The Vampire Narratives, Part one: The Vampire Remus.
Category: General/ Romance.
Rating: A tentative PG-13. I'm really not sure about this, because it started out as an R-rated fic. Feel free to tell me if it should be R, but please don't report me.
Disclaimer: Well, I don't own the X men, and what I've written is not part of ANY canon to the best of my knowledge. If it is revealed sometime in the future that Remy is a vampire, well then you should know that I had no idea and that I came up with this stuff on my own.
I was influenced while reading a story about Remy as a vampire (Italian Pure by Broadway; excellent story), at around the same time as reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles (Also excellent books), which is why I decided to tackle a story on vampires. I should at this point, also give a shout out to my beta-er, Javed Chaudhry ), although what he did was basically just read the story and "Hm. It's good."
Notes: I have changed things around a bit from the conventional abilities of a vampire (I mean like they can't turn into bats, etc) I also may have made some changes to characterization and mutant abilities, for tauter storytelling, but I avoided this insofar as I could. The first story (this one) centres on Remy, and of course, Rogue. But I went and I changed everyone's names, just to further separate them from their normal (mutant) selves.
A vampire can have mutant powers if he was a mutant before being bitten, or he could have been a normal human, and then become a vampire without mutant powers. Also, being mutant does in no way mean one WILL become a vampire. They're two entirely separate things. Plus, if you're a vampire, it doesn't mean you can't fall in love.
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Remus Lebeau sat on his bed, ignoring the dying embers in the fireplace, ignoring the way the walls seemed stained with blood in the muted reddish glow, oblivious even to the lightening sky outside his window, a sky soon to be awash with the golden rays of the sun. He was immersed completely in his thoughts, and any casual observer looking at him would have known by the way his irises changed their shade from crimson to deep scarlet to a piercing ruby color that this was no human. In fact, if they were to guess that he was not entirely a mutant either, they would have been right. Aside from his glowing irises, they would have noted the black corneas, which did not change shade like the irises did, but seemed instead to swallow light from around them. The darkness would seem to move, shifting, growing, diminishing and then suddenly flaring up. The casual observer would then note the thick eyebrows, the way the brown hair cascaded carelessly down to the shoulders, and the stubble on the strong jaw and below the thin, cruel mouth and the straight nose, slightly upturned at the end.
Of course, any casual observer would have been blown to pieces before he even got to the castle gates, let alone Remus's room.
The sky had now started to blush a deep pink, indicating that sunrise was incipient. Remus ignored the feeling in the pit of his stomach that warned him to leave his room, to flee to the dark safety of his crypt. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts. And besides, Remus didn't move unless he wanted to. His body didn't have a say in the matter.
He was thinking of his creator, Magnus. He let his brain filter the memories until it found the one he was looking for; he hadn't had to recall anything consciously for quite a few centuries now. While his brain was sorting memories, he thought about Magnus. Magnus, who had, when he was human, hated the barbarians who had sacked his little Roman village, and had, after his mutation manifested, hated all humankind. When he had turned into what Remus was now, he had had no one to hate. No one had known about vampires then, so long ago, and so there had been no chance of persecution. That rankled Magnus as he was essentially a visionary, and a visionary needs oppression to grow. He had roamed the world, looking for people who might hunt vampires, and had found none. Along the way, he had made other vampires, never even bothering to teach them how to hunt, never telling them that the sun would turn them to ashes, always surrounded by a black cloud of depression and borderline dementia. He had made a concentrated effort in the late eighteenth century, and succeeded in frightening a few villages out of their collective wits, and attracting the attention of one Bram Stoker, who promptly immortalized him as Count Dracula of Transylvania. But Stoker's work was seen as fiction, and still there was no conflict of the magnitude Magnus had feverishly envisioned. A few decades later he had realized that he had enough power to single-handedly fulfill his vision of a vampire infested world, even without human-vampire conflicts. This had driven him into a horrible dilemma; he knew that he could not sit around doing nothing, and if he were to carry out his plans, he would have nothing to live for. Eventually he had stayed up to watch the sunrise, trying to reverse the magnetic pull of the earth in a final gesture of defiance for the natural course of things. He might have succeeded if he hadn't started at dawn.
