Okays, so this chapter took awhile for me to type up. Mostly because adjusting to the college life is, well was, taking its toll on meh. Oy. But now that I've figured out how things work, I've found time to concentrate on mah stories and whatnot. Yep.
Oh, and another thing that I keep forgetting to up it is that: My earlier chapters are a bunch of hogwash… Well, that's what I think anywayz. Because ever since I've plotted my story out (so I know where things are headed) my earlier randomness seemed out of place. I dunno. Well… Later chapters might seem randomness too. Just because I've mapped things out doesn't mean that I won't add anything. Chea.
Disclaimer's statement: "Me? Own Darkstalkers? That's a lie."
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Chapter 9
"So your…" Lilith hesitated with the name of Bulleta's relative she was just speaking with.
"My Grandmommy?"
"Yes. So, your grandmother's coming for you?"
"Yup-yup. She said that she'd be here soon— that she didn't want me to burden you nice people," the young girl smiled, but it didn't hold the warm glow from earlier. Bulleta's smile faded as her eyes wandered over the room, sizing her space.
Just the sight of the little girl sitting there made Lilith's heart beat in little flurries against her chest. IT was as if she was nervous. But of what? Why was she nervous? Lilith only felt this way when something she didn't like, and mostly couldn't control, was about to happen. "Y-you weren't… a burden." She swallowed hard and took a couple to tries to get her voice working again, "It was… really… nice, seeing someone younger. Younger than me…" Lilith laughed in spite herself and it scared her. She stopped herself and took in a shaky breath. What is going on?
"Heh heh eheh…" Bulleta got to her feet laughing, giggling, chuckling, "I wasn't a burden? Wow. I guess my performances are getting better… Or maybe you're just that easy to fool…"
Lilith heard the girl's voice but didn't comprehend it. She was too worked up on her breathing, to care about some higher motive this little girl had in mind. Her chest rose and fell with every ragged breath. Lilith knew she was drawing in air, but her mind was telling her different; she was suffocating. On what, she didn't know.
Lilith took another breath and tried for her voice again, "W-w-what," she paused, focusing her mind, "do you…mean..?" She lowered her head, as she couldn't hold it up and keep her eyes watching Bulleta. Immediately she saw the dog sitting at her feet. When had he gotten there? The question didn't linger long, because she realized what had been making her choke on her own breath. It was coming from Harry. An aromatic vapor was acting on her mind.
Bulleta laughed and laughed, so loudly that it echoed throughout the room, "If I have to explain myself, then you're slower than they told me!" Her tone of voice lost that girlish appeal, leaving behind an older voice of a very tired and twisted soul.
Lilith's eyelids started to droop. Bulleta snapped her fingers; calling the dog and drawing Lilith's attention back to her, "Hey! Don't fall asleep on me…" Bulleta's eyes fell on Harry as he marched his way back to her feet. With Bulleta's gaze locked on the dog and it farther away, the air felt less confining, taking away most of the strain on Lilith's breathing. As Harry sat Bulleta lifted her head and stared Lilith down with those hungry eyes, "I want you awake when you bleed."
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The back of her head tapped the headboard as her emerald-flavored eyes scanned the room. Morrigan wasn't on for casual conversations with some person she'd just met. Especially if that someone looked as if they'd get her in trouble for trying to be more than just casual.
Morrigan sighed and slumped in bed. She sat fiddling with the sheets Lilith had messed with. Taking a handful of the covers, Morrigan brought them to her nose, closing her eyes, and took in the scent. Her scent, "…Lilith."
She sighed again, lost in a small daydream, and gave a small smirk as she let her hands fall on her lap. "How long has it been since I brought you home?" Morrigan asked herself, eyes glazed with past thoughts. "Only seven months… Yet it feels like forever. Forever since our first embrace." The woman smiled, still holding that distant look in her eyes.
When was the first time I felt like this? Towards anyone? Morrigan thought. Her eyes left that soft distant look and turned it into something else. Something darker and troublesome. It… It was centuries ago. When I first met Him.
