Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get this up; I couldn't decided where I wanted to go with it, and I had problems getting my younger brothers off the computer. Elisa: Thank you for the loan of Xavier, and for the plot help!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Please don't sue!
Chapter 1: Renegades
Michael woke with a jolt, sweating from the terror of the dream. Breathing hard, he tried to remember what it was about the dream that had scared him so badly, but his tired mind could not remember the details, only the terror. He looked at the bed beside him to see if his abrupt movements had woken Selene. To his surprise, he saw that the bed was empty. It was only then that he realized that he couldn't smell her anywhere in the apartment.
She was gone.
Selene walked through the dark London streets. She'd left Michael's apartment hours ago, and she was almost to her destination. She was headed towards an old building on the outskirts of town. In the basement of the building, there was an old safe house. To her knowledge, the building had been used only once since she had been turned.
An hour later, she had reached it. The building was not tall, only three floors, and looked more like an old house than a former vampire hideout. She opened the door carefully, the old wood creaking ominously. She descended the stairs in the back of the building and followed the twisting maze of the basement to another wooden door. Once made of strong oak, the wood had deteriorated over the centuries and was now thin and weak.
As Selene reached out for the tarnished silver handle, she stopped, hearing voices on the other side of the door. Their words were muffled, but she could pick out a few words. One voice, a deep commanding male was saying, "Two dead," then, "Lucian gone." Another voice, a female this time, said, "Almost time" and a third voice, somewhat familiar and distinctly that of a well brought-up female, "Awakened Marcus." Then all sounds on the other side of the door died, and Selene strained to hear more. She heard footsteps moving towards the door and realized that they had picked up her scent.
She stepped back and looked for a place to hide, knowing if she ran they would follow. But the door was already open, and a tall, handsome, male vampire stepped out and grabbed her arm before she could react. He pulled her into the room and shoved her roughly into a chair. Looking around, Selene saw four vampires in front of her, and could smell one behind her. Of the four in front, three were male, and one female. All four were dressed for battle, as Selene was. One of the males, a brown-haired vampire of medium height asked, "Who are you?" while at the same time, the female, a short, red-haired, green-eyed vampire, asked, "What are you doing here?" The other two males, both tall and blond, said nothing, merely folded their arms and waited. Selene was not intimidated. She knew she could easily take any of the four; it was the one who had captured her that worried her. He leaned against one wall, letting the others do the dirty work. She opened her mouth to say something rude when the vampire behind her spoke.
"Selene?"
Selene twisted in surprise. The voice was very familiar, but Erika couldn't be here; she would never leave the manor. But as she faced the vampire behind her, she saw it was indeed her former servant Erika.
"Erika? What are you doing here?" Selene asked, genuinely surprised.
"I could ask you the same thing," Erika said tartly. "Why aren't you with your precious lycan? What was his name? Michael?" The derisive tone with which she said Michael's name caused fury to boil up inside Selene and, unable to help it, her canines elongated and she bared them to Erika. The servant girl took a step back, surprised. At this, the vampire who seemed to be in charge pushed himself off the wall, and walked over to them.
"She is the one who killed Viktor?" he asked Erika. "The one in love with a lycan?" Erika nodded, and he directed his attention to Selene.
"How did you kill him?" he asked her. "I thought Viktor was damn near indestructible." Selene stared at him, her elongated canines and icy blue eyes slowly becoming normal. "I'm Xavier, by the way," he told her. "Leader of the renegades."
"Renegades?" Selene said, confused. Surely Viktor would have told her about renegades?
"Many of us are unhappy with the way the Elders dealt with certain...things. So we left," Xavier told her. Selene looked at them, and saw a sadness there, a sadness similar to the one always present in Lucian's eyes.
"Sonja," she said. It was not a question. Xavier nodded.
"When Sonja was killed, that's when most of us left," he told her. "There are many more of us back at—" he was cut off by a knock on the door. "Yes?" he asked in the general direction of the door.
A small rat-faced boy stuck his head in through the door. "It's almost dawn sir," the boy told them. Xavier nodded to him and the boy left, leaving Selene to wonder who he was.
"We have to leave now," Xavier told her. "And I would like you to come with us." Selene considered, caution and curiosity battling. In the end, curiosity won out, and she nodded, a little warily and stood up. She followed the other vampires out of the little room and out into the street. Outside, there was two cars, which Selene hadn't noticed before. Xavier and Selene climbed into one, a black Mitsubishi Lancer GT-2000; the other four vampires got into a dark blue Mitsubishi Eclipse. Erika got into a taxi that was waiting a little ways down the street, presumably to go back to the manor.
Selene was silent as they drove out of London, waiting for Xavier to speak first. After only thirty minutes of driving, they reached a manor. It was not as large as the one the coven had lived in, but Selene didn't think that there were quite as many renegade vampires as loyal. Xavier stopped the car and got out, gesturing for Selene to follow. She did, following him into the manor, and up the stairs into a large library. He found a table and sat down, Selene taking the chair across from him.
"I was one of Sonja's suitors," he told her. "When her affair with that lycan was discovered, Viktor covered it up as best he could, and when she was killed, Viktor told us that it had been an accident. Perhaps a year later, one of the lycans spilled the beans. Viktor had him killed, of course, but by then it was too late. Rumors began circulating, and a few vampires, including myself, left. Over the centuries, others have left the coven for other reasons and joined us. We now number around one hundred. We had been planning to attack the vampires and kill Viktor, until we heard that the job already been completed. Is that true?"
"Yes," Selene told him shortly, still unwilling to talk about it. He had been like a father to her and she had killed him.
"Can I ask why?" Xavier said, curious. He wanted Selene to join the renegades, but he had to be sure of her reasons.