Remus finally glanced out the window, a bored expression on his face, and seeming to take no interest in the fact that birds flew across the length of the sky, and the pink near the horizon had turned into a brilliant orange, while his brain feverishly calculated the time it would take to reach the crypt. He irrationally wondered whether he should stay for the sunrise. Maybe he would be like the Immortal Cyclops, and survive it.
He waited another second, realizing he remembered what he had wanted to. He analyzed the memory until he got the information he needed. Then, in movements so fast no human could have possibly seen them, and so fast that his own vision blurred, he sped out his door and down into his personal crypt, just as the sun burst forth from the horizon to start a new day.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
As he had for the past week, Remus sat upon his bed and thought. He ignored the thirst for blood that had been building for a week, and he ignored the fact that his clothes were thrown across the room, and the fact that there was a woman right behind him, throwing herself upon him and making all sorts of noises. Making love did not give nearly as much pleasure as drinking blood.
Idly he remembered his Creation as his brain processed the information he wanted. He had been going to see the Cardinal Essex, a man who claimed he could help him control his strange powers. He had been young then, not caring that a Cardinal of France would have so English a name, and he had hoped with all the folly and earnestness of youth that Essex could stop him from creating explosions. On the way to Essex's palace, Magnus had swept up on him on an empty street and drained him nearly dry. He had then slit his wrist and given Remus the Blood. Vampiric Blood. He had then walked off, albeit a little unsteady from the loss of blood, leaving Remus to figure out what had happened to him, leaving him to fend for himself. Magnus had been very morose at the time, and Remus suspected that Magnus had imprinted that morbidity forever on him, turning him from the happy-go-lucky mortal he had once been into the dark and brooding vampire he was now. That first night had been a shock; he clearly remembered the beggar he had killed and drained, and then the way he had gone into a frenzy in the butcher's shop, sucking the blood out of all the meat joints and the poor old dog as well.
His second shock had come a year later, when he had found a vampire Coven in Paris, complete with a leader, and rituals. Those were the first vampires he had met; aside from the few minutes Magnus had taken to convert him. He had been shocked to see the male vampires were all castrated. A few discreet questions asked of the vampire priest had told him that all male vampires were castrated before Conversion, since otherwise they would have had human impulses, and a child born of union between a vampire and a human would be a sin and an abomination, as well as nearly unstoppable and crazed, like the Insane Cable. Some dysfunction ensured female vampires could not procreate, so children could only be born of a male vampire and a woman. Remus was untouched in that regard; Magnus had been too caught up in his misery to realize Remus needed.. 'fixing.' But, as a parting gift, he had burnt all emotion out of Remus, and Remus found he could not care less about whether he was neutered or not. It was when he realized that it did not matter to him whether he had genitalia or not that his mind began to separate from his conscious thoughts. His mind was still that of the carefree young mortal Remus Lebeau – Remy as his friends had called him. His thoughts were however, much more mature, and completely stripped of emotion, and how he hated it. Often his brain had implanted thoughts of killing Magnus into his consciousness, and had eventually given up in frustration when it realized his consciousness did not care. But during the last hundred years or so, his brain had started taking a more active part in matters. He recalled how he had felt a brief elation when news had reached of Magnus's demise.
Dimly he became aware he was feeling another emotion – anger towards Magnus, anger for leaving him an empty shell. He glanced down to see the wrought iron edge of the bed crushed under his clenched knuckles and glowing cherry red. He glanced back at the girl who was also glowing red, but appeared not to have noticed. She was too caught up in whatever she was doing, still working on his back. He felt no remorse for planting erotic suggestions in her mind; she and her actions were unimportant until he felt like feeding. Remus let the built up kinetic energy seep back into him. As he tried to think of an outlet for the energy, he thought about his powers.
His powers had expanded over time. He could explode objects with a thought. Organic objects like humans and plants could also be combusted from afar, but it took more concentration and more time. His touch was death if he did not concentrate. He had also developed the power to absorb kinetic energy, and transfer it through matter, as he was doing now. That was probably what made him more powerful than other vampires his age. When taking a victim, he would drain the energy in the cells, collapsing the system. In this way he would leave no other fluid in the body, and he would make all the body's blood flow into the main blood system, from where he could drink every last drop. Other vampires could not get at every drop of blood, and they would also take in tiny amounts of urine, mucus and other fluids, which would weaken them slightly in minute amounts, and be poisonous to a vampire in large doses.
