****
An Endless Night
Chapter 4
****
Icicles drooped stoically from the ceiling of her cave. The stalactites had been there for as long as she could remember.
Drip
A single drop of water gathered at the bottom of one icicle, and fell to the stone flooring. The sound echoed in the stillness of the cave.
Maybe this was what had driven her to madness. This cave, with it's infinite catacombs and frigid temperatures so cold nothing could possibly live in it. Or maybe she had always been insane, like one of the stalactites, slowly dripping her sanity away...
Shaking her head, Veran snapped out of her trance-like state. She needed to focus on the here and now, and letting her mind relapse was a sure way of getting found.
And letting Darien find her was not an option; at least, not after what she had done.
No...trying to kill someone's mate was worse then killing the person themselves. And she was sure that Darien had a punishment in store for her that was worse than killing oneself.
She still intended to kill Darien's mate, but her less than stable mind had yet to grasp the fact that after she had done the dirty deed his punishment would be ten thousand times worse, and that she still wouldn't be able to have Darien once his mate was gone.
She pulled out her map, and ran a finger down the ivory page, yellowed around the edges from her harsh living conditions.
She would have to send someone to try and find it again...since the last one had failed. Another item to add to her 'to do' list. Closing her eyes in concentration, she summoned one of the newer and stupider creatures to go and find it. Ordering one of the smarter creatures would not be a wise thing to do.
Glancing at the map again, she choose three random areas where she thought she might be safe for the night before she could return to put an end to this horrible lifestyle.
Leslie street appeared to have an alley she could stay at, and then Blackberry lane, and finally she could return to finish what she had been strategically planning for ten years.
A wicked smile stretched across her face, exposing her elongated canines.
Walden Apartments.
***
Have you ever noticed how it seems at least twice as dark once something makes a noise nearby you? It's a really creepy experience let me tell you. Being a blond walking around in the middle of the night was not my idea of a fun time, but I had Lita here to protect me. Well, maybe not protect but guard me. Did you know Lita took three different forms of martial arts when she was in grade school? She took karate, kung fu, and jujitsu. The thing that comforted me is that she received high ranking in all of them. But that was before her parents died, before we met Ami...and before we met Rei.
Rei was an appealing friend to talk with or think about. She had an exotic quality to her that made you want to take a second glance. Unfortunately when I took that second glance she snapped at me for staring at her. Heh.... Anyway, her hair is this REALLY dark color, it looks almost ebony. I don't think it's natural to have such a hair color, but Rei is so religiously devoted I doubt she'd ever dye her hair. She's a Shinto priestess, and quite a scary one when angry. I should know, I'm usually the one she takes it out on. She has a really powerful arm when she wields a broom.
Now that I think about it, all of my friends have hair and eye colors that scream "I'm not natural" but none of them wear contacts or have dyed their hair. Well, Miko-chan might have dyed her hair for fun, but she was definitely a born blond.
Minako was another highly animated friend of mine. She really baffles me sometimes, what with her distorted quotes and over-dramatized behavior. Sometimes I'm scared to go out with her to public places. I'm sure I can be just as bad sometimes though, so I won't complain.
I jumped when a bush rustled near by, and huddled closer to my brunette Amazon. She looked down at me kind of funny, and I think she's probably mentally commenting about the little kitten whimper I just made. Was that a wolf? No that howl sounded more human, probably some weirdo screaming. All the same, I decided that I needed to pick up the pace and keep up with Lita's swift steps. I think she's trying to avoid being seen near me.
I latched onto her arm again, and leeched two years of life out of it in squeezing strength. She actually asked me to loosen my grip. I guess I'm being a little weird right now, but I'm so scared!
BOOM
'Oh my god Oh my god Oh my God' became a mantra in my head as I tried to make myself breathe again. I couldn't see...everything seemed unnaturally bright now...I couldn't hear either, what was going on...
And then I realized this wasn't the first time this had happened. Closing my eyes I waited until everything was black again before reopening my eyes. The edges of my vision were still fuzzy, but I could clearly make out a gleeful Lita throwing something between her hands that was too bright to make out distinct shape.
I still couldn't hear, but I could feel the vibration of my screaming as the shouted at her.
"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" I didn't want to go past that, for fear of sounding like an idiot because I couldn't hear myself.
Lita looked at me innocently. She knew I couldn't hear, and she knew that if she said something in response to my screaming, I wouldn't hear it. So she decided to show it with puppy eyes and a pouting face.
A trickle of rain started to fall.
I knew what her argument would be though, that she had just saved me the trouble of three blocks worth jumpiness but taking all the friction out of the approaching storm. And she'd be right, as usual.
