Chapter 8

Fratricide

"You're wiggling again." Cyborg growled. "This is like, the twentieth time I've told you. Sit still and bite the bullet. Goes faster that way."

"Just...shut up and bandage me." Vincent mumbled. Vanessa, Starfire and the others all exchanged very awkward glances at each other, looking down at the vampire who was being wrapped in fresh gauze by Cyborg, everyone's current expert First-Aid Superman.

Beast Boy swung his legs impatiently, sitting on the couch a safe distance from Vincent.

"So, who was he?"

Elke's mouth opened ungraciously wide. "He was...is...Vincent's—YEEP!" Elke jolted and hugged her injured shin, rocking on the edge of the couch's arm. "Agh, that hurt!"

"He is my ENEMY." Vincent said firmly.

"Like sons of bitches normally aren't?" Vanessa scorned. Vincent immediately snapped his head to her and glared, the look overdosed with a condescending attitude. Vanessa held the gaze before she tore away and watched her fingers twist and untwist in odd positions.

"Sorry."

"How do you know him?" asked Robin. He was perched on an opposite couch from them, his knee bouncing up and down rapidly. He was getting extremely twitchy; it was this entire onslaught of new surroundings, new happenings, new enemies...this was far too much in one day, and the stress was starting to grate against his nerves, barely strung together to hold.

Vincent quickly jerked away from Cyborg when the bandaging was done, and withdrew within himself, his eyes dulled. Cyborg snorted.

"Thank you, Cyborg!" he blurted, following up with, "Oh. You're welcome, Vincent."

"I'll ask again. He's your enemy. How do you know him?" Robin pressed. He didn't enjoy sawing harder at the tension that was hanging in the air, but he was very hard-pressed for answers, as it seemed even more crucial than ever now that they get to the bottom of this. Soon.

When Vincent didn't answer, pain reflecting in his eyes, Raven leaned on the back of the couch and Cyborg sat on the other side of him. Elke was looking over her shoulder angrily as she attended to soothing the pain in her shin.

Vanessa finally ducked her head down as she rolled her eyes, groaning. "That's it," she declared. "If you don't tell them, Alex, I will."

Vincent's pupils shrunk as he stared at her. "You wouldn't!" Vanessa met her eyes with his, never breaking away.

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Dumbstruck, Vincent only stared ahead at her. Vanessa sighed. Have it your way, she thought.

"Okay, the story is this. The man who attacked Vincent was—"

"Please!" Vincent suddenly cried. Vanessa crossed her arms expectantly as Vincent rubbed his arm for a bit of warmth. It was hard to get heat when your temperature was naturally low.

"It's...It's a burden I carry alone. I'll tell the tale." He swallowed the dry lump gathering in his throat and breathed in sharply, his frozen heart digging through his chest for the courage he would need to explain himself to the Teen Titans. Vincent felt a hand overlapping his, the human warmth seeping into his pores. He squeezed Vanessa's hand and finally spoke.

"He's...my...brother."

Arkadij drummed the eraser end of his pencil against his paper, covered in graceful cursive scribbles of Russian and scattered mathematical calculations across the lines and margins. He watched the Bunsen burner in front of him faithfully, the fire reflecting in his bottomless pools for eyes. This was a chemical he had been testing for months, often ending up in scorched gums and weeks of putting off another test. If it didn't work this time, he was going to bleed himself to death and never feed again. The frustration was mounting, and it enraged him to no end.

The well-experienced vampire sighed and picked up a coffee mug with the Gregorovich insignia frosted on its cylinder in gold, and sipped from it a red, thick, warm liquid. He glanced into a very dark room connected to his laboratory, where he saw gleaming in the moonlight the pale skin of his captive. Nearly naked and chained at the wrists, her ribs protruded against her sides and her cheeks had sunken into her face. She was long since dead; Arkadij tasted it in her blood. He would have to hurry and finish this mug, or the red liquid of life would begin to coagulate.

"Damn you...finish up!" Arkadij flipped through some of his research notes as he waited, until he heard bubbling coming from the beaker. He instantly set down his notes and snatched the beaker off the burner, turning the heated contraption to the OFF position and pouring a generous amount of the bubbling concoction into a test tube. It was a disgusting, oily-looking fluid, greenish-brown in color. It wasn't the most pleasant, but if it was effective on what he intended to test, Arkadij would be more than satisfied and would sacrifice anything to use it. He picked up a dropper, sucking up the disgusting vinegar-like substance. Arkadij rested the test tube in a rack with several rows of its brothers and sisters, all filled to the brim with alien liquids, some solidified for reasons unknown. Others had disintegrated to a white or blue powder.

