Author's Note: Okay, I know it's been a while since I updated, but work and my personal life have kept me away. Plus the Vampire Diaries is on winter break, so my inspiration has left me. Thankfully I've written down my ideas so that I may continue through December when I'm not working myself to death. Another note is that the house that the character Alexander lives in, I've mixed it up between the abandoned house from the Secret Circle, and the Murder House from American Horror Story (which, how awesome is that show!) Anyway, I'm introducing some of the villains in this chapter so pretty soon we'll get to the sex and violence part of my story, which will up the rating to a solid M. You've been warned.
Also, I have not had a beta for this, so any mistakes are mine and can be reported to me... with disdain if you so wish.
VAMPIRE DIARIES: BLOOD NOIR
CHAPTER THREE: "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
"Did you hear about that couple they found up on Old State Drive?" Jimmy asked Michael as they moved slowly through the lunch line. The giant red-head turned to look at his best friend who was polishing his glasses before perching them once more on his nose. He caught his friend's wide eyed look and continued. "Yeah, some couple from the college was found mauled to death by some sort of wild animal a mile or so out of town." Michael's brow furrowed together in a silent question. "It wasn't any of us." Jimmy clarified.
"How long ago did it happen?" Mikey asked quietly, instinctively lowering his voice so as not to be overheard by their classmates.
"A day, maybe two." the smaller young man replied. "That's why I know it wasn't any of us. The full moon was almost a week ago." Michael nodded in silent agreement. "The thing is, they weren't really ripped apart or anything. Just all bitten up."
"How do you know all this?" asked Michael.
"Hello, my grandpa is one of the town elders, and my dad is the alpha of our pack." Jimmy pointed out. "I was at home last night when the sheriff came by." He paid for his lunch and moved out of the line with Michael. "He was going around asking all of the town families if any of us were involved." He paused to wait for Michael as he grabbed some utensils before they moved toward their usual table. "Even if the lunar cycle was right, it couldn't have been us. We were all up in the mountains and you were in one of the cells, right?"
"Yeah, I was on full lock down." Michael verified. "Do we even know who they were? The victims, I mean."
"No, just a couple of college kids." Jimmy clarified as they sat down. "But the sheriff did say something else. Apparently there wasn't a whole lot of blood for the level of carnage at the site."
"Weird." Michael said, sitting opposite his friend. He looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before continuing. "You don't think it was a vampire do you?"
"Nah." Jimmy said, taking a large bit of his pizza. "They tend to stick closer to big cities." He chewed his bite for a few seconds before continuing with his mouth full. "Besides, what vampire would be stupid enough to come and cause trouble in a town run by werewolves." Michael laughed as he dug into his salad.
"Point taken." he rumbled.
"Dude, how are you so big when all you eat is that rabbit food?" Jimmy asked, tearing into his second slice of pizza.
"Are you jealous of my girlish figure?" Michael teased, taking another bite.
Across the cafeteria, sitting by herself, Anastasia had her eyes (and ears) trained on the conversation between the two males. Her silver eyes flickered to the female and two other males who completed the group as they sat down at Michael's table. Was this really the best town to pretend to play human, even if only for a little while? First the confrontation with the witch, and now a pack of werewolves. Not to mention that another vampire may be hanging around. The Russian vampire frowned and took a sip from her 'water' bottle before taking a bite of her apple.
-o~O~o-
As school let out for the day, Anastasia walked calmly down the steps that led from the school to the student parking lot, letting all the other students race by her toward their cars. As she waited for a few cars to crawl past on their way off campus, a deep voice called out her name. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the tall and muscular red head Michael, maneuver his way around a group of chattering freshmen girls to reach her.
"Michael, right?" she asked, even though she knew it was his name.
"Yeah." he responded, flashing her a sweet smile. "Look, not to be creepy or too forward, but are you doing anything this Saturday night?"
"Not that I can think of." Anastasia said with a smile of her own. "Why?"
"Well, we have this tradition of a party the first Saturday of the school year. A sort of back-to-school rave." He explained, adjusting his back pack absentmindedly "Just wanted to know if maybe you'd be interested in going or not? I could introduce you to everybody, so that you don't have to feel like a total stranger." He paused and quickly rectified himself. "Not that you'd be under any obligation to hang around me for the whole night. I'm pretty sure you'd be great at making new friends and all that, but - "
"I'd love to go." Anastasia interrupted, taking pity on him. "Sounds like fun."
