Tainted Vengeance

By: Sara Angeldust

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Chapter 5:

"Falling Down Again"

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"You're Not Alone"

I've walked so long I can't remember- where was my home,
Their distant faces fade away, I'm always on my own,
I can show a smile, it's not hard to do,
I can have the strength, to go on,
But sometimes I wanna let go of everything,
When thoughtfulness is not their game, I teach by giving love,
High mountains seems higher endlessly, when they're pebbles at your feet,
And if you should still fall into despair, there is one thing let to believe,
I lie in your heart always,
Nothing is braver then honesty,
My love is your faith in me,
I'll be there when you need,
You don't have to hide from me,
What you are feeling now,
I fill your soul,
We will seek together destiny,
Troubles have and end,
We will carry on hand in hand,
You're not alone,
People searching desperately outside themselves,
Caught up in thinking of what never helped,
And I'd forgotten too that love exists inside me as in,
Those I wanted from,
I feel you now,
I'll be there when you need,
We will live together,
Nothing is in our way,
with trust in our soul,
We will seek together destiny,
troubles have an end,
We will carry on hand in hand,
We won't forget we have each other,
Never,
Love is in the hearts of all man,
You're not alone.

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As Raven awoke to the light of day she felt something sticky on her neck. As she reached up to touch it she knew what is was. Blood. So Nikolas hadn't been as clean as she had hoped. Keeping her hand over the now healing wound Raven rose from the bed. She stared at the floor as she sat at the edge of the bed thinking of nothing at all. It scared her that her mind was so blank after such an ordeal. As if suddenly remembering what had happened the night before Raven hurried to the mirror to look at her arms.

As Nikolas had said, the wounds on her arms hadn't fully healed and she could still se the lines which painted out a rose and his name on her left arm. As she looked at her left wrist she could also see the remains of the ivy around it. Raven sighed as she lowered her arms and looked into the mirror that was behind the door. Raven couldn't even notice herself anymore. The lines surrounding her body were so frail and worn she had to squint to get a good look at her image. Even then it wasn't much to see. Her body looked almost as worn as the image. And yet Raven felt nothing for it. She felt no pain for the image or any other emotion.

Raven turned from the mirror and again shattered it. She hated those damn things. Why did they always show the truth? Raven began to feel weary again. As silently as she had gotten up Raven laid back down in the bed and slept.

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The pounding wind flipped Raven's hair from one side of her face to the other. As she tried to walk as close as she could to the brick walls of the buildings her trench coat kept being blown back behind her. The memory of waking up that night and hearing the howling wind and the driving rain came to her. It had woken her from her sleep and now drove her from her room to walk the streets. She knew she would never get back to sleep so she started a self tour of Nikolas's hunting grounds,

These area's consisted mostly of the northern part of the city. And as Raven walked past closed shops and dusty alley's she began to feel at home. Maybe it was the huge aroma of Nikolas that filled the streets. His aura was so powerful here that she was sure she would have no problem identifying when she had stepped out of his territory. As Raven turned a corner she looked up to see a vampire drinking from a young girl he looked as if he'd just captured. The vampire ,sensing Raven near, looked up and smirked at her. As she looked at his aura she could tell that he was a fledgling of Nikolas's. Raven turned her head sadly as she pasted him and kept walking.

She hated the idea that she was coming into contact with so many things that identified with Nikolas. It was enough that she was living in his house. She had gone out to escape him a little. Not to be followed all the time by things that were his. Raven stared up into the starry night. She sighed heavily taking her hands out of her pockets to look at her watch. 1:45am. God would the night never end? She had found that she was becoming more and more nocturnal as the days and nights grew. She had let go of school completely and her vampire instincts had used the lapse of time to grab hold of her sleeping habits.

As Raven came to an alley she looked down it and decided to take it. She could smell the sewage and rats as they scampered down the tiny road in front of her. As she came to the end of the alley she took a left and saw something unusual. Lights flickered greens, blues, and pink as she looked down at the end of the alley. Upon further investigation she came upon a quaint door with a neon sign above it. The sign read, The Corner. Raven was curious as to what the small place was. Tentatively she reached out with her aura to see what was behind the door. To her surprise she felt a huge power of vampires and others. She could smell alcohol. It was a bar. Before she could catch herself Raven reached for the door knob.

