Disclaimer: I do not own so many things in this chapter and there are so many of them that it would be boring to list them all down and you probably wouldn't even want to read it. (My God! The Hell! You're actually reading this 00)

A/N: Anything written in italics is a thought of a character. Also, my chapters are going to be more serious now.

WARNING: This is a rather long chapter and due to its apparent lack of LOK-ness, I will not blame you if you do not wish to read it. However, if you do have the time and the patience, please do so. It will be greatly appreciated.

Chapter 2: Into Nosgoth

It was already morning and Val couldn't stop thinking of her dream. Could it be possible that her friends really were vampires? She knew she would have at least found out by now. They had been friends for many years now. It couldn't be possible. She thought it was just best to ask Ella what her dream meant.

Val stared at her reflection in her bedroom mirror. She examined her neck thoroughly just to be extra sure that it had all been just a dream. There was not a single mark on it. It looked perfectly fine.

Val had long, dark, black hair that covered the entire right side of her face. The reason for this was because around her right eye there were some pretty nasty, fatal-looking scars. It was as though someone or something with a very big mouth full of very sharp teeth tried to bite her eye out but did not do it entirely. Val took off her trademark leather gloves, which she always wore and ran her right hand through these scars, wincing from the pain of the memory of how she got them. She had amazing healing powers but no matter what she did she could not take away this particular scar. Not that she wanted to, of course. In the eyes of a Shadow Wolf, scars were a sign of strength and beauty. Unfortunately, not all shared that philosophy.

She hid her scar for that reason for she found it quite irritating and rude for people to gawk at her face. So long ago, she tired of those incessant comments such as "Where'd you get that?" and "Oh you poor creature." She didn't want anyone to pity her neither did she want them to think of her as a freak. She never let anyone touch her scar and she hardly let anyone even look at it; all but the Shadow Wolves.

Finally, she looked into her reflection's eyes. What was it that Vampires saw in them? Why did humans notice nothing? They never did. Her crystal blue eyes were warped with a hint of madness. But why were Vampires so afraid of her eyes?

Val decided to go back to sleep. They would probably be up all night anyway. She and her friends had been planning this for some time now. They would summon a demon to whom they would pledge their allegiance to and whenever they needed help, the demon would come to protect them. They wouldn't go so far as to sell their own souls to the demon of course.

Val was the one who needed the demon most of all. She didn't know how much longer she could hold off the vampires.

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Later that night Val met with her friends Jack, Kim and Yrouna.

Jack was a witch and so she had various magical powers including the ability to transform her self into anything she desired and had a great knowledge about anything supernatural. This enchanted, kleptomaniac, shape shifting witch often wore a cluster of raven feathers on her head to enhance her power.

Kim was a girl who could manipulate objects with her mind, see over impossibly vast distances, see ghosts, had various telekinetic powers and separate her soul from her physical body and enter the world of the dead. She could also spit toxic venom into the eyes of another person and turn into a snake. To put it simply, she was a were-snake.

That left Yrouna. She had no special powers other than being able to transform into a black cat. However, her physical abilities surpass anyone her age or even older. She was trained in various martial arts and could seriously kick butt. Obviously, she was a were-cat

Val told them all about her strange dream the other night and they responded with…

"US! VAMPIRES!!?? Are you serious Val? You know what we are," stated Yrouna.

"A Were-cat, a Were-snake and a Shifter of forms." Val dictated as though it were a creed committed to memory.

"Even if we were Vampires, we would never harm you." Kim insisted.

They debated on this topic for some time. Jack maintained an eerie silence which was only broken when she flatly said, "I am not a Vampire, never was, never will be." Was this a fact? Or a warning?

As they spoke, Val's mind pondered on the probability that they were indeed Vampires. However, she kept assuring herself otherwise. They couldn't possibly be vampires. Val thought. They don't smell like vampires. They don't even have fangs… errr… vampire fangs I mean. Kim's fangs are too thin and snake-like and Yrouna wears braces.

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Ella was, in a way, their mentor. She could interpret dreams, read minds, see into the past and the future, she could see and hear things beyond the normal range, teleport, project mental images for others to see and on rare occasions she could possess others. She was also a ghost.

Ella had taught her "students" how to close their minds from anyone who tried to read them. She said it would be dangerous if others were to see their thoughts. Ella knew there was a great possibility that there could be others who also had powers similar to hers. She also taught them how to see the energy given off by other beings. The brighter the aura, the more powerful the being was. Color had nothing to do with the strength of one's power. Ella glowed with an intense, blinding white light.

