HEY people! I apologize a million times for this late update. Schoolwork's
really been killing my free time. Hopefully things will get better, then
again it's not very likely. I have a HUGE French project to present at the
end of the week. It's really bumming me out. I HATE presenting stuff to the
class! *sighs* Anywho enough of my ranting, here's chapter 20. You should
be pleased it's kinda long! Enjoy!
THANK YOU to all those who reviewed!!! It's really appreciated!!! Now unto the fic!
Disclaimer: check in previous chapters
Warnings: course language, yaoi, violence...there might be more but who really has the time to sit down and check? *silence* I thought so.
Thinking: ( )
Speaking: " "
Me: (SS:)/(A.N:)
Flashback: ~~~~~
Change Scene: ~*~
Chapter 20: Rain On Me (Part: 1)
Rei's eyes fluttered open and he weakly got to his feet. Immediately he panicked. How long had he been out of it? And what about Kai? Had he already killed the malevolent, and sadistic Lei? Rei glanced desperately around the room, and gasped at the sight before him. There was no one in the room! Not Max, not Takao, not Kai or even Lei. Everyone was gone! To make matters worse one of the sword cabinets were currently smashed open, and two swords were missing. Rei quickly stumbled out of the room. He lashed his head from side to side, before taking off down the implausibly long hallway. Almost instantly he heard a loud crash, and someone cry out in pain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai stumbled backwards and bumped into a glass pantry, which fell to the floor, the glass shattering ubiquitously. "Cheap shot!" he growled in angrily, clutching his left shoulder that was now badly injured. Lei smiled sadistically, and licked Kai's blood off the sword he had earlier impaled into Kai's arm.
"Well," Lei sighed. "You know me, I liked to play dirty. Plus," he added. "That's what you get for what you did to me an hour ago. How dare you knock me out cold, and witness me at such a feeble state!" he snarled, his voice shaking in rage. "But that's okay," he said smiling suddenly, his voice now ridden of any anger. "It's not like I can die or anything."
Kai's face held a look of controlled resentment and fury, but deep inside he began to wonder if what Lei had said was true.
"Of course it's true," Lei grinned, loving the shocked expression that was currently plastered on Kai's face.
"I almost forgot that you had the ability to read minds," Kai admitted, smirking in spite of himself. "You know, my maker had that ability as well. But for some odd reason I was never gifted with that power yet it was passed onto you when I made you. Odd," he mused.
"Every two vampires are gifted with my ability," Lei informed him. "That is why Rei doesn't possess my power either. Nevertheless if he ever made another one of us, they would bare my dark gift," he explained. "Anyway where did we leave off?"
"Well," began the crimson-eyed vampire. "I believe we left off where you stabbed me in the arm. So ... I'VE DECIDED TO RETURN THE FAVOUR!" he yelled lunging his own sword at Lei. Lei was caught off guard, but recovered quickly and dogged Kai's attack by mere inches. Kai thrust his sword at Lei once again but his sword was met by Lei's. Sparks flew as the strong blades collided with one another.
Lei suddenly flashed Kai a devious smile. "What's the matter, Kai?" he inquired with a look of unmistakable amusement. "Are you getting tired?" he cooed mockingly. Kai ignored Lei's questions. He was certain that Lei was trying to distract him from their duel by conversing with him, so that he could slip up and Lei could easily attack him, like what had happened earlier. Kai was slowly tiring though and the gash on his left arm stung badly and was bleeding quite a bit. He was definitely in need of medical assistance, but was locked in a fierce battle instead.
"This isn't fair," Lei announced after a moment. "Here I am, incredibly powerful, and fighting you with two strong, uninjured arms. And there you are, weak and pitiful, fighting me with a nasty and deep gash to one of your arms. How you've managed to keep up with me till now is still a mystery. What do you say I fight using only one arm for now on? Just to be fair?" he suggested with a sly grin.
Kai stared at him incredulously for a moment. "You must be mad," he finally spoke up.
"No," Lei answered. "Not mad, just merciful. But heed my warning, this is the single and only act of mercy I will be showing you," he said, before slipping his left hand behind his back. "On ward!" he commanded, raising his sword, and they resumed their battle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why are you here?" Kevin demanded, as he and another vampire stood over Takao and Max in a menacing way. Takao and Max currently had restraints on their wrists and had been tied up, back to back on two wooden chairs.
Takao rolled his eyes at Kevin's question. His bottom lip was currently bleeding, and he had a large bruise forming on his jaw, thanks to Kevin. "I told you already. We came up here to rescue Rei," he growled in annoyance. Kevin walked up to him, backhanding him hard across the face, smiling as he saw another bruise forming.
"What was that for?" Max demanded turning his head, trying to face Kevin but failing miserably because of the way he had been situated.
"I did it because it was fun. Besides, no one speaks to me in that tone," Kevin snarled. Just then Mariah entered the room. She had changed into a sparkling white robe that matched her pale complexion perfectly. Her long pink hair flowing down her shoulders. But as gorgeous as her outfit looked, it was still obvious that it was a nightgown, plus her tired eyes were a dead giveaway.
"Well, well, well," a tall platinum-blond haired vampire smirked. "Look what the cat dragged in... a piece of garbage," he laughed eyeing Mariah as she walked in.
"Give it a rest, Alan," Mariah sneered. "What are *they* doing here?" she demanded when her eyes fixed upon two young vampires tied up on chairs.
"Turns out these two idiots were snooping around, until I caught 'em that is." Kevin explained.
"You had help, dumbass," Alan glared at him, referring to himself. Kevin smiled sheepishly.
"What did you plan on doing with them anyway?" Mariah questioned the two other vampires.
Kevin's lavender eyes lit up at this and he flashed her a toothy grin. "I've never witnessed a vampire blaze to a crisp before," he began. "So I was hoping I could keep these two until sunrise, force them outside and watch them burn." Takao and Max gasped quietly at this.
Mariah gave Kevin a disapproving look. "You are dark," she told him. "I really don't think this is a good idea..."