"Orion," she whispered, afraid to say it any louder. "Even now his name speeds my blood… But what I have now… is not what that was," she said softly. Thinking back on Him had caused her accent to fall out. "What he gave me was love for Lust… He couldn't afford the other."
She took a calming breath to erase the memory of her first "love" and creator. It was enough trying to remember how to love someone unconditionally without her past coming back to trouble her mind. It was because of Him that Morrigan couldn't just love Lilith, from the fear of giving her all and receiving nothing in the end.
"Succubi… Incubi… cannot love. That is not what we do! We feed from Lust. From the touch of bodies against our own."
"But we, we can be different, think differently. We can choose to love!"
The sound of her own voice, from the memory, was heart wrenching. She sounded so young, eager, and willing to change… for Him.
"And that is why this 'Free Will' gets in the way. If we were to choose, and choose love, then that would be all we would crave for. We would want and want and be denied of love because of what we are! Can you not see that?"
"What if I chose to love you? I wouldn't have to fight or be afraid of being denied."
Morrigan's gaze was locked on one spot in the room as this memory played in her mind. Water welled up in her eyes as she subconsciously tried to shut these images off. To shelve it away to where it once was.
"You cannot love only me. You just cannot."
"I could try."
"Try and fail."
"Just let me…"
"A succubus such as you, Morrigan, cannot have only one lover. Try and understand this…"
"…I don't want anyone other than you! I won't… I won't be able to go on with this… this… life if you leave me."
She placed her hand on her cheek, cupping it just as He had all those years ago.
"Do not. Your tears will mean nothing to me. I do not want this from you; because I know that I cannot return it… If you love me… you will end up killing yourself."
"Just let me do this… Let Me Love—"
Morrigan gasped as if she were coming out of water, seconds from drowning. Her unshed tears began their paths down her face. She bowed her head, causing that cool-green hair of hers to hide her face as she forced herself to stop crying.
"It was so long ago… so long ago," she kept telling herself. So why the tears now? What He had said was true. Everything that happened had been because she loved Him and He did not love her back.
She had given in to loving Him, wanting only Him and that had destroyed her power base. If that were the only thing that would have happened, Morrigan wouldn't have minded.
"You can hardly draw them to your embrace. Hardly enrapture their human minds and drink from their souls. If you do not feed properly, then you will surely—"
Morrigan had calmed down enough to shut her mind off. All of the memories of Orion began to bury themselves back to where they belonged. Locked up once again.
"She's not like you… Orion," her voice thick with her accent and choked back tears.
She curled up on her side and drew the covers around her body. Was it from her scent that sparked my memories of Him? Morrigan thought slowly. The tears on her face dried, leaving no hint of sadness and her body and face cool and at ease.
She sighed and cuddled with the covers, a lame substitute for who she really wanted to wrap her arms around.
It had to have been, at least, a couple of minuets after she got comfortable, that she heard laughing; wicked laughing. Morrigan sprang up and slid her body to the edge of the bed so that her legs draped, "Dammit!" How did I forget that Lilith was still down there with that girl? "Orion…"
As Morrigan got out of her room and ran down the stairs towards the living room, she searched her mind for where she saw that small girl's face. "Those eyes of hers. They pierce my memory. Yet I forget why." Fuck.
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The sound of broken furniture, gun shots, and Lilith's voice screamed through the hallway and made Morrigan sprint, almost glide, the rest of the way to the doorframe. A broken couch wasn't the reason for the speed up.
"Lilith!" Morrigan said as she tried to go past the doorway, but something kept her back. The air was thick with a stifling knockout gas. She almost stumbled into the room from the scene Bulleta had set up, but kept herself balanced, gripping onto the doorframe.
The couch Lilith had been sitting on was overturned, while Lilith was half-pinned to the blood-splattered wall. Lilith's head hung limply as her body leaned against the wall. Blood was everywhere, sprinkled on the seats and floor, as most of it oozed down the wall. That should have been enough to get Morrigan through the door, but she was still frozen in place, by the gas.
Morrigan's eyes followed the length of Lilith's body. The black and white stripped outfit Lilith wore was drenched in her own crimson blood. Small holes in her shirt exposed her skin and told where the bullets had entered. Morrigan's heart had stopped and everything stood still.