The empathy he had was at an almost uncontrollable level. One night he had woken up to the sounds of someone breaking into his casket. When he had opened the casket, two men had fallen upon him, and pressed their necks to his mouth, wanting him to take their blood and their lives.
Remus let the bottled up kinetic energy explode miles above in the atmosphere, turning his thoughts to the kill. He turned to the woman, who seemed to realize for the first time that she was going at it alone. While he automatically took his position and waited for her to mount him, his thoughts were already far away.
The kill was a dozen times more erotic for a vampire than an orgasm is for a human. There was the kind of sheer pleasure in taking life that there was in nothing else. Remus's brain, still human, chafed at the thought of Remus drinking from a man. It regarded the act as being homosexual. Remus the vampire, the one controlling the body, could not care less whether he drank from a man or a woman. He preferred young people though, their flesh being soft and succulent. Babies, however, were the best, although they did not hold too much blood.
He let the woman exhaust herself. She had had her pleasure, and now it was his turn. He let his empathy continue to convince her she was having the best sexual experience of her life while he prepared to drink from her. Just as she screamed, he tore the breast open, watching the heart beat fluctuating rapidly. And then he drank. Just before she died, the woman realized that something was very, very wrong, and she opened her eyes in terror. The last thing she saw were two glowing crimson eyes – the Devil's eyes – surrounded by a blackness that engulfed her, and swallowed her whole.
Remus got off the bed and walked outside. He had found all the information he had needed locked in his memory, and the time for thinking was over. Now was the time for action. He passed a servant vampire in the hall and ordered him to clean the bedroom, kicking him the length of the hall when he did not comply instantly. As the clouds gathered overhead, he walked out of the mansion and into the pervading darkness.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jessica sat in front of her mirror, carefully applying make-up. She had decided her mascara was too heavy, but needed a second opinion. As she waited for James to come in and tell they were half an hour late so she could ask him, she looked at her face carefully. Her nose was slightly snubbed, but not enough to be noticeable. Her lips were full, though they were really pale, even with generously applied lipstick. Her eyes she thought were her best feature, a mix of dark and magnolia green which many boys had said gave her a hypnotic effect. They certainly helped to divert attention from the horrible white forelock that made her look ten years older. She had through necessity learnt how to cover it up, and she was artfully arranging a butterfly shaped clip with ribbons that framed the right side of her face, when James walked in, without even a cursory knock. That was James alright; he would come in when you were taking a bath, say what he had to say, make a comment on the general flabbiness of your body, and walk out. That was why Jessica was wary of even changing clothes when he was around. She wasn't really sure whether it was more embarrassing to have him see her naked, or to have him make smart mouth comments about her body.
"Jessie, darlin', there's gonna be a couple o' hundred wealthy socialites complainin' up our asses if we don't leave now."
"I'm coming, James. A lady must look her best, you know." She stood up, and faced him. "What do you think?"
He barely bothered with a glance at her.
"Mascara's too thick."
"Maybe I should-"
"Maybe you should get your huge hips in the car and on the car seat. I swear, if you eat any more, you're gonna resemble a cow. Now come on. It's a fifteen minute drive."
Jessica smiled as she obediently followed James out the door. They had known each other since they were children, and she knew his comments about her weight were just things he said to hide his affection for her. Short and stocky, at barely five three, James had learnt early on that revealing your true feelings was the easiest way to get laughed at. As far as she knew, she was his only friend. There had been girlfriends, of course; a surprising number considering how wild he looked, and the way he insulted everything whose name he could pronounce, but she knew that she was his only confidante.
As the ride progressed, James told her that he been at the bar, watching the football game. Jessica listened to him, but not too attentively, because she had known him long enough to tell that his important news would be buried later on somewhere deep in the conversation. Sure enough, after a detailed description of various football tactics, and the diverse brands of beer available in bars across the town, he told her he had met a girl. She suppressed her natural curiosity, knowing that he would clam up if she showed the slightest bit of interest in the story, and knowing that only she could answer the only question that really mattered, and that too after she had met and assessed the girl; 'Is she good enough for you?'
