"Before The Shadow Fell"

By: Sara Angeldust

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Part 3

"Hard Truths"

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'Spellbound'

-Emily Brontë

The night is darkening round me,

The wild winds coldly blow;

But a tyrant spell has bound me

And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending

Their bare boughs weighed by snow,

And the storm is fast descending,

And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,

Wastes beyond wastes below;

But nothing drear can move me;

I will not, cannot go.

~~~~~~~

Authors Note:
I only have one thing to say….. I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!!!

Yes, after almost ohhhhhh 8 MONTHS of NOTHING!!! I give you EVERYTHING!!! (this is all quite long, so please sit back and relax) I finally finished this darn thing, and now it's off to my next one….hopefully.

As you see I've updated all the Parts of Before the Shadow Fell. This was because I went back and re entered some information that was getting jumbled around and contradicting in certain sections of the story. (BTW, a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to wolvesaremylife1 for informing me of a contradiction in hair and eye color in Amelia's character. They were not intentional and I would have never realized it. I owe you!!) Also, HUGE thank yous are to go out to everyone who has replied with positive information about my fics on Fanfiction.net. It was me going back and reading the reviews that you guys left that allowed me to continue this story. Thanks a lot. ^-^

I also pulled Part 2 together as one piece of work, as it should have originally been. There may be some additions to it also, because of the merge, so you may want to go back and read it. If anyone can tell, I need a reviewer badly. Anyone interested in reading all the parts of Before the Shadow Fell and telling me of any inconsistencies (i.e. hair colors, background information etc), would be greatly appreciated. Just please e-mail me (provided at the end of this part) all that you find and I'll be sure to fix it. I do reread my stuff before I post it, but things STILL get jumbled. Thanks tons for sticking with me guys, and welcome to anyone who has just found my fics. I hope you enjoy them!

p.s. This fic is rated PG-13 for language and violence.

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Modern Day, 2003

A blood red moon shone down from the dark night sky. The wind howled and moaned, as if angry, and therefore, restless. Yet none of this seemed to bother the seventeen year old girl. She sat cross-legged, looking out towards the darkness of the night, and the forest around her. Her eyes scanned it, hunter like, in every nook and cranny where a foe might be hiding. Looking down at the sleeping figure beside her, she sighed. Her mentor had trained her well, and it would take very much to startle this seemingly young girl.

The wind blew playfully through her short, dark red hair, as it went on its course through the woods. A shiver traveled down her spine and back up as she was reminded of a time when she too, called the woods her home. But that was far too long ago, in another life, another life-time. Moving to make herself comfortable again, another shiver past up her spine. Rubbing her hands together, she created a small fire in-between them. It glowed a dark red color and comforted her. If she had no control over the environment she had been placed in, at least she could have control over her powers. Playing with the small ball of fire a bit, she grew it larger before turning it into an invisible sheet of warmth, spreading it all over her body. Now she wouldn't shiver anymore.

Hadn't it been over 300 years before that she had been in a wooded area like this before? But not as a wondering traveler, but a part of the great wonders it beheld? Even back then she had known what she would become, the thing that kept her body warm on nights like this, but she had been so innocent then. She had been apart of something, a family, and now she was so alone in the world. Well, maybe not totally alone, she did have her mentor.

Sighing, she wondered how long she had been on watch, and how much longer she had left before she too, could sleep. Looking to her left, the image of her teacher, Tianna, came into her vision. Tianna had taken her in when she had first begin to show her powers, and helped her deal with them. She wasn't the most warm hearted of people, but her teachings were exactly what she needed. In less then two months time she had almost totally gotten used to, and almost fully in control of, her powers. An extraordinary thing for any person to accomplish. As she looked to her left again she saw her teacher staring. The time had come quicker then she had thought it would, and in a silent exchange of nods the two had switched places. The girl would sleep while Tianna stood watch, resting for the unknown journey ahead.

~~~~~~~~~

1701- Diometra Clan Village

Waking was the hardest thing she had ever done. It was as if her body had been drowned in a lake of some kind of warm, thick liquid, and she could not float to the top. She felt so heavy, yet at the same time, frighteningly at peace with her mind and body. As if all of her human muscles just decided that they didn't feel like protesting anymore. This calmed and comforted her, yet it also scared her. Why couldn't she feel her body? Why did the outside world feel so distant? Questions flew through her head and soon turned into a frantic quest for the truth. How was she going to get out of this one? The last thing she remembered was….was…Vailor!!!! Her body shook at the mer thought of him so close to her, so dangerously close.

Laughter erupted in her ears as voices came from everywhere. She could barely think as she heard them speak to her, laugh at her. Vampire, they chanted, Child of the Night, Satanist, Lucifer's Spawn, all these names rang frantic bells of terror to her. Were they talking about her? Was she…? The thought of it alone fully woke Raven from her sleep as she fell over and vomited. She heard a small gasp of surprise, but could not stop herself to see where it had come from. Continuing to hurl her guts out, the laughter came again and she heard a name, a word that would mark her forever. Blood-bonded.

Is that what I am? Is that what you have turned me into Vailor? I can still breathe, so that must be it. Her voice was small and timid in her head, almost pleading with the unseen vampire for it to be deemed untrue, a cruel joke.

No such words came back to her, the only answer she was given was more laughter, then silence. Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. Raven had never been more scared in her intire life. What was to become of her?

"Ra-Raven? Are, are you ok?" A small voice awoke her to full consciousness in a small clearing, a good distance from her village. Feeling that her body was restrained, Raven pulled only to find that her hands had been tied behind her and around a large tree. Trying to find a comfortable spot against the hard tree was all she could do to stop herself from bursting out in tears. How could her own people do this to her?

"Raven?" Again, the voice came to her, and looking forward she noticed the source of it. Amelia sat about ten or so feet from the tree, her hands on either side of her, looking fearfully at the image of Raven tied to the tree like a rabid animal. She tried to evade her eyes from her little sister, but it was too late. Amelia had seen the pitch blackness that Raven knew was there. Although she was not a full vampire, she knew those black, haunting eyes would be ever so present on her face. How Raven wished to look at her sister again, how she wished to hug her and tell her that it was all going to be ok. But that would be a lie. All wasn't going to be ok, she could feel it, and deep down she knew, that she would never again be able to look at her sister without striking fear into her heart.

"You shouldn't be here Amelia. If they find you they might outcast you." Raven said, looking down at the dark grass. Where had her torturer gone to? Had Vailor left her to the torment of her own people? Or was he just lying in wait? Waiting for an opportunity to strike?

"I...I know. I just, had to see you." She said, moving to sit more comfortably on the ground, as she gathered her skirts around her. "They're talking about a punishment." Amelia started, her voice a bit shaky. "Someone suggested to go along with the Law of Vampira, but mom persuaded them against it. She made me leave before I could see what they had decided on."

Awkward silence followed. Raven thought as Amelia stayed quiet. Mostly about how the clan would react. So they had wanted to enact the Law of Vampira? She knew they would, but that they could be persuaded out of it? That was something she had yet to see. The clan didn't change their ways for anyone. It made her think about what else they would do to her. Were there worse things then death? Unfortunately for her, there were.

Much like David's own trial, Raven never really remembered hers. Amelia had stayed beside her until the sounds of people coming closer scared her off, leaving Raven alone, sitting on the musty ground. After about two hours some male members of the clan had come to get her from the tree, never removing her bonds, they took her to the council house. There she remembered voices, both hateful and pleading. They grew in volume and softened as the conversation went on. She could only remember a few times where she was forced to answer a question, and even then it was hard for her to make any sound come out of her mouth. It was all just so unbelievable, yet, it was happening, and she was more scared then she had ever been in her intire life.

In the end the voices died, the people left the room, and she was alone in the wooden room with Grand Nan standing before her, the old woman looking more serious then Raven could ever remember her being.

"Raven Marlena Drathers. I have been chosen to dispense your punishment." Raven stiffened in her binds as she sat on a hard wooden chair in front of Grand Nan. Her palms were so sweaty she was sure that the sweat would drip onto the floor. "You have overstepped the boundaries of the Law of Vampira. Thus stating that no shifter in the Diometra Clan shall be turned into a vampire willingly, nor become any part there of, of the vampire lines."

Raven swallowed the hard lump in her throat. The formalities were through, now would come the sentence of death. She braced herself.

"As thus stating, you shall receive the following: Banishment, from all Shifter clans known in the good world." Raven gasped. There were things worse then death! A tear began to trickle down her face. "As following with this, you shall be left in these woods as the Diometra Clan moves on. If any shifter sees you come within a mile of any of their territory you shall be killed on the spot. No questions asked. Do you understand?"

Raven could barely control the urge to sob. Not only was she going to be separated from her family, but all her kind in that. A surge of hatred mixed in with her sorrow washed over her. Vailor. As the first stirrings of a hate that would drive her life began, she spat at the name of her maker. She would make him pay for what he was doing to her, she swore it. But as the anger ebbed and faded, the sorrow flooded in the empty space. Tears fell in a sticky river down her cheeks now, her pain fully unprotected from Grand Nan's eyes.

"Do you understand?" Grand Nan's forceful voice opened up a silent door in her head. She had to answer, they would kill her otherwise.

"Yes." She mustered from all of her being. It sounded so calm, too calm for the torrent of sadness that plagued her heart. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Someone will be in to take you back to the tree. We will be leaving two days hence. You will not follow."

