Soul of the Night

By Twilightborn 1983

Chapter 5: Funeral and First Blood

The dark clouds mirrored the mood in the cemetery where the family and friends of Nani Peliaki had gathered to say their last goodbyes. David stood next to the coffin of his fiancé, fighting to hold back the tears. He wasn't that good with emotion; he was usually too laid back to let anything bother him. But now the woman he was planning to marry lay dead, and he was shattered. One of his surfer buddies put his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort his friend in his time of need. Pleakly stood next to Jumba, crying his eye out. Jumba too fought back tears. But none was as distraught as Nani's little sister and only surviving family member, Lilo. She looked upon her sister's body as they closed the lid and took it out of the church. Lilo's last family member was gone forever, and now she was alone. Or she would be, if it wasn't for Adamar. She could feel his presence close by, and she knew he was watching her.

He was there, but not exactly to just watch over her.

Adamar stood on the hill overlooking the cemetery in solemn silence. He knew this could have been prevented if he had only not been distracted. Watching the scene before him, he began to ponder when his time would come. This had not been the first time he had thought about this, it was one of the things that made him seem brooding to other vampires. They all thought the moment they were turned they would never need fear death again. They were wrong, and Adamar knew it. They could live forever, but that didn't mean they would. The constant fighting proved that vampires could die all too easily. Sure, most human weapons did absolutely nothing to them, and most of their 'weaknesses' were made up, but there was three main things a vampire had to fear: blood loss, decapitation, and fire. Fire was probably the worst of their weaknesses, since normal humans might not be strong enough to decapitate, and firepower enough to cause major blood loss was hard to find, but fire was easy. Flamethrowers, bonfires, heck, even torches hurt a vampire. It wasn't that vampires combusted easily; it's that their powers provided no resistance to flame, so they were just as vulnerable as humans.

Adamar continued to ponder his possible death when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to face Cobra who was coming up the other side of the hill.

"So what brings you here, Adamar? I thought your business was finished." Cobra said, somewhat suspicious of Adamar's presence.

"I could ask you the same. Keeping your eye on the girl, in case she tries to flee again?" Adamar said as he turned back to the funeral.

"That's not your concern." Cobra said as he stood beside him.

"If you must know, I was pondering about death. A funeral is a good place to focus on one's imminent end." Adamar said as he continued to watch the burial.

"But you are immortal; death is no concern of yours." Cobra said in his normal tone.

"Not true, in Asia you and I both ended the lives of several vampires, and watched others die by other hands. My kind is effectively immortal, but not invincible, we can still be killed."

"True, but I'm certain there is more reason to your being here." Cobra said as he removed his shades.

"Indeed, I feel guilt at this woman's death. Had I not been distracted, I may have been able to prevent it." A twinge of sorrow was present in Adamar's voice. Had he been there, Lilo would still have a family, and still be human.

Cobra turned to look at him. "You were there? You didn't happen to see who did this to her, did you?"

Adamar just smiled and took out his blood vase. "Saw, and dealt with."

"You realized what was going to happen to Lilo and went into a blood rage." Cobra said as he turned back to the funeral. He remembered when a group of rouge vampires tried to feed on the children of an orphanage. After Adamar came out of his rage, not one of the vampires was left standing. Or alive.

"Indeed, even I lose my temper at times, but sometimes a bite of pain just isn't enough." Adamar said as he looked up at the sky. "The sky will clear soon, but I'm sure it will be nightfall before then. I should be headed out tonight without further delay."

"I'm sure this place isn't very comfortable to you." Cobra said as looked over at where Lilo was crying on Stitch's shoulder.

"Yes, but I will miss it nevertheless. The people are far more relaxed here than where I am currently residing."

"New Orleans is still mostly under reconstruction. So where are you staying now?"

"The Council of Elders moved to a city in the north, and I followed."

"Loyalty was always one of your remarkable qualities."

"Yes, indeed. But I have one question to ask you." Adamar said as he turned his head.