"Great." his brilliant white smile grew wider. "I'll give you direction to where it's at tomorrow."
"Okay."
"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." he said, smile still firmly in place.
"It's a date." she said as she began to move toward her car, flashing him a departing smile.
Michael watched as she neared her Navigator before he headed over to his pick-up truck, seeing Sam and Jericho climb into the open topped Jeep parked along side it.
"Scamming after the new girl." Sam said from the driver's side as Michael unlocked his car.
"During the first week." Jericho laughed. "You move fast, don't you?"
"You sly dog." Sam teased.
In response to their friendly taunting, Michael flipped both of them the bird and climbed into the cabin of his truck, smiling while his friends laughed.
Across the parking lot, Anastasia watched this small exchange with a small smile upon her lips, unaware of the coffee black eyes that watched her from the trees that bordered the back of the school. The young man adjusted the leather jacket he had stolen from the corpse of the college boy the other night while watching the female vampire open her car door before pausing. A sly smile spread across his face. With the feeling of eyes burning holes in her back, Anastasia slowly moved her gaze around the parking lot, taking in the students and teachers getting into their vehicles. Not seeing anyone looking in her direction, she turned her eyes to the trees, sliding her gaze right over the empty spot her watcher had just been observing from. Shaking her head and passing off the feeling as nerves from the conversation she had "overheard" at lunch, she threw her bag into the passenger seat of her car. Laughing it off, she climbed into her SUV and eased her way out of the parking lot. As she passed by the school, the shadow-stalker stood up from his crouch and peered down at her passing vehicle. He smirked again and looked over at the freshmen that were looking up at him on the lip of the roof. The leafy branches of a nearby tree moved to obscure him for a slit second on account of the breeze. When they moved back into place, they young man was gone.
-o~O~o-
Repeating the shadow spell silently in his head, Alec slipped silently and unnoticed into the cool and shining tomb that was the city morgue using the faint light from a small desk lamp against the far wall. Walking past one of the counters littered with medical instruments of the morbid variety, he pulled a pair of those gloves that the police wore at crime scenes out of a box and slipped them on with a little difficulty. Once they were on completely, Alec moved over toward the desk and began to sort through the paperwork laying there until he found the autopsy report of the two college kids that were murdered the other night. (What? News travels fast in this town.) Finding the right papers, he began to flip through them while moving back over to the wall where the bodies were stored. Popping one of the doors open, he slid out the slab and pulled back the sheet covering the corpse. It was the male half of the couple. Alec looked down at the body, which was mostly intact aside from some serious bites on the neck and the crook of his right arm.
"Nice pecs." Alec said aloud as he gave the body the once over before he moved in to examine the bite marks. Using his gloved hands, he moved the head to the side to get a closer look at the severity of the bite. His handsome features were marred by a grimace as he saw the bite and how whatever had bitten h im tore deep into the throat, exposing bone. Straightening up, he flipped back a few pages and read some of the coroner's notes. He huffed noisily through the nose when he read over the chicken scratch that stated something about there being almost no blood in the body. "Of course." he muttered to himself as he moved to check out the other body.
As he was observing the wounds on the female corpse, he heard loud voices arguing close by. Very close by. His head snapped up as the first pair of doors were opened , his violet blue eyes wide. The second pair of door were thrust open by a man in a rumpled suit, who flipped the light switch and illuminated the empty room with bright, artificial light.
"John! John, you can't be in here!" the coroner shouted at the disheveled man who was moving toward the open slabs with the bodies laid bare upon them, ignoring the warnings. The first man stopped at the slabs and looked back at the coroner.
"You just let the bodies lay out like this?" the man called John asked. "What kind of professional are you?"
"Listen, Mr. Kelly." the coroner said in a tense voice, obviously loosing his patience.
"Detective Kelly." John corrected him with a stern glare.
"You're not a detective anymore, John." the coroner reminded. "Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave or you'll be escorted from the building by your former colleagues." John stepped back from the bodies and directed an icy glare toward the coroner before pulling a flash from his jacket and taking a long drink.
