The Fury of the Night
Chapter 8: I Didn't Feel A Thing
As David entered the main cavern chamber, he saw Star still sleeping in her bed behind the gauze curtains; he also felt the awakening of the others and knew they would be up soon. Crossing the room, he relit fires in a few of the barrels to warm the cool air for Star and turned on the radio to low volume. He paused, surveying the room for a moment, then crossed to the "war council" table, which was what Marko called the huge oak table they convened around on occasion. David glanced at the maps on the wall, and carefully took one down, placing it at one end of the table. He was studying it closely when he heard Star turn in her bed and felt the currents in the air shift as she sat up on the edge. He knew she would be uneasy about showing herself, but he would not call her forward. She had put herself in this position and was being driven ever-forward towards its conclusion, one way or another. Cowering behind a flimsy curtain would be her choice and he would not rescue her from it.
At that moment, Paul and Dwayne entered, already brimming with energy.
"Hey Boss! Where's our Goddess?" Paul greeted David after noticing Raven was not in the room.
"Did she get upset about the 'no pajamas' thing?" Dwayne teased, his eyes shining with merriment.
David replied to Paul first, "She's in the shower." Then he turned and gave Dwayne a disparaging look and said in a low tone, "And she was not disappointed in the least about the lack of night wear, I can assure you." Then he turned and walked to his throne with a smirk on his face.
Dwayne's mouth fell open slightly and he and Paul traded a look. Then they both laughed and shrugged their shoulders at each other, knowing full well their leader had not taken advantage of Raven…had he? Had she?
At the same moment David seated himself, Marko appeared, moving more slowly than usual and without the sharp grin that was on his face more often than not. He set himself down on the rim of the fountain, running his hands through his long curly hair.
David picked up on his behavior and spoke, giving him a serious look.
"Marko, what is it?"
The youngest of the lost boys looked up and seemed to be searching for a reply while Paul and Dwayne moved to stand over him.
"What's up, Buddy?" Dwayne asked, in concern.
What's goin' on?" Paul echoed, frowning down at him.
Marko spoke slowly. "I'm not sure exactly. I slept well. But just now when I woke up…I don't know…. It's just so weird…"
"Elaborate." David commanded, leaning forward, looking intently at Marko.
Marko paused, then began his explanation. "I feel so thirsty. And it's more than that."
"How?" David questioned, still watching him closely.
"I'm thirsty, but I feel like I want more than blood, like blood wouldn't be enough. I feel…I feel…violent." Marko looked at David in distress.
David seemed to contemplate for a moment, then asked, "But otherwise you feel like yourself?"
Marko nodded his head. Paul laid his hand on Marko's shoulder and gave him a brief squeeze, while Dwayne looked at David with concern and asked, "What is it?"
Star had come quietly out from her sleeping space and stood silently watching as they talked.
"Don't worry; it can be easily fixed. Paul, get the bottle." David answered, leaning back in his chair. As Paul moved quickly to comply, Raven entered, bringing her enchanting fragrance with her and David couldn't help but look her over as she emerged. She had knotted the bottom of his shirt and an enticing bit of pale skin showed in the area between the bottom of the shirt and the top of her lacy skirt. Her black hair was damp and glistened in the light of the fire and a small smile was present on her beautiful face.
Her smile disappeared as she caught the mixed emotions in the air. Marko's distress and the vibration coming from him, Dwayne and Paul's concern for their packmate, and fear and anxiety from Star. She looked at David, and her mind met with his. When he showed her the problem, her face relaxed at once, realizing it was nothing serious and Marko would be fine momentarily. She came forward into the cavern and with a rueful smile reached out her hand to Marko, who looked up at her quizzically.
"My apologies. I had not even given thought that this might happen. Your creator will set you right. Come." Raven gestured with her hand until Marko reached up and took it. He stood and they walked to the throne where Paul was placing a very old bottle of thick glass into David's hands.