I was terrified of lightning. Lita however, was obsessed with it. She had once assured me that lightning wouldn't want to strike something so low to ground as me, which I had replied to by elbowing her in the ribs. For some unknown reason, the brunette could charge up electricity like a battery, and shock people from a foot away. She could also siphon electricity out of a storm, or direct it's path if I wasn't there to hinder her fiendish for it.
The rain was steadily growing heavier.
We resumed walking as if nothing had happened, although now I was stumbling as we walked from hindered vision. One block away from our apartment, my hearing returned to near normal and I let Lita have it.
"You KNOW I hate it when you do that, even if it IS for my benefit."
"And you KNOW that I hate it when you whine about things you should be grateful for," she retorted smartly, not missing a beat. She was still tossing the ball of lightning around as if it were a baseball.
"Put that away!" I demanded, pointing at the crackling mass of electricity making my hair float towards it.
"Fine." She tossed the lightning into the air one final time, this time making a stretching motion with her fingers. The white energy snaked out to meet her fingertips, and she continued to move her hands farther apart, until the lightning was stretched so thin it broke into a shower of tiny harmless sparkles.
"Show off," I muttered. I didn't have a power like Lita's. I couldn't control any element I knew of. Lita and I had discovered that certain people could control different elements...to an extent. And that everyone drew their life's energy off one, if not more, of the four elements. Rei could manipulate flames, Mina tapped off wind to read people's emotions, and Amy could freeze water solid. But me...I must be one of those people who takes from all the elements equally because I couldn't do anything magical whatsoever.
It was a downright downpour now.
We rounded the corner to our apartment building, and I looked up towards the star filled sky, wondering why I was blessed with such exceptional friends.
That's when I saw it.
Wordlessly, I stopped walking, put my arm up to halt Lita, and slowly lifted a solitary finger up towards the spot I had seen it, making sure my whole hand didn't move with the finger.
There was something dark hovering on the rim of our shared balcony window, and when the moonlight bounced off it, I gasped at the glinting white fangs it revealed.
There was no doubt in my mind.
This was our uninvited 'visitor'.
AN: I'm not sure if I should make this chapter longer...but it really took me a long time to get this out...so I'm thinking...no. 'Cause...well...I know that a lot of people enjoy this story, and I don't want to stop writing it, but people have been bugging me lately to get chapters out faster...so I'll just have to make them shorter. Sorry!
An Endless Night
Chapter 4
****
Icicles drooped stoically from the ceiling of her cave. The stalactites had been there for as long as she could remember.
Drip
A single drop of water gathered at the bottom of one icicle, and fell to the stone flooring. The sound echoed in the stillness of the cave.
Maybe this was what had driven her to madness. This cave, with it's infinite catacombs and frigid temperatures so cold nothing could possibly live in it. Or maybe she had always been insane, like one of the stalactites, slowly dripping her sanity away...
Shaking her head, Veran snapped out of her trance-like state. She needed to focus on the here and now, and letting her mind relapse was a sure way of getting found.
And letting Darien find her was not an option; at least, not after what she had done.
No...trying to kill someone's mate was worse then killing the person themselves. And she was sure that Darien had a punishment in store for her that was worse than killing oneself.
She still intended to kill Darien's mate, but her less than stable mind had yet to grasp the fact that after she had done the dirty deed his punishment would be ten thousand times worse, and that she still wouldn't be able to have Darien once his mate was gone.
She pulled out her map, and ran a finger down the ivory page, yellowed around the edges from her harsh living conditions.
She would have to send someone to try and find it again...since the last one had failed. Another item to add to her 'to do' list. Closing her eyes in concentration, she summoned one of the newer and stupider creatures to go and find it. Ordering one of the smarter creatures would not be a wise thing to do.
Glancing at the map again, she choose three random areas where she thought she might be safe for the night before she could return to put an end to this horrible lifestyle.
Leslie street appeared to have an alley she could stay at, and then Blackberry lane, and finally she could return to finish what she had been strategically planning for ten years.
A wicked smile stretched across her face, exposing her elongated canines.
Walden Apartments.
***
Have you ever noticed how it seems at least twice as dark once something makes a noise nearby you? It's a really creepy experience let me tell you. Being a blond walking around in the middle of the night was not my idea of a fun time, but I had Lita here to protect me. Well, maybe not protect but guard me. Did you know Lita took three different forms of martial arts when she was in grade school? She took karate, kung fu, and jujitsu. The thing that comforted me is that she received high ranking in all of them. But that was before her parents died, before we met Ami...and before we met Rei.
