Author's note: Sorry this chapter took me so long, but my muse has been rather drained lately, mainly because of so many family emergencies I've been having to go through. Not sure when the next update will come, but hopefully sooner than this one came. Anyway, hope it was worth the wait, and as always, reviews are a wonderful thing.
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters from Blade, everybody else is mine. Please don't sue. Savvy?
CHAPTER FIVE: BLOODLUST
"Because I loathe having to degrade myself to your depths," Meira spat as she shoved Vladimir away from her and into the other wall, her eyes flooding black. She was tired and frustrated and confused, and she did not want Vladimir pushing her around like he owned her. "Now just piss off and let me go get something to eat," she muttered darkly, but the male had recovered before she could turn and walk away.
Vladimir grabbed her arm, yanking her to him. His teeth were bared, and his canines were longer, sharper. He was warding off the change at the moment, she could tell, but he leered at her with the promise of it approaching.
"What's going on?" came the loud, firm, slightly pissed off voice of Ulric. Almost immediately, Vladimir's demeanor became one of fear and submission, and he bowed his head before turning to face Ulric and Melantha who stood a few feet down the hall.
Meira nearly sagged with relief as Vladimir let her go. She knew she was almost Vladimir's equal, and she had a good chance of winning should they ever get into a fight. But she didn't want to fight him, and she didn't want to risk losing to him. Besides, he had been touching her way too much the past five minutes.
Ulric appeared calm, though his expression was fixed on Vladimir, and his expression was dark, eyes slightly narrowed. He was nothing compared to the near seething expression Melantha wore. While Ulric did not approve - especially after giving Vladimir orders to lay off Meira - of Vladimir's methods of courting, Melantha found them downright disgusting.
Perhaps if Meira's refusals had been purely playing hard to get the alpha female wouldn't have minded so much, and probably would have paid it no mind. But Meira was honestly disgusted by Vladimir, and his continual attempts at claiming her disgusted Melantha. She had never had any reason to find fault in Vladimir for several centuries, but since Meira had come to live at the headquarters, she realized there was some part of Vladimir that would never change.
"Meira, if you wish to go and get something to eat, go on," Melantha stated reassuringly to the younger female, and Meira gave her a grateful expression, walking towards her. "I shall accompany to make sure there are no more, delays," she stated, casting a baleful glance at Vladimir once again.
The beta wisely kept still and showed no sign of resenting the alpha female's comments. He knew Ulric wouldn't stand for that, and something every single werewolf who had ever met Ulric and Melantha knew one thing.
Never, ever show any disrespect to Melantha if you do not wish for a painful punishment from either her or Ulric. Which of them could dish out worse had never been agreed on.
"Forgive me, sir," Vladimir stated softly as Meira walked up to Melantha, sending him a disgusted glance. "I was out of place. I am slightly tired and irritated at how the hunt turned out, and let my emotions override my thinking."
A snort startled the four werewolves out of the tense scene, and all turned and glanced at Nomak as he headed towards them. Fully clothed once more, he wore his shirt, pants and shoes, and he looked perfectly normal except for the telltale scar running down his chin. He met Vladimir's eyes, his own mirroring the contempt in the beta's. "Why am I not surprised?" he asked derisively.
"I don't see how this concerns you," Vladimir snarled, giving into his emotions again. He found himself even more disgusted with the reaper for appearing in his human guise - and the surprised, fascinated stare it earned from Meira. "Son of Damaskinos," he added, his tone mockingly reverent as he inclined his head. "But of course, as a prince, you must imagine everything concerns you."
"Enough," Ulric stated softly, a dangerous edge to his voice. Gray irises became silver, the metallic hue bleeding like liquid metal until the color filled his eyes.
Nomak waved his hand in dismissal as he approached Vladimir, never taking his eyes off the beta male. His gaze had hardened, and his body shook slightly with barely contained rage. "No, no, let the man speak," he stated, emphasizing the word 'man'. He smirked with satisfaction when Vladimir growled in response. "If there's something on your mind, by all means," he told the bet, his tone deceptively accommodating.
Unable to hold back at the arrogant, cocky attitude, Vladimir balled his fist and raised it, aiming the punch at Nomak's jaw. But he underestimated Nomak, and found his fist being crushed by the reaper's grip. He bit back a groan of pain until bones snapped, and finally let out a hiss, his fist immediately released.
Meira watched from her place next to Melantha, fascinated with Nomak's normal appearance and the way in which he dealt with Vladimir. She forgot about the confusion stemmed from the reaper and his behavior around her as well as the way she behaved around him for the moment, intrigued by what was going to happen.