"I SAID TO KEEP YOUR," Bulleta fired twice at Lilith, a bullet in each thigh, "GODDAMN EYES OPEN!"
Lilith screamed, and then coughed up blood as her body slid to the floor, revealing the bullet holds in the wall behind her.
"Oh, You're no FUN Anymore!" Bulleta said as she popped out her empty magazine, clicked in a new one, and then cocked the chamber (more out of habit from the older versions).
Bulleta sighted down the barrel and cackled, "Where's your bat-bitch now?" As her finger brushed the trigger, her cackle died and became a malicious grin.
In the next moment Bulleta was punched, knocked off her feet, and flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall from where Morrigan was now standing. From the force of Bulleta hitting the wall, most of the figurines crashed to the floor around the girl.
The effect of the gas was completely worn off as Morrigan watched her attack connect, sending Bulleta crashing towards the wall. Morrigan's sidestepped, watching the little girl, then dashed towards her fallen love. She knelt in front of Lilith and cautiously ran her hands over the wounds, hovering just above them. "Li-lilith…" she whispered her name. "Lilith."
"…morrigan," Lilith's voice sounded weak and gargled. Blood dribbled down the corners of her mouth as she tried to talk and draw breath.
Morrigan held Lilith's face in her hands, steadying her head. Lilith's eyes fluttered open and fought to stay focused. When she was able to see Morrigan clearly, the tears Lilith had been holding back quickly ran down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… Sorry… sorry," Morrigan whispered against the top of Lilith's head. She pressed her lips against Lilith's skin and breathed her power through the girl's body, searching for all of the wounds. Three in her right arm, five near her stomach, one near her heart, and two in each leg. Nothing vital, but she won't be able to survive much longer if she stays like this.
"…mo-morrigan…"
"Shh… Don't talk. Save your—"
--Bulleta shook off and lazily got to her feet. She used the wall for balance and glanced around the room. Her handgun had been knocked out of her grip as she hit the wall, and was nowhere in sight. Her eyes frantically searched for it and Harry, in that order. What good's a dog when you're dead?
She spotted the handgun and Harry, and the two demons by the wall. She measured her distance, steadied herself, and then whipped out her automatic. Bulleta fired, spraying bullets everywhere, not caring what she hit.
In the last second, Morrigan blocked the attack, using her "shield". Lilith, in the state she was in, saw something large and leathery split from Morrigan's mid-back. Her eyes felt so heavy and her body felt distant, as did everything else. What… are you, Morrigan? After the brief sight of Morrigan sprouting new appendages, Lilith lost the fight to stay awake and slipped into the dark.
Calling her bats so quickly, made Morrigan stagger somewhat. At least it guarded them from the barrage of bullets that Bulleta continued to send their way.
She sighed then glanced down at Lilith in her hands, "Lilith!" Her heart raced, making her defense waver slightly. One of Bulleta's shots whizzed past Morrigan's head, drawing her gaze to the source. The sight of that "sweet and innocent" girl had all but disappeared.
Bulleta's pupils were drowning in the fiery light of the rest of her eyes. She wore the grin of a killer who didn't care how the job was finished; only that she got paid in the end. But what had caused that?
Bulleta let her hand with the gun drop to her side and picked up her girly voice again, "That wing of yours is in the way. Mind moving it, Miss Aenslaed?" Her split personality like characteristics always seemed to throw people off.
Morrigan gave one more glance at Lilith's limp body before carefully laying her on her back. She stood, getting to her feet in a dance-like grace. She flexed her wing and without having to "call" or say anything, bats came and swarmed Morrigan's body.
"Changing?" Bulleta still played the sweet girl's voice. "That's… CHEATING!" and she lifted her gun and shot at the bats. A handful of them fell to the ground twitching, only to get back up and join the others.
"YOU'RE CHEATING! CHEATING! CHEATING! CHEATING!" she continued screaming, shooting until the gun clicked empty. She threw the empty firearm aside and drew out a semi-automatic, one with a little more firepower, and aimed it at Lilith's body. She circled around until she had a nice spot and grinned.