"That's alright Brandon." the half drunk former detective said. "I've seen all I needed to see." With another sip from the flask, John walked around the now pissed off coroner and made his way out of the brightly lit morgue. Once he was gone from the room, the coroner walked over to the exposed bodies with confusion written all over his face, as he remembered having stored the bodies properly before he left for lunch. Sighing, he recovered the bodies before pushing them back into their slots, closing the doors behind them.
Upstairs, John stumbled through the halls in a daze, taking in what he had just seen on the corpses. As he wandered toward the exit, a young blond man in designer dark jeans, black leather boots, a black shirt melded to his toned torso, and his trademark black leather jacket, stepped out of the bathroom and bumped into the drunk.
"Watch where you're going." John growled at the kid, who after steadying the man, let his hands drop. "Just so you know, I could have you arrested for assault on a police officer." All his pent up aggression spilling out now.
"And just so you know, the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem." Alec shot back before moving around the ex-detective and down the steps into the lobby, the exit his destination. John growled under his breath and continued toward the exit in the back, where the parking lot lay just beyond.
-o~O~o-
Michael pulled into the driveway of the Mansion, already seeing that it was full of other cars, some were even parked on the lawn. He parked from behind Sam's Jeep and killed the engine before he hoped out and headed for the front door. It opened before he could ring the doorbell, and there stood Alyce, grinning at him.
"Hey, sugar." she said, slapping him on the ass as he walked through the door.
"Hi, Alyce." Mike said with a grin, moving into the hallway.
"Everyone's in the library already. You're the last to arrive." Alyce told him, closing the door and following him slightly down the hall before turning toward the kitchens.
"Thanks Alyce," the red head called after her before moving further into the mansion, going on auto pilot toward the library. The closer he got, the more voices he heard. He finally reached the doorway and poked his head in to see the entire pack scattered around the room.
"Michael." Jonas, the alpha of the pack and his best friend's dad said, motioning for the giant teen to join them. The red head nodded in greeting to his alpha, his head bowed, before moving over to stand by his friends. "Now that everyone's here, we should get started. By now, I'm sure that you've all heard about the bodies found up on Old State Drive. I've talked with the sheriff and Officer Ryans here," he waved a hand at one of the pack members still dressed in his policeman uniform. "And I've examined the bodies myself." He sighed tiredly. "All signs point to a vampire attack." The room erupted into shouts and frenzied conversations. Jonas continued, talking over his pack mates. "Two of them, possibly more."
"Do we know if the attacks were random?" asked a dark haired young werewolf named Louis who went to the college. "Or were they targeted on purpose?"
"At this point we don't know." Jonas replied, his voice weary. "We're hoping this is just a pair of blood suckers passing through on their way to a bigger city."
"Are we just gonna let them get away with this?" asked Zane, a nineteen year old who had only triggered his curse a few months ago. "We should go after them." He looked around for support.
"No." Jonas replied simply. When Zane opened his mouth to retort the older man quickly plowed on. "The full moon was less than a week ago. They'd rip us apart and I'm not risking it. Unless they make a deliberate move against us, we'll just let them pass through and be on their way."
"And what if they decide to stick around?" Michael asked from his corner of the library.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Jonas clarified. "But for now I just want you all to be aware of what might be out there and to try and live your lives as normally as possible." With that, Jonas got up from the leather arm chair he was seated in and moved to talk to a gray haired werewolf named Ian. Slowly, as some were trying to overhear the conversation between their alpha and the pack shaman, the pack of werewolves dispersed. Michael and his friends just left the library and headed for one of the many staircases around the mansion and headed up to Jimmy's room.
"Your dad looks really stressed out." Michael observed as they entered the large bedroom, Jericho flinging himself onto the king-sized bed with a groan. Angela went to sit on the seat under the window and Sam went to sit before the X-Box.
"Well, if I remember correctly, we haven't had a vampire attack around here in years." Jimmy stated. "It's bound to stress him out. So lets just do what he said and go on with our lives."
"Let's start with Mikey's lame attempt to ask out the new girl." Sam said, flicking the controls effortlessly and not looking away from the screen.