"What is it? What's happening to me?" Marko asked. He had begun to shake slightly as Raven held onto his hand. Sensing she was making his situation worse, she let go of him and propelled him further toward where David sat.
Star had ventured a few feet closer at the sight of the heavy decorated bottle and didn't seem to be able to take her eyes from it.
David's voice was deep as he spoke, and his voice held a serious tone.
"Our lovely Night Bird overflows with power; you've seen for yourselves." he spoke in reference to her display of the previous night. "And I hold my own, as you know." The boys looked at each other then turned attention back to David. He resumed speaking as he looked down at the bottle in his hands, turning it slowly.
"When two greater beings of darkness come in close contact, it causes a shift in the environment around them that can be felt by others, even if there is not a strong associated emotion between the two. However, if there is discord between them, or…."and he paused to glance at Raven with a small grin, "some other strong emotion," and at this Raven grinned back, "it can cause extreme sensitivity which can result in instability in control of those immediately around. It can come in the form of involuntary change of physical form or can be as simple as increased thirst. You, Marko, seem to have picked up a touch of the hunger our Night Bird and I share for…annihilation."
Marko and the other boys were listening raptly, and Raven watched as she silently walked around behind them.
"You have simply absorbed a trace bit of what we are; what we carry inside us. If left to deal with it on your own, you would simply go rabid. Your cravings would overcome you and you would destroy yourself in your endless attempt to satisfy the lust for destruction you would be feeling." Raven felt great respect for David and the way he was presenting the information to his coven. Calm and completely factual.
"Some are more sensitive to it, but it can happen to any of you. Thankfully, the solution is simple." David held the bottle up in front of him. He uncorked it and held it to his nose briefly, then took a long slow drink. His eyes closed and he held his breath as he swallowed deeply. When he reopened his eyes, he focused directly on Marko and held out the bottle.
"Drink." he commanded.
Marko approached and took the bottle, tipping it back against his lips. He took a huge breath in after he swallowed, and almost immediately his body visibly relaxed.
"More." David urged. Raven watched as Marko complied and after this drink, she felt his energy change and shift smoothly back into the being she had met the night before, everything the same. Marko smiled hugely as he felt the change within himself and nodded his head in thanks to David. David gestured toward Dwayne, who took the bottle next and deeply drank from it, then turned and handed it to Paul who did the same.
Raven felt her throat begin to burn immediately as the call of David's blood contained in the gem-studded bottle hit her hard. Her fangs descended and gorgeous orange-yellow flames began to lick up her legs from her feet.
Paul handed the bottle to Star, who though she watched Raven's fearsome display and had stepped involuntarily back, accepted it eagerly. After she had drank, she looked at Raven questioningly.
Raven noticed her look and laughed, looking at David, who in turn joined in her laughter.
"No; that's not for her." David said. "While it seems my blood is as appealing to our Raven as hers is to me, either of us drinking from the other at this time would be disastrous. It might begin a frenzy neither of us could cease, and while I would like to think it would end pleasurably, sometimes there is a struggle for dominance that can not be foreseen. It usually ends fatally for one of the pair involved." He took the bottle from Star when she approached and handed it to him then backed away, still eyeing the creature covered in flame warily.
Raven let a small laugh escape her and she drew her fire back into herself as David set the cork back in the bottle and sat it to his side.
"Besides," she added to his statement, "When I partake of David's cruor, I will drink directly from the tap." And with that she slid both sets of fangs all the way down, and with venom dripping, rolled her head back as fire danced in her mouth, then suddenly brought her head back down, fang and fire gone, leaving only icy beauty in their place. She and David laughed at the same time then, and the boys joined in.
Star continued to watch her, wide-eyed as Raven made her way to the council table where she looked over the maps that hung on the walls.
David took the opportunity to announce the night's plans and commanded them to make themselves ready. "The shower is mine." he then announced, and headed in that direction.