"Come on," Kevin begged. "It would be so cool. You can come and watch too. PLEASE?" Kevin pouted, batting his lashes. Mariah rolled her eyes at this.
"I think I'll pass on the invitation to join you. But, you can do what you'd like with those two, so long as you clean up the mess afterwards. I don't want ashes all over the clean pathway tomorrow morning," she told him. Kevin's face lit up and a small 'Yes!' escaped his lips. Mariah turned and left the room, in order to find her love Lei.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lei stopped for a moment, lowering his sword. "You know," he began. "I don't even remember why we're doing this..."
"Doing what?" Kai demanded breathing deeply, his face slightly flushed, as he clasped his sword tightly in both his hands, not trusting Lei at all.
"I can't remember why we're fighting," the raven-haired, tawny-eyed vampire told him softly.
"We're fighting because you killed Rei's parents, and then tried to kill him," Kai glared. "Plus I just plain didn't like you from day one, so I've jumped at the chance to kill you."
"Now, I know that's not true," Lei said quietly. "You loved me once. Couldn't we just...go back in time?" Lei asked him. Kai gave him an odd look but said nothing. "I mean before we ever...you know, broke up," Lei continued. "I know you have Rei now, and I have Mariah. And I know that I've acted as though my life has been perfect without you, but in reality I...I want you back." Lei sighed sadly. "I've also had my eye on your Rei, he's a fine specimen. Really he is. I was only going to kill him because I thought I could never have him. But perhaps," he paused. "Perhaps the three of us could...work something out."
Kai stared at him as if he was off his rocker. "You don't know when to give up do you?" he asked finally. "You're very persistent I'll give you that much," Kai told him with a smirk.
"Please Kai," Lei interrupted him, as he strolled up to him with sad eyes. "I'm your first fledging. You're my maker. My master," he said, placing a hand on Kai's smooth face, Kai could bring himself to pull away so he didn't. "How could we possibly even think of killing each other?" Lei asked as his eyes filled with unshed tears. "Please believe me when I say this Kai," Lei said wrapping his arms around Kai's neck. Kai loosely draped his arms around Lei's waist, still very unsure about all of this. "I'm sorry about everything I've put you through, same goes for Rei..."
Kai's face remained emotionless as he stared down at the slightly shorter vampire, struggling to search Lei's heart through his eyes. "Please Kai," Lei whispered pulling him closer, "I'm sorry." He sobbed, and he pressed his lips to Kai's, tears running down his cheeks. Kai tightened his grip around Lei waist, and finally responded to his kiss, when he felt a cold blade pressed firmly at the back of his neck. He immediately jumped, roughly removing himself from Lei's hold.
"Damn," Lei cursed, before grinning widely at Kai's angry expression. "What are you looking at me like that for?" he inquired with a small laugh. "I was testing your common sense, and came across a shocking discovery...you have none! Did you really think I was serious about all that I had said? Be reasonable, I'm an actor it's my job to know how to fake it!" he laughed. Kai glared at him, but knew he was right. (How could I have been so gullible?) He wondered to himself. He mentally told himself that it wouldn't happen again. There'd be *NO* second chances, even if Lei was serious next time. This was a fight to the death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rei continued to search for Kai, when he suddenly felt a strong presence following him. He turned around cautiously, sighing when he found no one there. He turned back around to come face to face with Mariah. He gasped utterly startled.
"You're still alive?!" she demanded crossing her arms over her chest, apparently shocked. "I thought Lei did away with you long ago." Rei said nothing but stared at her, trying not to look as frightened as he felt. Just then Mariah moved closer to him, until they were only inches apart. She took no notice or just probably didn't care that she was invading his personal space. "What is that?" she asked pointing at his neck. Rei reached up to his throat, and his hand brushed over two small puncture wounds.
Mariah grinned wickedly, "you were bitten!" she gasped happily. "I bet my Lei did that to you. But why are you still alive?" she asked him rather bluntly.
"Because I managed to escape with the help of a friend." He told her.
"Yeah, but surely it wasn't worth it?" Mariah asked him.
"What do you mean," Rei inquired.
"You don't know what I speak of?" she asked, sounding quite surprised. Suddenly she laughed. "I almost forgot. You were like, literally born yesterday."
"I wasn't born yesterday," Rei couldn't help but snap back. "It's been a few months."
"In any case you're still a fledging in the vampire world, a baby," she shrugged carelessly.
~~~~~~~~~End Of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"She told me that I would bare the scar on my neck for a century, for it takes that long to vanish completely," the vampire explained to the reporter. It was at that moment that Christopher Matthews noticed two faint bites on Rei's neck that marred his otherwise perfect skin.
~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mariah smirked. "Being bitten by your own kind is the most insulting and embarrassing thing that can happen to a vampire. Its' worse than being raped, because everyone knows of what happen to you. That's also why vampires who are bitten normally die very soon afterwards, mostly from suicide. Living with the shame is just too much for them. Come to think of it," she continued. "It's equally, if not more insulting for the vampire that caused the wound to allow the one it attacked to carry on living. It signifies that they took pity upon their prey by letting them live, and in the world of vampires, having pity of any kind is a great sign of weakness. Anywho," she sighed. "I must be off, I have to find my precious Lei whom I heard was battling Kai. Kai stands no chance though. Frankly, I expect to find Lei and a dead body," she laughed deviously. "Well, I'm off." She bid him goodbye, as she strolled away.
Rei stared after her before yelling, "WAIT!"
Mariah turned around, looking irritated. "What?" she asked grudgingly.
"Um," he began nervously, when he caught Mariah's cold glare. "H-have you seen Takao and Max?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, where?"
"They're being held hostage by Kevin somewhere," she told him briskly. "I think he wants to watch them burn in the sun tomorrow morning, or something like that," she answered. Rei was about to ask her another question when she simply vanished into thin air.
