(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)
Sorry for the delay of this chapter, but between school and the halloween especial I just uploaded, it became hard to finish it and then update it. X)
Lady Aria: Well, you will have to wait for a while for more hot vampire sex, seeing that I still need to cover a few things in this war. I apologize. XD
Enjoy.
18
Bea came to Sheridan's mansion with two women older than her. One of them had long and black hair, tied up in a messy braid. She was two centimeters shorter than Bea and was wearing casual clothes. She wore some jewelry pieces like her marriage golden ring and a simple necklace. Her skin was lightly tanned and her piercing, dark eyes made Sheridan shiver when he opened the front door. The second one was the same height as Bea but had middle, back length hair. It was of a soft, brown color and her soft, yellow eyes weren't as aggressive as the first one. The gunslinger woman introduced them as her cousins, who were the headmaster of a small organization that helped vampires and humans equally, much to what the local Guild did years ago. The dark haired one was Nilla while the other was Paola; both of them were around her forties as Sheridan guessed. He made them enter and, with them, a huge wheeled treasure chest.
"What is inside?", asked the professor when closing the door. Carmilla already appeared and asked for the women coats that she carefully took on her arms.
"Thank you, darling.", said Nilla with a friendly smile to the maid. Carmilla blushed, embarrassed, and left shortly after. "The armors Bea asked us to bring. They are heavy, I tell you.", like remembering her modals, she took out her left hand. "I'm Nilla, pleased to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine.", answered the professor. "I'm Sheridan like you might know already. Welcome.", said in a friendly smile, too. Paola simple nodded to him, not saying anything.
"Paola can't talk.", explained Bea when Sheridan eyed her in a weird way. "She was a prisoner from the last war and they cut off her tongue and vocal cords."
"Oh, dear! I'm sorry to hear that.", Paola smiled sadly at him. "Well, if you want, let's us go to my laboratory. We can talk there.", he pushed the wheeled treasure chest with him and the three women followed him.
The laboratory was cleaned, thanks to Carmilla's hands, and he offered seats to his guests as he opened the chest to find interesting armors he could change with his alchemy. He took out one of them and put it on a metal table, examining it. Nilla started to tell him the level, elements and other important stuff the alchemist needed to know about the armors. The man wrote all down on a piece of paper. He also made some raw drawings of the armors and made small notes besides it, thinking a way he could do more than the ones inside the chest. It was going to be a hard task, but he needed to do it. The vampires fighting didn't have any protection against the solar guns and would end up dead by them. He would need at last three days to make a nice amount of those things and he didn't know if he had that time. It was three in the afternoon already. Lucian was still sleeping from yesterday's night and Ernest was supposed to be talking with Alice about Oyan's moves and such. Either way, he would need to move fast.
Carmilla bought a platter with cups of tea, a sugar pot and a teapot. She left it on a small, wooden table and started pouring tea on each teacup. Nilla asked, in a soft voice, why he had a vampire maid and the man replied by telling his own story, about the Vambery and the mysterious girl that the former Duke bought with Stoker. Nilla and Paola looked at the maid and felt sorry for her, since she lost all her memories. But they had other urgent problems to take care of now. Sheridan told them he would need tons of materials to be able to make the necessary amount of armors they needed. The problem was that said material could be only bought in cities like Culiacan and Acuna, now guarded by the north gunslingers. The only place where they could pick it up without being stopped by them was the Vambery, but Sheridan refused to go back there. He hated the place with so much force that both old women understood him.
They talked about a few things before Carmilla, at half past five in the afternoon, accompanied the women to the front door. They left and Sheridan sat on the couch where Lucian kept sleeping deeply. The vampire snored softly, still too tired. The professor sighed loudly. He had so much work to do, a work he never dreamed to do. Help the vampires… What is he thinking? He hated those bastards and yet, he was helping them without doubt, without fear. Sheridan eyed Lucian, who was clueless about what was happening in the real world. The man knew that the vampire had go through a hellhole just like him, like everyone else, but managed to stay up and follow his desires and convictions. Sheridan felt somehow weak in the inside. He was a coward; he hated fighting but also didn't have the strength to fight back even when his life was in danger. He didn't know how he was able to escape from the Vambery with Laura and Carmilla. The girls were weak and tired from the experiments Stoker and he run on them. He didn't know where all that strength came from; it was still a mystery to him.
