Whoa, quicker this time, aren't I?

Chapter 13

Holmes Castle

1950

A single figure lay in the large bed, wrapped in blankets coated with warmth, her bed a safe haven as she basked in incomplete dreams. A single bolt of lightning marred the clear sky, like a stroke of paint across an empty canvas.

She sighed in her sleep, then turned over, her head digging into the thick pillow beneath her. A soft rasping sound filtered through the room. She awoke, jolted out of her sleep.

The girl opened her eyes and yawned, then rubbed them with the back of her hand. Her gaze flitted over the small clock hung beside the thick curtain which led to her balcony. It was midnight.

The rasping came again, only quicker this time.

It was raining. She could hear the pattering of the raindrops, like fire crackling over a wooden surface. She slid out of the four poster bed and made her way to the balcony. The rasping continued. Who could it be?

The girl slid open the thick, velvet curtains which shrouded the glass pane that led to her balcony. She could not see anything through the large glass doors, they were far too fogged up with rain. She grasped the handle and slid them open.

She stepped out onto the balcony, the rain lashing against her white nightdress. She leaned against the arch of the balcony. There were a few pebbles at her feet. That must have been where the rasping came from. She cast her gaze over the garden beneath. A single figure wrapped in a thick cloak stood amongst the towering grass, a small pebble resting in his palm.

"Emilie!" His voice cut through the heavy pattering of the rain. It was muffled but even from a distance she could tell who it was. "Emilie, send down the vine!"

She made her way to the side of the balcony and threw down a vine which coiled over the smooth marble exterior of the wall. He hurried towards it and began to climb up with rapid speed. How did he manage to become so fast?

He reached the top and stumbled onto the balcony, landing in her arms. She fell back. His hand swerved behind her and helped her regain her balance. The rain lashed against their faces for a few moments before he took her hand and pulled her inside.

"It's cold," his voice was barely a whisper.

She pulled out of his grasp and made her way to the bedside table.

She took out a box of matches, fumbling with them for a moment before pulling one out and lighting the candle. She lifted it up. It illuminated her features, sending a dull orange light cascading over the room.

"You shouldn't be here. It is not part of the deal. Why are you here?" she was whispering, quietly.

He took her hand and slipped the candle onto the table with his other hand, not letting go of the first. He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles.

"I wished to see you. Before you made the decision."

Emilie shook her head and wrenched her hand from his grasp. "Your arrival will not sway my decision, milord. You are cheating."

He frowned. "I am not cheating, milady. It is not considered cheating to wish to visit the anima una. I just wanted to wish you good luck and let you know that tomorrow you must make the decision." He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a rose, a single red rose. "Be it the right one, or the wrong."

He handed her the rose. She held it in her hands as he pivoted and made his way to the balcony.

"Wait!"

He stopped. He turned.

"Can't I have more time?"

He shook his head. "You have had enough time. Until tomorrow il mio amore."

And with that he left.

Emilie looked down. A single drop of blood was visible upon the palm of her hand where she had grasped the rose too tightly and the thorns had dug into her flesh.

"Fino a domani. Until Tomorrow."

oOOo

Sunlight swept over the large field, the thin blades of grass glistening a light tinge of yellow mixed with green. Shouting erupted from the distance, followed by the clashing of swords, metal against metal.

"Stop it!"

Merlock swerved to the side and lunged the sword towards his opponent. Verloch ducked then held up his sword in defence.

"I said, stop it!"

"Emilie, stay out of this!"

The girl shook her head and sprinted across the field, her red skirts swishing in the light breeze. She knew she had to reach them…it was all her fault.

"I mean it! Stop this now or else neither of you will win. I won't make my decision at all."

Merloch was panting now. He was tired. He never knew that Verloch was this good.

In one swift movement, Verloch lunged forward, his sword clashing with that of Merloch's. Merloch brought his sword forward causing Verloch to fall back from the impact. He regained his balance, then lunged forward again, andthe sound of clashing metal filtered through out the large field. Merloch once again blocked Verloch's attack and pushed forward trying to make him lose balance. This time Verloch kept his balance, and with another swift movement, swungforward his sword, both weapons vibrating from the impact.

"STOP IT!" She was getting nearer now. They were paying no heed to her, both of them too enthralled in being victorious, in winning.