An hour later they met with Ella and Val explained her entire dream to her. Ella looked worried.

"Let's see. As far as I know, vampires in a dream mean that you have some sort of internal conflict or it could mean that you have some unresolved issues suppressed in your subconscious. Tell me, is there anything bothering you?"

"Not really"

"You lie, Child. As your mentor, I demand you tell me."

Val took a deep breath and sighed. "What is it that Vampires see in me? Am I so evil?"

Ella shook her head, averting her eyes from Val's gaze. "They see you as a threat because of what you are. They hate you because they fear what you can do to them. Not because of what you want to do. Also, they want your power. Haven't you realized that yet?"

Val was slightly insulted by her Mentor's words but said nothing of it. She knew verbal retaliation would get her nowhere. She reluctantly submitted to her Mentor's will and allowed her to probe her mind.

Ella delved deep into Val's mind. She knew a great many things about her pupil. She knew that her parents died the same night she was turned into a Shadow Wolf. She was three years old then and therefore could not remember anything of the dreadful occurrence. They died as part of the sacrifice required in her Turning but she was never informed of that. She was told that Vampires killed her parents, yet another reason to inspire her hatred for the vermin of the night. As their obedient little dog, she listened.

With the death of her parents, she was taken in by her siblings, Valentino and Veronica, not that they were the perfect surrogate parents. They practically raised her in a hospital, constantly exposing her to the infirm and the dying. Her bed was a gurney or the couches in the waiting room or anywhere she could curl up to sleep. She never tasted anything more than the bland medical provisions which served as a wretched excuse for food. She never even attended formal schooling as there was no one to fund her education. All that which she knew, she learned from the confines of this abode of healing.

This for some time became her primary purpose, to facilitate in the healing of others. She became the resident faith healer. Her siblings thought her too young and helpless to fight vampires just yet. They were well aware of the consequences. Were she to unleash her true powers without first learning to control them, she could cause very powerful and unstable bursts of energy, lashing out her power at anyone or anything in the immediate vicinity. Such was the terrible consequence of the Dark Matter.

For the time being, that did not pose as a problem for her abilities only began to manifest themselves in the healing arts. They kept her well away from vampires and any possible forms of aggression. A fluctuation in temperament would be dangerous at this age.

And thus her younger years were spent in a solitary existence in Saint Guine General Hospital. The medical staff treated her as little more than an errand girl. She had but one true friend in the world. Thomas Jason was a boy of seven, terminally ill with leukemia. Val tried to heal him with each passing day, for she knew each day could be his last. However, her skills in the healing arts had not matured enough to take on the terminally ill. She merely postponed what she feared was inevitable.

Veronica and Valentino were somehow delighted by the mere fact that she at least had someone to talk to everyday. Unfortunately, Val was oblivious to the minute detail that little Thomas was also visited daily by a vampire.

Tiberius Cain he was called by most, Nero to some and Ty to others. Tiberius was the benevolent philanthropist who first brought the dying and bloodied child to Saint Guine General and paid for all his medical bills. As generous and kind hearted as he was in the eyes of many of the hospital's patrons, he was a vampire nonetheless. That was reason enough to make him the enemy.

Val even befriended the humanitarian vampire. They would discuss the curative effects of medical starfish, electromagnetism and virgin coconut oil as though it were the weather. This was sheer insult in the eyes of her siblings. How could she not realize what he was? Veronica and Valentino, the brainwashed racists that they were, soon decided to put a stop to this. They would not have a Vampire within ten feet of their beloved sister, not while she was so susceptible. With Val's enhanced healing capabilities, who could tell if he was sneaking sips of her blood during his daily visits?

The next time Tiberius was slated to visit his ailing human companion, they barred his entrance to the infirmary. What a most foolish thing it was to do. Two meager werewolves, both barely a century old, attempting to get in the way of a Vampire nearly as old as a millennium. It made a strange death-wish, albeit an amusing one.

As he was the city's Elder Vampire, Tiberius's strength was nearly unparalleled. He casually tossed the werewolves aside without breaking his leisurely stride. But that was when they commenced open war. Without warning, a dozen other werewolves appeared from the parking lot, completely surrounding the Vampire. All of them were armed with Holy Water guns and garlic bombs. All poised to strike.