With that, Grand Nan walked from the wooden cabin, never to be seen by Raven again, and as the storm of power from the old woman left, Raven's tears unleashed, and she began to cry.

~~~~~

The two days past by as quickly and quietly as a spring shower, leaving Raven to think and to dwell on her emotions. Through the spance of these days she swore she had encountered every emotion imaginable for a soul. Everytime one threatened to overcome her, another stepped in to begin her torrent of emotions anew. She silently remembered people coming near her, not to laugh and say this was all one big joke as she had hoped, but to place food near her so she wouldn't starve. Though she was partially vampire now, she could not live off of blood, and if that had been the case, she doubted she even could. The idea sickened her so, and made her realize how much she hated the insects even more. Those two emotions were the most frequent that she felt. Anger and sadness. One threatening to over balance the other and send her into a fit of delirium. But as she had been trained in her Shifter ways, she pulled those threats to the back of her mind, donning an expressionless mask that would be her cover for the rest of her life. Her happiness had been all but raped from her body, and the hole it had left would probably never heal.

On the third day she awoke to the sounds of a huge group of people moving about. Through the past days she had heard small movements like this, and once in awhile saw a wagon appear out of nowhere. She knew exactly what was going on and stared in disbelief. So they were really going to leave her? Was this the truth of her people that David had told her she was too blind to see? She refused to believe it, although, as she sat there, tied to a tree with the ropes her Grand Nan had used to bundle wood, she realized all to well what great plan her people had in mind. They were leaving, and they weren't coming back.

~~~~~

As the day past, the transition from morning to day, then afternoon to dusk past by so eerily silent for Raven. She barely even remembered exactly when it was that her Clan moved out, or if she had really seen that lone sad face staring at her fatigued body, sitting so limp next to the big oak tree most would have thought her dead. But whenever it was that they left, she could only remember the silence afterward. The ever growing sounds of nature taking over her once homely village. The sounds of birds became the only noise she could recount, almost completely forgetting that a group of people had ever inhabited the small village.

~~~~~

From where Raven sat, she could barely see the outline of her village, but she didn't have to be close to know that before they had left, her clan had burned the houses. The smell of charred wood and plants came to her nose, waking her from the stupor she was in. It had taken almost three days for the houses to fully burn and for the smell to reach her. Three days that she had been tied to the tree and left.

Feeling the knot where her hands were tied, Raven realized that she could break the hold of it. A task not made capable by the vampire blood in her veins now, but by her own shifter blood, which made her stronger then any human, but still weaker then a witch or vampire. That was one thing that Raven could count on, her blood was not that of a witch. Witch's blood would have attacked the invading vampire blood in an instant, probably killing Raven in the process. But she was shifter. Although stronger then a human, her blood was nothing more then just that, human blood. The only thing it held was the ability to shape shift, making it a bit wilder, but still no better then that of a human.

Is that why you came after me Vailor? Because my strength is nothing more then that of a human? Did you know my clan would not strike back because of our blood?

This thought went through her head as she pulled at the ropes, eventually breaking them apart. Bringing her hands around, she rubbed her sore wrists. What was she going to do now? Blood called to blood, and she could still sense a small bit of her clan, many, many miles away now, but there none the less. The loneliness would be permanent, but for now she was coping. How long would that last? How long would it be until she broke down and could not find the strength to go on? Raven shook her head of these thoughts and stood up. Looking around her the smoke had died down, leaving a dark night to welcome her into her new life.

~~~~~

Days past weeks, past months and so far, she was making due. All but three of the houses had been completely burned to the ground. One of them the home of a former cousin, a baking house, and a storage shed. All were relatively small, but suited fine for her to live in. Why she chose to remain in the burned out remains of her village would always be a question to her, but at the time, it had been all she could think to do. She had lived there all her life, sure her relatives could just pack up and leave, but not her. Too many memories that were still fresh lived in the small wooded area, and it seemed too soon to depart from them .

It was during this time that she had actually forgotten about her current predicament, and so it happened one day, as she was doing her best to weed out an old tomato patch, that her mind sensed a presence she had hoped she would never feel again. Pretending not to notice, she kept her eyes to the ground, her hands mechanically working at the stubborn green plants.

Hello Raven.

The voice was almost a soft whisper in her head, and barely audible, but she knew exactly where the eagle sat. Not looking up she answered the call, her hands still moving to remove the weeds.

"Hello Vailor. I didn't expect to see you back." She answered in truth. In part she never really thought that she would see him again, the purpose of his intire ploy to spite her clan, just happening to have used her in the process. But as a small chuckle escaped the changing lips of the eagle, a thought crossed her mind, maybe this was something more then just a house call. As Raven stood, wiping her hands on her skirts, she could see the all knowing in his eyes. He could read her thoughts, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"I had expected more of a hostile greeting Raven. Is it that you've finally come to like the state I've put you in?" Vailor said. He looked the same as he had the first time she had seen him. Blonde hair handsomely cascaded down to his shoulders, his black eyes always watching, laced with a calmness that if not known, would have been thought of as pity. She knew better of the snake. His good looks would not fool her a second time. She watched him as he began walking to stand about ten feet from Raven's garden, putting his hands in the pockets of his black pants. As Raven looked at him, a wicked smile shone back at her. She so hated his cockiness.

"The only one, Vailor," Raven said as she walked toward the trough to clean off her dirty hands. "who likes the 'state' I'm in is you. The reason for this I assume must be just because you get a sick and twisted pleasure out of seeing people go insane. And I will not give you that satisfaction." Raven spoke her words true and without remorse. It had been true that the months had taken an effect on her. Her anger had ebbed and a quiet acceptance had slipped it's way in, much to her great dislike, but there was little she could do about it.

Wiping her wet hands on her skirt she heard Vailor chuckle again, the sound sending a wave of 'something else there' through her mind. He was holding something back from her, and the very thought that she knew this disheartened her. She was getting far too used to this blood-bonded thing.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but although I do get a sort of 'sick and twisted pleasure' out of watching you try and live as normally as you can, that is not why I changed you." Vailor said, stretching like a cat ready to pounce. "Which leads me to why I came back to these hell begotten woods."

This made Raven turn an eye to him. So there was more to it? Somehow though, she knew this was more then just a 'hey, how ya doing' type of meeting. She stood poised, ready to take what he had to say to her, but this didn't mean she in anyway wanted to hear it. Her acceptance had left her strangely patient, a trait she could not remember having in her past life.

"Speak your peace Vailor, I have things to do."

Vailor smiled at her and took his hands out of his pockets. Raven was standing next to the trough and Vailor walked the few paces to stand next to her. More of a form of intimidation then anything. She sized him up as he did, watching his every move as she had been learning to do while alone in the forest. These days had made her sensitive to movement and she surprised herself at how fast she herself could move, even in panther form which she had been reluctant to take, but if Vailor attacked her at such close quarters she didn't know if she could defend herself. As he stood so he was about three feet from her, Raven positioned herself accordingly. Just because he wanted to 'talk' didn't mean his plans couldn't change, and if that happened, she wanted to be prepared.

She heard a small laugh her in head and she knew he could hear her thoughts. The bastard. What right did he have to pry into her head? She swiped at him mentally, a clumsy act, but one she had not even been able to fathom weeks past. As she got situated to their proximity she heard him speak, his voice soft as honey yet laced with poison.

"You know Raven, I saw your family last week." He started, edging ever closer to her in the process. She ignored his movements and stood still, reluctant to let him think he was getting the better of her. " The poor souls, they looked like they were on the edge of starvation. Well how could you not be, traveling as they were, trying to get as far away from…oh I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve?"

Raven's breathing was increasing, her hands balling into fists. She had shoved the idea of her family suffering to the far reaches of her mind, and now that Vailor was so easily talking about them it was making her blood boil. The mer thought was causing more emotion then she wished for him to see, and he knew this. His smile widened and he proceeded to almost dance around her as he told his story, if a vampire could feel pure joy, she was he sure was.

"Anyway, I thought to myself. Why should I leave them in that state, I mean , I do feel so very close to your family now," Raven flinched as Vailor lightly touched her right shoulder from behind. She mentally kicked herself for moving at his touch, but at the moment she was so caught up in her emotions that had she believed she could have killed him, she would have torn his arm off his body. "So I decided to be a nice guy, and left some of my other fledglings to, how can I say, "take care" of them."

Raven turned on him then, anger burning like fire in her eyes. She wanted to do something to him so badly, something that would have him crying and twitching on the ground. She knew what "take care" of them meant, and she wished she hadn't heard him say it.

"You bastard!!" She turned to face Vailor and screamed, her body visibly shaking. "What did you do to my family!!"

Vailor was smiling now, the sides of his lips verging to the point of laughter at Raven's outburst. It was taking all the strength she had to stop herself from jumping on him. In an attempt to get him out of her line of vision she quickly turned around, facing the woods once again. But there he was, right in front of her, his face a huge smile. Before she could react to him he closed to space between them in and instant, holding her head up by her chin, his icy hand making her body twitch. Her hands instinctively took a submissive position at her side and she tolerated his touch. For some reason, her body was shaking, fear causing her to not move. Was she really scared of him? No. She couldn't be. Especially not at that moment, when she was so angered with him, on the verge of pulling his dead heart out of his body. Yet, she couldn't stop the quivering, couldn't stop the feelings she had that she wanted to break down and cry when he touched her. She watched as he searched her eyes, his smile filling with her fear, she knew she couldn't hide that from him, and it made her sick.