Taking precautions, Arkadij covered his lower lip and what he had to of his tongue in fresh gauze, and tilted his head back. He pressed the tip of the dropper against a single fang as it unsheathed, and soaked it with three drops of the costic experiment. The color faded, blending with his fangs as it became absorbed. Now, the ultimate test. Arkadij removed the gauze and licked the very tip of that fang, grazing his tongue. He waited five seconds.

No burning. No pain.

Arkadij grinned, smugly proud of his own success. "I'm brilliant," he said aloud, congratulating himself as he repeated the process with his other fang and safely tucked them away from obvious view.

"Now...who to test this on?" Arkadij looked again at the woman who had been his last...oh, ten or twelve meals.

"Pity." he scoffed. "I was intending to use you...but, apparently," and his smile broadened as he said this, "You were just dying to feed me." He laughed amusingly at his own pathetic pun, and began to pace the room as he thought. He knew that he wanted to use one of Vincent's little friends...but the question was...which one?

Arkadij thought of this for a while, until he figured he may as well dig a ditch into the floor. Then he stopped, and his icy eyes lit up with a new idea, and he bared his fangs in a personal accomplishment. The girl...that red-headed one. Hadn't she been holding Vincent's hand?

Vincent's face fell into the palms of his hands; he hid his face in shame. The room had already been so silent a bird's flight could be heard outside the window; even as the words were spoken barely above a whisper, eyes widened and shock ran through everyone's minds. Starfire gasped; Elke bowed her head, sharing Vincent's inner pain. But out of those who hadn't heard the story, as the only one who had suffered unnecessary details to hear it, Cyborg was stunned most of all. It was voiced quite clearly.

"But...those things he taught you...the games he played..."

"All lost." choked Vincent. "Everything."

Cyborg's expression darkened. "Then...he's...?"

"My enemy." Vincent said. He looked up, and his eyes seemed to be so much different. They were unusually bright, glowing with a certain quality that wasn't normally there. "And yours, as well."

Beast Boy scratched at his elbows. He felt bad all of a sudden. Why did he have to ask the question first? Sighing, Vincent took another deep breath.

"Arkadij Konstantine Gregorovich...born December 16th, 1199. The boldest and newest heir to the high-ranking class of our society...to represent the family line." Eyes bugged out across the room once more.

"1199," Robin breathed. "How strong does that make him?" He was afraid to ask. But he had to say it.

Vincent shifted uncomfortably. "An expert hunter, a swift killer...a tactical genius. And a master of chemicals." Vincent gestured weakly to his wound. "You can see that rather plainly. It is how he re-opened my wound."

"Which he inflicted on you in the first place." Raven assumed. The vampire nodded his head gravely, blinking his eyes several times.

"I...I'm not sure if we should go against him." he admitted. Robin straightened.

"He's a threat to the city." he argued. "Obviously, to you too. What do you mean, we shouldn't go up against him?"

"He's just over 800 years old, Robin." Vincent explained. "His skills are unsurpassed by any of the newborn brethren in our clan. Even the elders have struggled in the annual contests we hold."

"Contests?" Starfire wondered.

"Who can feed on the most humans in a single night." Vincent admitted, wincing. "It is a brutal thing. A darker side to our family most would rather never mention. But, in Russia, it's what you would call a Public Secret." His head hung low again. "Arkadij...he is no ordinary vampire. His brains are amazing. His strength is magnificent. He's honed each and every one of his skills to top perfection, and they haven't faltered ever since..." Vincent swallowed. "He's..."

He stopped at the start of the next sentence. Vanessa looked at him, then at the others, and reclined against the back of the couch.

"Let's sleep on this." she suggested. "Everyone seems to be pretty tired, and we all need the rest. We'll discuss it in the morning."

"This is...insane." Beast Boy said, scoffing. "We've never had a guy like this in our city before." He looked at Robin. "Heck, even Slade wasn't this bad."

"Slade is not involved." Robin snarled, his eyes narrowing. "This is a vampire we're talking about. One that is obviously a sociopathic killer, and one who must be stopped as soon as possible."

"Try not to think about it, Masked One." Elke said sullenly. "Sometimes, when the fear is strong enough, it's as if that man can read your thoughts."

"Elke..." Vincent turned his eyes to her. She smiled, though a bit forcefully.

"I've suffered through his madness, too, liebschen. Don't you remember that dinner party your father hosted so long ago?"

Vincent paused as he tried to pull it from his memory banks. He scrunched his brow. It was vague, but...

"You mean, when he described his latest project in detail?"

"It disgusted me." Elke grumbled, shuddering. "He truly is a twisted man, your brother."

Vincent looked down at his open hand.

"My brother died the day I celebrated my birthday fifty years ago."