Suddenly Rei felt as though Kai was in trouble, it was almost like he had some sort of sixth sense that was warning him. Rei now had two crises to deal with, Kai, and his friends. He knew he had to make a decision. Who would he aid first. (I'll help Kai first), he decided finally. (The others I can help later since they're supposed to be put to death at sunrise).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Takao, Max, and Alan gawked at Kevin as he gulped down his sixth bottle of Vanilla flavored rum. A normal person would probably have died by now, but Kevin wasn't normal. He was a vampire, which meant he had a much higher tolerance for alcohol. He was sitting at a glass table on the far side of the room, giggling uncontrollably.
"I had no idea Kevin was an alcoholic," Takao whispered loudly.
"Well, now you know," Alan said, running a hand through his gelled back, blondish-silver hair. "Normally, Lei makes sure he's never anywhere near alcohol, but since he's preoccupied at the moment, Kevin's free to do whatever he'd like. I just hope..." but he broke off when an empty bottle flew through the air, and hit the wall behind him, shattering into pieces. Everyone turned to Kevin at the table.
"I'm...I'm *hic* not an...*hic* what's that word again? Oh yeah. *Hic* I'm not an idiot," he stammered. "I know you guys were...*hic* talking about *hic* me."
"Kevin, you're going to drink yourself dead," Alan scolded him.
"I AM NOT!" Kevin retorted rather loudly. "I ALREADY AM DEAD! I DIED INSIDE, *hic* LONG AGO. BEFORE YOU WERE BORN!"
"I'm two years older than you," Alan said rolling his eyes.
"Exactly!" Kevin said drunkenly, and he burped noisily.
Max turned to Takao. "Since Alan's busy dealing with his drunken comrade, we can use this time to escape."
"How?"
"First we've gotta find the keys to get off these restraints. Then we can easily break the ropes, strapping us to these chairs," Max explained. Takao nodded, and the two began to scan the room with their eyes in search of the key.
Kevin clumsily made his way over to them, stumbling over his feet a few times. He soon stood over Takao. "May I help you, oh drunk and wasted one?" Takao asked him sarcastically.
"I *hic* I know I've never told you this before but I...*hic* I really love you man." Kevin said wrapping an arm around Takao, who was struggling to pull away. Max felt a small wave of jealously growing within himself at Kevin's words. However, he tried to convince himself that Kevin was drunk and didn't know what he was doing. "Can I have a kiss?" Kevin inquired, leaning over Takao, who was now desperately pulling away.
"Uhhh...No," answered Takao in disgust.
"Aww, come on you're no fun," Kevin giggled as he downed the drink in his hand. Just then Alan ran over to him, his green eyes blazing he could no longer take Kevin's reckless behavior, or the fact that he was confessing his love to someone he obviously wouldn't have liked if he was sober.
"Kevin!" Alan yelled. "That's enough! Give me that drink!" he commanded lunging at the smaller vampire.
"NEVER!" Kevin yelled madly, as he jumped on the table. "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, *hic* twenty-three hours of ear!" he sang drunkenly. He took another rum bottle off the table and began to drink it down. Suddenly Kevin stopped, his pale face growing a bit paler, and then turning a light shade of green. He dropped the bottle to the ground, before clutching his stomach in pain. "I...I don't feel so good," he moaned.
Alan's eyes widened. "Hell no..." he whispered, hoping that what he thought would happen next wouldn't. "Holy crap!" Alan cried. "He's going to..." but before he could finish, Kevin threw up all over the table, and collapsed backwards, completely unconscious.
There was a brief pause between the other vampires.
Finally, Takao spoke. "That...was gross. And he, is going to have *the* biggest hangover tomorrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai and Lei continued their battle, none of them had yet managed to impale or hurt the other so far. And from the looks of it they appeared to be equals. Lei had kept his promise about only using one of his arms, not because Kai's left arm had been badly injured and he felt sorry for him, but because Lei wanted to spice up their battle a bit and test his own limits.
"Kai," he said after a moment. "You look tired. Perhaps you should just give up?"
"I'm not tired, in fact I've just gotten started," Kai stated, but Lei knew better. They had been at it for over an hour, and Lei could feel Kai slowly growing weaker.
"Poor Kai," Lei cooed. "I know how weak you must feel. And yet, you still continue to fight me when you're almost destined to lose this battle...why is that?"
"I...I must. You...killed Rei's parents. You've tortured and killed so many other innocent peoples as well. You must be stopped, at any cost. Even my life," Kai told him.
Lei smirked in amusement, "Awww, how thoughtful of you Kai," he cooed. "Let me just take a moment to...pretend I care." Kai glared at him, but seemed to weak to want to argue back. Seeing Kai like this excited Lei greatly. He was looking forward to seeing Kai beg, bleed, and scream. (This could be more fun than my time with Rei), he thought hungrily. "Foolish Kai I can't be stopped," he grinned.
Kai's face was deathly calm, as he listened to Lei boost and brag about himself. Unexpectedly, he shoved his sword to Lei's neck, its pointed tip only inches away from his throat. Lei merely smirked at Kai, as though thinking that he wouldn't dare kill him.
There was a brief silence.
Without warning, and in one very swift movement, Lei had disarmed Kai of his sword. He spun it professionally in his hands. He now possessed both his and Kai's sword. He grinned triumphantly, baring his impressive, and long fangs.
Kai stood there dumbstruck, this was the end or at least he thought it was.
Lei tossed his sword back to him. It was so unexpected that Kai fumbled with it, nearly dropping it. "What..." he began.
"Again," said Lei, as he resumed his fighting position. Kai just stood there for a moment. He didn't understand why hadn't Lei taken that chance to kill him.
"I know I said I wouldn't spare you," Lei began. "But I didn't do it out of pity. You've proved to be a worthy adversary, and it would be a shame to kill you so soon...without having a bit of fun first."
"I see," said Kai after a moment.
"Kai, I've learnt so much since you forced me out of my only home, since you abandoned me, and disowned me," Lei told him. "I just can't wait to demonstrate to you how much more powerful I am."