"I found out about Sonja," she said simply. Xavier nodded.
"We may have a place for you here," he said speculatively.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Please don't sue!
Chapter 1: Renegades
Michael woke with a jolt, sweating from the terror of the dream. Breathing hard, he tried to remember what it was about the dream that had scared him so badly, but his tired mind could not remember the details, only the terror. He looked at the bed beside him to see if his abrupt movements had woken Selene. To his surprise, he saw that the bed was empty. It was only then that he realized that he couldn't smell her anywhere in the apartment.
She was gone.
Selene walked through the dark London streets. She'd left Michael's apartment hours ago, and she was almost to her destination. She was headed towards an old building on the outskirts of town. In the basement of the building, there was an old safe house. To her knowledge, the building had been used only once since she had been turned.
An hour later, she had reached it. The building was not tall, only three floors, and looked more like an old house than a former vampire hideout. She opened the door carefully, the old wood creaking ominously. She descended the stairs in the back of the building and followed the twisting maze of the basement to another wooden door. Once made of strong oak, the wood had deteriorated over the centuries and was now thin and weak.
As Selene reached out for the tarnished silver handle, she stopped, hearing voices on the other side of the door. Their words were muffled, but she could pick out a few words. One voice, a deep commanding male was saying, "Two dead," then, "Lucian gone." Another voice, a female this time, said, "Almost time" and a third voice, somewhat familiar and distinctly that of a well brought-up female, "Awakened Marcus." Then all sounds on the other side of the door died, and Selene strained to hear more. She heard footsteps moving towards the door and realized that they had picked up her scent.
She stepped back and looked for a place to hide, knowing if she ran they would follow. But the door was already open, and a tall, handsome, male vampire stepped out and grabbed her arm before she could react. He pulled her into the room and shoved her roughly into a chair. Looking around, Selene saw four vampires in front of her, and could smell one behind her. Of the four in front, three were male, and one female. All four were dressed for battle, as Selene was. One of the males, a brown-haired vampire of medium height asked, "Who are you?" while at the same time, the female, a short, red-haired, green-eyed vampire, asked, "What are you doing here?" The other two males, both tall and blond, said nothing, merely folded their arms and waited. Selene was not intimidated. She knew she could easily take any of the four; it was the one who had captured her that worried her. He leaned against one wall, letting the others do the dirty work. She opened her mouth to say something rude when the vampire behind her spoke.
"Selene?"
Selene twisted in surprise. The voice was very familiar, but Erika couldn't be here; she would never leave the manor. But as she faced the vampire behind her, she saw it was indeed her former servant Erika.
"Erika? What are you doing here?" Selene asked, genuinely surprised.
"I could ask you the same thing," Erika said tartly. "Why aren't you with your precious lycan? What was his name? Michael?" The derisive tone with which she said Michael's name caused fury to boil up inside Selene and, unable to help it, her canines elongated and she bared them to Erika. The servant girl took a step back, surprised. At this, the vampire who seemed to be in charge pushed himself off the wall, and walked over to them.
"She is the one who killed Viktor?" he asked Erika. "The one in love with a lycan?" Erika nodded, and he directed his attention to Selene.
"How did you kill him?" he asked her. "I thought Viktor was damn near indestructible." Selene stared at him, her elongated canines and icy blue eyes slowly becoming normal. "I'm Xavier, by the way," he told her. "Leader of the renegades."
"Renegades?" Selene said, confused. Surely Viktor would have told her about renegades?
"Many of us are unhappy with the way the Elders dealt with certain...things. So we left," Xavier told her. Selene looked at them, and saw a sadness there, a sadness similar to the one always present in Lucian's eyes.
"Sonja," she said. It was not a question. Xavier nodded.
"When Sonja was killed, that's when most of us left," he told her. "There are many more of us back at—" he was cut off by a knock on the door. "Yes?" he asked in the general direction of the door.
A small rat-faced boy stuck his head in through the door. "It's almost dawn sir," the boy told them. Xavier nodded to him and the boy left, leaving Selene to wonder who he was.
"We have to leave now," Xavier told her. "And I would like you to come with us." Selene considered, caution and curiosity battling. In the end, curiosity won out, and she nodded, a little warily and stood up. She followed the other vampires out of the little room and out into the street. Outside, there was two cars, which Selene hadn't noticed before. Xavier and Selene climbed into one, a black Mitsubishi Lancer GT-2000; the other four vampires got into a dark blue Mitsubishi Eclipse. Erika got into a taxi that was waiting a little ways down the street, presumably to go back to the manor.
Selene was silent as they drove out of London, waiting for Xavier to speak first. After only thirty minutes of driving, they reached a manor. It was not as large as the one the coven had lived in, but Selene didn't think that there were quite as many renegade vampires as loyal. Xavier stopped the car and got out, gesturing for Selene to follow. She did, following him into the manor, and up the stairs into a large library. He found a table and sat down, Selene taking the chair across from him.
"I was one of Sonja's suitors," he told her. "When her affair with that lycan was discovered, Viktor covered it up as best he could, and when she was killed, Viktor told us that it had been an accident. Perhaps a year later, one of the lycans spilled the beans. Viktor had him killed, of course, but by then it was too late. Rumors began circulating, and a few vampires, including myself, left. Over the centuries, others have left the coven for other reasons and joined us. We now number around one hundred. We had been planning to attack the vampires and kill Viktor, until we heard that the job already been completed. Is that true?"
"Yes," Selene told him shortly, still unwilling to talk about it. He had been like a father to her and she had killed him.
"Can I ask why?" Xavier said, curious. He wanted Selene to join the renegades, but he had to be sure of her reasons.
"I found out about Sonja," she said simply. Xavier nodded.
"We may have a place for you here," he said speculatively.