Near the end of the ride, fifteen minutes later, she had gleaned from the chaff he had thrown her that the girl had come to the city for much the same reason that they had; the big fashion convention. Hell, that didn't make much of a difference; half the people in America at the moment had come to see the convention. As was to be expected, James the typical male, hadn't any useful information, like where she lived or had studied; what her interests were, what her family was like; information that could set her up to be a potential match for him. He could of course, tell Jessica her bra size, and her vital statistics, but not too much else. Well, she wasn't going to let James ruin his life by settling with the wrong girl; and therefore she had to assess and check all the girls he associated with. It made her feel like his mother, but she was going to continue doing it for as long as necessary. James, the poor devil, had not a single clue as to she was thinking. His tough man exterior might have cracked a bit if he had had even a slight inkling.
Jessica pulled herself from her reverie as the car pulled up to the scene of the party. She walked inside, looking for a guy for herself, as well as potential matches for James. She smiled confidently; sure that her bottle green strapless evening gown would attract attention. Unfortunately for her, it did attract attention; from one man in particular.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Remus stepped up to the doors of the museum. He used a careful dose of kinetic energy to break a couple of wires, and shut off the alarms set on the door. Then he pushed the massive mahogany doors with a finger on each doors. They burst from the posts and crashed to the ground. Remus killed the shocked guard at the side of the door with a charged piece of wood; the wood passing through the guards' heart, embedding itself in the wall behind him, and destroying half of it. While Remus the man was feeling a bit stupid for overdoing it, Remus the vampire forced a guard about to trigger the alarm to feel his head was bursting, and kinetically exploded a guard on the other side of the museum. Then, with a speed so fast he seemed to disappear, he went into the Egyptian exhibit, pausing only to drain the screaming guard of his life.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jessica was dancing with some anonymous blonde guy, when James came up to her.
"Er, Maddie would like t' meet you," he said, trying to sound casual, but not doing too good a job of it. They both knew how important Jessica's opinion was to him.
"Maddie?"
"Jus' come, okay?"
Jessica excused herself from the blonde and hurried behind James. If he had interrupted her dancing, this was serious.
She followed him to where a redhead was waiting, sitting demurely at a table. Her first glance took in the fiery curls, the jade green eyes, the sleeveless blue gown and the Sapphire pendant. Her first impression was that this girl was an amazing person in her own right, but completely wrong for James. She would probably be right for some stick-in-the-mud control freak. Jessica thought this a very odd pairing indeed; she had always thought James would be happy with nothing less than a Neolithic cavewoman, or an Italian girl. Still, here they were, together, and she had to figure out how far James could take this relationship.
She sat down at the table, exchanged the prerequisite pleasantries, noting that James stood off to one side, fidgeting a little, before he finally sat down. 'Maddie's' real name, as it turned out, was Madeline Elaine Grey. She was studying to become a doctor at her parents' behest, though she was much more interested in the modeling job she had. Her passions included tennis, and similar sports.
As the 'interview' progressed, James grew more and more nervous, though he showed none of it; but Jessica had been around him long enough to know what the minute shifts of the eyes and the flexing of the shoulders meant. Eventually, he excused himself, and left for the bathroom.
By the time he returned, nearly half an hour later, Jessica had gotten all relevant details from Madeline, and had found her to have a sweet disposition and a ready wit. Jessica really liked Madeline, but she was still not sure the girl was right for James. Unless, maybe James had changed. She had noticed that he had barely sworn at anything since they had arrived at the party. If nothing else, Madeline would have a calming influence on him if they got together. Even though bar fights and tavern brawls seemed not to leave a mark on James, she would be glad if they finished off. With that thought in mind, she made her decision, said goodbye to Madeline and rose to leave. James caught her arm a few steps from the table, and raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question.
"You have my blessing, child. May God be with you." Jessica said, trying to stop her benevolent smile from becoming a smirk. James smiled at her, something he rarely did, and went back to the table. She saw from the way he moved that a great load had been lifted off his shoulders. She then turned her attention to a group of people lounging near the bar and was about to make her way towards them when someone stopped her.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Remus walked into the Egyptian section of the museum, removed the sunglasses and leather jacket, and began searching the artifacts present. He paused for a second, skin shining eerily white in the moonlight from years of avoiding the sun. He scanned the museum and surroundings with his vampiric hearing, and, satisfied no one living was nearby, he resumed his search, using kinetic energy to bring relics floating near him, in the same way he had flown across the Atlantic in a few hours. In most cases, however, this was not necessary, as his eyes could see well enough in the dark. Suddenly he paused, actually stepping forward to get a better look.
