A Thousand Years
Chapter Ten: Strange Relationship
Disclaimer: Still don't own it.
A/N: ...Holy crap.
(Flashback, Febuary 1st, 2005)
ShadowWolf: (Rubs paddles together and places them on the fanfic) CLEAR!
BZZZZZT THUMP!
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee beep... beep... beep... beep...
Raziel: It's... It's ALIVE!
Beep... beep... beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!
Everyone: o.O;;
Fanfic: (Suddenly bolts upright)
Zephon: TAKE COVER! (Dives for the floor, others following suit)
Melchiah: Huh?
Fanfic: (ZOOMS off the table and SLAMS into Melchiah like a bowling ball, sending him flying into the air head over heels, blazing on past spitting out two chapters in rapid succession... a third following with slight difficulty)
ShadowWolf: ...Holy Hell! O.o;; How many volts were those paddles charged with!
Raziel: (Peeks up his head over the operating table) Who cares, it's still alive, isn't it!
Kain: For now... Who knows how long this will last.
ShadowWolf: (Rolls eyes) Thanks for the vote of support, Candy-Kain.
Raziel and the brothers: (Sssnneeerrrk)
Kain: ...Don't call me that.
(End Flashback)
Sunset came, and with it, our swift departure into the night.
Decked out in full battle armor, armed to the teeth (No pun intended, really!), we set out for the village of Zirgsturb. Upon our arrival we split into groups of two. I was with Dumah, Kain was with Zephon, and Turel with Rahab. Through the city we swiftly and silently searched for our missing brother. Between the six of us, we would leave no stone unturned, and no building un-checked. We were each given our designated areas to search, and set off. Our search would encompass even the entire forest surrounding the town.
Dumah and I fed from a pair of homeless wretches as we searched, to keep our strength up should he turn out to be in trouble. We barely spoke to each other, not needing to speak to know what the other was thinking. We had to find Melchiah, fast. Even if he is the weakest of the brood, even if he is a horrible little wretch, he is our brother, and he is important to our cause.
The hours ticked by with no success. The only bit of excitement came from Turel, who was beaned upside the head with a wash pan when checking in the window of a building where a woman was undressing. This was reported by Rahab. The vision it brought made me laugh out loud, despite the seriousness of our situation.
By the time 4 A.M. came around, we were all but ready to give up. Dumah and I were searching the last farms on the outskirts of the village when a terrified shriek caught our attention. We looked at each other before dashing off towards the stables where a teenage girl suddenly bolted out and ran towards the house, shrieking something about there being a man in the stables. Dumah and I looked at each other, lifting our brows hopefully. It could be him, but what would he be doing in a stable?
We both slipped inside swiftly, glancing in the stalls. The horses whickered and shuffled their feet, the cows lowing nervously. Finally, I came upon one of the last stalls...
And gaped in horrified and amused shock to find Melchiah snuggled up against the rump of a very contented cow, his pants around his ankles.
HOLY HELL!
"Raziel? Did you find something?" Dumah asked, walking up beside me and looking in. He jerked to an abrupt halt and gaped as well, eyes widening, the corner of one of them twitching. "...Oh God!"
"Uuh... Don't.. yell..." Melchiah mumbled, clutching at his head painfully.
...Kain! Everyone, we found him! I managed to call out, turning away from the scene before I would throw up.
What? Where is he? Kain demanded, alarmed at the tone of my voice.
I-In one of the farmhouses... The one with the hay bales stacked against the south side of the barn...
What's happened? Is he dead? Kain and the rest of the group immediately began to head in my direction.
N-No, he's... Uh... I... think he's drunk... Or hungover... At that moment, the laughter suddenly settled in, and I dissolved into them helplessly. H-he's curled up next to a cow with his pants around his ankles!
WHAT! Kain.
Eeewwww... Turel.
...That is just NASTY! Rahab.
AHAHAHAHAHAAA! Zephon.
Within moments, all of us were there, laughing fit to burst and teasing the hungover Melchiah, who quickly realized his situation and started screaming and yanking up his pants.
All of us except Kain.
All too soon our laughter died down as one by one we realized Kain's presence behind us, simmering with rage.
Melchiah slowly climbed to his feet, eyes wide, staring at somewhere around Kain's chest since he was unable to look into those blazing ice blue eyes. He was suddenly yanked straight off his feet and held up in front of Kain's face, yelping and cringing at the murderous look in his eyes.
Kain hissed lowly, "How many drunks did you feed from last night?" At Melchiah's muffled whimper, Kain shook him roughly and snarled, lips pulled back from his long white fangs, "How many!"