It was obvious the beta male would not be calmed now without a fight, and the reaper had no objections. Until things got too far out of hand and one of them was in danger if being killed, the alphas would not step in.
Which meant Meira would either see Vladimir beat Nomak, or Nomak beat the beta.
I seriously hope it's the latter, she thought to herself. It would be so good to finally see someone other than Ulric put Vladimir in his place. Be even better if it's a non-lycanthrope.
she thought to herself.The two males stood still for several tense moments. Nomak stared at Vladimir calmly, rage and disgust in his eyes, the look mirrored in Vladimir's eyes as they narrowed to slits, a snort of contempt escaping him. That was all Nomak needed to burst, his anger and hatred finally too much for him to keep inside.
Without any warning, his palms impacted with Vladimir's chest, sending him into the wall with a loud crash, the wall cracking from the force and the werewolf's weight. Nomak didn't give Vladimir any time to recover, he knew if he did there was a chance Vladimir would change. Nomak was confident and knew he could beat Vladimir's ass into the ground - but not if the beta changed on him. But he wouldn't get the chance.
As Vladimir swiftly regained his balance, he was met with Nomak's fist, the punch brutal, shattering his nose. Blood spurted out, covering his nose down to his upper lip, the tan, human like skin of the reaper's knuckles stained crimson. A grunt escaped him at the initial hit, but he made no noise until he growled in anger, blocking the next punch and slamming his fist into Nomak's chest.
His breath left him, but otherwise Nomak made no sound or suffered much. He could tell Vladimir had fought those spawned from his bite, expecting their originator to have the same weaknesses. Grinning like a madman - and as far as most everyone was concerned, that's what Nomak was besides a monster - Nomak grabbed the beta's fist before he could pull his arm all the way back, twisting and breaking more bones even as the beta's nose healed. The reaper kicked the beta in the gut, then tossed him through the air by the damaged arm.
Vladimir snarled as he twisted, landing in a crouch, on one foot and one knee. He flexed his arm out and winced briefly as he healed, shaking his head as the cartilage in his nose healed fully. He rose to see Nomak had already moved to the ceiling, crawling until directly above him.
The reaper landing on top of him, feet slamming into his shoulders and driving Vladimir to the ground. Before Nomak could take advantage of his position, Vladimir grabbed his ankles, twisting them viciously. Nomak let out the same strange, high pitched noise many of the other reapers did, falling over to his knees.
Before Vladimir could even think of gloating over the fact that despite being stronger, Nomak was still a reaper, Nomak had his ankles twisted back into place, bones not even healed completely as he flipped over, landing and ignoring the slight pain. He growled as he heard Vladimir charge from behind. He would teach the mutt about calling him prince.
Vladimir had started to change as he ran at Nomak, but the reaper was faster than the transformation, turning and reaching out his hand to grab Vladimir's throat, squeezing the bones in his neck as they tried to contort. Vladimir couldn't hold back a soft howl at the pain and frustration, the reaper's grip strong enough to stop the change. He moved to slam his palm into the outside of Nomak's arm to break it, but Nomak let go quick enough, then punched Vladimir across the jaw.
"Is this how a prince fights?" Nomak hissed out, even as his skin paled, turning white as veins slowly began to appear, the cut in his chin opening slightly and briefly as he returned to his reaper state. With all the blood he'd ingested, as well as the rest he had been allowed, it had been no trouble to return to his more, normal, state. But now he no longer wanted it. He wanted Vladimir to see him as a reaper - and to see a reaper's face as he lie on the ground in a bloody heap.
The beta curled his lip in disgust, about to respond. He didn't get the chance though, as Nomak had no desire to hear his voice again, especially when delivering whatever his answer was. Instead of a reply, a grunt of pain came out of Vladimir as Nomak abruptly kicked him in the face. He recovered quickly, catching Nomak's hand before it could make contact with his throat, and twisted, breaking Nomak's arm in the same way the reaper had done to him earlier, not stopping until bone stuck out and yellow blood fell to the floor after spurting from the wound..
Nomak snarled and slammed his fist into Vladimir's face rapidly, getting in four punches before prying the beta's hand off his arm, yanking away and slamming his foot into the beta's chest. He stalked towards Vladimir as he regained balance, stretching his arm and twisting it, bones popping back into place before the skin healed beneath torn fabric. The palm of the healed arm slammed into Vladimir's throat before grabbing the beta by the hair and shoving his head into the wall. Nomak slammed his head against the wall once more before elongated claws left four, ugly gashes across his side.
