Chapter 5

Welcome to the Clan

We take off in flight, hovering over the lit city. I look over, the sun in beginning to rise. I look back; the smaller vampire pulls out a pistol. Great. Just fucking great. I look up; Arthur is smirking and laughing. He looks down at me and smiles as we drop in altitude. We dodge buildings and lamppost as the vampires shoot at us. Arthur grunts in annoyance and flaps his wings faster and we go higher.

"Where are we going?" I yell up to Arthur as we pass over a few small shops.

"We're going where it's safe, my home," he replies to me while looking back.

"Damn it, keep still, Arthur. I just want to shoot you," the smaller vampire yells and chuckles.

"Shut the fuck up, Lovino! We all know you're a lousy shot," Arthur yells as he laughs and flies lower so we go between two buildings into an ally.

'Why does the name Lovino sound familiar?' I think as I look back at Lovino. 'He looks an awful lot like Feliciano.' I snap back to reality when a bullet grazes my cheek, causing it to bleed lightly.

Arthur looks down at me and growls softly. He turns my head with one of his hands and licks the blood off of my cheek. I blush madly as he chuckles.

"There. That's should make it heal faster," he chuckles and looks forward.

I move my hand up to my cheek and feel it's healed already. I make a mental note; 'Note to self, vampires have wings and saliva that quickens the process of healing.'

I look in front of us to see a brick wall. I scream softly as Arthur snorts softly.

"Hold on!" Arthur yells as we drop in altitude and he runs on the stone below us. I hold onto him for dear life and press my face into his chest. He runs faster and pulls his wings in close around me. He pushes off the ground into a jump. We begin to back flip and Arthur pushes off of the wall in mid-turn, making us lunge into a full back flip. He lands gracefully behind the other two vampires as they fly into the wall.

They turn around growling, not amused by Arthur's trick. Arthur chuckles and lets me go.

"Go back to your lair and leave him alone," Arthur hisses and wraps one of his wings around me.

"Why should we, bastard?" Lovino growls and points the pistol at Arthur.

Arthur chuckles at this, "Because, twat, the sun will come up soon, and you don't want be here when that happens."

Lovino growls and Antonio frowns and nods softly while tugging on Lovino. Lovino sighs in anger and shoots his last bullet at Arthur. Arthur snatches the bullet from mid-air and throws it to the ground, not amused. The two fly away in anger and I sigh in relief.

"Finally there gone," I huff in exhaustion and pull the cross out of my pocket and place it lightly on Arthur's chest. He gasps and begins to warm up. His fangs, claws, and wings retract as his heart starts to beat softly, then more strongly.

"Damn, and I was just starting to have fun," Arthur sighs in annoyance and looks up as sunlight begins to fill the sky, "I hate being a mortal."

"Well I bet it beats being killed by the sunlight," I sigh as I look at the blue sky with awe.

"It does… hey before I take you to the cave… can we go somewhere? The others won't be awake until tonight," Arthur asks as he looks at me.

"Hm? Ya sure. Where do you want to go?" I ask as I put my arms up to stretch.

"Somewhere where I can get out of these tight-arse trousers!" Arthur yells in discomfort and begins to fiddle with the skinny-jeans.

I laugh and nod, "Yes, we can."

"And also… Can we ride the London Eye and get some umm… what's it called… Fish and Chips! That's what's it's called," Arthur says and hits his palm with his fist in remembrance.

I smile at his childish wishes and nod.

"Show me how it looks, Arthur," I yell to Arthur, waiting outside of the dressing room for him as he tries on new pants.

"Fine," Arthur sighs in annoyance and opens the dressing room door, walking out. I examine him in his new black trousers. They look almost identical to the ones he was wearing the night before.

"Those look fine on you but how do they fit?"

"They feel fine. Just like my old ones," Arthur sighs in a board tone, "Are we done?"

"Yes, so lets go," I huff and grab my skinny-jeans that Arthur was wearing.

We walk out of the small store after buying them (damn twenty-five dollars for a stinking pair of pants).

