Yeah, here it is… This nice little chapter is, of course, in the end not even close to what I wanted it to be, but at least it is done, finally. Time to concentrate on the next one…

Chapter V: One step closer

By Kia

Of course it had been Kurin who first noticed the presence of vampires in their village. It had been a bad feeling he got, some kind of instinct, coming to life every time an undead creature was near, he would like to say, but in truth it had been a coincidence, simple as that.

Though, indeed, a bit of bad feeling had taken place in it. The bad feeling, that had made him take the dark way through the small alleys when he left the others to take a short walk around – not to look out for possible dangers but simply to get some cool air and silence and to watch the stars, for he knew that this night would be one of the last clear ones before the rainstorms of fall found their way back into the mountains. When he went back to the fire he wandered through the close spaces between the houses and there he found old Ruanris and his daughter, both dead, both drained of blood. It was there that he felt a cold hand close around his heart for despite all his words he never would have thought that this could happen, not here. Right then he thought nothing, just scrambled to his feet and started running back to the fire to warn the others, his boots barely touching the stones beneath them.

***

The nice part of the night ended the moment Kurin came running back to the place, drawing all attention to himself by screaming "Vampires!" and "Stay close to the fire!"

Had it been anyone else but him, maybe the whole village would have panicked this very moment. But they all knew of Kurin and his obsession with the bloodsucking undead and so he rose little more that curiosity in them. If he had finally lost his mind, they wondered, but deep inside they felt uneasy and nervous. For they all knew that Kurin was, after all, a reasonable man that would never run around screaming for nothing. So they gathered around him and hid their worries in weak jokes about his strange behaviour. They listened to his words when he told them about the old man and the woman in the alley and their jokes were silenced by their worry turning to fear.

"Take torches from the fire", Kurin commanded, suddenly turning into a leader without anyone protesting. "Run home to get your weapons, but only move in groups and be careful. The woman and children stay here by the fire, they won't come too close to it. At least ten or fifteen men should always stay here to protect them. The rest goes searching for them, but, keep in mind, we don't know how many they are."

They did as he told, left nervous and in groups while the woman stayed behind, fearfully gathering around the fire. Still they stayed remarkably quiet, not letting their fear take control over their actions. Not, at least, until someone in the crowd pointed at a rooftop nearby, screaming. Had it been the vampires intention to get the people away from the fire by showing itself so obvious above them it had reached its goal. The moment they spotted him chaos broke loose and everyone seemed to try and get away. The few that didn't lose their head were hopeless in their attempt to keep the rest of them together. It didn't take more then half a minute for the guarded group to split up and get lost in the shadows where they were easy prey. The vampire vanished with them, apparently having got what it wanted and over the now almost deserted place ran scared people like headless chicken, men that tried to get them back together and a frightened woman, helplessly calling for her children that had been lost to the chaos.

***

When everyone suddenly started screaming and running around Raziel didn't even know what was going on for from his spot he couldn't see the creature on the roof. Analie, however, could and she, like everyone else, started to run away as fast as she could, screaming in a high pitched voice while she disappeared into the shadows before Raziel could stop her. He that ran after her without thinking, yelling at her to come back. She didn't hear and within all the panicking people they already were quite far from the fire when he finally caught her. But now the vampire was behind them, between them and the fire and so they kept running until they reached the outer part of the village, where the rocks began. They climbed between those, feeling safer now that the noise of the people disappeared into the distance.

Now they sat there under the starry sky and Analie clung to her brothers shoulders, fearfully listening out into the night. They hardly dared to breath and yet neither of them noticed the man walking up to them until he stood merely a few meters away. He looked at them calmly and seemed to know all to well that they could never escape, a tall man with dark unruly hair and board shoulders. Raziel could only stare at him and all thought were suddenly gone from his head but the one that this could not be happening that made him shake his head weakly, the only movement he was able to.

Analie, when she looked up and saw him, made a small noise of surprise and scrambled to her feet. "Daddy!", she cried, as she ran towards him. "I always knew you'd come back to us!"

***

Something deep inside Raziel knew that this was wrong but his head was still empty and he could do nothing to stop his sister when she got out of his arm and ran over to their father… to what looked like their father but could not be it, for the dead never rose from their graves, and their father was dead, and buried, years ago. So this could not be him, though he looked like him and moved like him and even was dressed like him. Wasn't there something Kurin once said, about the making of vampires…? The thought lingered somewhere in the back of his head but he could not grasp it, all he knew, when he saw his sister running away from him was that this was wrong, so very, very wrong. He wanted to hold her back but a silent "Wait" was all he could mutter and the word never reached even his own ears.

The vampires face showed mild surprise when he stared at the little girl so willingly coming to him, confusion but to the slightest hint of recognition. Not even when he got down on his knees to embrace the child that so happily threw its arms around his neck. Not even, when he opened his mouth and sunk his sharp teeth deep into his little daughters throat.

That was the moment when all the thoughts suddenly returned to Raziel and the realisation of how completely he had failed to protect his sister. His hands closed around a long, pointed piece of rock lying around and he didn't even feel the sharp edges gutting into his own flesh.

Some distant part of him expected himself to scream when he saw Analie go limp in familiar strangers arms but he stayed silent and the world blurred around him as he got to his feet and ran up to the man like his sister before him, just faster, blind with pain and rage and a sharp rock clenched in his fist.

The fiercely of his attack seemed to surprise the vampire. It barely had the chance to look up when it heard him coming and before it could do anything Raziel threw himself at it and stabbed the rock into its chest without hesitation. The long claws of the creature slashed through his own flesh, but the boy felt nothing of it while he sat on top of the so much larger man and stabbed him again and again.

And again.

-tbc-

October 05, 2003

Nyah, sorry it took me so long again! I had wanted to write this so much sooner, but there is always this gab between what I want to do and what I really do in the end… *sigh*

Again, many thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm more than thankful for every comment! ^^ (Every comment that makes sense, anyway…)