As the reaper hiss and recoiled in pain, Vladimir attacked, swiping and slashing at Nomak. He cut the reaper across the chest and then the stomach before the reaper was able to grab his wrists, yanking him forward and head butting him brutally. He stumbled backwards and was soon tackled to the ground, Nomak brutally punching him in the face over and over.
Vampire prince. Damaskinos' prince. Damaskinos' son. Do I act like my father now? Do I act like his prince, his heir now? Do I act like a vampire now? Do you think of me as nothing but that decrepit being's spawn now? As a lower, sub vampire thing and a prince?
Nomak's thoughts ran wild in his mind as red blood splattered from Vladimir's face and into his fists, face, and shirt, mingling with his yellow blood as it oozed from his own wounds. The bloodlust wasn't even as strong as his anger now, but his thoughts blinding him and even as the beta groaned in pain, his legs rose, closing around Nomak's head and pulling him off.
Vladimir winced as he shook his head, sending blood drops everywhere. It hurt to blink, his nose was broken again, blood in his eyes, up his nostrils, in his mouth, some of his teeth lose. But he was already healing as he stood to his feet, wiping blood from his eyes. He ignored the pain as he focused on the reaper, Nomak rising as well.
Both males bellowed at each other, Vladimir's mouth changing slightly, teeth elongating as a snout almost formed, Nomak's mouth splitting open and a mixture between a reaper's shriek and a beast's roar emerged from him.
The alphas and Meira were forgotten completely by now, both of them focused on one thing and one thing only - to kill, to claim, to prove themselves superior.
Nomak waited for Vladimir to attack, catching the beta's leg as he aimed a kick for Nomak's head. He twisted and pulled Vladimir towards and then lifted him over, slamming the beta into the ground.
Vladimir kicked into Nomak's chest with vicious force before jumping back onto his feet. He kicked Nomak across the jaw as the reaper recovered, then punched him in the stomach. Twisting slightly, his elbow slammed into Nomak's throat, causing the reaper to cough and stumble back.
A smirk emerged on the beta's face, a mistake on his part, as Nomak's eyes noticed and narrowed, ignoring the pain in his sensitive throat before he grabbed Vladimir around the neck, head butting him before he began to apply pressure onto the beta's jaw. Just before he could break it, the beta kicked him in the knee, then yanked his arms away.
"You're pathetic," he snarled before punching Nomak in the nose, breaking it and pulling away a yellow blood covered fist. He spat on the reaper, then moved to grab his neck.
Nomak grabbed the arm and brutally twisted it almost all the way around, then bent it, finally earning a loud howl of agony from the beta. He shoved Vladimir to his knees, his body shaking with rage. "If I'm so pathetic, why are you on your knees in front of me?" he questioned, his tone cruel and cold.
Vladimir shook with his own rage, and with the change. He began to contort, and Nomak raised his hand to punch, when suddenly both of them were yanked apart, hitting opposite walls hard enough that the walls nearly caved in completely.
"Enough!" Ulric bellowed, his voice practically a roar, and his eyes were pure silver. He gave each male a long, hard stare of disapproval and disgust at their foolish pride. "I will not have either of you dead and you're bloody up plenty enough now," he said, voice softer, but there was a frightening edge to it, one that effected even Nomak.
The sound of approaching footsteps caused all three males to turn towards Melantha as she neared, her irises black and larger than normal. Her expression was calm though, and she placed a hand on Ulric's shoulder comfortingly, though her grip was firm. She then glanced at the male reaper and the beta, sighing in annoyance.
"Both of you should learn humility," she murmured, then focused on Vladimir. It was obvious that she would be giving the punishments in Ulric's stead while the alpha male calmed himself down, his irritation with both of them clouding his judgment.
"You will go clean yourself up, then prepare to report how the hunt went," she said firmly, then turned her gaze to Nomak. "You will go and clean yourself as well, and I suggest staying in your room for now, until someone can come and help you know what areas to avoid for the time being," she instructed, her meaning clear. She didn't want another fight ensuing for a good, long while.
Vladimir bowed his head in submission and obedience, casting one final, baleful glare in Nomak's direction before standing and walking down the hall in the direction the rest of his team had gone earlier. He hoped they had already gone back to their chambers and hadn't heard the fight. He really didn't feel like explaining it right now.
Nomak watched him leave, his eyes narrow and filled with quieted contempt. He did not bow his head in submission, but nodded. He would do as she told, but he would not bow to any of them, not even Ulric whose strength in that one small action of pulling the feuding males apart had caused more pain than all of Vladimir's blows combined. He was not of their kind, and he was not vampire. He would not bow.