"Yes?" Cobra said as he turned to face the vampire.

"What will happen to that child now?" Adamar asked, knowing that Cobra didn't know the true answer.

"Let's just say I have made some special arrangements for her."

"Are you not worried that she will try and flee once she reaches wherever you are sending her?" Adamar said as he turned his vision back to the funeral.

"I doubt she can outrun the man I have set up to adopt her."

"An old friend of yours perhaps?" Adamar said as he looked back at the agent.

"An acquaintance." Cobra replied.

Meanwhile, back at the funeral, Lilo had begun to feel disoriented. She looked down at her watch, and realized it was almost dusk. "Oh no, I have to get out of here."

Victoria, who had been standing next to her, noticed her friend starting to look worried. "Is everything okay Lilo?"

"I don't feel so good." Lilo said quickly. "I'm going to go to the restroom."

"Oh, ok." Apparently Victoria bought Lilo's excuse, and got out of her way.

Stitch, however, could tell that something more was wrong, so he decided to follow her. Lilo started running as fast as she could, and that proved she wasn't sick. Stitch caught up with her near the front of the church. "Lilo!"

Lilo quickly spun around to see Stitch trailing behind her. Oh no, I can't be near Stitch when I change, I might attack him! "Get away from me Stitch." Lilo said as she took off running again.

Now Stitch was extremely afraid. What was wrong? Why did Lilo want him to get away from her? Was she mad at him? She didn't seem so. Then it hit him, she was running away! She was going to try and escape Cobra. He called out to her. "Lilo, wait! Let Stitch come with you!"

Lilo realized that Stitch wasn't going to stop following her. He thought she was trying to run away. Which she was, but Stitch didn't need to be anywhere near her in the next few minutes. Then she felt it, her final change was starting. She felt energy flowing thru her, and her mind was getting cloudy. She became even more afraid. She knew she had to convince Stitch to leave her alone. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "Get away from me now Stitch!" she said in a loud and angry tone.

Stitch froze. The look in Lilo's eyes, it was a mixture of fear and anger. He noticed Lilo put her hand to her forehead, like she was hurting. "Lilo,"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Stitch began to back away. Whatever was wrong with Lilo, he knew he would need help to handle it.

He began to back away from her. "Ok, Stitch go." He said as he turned tail, running back to Jumba or Cobra or anybody who could help. With her friend heading out of sight, she stopped fighting, and fell to her knees, the fire in her veins coursing ever faster. Her mind became blank as her eyes closed, her identity overwhelmed. There she stayed for only a moment, the rain stopped, and as the first ray of moonlight fell on her face, her eyes shot open, with a nightmarish red glow. If she had been able to remember, she would have recognized the feeling she now felt from before, but it didn't matter: she needed nothing to know it. Without a word, she took off at a speed no human man was capable of, much less a small girl. She took off into the night, with but one goal: to spread the touch of the energy within her, her moonfire, and to fill herself with what she would take in exchange: human blood.

As Stitch picked up speed, so did the thoughts in his mind. What's wrong with Lilo? She's been weird ever since Nani passed away. But this isn't right, this isn't just grieving.

Why would she run away and refuse to take me? Is she running away, or is it something else entirely? As Stitch ran back toward the funeral, he noticed the two men on the hill. One he recognized immediately as Cobra, but the identity of the other man eluded him. Then it came to him: he was the man who brought Lilo home the night Nani died. Adamar. Why did he get a chill every time he looked him? It wasn't his looks, per se, he wouldn't stick out in a crowd of any size, but his presence was unsettling all the same. Come to think of it, why was that man here anyway? Why is he at the funeral of someone he didn't even know? Although his common sense told him it was only a coincidence, something inside him tugged at his mind, perhaps this man had more to do with what was going on than Stitch thought. He turned toward the hill, and to Adamar. I don't know who you are, or why you are here, but I'm going to find out.­

Just as Stitch turned toward the hill, Cobra noticed him. He immediately scanned the crowd for Lilo. She was gone. He ran down to confront Stitch. "Where is Lilo?"

