Chapter III: Kraven
Two of Lucian's guns were lying on the table near the front door, and I snatched them up. The room full of lycans looked up at me as I ran through the room and I paused by the door to look back at them. They held my gaze for a moment, before looking away...they knew where I was going, and they knew that I might not return.
Pushing through the front door and into the cold night air, I glanced up at the moon. I could feel the cold steel of my blades still tucked into the straps on my boots. Lucinda knew better than to strip me of my weapons even when I was injured. I had a tendency for running out like I just had as soon as I woke up. There was always revenge to be served.
Breaking into a run, I followed the path down to the forest and headed back towards the city. I knew enough of Kraven from his dirty dealings with Lucian to know where he was headed. A coward could only seek refuge in one place; with other cowards. There was a small band of vampires on the outskirts of the forest that would take him in. Disowned from the covenant for crimes ranging from petty to a cold blooded murder of one of the oldest vampires, these cowards had hidden away, tucked between the vampiric aura of the city and the lycan refuge of my mothers mansion. They took no sides and hated both vampires and lycans equally. They were much like the dwarves of Narnia...they fought only for themselves, and look where that got the dwarves.
Kraven would undoubtedly be welcome there. Although he had previously been their enemy, he had also just killed Lucian and aided in the downfall of Viktor. This little band of vampires would be most pleased. They would fight for him. I didn't really care. I had Lucian's bullets...the vampires had no hope. These vampires had always survived on the lycans aversion to directly starting a fight. While I didn't want to waste the bullets on Kraven, I had no trouble with destroying every other vampire in the house.
It loomed in front of me, growing straight out of the forest. I was immediately able to detect Kraven's scent lingering around the house. Wandering carelessly towards the front door, I snickered in amusement. In his terror of being chased, Kraven had nearly knocked down the door. Whatever human had invented the "being invited" rule for vampires had apparently never had a vampire barge in on them.
I knew that I was being careless, walking in such clear view of the vampires. They knew that I was out there, and they were undoubtedly scrambling for their weapons. But you see, I had lived for Lucian for the past six centuries. Lucian and Raze had been my dearest friends, and now they were both slain. So I guess it's understandable that I was feeling more than a little suicidal.
What remained of the door snapped like a toothpick from the force of my boot slamming into it, and I stepped into the room. Dimly lit and covered in dust, how appropriate; seemingly forgotten, like these vampires. I fondled Lucian's guns in my hands and smiled, the ultra-violet glow casting a ghastly light on my fangs. An unarmed vampire cowered in the corner, and before he could flee I pumped two ultra-violet bullets into his stomach and chest.
"Damn," I murmured in admiration as the vampire's skin broke open, burning from the inside out. His screams filled the house and I could hear his kin running to save him, but it was too late. His ashes fell to the ground, smoking violently. That was the first time that I had seen Lucian's precious bullets in action, and I could now see why he favored them so.
The vampires burst into the room from all directions, and I shot the first one directly in the skull. Every vampire froze as the blue light seeped out from behind their buddy's eyes, and burned through his body. They looked at me nervously, and a few of them dropped their guns. As they backed away, I sighed.
"Oh honestly. Aren't you even going to fight me?" I snapped, stepping further into the room. The vampires pressed up against the wall, obviously hoping that if they did not attack me I would not kill them. They didn't know me very well. "Well, alright then, if you insist."
I opened fire. I obviously couldn't kill all of them, but I would take out as many as I possibly could. I was ruthless when I was pissed off. The room began to glow with an eerie blue light as the vampires burned up, one by one. With each bullet my anger grew as I wished that Lucian was by my side, joining in my massacre. I always wished that he was by my side when I killed, but he rarely was. Lucian was a much nobler lycan than I was.
Having wasted one gun of bullets, I dropped it to the ground and lowered the other gun. It contained two bullets, and I decided to save them. My knives couldn't kill Kraven, and I didn't want them too. I wanted him to know how it fucking felt to have poison shot directly into his bloodstream. I wanted him to suffer the way that Lucian suffered, and I was damn good at delivering pain.
Kraven stood cowering in the doorway, blood still trickling from his leg. I could smell Lucian on him, even over the stench of vampires, and I growled. I had always hated smelling Kraven on Lucian, but now to smell Lucian on Kraven...it was even worse. "Hello Kraven," I sneered, stepping through the ashes of fallen vampires towards him. The remaining vampires fled the room, even though I was nearly out of bullets. Like I said, a coward seeks refuge with cowards.