Shrugging off the pain he felt as he rose, he turned to leave. His mind was a tumble of thoughts as he stalked down the hallway, his eyes closing as he tried to make sense of them all.
You should have tasted his blood. You should have given him your curse. You should have ignored him altogether, ignored him, shown him you were a prince to him, far superior to him. You shouldn't even listen to the female. You shouldn't listen to any of them. You should go. They want something from you, they want you to do something, they want to take something. It's all the same. All they want is to use you for their own benefit. They don't care about you or like you or want to help you. Not without a price. There's always a price. You learned that from Father. They find you repulsive, just like Vladimir, just like Meira, just like Nyssa, just like Father.
A soft, cool hand suddenly grabbed his, holding his palm gently. The feeling jarred Nomak out of his thoughts, making him pause in his stride as he turned to see Meira had followed him, caught up with him. Her cooler fingers wrapped around his hand, her grip tightening just the tiniest bit, as if to make sure he didn't try to turn and keep walking.
"Your wounds should be cleaned, and you could probably use more blood to make up for all you lost," she stated softly, her expression calm. She showed no annoyance or fear or repulsion or anger towards him, no sign of ever being aggravated with him or sick of him, or having fallen victim to his verbal ire. She confused him once more, and he couldn't make himself move, too fascinated with the change.
Taking his silent stillness as a yes, Meira turned, leading him down the hallway. She gave the alphas a soft smile, Melantha placing a hand on her shoulder briefly, eyes meeting Meira's. There was a question in the alpha female's and an answer in Meira's, but Nomak couldn't tell what either were.
Ulric had calmed and stood silent by Melantha's side, his eyes meeting Nomak's for a moment. "I am sorry for Vladimir's comments to you," he stated softly. "Go with Meira. She'll take care of you," he added, taking Melantha's hand. "You and I should go and find out just what went on to rile Vladimir up so badly," he whispered to her, briefly nuzzling her hair with his nose. He inhaled her scent, a look of pleasure crossing his features briefly.
Nomak cocked his head to the side as he watched. He felt Meira pull his hand gently, just enough to get him to start walking again, following her with his feet while his eyes remained on the alpha's. He was curious of them, of how they reacted towards each other, of how they acted around each other. He didn't understand it quite fully, but right now he was being taken away by something that confused and fascinated him even more.
He tore his gaze from the alpha pair as they headed in the opposite direction, focusing his attention on Meira once again. It probably hadn't even been an hour since he'd snapped at her, insulted and hurt more than he wanted to admit by her actions.
There had been nothing in her eyes to offend him this time. That struck him as odd, because until he had looked in her eyes, he had been ready to find offense in anything and everything. But the look in her eyes had been so, so calm. Concerned and respectful and calm. It had struck him as odd, strange, and he couldn't figure it out.
Nomak couldn't help but feel curious. Despite his age, he was still so much a child in many social areas. He secretly longed to understand people and interaction, but he was fearful of it, fearful of coming out to observe it closely. He was a fast learner in everything, he could copy anything he saw.
But not the motives behind so much interaction between lovers, friends, family, strangers who helped each other, passing acquaintances that smiled and shook hands, offering friendly greetings and farewells. He could copy the actions, but not the reasons behind them. Not yet.
He wanted to know the reasons behind her actions now.
Eliska sat on a stool behind the counter of the gas station, reading over the latest headlines. At her feet Katerine played with her rattler while she sucked on her pacifier, a few giggles and coos emitting from her every so often. Eliska would check on her every couple of minutes, but for now her baby seemed quite content to just make noise with her rattler.
Katerine had been a miracle though, and Eliska could be somewhat paranoid when it came to her. The doctors had said Katerine wouldn't survive, that something was wrong with her heart. But Katerine had survived, and had grown healthy, though she still had a few problems with her heart that had to be checked on regularly. Still, she was alive, she was well for the most part, and she was her mother's pride and joy.
Poor Miklos couldn't even convince his wife to let Katerine stay home with him during her night shifts. As soon as Eliska had been told to come back in to work, she had asked if she could bring Katerine in, just keep her behind the counter and make certain she behaved. To Miklos' disappointment and concern, the manager had given Eliska permission to do so. Miklos still believed it was a bad decision, and they had been having a few arguments over it lately.
Deep down, Eliska knew it was wrong of her to show so little trust in her husband, and to keep his child away from him, but it was more for her own piece of mind than the fact that she didn't have faith in his ability to take care of Katerine.