"Wait!" Raven said pulling her hand from the door. She turned around and took a few steps in the direction she had come.

"What the hell am I doing here. This is stupid. I thought I was getting away from all the rowdy crowds and vampires." Raven shook her head then looked back at the door. Something familiar whizzed past her thoughts and made her look at it twice.

The neon lights blinked on and off as if to invite her in. How could she resist? Taking the few steps back to the door she opened it.

As she walked in she could sense all the eyes stare at her. At least thirty pairs all mostly black eyes looked at her, surveying her to see if she was a threat. As Raven looked up she could see the darkened room and it's occupants go back to their drinks and conversations. The room was rather large, filled with tables and chairs half filled with someone. Most of them liked to sit by themselves so all but five tables had someone sitting at them. To her left she saw a rather large bar filled with old an unmarked bottles. If Raven wasn't mistaken most of the multicolored drinks would kill her if she wasn't a shifter. The walls were a black flecked here and there with stains and spots. The wall reminded her of Nikolas's "art" and she shivered.

Finding an empty table Raven sat down and got as comfortable as possible. Taking a quick glance around the room she determined that the room was almost totally vampires. She must have stumbled upon a club or something. Although there were the usual witch auras that seemed too dark for the vamps to detect. She was only partially vampire and as the witches past her she could see the confused looks on their faces. She just smirked at them and put her gaze back down to the scratched and dented table. As she closed her eyes the familiar power came to her again. Where had she felt that before? Just as she was thinking someone sat down across from her.

"Hey Shifter. What are you doing all the way out here?" It was Nikolas. Raven looked up at him to see that same smile on his face. She could smack that damn smile off him.

"I could say the same to you." Raven said leaning back in her chair. The familiar aura was gone. She silently cursed at Nikolas for interrupting her.

"Well you know. This is my territory after all. And besides, you don't know your way around very well. I thought I'd just come and see what you were up to." Raven looked at him as he stared across the room. Right. Nikolas, worried about her. Ha. He was probably out here hunting her. The nerve of the bastard.

Raven looked toward the door as a large group of vampires walked out. They were probably scared of Nikolas, this was his territory after all. They were weak anyway and must have valued their lives a little. Suddenly Raven stood up knocking her chair over. Fur began to sprout from her head and hands. She could feel her claws extending and her spine cracking. It was him!

Vailor!

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Nikolas watched with some interest as Raven stood up and began to change. It made him curious as to what could have set her off. When he took her gaze toward the door he saw what he thought she was looking at. It was a vampire all right, a sort of weak one but a vampire non the less. He had spiky dark blonde hair and was wearing a black turtle neck shirt and blue jeans. Nikolas could feel his age. He looked 20 but must have been at least 300. This must be Vailor. Nikolas had to stifle a laugh. This was the infamous Vailor? He didn't look like he could suck the life from a puppy let alone be one of the most powerful vampires in the world.

Nikolas watched as Vailor spotted Raven and smiled. His lips curling in a fierce smile. As he walked closer to the table Nikolas could tell it was taking all Raven had to stop her change let alone not attack the vampire.

"Is this Vailor?" Nikolas said to Raven

"Yeah…that's him. God I could kill him right now…." Raven 's words were harsh as she tried to control herself.

"Calm down. If you ever want to fight him your going to have to cool it." Nikolas said sending calming feelings to Raven. This helped a bit and her black fur disappeared, but he could still feel the tension in her eyes and see the hair on the back of her next standing up.

"My goodness what do we have here? Raven is that you?" Vailor spoke with a laugh in his tone almost mocking Raven. Nikolas could see Raven's muscles tense and her hands go into fists beneath her trench coat.

"Vailor. You bastard." Raven spoke harshly and laced her words with acid. Nikolas could see that she was going to attack him any second.