"Lilo in trouble. She run away from Stitch, screams to get away from her." Stitch said in tired tone, but he still hadn't reached his goal. He turned back to where the man had been, and he was gone. "Where man go?"

Cobra wasn't as nearly as concerned that Adamar had chosen that moment to disappear as he was that Lilo was gone. "Which way did she go Stitch?" He asked in a stern tone. He would be damned if Stitch was going to be stubborn with him.

But to his surprise, Stitch came right out with the answer. "She ran past church, back toward home."

Neither said anything else as they took off in the direction Lilo had been headed. Also, neither was aware of the figure that sped past them.

When the small alien, Stitch, had begun to run toward them in distress, Adamar took that as his cue. So it has started. It shouldn't take too long to catch up to Lilo. I just hope no one crosses paths with her before I reach her.

Lilo ran through the twilight, her instincts guiding her movements. She had no memories, but it didn't trouble her. At this moment, she knew only what she needed to know, to hunt and feed. All her thoughts, both conscious and not, were on her task. Her eyes let her see the life all around her; the birds were small orbs of orange light high in the sky, insects merely dots, even the trees gave off a tiny glow. She noticed a larger orb of light, which upon closer inspection was a small dog. Not her prey. She noticed beyond, in the distance, a larger light, different than the others, almost yellow. A small smile cracked on the vampling's face: she had found her quarry.

Today had not be the best day Myrtle Evans had ever had. First all of her friends were busy, Yuki's on vacation, Teresa at a family reunion, and Elena wasn't at home either. And to top it all off, today of all days Gigi decided to go visiting. Now here she was, at night, trying to track down a dog that she had no idea where was. "Gigi, Gigi where are you? Come on, this isn't funny. Come here this instant!" She heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. She turned around slowly. "Gigi, is that you?" It wasn't her dog; it was Lilo, with a hungry look in her eyes. Needless to say, this freaked out Myrtle. "Weirdlo, what are you doing…" was all she was able to get out before Lilo lunged at her.

She screamed as Lilo pushed her to the ground. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Myrtle yelled as she tried to break free. As hard as she struggled, Lilo held her to the ground. She tried to scream again, but Lilo covered her mouth. Myrtle began to panic; she knew Lilo wasn't this strong. She looked up at Lilo, and her eyes went wide. She saw the burning glow of Lilo's eyes, like they were on fire inside. Then her eyes fell on Lilo's open mouth, and the fangs dripping with saliva. She let out a muffled scream as she became even more frantic in her movements. Lilo then jerked her victim's head to the side, and in a swift motion, brought her fangs down into the nape of Myrtle's neck. Myrtle let out a muffled cry as the fangs drove thru her flesh, and she ceased to struggle.

As if to herald the completing of the final step of Lilo's vampirism, the clear sky became cloudy once more, and thunder clasped, signaling the torrents of rain to fall. However, the young vampire took no notice of nature's seeming fanfare of her momentous occasion; she instead focused the blood flowing into her mouth. Lilo greedily sucked the blood from her victim's veins, delighting in not only the feeling of satiating her blood thirst, but also the response her bite brought about in the young human. The sounds of her victim once muffled cries and screams, now soft moans and gasps, as her attacker left her mark on her soul. To the vampire, this was the sweetest dinner music of all. The blood continued to flow, as Myrtle grew weaker, neither noticing due to the driving energy coursing between them like a circuit. It was at that moment uncertain if the young vampiress would stop in time to spare her victim death, or if either really cared. Myrtle was is in a state of happiness she had never known, as if every negative emotion and memory she had was blasted away by the ecstasy inducing force Lilo steadily drove into her body. If she died like this, she would die happy.