Simultaneously, the pack of werewolves threw the garlic bombs at Tiberius, effectively blinding him, choking him and burning his skin. They took this opportunity of weakness to attack. However, one as old Tiberius was not so easily defeated. His guise fell off, revealing a set of elegant black wings. With a few powerful flaps of his wings, the cloud of toxic Allium Sativum quickly dissipated.

Teeth bared and claws exposed, Tiberius became the monster they so rightly saw. One by one the werewolves fell. He did not wish to kill them but what choice did he have? If he let them be, they would only come for him again, or worse, his children. These terrorists had to be stopped. That was his reasoning at that particular moment.

Not too far, however, Val witnessed the gruesome scene. Utterly disobeying her sibling's orders, she had strayed into the side of battle. Now she knew who the monsters truly were. But still they were her siblings. They were family. Somehow she understood Tiberius' thinking. He was only doing it to protect his family as well. These stupid blood feuds! No one even remembered who started them. They would remember her as the one who would attempt to bring them to a screeching halt.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Val ran headlong into the fray, crying "Stop! Stop! Don't hurt him!" No one paid any heed to the innocent eleven year-old. She was knocked face-first into the ground by a werewolf who had been trying to protect her. Overcome with furious emotion, the hinge that kept her powers at bay had snapped. The fuse had been lit by a mere spark and the following explosion would be catastrophic. The very core of her soul had been struck and she unleashed a power she could not control, a power which until that moment she never knew existed.

Massive waves of power pulsed from her body, striking all those nearby. The power of Dark Matter was too strong for her. It slithered through her veins like acid, consuming her with every passing moment. Then, blackness overcame her.

Val awoke among a throng of littered corpses. Flaming debris surrounded her. Saint Guine General Hospital was no more. In its place, stood the remains of an inferno. It had been completely razed to the ground. Dead were the patients and the medical staff, as were the werewolves. She could no longer recognize the bodies of her fallen siblings and of Tiberius, she found no trace.

In fear she ran, for she did not understand what had occurred. In all the rubble, there was no way she would have been able to find Thomas. Eventually, her weary legs led her to the pristine ebony gates of a large mansion. This was the home of the infamous Tiberius Cain. The security guard halted her but upon hearing her name and confirming with the Lord of the mansion, she was granted permission to enter.

She slowly made her way to the atrium, where thirty or more vampires awaited her. Spending her childhood cooped up in that hospital, she had never seen anything so majestic before. A large room, more than twice the size of the ER, contained a grand staircase that split on two sides. There were sculptures and paintings everywhere. Val was even hesitant to walk on the marble flooring for she was afraid her filth might sully it permanently. Only a friendly gesture from Tiberius himself willed her feet to come closer.

The other vampires gaped and gawked at her from every angle. "What was this filthy street peasant doing here?" seemed to be on all their minds.

Val was offered food, warm clothing and shelter but she kept her eyes on the floor the entire time. The only time she lifted her eyes to chance a gaze was when she heard the reluctant footsteps of one who was once so used to being pushed around in a wheelchair.

It was Thomas and he had been turned into a vampire. He walked up to her and dared to embrace her but upon touching her skin fell in a dead faint. Before she knew it, Tiberius was upon her, gazing at her face, beseeching at explanation. Tears welled in Val's eyes as she tried to look away but his clawed hands kept her face directly in front of his.

Suddenly, Tiberius suddenly felt a burning sensation creeping up on the pit of his stomach, which quickly spread to his heart and the rest of his body. He dropped down on his knees and groaned in agony. Val looked around her and saw that the other vampires were experiencing the same excruciating fate. Some of them were convulsing in fits of seizures, others were rolling on the ground screaming bloody murder, and still others were on all fours, throwing up the blood of their latest victims.

Realization dawned upon Val that she was causing all of this. She decided this would be the best time to make a break for it. She reverted into her bestial wolf form and ran as though she herself was one of the very hounds of hell.

She emerged into the sunlight mentally transformed. What madness that occurred in that mansion had taken hold of her. She now knew why her siblings wanted to keep her away from vampires. Her mere presence among any of them either harmed them or drove them mad.

Word of the incident at the mansion spread quickly throughout the vampire community. Soon entire droves of vampires were popping up at every corner just waiting to rid the city of the lupine menace.