He peered in the darkness, looking at the strange object he now held in his hand. It was what he had come for. With barely a thought, he burst a hole in the wall, and walked out.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jessica found herself staring at the chest of a very tall man. She glanced at his face, noting the long blonde hair and the brown eyes. She was stunned momentarily, not knowing what to say.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, in a voice not so much deep as it was husky. Dimly she became aware they were standing very near the dance floor.
"Sh-sure, shugah." She stammered, lapsing back for a second into the southern accent she had tried so hard to erase.
His arms were strong, and his eyes were piercing. With those two plus points, she didn't really pay attention to the way his skin nearly shone in the light, or the fact that he did not seem to have any smell coming from him. He was not de riguer handsome, but he did have a commanding personality, and he seemed nice enough. Therefore, when he suggested they take a walk through the moonlit streets, she had agreed with little reservation.
Things had taken a very unexpected turn from there. Victor had taken her down seemingly random streets, until finally he had taken her into a deserted alley.
While she was wondering why they had stopped in the alley, he turned towards her.
"James is here with you, ain't he?" he said, and she was startled by the way his voice had turned into a coarse rasp, while all suavity had melted from his tongue.
"He is," she said, getting more nervous by the minute.
"Then after I have drained you to a corpse, an' left you outside his house for a few days, I'm gonna rip his little head right off."
Jessica was too startled to react as he leapt on her. As he roughly thrust back her head and bent to her neck, she knew she had no chance of escape.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Remus was preparing to fly back to Paris when he heard the peculiar sound – a kind of hiss that indicated another vampire. He frowned, knowing that his orders to clear the city of vampires had been carried out. Normally, the two greatest vampire sins- having a child, and killing another vampire- were punishable by death from the sun's rays, but this vampire, having disobeyed the word of an Elder, was fair game.
He let his mind scan the vampire as he flew to the alley where the vampire was. The vampire was only a year or so old, not even a fledgling. During his mortal life he had devoted all his energy to harming another man in various ways, but had not been able to kill him. He had found out about vampires, and eventually convinced them to convert him, just so he could exact a thorough revenge on the man – James Howlett. The vampire's name was Victor, and he was about to drain a young woman of her blood. Little did he know he wouldn't be able to, one way or another.
Remus watched from the rooftop as the vampire bent to take his first drink. He then stiffened as his life-force seemed to be sucked out of him. But he possessed a healing factor augmented by his vampiric powers, and Remus knew he would kill the girl – eventually. Remus wanted that pleasure all for himself. He swept down the wall of the building.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Victor paused in his ecstasy as the dark figure approached him. This was a vampire, and a powerful one. An Elder certainly, and nearly an Ancient. Too late, he remembered the warning that had been sent out, cautioning all vampires to stay away from this city on this night. He had been too caught up in his scheme to kill James's only friend Jessica at the party to recall it earlier, and he knew now that he was doomed. He let the now unconscious girl slump to the floor, and stood up straight, his enhanced healing factor and the fresh blood making sure he was nearly healed.
"You were warned." It was not a question.
"Warned? About what?" Maybe playing dumb would save him.
"You were warned, and you still came." Or maybe not. The other vampire had moved closer. "To hunt where Remus hunted, to infringe his territory."
"I bear you no quarrel," Victor stammered, trying to speak in the old style as the other vampire was. Part of his mind was calculating an escape route while the other part was screaming that there was no escape, and trying to kill itself.
"You are a weak newborn. You are to me as a drop of water is to the sea. Why should I let you live?"
"Please, wise Remus, let me go, I swear I shall never cross paths with you again." Victor pleaded, but he had given up any hope of escape and was tensing his muscles, preparing for a leap to chop the other vampire's head off.
"What sort of life is yours, newborn? Misusing your vampire powers to charm a mortal girl, and for what, the death of a single mortal when the world awaits? It would be my pleasure to extinguish a life as petty as yours."
Suddenly Victor leapt at the other vampire, clawed hands stretched as far as they would go. In mid-air, however, he felt a burning sensation, and looked at his hands to see that they were glowing bright red. He screamed when the explosions came.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jessica opened her eyes to see a figure bending over her. It took her a moment to remember what had happened before she had passed out. Then she gave a small scream and jerked back, before she realized Victor was not the one who was staring at her. Her first coherent thought was the realization that she was in a room, and not an alleyway. Her second coherent thought was that the man was wearing sunglasses indoors. He smiled at her in a disarming way.