But she would not die, for as she neared the point of no return, Lilo withdrew her fangs from the red-head's bleeding neck. Within seconds the wound closed, the dark energy in the girl's veins closing it. The feeling of bliss lingered as the young girl passed out from the experience. The young vampire stood up, looking over her victim. No, victim wouldn't be the right word. She didn't hurt her like sire hurt his. Then she remembered she had a sire. She turned to look toward the bushes, toward the sounds she heard coming from them. It was the small white dog, cowering away from her. It bore its teeth in a show of aggression, as if trying to drive Lilo away. To the little vampire's surprise, she thought she heard it speak. "Get away from her you monster."

However, before Lilo could react, the dog started to wobble, as if getting weak. A moment later it passed out. Lilo walked over and curiously examined the creature, nothing was wrong with its lifeforce. As she approached the dog, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Lilo."

The girl recognized the voice. "Sire." She replied as she turned around.

"It seems you got along fine without me. But I had to knock out the experiment in any case, as it seems to be able to speak." Adamar said as he walked up to her.

"Experiment? What is an experiment?" Lilo said quizzically.

Adamar sighed slightly. Ward sickness was indeed powerful. Powerful enough to make her forget even the creatures she labored to protect for years. But there was no time to worry about that, they had to move fast. "Come childe, we must hurry."

The young girl didn't question her sire. "Yes sire." Then she turned to face Myrtle.

This made Adamar smile. Even in ward sickness she was smart enough to know to cover her tracks. "Fine, let's find someplace covered to place these two."

Adamar quickly looked around. Spotting a covered bus stop, he scooped up Myrtle and Gigi and laid them down on the bench. Then, taking his ward's hand, he started to run, until both seemed to be nothing but flickering shadows moving quickly down the deserted streets of town.

Meanwhile, across town, Cobra and many of the people from the funeral had mounted a search party to look for Lilo.

"Are you sure this is the way Lilo ran Stitch?" Pleakly asked as he held a flashlight, shining it around.

"Ih." Stitch said as he stuck his noise to the ground, trying to get a whiff of his friend's trail.

Victoria stood downtrodden, not even attempting to shield herself from the rain. "This is all my fault." She said as tears started to fall, mimicking the falling drops of water from the sky.

"It's okay Victoria, you couldn't have known what was happening. Heck, I don't think any of us still know what's going on in that girl's mind." Pleakly said, putting an arm on the crying girl's shoulder.

At that moment, Stitch picked up Lilo's scent. "Lilo!" he cried as he took off, Pleakly and Victoria following the best they could keep up.

Stitch led the group to the spot where, unknown to them, Lilo had attacked Myrtle. Victoria quickly spotted Myrtle and Gigi lying on the bench. "Hey look, there's Myrtle and her dog." She ran up to the pair, discovering that they were unconscious. "They're both out cold. What happened to them?" Victoria tried to shake Myrtle awake, without success. She called over to Stitch and Pleakly. "Something's wrong with Myrtle, she won't wake up!"

Stitch smelled Lilo's scent on Myrtle, and something else, the last thing he wanted to smell. Blood. "Stitch smell blood. And Lilo!" He looked over the fainted girl frantically, but could find no sign of any wounds or blood spots, which meant it might be Lilo's blood. Which meant Myrtle might have hurt her. The smile on Myrtle's face did nothing to discredit Stitch's theory. He snared and he took a firm grasp on her wrist in anger, but he felt her pulse. Weak. Myrtle was hurt. He let go of her and turned back to Pleakly and Victoria who were scanning the area for any signs of Lilo.

Pleakly and Victoria turned back to see if Stitch had figured out anything, seeing as they couldn't find any clues themselves. "Stitch, what's wrong with Myrtle?" Victoria asked concerned that whatever happened to Myrtle might have happened to Lilo.

"Myrtle weak, tired. Something wrong." Stitch said with a grim look. He shot his head to the side, hearing a voice calling out.