"Lei," he began, "I never abandoned or disowned you. I forced you out of my home because you tried to kill me. You act like *you* were the innocent victim in our relationship. Take some Goddamn responsibility!"
"In truth, we are both guilty." Lei informed him. Lei heard Kai question this statement in his head. "Simple. If you never created me, hundreds of humans and even a decent amount of vampires including Tala would still be alive. I know you hate to hear it, but I couldn't possibly take the credit for all of those deaths, I had help...from my better half, you." he grinned.
"That's a lie," Kai yelled. "There you go again, pushing the blame off on someone else. I do regret creating you but I never helped you on any of your killing sprees!" he said jabbing his sword at Lei who vanished into thin air only to reappear behind him.
Lei chuckled softly. He loved that everything was subconsciously going in his favor. He was stressing Kai out, and angering him a lot. With a little luck Kai's anger would get the best of him and lead to his demise. "As I said before allow me to demonstrate how strong I truly am!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan had left the room with an unconscious, drunk, vampire by the name of Kevin, draped causally over his shoulder. Leaving Max and Takao alone in the room. They still hadn't been able to spot the key to unlock their restraints were beginning to worry.
"What if we never find it?" Takao groaned. "I don't want to be brunt to a crisp!" he whined childishly.
"Don't you DARE even think like that!" Max scolded him. "I'm almost certain that we'll..." his voice trailed off.
"That we'll what, Maxie?" Takao inquired. "Maxie?" he said once more. "What are you certain of?"
"The key!" Max cried. "I think I see it!"
"Awesome! Where?"
"Among the broken rum bottle glass," Max told him.
"A-are you sure?"
"There's only one way to find out," Max told him. "We've got to go check."
"But how?" Takao groaned. "We can't move, remember? We're tied to chairs, and each other."
"Then we have to move as one," Max told him. "At the same time we'll push ourselves over to the glass, okay?"
"Okay," Takao answered skeptically. On Max's signal they pushed off toward the wall, where the broken glass lay. They moved awkwardly and slowly, but finally got there. "Uh...Max where exactly did you see it?"
Max scanned the mess for a moment, before his face lit up. "There," he told Takao. The navy-blue haired vampire took the key between his feet and tossed it up in the air behind him. He skillfully caught it in his hands. He decided to take off Max's cuffs first as that was a much easier task than trying to take off his own. When he finally succeeded some time later, Max snapped out of his rope bindings, and stood up. He quickly unlocked Takao's cuffs and freed him as well.
"Good job, buddy," Takao smiled excitedly, wrapping his arms around Max, who blushed. "We finally did it! And it was all thanks to you!"
"We both did it!" Max told him with a smile. His smile soon faded as he timidly reached up, and traced his hand along Takao's bruised jaw and cheek, and his split lip. "Does it hurt much?" he asked coyly.
"I'll live," Takao assured him. "Now come on, we've got to get out of here and find the others...again!" Max nodded and followed him out of the room.
After their great escape, Max and Takao made their way back to the room in which they had been captured in, and in which they had found Rei nearly unconscious. Upon entering the room they were shocked to find that it was empty, and that everyone was gone. Because the two boys had been captured for so long, they were completely oblivious to all that had happened, during the past few hours.
"Where do you think the others went?" Takao questioned the golden-haired vampire, as they walked toward the broken sword cabinet, noting the fact that two swords were missing.
Max shrugged, "I don't know," he replied, his voice full of irritation. "God! I can't take this much longer!" he announced suddenly. "We lose the others, then we find them, and then we lose them again!"
"Come down, Maxie," Takao told him, draping an arm over his shoulder comfortingly. "We found them once, and we'll do it again."
Max looked up from the ground, eyes wide. He knew Takao was right. He smiled. "Yeah! Let's go!" he said at once, making for the door.
"Hold up," Takao stopped him. He turned around giving Takao a questioning stare. Takao carefully pulled two swords from the cabinet. "You know, w-we might need these," he explained handing one to Max.
He smiled and took it, "smart thinking." he said praising Takao, and the two left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai and Lei were still in the midst of their colossal duel. Each sporting a decent amount of small cuts and bruises. All of a sudden Lei glanced over his shoulder, his eyes glued to the door of the room. Kai saw him smirk and nod in that direction, before continuing to fight. Immediately Kai grew suspicious. His suspicion continued to grow, as every so often Lei would glance back at the door as if expecting someone to come. Minutes later, Lei suddenly leapt away from Kai. Just as he did this, a narrow, blurry object shot through the air heading straight for Kai. He moved just in time, however it still managed to slice a shallow wound into his cheek.
"What the hell was that!" He cried as he put a hand up to the new wound on his cheek. Still in shock Kai whipped around to see what had just injured him. "A metal arrow." he realized when he saw a metal arrow lying on the floor a few feet away from him. "But who..." His voice trailed off as he peered over at the door. He immediately sensed a power radiating from the door, but in his weakened state he couldn't pin point exactly who this energy belong to. He turned to Lei, who in return gave him a playful grin.
"I thought this was suppose to be a battle *strictly* between you and I," Kai told him, glaring.
"This *was* suppose to be a battle between the two of us," Lei said with a glare to rival Kai's. "However, it appears someone wants you dead far more than I do, and doesn't care that they have nothing to do with our little match."
"This isn't a fair battle," Kai said at once. "I thought you wanted to beat me at my best. I thought you wanted this to be a just battle."
Lei shrugged carelessly. "I don't remember saying that," he lied. "Frankly, I don't care who decides to indulge in our battle, that is, as long as I end up the victor."
TBC...
Don't hate me people! You knew I was going to do this cliffhanger. I always do, don't I? Hehe! I bet ur wondering what was with the drunk Kevin scene, let's just say I wanted to add a little humor to this chapter. Also, I think he was kind of cute as a drunk, don't you? Anywho the next chapter's the last, and the longest. I personally think it's also the most exciting, you'll see why. It's also packed with action! I know you won't want to miss it. Trust me, it's an ending for the record books, totally unanticipated. Or at least I hope!