"Hello Melina," he sneered back, and in the back of my mind I wondered why he wasn't running. "Here to take revenge on your little dog Lucian?" he asked, and I suppressed the urge to pounce him and rip his balls off with my bare hands.
"You know me too well," I said silkily, letting the gun hang loosely in my hand. I felt lazy almost, like a cat. Nothing was going to stop me from having my revenge now.
"Yeah, but you don't know me well enough," he said. I paused in my steps, confused, when he pulled a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at me. I felt my eyes grow wide as I finally remembered the silver nitrate bullets, and I went to raise my gun but it was too late; Kraven pulled the trigger.
Click.
I felt my breath go out in a deep guttural laugh, and for the first time Kraven's eyes showed a flicker of fear. "You wasted all of your bullets on Lucian," I laughed, feeling the laziness return.
"And Michael," Kraven responded, and I just shrugged.
"A lot of good that did," I said, stepping closer to him again. Kraven took a step back, but before he could get anywhere I was on top of him. My hand wrapped itself around his throat, pressing against his esophagus. Kraven glared up at me, the fear evident in his eyes.
"How did you know I was here?" he asked, and I gave a heartless chuckle.
"You're a bloody coward Kraven, you had nowhere else to go. Anyway, I'm a lycan remember? I have like, one million smell sensors per nostril. I would've smelled you the second that I entered the forest?" I spat, relaxing my hold on his throat slightly so that he could respond.
"Are you going to shoot me with those super bullets of yours?" he sneered, and I nodded with a serious expression.
"Oh yes. But not yet," my face relaxed into a smile, and I reached down and pulled my knives out from my boot. I waved them in front of his face, and Kraven paled. "And your wonderful healing skills will only let me torture you for longer," I crooned. Straddling him, I ripped his shirt wide open and he cringed. "Enjoying yourself?" I whispered darkly, and Kraven spat in my face.
"Never," he replied, and I smacked him with such force that a bruise immediately began to blossom on his cheek and blood spurt out of his mouth.
"Good," I snapped, pressing the blade against his chest. I bent down and gently sniffed his skin, sneering darkly. "You reek of Lucian," I growled, pressing the blade through his skin. Kraven cried out as his blood poured over his chest and down his stomach, soaking through my pants. "Get used to it," I said as I snapped open a rib with my blade. "You're going to be here all night."
-----------------------------------------------------------
I stood up and surveyed my work. Kraven lay at my feet, whimpered like a wounded child. Having already been weakened by Lucian's blade and his own terror, any attempts to fight me through the course of the night were quickly dealt with. I had taken my time with him, allowing his wounds time to heal before I sliced them back open again. The sun was rising now though, and even if I dragged him into a room without windows he would soon die from his blood loss.
"Alright, Kraven," I said, glancing out of the window at the sliver of light that was beginning to shine through the trees. "I'll kill you now," I muttered without looking at him, for I know that a look of gratitude would've been on his face.
"The vampires will hate you for it," Kraven hissed, and I turned around with a surprised expression. "They will want to kill me themselves for abandoning the covenant," he growled, and I laughed.
"You poor, pathetic moron. Don't you realize that your kind has hated me since the day I was born? They won't hate me any more for taking the satisfaction of killing you away from them. After all, Selene let me come to you," I smirked. At the mention of her name Kraven's face contorted into an expression of rage, and I sighed. I might as well kill him now, with her image imprinted in his mind.
A bullet slammed into his brain, and I pumped the other one into his heart. His screams filled the air, rising to a deafening crescendo. "Poor Kraven," I spat, walking over to him; Lucian had not screamed like he was. As the blue light poisoned his veins, I kneeled over him and stared into his eyes. Knocking the gun lightly against his chest, I smirked. "Lucian helped make these, you know," I crooned. Kraven only screamed in response, his features starting to burn up. "Leave it to you to steal his idea," I yelled, trying to force my words through his now ashen ears.
Standing up, I stared at the mess before me. All that was left of Kraven was a pile of ashes melted with the leather of his clothes and sticky with his spilled blood. I felt a jarring of satisfaction roam through my body, but to my dismay I still felt empty. I may have avenged Lucian's death, but he was still dead.
Without bothering to even retrieve my blades, I stepped into the sunlight and headed away from Kraven's ashes and towards my mother's house, where Lucian's body lay.