"Well." He said, his black eyes still searching her red ones. "If you really want to know…" Vailor removed his hand from her chin and slipped it to the back of her head, his face moving to her opposite ear. She cringed and tried to move away from him but she couldn't, his hold threatened to crush the base of her skull if she resisted. She could feel his breath on her left ear, he was trying to seduce her, an act which did the complete opposite that it was intended for. She wanted to spit on him, but she couldn't move for fear of being killed. She heard Vailor laugh lightly in her ear as he gently kissed it.

Ok, that's it. I don't care what he has to say, I'm not…

"They're all dead."

Raven stopped moving, her eyes falling wide open in shock.

"What?" She half whispered. She could feel the smile on his face, the horrid laughter that was rising up from the pit of his stomach. Yet all that she could do was stare unseeing at the woods behind him.

"…dead?" Her voice was nothing now, her eyes staring into infinite space. The word had no effect on her. It was an empty thing. Her family couldn't be dead, it was impossible.

She stood still, frozen in her feet, the world something intangible at the moment. As she did, Vailor began walking circles around her, trying to unsteady her, but it was too late. The world seemed to fall and spin as he walked his sedating circles around her frozen form.

"Yup." Vailor said, the words slipping almost happily from his lips. "They're all gone, I made sure of it" Raven was still staring straight forward, no movement in any part of her body. It was almost impossible to tell if she was even conscious or not. Yet this unfazed Vailor, he continued to talk as he walked his slow, agonizing circles.

"Oh how fun it was. To see them scurry like little mice. Nothing like the power they once were, and I remember those days. Your people were so powerful, so on top of the world. What happened Raven?" He said as he slide his hands through her silky black hair, the motion completely un fazing her.

"Well, whatever happened, they weren't much of a challenge. My fledglings easily picked them off, one by one. Oh how their screams pleased me. And guess which ones I had the most fun with Raven, sweetie." This caused Raven's shell like body to twitch. She could feel his mind in hers, she was helpless to him, and the emotions, the images, flowed freely through her. She heard a light laugh as he felt it too, she knew he could feel her pain, her hollowness. He knew he had complete control of her in this state. Though she should have been feeling anger at this, she couldn't. She didn't want to anymore. Her family was dead, and he was torturing her with the fact as if the whole thing had been some party for him. It probably had been. As the anger swelled in her she let the hollowness drown it, her emotions leaving her.

She felt the sensation of Vailor moving back to face her, his hands still going through her hair, petting it, as if she was some kind of doll. She could feel a small voice in her head wanting to rip the hand away, yet she could not even gain the will to move. The voice was there, then left, a whisper on the wind that was carrying her soul away from her.

"Amelia." She whispered it so low that she knew he couldn't have heard her, even with his vampire ears.

"Now Raven. What do you say you come with me?" All of the sudden his voice had become sweet and calm. The change caused her unfeeling eyes to look up into his, the blackness not so dark and foreboding as it had been mere minutes before. What was this feeling that was overcoming her?

"You have nothing left dear one. Nothing, except for me." She felt as his hand as it moved to the back of her neck, massaging it as if she was a small child that he was comforting. It was warm too, warm like the soft glow of a fire. Yet, how could that be? He was vampire, dead and cold, why was it so warm…

"Shhh. Don't think right now. You need to let your mind be still, rest it a bit."

He was right, she did need to rest. Needed to let it all go. If it was only that easy.

"Rae-Raven? Are, are you ok?"

That voice, it couldn't have been…

"Amelia?" Raven's sleepy eyes began to open. When had she closed them? As she looked around her she noticed Vailor in front of her. His eyes were as black and still as ever, his hand freezing cold on the back of her neck. She let out a small gasp and stepped back a bit. She still felt hollow, but not as tired as she had been a second before. The woods moved to the slight breeze that blew through them, an omen that hung in the air like a stale smell.

"Damn it you are a persistent one." Vailor said taking his hand away from her.

He had been trying to make her submit to him. Make her into one of his dogs. She glared at him as he folded his arms in thought. It was then that she realized why she had not broken down like this in the first place. It had taken all of her being not to fall in a heap when sentenced to be without her people for her eternity, yet she had not. It had been the sense, the absolute knowing in all shifters minds that they were not alone. Yet now, now she didn't know anymore. The Diometra clan was gone, the beautiful panther tribe would never run through their forests again.

"You refuse to let anyone control you, don't you?"

Raven's mind popped back to the present, as did her eyes at Vailor's statement. Suddenly she began to shiver and wrapped her arms around herself, staring blankly at the ground. She was going between being aware and unconscious of the emotions in her head, and it was scaring her. Then she realized it. What he meant. Raven tightened her grip around herself and let her body quake. He was trying to control her mind, she could feel it now, the weight was pressing harshly against her thoughts. No wonder she couldn't focus on anything.
It was at that moment that she knew if she could feel anything in her gradually unfeeling body, that she could feel the screaming of her instincts. Her shifter blood had not been fully overpowered, and her animal instincts told her that she needed to leave. She needed to get out of the situation, and fast. She could feel the weight of Vailor's mind and eyes on her, but she didn't care. Slowly she took a step backwards. Getting away with that she took another, and another. She thought she had moved at least ten feet, but as she tried to concentrate she saw mere inches between where she had been standing and where she was at that moment.
"I have…to…go." She huffed, trying with all of her might to leave the area, leave the presence of this vampire and all his death.
Yet Vailor seemed unscathed to her words, undaunted by what he must know she was trying to do. Raven could feel the cockiness in his head, he thought that she wasn't going to be able to do it. She would show him.
In a quick mental movement she tore her mind from his. It was a sharp action and one that caused both of them immense pain. She could hear Vailor's cry as she ripped away from him, her back turned in an instant, running as fast as she could in the other direction. Her head throbbed with the pain, but for some reason, she was able to control it. The near fatal action had not only left her numb to her mental pain, but to her physical ones at that. As her feet slapped the ground she heard him scream, the sound of a wounded predator reverberating through the trees.
"DAMN YOU RAVEN!! I'LL FIND YOU!! SO HELP ME, I WILL!!!!"
And in her head she heard the snake like sound, detached by the tearing of their mental bond.
You will be mine.
~~~~~

The night wind felt cold on her body, it's essence seeping through the cracks that had formed within her. She didn't know how long she had run after her last encounter with Vailor, nor how many days it had taken her to stop. When she did though, she had found herself in this place. The wind traveled ever so slightly through the trees as she stared at the monument. Really, only someone of her situation would know what it meant, most humans would have ignored it. It sat near the edge of the dirt road like a tombstone, it's thorns almost screaming death. The black rose bush seemed foreboding in the almost serene world around her, yet Raven could sense the death that stank from only yards behind the hidden woods. Her eyes searched the oak trees but saw nothing. There must be something back there big enough to hold so many vampires, she thought.

Smoothing her completely tattered skirts, Raven let her mind wonder. The auras it sent back were vampire, she could feel them drift in and out of the area like wolves in a den. She stared never seeing at the dirt road before her, partially covered by newly grown vines. This was almost recent, the vines looked ancient, but the road was not. Slowly, she gathered her now brown colored skirts in her left hand, her right one balancing herself on a tree trunk. She had neglected her body far too much, and it was striking back with a vengeance. Slowly making her way past the oak tree and death-embered rose bush, she walked down the dirt road, her eyes alert, and her hands clenched in tight fists.

~~~~~

Raven awoke to a most unpleasant feeling. It felt as if her sides were being kicked in, squishing her vital organs. Groggily opening her eyes, she saw the shadowed figure of someone standing over her. As she took in the darkness around her, she noticed that the figure was female, and had a very angry expression on her face. Slowly she moved her arm under her for support and pushed herself up from the ground. She watched as it spun beneath her and wished whoever had decided to turn the world on it's end would stop.

"You really didn't have to kick me so…"

"Just be quiet and get up. If anyone sees you like this you'll be dead. I'm surprised you're not already. Did you hear me? Get up if you know what's good for you!"

Raven hated pushy people. Yet for some reason she took this female figure's words to heart and attempted to get up from the ground. She felt really funny, as if the very air around her was shifting, moving all around her body. It was a familiar aura that was floating around her. It brought a foul taste to her mouth and caused anger and fear to boil in her veins. As she struggled to move she realized that she couldn't, she wasn't going to be able to get up from the dirt covered ground. It took the female beside her only a few moments to realize that this too before she grabbed Raven's arm and pulled her to her feet like a rag doll. As their skin made contact, Raven felt it like a jolt of lighting. The same power and aura that was flowing through her veins at the very same time. And as this realization hit her, Raven also realized that the feeling around her, the dark fog around her head, had the exact same feeling. Vampire. The word came like a whisper to her minds eye and clouded all of her thoughts. She panicked for a minute as she was lifted with on arm over the shoulder of the person holding her up, looking around at what was to be a deserted city.