Val was eventually taken in by a friendly were-cat under higher orders. Malthus, self-proclaimed peacemaker between the different races of Sanguine, arranged for Yrouna to take Val in and keep her away from vampire-kind. That was how she had been living ever since.

Ella released Val from her mental grip.

"Think of it no more, Child" she said in a demanding tone. "You are more powerful than any vampire known to exist in all San Guine. Whatever you fear should be of no threat. Remember that. I assure you, your powers will not fail you."

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A while later, Val, Kim, Yrouna and Jack got dressed for the demon summoning. They all wore black hooded robes atop their usual clothing. Val hid her backpack and water gun underneath her jet-black robe, just in case. And since they were going to walk to Kalach Forest in the dead of night, Val decided to sneak in a dagger or two. Jack brought out her dark book of demons. First they had to choose a demon to summon.

"Alright" she said "I'm going to read out the demons and you tell me if they're ok or not"

Everyone nodded in consent.

"Alright let's start with Abdiel, AKA: Arcade, rank: Seraphim, Abdiel was the most vindictive angel against the Rebels headed by Satan. He appears on several pentacles of the Key of Salomon and the Legemeton, other records: The Book of Raziel XIII."

"I thought we were going to summon a demon, not an angel" Kim broke out.

"Alright moving on, Abaddon, element: insects, rank: King of the cricket demons, Head of the Sixth House of Hell and Demonic Ruler of the Abyss"

"Stop" Val interrupted. "Can we at least conjure up a demon that doesn't sound so…"

"…evil?"

"Exactly!" Val replied.

"Ok then, I'll skip those that sound evil. But what do you expect? Grand Duke of Hell? No. Grand Chancellor of the infernal empire? No. President of Devils' general council - The eighth of the ten evil Sephiroth? No. One of the three angels of Hell? No. General of Hell? No. First Duke of Hell under the power of the East? No. Supreme God of Evil?"

"NO!" Val, Kim and Yrouna cried out in unison.

"One of the four kings of Hell? No. Eater of the Dead? No. Supreme President of Hell? No. God of quarrels? No. Grand Marquis of Hell? No. Aha! How about the Anti-Christ?"

"Are you mad?" Kim shouted.

"Just kidding! Demon of revenge? No. Spirit of lust and unfaithfulness? No. Goddess of lust and seduction? No.Demon of vanity and sloth? No. Demon of avarice and greed? No. Count and Duke of Hell? No. Lord of the dwelling? No"

"Why not?" asked Kim. "It doesn't sound that evil."

"Because he has a tendency to vomit flames when angered and he gets angry a LOT. Anyway, Demon of lust and gluttony? No. Prince of Death? No. Aha! Let's conjure Leviathan AKA: Rahab, element: water. He is the Master of the ocean. He reigned also as king of beasts, feared by God and men alike."

"Well, Jack perhaps he's a bit too powerful for our needs. Don't you think so?" Val asked her other companions meekly.

Yrouna and Kim nodded in agreement.

"As I was saying: Master of Infernal Ceremonies? No. Demon of Pestilence? Nuh-uh. Venom of God? Nada. Angel of Death? No way. Grand General of Hell? No duh. Son of the Morning? Nope. Angel of light? Not a chance.

"Why not?"

"Because Lucifer is the Angel of light."

This went on for about half an hour until…

"I've got it. The perfect demon! Gamin, element: darkness. He is a mischievously energetic, clever and self-willed being. He is the commander of the legions of the Undead and the Creatures of the Night." Jack looked up from the book. "That means he has absolute authority over vampires and were-creatures and other races. However, he was trapped in the very bowels of the earth as a punishment for his impertinence and knack for meddling with human affairs. He is very demanding when summoned."

"But doesn't he sound evil?" Val declared.

"Well he's our best bet among the demons in this book and besides this is a book of demons. What would you expect?"

"Alright, you're the expert"

Four figures in dark hooded robes went outside and made their way to Kalach Forest in the dead of night. Yrouna took her Arnis sticks with her just in case the vampires tried to intervene. Jack was holding her book and a small bundle rapped in scarlet cloth. Val was very apprehensive as they got closer to the forest. The entire time she had expected a vampire to suddenly appear out of the darkness and lunge at her throat. Miraculously, they reached Kalach with no trouble at all and they began preparing for the ritual. They made a large triangle inside an even larger circle. They etched in numerous arcane marks on the ground. They were surrounded by candles they had put there previously. Jack unwrapped the bundle and distributed its contents to her friends. Each one got a stone of a different element.