Morrigan's clothes peeled away as another outfit seemed to drip into place. The black leather type material that covered much of her upper body seemed poured on, hugging her curves, and left little to the imagination. Her arms and legs were wrapped in a similar material of silk, only that her legs carried a pattern of miniature bats. Her black boots ran up to her ankles where they buckled off. As everything got into place, most of the bats melded into a smaller set of wings that sat on her head. Morrigan's new appearance breathed through her body and gave it another personality.
Her eyes caught sight of Bulleta's new ammunition and target. Before the girl had time to get herself into position, Morrigan called her bats to lift Lilith's body up and out of the room. As she watched her love's body being carried off to safety, Morrigan held one of her bats, until it burned of blue flame and shot it Bulleta.
The bat hit and the little girl stumbled and her shot went wayward. She cursed under her breath, got to her feet, and shot at Lilith's floating body. She missed as another bat hit her square in the chest. Bulleta doubled over and fell to her knees. She huffed and raised her head up to a smirking Morrigan.
Looking down at the smaller girl, Morrigan's mind had another flashback. She fought it back and had help from Bulleta's voice as she spoke, "Is she dead…?" she sounded a bit strained as she caught her breath. Bulleta laughed a bit wheezy, "Heh heh… The first time I missed that bitch's heart—"
Morrigan's fist connected with Bulleta's jaw, for the second time, and it sent her sliding across the room. Morrigan's rage seeped through her skin and crawled against everything in the room. She shot her energy out, making all of the windows pop, showering Bulleta's body in glass.
The little girl sat up slowly with Harry nudging at her arm, "Get away From ME!" she yelled as she hit the dog, sending him flying. He whimpered softly as he hit the floor and stayed there. Bulleta's eyes were all for the demon who stalked in front of her. She spat blood at Morrigan's feet, "Don't come any closer, or I'LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF!"
"Try me…" Morrigan beckoned, her voice sounding much calmer than Bulleta's. She crossed her arms and took another step, challenging the little girl.
Bulleta bounced to her feet and held up her rocket launcher. Her body wobbled, not from the weight of the weaponry, but from the two hits to the head that Morrigan had given her.
Morrigan was shocked but quickly hit it and steadied herself. She had to end this now, before that girl pulled anything else out; anything that might not only destroy the house but the whole city.
The girl fired and doubled over again, this time from the recoil.
Morrigan braced herself and held her hands forward, palms out, waiting for the rocket. It hit and the force of it sent a shockwave through Morrigan's body. It made her heels dig into the floor and her wings flare out, breaking down into her bats. When the missile ran out and stopped moving, Morrigan tossed it behind her where her bats caught it and dragged it down the makeshift hold the formed.
Bulleta's eyes widened in disbelief as her rocket was stopped and was taken out. She shook off the feeling and aimed again for the second shot. She couldn't wait and miss this chance.
Morrigan wasn't going to sit around and wait for the next one. She dashed, her flurry of bats lagging behind, as she made her way towards Bulleta and her firearm.
It was just too fast for the girl's eyes to follow and in the next moment Morrigan was clutching at her neck, lifting the small girl off her feet. Bulleta dropped her rocket launcher to claw at Morrigan's hands. Her eyes were too wide as she stared down at Morrigan. She swallowed hard and tested her voice, "…Orion," she whispered, "Orion didn't want you dead. He… was only after the girl's… body."
The sound of His name made Morrigan loosen her grip on the girl's throat. This was Bulleta's chance to slip out. She snuck out a dagger and drove it in, stabbing Morrigan between her breasts.
Morrigan screamed and dropped the girl as she jumped back, grabbing at the blade. She slowly drew it out of her flesh and tossed it aside, away from the little devil in front of her. She began healing herself, and when she knew she could speak without sounding shocked she asked, "Who… are you?"