The boys began to toss off shirts and boots as they ran for the cave's entrance and Raven caught from their minds collectively that they were going to throw themselves in the ocean to clean themselves. This made her giggle and shake her head, both at their impatience-they couldn't wait to be gone out into the night-but also their folly, for the sun's last rays still burned the air. She knew they were aware of the danger and sensed them pacing furiously just inside the shadows as Ra at last withdrew his bright streamers from the sky. She heard their shouts of joy fade away as they raced along the cliff.
Sensing Star still standing, still watching, and unable to bear her unease any longer, Raven turned to her and motioned for her to come near. Star did not move, which could have been taken as refusal, but Raven knew it was only fear that kept her bound to her spot. Raven slowly crossed the chamber, lowering herself to sit on the edge of the fountain. She held out her hand and beckoned Star towards her.
"Come." she commanded, and Star's feet began to move of their own volition. The girl looked horrified at the betrayal of her body and Raven felt the girl's fear begin to raise until she was nearly panicked.
"There is no need for that. Settle down. I'll not harm you. Not unless you make me." Raven said. "Sit." and gestured to a spot a little ways from her. Star continued to watch her with wide eyes, but managed to take a seat not too far away from the woman of fire and fang.
"The thing you fear the most is fear itself, Star." Raven spoke quietly. "You are afraid that if you make the final decision and kill, you will not like it and be forever damned as a monster, hating yourself for the rest of your existence."
At this, Star sucked in a deep breath and seemed to shrink away from Raven.
"Do not cower. You know it is the truth of the matter. Star, I speak to you with no investment in your being one way or the either. If you are able to complete the task set before you, you will become vampire, full and true. If you do not, and soon, David will kill you. It is the way of things and no matter how hard you wish it were not, I assure you, it is so. You know that being a night creature comes with it's curses but you also know of it's delights. Bound in darkness; forever unaging. Forced to drink blood; given limitless strength. For each push there is a pull. A balance achieved."
Star found her body relaxing and felt herself being drawn into twin crimson pools as she looked at Raven and listened to her voice that was like the sound of a low-running brook in a deep thick forest.
"There will be no pain for you in the moment of killing, and once blood flows over your tongue, the thing is done. You will cease to know anything else. It will consume you until all you know is what you have become. You will not remember your reluctance to commit the deed, nor will you ever hesitate to do it again. You will be a new thing. A new creation. And you will grow in it and into it."
Raven turned herself slightly, adjusting herself more comfortably on the fountain's marble edge. She lifted one small fist in the air before her and slowly opened it. A ring of tiny flames lit a small figure standing in the center of her palm. As Star watched in fascination, the figure seemed to be running, ducking, trying to hide. Dark shadow figures with no real form swooped down from above, again and again, snatching at the figure until it finally fell down upon Raven's palm. It then turned to black ash, blown away by a strong wind. Raven's hand made a fist, and then opened again with the same figure surrounded by flame. This time, when the shadows came, diving and tormenting, the form reached out it's hands to the flames and the flames rushed toward the figure, encompassing it. The figure then stood tall and raised it's arms over it's head, letting the flame flow through it. The dark shadows burst into millions of black fragments and winked out of existence, leaving the form standing peacefully still in Raven's palm.
Raven turned her head and looked deeply into Star's eyes as she closed her fist again, letting the figure disappear into nothingness.
"Do you understand?" she asked.
Star, summoning her courage, answered quietly,
"I understand. I just am so…so…"
"Stuck?" Raven asked with a light chuckle. Star, surprised, gave a wry grin.
"Yeah, I'm stuck."
"Well, Starlight, I hope you come 'unstuck' soon. Time grows short, and while you would be an asset here, I believe your creator's patience grows thin. Just remember…sometimes a thing dreaded is best done and set behind you." With that, Raven winked and gracefully rose, walking away to stand before the portrait of Camille Monet.
Star, knowing she had been dismissed and simultaneously feeling relief she had not caused overt ire in the fiery being, moved to her curtained refuge to change clothing and further review the knowledge given to her.