"Myrtle, Myrtle where are you sweetie?" The voice was that of Myrtle's mother. As she came into view she saw her daughter laying down on the bench, unconscious. "Oh my god Myrtle!" she screamed as she ran up and took her daughter in her arms. Frantically she looked at the trio. "What happened to her? Is she okay? Did she get hurt?" She blurted out as she looked over every inch of her little girl's body.

"We're not sure. We were out looking for Lilo when we found her like this." Pleakly answered.

"You mean Lilo's missing too? Oh dear. I'll call 911 and get an ambulance out here for Myrtle, and I'll have them get in touch with the police. Oh dear this is terrible."

While Myrtle's mom and Pleakly took care of Myrtle, Stitch picked up another scent. He snarled as soon as he recognized it: Adamar. He knew that creepy man had something to do with all this. Now he'd hurt Myrtle and made off with Lilo. He quickly took off after the scent, only to have it vanish a few feet ahead of him. This confused him and made him even angrier.

"Stitch, what's wrong, you found something?" Victoria asked.

"Lilo's scent gone. Bad man's scent gone." Stitch replied as he sniffed the area.

"What do you mean?" Victoria asked.

Stitch looked over at Pleakly as he sat with Myrtle's mom, trying to keep her calm. He knew that his senses couldn't be fooled that easily. He thought back to what Cobra had said about Adamar when he first met him, how he had asked what Adamar was, and how Cobra replied that he wouldn't believe him if he told him. For Cobra to say something like that, Adamar had to be something more than human. But what? Only one person knew for sure, and that was Cobra. "Need to find Cobra." Stitch said as he took off into the rainy night.

"Hey, wait." Victoria cried out as she took off after him. There was no way she was going to get left out of this. She was the one who'd let Lilo get away in the first place. She didn't care if the search for her took to the other end of the globe, she would not be left out.

Several hours later, everyone except strangely enough Cobra, had regathered at the house. Stitch had found him and told him about Myrtle. He tried to get him to tell him more about Adamar, but he was shoved aside as Cobra took off running. The paramedics had arrived a few minutes after Stitch and Victoria had taken off, and looked over Myrtle. They came to the conclusion that she had become anemic and had fainted. Myrtle's mom rode with them to the hospital, and had called about an hour ago with what had happened. The police had joined in the search, but had found no trace of Lilo.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Poor Lilo. Where could she be?" Pleakly said, still in a frantic state.

"Calm down, Pleakly. If Earth Authorities can not be finding little girl, Evil Genius will be seeing what he can be doing about find her. Need to head to lab and get started on something that might help find her." Jumba said calmly. "Meanwhile, other little girl should go home, 626 and I are having work to do."

"No. I won't go home. I want to help find Lilo just as bad as everyone else." Victoria said sternly.

The two argued for a minute about it before Jumba caved. "Fine, but little girl should be calling parents, letting them know where she is."

"They aren't home. They're at some fancy business dinner or something." Was Victoria's reply.

Jumba turned back to face Stitch. "626, I need you to be helping me in lab. If what you are saying is true, then will need to be finding another method to be tracking Lilo. I am having no idea who this Adamar person is, and Pleakly is sure he's having nothing to do with it, but cannot be taking chances."

"Ih." I'll find you Lilo. Even if it takes forever, I will find where that man took you. And if he so much as harmed a hair on your head, I'll make him regret it.

Cobra looked over the scene from earlier, the anger in his eyes apparent. From what he had learned from Stitch, things may have just become far more difficult than he could ever have imagined. But it explained everything: Lilo's violent mood swings, her aversion to light, and Adamar's presence at the funeral. Before Adamar had brought Lilo home that night, he had begun the process of turning her into a vampire. Myrtle was weak not because of Adamar, but because of the newly turned Lilo. Lilo had attacked her and Adamar had come to collect her and cover it up, thus why 007 was knocked out, she could talk and give them away. Cobra knew by now both Lilo and Adamar where long gone, and Cobra had no idea where. He took out his cell phone.