Till then R/R!
CHOW!!
~*~Silverstorms~*~
THANK YOU to all those who reviewed!!! It's really appreciated!!! Now unto the fic!
Disclaimer: check in previous chapters
Warnings: course language, yaoi, violence...there might be more but who really has the time to sit down and check? *silence* I thought so.
Thinking: ( )
Speaking: " "
Me: (SS:)/(A.N:)
Flashback: ~~~~~
Change Scene: ~*~
Chapter 20: Rain On Me (Part: 1)
Rei's eyes fluttered open and he weakly got to his feet. Immediately he panicked. How long had he been out of it? And what about Kai? Had he already killed the malevolent, and sadistic Lei? Rei glanced desperately around the room, and gasped at the sight before him. There was no one in the room! Not Max, not Takao, not Kai or even Lei. Everyone was gone! To make matters worse one of the sword cabinets were currently smashed open, and two swords were missing. Rei quickly stumbled out of the room. He lashed his head from side to side, before taking off down the implausibly long hallway. Almost instantly he heard a loud crash, and someone cry out in pain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai stumbled backwards and bumped into a glass pantry, which fell to the floor, the glass shattering ubiquitously. "Cheap shot!" he growled in angrily, clutching his left shoulder that was now badly injured. Lei smiled sadistically, and licked Kai's blood off the sword he had earlier impaled into Kai's arm.
"Well," Lei sighed. "You know me, I liked to play dirty. Plus," he added. "That's what you get for what you did to me an hour ago. How dare you knock me out cold, and witness me at such a feeble state!" he snarled, his voice shaking in rage. "But that's okay," he said smiling suddenly, his voice now ridden of any anger. "It's not like I can die or anything."
Kai's face held a look of controlled resentment and fury, but deep inside he began to wonder if what Lei had said was true.
"Of course it's true," Lei grinned, loving the shocked expression that was currently plastered on Kai's face.
"I almost forgot that you had the ability to read minds," Kai admitted, smirking in spite of himself. "You know, my maker had that ability as well. But for some odd reason I was never gifted with that power yet it was passed onto you when I made you. Odd," he mused.
"Every two vampires are gifted with my ability," Lei informed him. "That is why Rei doesn't possess my power either. Nevertheless if he ever made another one of us, they would bare my dark gift," he explained. "Anyway where did we leave off?"
"Well," began the crimson-eyed vampire. "I believe we left off where you stabbed me in the arm. So ... I'VE DECIDED TO RETURN THE FAVOUR!" he yelled lunging his own sword at Lei. Lei was caught off guard, but recovered quickly and dogged Kai's attack by mere inches. Kai thrust his sword at Lei once again but his sword was met by Lei's. Sparks flew as the strong blades collided with one another.
Lei suddenly flashed Kai a devious smile. "What's the matter, Kai?" he inquired with a look of unmistakable amusement. "Are you getting tired?" he cooed mockingly. Kai ignored Lei's questions. He was certain that Lei was trying to distract him from their duel by conversing with him, so that he could slip up and Lei could easily attack him, like what had happened earlier. Kai was slowly tiring though and the gash on his left arm stung badly and was bleeding quite a bit. He was definitely in need of medical assistance, but was locked in a fierce battle instead.
"This isn't fair," Lei announced after a moment. "Here I am, incredibly powerful, and fighting you with two strong, uninjured arms. And there you are, weak and pitiful, fighting me with a nasty and deep gash to one of your arms. How you've managed to keep up with me till now is still a mystery. What do you say I fight using only one arm for now on? Just to be fair?" he suggested with a sly grin.
Kai stared at him incredulously for a moment. "You must be mad," he finally spoke up.
"No," Lei answered. "Not mad, just merciful. But heed my warning, this is the single and only act of mercy I will be showing you," he said, before slipping his left hand behind his back. "On ward!" he commanded, raising his sword, and they resumed their battle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why are you here?" Kevin demanded, as he and another vampire stood over Takao and Max in a menacing way. Takao and Max currently had restraints on their wrists and had been tied up, back to back on two wooden chairs.
Takao rolled his eyes at Kevin's question. His bottom lip was currently bleeding, and he had a large bruise forming on his jaw, thanks to Kevin. "I told you already. We came up here to rescue Rei," he growled in annoyance. Kevin walked up to him, backhanding him hard across the face, smiling as he saw another bruise forming.
"What was that for?" Max demanded turning his head, trying to face Kevin but failing miserably because of the way he had been situated.
"I did it because it was fun. Besides, no one speaks to me in that tone," Kevin snarled. Just then Mariah entered the room. She had changed into a sparkling white robe that matched her pale complexion perfectly. Her long pink hair flowing down her shoulders. But as gorgeous as her outfit looked, it was still obvious that it was a nightgown, plus her tired eyes were a dead giveaway.
"Well, well, well," a tall platinum-blond haired vampire smirked. "Look what the cat dragged in... a piece of garbage," he laughed eyeing Mariah as she walked in.
"Give it a rest, Alan," Mariah sneered. "What are *they* doing here?" she demanded when her eyes fixed upon two young vampires tied up on chairs.
"Turns out these two idiots were snooping around, until I caught 'em that is." Kevin explained.
"You had help, dumbass," Alan glared at him, referring to himself. Kevin smiled sheepishly.
"What did you plan on doing with them anyway?" Mariah questioned the two other vampires.
Kevin's lavender eyes lit up at this and he flashed her a toothy grin. "I've never witnessed a vampire blaze to a crisp before," he began. "So I was hoping I could keep these two until sunrise, force them outside and watch them burn." Takao and Max gasped quietly at this.
Mariah gave Kevin a disapproving look. "You are dark," she told him. "I really don't think this is a good idea..."
"Come on," Kevin begged. "It would be so cool. You can come and watch too. PLEASE?" Kevin pouted, batting his lashes. Mariah rolled her eyes at this.
