of many, but I find it to both fucking annoying and very stupid. This is Fanfiction. We're not getting paid for this, and the only thing we get is favs, follows and reviews. It's the perfect place to experiment with different styles of writing and story-telling methods. So why not experiment with pairings?
And I can say this, because I'm an author. You did just read the chapter, right?
Anyway, it's stupid and I hate it, and I like the authors who do change things up.
Why not try it?
Stay Awesome.
~Soleneus