A elderly man in his early 50's sat at his fireside, reading a novel, smoking a pipe, when the phone beside him rang. He put down his book, set his pipe in the ash tray, and picked up the receiver. "Hello? Ah, Cobra my old friend, nice to be hearing from you! When should I expect you to be bringing the young girl to me?... What! That's perpositous, beyond chance… Adamar you say, that one? The Order's records show that one's never turned…I see. Yes. I look into it right away…. Thank you, good bye."

The man put the receiver back and stood up. He walked to his mantle, and took down a polished blade. He turned, hearing a voice from behind him. "Who was that sir?"

"Ah, Walter, it's good your awake. That was Agent Bubbles. We have a problem with the new arrival."

"Indeed, Master Harker, what seems to be the trouble?" Walter replied, curious as to what this had to do with "The Blade."

In response, Jonathan Harker turned and walked down the hallway. "We're going on a hunt."

Adamar sat on the charter plane looking out the window. He knew what could come of this if certain people figured out what had happened. He was taking a huge risk, one even the Council was not aware of. His new ward was connected to people, who knew people, who REALLY didn't like his kind. He was aware of Cobra Bubbles connection to a certain Jonathan Harker, of the Order. The Order, a leftover of the inquisition that had caused the vampires to go into hiding, was a group of men devoted to the destruction of all of the Children of Selune. They made no differentiation between vampires and there differing motives, no, all they saw were monsters that were a threat to humanity. In Adamar's opinion humanity was enough of a threat to itself, but that wasn't the point.

Adamar was almost certain that the man Cobra had meant to give Lilo to was Harker. In a way, this made him regret his decision to turn her. Harker was a rather decent person, who had been known even to let vampires go at times. He had a sense of justice, which was amble. But there was no use in harping over what could have been. If Harker found out what had happened, he would stop at nothing to kill Adamar, and possibly even Lilo, which would be seen as a mercy killing. He turned his head as he felt his charge move. "Lilo?"

"Yes?" she said.

"Do you know who you are?" The fact that she had stopped calling him 'sire' was a sign she was getting over ward sickness.

"Yeah, and I know what I did. I'm starting to be able to remember everything again, though it's hard to concentrate for too long." She said, her head tilted down.

"That girl will be fine. But here, you're probably still hungry." Adamar said as he took the vase from his coat.

"But what if she remembers it was me? I mean, she really didn't like me in the first place." Lilo said as she took a sip from the vase. "This tastes sour. Come to think of it, Myrtle's blood did too, a little bit at least."

"Ah, the sign of a bad person, though I suspect Myrtle was just a bit mean."

"Yeah, her father left when she was really little, and I think that's why the way she is, always looking to be the center of attention. But who's blood is this?"

Adamar smiled a bit. "Consider it justice. It is the blood of the men who murdered your sister."

Lilo frowned at the vase as she finished the last of it. "It would have been justice if I could have been the one to drain it from them. I would have liked to see them hurt, like Nani did."

"Indeed. We have a lot to do when we reach our destination. A friend of mine will be waiting for us at the airport. Apparently, she wants to take you shopping."

"Is she a vampire too?" Lilo asked curiously.

"Yes, she is. But you need to be more discreet in public. You can't be talking about vampires and such around others, it would draw attention."

"Okay. But what should I say?" Lilo asked as she fiddled with the vase.

"At this point, nothing. I will in time teach you all the different code words and phrases, but right now you shouldn't worry about it."

Lilo yawned. "Ok."

Adamar smiled softly. "Rest now child. A lot of things wait for you at your new home. A lot of new people are eager to meet you."

Lilo quickly drifted off to sleep as the sun rose in the sky. Adamar shut the window and looked down at his new ward, when he noticed something.

A strand of her hair, about an inch across, had turned stark white.

Curious. This may indeed be more than I thought. More than chance. But there's no use worrying right now. I'll just keep my eye on it, and talk with Ganz when we reach home.

End Chapter 5

Next Chapter

Someplace Old, Something New