Emilie stopped, only metres away. One of them was going to die, she knew it. And it would be all her fault. They wanted her to make the decision, but how could she make the decision? They hadn't given her enough time. She had to stop them…

She lunged forward and grabbed Verloch's arm just as he swung his sword. At the same time Merloch's sword swung in the air. A scream erupted through the field. The fresh grass was stained with an onslaught of blood.

Emilie was dead.

She fell back, her body colliding with the now dark grass. All was silent. The fighting had ceased. All they could do was stare in disbelief.

Both vampires fell to the ground beside the body, their swords behind them, cluttering into the grass.

All was silent save for the soft sound of the wind as it filtered throughout the field.

"She's dead," it was a statement, a whisper. "She's dead…"

Verloch stood up, his face cold. "You killed her."

Merloch shook his head. "She would never have died if it weren't for the both of us."

"I did not kill her! It was you."

"It was the both of us." The statement was final. Verloch slumped back to the ground, his fingers absently trailing over her hair. It was damp, damp with blood.

"It will happen again. History will repeat itself only this time one will emerge victorious. It is a pact, a pact by blood."

Merloch shook his head and placed his thumb on the grass, staining it a dark red. "Accadrà ancora. La storia si ripeterà soltanto che questo volta uno emergerà victorious. È un patto, un patto da anima."

Verloch nodded. "È un patto di anima. It is a blood pact."

oOOo

Holmes Castle

Present Time

"Do you remember the pact now, brother?"

"How could I not remember? With you as a brother who can forget. So, Sarah is the new anima una?"

Verloch smirked, then clapped his hand together lightly. "Well done. It is nearly the night of the full moon, brother. Then it will be the time for the decision." Verloch tossed him the keys.

Merloch took the keys. Verloch stepped aside as he exited.

"I will be back, Verloch. And this time, I will win."

Verloch smirked. "Fino ad allora."

Merloch stepped out into the night. "Fino ad allora. Until then."

oOOo

WoOt! I updated faster than usual didn't I? Here are the notes!

Doray; Hi! Of course I'll email you when I update:D I prefer you reviewing me on ffnet rather than an email, makes me get one step closer to 100 and its easier to do the responses this way :D... Anyways, thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate it. I'm glad that my fic excites you. Personally I think it's pretty crap but I prefer not to abandon stuff so I will complete this. J Why don't you get a ffnet account? Its pretty easy. Thanks for reviewing! YOU ROCK!

Keyo-Red Angel of Hope; Heh, yeah. Verloch's evil. Evil twin borthers, glad I never had one. I don't mind that you didn't review the last chapter, my comp always goes on the fritz so I can relate. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you liked the chapter!

Chisakami Saiyuki; Hmmn, Yeah, the chapter was short. Its hard to write long chapters for this fic. J As for the whole sarah remembering thing, Verloch wasn't exactly taking advantage of her lol, he's not that bad. He was testing her. You'll understand what I mean in a little while. From now on Verloch is probably going to play a bit fair… I think…depends… lol. Thanks for reviewing!

MirokuLover; Heh… did take me ages to update last time, didn't it? This one only took a month, though, so that's good. Wel, I update sooner then all of the other authors on this section so…yeah lol… I'm glad you liked the story!

The Spiked Dragon; You are just so cool. You are like one of my most dedicated reviewers lol… We'll see about the merloch/sarah pairing thing mwahahaha lol:D Don't worry, I'll work it out. I'm glad you're still reading and now you know about the pact…sorta…There will probably be more explanation later. As for now, enjoy!

Time Mistress; :D I'm on your author alerts? I feel all fuzzy inside now, thank you! What story do you want to type out? -shrugs- I've kinda explained what the red roses now mean so…yeah…lol. Hope you like the chapter.

Kendra; I've left you till last because your like my favourite to reply to. Your reviews are so long! Its so brilliant and I love you for it :D. I loved your guess on the pact, that would be an interesting plot line to write. Why don't you get a ffnet account? And write a Merlock, Sara fic, you'd be really good at it. I've never heard of Chrono Crusade (then again I haven't heard of many things) Is it an anime? Btw, do you reckon you could check out my fic on fiction press. Its original fiction and its called Hunter, I go by the exact same penname and comments are always welcome J . Thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

That's all from me for now. Hope you guys enjoyed it and remember, I'm only writing this for you guys otherwise I would have stopped LONG ago. :D.

So, REVIEW!