Rei was an appealing friend to talk with or think about. She had an exotic quality to her that made you want to take a second glance. Unfortunately when I took that second glance she snapped at me for staring at her. Heh.... Anyway, her hair is this REALLY dark color, it looks almost ebony. I don't think it's natural to have such a hair color, but Rei is so religiously devoted I doubt she'd ever dye her hair. She's a Shinto priestess, and quite a scary one when angry. I should know, I'm usually the one she takes it out on. She has a really powerful arm when she wields a broom.
Now that I think about it, all of my friends have hair and eye colors that scream "I'm not natural" but none of them wear contacts or have dyed their hair. Well, Miko-chan might have dyed her hair for fun, but she was definitely a born blond.
Minako was another highly animated friend of mine. She really baffles me sometimes, what with her distorted quotes and over-dramatized behavior. Sometimes I'm scared to go out with her to public places. I'm sure I can be just as bad sometimes though, so I won't complain.
I jumped when a bush rustled near by, and huddled closer to my brunette Amazon. She looked down at me kind of funny, and I think she's probably mentally commenting about the little kitten whimper I just made. Was that a wolf? No that howl sounded more human, probably some weirdo screaming. All the same, I decided that I needed to pick up the pace and keep up with Lita's swift steps. I think she's trying to avoid being seen near me.
I latched onto her arm again, and leeched two years of life out of it in squeezing strength. She actually asked me to loosen my grip. I guess I'm being a little weird right now, but I'm so scared!
BOOM
'Oh my god Oh my god Oh my God' became a mantra in my head as I tried to make myself breathe again. I couldn't see...everything seemed unnaturally bright now...I couldn't hear either, what was going on...
And then I realized this wasn't the first time this had happened. Closing my eyes I waited until everything was black again before reopening my eyes. The edges of my vision were still fuzzy, but I could clearly make out a gleeful Lita throwing something between her hands that was too bright to make out distinct shape.
I still couldn't hear, but I could feel the vibration of my screaming as the shouted at her.
"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" I didn't want to go past that, for fear of sounding like an idiot because I couldn't hear myself.
Lita looked at me innocently. She knew I couldn't hear, and she knew that if she said something in response to my screaming, I wouldn't hear it. So she decided to show it with puppy eyes and a pouting face.
A trickle of rain started to fall.
I knew what her argument would be though, that she had just saved me the trouble of three blocks worth jumpiness but taking all the friction out of the approaching storm. And she'd be right, as usual.
I was terrified of lightning. Lita however, was obsessed with it. She had once assured me that lightning wouldn't want to strike something so low to ground as me, which I had replied to by elbowing her in the ribs. For some unknown reason, the brunette could charge up electricity like a battery, and shock people from a foot away. She could also siphon electricity out of a storm, or direct it's path if I wasn't there to hinder her fiendish for it.
The rain was steadily growing heavier.
We resumed walking as if nothing had happened, although now I was stumbling as we walked from hindered vision. One block away from our apartment, my hearing returned to near normal and I let Lita have it.
"You KNOW I hate it when you do that, even if it IS for my benefit."
"And you KNOW that I hate it when you whine about things you should be grateful for," she retorted smartly, not missing a beat. She was still tossing the ball of lightning around as if it were a baseball.
"Put that away!" I demanded, pointing at the crackling mass of electricity making my hair float towards it.
"Fine." She tossed the lightning into the air one final time, this time making a stretching motion with her fingers. The white energy snaked out to meet her fingertips, and she continued to move her hands farther apart, until the lightning was stretched so thin it broke into a shower of tiny harmless sparkles.
"Show off," I muttered. I didn't have a power like Lita's. I couldn't control any element I knew of. Lita and I had discovered that certain people could control different elements...to an extent. And that everyone drew their life's energy off one, if not more, of the four elements. Rei could manipulate flames, Mina tapped off wind to read people's emotions, and Amy could freeze water solid. But me...I must be one of those people who takes from all the elements equally because I couldn't do anything magical whatsoever.
It was a downright downpour now.
We rounded the corner to our apartment building, and I looked up towards the star filled sky, wondering why I was blessed with such exceptional friends.
That's when I saw it.
Wordlessly, I stopped walking, put my arm up to halt Lita, and slowly lifted a solitary finger up towards the spot I had seen it, making sure my whole hand didn't move with the finger.
There was something dark hovering on the rim of our shared balcony window, and when the moonlight bounced off it, I gasped at the glinting white fangs it revealed.
There was no doubt in my mind.
This was our uninvited 'visitor'.
AN: I'm not sure if I should make this chapter longer...but it really took me a long time to get this out...so I'm thinking...no. 'Cause...well...I know that a lot of people enjoy this story, and I don't want to stop writing it, but people have been bugging me lately to get chapters out faster...so I'll just have to make them shorter. Sorry!