Two of Lucian's guns were lying on the table near the front door, and I snatched them up. The room full of lycans looked up at me as I ran through the room and I paused by the door to look back at them. They held my gaze for a moment, before looking away...they knew where I was going, and they knew that I might not return.
Pushing through the front door and into the cold night air, I glanced up at the moon. I could feel the cold steel of my blades still tucked into the straps on my boots. Lucinda knew better than to strip me of my weapons even when I was injured. I had a tendency for running out like I just had as soon as I woke up. There was always revenge to be served.
Breaking into a run, I followed the path down to the forest and headed back towards the city. I knew enough of Kraven from his dirty dealings with Lucian to know where he was headed. A coward could only seek refuge in one place; with other cowards. There was a small band of vampires on the outskirts of the forest that would take him in. Disowned from the covenant for crimes ranging from petty to a cold blooded murder of one of the oldest vampires, these cowards had hidden away, tucked between the vampiric aura of the city and the lycan refuge of my mothers mansion. They took no sides and hated both vampires and lycans equally. They were much like the dwarves of Narnia...they fought only for themselves, and look where that got the dwarves.
Kraven would undoubtedly be welcome there. Although he had previously been their enemy, he had also just killed Lucian and aided in the downfall of Viktor. This little band of vampires would be most pleased. They would fight for him. I didn't really care. I had Lucian's bullets...the vampires had no hope. These vampires had always survived on the lycans aversion to directly starting a fight. While I didn't want to waste the bullets on Kraven, I had no trouble with destroying every other vampire in the house.
It loomed in front of me, growing straight out of the forest. I was immediately able to detect Kraven's scent lingering around the house. Wandering carelessly towards the front door, I snickered in amusement. In his terror of being chased, Kraven had nearly knocked down the door. Whatever human had invented the "being invited" rule for vampires had apparently never had a vampire barge in on them.
I knew that I was being careless, walking in such clear view of the vampires. They knew that I was out there, and they were undoubtedly scrambling for their weapons. But you see, I had lived for Lucian for the past six centuries. Lucian and Raze had been my dearest friends, and now they were both slain. So I guess it's understandable that I was feeling more than a little suicidal.
What remained of the door snapped like a toothpick from the force of my boot slamming into it, and I stepped into the room. Dimly lit and covered in dust, how appropriate; seemingly forgotten, like these vampires. I fondled Lucian's guns in my hands and smiled, the ultra-violet glow casting a ghastly light on my fangs. An unarmed vampire cowered in the corner, and before he could flee I pumped two ultra-violet bullets into his stomach and chest.
"Damn," I murmured in admiration as the vampire's skin broke open, burning from the inside out. His screams filled the house and I could hear his kin running to save him, but it was too late. His ashes fell to the ground, smoking violently. That was the first time that I had seen Lucian's precious bullets in action, and I could now see why he favored them so.
The vampires burst into the room from all directions, and I shot the first one directly in the skull. Every vampire froze as the blue light seeped out from behind their buddy's eyes, and burned through his body. They looked at me nervously, and a few of them dropped their guns. As they backed away, I sighed.
"Oh honestly. Aren't you even going to fight me?" I snapped, stepping further into the room. The vampires pressed up against the wall, obviously hoping that if they did not attack me I would not kill them. They didn't know me very well. "Well, alright then, if you insist."
I opened fire. I obviously couldn't kill all of them, but I would take out as many as I possibly could. I was ruthless when I was pissed off. The room began to glow with an eerie blue light as the vampires burned up, one by one. With each bullet my anger grew as I wished that Lucian was by my side, joining in my massacre. I always wished that he was by my side when I killed, but he rarely was. Lucian was a much nobler lycan than I was.
Having wasted one gun of bullets, I dropped it to the ground and lowered the other gun. It contained two bullets, and I decided to save them. My knives couldn't kill Kraven, and I didn't want them too. I wanted him to know how it fucking felt to have poison shot directly into his bloodstream. I wanted him to suffer the way that Lucian suffered, and I was damn good at delivering pain.
Kraven stood cowering in the doorway, blood still trickling from his leg. I could smell Lucian on him, even over the stench of vampires, and I growled. I had always hated smelling Kraven on Lucian, but now to smell Lucian on Kraven...it was even worse. "Hello Kraven," I sneered, stepping through the ashes of fallen vampires towards him. The remaining vampires fled the room, even though I was nearly out of bullets. Like I said, a coward seeks refuge with cowards.