The little girl had landed on her butt and rubbed at her neck, easing some of the pain. She glanced up then down to Morrigan's feet, as she spoke, "Don't remember me?" Bulleta looked up again and this time gave Morrigan the face of a lost and helpless little girl, "You couldn't kill me then… And you can't even kill me now…" She giggled softly and stopped as it hurt some part of her to laugh. "All I wanted was mommy…"
Morrigan's mind went racing again. So many memories broke free flooding everything she had control over. She yelled out wordlessly and held the sides of her head, covering her ears as she fell to her knees. Her bats flew in frantic paths, crashing into the walls, lights, and the floor. Some dipped and dived by Bulleta head, missing her by inches.
Morrigan cried out again, louder this time as she sent a wave of her power out and around her, sending everything into a stilled darkness. In that moment everything became quiet. Everything became one thing that Morrigan could control…
Bulleta eyes searched the pitch-black room for any source of light, any bit of sound. Nothing, not even the neighbor's house lights, streetlights, came through the broken windows. Nothing, not even the chirping of the crickets outside made a sound. It was just that deathly quiet and darkness that would drive anyone insane. Then Bulleta saw it… Her, out of the corner of her eye.
A blue light, a calming ocean blue, radiated from Morrigan; illuminating the woman's outline. It grew brighter until both of them were bathed in the light and Bulleta could see what was happening.
Morrigan's body had relaxed and was floating inches away from the ground. Her hair seemed weightless as it drifted carelessly around her face. Her eyes were still closed as if she were in a peaceful dream, all of her past memories stared to lock up once more.
Bulleta's heart began to race. She stared at the distant figure. The girl knew she was out of ammo and started to get to her feet, when one of the bats flew in and knocked her back down. Wincing, she followed the bat with her eyes and saw in terror what had been really going on.
Hundreds and hundreds of bats packed into the room forming some deadly monstrosity behind Morrigan's back. As the size of the object got bigger, the light grew and more bats flew into the room. Bulleta knew that what she saw growing in front of her was what would end her life, and all she could do was laugh.
At the sound of that laughing, Morrigan opened her eyes and sighted the girl. She had remembered where she saw her from; where they had seen her before.
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Bulleta was from one of the thousands of villages she and Orion had destroyed out of fun. They had killed anyone who stood in their way and took the others that they would feed from until they got bored again. But this girl's family was different.
They were a family of immortals, who gained their long lives from the blood of a demon. Orion thought that that would have been a challenge to kill them and end their boredom. To which Morrigan had agreed and joined in.
They were able to defeat most if not all of the people in the castle before they reached the inner chamber, where this child and her mother lay. Her father had pleaded with Orion to leave his wife and daughter and take his life instead.
"Well since he gives his life so willingly…" Orion laughed.
"Please sir… I beg of you," the old man said.
"Morrigan…? What do you think?" Orion smirked and snaked behind Bulleta's father.
"…He holds nothing that interests me," Morrigan said as she walked past them both and headed into the sleeping chamber.
Orion shrugged and forced his hand through the man's back puncturing a lung and his heart. He laughed and slid his hand out watching as the man fell on his face, kissing the floor.
"Ahhh! Get away you Demon!" It was a woman's voice. She was fighting off Morrigan in the room.
Morrigan laughed and pounced, pinning the woman to the bed and sending the little girl to the floor.
Orion came in using one of the drapes to clean the cold blood from his hand, "Having too much fun are we?"
"You never let me have enough," Morrigan purred against the woman's skin before she started to scream and kick at her again.
"It is because you play with your food, that I do not let you have your way all the time."
"I don't play all of the time…" Morrigan smirked and bit into the mother's neck, quieting the woman.
"Yes. You do. You do it even now. You play with her when you could have taken her already."
Morrigan sat up, straddling the woman's hips as she looked to Orion, "Is that so wrong? She will go either way…" The woman who she sat on top of, reached up and wrapped her arms around Morrigan's neck, drawing her back down, "See… I do not need anything else but my mouth and they are mine."
Orion sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Morrigan feed from the woman's neck, "Maybe. But wouldn't have been easier to just have them come to you, using your mind?"
"No…" Morrigan said as she drew back, her lips stained red from the woman's neck.
He sighed and got to his feet and walked in front of Morrigan, leaning over the half dead woman as if she wasn't there, "What am I to do with you…?" He kissed her lips gently, "You do remember that we do not need blood. We are not vampires."