"Take it easy Raven." Nikolas said into her head. He noticed Vailor look at him. So he could hear him. Well he wasn't as weak as he looked.

"I see you've been having fun since I bonded you. Tisk tisk, that's not what I had hoped for." Vailor said putting his hand on his hip. Nikolas new that this comment was directed at him but he ignored it. The guy was in his domain. Like it or not he was in charge. And when someone tested his authority in his territory he protected it. Whether or not the person was his problem.

"Fun. Ha. The only one who had fun with this was you Vailor. You and you're warped sense of life." Raven said getting even more mad as she spoke. Nikolas saw this and stood up next to her. Vailor didn't even look at him, he just laughed.

"You know your right. I did have fun with it. And I'd do it again just to see your family throw you out all over again. Some people of yours Raven, at the first sign of trouble they toss it out the window like an old rag."

Raven became enraged at this and lunged at Vailor. Nikolas was just in time to grab her before she swiped at him.

"Let me go Nikolas! I'm going to rip his throat out!" Raven wrestled for control but Nikolas held her firm. He wasn't going to let her get killed over this.

"Ooh tough words for such a young girl. What's the matter Raven. Is this guy protecting me from you? Or is it the other way around. Hahahahha…" Nikolas frowned. Fine if that was the way he wanted it. Nikolas let Raven go. As soon as she was out of his grasp she turned into a panther and lunged for the still laughing Vailor. She took him by surprise and managed to get a good swipe at his chest putting five long claw marks in his shirt. By now Vailor had noticed her and swiped her to the side sending Raven into a group of tables. She crashed into them sending chairs flying all over the room.

"You bitch! This is my favorite shirt!" Vailor said looking down at his tattered black shirt.

Raven rose slowly from her spot on the floor. Nikolas could see some blood coming from her left shoulder but she didn't seem to notice as she again lunged at Vailor. This time Raven got a better grip of Vailor and he screamed as she sunk her panther canines deep into his right arm. Nikolas heard the cracking of bones as she closed her jaws over his muscular arm. Vailor shook it hard but Raven just bit harder.

Nikolas watched from his position by the wall as Vailor ran for the opposite wall with Raven still attached. She had no time to move as Vailor threw her and his arm against the wall creating a huge dent. Raven slunk to the floor unconscious, blood dripping from her mouth.

Vailor clutched his wounded arm as he tried to wrap it in a cloth strip from his torn shirt.

"You ignorant Shifter. I'm sure your parents taught you not to attack vampires. Of course your intire people were always so stupid. They never had time to see what I did to you until you came back half dead. Hahaha." As he laughed Vailor went over and kicked the unconscious Raven dead in the stomach, making her body shake.

Nikolas stared at the vampire and at Raven there on the floor. He could tell that her injuries were serious and needed to be tended too. This guy was going too far. Feeling the anger in him build Nikolas sent a large jolt of energy straight at Vailor. There was no time for him to dodge it and Vailor's body went flying into the wall not far from where Raven lay.

Nikolas began to walk towards the downed vampire, closing in within a few steps. Vailor raised his head menacingly at Nikolas and stood. Nikolas glared back and stood his ground.

"Well. It looks like the shifter isn't alone. Looks like her bodyguard decided to intervene."

Nikolas punched Vailor dead in the stomach. He watched as the vampire's eyes lit up with pain and his body doubled over.

"Are you blind or can't you tell that this is my territory? " Nikolas said glancing at the now waking Raven. As he turned back to Vailor he was just in time to see a punch come for his face. Nikolas swiftly avoided it and grabbed Vailors left arm twisting it around his back and holding him there.

"I'll say this again so you can understand. This is my territory. If you make anymore moves toward me or my shifter I will personally do her deed for her. And believe me when I say that I've been a vampire long enough to know where it hurts." Nikolas said twisting Vailors arm to add a bit of emphasis on the hurt part.

Feeling as if he had made his point Nikolas let the defeated vampire go. He watched as Vailor staggered to gain his balance and head for the door. Before he left he turned to Nikolas.

"This may be your territory and temporarily your shifter but remember I created her. She is mine to deal with not yours." Vailor said grabbing his arm and heading out the door. Nikolas shot some energy at the door slamming it shut behind him.