Arthur puts his nose in the air and stiffs a bit. "Do you smell that?" Arthur whispers and looks around a bit to look where the smell was coming from.

I sniff the air and look at Arthur, "It's from the fish and chips there selling over there," and I point to the small cart with a man frying up the fish.

Arthur's head bolts over to look where I was pointing and darts over to the cart. I gasp and run after him, but he was to fast for me. When I finally get there Arthur looks at me and asks, "Do you have ten pounds on you?"

"Ten pounds! That's an outrageous price!" I yell in surprise.

Arthur huffs in annoyance but sighs and pulls out a wallet and hands the man ten pounds. In return the man gives him a good-sized basket with four pieces of fish and a lot of fries. Arthur walks past me and sit by a near-by table. I walk over to the table he's at and sit next to him.

"Where did you get the money?" I ask and grab a fry but Arthur smacks my hand and eats more of his fish.

"From you. This is your wallet after all," Arthur replies and hands me my wallet.

"What! When did you take my wallet?" I yell in rage.

"When I was changing trousers. It happen to fall out to I picked it up and kept it in my pocket," Arthur says smoothly as he wipes his mouth on a napkin.

"W-Wha?" I start but sigh and shake my head, "Whatever but you have to share. I'm starving and I basically paid for those."

Arthur casts me a glare but sighs and pushes the basket to me. "Fine, but you get one piece of fish and a handful of fries."

I glare at him but sigh. No use of fighting over food. "Fine." I say and grab my piece of fish and my handful of fries.

After eating in pure silence Arthur throws away the basket into a near by trash can and grabs my hand, pulling me.

"Where are we going now?" I ask and look at our hands and blush. I try to pull away but Arthur has put an iron grip on it.

"The London Eye of course. I can't ever ride it because of my appearance, but now I can. I've always wanted to ride it." Arthur says and smiles softly.

I look at him softly and smile. "Fine, but after this where going to the cave right?"

"Yes," he replies and looks at me and smiles. Not his crazy, devilish smile he always smiles, but a friendlier smile. I think he noticed me because he blushes and turns away. "Where here."

I look up at the towering Farris Wheel and look at Arthur. He giggles a little and pulls me to the entrance. "Come on!"

"I'm coming as fast as I can, Arthur. Your just to fast," I yell softly trying ever so hard not to fall.

Now we're at the entrance of the London Eye, waiting patently. "Next!" the ride keeper yells and Arthur and I walk forward into the section of the ride we'll be on. We step into the center as the ride keeper had told us to do so. The ride starts up and we slowly move up. Arthur, after going up a bit, walks to the glass wall and looks out, gasping in awe. I walk up next to him and look out to. I see the Big Ben in a clear view and see the time is 4:35. I look over at Arthur who is smiling softly and I awe.

"This is better than I imagined it would be… Thank you Matthew," Arthur says as he looks at me.

"Hm? Oh it was nothing…" I whisper and turn my head away from him so he couldn't see my blush. 'Why am I blushing at every little thing he does? Am I falling for him? No, I can't be.' I think to myself hastily and look at him and smile weakly.

"Is something wrong?" Arthur asks me and snickers. 'Well he's back to him old self,' I think silently to myself.

"N-No nothing is wrong… It's time to get off the ride," I say nervously and point to the exit.

"Oh, so we do," Arthur says coolly but somewhat disappointed and begins to walk out of the ride. I follow after him hastily, hoping he doesn't run off again with my wallet. I check my pockets and thank god my wallet is there.

"Now are we going to your cave?" I ask Arthur as I catch up to him and walk beside him.

"Yes we are," Arthur replies as he over at the sun. I look over him to see the sun has almost fallen over the tall buildings and the small shops. Arthur stops suddenly and sniffs the air. His pupils suddenly grow to the size of saucers.

"What's wrong?" I ask him, as he just stands there paralyzed.

"Come on," Arthur hisses and yanks on my arm so we walk in the other direction. I look at where he was originally looking to see a tall man in the distance with silver hair smiling, but the smile has an evil glare to it. The man opens his eyes to deep violet eyes and mouths something but I can make it out. He backs farther into the shadows and disappears.