The buildings were all Victorian, the new style that had been popping up in puritan towns, yet all the houses were a dark, dull color. They were all the same, black with powerful, white shutters that tore at her eyes. They all looked new, but were completely deserted. This she knew wasn't true, for it was then that she began to feel the aura's of hundreds of them. Her new species, vampires. They were everywhere, she could sense them, but she couldn't see a single person anywhere. The town must have been a gathering spot for them, a meeting ground of sorts. This woman, this vampire, was taking her straight into the Snake's Pit, the last place Raven ever wanted to be. She tried to struggle against the woman, but it was hopeless, she was holding onto her tight. Besides, she was too weak to really move that much, and as her head swam in near panic, she let the female carry her to one of the dark, black and white houses, a newly painted sign reading, "Las Noches" over it's dark entrance.

~~~~~

Raven woke for the second time that day to the quiet of her thoughts. It was really starting to aggravate her that she was passing out constantly. As she opened her eyes and looked around the images before her, it made her realize that she wasn't where she had been moments before. The room was dark, yet for some reason her eyes could see things perfectly clear.

The room was small and unbelievably un furnished to be a guest room of the inn that she thought she had been brought to. The bed she lay on had a simple, yet dark red type of wooded head board behind her, a small trail of ivy decorating it. The sheets she lay on were a dark burgundy, a color very hard to find during that time, so expensive. They felt new beneath her, as did the bed itself, which did not have the customary sink in the center as many she had been in had.

Looking around the room she cringed at it's bare ness. The walls were painted a dark shade of red, a color she was beginning to suspect was popular to the room's owner. Adorning it were very few pictures, she could really only see two, one of a snowy landscape on the wall to her left, the other, a poorly painted portrait on the wall immediately in front of her. She stared, inspecting it, and decided that she didn't like it.

Raven sat up in her bed, the blank colors of the wall staring back at her. As she placed her feet over the edge she took a deep whiff of the room, her senses still high, even though she wasn't in panther form. She could smell the fresh scent of the sheets beneath her, as if they had never been used, nor sleep in. She also noticed how the bed hadn't had that small ditch in the center like many of the beds she had been in before had had. She took another whiff and noticed an overpowering scent surrounding not just the room, but the whole house, and the town without.

"It smells like…life." She said, taking in the essence around her. It was then that she felt something tug at the back of her mind and her eyes flew open. Standing in the door way was a girl about her age, brown hair and green eyes staring back. She had a medium sized build and a necklace around her neck, her dress simple, with an apron protecting it. Raven could sense huge amounts of hatred in those eyes, the look she was getting nothing of friendliness.

"Take another try. It's death you're smelling." She heard the girl say as she moved from the doorway and walked behind Raven, to a wardrobe that she hadn't noticed before.

She took a second look at the girl before returning to herself. Raven did as she had suggested, and her hands flew to her mouth in horror. It was blood, dead, rotting blood, and it was all around her. It covered the town like a sickening fog, and it made Raven's eyes water to know it. No wonder it had smelled like life, yet this hadn't been alive for a long, long time, centuries it seemed.

"See." The girl said. She had opened the wardrobe and was rummaging through a pile of dresses on the bottom shelf, her head disappearing behind the doors.

"Not much in this town has been alive for a long time." She said, turning back to Raven and tossing a gray dress her way. Raven moved her hands from her face just in time to catch it and stare at it meekly. She rustled the cloth in her hands as she just stared at it, taking a look down at her own dress. So she wasn't the only one who had noticed that her own dress was ragged, with mud stains and leaves throughout it.

"Yet, it really shouldn't be that much of a surprise to you, should it." She looked up as the girl spoke to her, walking towards the middle of the room and back to the door.

"Well." Raven said, turning her body. "Not really. I mean, I guess you could say that I'm what you think I am, yet. I still breathe, I still eat, and my heart still beats, so I guess.."

"Blood-bonded." She heard her say. Raven looked up from the dress with surprise in her eyes. She stared back at the girl, who was now leaning against the door, her arms crossed over her chest, eyes closing, then opening slowly.

"Blood-bonded?" Raven said back. The word had triggered a memory in her mind and she remembered Vailor saying it to her. At the time she didn't really know what it meant, and the word still didn't have much power within her.

"Yes. It's what, whoever it was, did to you." She said, looking at Raven with her eyes still sharp, yet with something that could almost be pity behind the never ending hatred.

"It's like being a vampire, yet not. You see, to become a full vampire, one must be drained of most of their blood, so when the vampire blood enters the body, it is the main substance. That's what changes you." She said, standing straighter in the doorway, letting her hands fall to her side. Her eye wandered beyond the door, almost as if looking for something.

"Blood-bonding is done by some vampires, they'll take some one your blood, maybe a little more then half, and then enter their blood into your body. This causes somewhat of a half-fling existence. You still live like what you were before, but you can't die. I'm sure if someone really wanted to kill you they could, but otherwise, you won't die until the one who created you does. You also have a connection to the one who made you, since their blood flows within you."

"Oh." Raven said, looking from the girl back down to the dress in her hands. So that's what it was. It made sense to her now, how she could move and live the way she did. It also made sense why she had this constant feel of Vailor on her skin. To be more exact, in her skin, in her heart, and in her blood. She could almost feel him inside of her head, in fact, she could, his mind never more then a stones throw away from her, yet muffled, and shrouded in a deep fog. It was painful too, probably still sore from when she had ripped her mind from his. Raven clutched at the dress, her mind still wondering.

"Well." The girl said, her eyes stark and angry as she turned to leave the room. "I'm going back down stairs, you can change here if you want to, um."

"Raven." She said, looking back up into the girl's darkened eyes.

"Raven? Nice name. I'm Kaei. If you want, you can come down when you're done and I'll tell you what I know about Mayhem. Believe me, there are some rules you need to know, and lying half dead in the middle of this town's streets doesn't help either."

Raven winced at the pun, knowing that the girl didn't mean to pick on her situation, but used it as a way to get her point across. Raven nodded in response and watched as Kaei walked down the hallway.

It was then that something came to her mind, and she spoke without really analyzing it.

"Hey Kaei." She half shouted down the hallway. Kaei had stopped, her right hand on the stair railing a few doors down the hallway outside of the small room.

"How, how do you know so much about them. I mean, the vampires." She said, knowing that she probably wasn't going to get an answer back. She knew that the girl wasn't one of them, her eyes were green, not black.

Kaei sighed and spoke, "When you've been born in this town like I have, you tend to learn many thing quickly."

Raven nodded and returned to the room, hearing the sound of Kaei's feet walking down the stairs.

Mayhem, a proper name for a place so fully covered in blood. She didn't know how she could have wandered into such a place so fully covered in the things that she completely hated.

~~~~~

Raven sat quietly at the small table, a mug coffee sitting in front of her. She looked around the large room, a single grain of sand in a sea of many other chairs, tables, and few others. No matter how she looked at it, the place still reminded her of and Inn, and if it had been one, this would be the bar area. A cold fireplace adorned the wall farthest to the stairs where she had come down after dressing. She could tell that it was new, and never used, and she decided that it probably never would be. This place wasn't one for warm fires. To her left she saw Kaei standing behind the bar, wiping down the top with a cloth, seemingly thinking to herself.

Kaei had taken some time out of her duties after Raven had come down to talk to her, telling her what she could. As Raven looked up at the beams in the ceiling, she could see how this house could have been a mansion. Kaei had told her that it had once been, parts had been taken down, and it had been transformed into a sort of in, the lower floor made into the bar she was sitting in. It was still pretty new, since activities in Mayhem weren't the kind that would destroy a house over that much time. She had told her that the owner had decided to convert it into small rooms for the powerful vampires that lived within Mayhem, and there were many. Ather, Silver, Aubrey, Jager, Fala, Kaei had rattled them off, along with the names of some of their fledglings. The names really didn't mean anything to her, yet she had mad it a point to memorize them, knowing that she would probably need them for future reference. Kaei had also told her that most of them had their owns rooms around the same hallways that Raven had been in, the exact room being Kaei's, which she confessed to never really touching. It had been given to her long before by the owner of the house, whom she neglected to mention the name of.

Raven looked around the silent room again, remembering the other things Kaei had told her, the things that would probably save her life. She had said that Mayhem was mostly a strictly vampire town, the vampires within particularly strong ones, which was why not many humans lived within it's walls. It was like a den of wolves, and that was how the vampires really worked. Most of them had been turned because they desired power, some because of their love of killing, but most of them because they loved power. It was this fact that made them so dangerous. It caused them to have a real lack of comradeship between themselves, and each one worked on their own agendas. Their prides were especially delicate. The smallest thing could upset them and turn them on anyone. Some did have a sense of loyalty, though only to ones stronger then themselves. If you couldn't beat them, then you'd suck up to them, until the day you became stronger and over took them.

It was this need to have power that caused many vampires to take on fledglings, blood bonded or true vampire. It was fledglings that one had to be wary of, many of them were not very strong, and if you attacked one without knowing it's master, then most of the time you could be in for a nasty surprise. Though it might not be hard to kill a certain vampire, if you did, the maker could come after you in revenge, the act being a direct attack on their own power. This wasn't always the case, since sometimes a more powerful vampire would kill off fledglings of a weaker one. And in this case, it really wasn't in the best interest of the vampire to go tromping off for revenge, it could most likely get them killed. So some could care less if their fledglings died, whether it be out of their own weakness, or just lack of caring either way.

Raven thought about this and it made her stomach drop. She couldn't even imagine being Vailor's little lap dog. It made her sick to her stomach that any other creature would want to, and what he had had to do to the others whom he had already turned and loyal to him. This also spurred another conversation she had had with Kaei, the one that Kaei that suggested she take to heart, since she would most definitely need to heed and watch for.

Most vampires were extremely territorial, and even the slightest nudge of a certain someone's fledgling in their area could spur them into a fit of rage. This usually ending in the gruesome and painful death of the said fledgling, who was most of the time sent back to the maker as a warning sign, usually dead and in pieces. Fledglings were extremely loyal to their makers, and any one thing said negatively about them could cause anger to boil within them, causing them to get into a fight they really couldn't win. And sometimes, vampires would kill others fledglings just because they didn't like the maker, something that Raven was warned to watch out for.

