Acherontia Atropos Part 5

I hit the dirt in an undignified heap. Suddenly, nothing much

mattered except for the fact that Yan, whom I had thought wouldn't

know violence if it smacked him in the face, had kneed me in the

groin. Tears tried to squeeze themselves out of my eyes and I

forgot to breathe for a couple of minutes while I just lay on the

ground and curled up into a little ball.

There was a surge of that weird staticky feeling that I'd had all

night, and it came up through the ground and hit me like a spark.

I was on my feet and feeling a hell of a lot better before I could

even think about it. Yan was almost to the woods, and I limped

after him as quickly as I could. Yeah, Duo, real smart. Further

toward the kill zone, please.

I couldn't just leave him to those monsters. I had the feeling

that Yan wasn't the one that kneed me, not really. Tamlin had said

that vampires could roll an ordinary human's mind with their eyes.

Yan was as ordinary as it got. He was sweet, and innocent, and

like everybody's little brother, damnit. So I followed him right

into the jaws of the beast, armed only with my little gold cross

and my dubious amount of faith.

Not one of the brightest things I'd ever done.

By the time I reached the woods, there were six vampires, and Yan

had already gotten to them. There were three females and three

males. All of them, and I mean all of them, looked like walking

wet dreams. Nothing at all like the thing that had attacked me

before. I knew they were vampires, though, no matter what they

looked like. It's like how I knew the words I said over Heero's

body a year ago. No explanation...I just knew.

Just like I knew that there were two more hanging back, and a

third barely on the edge of my perception, controlling the others.

I stopped about six meters away from the vampires and stood. I

could feel the electric energy almost rolling off of them and

brushing past me, raising the hair on my arms. I didn't know what

the hell it was, but it was fascinating, and it felt almost...nice.

I'd worry about that later. Right now, I was worried about the

fact that there were vampires, they had Yan, and I was completely

unarmed.

IDamnit, Heero, why'd I leave the room without the gun. What are

you guys doing? I need you!/I I thought angrily. I knew that

there was no way they could know that I was in trouble, but it

felt good to be able to mentally curse someone.

For a long moment, the vampires watched me, and I watched them

right back. Yan was being held by one of the females, a tall red

head that looked like she could have been a fashion model or

something. She was wearing a dress, something white, thin, and

almost see through. She had Yan cradled in her arms, with his face

pressed against her breasts. She smiled, flashing her fangs in the

moonlight.

I licked my suddenly dry lips. "Let him go." I said with a lot

more authority than I felt.

"No." The red headed vampire clutched Yan a little more tightly.

He made a soft, very contented sound. "The little one is quite

happy where he is."

There was a tiny flicker in my peripheral vision, and I

transferred the main part of my attention to the vampire that had

moved. He was also very tall, with pale blonde hair that looked

white in the moonlight. He was dressed in jeans so tight that they

looked like they were painted on, and a t-shirt that appeared to

be more holes than anything else. He smiled at me as well,

managing to not show any fang. "You could join him in our arms."

He licked his lips. "I promise to be gentle."

"No thanks. I just want Yan." I took a step back as the vampire

took a step forward.

"Look into my eyes."

I suppressed the urge to laugh. Talk about B-movie vampires... I

had the feeling it would piss him off if I didn't act impressed,

though. So far, they seemed to be content just to play with me.

Which was fine. I didn't really want to get attacked outright.

"I'd rather not, if you don't mind."

He took another step forward. I took another step back. He laughed.

Glad someone was having a good time. "You smell interesting, human.

I just want you to look me in the eye."

"Really, that's okay."

The red head had obviously had enough games. "Do what he says, or

I will kill this one." She stroked Yan's cheek gently with one

hand. He giggled softly, his brain on a different planet.

INever look a vampire in the eye,/ITamlin had said. Well, it

looked like I didn't have a lot of choice. Shit. So I did it. I

looked the blonde vampire in the eye, expecting at any moment for

my mind to get torn apart or sucked away or whatever happened when

vampires rolled someone under.

It was completely anti-climactic. His eyes were just eyes. Pretty,

I'll admit, a crystalline, icy blue vaguely reminiscent of

Tamlin's, but nothing more.

"What is wrong, Paul?" One of the other vampires, I think a female

one, asked.

Paul. Somehow, it didn't seem right for a vampire to be named Paul.

Whatever the vampire saw in my eyes, he didn't like. He frowned,

and his eyes took on a faint glow. He said something in a guttural

language that I didn't understand. Whatever it was sounded very

disgruntled. "What are you?" He demanded, in Standard once more.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I couldn't help it, I grinned. Hey,

I'd just made a major victory, as far as I was concerned. I was

still in control of my own mind. Good sign. "So now what?"