It was then he remembered Raven still crumpled on the floor but now trying to get up. She had changed back to human sometime earlier and Nikolas could see the profound amount of blood that dripped from at least five wounds. It took most of what he had to not attack Raven in blood lust. Lightly he picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

"Don't worry shifter. No one is going to kill you as long as I'm around." Nikolas whispered as they left the club and headed back to the house.

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The blackness surrounded Raven from all sides again. She could barely breathe as it sucked the life from her body.

"Is this the end?" Raven thought as she stopped fighting it. The silence filled her head and comforted her. Why couldn't she just fade away* and leave this world. Why did her life keep her so attached? It wasn't like she was anything to this life anymore. She had lost her battle, didn't life realize that yet? It was over, and only she knew it.

"It won't be the end until you want it to be Raven."

A familiar voice filled her head and sent her partially awake. The blackness began to disintegrate and the comfort left leaving only the pain. Tears began to fill her eyes as memories of her encounter with Vailor came back. She had lost. And by the pain she was experiencing she had lost bad.

"But I want it to be the end. I want to fade away. You don't know what it's like. I'm alone. All alone with the pain."

Raven didn't open her eyes but knew that Nikolas was sitting on the right side of her bed next to her. She turned painfully to her left side, moaning with the effort. Her sides hurt so badly. She must have busted some ribs.

"That's not a very wise decision Raven. You've got some bad wounds and they aren't healing fast enough." Nikolas said trying to gently roll her back over onto her back.

Raven resisted his attempts and Nikolas left her alone. Slowly Raven opened her eyes to the wall she was facing. Tears flowed freely now from her eyes. She wanted to fall off the edge of time and space. Just fall on forever and ever, never to come back to life. Raven felt as Nikolas shifted his weight on the bed to be closer to her. She couldn't believe the change that had gone through him since the first time she had met him. Here he was trying to take care of her instead of finishing the job that Vailor had started.

A fresh amount of tears flowed from her eyes at the mention of Vailor. That bastard. She wanted so bad to kill him that she was rash. She had lost because of her own ignorance.

"So….I don't get it. This Vailor guy. What…what did he do to you? I mean other then blood bond you to him."

Raven rubbed the tears from her eyes. So he wanted to know did he. Why not. Nikolas deserved at least a bit of an explanation as to her reaction to the bastard Vailor. Raven sighed as she began to re-encounter memories she had locked away for so long in her head.

"296 years ago I was young. Not only time wise but mentally. I lived with my clan, the White Panther, in the woods of Northern Pennsylvania. We were a peaceful clan and we never fought other creatures. Our people believed in peace between all creatures of the night. Whether that be vampires, witches and so on." Raven squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again. How was it that she was telling him all this?

"It was because of our pacifist nature that we were targeted by many groups of vampires. Easy game as they called us. Ever since I can remember our clan was fearful of attacks by vampires and eventually became scared of them all together. A law was made that any member of the Shifter clan that was turned into a vampire willingly was to be killed. Of course our people were to stupid to think that anyone would ever become something as blood bonded so that was the law plan and simple." Raven felt Nikolas again shift positions on the bed to sit facing opposite of her. She could tell he was thinking of something but she continued.

"It was the day after my 17 birthday. There had been sightings of vampires in the area but I was arrogant. I had always wanted to run freely through the woods behind our territory and thought that this new age would be a perfect way to show my adultness. Was I wrong. I had been out less then an hour when our home was attacked. I raced back as fast as I could to our home but I was too late. The clan was already under attack and there was nothing I could do. In my attempt to get into the territory I was captured by Vailor. And as a message to all of our kind of how ignorant and stupid we were he blood bonded me. Right there in front of everyone as our homes burned to the ground as our lives destroyed." Raven wiped the tears from her eyes as the pain began to subside

"It was more of a blow to me then it was to the clan. Vailor had showed me how stupid I was an how much of an ignorant child I had been. Although he never said it the second I became bonded I could hear his thoughts clearly, and it hurt.

