Ch.2: Wings of the Dead

"…it's not human. It reeks of the Knights." A voice hissed in the darkness. Though the voice was quiet, he could not keep the disgust from his tone. The voice was deep and gravely, clearly belonging to middle-aged man.

"No matter; they all taste the same." Another female voice accompanied the first male one, her deep and silky tone addressing her age as a woman in her twenties or so.

"I haven't had a bite in some time. At least the meal's warm this time… sucking on corpses only gets you so far, hm?" A third voice cackled in the shadows, the feminine laughter telling him that she was not much older than he was, roughly around eighteen. Squall grew slightly nervous at this, but was determined to keep a straight face as he walked past them.

"You feel that?" The feminine voice said, her deeper tone silkier than the rest. "He's nervous. I love that… but fear is always the most enjoyable." Squall made sure to continue walking, approaching a large Inn that he knew was inhabited before the three shadows stopped before him, gracefully and swiftly moving before him to block his path. The first to speak was the woman, glaring at him with blood-red eyes.

"Fear… it spices up the food so nicely, yes?" The owner of the second voice, a woman, approached him quickly, and was almost face to face with the SeeD. He saw her smile with her opaque fangs, saw the purple lipstick coating her lips and the black hair that was, for the most part, up in a bun. Some of it draped in front of her face, hiding the left half of her face from Squall's view. Her dress was a black one, with the sleeves starting lower than her shoulders and extending to her hands; with the sleeves so wide, however, it simply hung from her hands a few inches towards the ground. As soon as the dress met the beginning of her thighs, it split in two. The only thing that held the partition of the black material together were a numerous amount of black leather belts. Regardless of this attempt to cover her legs, the black lace on her thigh and calf still showed through. Her eyes were a deep red, resembling the shade of blood.

"It's a spice you'll have to miss out on… this man doesn't scare that easy, it seems." A gravely voice, belonging to the first man, rang out next to the woman. He steeped out from the shadows, his large boots' steps louder and more noticeable than the last woman's heels. He seemed to be older than she was, with noticeable white streaks in his otherwise black hair. His face was slightly skuzzy, as if he hadn't shaved for a few days, and was rugged and dark overall. Only one of eyes was open, it seemed. His left arm disappeared into his crimson coat, with his arm in a sling-like position against his black shirt. Besides the wrist and hand, the rest of his arm was veiled by the fabric. The sword he carried was large, yes… but that was for intimidation, or subduing prey. He wasn't beyond fighting, though… feeding was just on the top of his priority list, that was all.

"Yeah… a shame, isn't it, Lu?" The last one said, whining slightly. Her flipped, brown hair and green eyes were the most prominent features on the former teenager's face; immortality slowed aging down to almost a nonexistent crawl, making true age among the vampires almost impossible to determine. Her slim frame was clothed in a bright yellow jumper, which extended from her shoulders to her thighs. Her face was in a constant smile, though this one was a disappointed one that still revealed her fangs.

"Indeed… so… you'll just have to make up for it with all that loss inside, now, don't you think?" Lulu's hand rested on the wooden door behind Squall, motioning him to open it. She had heard the ones inside, and it was now stirring her already ravenous thirst for blood. She smiled at the man, making sure to keep her demeanor cool and calm as if he had no choice in the matter. "It's you or them, Knight."

"Like hell I will." Squall said, his face still revealing no emotion to the vampires before him. He heard the woman's nails clicking against the frame before her eyes flashed brightly at his words. Her civil smile quickly changed to a snarl as she proceeded to grab him by the throat, the underestimation of the woman's strength proving quite painful as his head and neck hit the door behind him. Though unable to lift him much higher than a foot or two, it was enough… it would only be a few minutes before either gravity or her hand would starve him of oxygen.

"Let us in, fool!" Lulu yelled, her fangs no longer hidden and bared as she continued to try to break Squall. The SeeD was proving quite the difficult nut to crack, simply sneering at the woman below. Though he realized that this intimidation was a gamble, he knew she only had a few choices; she would either grip tighter, or reach back with one hand to strike him… if it was the latter, he could possibly break free of her cold, steel grip. He knew that she would want to keep him alive for as long as possible, for he knew that vampires couldn't enter a room if uninvited. It was torture for the three undead figures, who could hear the breath, the movements, and the pulses of future victims that lay just beyond their reach.