"Anastasia?" Angela asked from the window, her interest piqued.
"He invited her to the party on Saturday." Jericho added. "But I think he just chickened out at the last second from asking her to be his date."
"So, about that English paper we have already." Michael interrupted, his face reddening in an attempt to match his hair, causing the other four to burst into laughter.
"Dude, that was a pathetic attempt at a subject change." Jimmy said once he stopped laughing, clapping his much taller friend on the shoulder.
-o~O~o-
Anastasia sat in the little chair before her vanity, removing her ear rings and laying them down before picking up an elaborate antique brush and running it through the dark furred silk of her hair, taking out the knots. As she sat there, repeating the soothing motions of brushing her luxurious hair, a blur flashed over her reflection's shoulder. She paused in the brushing to look closer at her mirror. Another barely noticeable blur. Placing the brush down, she quickly stood up and turned toward the partially open bedroom door. As she moved toward the door, the sound of a bottle falling from her vanity to shatter on the floor stopped her. Frowning, she turned around when another 'whoosh' happens and the shower curtains in her bathroom flows outward, attracting the Russian vampire's attention. Turning toward the bathroom, her movements become almost unnatural, as if she were moving in different directions simultaneously. Two steps later the door to her room slammed shut as if by a strong breeze.
Utilizing her vampire speed, the door was wrenched open and she was down the hall in a split second, veins undulating beneath nearly translucent skin, eyes willed with blood, and fangs bared. She leaned over the banister and looked down into the foyer of the house, where one of the downstairs tenants was walking toward the front door. He apparently sensed someone was watching him because he paused by the door and turned to look back, seeing Anastasia leaning over the banister, her face once again smooth and perfect.
"Oh hey, did your friend find your room okay?" he asked her, smiling slightly. Her moonlight colored gaze immediately tracking to the small amount of blood staining his shirt collar. "I told him which room was yours." Frowning, Anastasia looked back down the hall to her room before she looked back to see her neighbor was no longer there and the front door hanging wide open.
Quick as a flash she was standing in the open doorway, staring out into the night, looking for any sign of the young man that was her neighbor. With a deep set frown, she closed the front door and flew back up to her rooms, a message waiting for her. Her upper lip curled back in a grimace as she approached the mirror where their was a single word written in blood.
"Cemetery."
-o~O~o-
Dress replaced with hip hugging and dark designer jeans that were tucked into name brand leather boots, Anastasia blended easily into the night. Except for her bright scarlet blouse, which was partially hidden by a World War II style leather bomber jacket. Her long dark hair floated behind her almost ethereally as she walked toward the gate of the cemetery. Looking at the heavy iron lock, she reached out and simply ripped it and the chains it held from the gates, kicking gently at the gates and causing them to swing open with an ominous groan. Tossing the useless chains and lock aside with a clatter, she entered the cemetery with a self assured strut. As she wove her way in and out of the tombstones, both smooth and new as well as ancient and crumbling, the scent of fresh blood wafted toward her upon the breeze. Using her heightened sense of smell, she tracked the scent to its source, which was the body of her downstairs neighbor from the Bed and Breakfast-slash-Boarding House.
She didn't rush forward to try and save him, or check if he was okay, because her preternatural senses already told her he was beyond her or anybody's help. Just as she was getting ready to turn and leave, the young man who has been watching her that afternoon stepped out from an elaborate headstone of a marble angel.
"Hello Anastasia." the young man greeted politely, his hands in the pockets of his stolen jacket.
"Caleb." she said stiffly in response, her gaze like steel. "How'd you find me?"
"We're family." he responded with a smirk, stepping around the body like it was nothing. "We've always known where you are." Once around the body, he moved in a slow circle through the tombstones, with Anastasia moving as well, keeping an equal amount of space between them.
"We?"
"Me and the others." said Caleb. "Kostya sent us to find you. He wants the whole Family with him for what's coming."
"And what's coming?" Anastasia asked curiously.
"Our world is changing." Caleb smirked. "The Original Family is at war with themselves and all of the Ancients have all but disappeared. The vampire community needs new leadership. Our sire hopes to fill that spot."
"What does he need me for?" she asked, though she already knew the answer, her sea foam blue eyes scanning her surroundings for an exit.