I don't think that was what he wanted to hear. He surged forward,

and I managed to take a step back and grab the chain of my cross.

He was faster than a normal human, but not enough to overwhelm me.

He didn't try to grab me like I'd expected, instead he punched me

before I could dodge. He was sure as hell a lot stronger than a

human; his fist connected with my ribcage and I went flying. I hit

the ground hard and he was on me, fangs bared. I yanked the cross

out from under my shirt, and it flared into life.

Immediately, the vampire was gone. The others were shrieking

loudly. I pushed myself up to a sitting position and clutched my

ribs. I couldn't tell if anything was broken. It all hurt way too

much. Shit.

It took me a couple seconds to gain my feet, and they were the

longest seconds of my life. I still wasn't convinced about the

entire cross thing. I was waiting for one of them to shout "Just

kidding!" and leap on me. But no, they were cowering away. The red

head and the blonde were just shielding their eyes, the other

three were shrieking and backing up. I took a step forward.

They all took a step back. Damn, it felt good.

The good feeling didn't last long, though. The red headed vampire

wrapped one of her hands around Yan's throat, still shielding her

eyes with the other one. "Take the cross off and throw it away."

"The hell with that!" I yelled.

"If you don't, I will rip his throat out." I saw her hand tighten,

and Yan giggled. "I am not joking, human, and you know it."

Shit. That was the problem with being the good guy. You couldn't

let another good guy get killed in front of you. I reached up and

grabbed my cross. It was faintly warm in my hand. I snapped the

chain with one sharp yank, then threw it away. Hopefully, I'd be

alive to get it back later.

I really wished that I hadn't left without my gun. I also wished

that the guys were here. I really did.

The light of the cross died as soon as I pulled it off, and the

vampires stopped cowering. "There, happy?"

"Very." Paul the vampire started moving toward me again. One of

the other female ones, this one with black hair and dressed in

more leather than I've ever seen in one place, slunk along with

him.

"Whoa, whoa, stop there." I backed away. "What the hell do you

want?"

"Stop moving." The red head commanded. "Or I will kill him."

Shit. I stopped. Paul and the other vampire took a leisurely walk

up to me, and slowly looked me up and down the way you'd check out

a horse before you bought it. The female vampire leaned in and

blew softly on my ear. I flinched. There was something about them,

that energy that I'd felt earlier, and it was almost dancing

across my skin.

Paul stopped on the other side of me and grabbed my braid,

stroking it gently. That bastard. I suddenly decided that I would

kill him first, as soon as I got out of this situation and managed

to get a weapon. NO ONE touches my hair. Especially not a stupid

vampire with B movie dialogue. "He is pretty, isn't he, Victoria."

Victoria. So that was the leather queen's name. Gag me.

She breathed softly in my ear. "I like you."

"That's nice." I said. "I don't think I like you." Me and my big

mouth.

She laid a hand on my chest. I fell to my knees, gasping for

breath. Victoria giggled. I decided that it was a sound that I

didn't like. Paul hauled me to my feet like I didn't weigh

anything when I couldn't manage to stand up right away on my own.

Great.

Victoria blew on my ear again, and then there was a quick wetness

that could only be her tongue. I couldn't help it, I shivered. I

had to close my eyes and imagine that it was someone else, because

I knew I couldn't give her the satisfaction of whimpering, which

is what I really wanted to do. No, better to pretend that it was

Heero, or anyone else at all.

She giggled. Again. It was really setting my teeth on edge. I

concentrated on the annoyance and anger, anything to keep myself

from thinking about the fact that she was nibbling on my ear...and

then my neck. My eyes flew open.

"Just relax, pretty one. I just want a little taste." she

whispered.

I had to try twice before I found my voice. "Something tells me

that with you, it's never just a little taste." I said.

"True." She licked my neck, and I did my best to flinch away.

"Victoria just wants a taste, pretty one. She won't hurt you, too

much." Paul whispered in my other ear. Oh God, I had both of them

after me, now. "If you fight, Cheree will kill the boy. You're a

much more interesting toy than he is."

"What do you want?" I asked, very quietly. My voice didn't shake

or crack. Point for me. God, I hated being powerless more than

anything else.

Cheree, the red head, laughed. It was a practiced sound, pleasant

like a warm blanket that you could almost wrap around yourself. "I

want your fear, pretty one, and your anger. I want it to wash

over me."