She looked over and watched Kaei as she eyed the room suspiciously, doing the same in turn. She had no idea what Vailor's name meant in this town, whether it was something that could protect her, or get her killed in a millisecond. She hoped it was the latter, but there was a pit in her stomach now, and she couldn't seem to get it to go away. Kaei had told her that if Vailor's name was known, that sometimes there was nothing she could do to avoid being killed. But if she was lucky, kept her mouth shut, didn't kill anyone, and stayed low, maybe the others would ignore her. She hated this idea more then anything, because she hated to feel like prey, and this was like being a baby rabbit in a den full of vipers. Poor Kaei, she thought, she's had to live with it her intire life. It's was a surprise to her that the girl had found some way to not become the prey that she was supposed to be, and have that much anger in her towards the vampires without being killed.

A rabbit in a den of vipers…and me a young cobra. She thought, the intire thing disgusting her and making her stomach turn. She had already had her thoughts about leaving Mayhem, and realized that she didn't want to . Of course, she had a much larger chance of being killed here then anywhere else, yet she was scared, afraid that if left to herself, that Vailor would find her. That would be a thousand times worse then dying in this town. Here she had Kaei, someone she now considered an ally, if not somewhat a friend. And besides, here she felt, apart of something, not so alone as she had when she had been in the woods. The thought made her heart sink, but it was true. She hated loneliness almost as much as she hated being prey. Neither of which she was seeming to be able to get rid of.

Damn Vai…

Suddenly, a warm, tingling sensation overwhelmed her, her eyes clouding over, her body slumping forward a bit. She could feel the tides of never ending power wash over her like waves upon the sand. It was like electric energy that bathed her in a toxic feeling. She tried to regain her mind, but she was drowning in the sea of power that was coming from the area to her right, where Kaei was. As she tried to regain control she was able to un-cloud her eyes a bit, able now to see the person who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and was sitting on a chair in front of the bar.

His hair was cut abnormally short, to about the back of his neck, it's brown color highlighted by silver traces throughout, his black eyes staring intently as Kaei cleaned to counter, un-surprised. He was sleek and, powerful, she could feel it in the air that this was someone to be wary of, even if his lazed demeanor didn't say so.

Silver

The name flooded into her from some strange place. She didn't know how she knew it, but she did, his power told all. It washed over her and flowed through the room. As she looked around the room she noticed that she, Kaei, and Silver were now the only ones present, all others had scurried away at the sense of his power. Raven mentally smacked herself for not having her mind under as much control as she should have, or else she would have sensed him coming and been able to leave.

"So Kaei," She heard his tenor voice like a ring through the thick air. It was covered in honey, yet laced with venom. It had little effect on Kaei and she continued to work, giving him a nasty look from the corner of her eye. "What have you been up to?" He asked, leaning an arm against the bar and relaxing.

Kaei's response was to slam down a bottle she was cleaning from the shelf behind her, it's contents sloshing angrily within. "Nothing." She said, her voice filled with a sharp ice that could probably freeze his venom if he let it.

Silver chuckled lightly and leaned both elbows onto the table now, getting a better look at the young girl.

"You know my dear, it's a wonder that Jager puts up with you. It's that fieriness that could get you stuck into a really tight spot one day." He said, implying something threatening that caused Kaei gave him a look brimming with fire. She held no fear towards the vampire, so why was it that Raven was shaking in her skin by the mer touch of his presence?

He's ancient. She thought, realizing that what little information about the vampires Kaei had given her, she had mentioned Silver. He had been created in 6800 BC, a direct fledgling of Zadre, apparently creator of all vampires. She could sense that power within him, the heritage it carried, and for some reason, it struck a chord with the vampire blood within her.

"And you."

She had no time to react as the fog deteriorated and a huge gush of power flew at her, sending her flying into the wall twenty feet behind her. Chairs and tables were strewn every which way in her wake, as she landed hard against the plaster wall. She felt the pain shoot up her back like icy lightning, it's tendrils continuing down her body. She could smell blood coming from her nose, which she confirmed when she tried to wipe it away. The attack had taken her by surprise, and the pure fact that she wasn't dead, her spine in immense pain, astonished her. As she began to stand she looked towards Silver, seeing only Kaei staring back at her, nervously cleaning a bottle. She had only to wait an instant before she felt his strong hands clench around her neck trying to squish her windpipe, her body lifted so that she was fully standing. So, maybe Vailor's name was known in this town.

"Really Silver," Kaei said, moving from behind the counter, indignation and impatience showing in her voice an eyes. "She hasn't done anything wrong."

Raven's eyes went from Kaei to the black ones that were boring holes into her own. She couldn't help but show him fear and pain back, even though the real thoughts going through her head screamed for her to attack him, do something. But she couldn't, and she was too fearful of her life to even flinch.

Her breathing began to become ragged and she felt him loosen his grip a bit, still holding the pressure, but allowing her to breathe better.

"It's not what she's done." He said, his voice holding none of the honey and all of the venom it had possessed earlier. "It's what her damned maker did. Vailor, that bastard. It looks like he finally got the Shifter blood he was looking for though."

Raven was in shock. This was bad. Not only had her worse fears been realized, but this vampire seemed to know all about her, and Vailor. What had he done that was so bad? What was causing this vampire to lash out at her like he was?

She saw as Kaei's eyes widen in recognition of Vailor's name, giving a small snort as she put her hands on her hips. "You mean the Vailor? The one from Mid…"

Suddenly the pressure on Raven's throat was gone, and her hands flew to it, instantly trying to massage it back to health. As she looked up she saw that Kaei was now in the same position she had just been in, Silver instantaneously moving from the spot he had been in before. Except this time, Kaei showed only a tiny bit of surprise at his trick, the rest being a glare of true hatred. Raven could see the spot where he was grabbing her neck turn a slight color red, a bruise that would be far less serious then the one he had given her.

"You shut your mouth." Silver spat, giving her a death glare back and gripping her throat slightly tighter. "And unless you really want to get involved with the information of which you speak, you'd better watch what words you let slip out of it."

Kaei glared him down the intire time, waiting until his eye left hers and his hand had let go of her throat. She touched it in annoyance and gave Raven a quick glance to make sure she was still standing. She was, but her neck felt like it was on fire. She really hoped that it would heal.

Then there was a warm sounding chuckle from the bar, a sound foreign to Raven's ears. As she looked, she saw the handsome man sitting on the stool, his body turned to face the three people, his arms supporting him back wards on the bar. He was handsome by any standard, his dark blond hair falling to his shoulder, held back with a piece of cloth, as was the style these days. His outfit was dark colored, black breeches, dark shirt, gray stockings, and dark brown boot, different from Silvers' only in the colors and slightly lower class style.

Raven looked at Kaei as she gave off a look of almost embarrassment her eyes diverting down. Silver, on the other hand, crossed his arms over his chest, giving the man a look of both annoyance and indifference. Almost a brotherly look it seemed, one that surprised Raven, but made her ever more weary of the handsome man. It seemed that all the snakes in this den were not only strong, but flawlessly beautiful.

"Dear Kaei, you really should watch with whom you get into scuffles with." The man said, his voice a light sound, with somewhat of a depth to it. His, unlike Silver's, was not laced with honey, but with something much like laughter. He reminded Raven of a child, or a young gambler she had once seen in her other life. He seemed like a bold kind of person, and his voice gave him off as such. Yet he was not ignorantly so, as the way he held himself showed. She could see slight muscles beneath his shirt, and knew that she would not want to get into a fight with him, ever.

"We weren't having a scuffle." Kaei said, emphasizing the word, her voice a bit lighter in the new man's presence. "Silver was being a baby and picking on the little ones again." She said, giving a tiny glance in Raven's direction. No longer was she massaging her throat, but just standing as still as possible, trying to make herself inconspicuous. She had gotten closer to the bar, walking a few steps, but it didn't take the distance for her to better feel the new man's power as she had felt Silver's. It had been almost obsolete to her when he had first arrived, but now it was getting larger and booming in her ears.

Jager

Again she heard the whisper of the name in her head and just knew. His power was not as large as Silver's, and a bit younger, but just as ancient, and just as strong. She felt the cloud coming over her again. Jager was overpowering her just as Silver had, although he hadn't done it earlier, so she knew that he really wasn't one to flaunt his power like Silver. She saw him stare her way and began to nervously rub a spot on her left wrist. Jager noticed it too and stared into her eyes, his smile gone, replaced by somewhat the same anger that had taken over Silver before. Raven could just feel him sniffing her out, knowing that he smelled not only Vailor's blood in her, but her Shifter too. She could hear it clearly in his eyes.

"So" He said, not leaving her eyes but for a few seconds before looking over to Silver. "What are we going to do with that one." Silver began to open his mouth, but Kaei put her own voice in instead.

"Like I said." She spoke, moving between the two vampires towards the back of the bar as they stared her down. "She's done nothing wrong, and even I can tell that she's not that powerful. She won't ever be come to think of it, not if she's really one of his." Kaei said, returning to the back of the bar and putting back the bottle she had left there before. "So what's the point of doing anything with her?" She said, leaning her elbows on the bar, giving both vampires an innocent, pouting look, accenting it with pitifully fake smile as she finished her sentence.

Jager laughed out loud as he saw her face, standing from the chair he had been sitting on. Kaei stopped her smile and straightened up, giving him the death glare that had been hiding behind the innocence she was faking.

"Now Silver, you know I can't say no to that sincere attempt at flattery." Jager said, a smile still playing on his lips.

Silver sighed, relaxing his body and lowering his power to a low hum, as Jager had already done. "And as you know, I can not seem to say no to anything that you ask either." He said, giving Jager a brotherly grin, and Kaei a look of distaste, which she fired right back.