After our clan had cleaned up and scavenged what they could they decided to leave Pennsylvania and go somewhere else. Somewhere they could start over and not be bothered with the vampires. And as punishment to me I was left all alone. My family deserted me in the woods along with the remnants of our old life. I cried for days after they left. The image of my little sister looking back at me as my mother dragged her away haunts me to this day. I had failed them all. I had been such an idiot and for that I was left alone. To waist away for all internity bonded to the one thing I hated most." Raven shivered at the thought of it all. She hated feeling so vulnerable.

"But that's not the end of it. After my family left Vailor and his group followed them. Taunting them and torturing them until the clan had either been killed off or had dispersed. I never found out what happened to my sister and mother. All I know is they're dead. Shifters live a normal life span and here I am. The last of my clan and not even whole shifter. What a great life I've lead haven't I." Raven said pulling the covers up to her neck.

She couldn't hear Nikolas anymore. She thought he had left the room until a soft touch on her left shoulder brought her back to reality.

"Life is sad isn't it." Raven closed her eyes as Nikolas dropped his hand and moved to sit closer to her.

"You're born, you're abandoned by your parents, left alone and cold. If that isn't enough some of us are cursed with immortality. As if life is saying. 'Here I don't think you've had enough yet' then if you're lucky, you die quickly and painlessly. Life was never meant to be fun. You can either let it kill you or fight back." Raven squirmed under the covers as Nikolas rose from the bed and walked to the door.

"Of course then again all of us immortals know when we've had enough." Raven heard Nikolas pick something up from her dresser then head for the door. Just as she thought he was going to leave he stopped.

"We never make mistakes about that. But you are making a mistake. You're not alone."

Raven squeezed her eyes together again as Nikolas left the room.

"I'm not alone?"

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Nikolas leaned against the Raven's door. He crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to the faint sound of her breathing.

"My god." He thought

"She has been through more in this one life time then anyone should have ever been able to endure. She's wrong about one thing. She's not stupid. She couldn't have been to survive this long with that much over her head."

Nikolas opened his right hand to reveal his knife. He had picked it up on the way out of her room. How could he have ever thought of killing her just then? What had possessed him to even imagine it? Nikolas shook his head. Whatever the reason was it was gone from his mind now and replaced with strange feelings. They sent shivers down his spine and shocks down the arm he had touched Raven with. Love? No. Never. Vampires were never meant to love. Or were they?

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YESSSSSSSSSSS. Man I love being able to write like this! Lalalalala. Ok. Muhahahahahahahaha…… Another…no wait that wasn't really a cliff hanger now was it? So DON"T COMPLAIN. Omgsh that chapter made me cry! How is it I can write such emotional stuff? This is my best chapter yet! YESSSS

I WANT COMMENTS! I am not going to put up the next chapter until I hear from at least FIVE people! Man that was a great chapter. Did I write that? *looks over shoulder and winks* YUPs that was meeeee. Lol ok at the part where you see the little asterisk (*) that is a line from the Escaflowne Movie. (Did you like the Escaflowne Movie? OMG me too lol MAIL MEEEEE fellow fan!!!) Lol that whole movie is about losing ones faith in life and being alone. And I just bought the Ultimate Edition of that movie the other day. OMG WHAT A GOOD MOVIE. Anyways the song in the beginning is from the soundtrack so it belongs to Ms. Maaya Sakamoto and friends NOT ME. So I guess you could say that that movie kind of fueled this chapter….Yeah it did. Lol GO RENT IT. You can find it in the anime section of most major movie rental shops (blockbuster, Hollywood video etc.) lol sorry I'm babbing. KIRBY MORROW I LOVE YOUUUUUUU! Lol I'm done. Ok so anyways this chapter was pretty damn long! The next one is gunna be a baby compared to this one but some very important stuff is gunna happen. I'm about three fourths of the way done with this story. Probably only three or four chapters left to go. Lol see ya at the next chapter, chapter 6 of Tainted Vengeance

"Part Of Me"

p.s. dang this authors note was pretty fricken long tooo. lol