"…I know," she whispered.
"So why take it? Why her when so many back there were willing to give you their all?"
"Because she fought me. And truthfully… I hate when they give in so easily. I want, "she said as she hopped off the bed, "some sort of struggle."
"Making it difficult as always, it seems."
"Yes I—"
The sound of sniffling caught their attention. They looked at each other then went towards the noise. Orion jumped onto the bed and Morrigan walked around it, making sure that at least the girl couldn't run out.
Orion smirked, "And what do we have here?"
"She was with the mother," Morrigan pointed at the body on the bed.
"Oh…? And what is your name, little girl?" Orion asked.
"…Bulleta," she said. Those eyes gazed up and hit Morrigan.
"Bulleta… Bulleta… Would you like to join your Mother?" Orion gave his toothy grin to the small girl and leaned in closer.
"Orion…"
Bulleta merely blinked at the question.
"Orion…" Morrigan said again, "You would not take her life. Would you?"
"What has gotten into you? We've taken younger than her before, with you enjoying it."
At that Morrigan silenced. But it was the girl's eyes. They were too deep to look at. Too much was in her soul for a child her age. But what they didn't know was that even the young ones of the family had taken a drink from the blood of the demon. The little ones still grew but slower, much slower. Even now Bulleta was around forty years old.
"Will you let me go to mommy?" the little girl asked.
"Of course I will…" Orion said, smiling sweetly at the girl.
"Orion leave her."
"What? For what reason?" He asked, sitting up now.
"Please. If anything for me. Just let us leave her as she is now," Morrigan pleaded.
"Her mind will rot if she is to walk outside of her chamber. Her mind is to rot if she looks to the bed! Surely you will not let me leave her in this state. We have come this far and you hold back," Orion questioned.
"Fine. Do what you will. But I do not want to stay for it," Morrigan said as she walked towards the door.
Orion huffed then sighed as he got from the bed and followed Morrigan.
"Will you not send me to her? All I want is to be with mommy…" Bulleta called back.
Her voice froze Morrigan for only a second, before she walked through the doorway.
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Morrigan's mind cleared of the memory as she caught sight of the same girl in front of her, from all those years ago. It was amazing how much she still looked of that day; her hair and face only having slight changes to them due to the time period.
Morrigan smirked, her body filled with the growing power, "I only saved you then because your innocence fooled me."
"…you mean your stupidity. That was what held you back," Bulleta laughed.
Morrigan said nothing and just stared at the girl, whose face went from amusing to being pissed off.
"Don't LOOK At Me Like THAT! I Told You To KILL ME! But You Left ME There! IT'S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT THAT THAT PUPPET OF YOURS IS DEAD!" Bulleta took in a shallow breath, and laughed a bit, softly to herself. "I hope she dies…"
Morrigan ignored Bulleta, as that would only mess up her power flow, and calmed herself as her energy grew. The two cannons on her back were already charged well past one hundred percent. Now all she had to do was call the last cannon and her Soul Eraser would be ready to fire. But old habits die-hard, "You said Orion's name. Why?"
Bulleta looked up and scoffed.
"…He hired you to Kill LILITH… WHY?"
The girl just continued to stare at Morrigan, with a small smirk growing on her face. If this was a step at getting back at Morrigan, then Bulleta was going to take it.
Morrigan screamed and drew the third cannon in front of her. The tips gave off that fiery blue light as she aimed at the sitting girl.
Bulleta smiled and sighed, long and hard. She looked into the light and didn't care for anything or anyone else. Looks like she did get stronger, Orion.
You bastard.
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So Chea.. There's Chapter 9 for ya. Fun stuff huh? Okay, okay.. So maybe I added some stuff here and there.. Like Orion and Bulleta being part of an "immortal" family. Pshh.. Immortal my donkey, I always say.. So yea. Hoped you liked it and whatnot.. Chapter 10 is so on its way…
((Omgosh! You know… Typing at 4 o'clock in the morning is not a great idea. You know, it's good in theory but bad in practice. Good thing I check this, took it down, and uploaded it again with the corrections. Whoo… No wonder I'm not an English Major…))