Unfortunately, she had done the former, grasping his throat tighter, her rage already spilling over and her patience wearing dangerously thin. A surprised and exasperated gasp escaped Squall's lips as he struggled to obtain the necessary oxygen needed to even stay conscious. A squeal from the third vampiress was all that he heard after that, the figure leaping up and down in an attempt to get Lulu's attention.

"Hey, Lu, stop that! He can't let us in if he's dead!" She said, running forward and grasping Lulu's pale arms in an attempt to loosen the other woman's grip. Lulu released her hands from his neck for less than a second, looking down at who was tugging so persistently at her arms before renewing the contact, this time with less force. Though still lethal, it would be a slower, more painful death if he didn't talk. She smiled sarcastically before rolling her eyes at Selphie, as if to say, Fine… Look! I'm being gentle. Are you happy now?

"Selphie… back away. Let her do what she wants." The man, Auron, said calmly, wanting to see just how Lulu would handle the situation. Would she kill the victim, and leave nothing but a cold corpse to suck on? Would she knock him unconscious before sucking him dry? Would there be anything left…? All these thoughts ran through his mind, but he said nothing of it, simply acting the bystander. His hand flew to his flask before stopping again, sighing in disgust. The contents of it no longer appeased anything; alcohol no longer worked for him, and tasted extremely foul whenever he had decided to lift the beverage to his lips.

At this, Lulu shot a look of brief gratitude towards the man, who gave her nothing but a small nod in return. Her grip tightened around Squall's neck. He could feel the blood flow seem to stop where her hands grasped her neck, clamping off any circulation that might have been in progress beforehand. Stars seemed to burst in blues and blacks as he felt the lights start to go out in his mind. He could not speak… when attempting to do so, only a brief exhalation and a gasp were all that his exhausted lungs allotted. His hands tried in vain to dislodge hers, but to no avail… her strength far surpassed his own.

"Release him, Lulu." The cold voice commanded, only a few yards away from her. As the woman turned her head around, she promptly released him, causing him to collapse on the ground, his back against the wall and his hands around his neck. She backed away as Squall caught his breath, coughing and taking sharp inhalations in an attempt to remove the painful burning in his lungs that felt like a small inferno had ignited in them. After a few seconds of doing so, his head looked up, only to find the same woman who had come to his aid earlier.

"Walking alone in this area, out of my territory… what a stupid Knight you are." She spat, pulling him up with a rather surprising burst of strength. His eyes were just as cold as hers when they met, hers from normality and his from anger and frustration. He didn't understand…

"Why… why did you…?" He was stopped by a fit of coughing, which thoroughly shook his body. He had to catch his breath yet again… clearly, this was one element SeeD training hadn't prepared him for. Then again, they probably never expected the enemy to get that close, considering their weaponry. It figured that school would fail him when he needed the knowledge most.

"Enough. Leave us." She motioned to the others, who departed as the first two had done, slipping into the shadows in general disappointment. Lulu scowled before she left, leaving Auron to have to lead her away by the arm to prevent her from attacking again. His eyes showed a small bit of fear for her, as if that would have been a fatal mistake if she had done so.

"Get inside, Knight. You'll be safer there. But remember this: you'll never be as safe as if you were with me." Without explaining her words or letting Squall interrogate them, she opened her velvet wings and flew off, her ebony appearance once more blending in with the night sky as she departed. Squall sighed, not bothering to delve into her words; they would only spur more questions that he did not have time to answer.

"…" He walked in, only to find several other people seemingly waiting for him. He recognized the first, whose blonde hair set her apart from the rest. Her current strict demeanor meant that she was currently in 'instructor' mode, something he found quite amusing. He smirked at Quistis slightly before sighing as she stormed towards him. Without warning, her hand came down like lightning across his face, the contact only momentarily stinging his flesh as he turned to stare at her with once again with emotionless eyes. Hers, however, were filled with fury, rage, and frustration.

"You idiot… you led her here! Their leader! How could you? Rinoa had no idea that we were here before now…"