Val asked how Jack came into the possession of the stones. She nonchalantly replied that she had stolen them from the Shifter's Cult as payment for kidnapping her. Finally, when it was midnight, they went to their respective places. Jack went to the top part of the triangle holding a multicolored stone. Kim and Yrouna went to the opposite sides of the triangle holding a crystal of light and a stone of darkness respectively. Val stayed at the center of the triangle holding a glass ball known as "the Conduit", which contained a core stone and several rotating discs. As the moonlight hit the Conduit, it split into three beams. The first beam was of color which hit the stone of Ice and Fire that Jack was holding. The second beam was of pure white light which hit the stone Kim was holding. The final beam was of darkness and hit the stone Yrouna was holding.

Simultaneously, they began to chant the incantation in the book:

Awaken, Demon of the deep, who forever sleeps.

Demon of the grave, without a soul to save.

Demon of the night air, foul, black, not fair.

Demon of the undead, that glides with noiseless tread.

Demon of heat and fire, destruction in your ire.

Demon of cold and ice, phantom of crime and vice.

Come, Demon so powerful, come Demon so dread.

Awaken, Lord Gamin, commander of the Undead.

Come, give us your blessing, come lend us your ear.

Oh Demon of Darkness, oh Demon so drear.

Come, mighty Demon, come great unknown.

Come from your dwelling so gloomy and lone.

Come, we beseech you, depart from your lair.

And unto you, our allegiance, we shall declare.

Demon of darkness, we seek you this night,

Awaken from your slumber, by your side, we shall fight.

Protect us from our enemies, save us from our plight,

Hear us, oh Demon of the Undead and the Night.

When they were done chanting they said in one voice: "We call upon Lord Gamin" and all the candles were extinguished as if a great wind had passed by. This was the sign that Gamin heard them.

In the darkness a figure began to take shape. It seemed humanoid with certain demonic characteristics. Gamin looked like a man in his mid-twenties with long, fiery red hair and equally red eyes. He had two horns on his head, in the middle of which was an exquisite black gem. He had very pointy ears, as a demon should. He had maroon claws for hands. He had birdlike talons for feet. He had a devilish tail, sort of like the kind one often sees in cartoons. He glowed with a vivid purple aura. To top it all off he had a pair of blood-red wings.

The wings reminded Val of Cain and of the strange vampire in her dream except that these were more than twice as large and far more beautiful.

"Who has liberated me?" Gamin roared out to the four hooded beings.

"We have liberated you, Lord Gamin. I am Valwique" Val answered in the most dignified manner. She thought that if Gamin would agree to protect her, then he should at least know her true name. "These are my friends Kimberly, Jacqueline and Yrouna. We are the ones who freed you. We pledge our allegiance to you, oh Lord. In return we would like to seek your protection from the vampires, benevolent Lord. We are your most humble servants."

"You seek my protection? I will need more than your allegiance, mortals. I require your souls."

"We agreed not to give our souls right?" Val whispered to her friends.

They all silently nodded.

"I see. You refuse to give me your souls. You are no different than the humans who first damned me to forever be imprisoned in the bowels of Hell."

"Oh dear! This does not look good," Val mumbled to herself.

And with that Gamin started to glow with bright purple energy. All of a sudden a strange light appeared and it began to draw in everything near it. Yrouna stood her ground. Jack mumbled a spell to keep her feet stuck to the ground she was standing on. Kim used her telekinetic abilities to keep her from being sucked in. However, Val was not physically strong, did not know any magic spells, nor did she have telekinetic powers and she was now helplessly being sucked into the light. She tried to revert into her bestial form but it was too late.

She heard a voice in her head saying "Bring back my love. Do not return without her." It was Gamin's voice, she was certain.

In a split second she was gone. The light exploded into a very powerful blast and Gamin disappeared. The blast knocked everyone unconscious and Val was nowhere to be seen.

A/N: Sorry if neither Raziel nor Kain were hardly mentioned in this chapter. I just wanted to give some background info on Val and introduce Tiberius but don't worry Raziel will be out in the next chapter. I swear on the Code of Wingdom and the Oath of Adunar. Oh yes and if you do try to summon Gamin and get possessed, it is entirely your fault, not mine. If you die in the process, Raziel and I shall fight over your soul while you stare at us like an idiot (only to be eaten from behind by a random sluagh).