"I think I'll pass on the invitation to join you. But, you can do what you'd like with those two, so long as you clean up the mess afterwards. I don't want ashes all over the clean pathway tomorrow morning," she told him. Kevin's face lit up and a small 'Yes!' escaped his lips. Mariah turned and left the room, in order to find her love Lei.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lei stopped for a moment, lowering his sword. "You know," he began. "I don't even remember why we're doing this..."
"Doing what?" Kai demanded breathing deeply, his face slightly flushed, as he clasped his sword tightly in both his hands, not trusting Lei at all.
"I can't remember why we're fighting," the raven-haired, tawny-eyed vampire told him softly.
"We're fighting because you killed Rei's parents, and then tried to kill him," Kai glared. "Plus I just plain didn't like you from day one, so I've jumped at the chance to kill you."
"Now, I know that's not true," Lei said quietly. "You loved me once. Couldn't we just...go back in time?" Lei asked him. Kai gave him an odd look but said nothing. "I mean before we ever...you know, broke up," Lei continued. "I know you have Rei now, and I have Mariah. And I know that I've acted as though my life has been perfect without you, but in reality I...I want you back." Lei sighed sadly. "I've also had my eye on your Rei, he's a fine specimen. Really he is. I was only going to kill him because I thought I could never have him. But perhaps," he paused. "Perhaps the three of us could...work something out."
Kai stared at him as if he was off his rocker. "You don't know when to give up do you?" he asked finally. "You're very persistent I'll give you that much," Kai told him with a smirk.
"Please Kai," Lei interrupted him, as he strolled up to him with sad eyes. "I'm your first fledging. You're my maker. My master," he said, placing a hand on Kai's smooth face, Kai could bring himself to pull away so he didn't. "How could we possibly even think of killing each other?" Lei asked as his eyes filled with unshed tears. "Please believe me when I say this Kai," Lei said wrapping his arms around Kai's neck. Kai loosely draped his arms around Lei's waist, still very unsure about all of this. "I'm sorry about everything I've put you through, same goes for Rei..."
Kai's face remained emotionless as he stared down at the slightly shorter vampire, struggling to search Lei's heart through his eyes. "Please Kai," Lei whispered pulling him closer, "I'm sorry." He sobbed, and he pressed his lips to Kai's, tears running down his cheeks. Kai tightened his grip around Lei waist, and finally responded to his kiss, when he felt a cold blade pressed firmly at the back of his neck. He immediately jumped, roughly removing himself from Lei's hold.
"Damn," Lei cursed, before grinning widely at Kai's angry expression. "What are you looking at me like that for?" he inquired with a small laugh. "I was testing your common sense, and came across a shocking discovery...you have none! Did you really think I was serious about all that I had said? Be reasonable, I'm an actor it's my job to know how to fake it!" he laughed. Kai glared at him, but knew he was right. (How could I have been so gullible?) He wondered to himself. He mentally told himself that it wouldn't happen again. There'd be *NO* second chances, even if Lei was serious next time. This was a fight to the death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rei continued to search for Kai, when he suddenly felt a strong presence following him. He turned around cautiously, sighing when he found no one there. He turned back around to come face to face with Mariah. He gasped utterly startled.
"You're still alive?!" she demanded crossing her arms over her chest, apparently shocked. "I thought Lei did away with you long ago." Rei said nothing but stared at her, trying not to look as frightened as he felt. Just then Mariah moved closer to him, until they were only inches apart. She took no notice or just probably didn't care that she was invading his personal space. "What is that?" she asked pointing at his neck. Rei reached up to his throat, and his hand brushed over two small puncture wounds.
Mariah grinned wickedly, "you were bitten!" she gasped happily. "I bet my Lei did that to you. But why are you still alive?" she asked him rather bluntly.
"Because I managed to escape with the help of a friend." He told her.
"Yeah, but surely it wasn't worth it?" Mariah asked him.
"What do you mean," Rei inquired.
"You don't know what I speak of?" she asked, sounding quite surprised. Suddenly she laughed. "I almost forgot. You were like, literally born yesterday."
"I wasn't born yesterday," Rei couldn't help but snap back. "It's been a few months."
"In any case you're still a fledging in the vampire world, a baby," she shrugged carelessly.
~~~~~~~~~End Of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"She told me that I would bare the scar on my neck for a century, for it takes that long to vanish completely," the vampire explained to the reporter. It was at that moment that Christopher Matthews noticed two faint bites on Rei's neck that marred his otherwise perfect skin.
~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mariah smirked. "Being bitten by your own kind is the most insulting and embarrassing thing that can happen to a vampire. Its' worse than being raped, because everyone knows of what happen to you. That's also why vampires who are bitten normally die very soon afterwards, mostly from suicide. Living with the shame is just too much for them. Come to think of it," she continued. "It's equally, if not more insulting for the vampire that caused the wound to allow the one it attacked to carry on living. It signifies that they took pity upon their prey by letting them live, and in the world of vampires, having pity of any kind is a great sign of weakness. Anywho," she sighed. "I must be off, I have to find my precious Lei whom I heard was battling Kai. Kai stands no chance though. Frankly, I expect to find Lei and a dead body," she laughed deviously. "Well, I'm off." She bid him goodbye, as she strolled away.
Rei stared after her before yelling, "WAIT!"
Mariah turned around, looking irritated. "What?" she asked grudgingly.
"Um," he began nervously, when he caught Mariah's cold glare. "H-have you seen Takao and Max?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, where?"
"They're being held hostage by Kevin somewhere," she told him briskly. "I think he wants to watch them burn in the sun tomorrow morning, or something like that," she answered. Rei was about to ask her another question when she simply vanished into thin air.