Raven stared dumbfounded at the scene before her. She knew they were discussing her imminent death, but she must have been miss-reading something. Had Kaei just saved her life? Could Kaei do that? She watched as the two vampires exchanged decision ending glances, and saw as Silver walked towards the outside exit, the dark oak door brooding in front of him. Yet before he left, he caught her eyes, holding them with a power just as strong as if he was holding her throat again.

I'm not naive Shifter. I know what you did to him, even if you don't, and you'd better watch where you step. If so much as sneeze wrong, I'll be on you faster then it would take me to break your neck.

Raven winced at the mental image he sent her, and at his overpowering voice in her head. Then there was a softer, yet just as strong one, Jager's voice echoing Silver's.

Remember my dear, snakes do bite. She turned her head towards him as he smiled, flashing her a view of his razor sharp fangs. He then gave a laugh which caught Kaei by slight surprise, and caused Raven to shudder.

Kaei snorted again as Silver vanished and Jager finished laughing, placing his hands in his pockets, heading for the door as well.

"Kaei, why don't you just put Raven in the room that I gave you, since you don't seem to use it too much." He said, heading out the door, closing it with a creak behind him.

Kaei followed him with a nasty look and stuck her tongue out, finding her way around the bar and to Raven. She was still standing, still rubbing that spot on her left wrist, as Kaei came up to her.

"Bastards," She said, grabbing her wrist so she couldn't rub it any more raw then it already was. "Look at what you're doing to yourself, quit it." She said, slapping Raven's hand down from reclaiming her arm. If Kaei noticed the tattoo on it, she didn't say anything, just massaged the spot and pulled her towards the stairs, back to the room.

"And look what that idiot did to my favorite dress. I swear, they can't even seem to breed any manners into those spawn can they."

Raven let Kaei drag her back up the stairs and into what was apparently, now her room. She listened to both their rushed heartbeats as Kaei gave her a new dress, tossing the old one in a corner, and putting some sweet smelling herb on her wrist and throat.

"You should be ok now." She said as she got Raven into the bed and readjusted the room a bit,. "Your throat's already healing, it should be perfectly fine with a few hours of rest, so don't even try to get up until I come back up to get you." She said, her voice a bit husky from wandering around the room, her heart still pounding a bit from the excitement that they had endured. She watched as Kaei extinguished the candles near the bed and headed for the door.

"Hey Kaei." She said, exhausted, her voice the tinniest bit raspy.

"Yeah, what is it." She answered back, one had on the door knob, the other holding the sodden dress.

"Thanks." She said, rolling over to her side.

She heard Kaei sigh as she left the room, leaving the door cracked a bit.

"You're very welcome." Echoed down the hall.

~~~~~

The following days went by without incident. Raven had slept off her injuries, and was healing as well, if not better, then expected. She was astounded at the rate it had taken her body to heal itself, not being able to remember any other time in her life that she had healed to fast. It comforted her a bit to know that she had some protection in the town, but also, served to reinforce in her mind, that she wasn't normal anymore.

She had decided to stay in the house, which she had found out was, if not Jager's property, his responsibility for the time being. It wasn't that she was afraid of the town, she felt that she really didn't have any reason to be out an about in it. Once or twice she had snuck out to run in her panther form, but even those moments ended all too quickly when she realized that she could be found. Besides, she had everything she needed right there. Kaei had been helping her out, explaining to her the points of the vampire culture that she really hadn't understood until then. And it seemed, as the days went by, that Raven herself was getting caught up in the inner workings.

Kaei was already as deep in it as she could get. She knew from the first day she had met her that there was something between Jager and her. Though Kaei would never admit it, Raven could see that she cared for him very much. She was unblinkingly loyal to him, whether it be getting into fights for him, which always ended in her having to be saved by him by some fledgling she had taken on, or even once, Ather. Ather was dangerous, and Raven had noticed her more then once around the house. She was usually followed, not far behind, by Aubrey. Darkly handsome as he was, yet twice as deadly. Raven's senses had grown immensely since the last she had used them, and she had noticed that even though Ather was a fledgling of Zadre, she really wasn't as all powerful as she supposed herself to be. She must have known this, because she had surrounded herself with Aubrey, and a few other powerful fledglings.

Raven had had her run in with Ather to last a lifetime, which had ended in a broken rib and a bloody nose. Apparently she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either that, or the fact that Ather would rather stare at Kaei behind the bar and not Raven. This had angered Ather into catching Raven when she wasn't looking and throwing her across the room, hitting the edge of the fire place hard. She had stayed down as Ather spat off obscenities at her. Kaei had helped her afterwards, but the wound healed without incident, and Raven continued her quiet role as a fill in for Kaei when she wasn't there.

Being the bartender really didn't involve anything, because it was extremely rare for anyone to really ask for anything. And if they did, it was usually a human being plucked for dinner, or a vampire who had gotten out of a particularly nasty fight. This was perfectly fine with her, since it gave her more time to watch the world around her, and practice her shielding of her aura. She had gotten quite good at it, and now new comers didn't even look at her with deathly glares anymore. She had learned hide the traces of Vailor's blood in her veins , probably because their connection had been severed so badly before. She could even hide the traces of her Shifter blood too, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was a blood-bonded. They could smell it like a disease on her, and she could sense it in very few others.

It was one of these days that she was actually serving a drink to someone when she heard a name she really didn't wish to hear anymore.

"So what about him?" She strained to hear what Jager was saying to the unknown vampire across from him a few tables from the bar, but she only had to concentrate a little more.

"Heard he was still running wild with those dogs of his." The vampire, young by the way he cowered under Jager's power, spoke with a hurried tone. He must have been one of a weaker vampire's line, she could barely sense anything in him.

"He refuses to return to, you know, says he's better then that. Also heard he was looking for some Shifter that got away from him. Said he blood-bonded the bitch before she slipped away."

Raven twitched as she saw Jager look at her out of the corner of his eye.

He's looking for you my dear. This guy knows where he saw him last, maybe I should…

No! She almost said out loud, in too much of a hurry to remember to do it mentally. She looked around her to see if anyone had heard, then turned to was a glass that she had already cleaned a minute before.

No. Please Jager, please don't. She sent him, mental begging something she really didn't like.

She heard him mentally sigh then turn his attention back to the guy in front of him.

It would be so much easier to throw you to the wolves, but Kaei likes you too much.

Raven smiled for her friend, who had recently been escalating her scuffles to every day occurrences. She wondered mentally what was going on with the girl. The night before had been somewhat of a rough night for her. She had come back to Raven's room, bloody and completely exhausted, Jager nowhere in sight. She hadn't wanted to talk about it, so Raven bandaged her up, let her have her bed, took a cot on the floor, and didn't say another word of it. Yet it was an odd occurrence that Jager hadn't accompanied her back. He was usually the one to bring her back in a giant mess, blood coming from at least three wounds each time. The girl had turned into a walking pin cushion.

Maybe it was the fact that she was thinking about her, but at that moment, Raven saw Kaei walk in through the front door, her right arm looking quite damaged, her eye withstanding a large cut beneath it. Raven didn't even wait for her to get five feet before she walked over to her, letting her lean on her shoulder for support.

"Another one Kaei?" She said, disdain in her voice.

As they walked past Jager and up the stairs, Raven saw him give Kaei a worried look, but nothing more. Kaei herself didn't even glance at him, anger growing then subsiding as they passed by and walked up the stairs to their room.

~~~~

"Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ow, Raven, watch where you poke that thing." Kaei was in her usual mood, anger mixed with exhaustion from the fight she had been in. Apparently she had gone some place she really wasn't supposed to be and had gotten caught. Not wanting to go down easy, she had put up a fight. Yet no vampire ever killed her, just wounded her pride. It was somewhat of a law in Mayhem. Mess with Kaei, and Jager will tear you to shreds. Sometimes Raven wondered if Kaei was running with the privilege.

"Jeez Kaei, what did you hit him with to make him so angry? A chair?" Raven said, wiping blood and putting save on her eye wound.

"Close." She said, trying not to twitch and get the gooey stuff in her eye. "The leg off of a broken table. The guy had the audacity to throw it at the wall before he came at me. Stupid leech." Raven sighed and walked to the desk to put the bandages away. When she turned back around, she saw Kaei sitting on the bed with her head down, hair covering her face. Raven walked slowly to her, knowing that all these fights were getting to her, and sat next to her on the bed.

"Kae? You really sure you don't want to tell me what's going on?" She asked, placing her hands in her lap and twiddling her fingers.

"I mean, we're all we've got and I really want to…"

"Hey Rav." Kaei said, using the nickname that she had given her a few days before. Raven stared at her, Kaei picking up her head a bit, a lone tear falling from her right eye.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me how you got in the place you're in right now? What's that tattoo on your wrist for? How come you can shape shift? I've seen you do it. How come.."

"Ok." Raven stopped her. Her hands were twiddling endlessly now, her distress showing on her face. "I get your point. No more questions."

They sat in silence for awhile, neither wanting to break the ice that had formed between them. Yet, Raven was wondering about so many things in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, she should ask. It wasn't killing her to know about Mayhem's secrets, so why couldn't see learn about the one's that were seeming to float around Vailor and her?

"Hey Kae." Raven said timidly, her hands slowing, but her mind still racing.

"Who. What do you know about Vailor? I mean, what have they told you? And what is this word that I keep half hearing?"

When Kaei didn't answer, Raven turned to her, desperate.

"Please Kae, I need to know."