"Your ability of course. We each have a power that he can use for this conquest. But yours will make this coup that much easier."
"Count me out." Anastasia shot back. "I'm emancipated from this family."
"Oh, Anika." Caleb chuckled. "Do you honestly think that you get a say in the matter?" He gave a boyish, lopsided grin, while his handsome features slid into their more demonic countenance. In that moment, Anastasia turned and flew toward her exit, her movements so fast they were a blur to even Caleb. She barely managed a dozen feet before she was tackled bodily from the side and held against the cold earth by a pale hand. Anastasia snarled up at her attacker, whose long white blond hair tickled the sides of her face.
"Chase." Anastasia snarled.
"Hello, Anika." the female called Chase smiled cheerfully, her pixie-like face smiling in a look of practiced innocence, the expression that more disturbing because of her openly vampiric features. With a sound that was barely human coming from her throat, Anastasia reversed their positions easily, pinning the blond to the turf with one hand easily.
"I'm older than you Chase." she growled at her attacker. "And I'm from one of the Original bloodlines." In retaliation, the one called Chase reached up and tangled her hand in the brunette's hair and yanked. The two rolled around struggling for dominance, with Anastasia retaining the upper hand, when Caleb's hand found purchase in her jacket. Grasping the worn leather, he hoisted her off his companion before effortlessly tossing her aside. She flew through the air before smacking into a headstone, which broke into pieces upon impact. Caleb easily hoisted Chase to her feet by her hand before stepping forward to gaze at his 'sister' with a stern expression on his youthful face.
"Yes, but I'm over twice your age, Anastasia." His voice was like stone. "And that makes me stronger."
"It was the two of you that murdered that couple the other night." It wasn't even a question, just a statement. Anastasia rose to her feet steadily and brushed herself off while staring at the two vampires.
"Of course," Chase replied cheekily, her accent British. "We were feeling a bit peckish after tracking you to this arm pit of civilization."
"Oh, well that's a relief." the familiar, deep and resonant voice of Alec said from the darkness. The witch in question stepped out from under a weeping willow, the shadows melting off of his black clad body like water. "Because I came out here to kill you, but I had absolutely nothing to explain your sudden absence from school." He flashed a perfect white smile at Anastasia before looking from his classmate to the two out-of-town vampires. "You two on the other hand…" When he didn't' finish the sentence, Chase looked to Caleb, who merely shrugged with an amused smile. The blond vampire turned back toward the witch, her 'game face' on before she launched herself out him. She didn't get more than three steps. Alec breathed Power into the air, the edges of it brushing Anastasia (who shivered.) The Power hit the assaulting vampire who suddenly found it hard to breath… or move, her body seizing up while she choked for the oxygen she didn't really need. With several choking coughs, she clutched at her throat as she collapsed to her knees before the witch.
Trademark smirk still on his lips, Alec's dusky blue eyes snapped up to look at the oldest vampire in the cemetery. "Care to take a crack at it?" he asked tauntingly. Caleb's upper lip pulled back in a snarl as he crouched down by Chase, hand on her shoulder.
"You witches and your arrogance." Was all he said before he tightened his grip on Chase and flew from the cemetery in a barely recognizable blur. There was a second of silence where both of them stared into the blackness where the two vamps had vanished before Anastasia spoke up.
"You shouldn't have done that." she said, glancing over at him as he turned to look at her, one perfectly arched brown raised in question. "They'll be back, and probably with the rest of the Family." The corner of his mouth quirked up.
"The Family?" he asked with barely concealed amusement.
'It's what they call themselves." she replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Well don't worry." Alec said smugly. "I think I can handle them."
"I highly doubt it. Caleb and Chase are two of the younger members. Their leader is almost eight hundred years old."
"Oh, I'll be okay. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." He turned to leave. "You're the one who should be worried. I might not be there to save your ass the next time." And with those words, the blond melted into the shadows and vanished, leaving the Russian vampire standing there with the body of her neighbor just laying on the ground.
"Don't worry!" she shouted into the night. "I'll take care of the body." she sighed and reached down to grasp the dead man's ankles. "Typical."
-o~O~o-
"I hate witches!" Chase screeched as she burst through the front door of their 'borrowed' mansion. "Fuckin' hate them!"