Suddenly Rei felt as though Kai was in trouble, it was almost like he had some sort of sixth sense that was warning him. Rei now had two crises to deal with, Kai, and his friends. He knew he had to make a decision. Who would he aid first. (I'll help Kai first), he decided finally. (The others I can help later since they're supposed to be put to death at sunrise).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Takao, Max, and Alan gawked at Kevin as he gulped down his sixth bottle of Vanilla flavored rum. A normal person would probably have died by now, but Kevin wasn't normal. He was a vampire, which meant he had a much higher tolerance for alcohol. He was sitting at a glass table on the far side of the room, giggling uncontrollably.
"I had no idea Kevin was an alcoholic," Takao whispered loudly.
"Well, now you know," Alan said, running a hand through his gelled back, blondish-silver hair. "Normally, Lei makes sure he's never anywhere near alcohol, but since he's preoccupied at the moment, Kevin's free to do whatever he'd like. I just hope..." but he broke off when an empty bottle flew through the air, and hit the wall behind him, shattering into pieces. Everyone turned to Kevin at the table.
"I'm...I'm *hic* not an...*hic* what's that word again? Oh yeah. *Hic* I'm not an idiot," he stammered. "I know you guys were...*hic* talking about *hic* me."
"Kevin, you're going to drink yourself dead," Alan scolded him.
"I AM NOT!" Kevin retorted rather loudly. "I ALREADY AM DEAD! I DIED INSIDE, *hic* LONG AGO. BEFORE YOU WERE BORN!"
"I'm two years older than you," Alan said rolling his eyes.
"Exactly!" Kevin said drunkenly, and he burped noisily.
Max turned to Takao. "Since Alan's busy dealing with his drunken comrade, we can use this time to escape."
"How?"
"First we've gotta find the keys to get off these restraints. Then we can easily break the ropes, strapping us to these chairs," Max explained. Takao nodded, and the two began to scan the room with their eyes in search of the key.
Kevin clumsily made his way over to them, stumbling over his feet a few times. He soon stood over Takao. "May I help you, oh drunk and wasted one?" Takao asked him sarcastically.
"I *hic* I know I've never told you this before but I...*hic* I really love you man." Kevin said wrapping an arm around Takao, who was struggling to pull away. Max felt a small wave of jealously growing within himself at Kevin's words. However, he tried to convince himself that Kevin was drunk and didn't know what he was doing. "Can I have a kiss?" Kevin inquired, leaning over Takao, who was now desperately pulling away.
"Uhhh...No," answered Takao in disgust.
"Aww, come on you're no fun," Kevin giggled as he downed the drink in his hand. Just then Alan ran over to him, his green eyes blazing he could no longer take Kevin's reckless behavior, or the fact that he was confessing his love to someone he obviously wouldn't have liked if he was sober.
"Kevin!" Alan yelled. "That's enough! Give me that drink!" he commanded lunging at the smaller vampire.
"NEVER!" Kevin yelled madly, as he jumped on the table. "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, *hic* twenty-three hours of ear!" he sang drunkenly. He took another rum bottle off the table and began to drink it down. Suddenly Kevin stopped, his pale face growing a bit paler, and then turning a light shade of green. He dropped the bottle to the ground, before clutching his stomach in pain. "I...I don't feel so good," he moaned.
Alan's eyes widened. "Hell no..." he whispered, hoping that what he thought would happen next wouldn't. "Holy crap!" Alan cried. "He's going to..." but before he could finish, Kevin threw up all over the table, and collapsed backwards, completely unconscious.
There was a brief pause between the other vampires.
Finally, Takao spoke. "That...was gross. And he, is going to have *the* biggest hangover tomorrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai and Lei continued their battle, none of them had yet managed to impale or hurt the other so far. And from the looks of it they appeared to be equals. Lei had kept his promise about only using one of his arms, not because Kai's left arm had been badly injured and he felt sorry for him, but because Lei wanted to spice up their battle a bit and test his own limits.
"Kai," he said after a moment. "You look tired. Perhaps you should just give up?"
"I'm not tired, in fact I've just gotten started," Kai stated, but Lei knew better. They had been at it for over an hour, and Lei could feel Kai slowly growing weaker.
"Poor Kai," Lei cooed. "I know how weak you must feel. And yet, you still continue to fight me when you're almost destined to lose this battle...why is that?"
"I...I must. You...killed Rei's parents. You've tortured and killed so many other innocent peoples as well. You must be stopped, at any cost. Even my life," Kai told him.
Lei smirked in amusement, "Awww, how thoughtful of you Kai," he cooed. "Let me just take a moment to...pretend I care." Kai glared at him, but seemed to weak to want to argue back. Seeing Kai like this excited Lei greatly. He was looking forward to seeing Kai beg, bleed, and scream. (This could be more fun than my time with Rei), he thought hungrily. "Foolish Kai I can't be stopped," he grinned.
Kai's face was deathly calm, as he listened to Lei boost and brag about himself. Unexpectedly, he shoved his sword to Lei's neck, its pointed tip only inches away from his throat. Lei merely smirked at Kai, as though thinking that he wouldn't dare kill him.
There was a brief silence.
Without warning, and in one very swift movement, Lei had disarmed Kai of his sword. He spun it professionally in his hands. He now possessed both his and Kai's sword. He grinned triumphantly, baring his impressive, and long fangs.
Kai stood there dumbstruck, this was the end or at least he thought it was.
Lei tossed his sword back to him. It was so unexpected that Kai fumbled with it, nearly dropping it. "What..." he began.
"Again," said Lei, as he resumed his fighting position. Kai just stood there for a moment. He didn't understand why hadn't Lei taken that chance to kill him.
"I know I said I wouldn't spare you," Lei began. "But I didn't do it out of pity. You've proved to be a worthy adversary, and it would be a shame to kill you so soon...without having a bit of fun first."
"I see," said Kai after a moment.
"Kai, I've learnt so much since you forced me out of my only home, since you abandoned me, and disowned me," Lei told him. "I just can't wait to demonstrate to you how much more powerful I am."
"Lei," he began, "I never abandoned or disowned you. I forced you out of my home because you tried to kill me. You act like *you* were the innocent victim in our relationship. Take some Goddamn responsibility!"