A small whine from Katerine grabbed Eliska's attention and she looked down to see the little girl had dropped her pacifier on the ground. Quickly grabbing her bag, Eliska fished around for the backup pacifier while she whispered soothingly to the sniffling baby until finally finding the backup. She held it out to Katerine.
The familiar sound of the door chime rung in Eliska's ears at the same time Katerine's chubby, little fingers wrapped around her new pacifier, "helping" Momma put it in her mouth. She giggled and cooed happily as she suckled on it, placated now.
Eliska looked up to see the customer looking at the refrigerated beverages they sold in the gas stop. She briefly glanced over him before returning to her paper until he needed her assistance. She had taken in the look of his clothes and appearance, figuring he was probably a businessman hurrying home after working late at the office. She met a lot of those types when she worked the nightshift.
That had been another argument she had used against Miklos. Katerine kept the stressed out and possibly philandering-prone men from overtly flirting with her. That had been the clincher in her keeping Katerine at work.
Next week I should start leaving you home every other night though, she thought reluctantly as she glanced back down at her baby. Your papa misses you, and he wants to help raise you too. He deserves some time with you too. It's just so hard.
Hearing the man's footsteps getting louder, closer, she set aside her newspaper and looked up, giving him a friendly smile as he placed a bottle of water on the counter. She rang up his gas price and the bottled water, took the money, gave him the change, and watched him as he walked out and went on his merry way. They exchanged the normal, brief chatter that went on between her and her customers, and nothing deviated from her routine except for the face and voice.
All in a night's work.
Boris looked at his watch, wincing. His wife was going to kill him. He had worked past midnight for the last four nights. Tonight made five. His last day of work for the week, and not even his last night could he get done early. He was not looking forward to getting home and finding his pillow on the couch.
Sylvia just didn't understand. His bosses were powerful. Very powerful. And with all the mess they were having to clean up lately, he was buried under paperwork.
I'll make it up to her. I'll get up early tomorrow and fix her breakfast, maybe run out to get her some flowers. Shit. I should have looked for flowers in that little store before paying for the gas, he scolded himself, nearly smacking his forehead with disgust at himself. I'll go back in. These places usually have something that can pass for a nice gift from a sorry husband.
Boris nodded to himself as he stopped, then turned around to go back in. But he was facing something big, blocking his view of the gas station convenience store.
Not something. Someone.
Boris looked up, his eyes widening as he saw the face of the person - maybe thing had been the correct assumption - and a scream started to build up as his mouth opened wide. He had never seen anything like this, it wasn't vampire, it wasn't human, it was a thing, an ugly, mutated thing.
With a growl, the humanoid creature opened his maw and leaned in, attaching himself to the man's neck and quickly getting to work on draining the man dry. His hand covered the still wide open mouth, smothering Boris' scream.
Eliska was surprised when she heard the door chime again barely even three minutes after the last costumer. She looked up from her reading material, then stiffened.
The man who had entered was tall, very tall, and broad. He wore a black, hooded coat, the hood up and covering his head. His face was hidden from view by it as he walked over to the beverages, looking through the glass doors at the different drinks. His steps were completely silent, despite the combat boots she glimpsed him wearing, and he made no sound except the soft rustle of fabric brushing against fabric when he moved.
Eliska tried to pretend she was reading her paper and not outwardly stare, but something about the man gave her the creeps. She didn't like his presence, didn't like how his face was hidden from her, didn't like how quiet it had suddenly gotten in the store.
Stop it. You're just being paranoid. You think it's too quiet because he knows how to be quiet. Don't be so jittery, Katerine can always sense it when you're jittery.
Taking a soft, but deep breath, Eliska looked down at Katerine, who was watching her mother curiously. She forced a smile for her baby, amazed at how Katerine knew when her mother was upset about something. But then Katerine was her little miracle baby.
Eliska relaxed slightly, sighing to herself as she shook her head, briefly glancing out the window. Her eyes landed on that businessman's car. His empty car. With no sign of him anywhere near it. The hose not even removed from the vehicle yet.
Tensing and starting to almost tremble, Eliska turned to see what the man was doing but found he was already standing right in front of the counter, hood pulled back to reveal a horrifying face from a nightmare. She heard Katerine start to wail and tried to move away from the monster and grab her child, but strong hands gripped her shoulders and yanked her across the counter.
Eliska barely had time to regret not listening to Miklos and leaving Katerine with him during her nightshift before her body was paralyzed as the creature began to drain her dry, Katerine's wails slowly growing softer as darkness overtook Eliska's mind.