"Calm down, Chase." Caleb said calmly as he followed her into the mansion at a much more leisurely pace. "It's your own fault for rushing in blindly." A growl that sounded more like an enraged tiger than a human tore its way out of Chase's throat as she turned on the older vampire and pinned him to the wall by his throat.
"Don't mock me!" she snarled, only getting a chuckle in response. She tightened her grip with no effect, except a hardening of his facial features. In the blink of an eye their positions were reversed, with Caleb holding Chase to the wall by her throat, both of her smaller hands above her head in his stronger grasp, and her legs pinned by his larger frame. He leaned his head in close to hers, their lips a mere inch apart.
"Never forget." he whispered, his words caressing her lips. "I made you, little girl." He smirked while her eyelids fluttered at the sensuality of his acts. "My blood runs in your veins. You could never hope to overpower me." His breath ghosted over her face.
"Did you two want some privacy?" a taunting voice spoke from the hallway at the end of the room. "Or did you two just want to fornicate right there?" Caleb sighed noisily and let his head drop, his forehead resting against Chase's.
"Icarus." Caleb said, annoyance in his voice. "When did you arrive?"
"Tonight." the vampire called Icarus said, leaning with his arms crossed against the doorframe. "Konstantin sent us to make sure everything was ready for his arrival." He was tall and heavily muscled in a way that nature does not do. His great chest was bared as he wore nothing but dark slacks and a vest that hung open. His head was bald and gleaming in the low light, decorated with tribal tattoos that traveled from his scalp, down his neck and across his impressive shoulders.
"How many of the Family are here?" Caleb asked as he stepped away from Chase, who was still slumped against the wall, her eyes hooded.
"Enough." Icarus responded, still smirking. "Those that aren't already here are on their way."
"All of us?"
"Kostya wants us all here for this" was the rumbled response, the taller vampire's smirk growing wider. "Our Father apparently didn't want anything left to chance." A casual shrug. "Especially in your ha-" The rest of his sentence was cut off as Caleb's smaller hand wrapped around the giant's throat and bend him backwards so far that his upper body was parallel to the floor.
"I have three hundred years on you, boy." Caleb said acidly in a soft whisper. "Don't test my patience." He released the larger man violently, letting his muscled frame crash to the expensive carpet while he calmly stepped over the vampire and deeper into their borrowed mansion.
-o~O~o-
Michael listened to the music that played softly in the cab of his truck as he drove through the night, on his way home from the Whittemore mansion. As he drove along the more deserted roads, he saw a figure walking along the shoulder in the flash of his headlights. Frowning, he slowed down and moved closer to the person, now seen to be a young woman who apparently was so deep in her own thoughts she didn't even notice him pulling up along side of her. Looking out the passenger window, he saw with surprise that it was Anastasia. Pushing the button on his door, he rolled down the window to see her muttering angrily to herself.
"Anastasia!" he shouted, getting her attention. She looked over at him, a slightly angry look on her face until she recognized him, then it blossomed into a friendly smile.
"Oh, hi Michael." she said, looking in his passenger window. "Didn't see you there. Lost in my thoughts, I guess."
"That's alright." Mike said with a smile of his own. "Do you need a lift?"
"Sure, if its not too much trouble." she replied.
"Not at all." he unlocked the door. "Hop on in." Anastasia opened the passenger side door and slid into the seat, the door pulled close behind her. "Where to? He put his foot on the gas and the car went faster.
"Hart's Bed and Breakfast." she responded. He nodded before turning down the roads that would get him to his destination.
"So, what were you doing out here all by yourself?" Michael asked, glancing over at her.
"Went out for a walk." was her answer. "Kinda lost track of time." They continued on their way to Anastasia's "home", making small conversation until they pulled to a stop before the Bed & Breakfast.
"Thanks for the ride." Anastasia said as she popped open the door.
"It was no problem." he replied with a sweet smile. "So, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"And then on Saturday." she reminded him, smiling as she closed the door. Walking backward, she approached the old house until she reached the stairs, at which point she turned around and climbed the steps before entering the house. All the while, Michael idled on the curb, playing the gentleman and waiting until she was inside before he drove off.
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