Raziel hated falling asleep. He wondered which was worse; the nightmare he was currently 'living' in, or the nightmares his sleeping produced. In the end he decided on the latter, cursing his treacherous body for giving his subconscious all those evil ideas. And he needed to resist that evil for as long as he could. So he did his best to stay awake. It wasn't much good though. Being chained to a wall tended to not only be uncomfortable, but also quite boring. Plus, he hadn't had a good drink in a while. Not since he had been to the human citadel, in fact, and fed on sheep nearby. He was thirsty... And he could smell something coming from outside the dungeon. It was definitely blood. Human blood.

No. Raziel reminded himself. I'm not like that.

He was righteous! A sarafan! He would resist this evil that the vampires had forced upon him. He wrinkled his nose in effort to block out the smell.

Kain seemed to have chosen an oddly appropriate place for a dungeon. Right next to his 'cellar'.

After that, a vampire entered. It was the female Raziel recognized from earlier, he noticed.

"Raziel." She said sadly. "Please, why do you fight it still? Give up and come back to your senses."

"Go away." He hissed.

"But we miss our Lord. We... the Razielhim need him... you."

"The Razielhim?" Raziel commented. "You mean... I ... created..."

She nodded solemnly. Raziel stood, silent for a time. "No." He said, finally, stating his denial. His mind now had the fresh image of him placing a bloody wrist into some person's mouth, turning them into vampires as well. Raziel did his best to block that imagery out.

The female looked behind, and realized she should take her leave. "Have it your way, then, SARAFAN." She sneered, leaving.

Soon enough, Kain entered the dungeon, scrutinizing Raziel as he approached. Raziel eyed him back, defiantly, and narrowed his amber eyes as Kain stopped. He was still thirsty, and wished he could take down the uber-vampire before him, drink his blood, take revenge for what he did to him. Almost involuntarily, Raziel tried attacking Kain through the bars of his cell, to no avail.

"Are you quite finished?" Kain asked his captive coolly.

"Die, fiend!" Raziel simply spat.

Kain ignored him. "Well, Raziel, there seems to be a problem." Kain walked around, standing next to Raziel. "Nothing seems to wake you up." With that said, Kain smacked him on the head. Hard.

"Aaaaaaaahhhh!" Raziel growled. "Bastard!"

"And that doesn't seem to work either." Kain said. "I want my lieutenant back."

"Get this straight Kain; There is no way I'll serve you. Not now, not ever. Kill me if you must, but I will not become that demon again. Put the thought out of your head."

"You sound so sure of yourself." Kain mused.

Raziel looked away, lest Kain see the fluster that worked its expression onto his face. "I do happen to know myself. I'm a sarafan; no one can take that from me. There's no way I'll stop being loyal to my cause."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kain mused. "You'll still be loyal, just not to the side you wanted."

"Why you..." Raziel snarled, struggling at his bonds again. "BASTARD! You'll never make me a vampire! Just kill me, damn it!"

"Kill you?" Kain seemed to think for a moment, considering. "Let me tell you something. For a time, I, too, despised this 'gift'." He looked at his claws, which were once hands. "I sought for a release, and while doing so, was led to kill the circle of nine..."

Raziel's eyes widened in realization. The same circle of nine he was employed by...

"You..." Raziel gaped, horrified. "Malek, Michelle, Mortanius... MOEBIUS? You murdered them?"

"Well, some of those." Kain corrected, offhand. "Most of them were different from the ones of your age, I suppose." Kain did not mention that Vorador killed most of the circle of nine, then. "Besides, they were led to corruption from a conspiracy when the balance guardian was murdered. They had to be killed. But when I had finally done so, I realized; I was new balance guardian. For the corruption to end, I had to die."

"And you refused to sacrifice yourself." Raziel replied wryly. "You know, I doubt this is going to impress me, so if you're..."

Kain held his hand up, silencing Raziel. "Not only did I not so that, but I gave up searching for a cure. As vampires, we are dark gods, Raziel. Superior to humans."

"Don't give me that crap." Raziel sneered. "Vampires are evil demons. Justice needs to be done, and they, and you, have to be killed."

"But you ARE a vampire, Raziel." Kain pointed out.

Raziel paused for a moment, considering, before talking to Kain again. "The vampires are demons, who deserve no less..."

Kain frowned. "Must you loathe vampires so much?"

"Yes." Raziel stated dully.

"Raziel, I could do a lot for you. More than you can imagine. Why fight?" Kain asked.

"You're evil, demon."

"And you're not?" Kain mocked. "You're not listening to me!"

"Of course not. Everything you say is warped to get me. You're just trying to confuse me. I can't listen to a word you say."

Kain tilted his head in contemplation. "True. Some of it anyway"
"Why, for a vampire, you DO show signs of limited intelligence. Of course!"

Kain seemed to bristle with indignation at the insult the ex-sarafan threw at him. But then he walked in front of Raziel, smiling coldly, looking directly into his eyes. Somehow, this intimidated Raziel, and he cringed...

Kain bared his fist in front of Raziel's face. Raziel just looked at warily.

"Do try and show me some respect, Raziel." Kain said, warning him.

"As if." Raziel replied.

Kain didn't seem too happy, and picked him up by his collarbone, Kain's claws sinking into flesh, lifting Raziel up above him.

"WHAT did I just say?"

"I don't... care!" Raziel spat. "Go ahead... torture me... all you... Want." Raziel managed to voice out through Kain's stranglehold, daring him. "I'll... never give... up!"

Kain began to chuckle darkly. And then he slowly let Raziel back down. "Really?" He mused.

"Do your worst." Raziel scowled, and then braced for the worst. But nothing happened. Slowly, he opened one eye to see Kain smiling at him. "You know, you're right."

"Huh?" Raziel really didn't expect Kain to admit that.

"I wouldn't even be surprised if the Sarafan are trained for this sort of thing. Pain won't affect you enough. I'll just have to use... another method..." Kain commented, thoughtfully, turning to leave.

Raziel stared at the uber-vampire's back, worriedly. Just what was that fiend up to now?