Sorry it's taken such time. Really. If you find anything wrong with spelling or so, blame Windows XP. Damn thing won't install the correction thingy.
Funyun – Thanks, thanks a lot! Yes, Javier has a small part in the chapter "Talon", he's a vampire. This is rated PG, maybe I should raise that? Is that really necessary for that? Tell me what you think. Dontcha worry, Talley and Veronica are still important. The dream is a part of their backstory, an expedition where they were infected. And that infection is the curse. About the slavery thing... please tell me what that has to do with this. I've tried to figure it out, but to no avail. No, I'm not american, I'm swedish. Does it show? :)
And now, yet another chapter of my fic. Feel free to comment or flame.
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Javier kept himself hidden in a dark corner. It was impossible to sneak through the lighted corridors of the ship with only his shadows to help him. He wished for a moment he possessed the powers his brother had before he quickly bolted to the next dark spot. The light made him feel uneasy and he was startled by every little sound. He was not hunting on his own ground this time. He licked some blood off a finger to get a little encouragment before he took a deep breath and snuck out into the light again.
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Mina wrote her name under the long text. She read it through one last time, nodded and threw it in the trash-bin. She then leaned her head on her hand and sighed deeply. She simply couldn't concentrate on anything. She wondered if maybe she should... go out for a while? She considered it before she noticed the sound. She turned against the spot where the sound seemed to be stronger. Crickets? No, she told herself. It grew stronger with every second, she could feel it inside her head, somehow. She looked up on the ceiling. What was that noise? Without warning, the full attack came, it exploded in her head and struck her to her knees, whimpering. To herself, it felt like she screamed. She could suddenly hear every little sound, the engines, two guards talking, a pen against a paper... It felt like thousands of small, squeaking creatures crept around in her head. She gritted her teeth and pressed her hands against her ears. She wondered if it might be her vampiric side demanding to be fed, but she couldn't feel any of the usual hunger. She could almost feel the small creatures move, chew the backside of her eyes. She blinked away some tears and saw, to her great surprise, that the door was opened. She got up from her chair and took a few unsteady steps towards the door. She could feel the 'noise' decrease. She sobbed loudly in relief and continued to walk, each step becoming more secure.
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Adria also felt something unusual. She lifted her head from the pillow and tried to determine what it was she heard. It was... insects? She shook her head and sat up. It defenitly wasn't insects. She concentrated on it, uncoinsciously taking long, quiet breaths. It was almost like... voices... She realized that she was sniffing the air, trying to find something, most likely. She stopped, wondering why on earth she would have done that. She got up from the bed and put her ear against the door. She grinned when she heard a guard whisper something to the other one, then she had to press down a scream. She knew the door was to thick to hear a whisper through it. She stood there for minutes, confused, before she looked at the book on the end of the bed. She glared at it for a long time, as if blaming it for the strange feeling. But before she could make up a conclusion to why she had heard the guards, the other noise increased in strength. She pressed her hands against her ears, looking around herself to find the thing that made the sound.
"Shut up..." she growled, still frantically searching. "Be quiet, be quiet... BE QUIET!"
The last she screamed. She felt something boiling inside of her and with a roar she threw herself towards the door. It remained on place the first time, but she burst through it on her second try. The guards immediately took a firm grip of her arms, but she tore herself free with some effort and ran down the hallway, determined on finding the source to the noise and silence it.
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Leo looked up at the figure in the doorway. A weak smile spread over his face, revealing the holes where his fangs used to be.
"Brother..." he managed to whisper. Javier took him on one arm and tore the chains off with the other. He took his coat of and put it on the floor to make a somewhat warm place for his brother to lay on. He gently stroke a lock of hair out of Leo's face. Javier could hardly bare to see what the Murderer had done to his brother. After two days without a drop of blood, he was weak and the Murderer had taken advantage of that. He wasn't scarred, but Javier could see the damage that had been done to him all the same.
"Oh, brother..." he whispered, kissing his forehead. "Don't worry about a thing. I will take you back to our kin and let you have some rest. Then I shall return here and kill them, one after one."
Leo shook his head.
"No... don't. They... they followed the rules, like we agreed."
Javier frowned.
"Rules? Brother, they are cattle! They can't know our laws! What they have done to you... I will not forget this because you will it."
"You said... family of victims... will hunt us and... I wasn't careful... they will not find us, brother... let us just leave and we..."
His eyes widened and gasped for air. Javier could only whisper soothing words.
"Oh... Ja-javee..."
Javier heard the click of a rifle behind him and it was pressed against the back of his head.
"Even your kind have trouble healing a severed head, vampire." A cold voice said behind him. Javier looked over his shoulder and saw the face of the Murderer.
"What more do you want, human? You have scarred my brother and lured me here! Is death all you wish for?" he snarled. Remington shook his head.
"Oh no, vampire. I want you to show me your hiding place now."
"No, Remington. The vampire can tell us who sent Gilding."
Remington and Javier looked at Mina in the door. Adria stood behind her, panting. It was obvious was Mina was blocking her way if Adria decided to go in.
"Gilding...?" Remington asked, puzzled. Mina ignored him and glared at Javier.
"Who sent Gilding?"
Javier glared back at her.
"I don't know any Gilding."
"Don't dare to lie. Who sent the assassin to this ship?"
"Assassin...? I..." Javier began, but was interrupted by Leo.
"Brother... the werewolf... He spoke with... Talon of... a league... a battle..." he stuttered quietly. Javier understood what he tried to say. He glared at the people in the room.
"The one who sent the assassin is in America! He isn't here anymore! Don't bother us for something our clan haven't done!" he hissed.
"America? Why has he gone there?"
"How the hell should I know? A werewolf came and took more than half of the pure clan along with our leader to America. Who ever you want to find is there!"
Mina nodded thoughtfully and looked at Remington.
"The ones that are responsible for all this first. Then you have free hands."
Remington looked back and nodded before he tore the vampire up from the floor. He glared at it.
"We will come back. If I find any victim of yours, I will personally stake you and burn your hide-out down. Understood?"
Javier's face darkened, before he seemed to give up. He nodded. Remington let him down and waited for him to pick his brother up. He walked closely behind him, his rifle ready, following him out. Mina felt the buzzing in her head die down when Javier left. She was about to leave when Adria patted her on her shoulder.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You're going to America now?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Just wondered. I was planning to stay here a bit longer, but I can't go to America. I should leave."
Mina knew that she couldn't let the girl leave. It would only be stupid to release another werewolf into London.
"Maybe you can't." She finally said. "You'll have to ask Dr. Jekyll if he thinks you're healthy enough to leave yet."
Adria nodded.
"Yeah, that would probably be best. Thanks."
She went back towards her room. Mina could only hope that Jekyll would know that they couldn't possibly release her. She wondered how long it would take before Adria realized that she was almost a prisoner. Mina sighed and put those troubles aside. She went to find Nemo and tell him of the new plans.