"S-six?" Melchiah squeaked hesitantly.
"You bloody fool," Kain growled. "Intoxicated as you were, you would have beenrediculously simple to kill! Achild could have finished you off with ease! If you hadn't found shelter in this stable, you would have burned at dawn, and all that would be left of you is a scorch mark on the ground!" He threw Melchiah roughly to the ground and whirled on the others. "This goes for the rest of you as well! Ifany of you exceed the limit of two drunks in a single night, I will personally subject you to my own personal torture, and rest assured Melchiah will get it tonight! Hear his screams and remember what earned him that pain. Let's go." Without another word, he turned to walk out of the stable, his hands clenched at his sides.
One by one, each of us glanced toward Melchiah before following, not envying the fool's predicament. But Zephon, being Zephon, could not leave without one last witty remark.
"Aren't you going to say goodbye to sweet Daisy?" Zephon petted the cow's muzzle and crooned, "You made Daisy such a happy cow."
"SHUT UUUUP!" Melchiah screeched and bolted out of the barn.
Zephon chuckled and leaned his elbow against the cow's flank, murmuring in her ear, "Don't fret, Daisy. I'm sure he'll be back. Yeeesss. Yes, he will. Good cow." He petted her muzzle one last time before strolling out of the barn, hands in his pockets and whistling a merry tune.
Dumah, Zephon, and I all flinched for the umpteenth time as Melchiah's agonized screams echoed throughout the underground clan. This had been going on for the better part of three hours now. None of us felt like sleeping, especially with Melchiah's frantic pleas dotting his screams.
"...I think Mel's probably gotten the point by now..." Zephon said hesitantly as he set down a playing card with the symbol face-up and placed a green chip on the matching symbol on the board spread out between us, picking up a new card from the deck.
"...I think you're right," I offered, setting down a card of my own and placing a red chip in the appropriate spot, also picking up a new card. The object of the game was to get two sets of five chips in a row on the board, going either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Two decks of cards were played with, so there were two different places one could put their chip, unless the other was already used. Each player had seven cards with which to choose from. Surprisingly, Kain enforced these games of thought and strategy, saying they helped to develop our minds and speed our thought processes.
"Damn..." Dumah muttered, as I had blocked off a grouping of four that he had on the board. He thought for a moment - he always took the longest time to think, but he also thought of the best strategies - and finally placed down a card and a blue chip to block one of Zephon's groupings. He was usually the best player, but tonight he proved to be rather distracted. "How much longer do you think he'll have to suffer...?"
"Dunno," Zephon commented, plucking a card and setting it down, flicking Dumah's chip off of the board. There were four pairs of wild cards in the deck. Two pairs of a certain symbol were wild - you could place a chip anywhere. Two more pairs of a certain symbol could remove any chip that was not a part of a five-chip sequence.
"Damn..." Dumah muttered again.
I simply plucked a card from my hand and placed it down, putting my chip where Dumah's chip had been.
"You bastard," Zephon groaned.
"Yes," Dumah agreed. "And he also has his second sequence of five."
"What!" Zephon yelped, eyes widening as he stared at the board where my vertical sequence of five chips intersected his sequence of four. "When did he get the first set!"
I pointed at the location on the board, smirking at the five red chips lined up diagonally, hidden amongst a smattering of blue and green chips.
"You bastard!" Zephon scowled and threw down his hand.
"It stopped," Dumah suddenly spoke up, lifting his head.
Zephon and I blinked at him in confusion. "...What stopped?" I asked.
"The screaming," Dumah emphasized, looking toward the door. The three of us were silent for several long moments, listening for any more screams... and slowly, we heard Kain's long, steady gait walking toward Melchiah's room. We could hear the sound of the door opening, and the soft rustle of bedsheets as Melchiah was laid down in bed. The three of us glanced at each other, gulping slightly. None of us really felt much like playing anymore.
Zephon and I quietly helped Dumah put the game away before exiting to our own rooms. The trail of blood on the stones did not fail to grab our attention. We parted ways, and I slipped into my own room.
It was then that I first realized...
Once we'd all played our part, and Nosgoth was vampire-run... each and every one of us would be expendable... He tortured to punish, now, but in the future... If one of us crossed him the wrong way...
He'd kill us...
I really expected to have this out a lot sooner... I really struggled with the first part of this chapter, and had to set it aside for quite some time due to continuing personal problems, college, and work. Sorry for the wait. R/R!