At that time, there was a great whoosh of air through the cave as the boys swooped through on their return from their ocean bath, grabbing up the clothing they had shed earlier and charged into the dark passages to redress and return as quickly as they had left. Raven laughed as she breathed in their energy, then turned as she felt David enter.
He was dressed gothic/punk casual, as the previous night, and she thought the look suited him well. Black t-shirt tucked into black jeans with black leather chaps over them, a silver buckle shining brightly in the firelight; well-worn black boots; a silver and black earring dangling from his left ear and a cigarette tucked behind the other.
She could smell a light manly cologne and closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, enjoying the clean fragrance and separating it apart from the smell of his essence, then letting the two fuse again.
David watched Raven as she stood still, watched her nostrils flare slightly, then watched her eyes open red and deep. She moved toward him, grinning.
"You smell absolutely sinful." she said, tilting her head back.
"Hmmmm." he murmured. "YOU smell like black roses after midnight."
Raven smiled; it was the most charming compliment and she loved the way his icy blue eyes sparkled when he'd said it.
Her tinkling fairy laugh rang through the cavern as she dropped him a small curtsy and then moved closer to him. He held out a hand to her and she took it, his strong fingers closing over hers. At the touch of their flesh, small flashes of blue violet flashed across their joined fingers. David drew her closer, looking down at their joined hands, then ever so slowly brought her hand to his mouth. Her breath caught as he drew his lips across her knuckles and then suddenly dropped his fangs. He moved her hand so that the inner side of one of her fingers rubbed against one lethal ivory and then ever so gently ran the razor tip over her skin. No blood was drawn; it was not a violent intent that drove him.
The two lost the time as the moment became serious and they stared into each other's eyes. Sharp blue ice reflected in cardinal then reflected back again. Their heads came so closely together that they inhaled the cold of each other's breath. David's other hand came around Raven's waist and drew her solidly against his chest. Her eyes had dropped to his mouth and she was mesmerized by the way he was manipulating her; her finger looked so small and fragile as it was dragged along the side and over the tip of that fatal lethality and she shivered in pleasure.
At that moment, a loud cracking sound exploded within the chamber. Neither David nor Raven blinked an eye, but Star screamed in surprise, ducking her head as if the roof might fall in and the boys went into defensive postures looking in all directions for the source of the sound. There were crashing sounds from around the edges of the room as various items fell from the rock walls and the row of surf boards tipped over, one after the other as if an invisible arm was toppling them.
"What the fuck?!" Dwayne exclaimed loudly, continuing to look around wildly.
"What is it?" Marko asked, jumping to balance atop the fountain's edge.
Star had run to Paul, him being the closest, and he had taken her into his arms, turning her with him as he continued to look for the threat.
A tremor went through the cavern then, causing their alarm to rise.
"It's a quake! Get out!" Star yelled then, and pulled free from Paul. In an instant he had grabbed her back and exclaimed loudly,
"It's NOT a quake. Look." Star and the other two boys looked to where he pointed and took in the small fissure that had appeared directly between David and Raven's feet and spread several feet toward the center of the room. Dust or smoke seemed to be rising from it, twisting around the pair's legs, though neither was aware, caught still in the spell of the darkness flowing between them.
David felt the rock shift beneath them a microsecond after the earth cracked and infinitely pulled Raven closer. She was already tight against his chest but now they were breathing as one. He felt his body strain as it fought against his mind for control; he knew he was barely holding on to it.
"What have I done?" he asked himself. He had only meant to kiss her hand, but then when he had the insane urge to draw her finger into his mouth and had actually done so, he had been lost. And the way she was looking at him, watching so intensely as her own flesh was dragged across ivory death…he had never expected such a response.
Raven felt the air around her move as the erotic sensation of flesh against fang overtook her. She barely heard the sound of the explosive crack and the feel of the rock beneath her as it split, however. She was lost in a moment of time that seemed to be reaching into eternity. The desire was almost overwhelmingly strong to push down with her finger and draw it across his lethality, letting her blood flow into his mouth.