"In truth, we are both guilty." Lei informed him. Lei heard Kai question this statement in his head. "Simple. If you never created me, hundreds of humans and even a decent amount of vampires including Tala would still be alive. I know you hate to hear it, but I couldn't possibly take the credit for all of those deaths, I had help...from my better half, you." he grinned.
"That's a lie," Kai yelled. "There you go again, pushing the blame off on someone else. I do regret creating you but I never helped you on any of your killing sprees!" he said jabbing his sword at Lei who vanished into thin air only to reappear behind him.
Lei chuckled softly. He loved that everything was subconsciously going in his favor. He was stressing Kai out, and angering him a lot. With a little luck Kai's anger would get the best of him and lead to his demise. "As I said before allow me to demonstrate how strong I truly am!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan had left the room with an unconscious, drunk, vampire by the name of Kevin, draped causally over his shoulder. Leaving Max and Takao alone in the room. They still hadn't been able to spot the key to unlock their restraints were beginning to worry.
"What if we never find it?" Takao groaned. "I don't want to be brunt to a crisp!" he whined childishly.
"Don't you DARE even think like that!" Max scolded him. "I'm almost certain that we'll..." his voice trailed off.
"That we'll what, Maxie?" Takao inquired. "Maxie?" he said once more. "What are you certain of?"
"The key!" Max cried. "I think I see it!"
"Awesome! Where?"
"Among the broken rum bottle glass," Max told him.
"A-are you sure?"
"There's only one way to find out," Max told him. "We've got to go check."
"But how?" Takao groaned. "We can't move, remember? We're tied to chairs, and each other."
"Then we have to move as one," Max told him. "At the same time we'll push ourselves over to the glass, okay?"
"Okay," Takao answered skeptically. On Max's signal they pushed off toward the wall, where the broken glass lay. They moved awkwardly and slowly, but finally got there. "Uh...Max where exactly did you see it?"
Max scanned the mess for a moment, before his face lit up. "There," he told Takao. The navy-blue haired vampire took the key between his feet and tossed it up in the air behind him. He skillfully caught it in his hands. He decided to take off Max's cuffs first as that was a much easier task than trying to take off his own. When he finally succeeded some time later, Max snapped out of his rope bindings, and stood up. He quickly unlocked Takao's cuffs and freed him as well.
"Good job, buddy," Takao smiled excitedly, wrapping his arms around Max, who blushed. "We finally did it! And it was all thanks to you!"
"We both did it!" Max told him with a smile. His smile soon faded as he timidly reached up, and traced his hand along Takao's bruised jaw and cheek, and his split lip. "Does it hurt much?" he asked coyly.
"I'll live," Takao assured him. "Now come on, we've got to get out of here and find the others...again!" Max nodded and followed him out of the room.
After their great escape, Max and Takao made their way back to the room in which they had been captured in, and in which they had found Rei nearly unconscious. Upon entering the room they were shocked to find that it was empty, and that everyone was gone. Because the two boys had been captured for so long, they were completely oblivious to all that had happened, during the past few hours.
"Where do you think the others went?" Takao questioned the golden-haired vampire, as they walked toward the broken sword cabinet, noting the fact that two swords were missing.
Max shrugged, "I don't know," he replied, his voice full of irritation. "God! I can't take this much longer!" he announced suddenly. "We lose the others, then we find them, and then we lose them again!"
"Come down, Maxie," Takao told him, draping an arm over his shoulder comfortingly. "We found them once, and we'll do it again."
Max looked up from the ground, eyes wide. He knew Takao was right. He smiled. "Yeah! Let's go!" he said at once, making for the door.
"Hold up," Takao stopped him. He turned around giving Takao a questioning stare. Takao carefully pulled two swords from the cabinet. "You know, w-we might need these," he explained handing one to Max.
He smiled and took it, "smart thinking." he said praising Takao, and the two left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kai and Lei were still in the midst of their colossal duel. Each sporting a decent amount of small cuts and bruises. All of a sudden Lei glanced over his shoulder, his eyes glued to the door of the room. Kai saw him smirk and nod in that direction, before continuing to fight. Immediately Kai grew suspicious. His suspicion continued to grow, as every so often Lei would glance back at the door as if expecting someone to come. Minutes later, Lei suddenly leapt away from Kai. Just as he did this, a narrow, blurry object shot through the air heading straight for Kai. He moved just in time, however it still managed to slice a shallow wound into his cheek.
"What the hell was that!" He cried as he put a hand up to the new wound on his cheek. Still in shock Kai whipped around to see what had just injured him. "A metal arrow." he realized when he saw a metal arrow lying on the floor a few feet away from him. "But who..." His voice trailed off as he peered over at the door. He immediately sensed a power radiating from the door, but in his weakened state he couldn't pin point exactly who this energy belong to. He turned to Lei, who in return gave him a playful grin.
"I thought this was suppose to be a battle *strictly* between you and I," Kai told him, glaring.
"This *was* suppose to be a battle between the two of us," Lei said with a glare to rival Kai's. "However, it appears someone wants you dead far more than I do, and doesn't care that they have nothing to do with our little match."
"This isn't a fair battle," Kai said at once. "I thought you wanted to beat me at my best. I thought you wanted this to be a just battle."
Lei shrugged carelessly. "I don't remember saying that," he lied. "Frankly, I don't care who decides to indulge in our battle, that is, as long as I end up the victor."
TBC...
Don't hate me people! You knew I was going to do this cliffhanger. I always do, don't I? Hehe! I bet ur wondering what was with the drunk Kevin scene, let's just say I wanted to add a little humor to this chapter. Also, I think he was kind of cute as a drunk, don't you? Anywho the next chapter's the last, and the longest. I personally think it's also the most exciting, you'll see why. It's also packed with action! I know you won't want to miss it. Trust me, it's an ending for the record books, totally unanticipated. Or at least I hope!
Till then R/R!
CHOW!!
~*~Silverstorms~*~