"Hello Melina," he sneered back, and in the back of my mind I wondered why he wasn't running. "Here to take revenge on your little dog Lucian?" he asked, and I suppressed the urge to pounce him and rip his balls off with my bare hands.
"You know me too well," I said silkily, letting the gun hang loosely in my hand. I felt lazy almost, like a cat. Nothing was going to stop me from having my revenge now.
"Yeah, but you don't know me well enough," he said. I paused in my steps, confused, when he pulled a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at me. I felt my eyes grow wide as I finally remembered the silver nitrate bullets, and I went to raise my gun but it was too late; Kraven pulled the trigger.
Click.
I felt my breath go out in a deep guttural laugh, and for the first time Kraven's eyes showed a flicker of fear. "You wasted all of your bullets on Lucian," I laughed, feeling the laziness return.
"And Michael," Kraven responded, and I just shrugged.
"A lot of good that did," I said, stepping closer to him again. Kraven took a step back, but before he could get anywhere I was on top of him. My hand wrapped itself around his throat, pressing against his esophagus. Kraven glared up at me, the fear evident in his eyes.
"How did you know I was here?" he asked, and I gave a heartless chuckle.
"You're a bloody coward Kraven, you had nowhere else to go. Anyway, I'm a lycan remember? I have like, one million smell sensors per nostril. I would've smelled you the second that I entered the forest?" I spat, relaxing my hold on his throat slightly so that he could respond.
"Are you going to shoot me with those super bullets of yours?" he sneered, and I nodded with a serious expression.
"Oh yes. But not yet," my face relaxed into a smile, and I reached down and pulled my knives out from my boot. I waved them in front of his face, and Kraven paled. "And your wonderful healing skills will only let me torture you for longer," I crooned. Straddling him, I ripped his shirt wide open and he cringed. "Enjoying yourself?" I whispered darkly, and Kraven spat in my face.
"Never," he replied, and I smacked him with such force that a bruise immediately began to blossom on his cheek and blood spurt out of his mouth.
"Good," I snapped, pressing the blade against his chest. I bent down and gently sniffed his skin, sneering darkly. "You reek of Lucian," I growled, pressing the blade through his skin. Kraven cried out as his blood poured over his chest and down his stomach, soaking through my pants. "Get used to it," I said as I snapped open a rib with my blade. "You're going to be here all night."
-----------------------------------------------------------
I stood up and surveyed my work. Kraven lay at my feet, whimpered like a wounded child. Having already been weakened by Lucian's blade and his own terror, any attempts to fight me through the course of the night were quickly dealt with. I had taken my time with him, allowing his wounds time to heal before I sliced them back open again. The sun was rising now though, and even if I dragged him into a room without windows he would soon die from his blood loss.
"Alright, Kraven," I said, glancing out of the window at the sliver of light that was beginning to shine through the trees. "I'll kill you now," I muttered without looking at him, for I know that a look of gratitude would've been on his face.
"The vampires will hate you for it," Kraven hissed, and I turned around with a surprised expression. "They will want to kill me themselves for abandoning the covenant," he growled, and I laughed.
"You poor, pathetic moron. Don't you realize that your kind has hated me since the day I was born? They won't hate me any more for taking the satisfaction of killing you away from them. After all, Selene let me come to you," I smirked. At the mention of her name Kraven's face contorted into an expression of rage, and I sighed. I might as well kill him now, with her image imprinted in his mind.
A bullet slammed into his brain, and I pumped the other one into his heart. His screams filled the air, rising to a deafening crescendo. "Poor Kraven," I spat, walking over to him; Lucian had not screamed like he was. As the blue light poisoned his veins, I kneeled over him and stared into his eyes. Knocking the gun lightly against his chest, I smirked. "Lucian helped make these, you know," I crooned. Kraven only screamed in response, his features starting to burn up. "Leave it to you to steal his idea," I yelled, trying to force my words through his now ashen ears.
Standing up, I stared at the mess before me. All that was left of Kraven was a pile of ashes melted with the leather of his clothes and sticky with his spilled blood. I felt a jarring of satisfaction roam through my body, but to my dismay I still felt empty. I may have avenged Lucian's death, but he was still dead.
Without bothering to even retrieve my blades, I stepped into the sunlight and headed away from Kraven's ashes and towards my mother's house, where Lucian's body lay.