I didn't think I'd ever been so thoroughly trapped before in my

entire life. This one was wholly my fault. I decided that when I

got free, Paul would be second. Cheree was going to die first.

Victoria actually kissed me. Full on the lips, open mouth, tongue

and everything. I didn't respond, and after a long minute, she

pulled away. Her lips moved to my neck. "You must be the one that

Thomas got himself killed trying to take. Are you worth it? It is

not often one stands against the coterie of Ebon Thorns" I felt

sharpness that could have only been her fangs, and I shut my eyes

tightly. I would not scream. I would not scream. I would not

scream. Oh God...

I heard a sound behind me. Running footsteps, getting closer. Hot

damn. Victoria pulled abruptly back and hissed. Whoever it was (I

was praying that it was the guys) started shooting. A bullet hit

Victoria in her arm, and there was an explosion of blood. She went

down clutching her arm. Whatever kind of ammo that Tamlin had

given us, it definitely was not for play. I wanted to cheer.

That happy thought got cut off when Paul grabbed me by the throat.

Suddenly, time slowed down for me, like it sometimes does in the

middle of really intense fights. The electricity I'd been feeling

all evening jolted through my body like cold black lightning, and

I sent it blasting outwards, down into the ground, and, most

importantly, through Paul's arm. It's hard to find the words to

describe how it felt. My nerve endings were on fire, but strangely

enough, it was pleasant. I felt like I was filled to the brim with

cool, dark water that I could manipulate at will. When it went

flowing into Paul, the spark that was him retreated before the

rush of power, and then he was mine.

He was mine, and I could feel him hating me.

"Let me go." I said, a lot more calm than I had any right to be. I

could feel things happening around me, more bullets flying through

the air, the vampires beginning to retaliate...then beginning to

fall back as the power that was filling me up swept over them.

None of it mattered, because for that one moment, I and the power

were all that existed. This was what I meant when I called myself

Shinigami, the God of Death.

Paul let me go. I fell to my knees, clutching my ribs and trying

to start breathing again. "Back away." I wheezed. He backed up two

steps, and I could feel a line of power stretching between us like

a rubber band. One more step, and it snapped. Paul was free from

my control, though I could still dimly 'feel' him. He shot me a

look of pure, utter hatred, and fled with the others, disappearing

into the woods.

The guys were right behind me, I could hear them, and I could feel

them sending ripples shuddering through the dark power that was

still filling me. Trowa and Heero ran past me toward the woods,

though Heero paused long enough to give me a quick once over with

his eyes, to make sure I wasn't bleeding profusely or anything.

"Duo!" It was Quatre. I turned to look at him. There was a

tangible bubble of energy around me, soulless black that somehow

glowed, hurting the eyes. He touched the outlying edges with the

tips of his fingers, and then jerked his hand away, shaking it as

if it had stung.

Abruptly, the bubble popped and all the energy dried up. I found

myself laying on the asphalt of the parking lot, again, gasping

for breath. I was completely empty.

"Duo... are you okay? What was that?" Quatre was on his knees

beside me, helping me roll over. I jerked when he touched me, and

rolled away. His hands were like searing fire after glacial cold.

"Duo!"

"Don't touch me!" I screamed, and struggled to my feet, rear-end

first. It wasn't terribly dignified, but it was the quickest way

to get up. I stumbled toward the woods, half running.

There was blood, so much blood, all over the asphalt and in the

dirt by the trees. I knew some of it belonged to the vampires;

Trowa, Heero, and Quatre had managed to wound most of them. That

wasn't what I was interested in though. There, under one of the

huge, ancient trees, the ground had turned into black, sticky mud.

The air was chokingly full of the coppery tang of fresh, cooling

blood. There was so much blood, too much blood.

I knew where all the power had come from, though not why it had

come to me. I knew what it was now.

Yan was there, laying in the middle of the sea of mud. His head

was thrown back and one of his arms was carelessly to the side,

like he was just sleeping. There was even a soft, innocent smile

curving his lips. His formerly pristine white shirt was now shiny,

wet black in the moonlight. Where his neck had been, there was

only a gaping hole, gleaming dully.

That bitch had said she wanted my fear and my anger. She could

have my anger, all of it. I'd give her all I could hold. I grabbed

a tree for support and started throwing up until I was empty and I

felt like I was going to vomit my toenails. When I was done, I

looked back. Yan was still laying there in the moonlight. He

wasn't a hallucination, like I'd half hoped.

I fell to my knees in the mud by him and let the cooling blood

soak into my pant legs.

I knew where all that power had come from.

Oh God, I wished I didn't know.