I stare blankly where the man originally was and shake my head as Arthur pulls me into an ally.

"Ok, It's dark enough for me to be a vampire, so change me," Arthur whispers as I still think of the man. "Are you listening?"

"Oh ya… ok… 'Come forth demotic power'," I yell as quietly as I could and place the cross on Arthur's chest. His eyes go red for a second but then fade to green again as his fangs and nails grow.

Arthur releases his demonic black wings and shakes them, as if stretching. "You ready to see my clan the Red Lions?" Arthur chuckles.

"Yes," I say with confidence, "And Arthur… who was that man?" I whisper and shiver.

"H-he was the one who… who shot me… His name is Ivan and he is the leader of the Night Children. He may look innocent but don't ever lower your guard around him, do you understand?" Arthur says in a strict tone.

I nod my head and look behind me to make sure Ivan wasn't there.

"Don't worry, I won't let Ivan get to you. Over my dead body," Arthur chuckles grimly, "So are you ready now?" I nod and Arthur wraps his arms around me and begins to flap his wings. In moments we're above the ground and off in flight.

As we fly across the starry sky I think about all the events that have happened over the past two days. 'I meet Arthur in the blood storage and help him. Then I seal his powers and I become the Heavenly Exorcist. Now other Vampires are after me, Arthur is protecting me and taking me to his home to his clan, the Red Lions.' I sigh heavily and try to enjoy the wind blowing on my face.

"We're here," Arthur yells to me as we drop in altitude. I brace myself as Arthur angles himself for the landing. Arthur's feet touch the ground and he starts to run to help him stop faster and not to fall. Finally we come to a full stop as some dirt flies up from Arthur's impact. Arthur let's go of me and retracts his wings. I look into he mouth of the cave blankly as Arthur strolls in calmly. I blink a few times as he calls me in and run to him.

I look around to see ordinary cave walls with a few pieces of furniture here and there. They're actually very nice pieces of furniture, better than I could afford. I walk behind Arthur slowly and flitch at every small movement. Arthur looks back and laughs but suddenly stops. He glares at me and walks up to me. I back up and feel something behind me. I turn around to see nothing. So what did I run into?

Suddenly I feel like I'm being gripped and feel some sort of scratching on my neck. I look over my shoulder to see nothing.

"Gilbert get away from him or I'll sic Alfred on you," Arthur snarls.

"Oh, so he isn't food?" sounds a scratchy voice. "Well I'm to awesome for this one anyways. He smells too sweet for my taste," and the scratchy felling goes away from my neck and the grip is released. I turn around to still see nothing.

"Come out, Gilbert, It's rude to hide on our guest," Arthur chuckles sourly, "Or I'll drag you out myself."

"Fine kill-joy," Gilbert says and suddenly a man with white hair and red eyes appears out of nowhere! Like he faded back into reality.

"Where did he-," I start but Arthur cuts me off.

"Gilbert was grated the power of invisibility when he became a vampire. See every vampire is given a 'special ability' when they change," Arthur explains and he walks over to Gilbert and grabs and tugs his ear. Gilbert cries out at this and pulls away cursing loudly at Arthur. Suddenly he disappears and clomps away.

"What ability do you have Arthur?" I ask look at him curiously.

"You'll just have to figure that out for yourself," Arthur sneers and beckons me in deeper into the cave.

"Arthur, your back," A voice calls out and a man with hair like mine—but longer—walks up to Arthur.

"Yes, frog, I'm back. Now light the candles so our guest can see. I mean, bloody hell, how can you see in here?" Arthur yells in annoyance.

"Well, I'm sorry mon ami that you don't have night vision like the rest of us," the man say mockingly but in reward he gets a swift punch in the face from Arthur.

"Just light the damn candles Francis," Arthur mutters and closes his eyes in annoyance.

"Fine, Fine," Francis says as he holds his nose, hoping to ease the pain. He holds out his right hand and walks to the nearest wall. He snaps his fingers and a small flame blooms at his fingertips. He lights the candle that is attached to the wall and continues to the next and the next.