"Eye problem," he apologized, seeming to have read her mind.
"Er, how did I get here?" she asked, in too much shock to be polite and thank him for rescuing her.
"Well, I was just passing by, when I saw a man in an alleyway. When I realized what he was doing, I immediately rushed to your aid."
Jessica realized she could not remember exactly what Victor had done.
"Wh-what was he doing to me?"
He was mugging you, my dear girl. I managed to beat him off with a stick." Though she was not entirely sure those events had occurred, the way he said it made her believe him. She took in her surroundings for the first time, realizing she was in a hotel. The man saw her looking around and smiled shyly.
"I don' exac'ly live in this town, so I had t' rent a room for y'. Y' c'n stay as long as y' want."
"What about you?" Jessica asked, and then wondered what had possessed her to do that. It wasn't like they were close friends. Maybe she just felt safer with him around.
He smiled at the question, and she noticed that his skin was nearly as white as his teeth, and his lips were a very pale pink.
"I have t' get back t' France."
"Ah knew you had a French accent!" Jessica said in triumph. He smiled at that as well.
"An' I see y' have a southern US one, cherie."
"Yeah, well, Ah, I mean I don' really like it, so I try not to use it."
The perplexed look on his face was too cute. "Why, cherie? It's such a nice accen'. Y' should be proud of it."
"Yeah, well, Ah'm a kinda rebellious girl."
"My little Rogue," he said affectionately, and held out his hand to her. She felt like she'd known him all her life, and she wanted to hug him instead of just taking his hand, but she restrained herself.
"Er, no, I can't."
"Can't what, petite? Say goodbye to the man who saved your life?"
She was on her feet before she could stop herself. The damn southern accent was back too.
"What? Ya'll leavin'?
"I have to get back to Paris, cherie, much as I would like t' stay an' get t' know y' better."
"Well, can we meet again?" She cursed herself for sounding like she was coming on to him. "Er, I have to at least offer you dinner for savin' mah life."
"Later, cherie. Right now I have to go. I took de liberty of callin' y'r friend, an' he should be here any minute now."
"Goodbye, er-"
"Remus to those who don't know me well, and Remy to my close friends."
"Well, goodbye, mister Remus."
"Didn' I jus' ask y' t' call me Remy, cherie?"
Jessica laughed, disarmed. Remy stood up and handed her a card. A playing card with a Paris number on it.
"Call me when y' feel de need, petite." He turned to walk to the door.
"Won't you even ask for my number?" Jessica called after him, wondering how stupid it sounded.
"If y' wan' cherie, Remy cert'inly don' mind."
She scribbled her number on a piece of paper. Below it she signed 'Rogue.'
"Rogue, cherie?" was the only thing he said when she gave him the paper.
"That's how I want you to remember me, Remy."
"Den dat's de name dat will be engraved on my heart forever, bien-aime." Before she could respond, he had swept to the door and opened it, nodding briefly at a surprised James who had his hand up to knock.
"Till we meet again, cherie."
James stared at her, confusion clouding his concern. "What happened, darlin'? some guy called me and told me ta come here, that you'd been hurt. Was this the guy?"
Jessica nodded. "I'm fine, James. Except I think I'm in love."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Remus walked down the building, his brain calculating the hours to sunrise, and his vampire thoughts feeling anger at being cheated of a kill. His brain was growing stronger. After finishing off Victor, he could not bring himself to kill Jessica. Under the influence of his brain he had brought her to the hotel and played the charming lady-killer he had been nearly ten centuries ago. His brain had also resurrected a French accent with remarkable accuracy. Understandably, his vampiric thoughts were quite disturbed about the whole incident.
Remus stood at the side of the river, scanning the area with his vampiric powers to make sure no one was nearby. Then he launched himself forty feet in the air before activating his biokinetic powers of flight. As he soared across the Atlantic with the stolen artefact tucked away safely, he knew that he was going to meet Jessica – Rogue – again, though he did not yet know whether it would be to make love to her, as his human self wanted, or to kill her, as his vampire self wanted.