Kaei sighed as she straightened up, wiping the tears from her eyes and pulling her hair back and out of her face. As she did she looked straight into Raven's eyes, almost looking for a reason to say anything she was about to spill. As her eyes wandered she let her stare go, apparently realizing that this girl wasn't going to use any of the information against her.

"The word is Midnight, and it's a vampire town pretty far from here. Though I'm guessing not far enough, because all the vamps around this area can't stand it."

Raven listened intently, wondering what another vampire town could have to do with Vailor.

"Apparently it's a town full of vampires who enslave humans. They do everything there, break them like horses and dogs, use them as pure prey fodder, breed them. It's disgusting really, humans cut down like that. Even in Mayhem we have some respects allowed to us, but not there. There all humans are lower beings, rodents."

Raven's eyes widened, it was something she could expect from vampires, but to be told that it actually happened, it was almost unthinkable.

Kaei moved herself to lean against the headboard of the bed, resting her apparently aching head against the back.

"Midnight hates Mayhem because they think the vamps are weak, living among humans when they should be ruling them. And Mayhem hates Midnight, believing that it's loudness will be the death of the intire vampire world. I mean, it's true, slavery isn't something that humans are against, but it's something that they at least treat with some respect. Midnight doesn't, not at all.

"And me? I couldn't give a damn. I hope those damn witches find both places. I hope they kill every single vamp and burn this town alive. That's the only thing that they deserve."

Kaei sighed in frustration, and Raven moved to sit on the bed completely, her head still down, her hands smoothing out her dress.

"But that's not the point, is it?" She asked meekly, not wanting Kaei to stop talking.

"No, it's not. The point is, is that your vamp, this Vailor guy, used to be a trainer in Midnight. A pretty ruthless one I hear, even though he apparently had horrible methods and left after some fight with the Midnight leader whore."

Raven stared, shocked. She couldn't put the act past him, but couldn't believe it none-the less.

"And apparently he made a really stupid mistake. You see, no one knows about Midnight's existence except the vamps that live in it, and maybe a few human families. That used to be the case with Mayhem too, no one knew about it either. Well, at least until about two years ago when the idiot starting going around attacking some human towns and Shifter villages. Made too much noise and attracted the attention of some witches, I think it was the Vidas, or maybe an Arun or two. Anyway, they followed him around, tracking him, eventually they ended up finding Mayhem when they tracked him to a small town not too far from here, maybe ten minutes to the north. It didn't take them long to realize that the black rose bush wasn't some coincidence."

Raven pulled up her own memory of the bush, remembering how it had smelled of death. She knew little about witches, but knew that they had a sixth sense almost as good as vampires. So the bush must have been a huge sign.

"Ever since, then, this town's had it's share of witch attacks. They've gone down since Silver's made a home here, but they still happen once in awhile. The vamps can't stand that they've been found, especially not by the witches. So it's safe to say that they hate Vailor. Actually, it's a word worse then hate, but I don't think there is one in our language. You're very lucky Raven."

She looked up at Kaei at this, her eyes curious.

"I was so sure that Silver was going to mutilate you that day. I can't believe he actually listened to me. Me, my only resource that damned Jager leech."

Raven smiled a thank you at the girl and noticed tattoo on her wrist again. Fond memories always came to her when she looked at it, no matter how covered in blood they were. She could still remember that day, and even, strangely, the words the Shadow had spoken that night.

…your soul was not born as just yours, but as one linked to all…you are a vessel of your Shifter gods, a child of Verian above, and Demortai below…

Was she truly beginning to realize what it had said to her that night? Maybe, but her mind was still fuzzy, still so fresh with the experience. Only time could ever tell.

"This." She said, breaking the silence and holding up her left wrist, palm forward. "Is the symbol of my clan. Diometra. We were panthera shifters. Apparently our name was originally the pantheraste, but I guess we had to split the name apart, since there used to be more then just one clan of us. But we were the last."

She watched as Kaei stared with her usual cold eyes, interest showing in the slightest in brown sparks around the edges.

"My mother gave this to me, during our adulthood ceremony, Retearn. I can still remember her face, so gentle and kind."

Her eyes began to water, but no tears fell. It was an odd feeling, but one she knew she would have to get used to.

"You know." Kaei said, her voice a bit husky from pure exhaustion. "You could rip that off your skin. Sure it would hurt, but it would heal quicker then I'm sure even your panthera body would have."

Raven looked up at her, staring back down at the tattoo on her wrist. So she could feel the pain that had also come with her memories. But even if she knew that her memories here harsh, she couldn't know the joy that they brought her, even when she was so low. Raven shook her head, her eyes telling her that she was getting sleepy.

"I don't want to forget where I came from Kaei, I really don't. No matter how painful the past might be. I do have some hope that something good will come out of all of this."

Kaei smiled weakly at her, straightening herself up as she pulled her silver necklace from around her neck.

"Well," She said, placing the metal symbol around Raven's neck and tying the string behind it. "At least one of us should. I'm afraid I don't have any hope left to give to you, even though you seem to have enough. And I'm also afraid I'm disgracing this necklace by wearing it."

Raven waited as Kaei moved away, then looked down at the silver object. It was a pagan star, an internity symbol hanging connected to it below. She stared at Kaei, pleading in her eyes.

"No please, keep it." She said, sliding back to the back of the bed. "My grand mother was Pagan, my mother too. Before she died she gave it to me. She told to me wear it with hope. Hope, that no matter what, we were our true selves always, the thing we were born as. I'm afraid that I really don't hold that truth to myself anymore. Too much has happened to me. My mother was an idealist, and I just don't feel right lying to her ghost by wearing that thing."

Raven stared back at her, pity in her eyes. Kaei just gave her a death glare back and slipped under the covers, Raven still on top of them. Getting the message, Raven moved off of the bed, her cot seeming more welcoming then it had ever been.

"Thanks Kae." She said, snuffing out the candles and making her way effortlessly in the dark to the cot. All she received back was a light moan, and she could sense that Kaei had fallen asleep. She too fell asleep not long after, her left hand clutching the necklace, a small smile across her face.

~~~~

"I'm tired of her Jager! I've dealt with her all of this time only because you asked me too, but she's becoming a real pest. Either you turn her, or stop her in anyway you find fit. So help me, if you don't , I will. And I'll make sure that it's not pleasant, I hold no pity for that girl."

The two vampires sat in silence then. Silver sitting behind an old desk in the chair, looking angrily at a light scar on his arm, Jager sitting on the desk itself. His black eyes were down cast at the floor, an emotion which could be called worry in them, his lips forming no trace of the smile he usually carried.

"I see." He said, standing from the desk. "And what if I decide to forget about this little conversation? You did bring that on yourself. I told you not to play with her so harshly." He said, folding his arms over his chest.

This caused Silver to stand abruptly, his demeanor going from slightly annoyed to infuriated in less then a second. The air hung with his power and caused the window behind him to crack ominously.

"No Jager." Silver's tone was stone now, his eye giving a look that could have killed a human. "You brought this on all of us. It was enough that we had to deal with Vailor exposing us, but now we've got your little human bitch too. I will not stand by and watch this fall to the ground."

"I don't see what your getting so upset about." Jager said, still facing the opposite way. "You could always just leave this place. You and I both. We really don't need the headaches it's causing."

Silver sighed, his anger ebbing away. As he sat back down in his chair he relaxed, crossing one leg over the other, his elbow resting on the chair arm.

"Ah, but you forget, I have a reputation to uphold. Though you may not care about what things you throw away, I do. And this town is too good for that."

Jager nodded, walking towards the door as he decided that he was done.

"Jager." Silver's voice was a warning, one that Jager was going to be forced to head.

"I understand."

~~~~

Forced upon loathe bar duty again, Raven was officially bored. She had resorted to making small glasses fall over with what power she was able to muster from her Shifter and vampire blood. It had been fun in the beginning, but now it was just getting tiresome. There was only a certain extent she would go to also, before she found the limit of her power and was forced to stop. As she eyed the quarter filled room, she stared at the walls adjacent to the fire place. Some genius had decided that placing mirrors would be a fun thing to do, and Raven was already wishing that she had enough power to crack them into dust.

Probably Ather. She thought. That freak has an intire room with those damn things in it.

As she thought of Ather, she caught a glimpse of Aubrey, his dark brown hair pulled back in a pony tail, and gave him a dirty look. A habit that she had gotten from Kaei, and one she was quite enjoying. He ignored her and sent an image of her dead body on the dirt road outside of the house, one that she had seen in many different guises by many other vampires during the three or so months she had been there. She shrugged it off and began to clean the bar top, which was in no need of it, but Raven was bored.

As if on cue, Kaei walked in through the front door, smelling of a strange scent, her dress dirty.

Well at least she wasn't fighting. Raven thought, putting down the rage and resting her arms on the bar.

"What is it?" She asked as Kaei came and sat down on one of the stools, her eyes strangely calm and organized.

"Where's Jager?" She asked, her eyes not moving from the spot she had decided was the most interesting on the bar top.

"Umm, I dunno. I think he's out hunting. He was looking pale the other day."

"And Silver?"

"The same probably." She said, concern growing in her eyes. She looked with curiosity at the girl in front of her, who's eyes still hadn't moved. "Kaei, what's going on?"

She watched as Kaei's eyes shifted, their gaze looking distant, yet calm and knowledge filled.

"Get out of here Raven." She said, finally raising her eyes to meet her friends again. Raven's own eyes widened from the look that Kaei gave her. It was full of hopelessness and pain. The kind of feelings that would cause anybody to do stupid things. Really, stupid things.