"So he can-,"

"Conduct fire to his whim, yes," Arthur finishes for me. "Come on there are more in store for you," Arthur chuckles and continues on. I follow behind him and look at Francis as he lights the candles. He looks back at me and blows me a kiss. I blush madly and continue on behind Arthur.

As we walk deeper into the cave, it starts to light up and becomes almost homier. Soon we're at the back off the cave, but there's a door in the back of the cave.

"Ludwig, how was hunting because it seems you got back before me," Arthur calls out and a brawny man opens the door as light floods out of the door.

"It vas fine. Vere did you go and vho is this?" Ludwig says as he opens the door for us. Arthur walks in and I walk in slowly behind him.

"Make yourself at home," Arthur says and waves out his hand to empathize me coming into the room.

I look around in the great room. It looks almost like a castle. There's even nicer furniture in here then what I previously saw, a great big chandelier connected to the ceiling, winding stairs that lead higher into the room and more doors.

"This is Matthew. Matthew this is Ludwig, my second in command," Arthur says and turns to me.

"Pleasure to meet you, Matthew," Ludwig says and gives a courteous bow.

"No, the pleasure is mine. I mean, you're the one letting me stay here," I stutter and give a courteous bow.

"Hey, Ludwig. Where is the damn mutt? He need to be introduced to Matthew as well," Arthur mutters, "Because if we don't he'll throw a fit."

"Chained up in his room. He vas in the pantry again stealing food even zough I just feed him," Ludwig sighs and points to the door on the very left.

Arthur sighs and slaps his hand on his face, "Damn mutt. Come on Matthew, let me introduce you to him," and Arthur starts to walk to the door Ludwig was pointing to earlier.

I walk behind him and look around the room again, "This looks just like a castle," I whisper softly in awe.

"Well because it is a castle," Arthur chuckles, "This was once my uncle's but when the landslide hit everyone was trapped and died."

"What happened to the bodies?" I ask softly and nervously.

"Oh by the time I heard about it they where all bones, so I gave them to Alfred," Arthur says as he chuckles morbidly. "The uncle who owned this castle was never fond of me and always beat me as a child because when I visited him he would make me clean and do… other things, but let's just drop that topic. He's dead now and no use of bringing up his careless mistakes."

"Oh, ok," I murmur and shiver a bit. Arthur opens the wooden door and we walk inside the dark room.

"Alfred, I want you to meet someone," Arthur mutters, "So come here so I can unchain you."

I couldn't see in the dark room but I could hear chain's rattling and scraping the floor. Anxiety hits my stomach and I start to shake. Arthur walks into the room deeper and grabs a match from his pocket. He lights it and lights the candles on the walls. I walk in deeper and a figure other than Arthur starts to form.

"There you are! Ok, come here so I can unchain you-," Arthur starts but is cut off when a chain is pulled out from under him, causing him to fall, "God damn it, Alfred, I just want you to meet someone!"

"No… stupid bloodsucker… just let me see him," a voice says sternly.

"Fine, Matthew, come here. Alfred if you bite him I will claw you eyes out," Arthur hisses and grabs my hand to lead me closer to the voice.

I walk closer to where the voice came from, but I can't see, only what the small candles illuminate for me—which are piles of bones everywhere. Arthur taps my shoulder and hands me a candle, which I light with one of the candles on the wall. I walk deeper till I see a boy my age leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed. I walk closer to him to see he looks…

Like me

A/N Ok! Another Chapter of Crimson Night! Whoohoo \(^o^)/ Now if there's any confusion just imagine a cave then walk through the door and bam! A castle ^-^"… And by the hints I've given I think you all know Alfred isn't a vampire but a… you figure the rest of that sentence. Thank you for all the reviews you've given for this story and I encourage that you all review, even if it's one for every chapter. Oh and people who draw! ATTENTION: I don't know how to put this but If you want to—not saying you have to—but I would like to see some fan art for this (or any) of my stories! Just draw it up and send me a link to it and I will make you a free oneshot! Check my profile for the rules of my oneshots…

Thank you and Till next Update,