"My god; what would that be like?" she wondered. "It would be….inconceivably marvelous." she answered herself with the only words her mind could find.
"What would he do?" she thought, and was finally able to raise her eyes from his mouth. The meeting of their eyes was their saving grace as each noted how deep under the other had fallen. They each called out to the other telepathically at the same time, and even then it took a few moments for awareness to come through.
Raven mentally shook herself as David did, and at the instant he opened his mouth slightly to return her finger, she hooked it around his fang and pulled teasingly.
"Best to put those away before they cause mischief." she breathed against his lips, leaning back.
David retracted his fangs smoothly, leaving her finger curled around air.
"I believe they already have, my Midnight Bird." he rasped lowly, giving her an evil grin. She then pulled away from him and turned to see the boys and Star staring at them, looking unsure of what had just happened.
David followed her gaze to the group looking at them, then asked almost testily, shrugging his shoulders,
"What?...What is it?"
Star was the one who spoke, her voice shaking slightly as she pointed to the rock at David's feet.
"The rock split. Things fell down and there was an explosion. It felt like an earthquake!"
Raven's head whipped around at the girl's words. She saw David looking down at his feet and her eyes followed his. There was indeed a very noticeable opening in the rock and a few tendrils of dust were still escaping it. Her eyes opened a little wider and her eyes met David's in an amused look.
She sent a thought out to him then and received one in like back. Neither of them felt like explaining what had happened or how or why. They were still feeling energy snapping back and forth between them and were not wont to lose it to lengthy explanations at this time.
David broke the silence. He kicked at the fissure with a booted foot and with an arched eyebrow said in words dripping with sarcasm,
"I didn't feel a thing. Did you feel anything, Beautiful Bird?" and swung his head towards Raven.
She arched an eyebrow in return and answered flatly while shaking her head, "No. I didn't feel anything at all." She then had to turn away before she burst into laughter at the confusion on the other's faces.
"I'm going to get my coat then we're off. Get yourselves together." David said shortly and moved off quickly toward the passage leading to his room. She caught a flash of him struggling to hold in his own humor as he left the cavern.
"But what was it?" Star was asking no one in particular. At that, Raven had to flee from the cave. She flashed through the narrow passageway, zigging and zagging easily, and burst out into the darkness, taking immediately to the sky. She flew up and up until the curvature of the earth showed itself then burst into laughter that flowed out into space. When she had calmed herself, she let herself begin to fall, her hair whipping back and pale arms and legs flashing in the moonlight. The smell of the forest near the cave caught her fancy and far below she noticed a small clump of white flowers growing. Diving down swiftly, she plucked a single bloom and floating a few feet above the ground she swiftly made a small braid in a lock of her hair and tucked the bloom in. A few moments later, her boots set down gently next to where the boys were waiting beside their motorcycles.
David watched her come gracefully to ground and smiled.
"We thought we'd lost you."
"Never. I apologize for making you wait; the call of the forest was strong and I couldn't resist it." Raven replied casually. She knew David had already viewed the reason for her hasty departure in her own mind and she smiled back at him.
"So I see." He reached up and touched the flower in her hair as she came to stand by him as he leaned casually against his bike.
"Nightshade. It suits you. I've always liked the 'deadlies'." He gave her another one of those flirtatious winks, then stood and turned, holding out something toward her.
"You left your own behind. This one is more suited for riding." Raven took the leather jacket he held out, noting it to be one of the several that were hanging neatly in his room the night before.
"Thank you, Sir." she said, slipping into the thick leather and relishing the smell of him that was imbedded in it.
"My pleasure, Lady." David replied, mounting the powerful Triumph. The engine roared to life and he held out his hand as Raven climbed nimbly on behind him.
Star got on behind Paul, and soon they were all tearing off into the night, letting loose yells of joy at the simple pleasure of the dark and the potential hidden within it.