"Kaei I..."

"This place is going to go up in less then five minutes. I already started the first fire in the barn down the street. You only have five minutes."

Raven's eyes were panicked now, not comprehending what Kaei was saying. But then it all began to make sense. The fights, all caused by Kaei being in places where she really wasn't supposed to be, the smell on her body was recognizable now. Gun powder, alcohol, all things that would catch fire and burn quickly.

She had been setting up the fires for weeks, almost a month. And it had been made easier with Jager not breathing down her neck all the time. She had done something early on to endanger their relationship, all to be able to be alone to start the fires. Raven didn't have to pretend, she knew that Kaei loved him, or at least, admired him, the fact that he was a vampire tearing away at her. She had been born into a world of sorrow by being born in Mayhem, a town infested with them, and later, taken over by them. She had grown her intire life hating them, and now, she had gotten involved with the one thing she hated. It seemed logical that she would want to burn away the scars. And as Raven looked deeper into her eyes, she knew that Kaei was hell bound to go down with them.

"It gets worse." The sound startled Raven out of her thoughts, her eyes shifty in near panic. "I saw him Rav, near the edge of the town. He's back."

Raven froze. She couldn't move. How? Why hadn't she sensed it before? But she could now, it was faint, but it was gnawing at her stomach, the tight, tense feeling that he was there.

"Go Raven. Leave this place. Don't come back if you know what's good for you."

She never even looked back at Kaei. Her progress was slow because of her shock, but as she closed the door of the bar behind her, all her sense came to life, and she could feel him close by.

"Too close."

She whirled and struggled as he came after her, her mind in a panic, not believing that she hadn't sensed him less then ten feet away. But as his hand grabbed her arm, she knew why, and knew that even Jager and Silver would not be able to know he was there. He had lowered his power to unimaginable levels, so low, that it hummed only as loudly as the blood she carried within her own body. She tried to struggle as he drug her away from the bar, from the other houses, to the edge of the forest where he shoved her against and tree and pinned her. Her neck was fully bared to him, and she could see all the memories coming back, flooding her mind like a natural disaster ready to level a town.

No. Please stop.

I told you. His voice echoed. I told you I'd find you, and look where it ended up being. Too bad your little friend can't call for Jager or Silver. Looks like she's got her own problems.

She could feel his laughter reverberating off of the fangs that were so close to her neck. So close, that the moment they pierced her neck, she didn't even know that he had been that close to her. The bite was painful, since he was adamant on teaching her a lesson about running away, but it also triggered something else in her mind, something she really didn't expect to find.

The last. The voice was deep within her, clawing to get to the surface. She could tell that it would never really, feeling the mental barrier that was between her new self, and her Shifter blood, which carried the Shadow in it's wake.

I never thought …I'd see the day…that the last… would fail…prove me …wrong

You may not…remain this way…forever…but for now…prove me wrong…

As the Shadow died within her, Raven knew that it took with it the last traces of her clan, her heritage. Yet for some reason, she didn't feel so alone anymore. The Shadow was dead, but it had merged within her, empowering her, if only for that moment, to do something she knew would be hard.

She broke from his grasp screaming in pain, the side of her neck burning with gruesome agony. She used all the energy she could muster to try and knock him out mentally, which only succeeded in making him fall over, as if being struck by a small lightening bolt. And as she ran, she clutched at her neck, trying to stop the bleeding, her other hand grabbing at her skirts so she wouldn't trip as she ran.

She returned to the town in less then a minute, smells flooding her senses. The wind carried burning pieces of wood in it's updraft, causing the fires, which had already spread throughout the town and nearly all the buildings, to burn hotter and faster. Her eyes burned and her mouth cried for water, but she had no time, or place, to stop. The strangest thing that caught her attention, was the lack of any real noise within the town. A human town would have been full of the screams of the dying, the fleeing of those in the houses. But this was Mayhem, no sounds, except for the crackling of the flames, came from the houses. Every now and then a person could be seen running from a falling house, none of them in a real panic or state of confusion. The mental silence was becoming unbearable, and almost ghost like in a town which, minute before, had screamed of the terrors it had caused. Now it just stood like a dying monument, it's walls hardly being cleansed by the flames licking at it.

Raven saw him before she sensed him, and Silver sensed Vailor before he even knew who he was seeing in front of him. The fight she had been in had caused Vailor to drop his shields, making him a blind target to Silver, who passed Raven with little distinction, yet let his unpleasant state known by flinging her to the ground a few feet away. Luckily, she missed any of the falling debris, and rose to her feet rather quickly, staring off into the area in which he had stalked. She wondered if he would find Vailor, wondered if he did, if her body could survive the ordeal of the vampire blood within her dying along with the vampire. But she shook those ideas quickly from her head as she began to run in the opposite direction. Far from the burning Mayhem, and far, far away from Vailor.

~~~~~

The second time she ran away from him, she didn't run as far as she had the first time. This time she had stayed in the territory, fleeing only thirty miles to a quiet town south of the now gone, Mayhem. She had stayed there for little more then two weeks, only using it as a place to rest and get her bearings back. The town itself was small, but not so small that she was overly recognized as an outsider, and had taken a room in the local inn for which she had remained inconspicuous during that time. Although the keeper had looked at her with a strange eye when she had come in that first night, completely dirty, holes in her dress and stockings, his wife had taken pity on her and found her all new clothes to wear.

Now, as she walked maybe a mile from where Mayhem had been, leaving the town and it's people behind days before, she wondered if she should have just stayed where she was. She couldn't sense Vailor anywhere near old Mayhem, but that hadn't stopped him from finding her the last time. She hoped that Silver had found him, and at least scared him enough that he would know better then to hang around the town any longer then was welcome, which was none. This was one reason she was going back, because it was a place she knew Vailor was not. Two, because the thought of Kaei was pulling her there.

The poor girl. She had suffered so much, and now this. Deep down she had had no fear for Kaei's life that night, because she knew that Jager would have nothing with her dying. Even if he never admitted it or showed it, he cared for the girl very much. And as Raven got within sights range of the charred remains of the town, her suspicion was correct. She sighed as she felt Kaei's presence, though muted as it was, mixed with Silver's and Jager's as well. They were still there, somewhere, though she couldn't see them, but they could probably see her. She searched Kaei's aura again and realized that her blood was no longer her own. Much like her own blood, she could feel it diluted by something more pure, more powerful.

Jager. She thought. He blood-bonded her.

Punishment probably, Kaei would have never stood for it consciously.

So this is where it ends? She thought again, staring down at her left wrist, her right hand subconsciously playing with Kaei's necklace around her neck.

this is where it begins… She heard echoed within the blood in her that was still Shifter.

"Right." She said out loud. "Begins."

With that, Raven left the town behind her. Her memories of what happened there shoved in the back of her mind, things she knew she would forget, yet always remember.

~~~~~

"You know Silver." Jager said, his arms folded over his chest, smile again on his face. "You could kill her now if you wanted to. She's right there."

He watched as Silver pondered the idea, then shook it off his mind.

"We have more important things to think about right now." He said, motioning towards the town. "We have a town to rebuild."

Jager nodded, giving a quick glance to Kaei, who was asleep on the ground a few feet from him. She would wake up with a headache, nothing more. He had tried to be as gentle, both mentally and physically to her, when he had bonded her, but she had still struggled and put herself in a rut over it.

Silver noticed this, but paid it no mind, since Jager had done a version of what he had asked of him, and he had no authority over the situation now.

"Besides," He said, a smile playing on his lips. "It might be fun to see what she does. She's no threat to us, and if anyone wants to kill her, it wouldn't be that hard."

Jager nodded, the idea of Raven causing more for him to laugh at an intriguing idea, and one that he would let sift around as long as need be.

"You get Vailor this time?" Jager then asked, his demeanor changing, his expression also hardening.

Silver shook his head, a no. "Damn bastard slipped again, probably after her. But he isn't stupid enough to follow her back here, he's probably on the other side of the country now, his pride was severely wounded….again."

Jager nodded again, this time gently bending down to pick up Kaei, her form like a rag doll in his arms. "Think he'll be back anytime soon?"

"Not for awhile. Twice in a row will be enough to cause him to rethink his plans. That one's gotten under his skin." Silver said, walking with Jager as they surveyed the devastation.

"And to think," Jager said as they walked. "Jeshickah actually thought he had something there, breeding Shifters in with their misbegotten slave trade."

Silver gave off a sound almost like a snort, doing so as he kicked away a piece of wood that used to be a beam to a house. "They were going too far. Shifter's are too risky, too wild. She thought it was a good idea, until it came back and bit her in the ass."

Jager just uh-huhed in response and then disappeared, Silver not far behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I FINISHED!! Well not quite. There's a short Epilouge in which certain things are going to be explained in my Author's note. It is also going to serve as an introduction into the sequel to Tainted Vengeance called Blue Blooded-Nothing, featuring Amelia as the main character.
I have no idea when I'll get to that story, but I'll be sure to work on it. Till the Epilouge, ta ta!

Note: All physical descriptions of Silver and Jager are pending. I looked until my eyes hurt, but I couldn't find a single physical description of either of them in Amy's books. So for now they will look the way I want them to look, when I find out what Amelia has them described as, I'll edited this chapter.

-Your authoress, Sara Angeldust

p.s. I love comments!! Love my writing? Think it sucks? Do you have advice for me? Love my story plot? Hate my story plot? Any and all comments can be e-mailed to me at saiyengirl613@yahoo.com, or leave one in my guestbook. Arigatou!