He was never able to accomplish anything in his life, not even with his own experiments. Everything seemed incomplete, none of those things he created he liked. All of them ended up being trashed or destroyed for one or other reason. With Carmilla and Laura he felt lightly content of his own work, but bad at the same time because his own hands were the ones that rip apart their personalities, their humanity, the very one he wanted to keep, the one that he was trying to protect by staying away from vampires. He couldn't believe he was starting to leave that aside to actually help them. But he really wanted to help Aaron and Lucian with this, as well with the local gunslingers. He thought that they were going to be them only, that's why he accepted. What would they think if he, after making the armors, says he didn't want to take part in the war anymore? Would they get angry? He hoped not. They were the only nice people he actually met after escaping from the Vambery and didn't want to lose them, but he also had his own feelings towards the whole situation.
"It's ok if you don't want to keep up with this.", said a soft, male voice in the room. Sheridan jumped from his seat, but Lucian didn't move at all. The professor looked up and found the former Duke resting on the door's frame. He had his night clothes on that consisted only in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. The man was barefoot but, being a vampire, didn't mind. He couldn't feel the cold from the marble floor underneath.
Sheridan didn't say anything. Dumas sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm sorry I have looked up at your thoughts.", the former Duke looked at Lucian and smiled. "But the others will understand if you tell them what your feelings towards this are."
"Why would I even listen to you?", asked the man. He looked away. The last person he wanted to talk to was Dumas, and the vampire knew it. But he wasn't doing it on purpose. No one really knew how to ask Sheridan about it and Dumas knew how it was to act as he didn't care and hide his feelings. He had done it for too long.
"I don't care if you listen or not.", answered the horned man. "I'm talking with you because no one knows how you feel about this, not even Lucian.", Sheridan seemed surprised but let the former Duke continue. "If you don't want to participate, then we will leave as soon as you had finished the armors."
"It's not that I don't want to. I don't want to help your race!", exclaimed the man, standing up. Dumas followed him with his eyes. "Lucian, Aaron… I want help them because they are… they are my friends, nice people I met after leaving Vambery, and I don't want them to die because they don't have the proper equipment.", he sighed, stopping by a window. The sun was slowly setting behind the trees of the forest surrounding the mansion, dying the leaves of a bright, orange color. "I didn't know vampires were going to join them."
"We didn't either.", said Dumas with honesty. "I really thought the only ones going to fight were going to be us.", he left the door's frame and walked towards Sheridan. "I can talk with them if you want."
"No, I will do it by my own.", the professor crossed his arms over his chest, not watching Dumas at all. His eyes were on the forest in front of him.
"When?", asked softly. Both knew time was running out. If Sheridan wanted to make a decision, it should be now.
The professor pressed his lips together.
"…After I finish the armors.", answered after a few minutes.
Dumas smiled.
"Alright.", he turned around and walked to the couch, kicking Lucian's sleeping form. "Get the hell up, lazyass!", yelled. The vampire jumped on his place, growling after seeing it was only Dumas. "It's already six in the afternoon! How long do you keep on sleeping?"
"The time I see necessary, bitch!!", answered Lucian, curling under the blankets again. "Fuck you…", he whispered, receiving another kick from the former Duke. "Get the hell lost!!"
"Not until you stand up.", said the horned man, pushing Lucian's body with his legs.
Dumas laughed when the vampire's tiny wings trembled in anger. He stayed under the blankets even when the other was pissing him off. After a while, Dumas grew bored and left the room, mumbling some words about Lucian being an idiot. Said one heard him but only growled deeply as he closed his eyes again to get more sleep. Sheridan smiled. Now he could see what Aaron saw in Dumas when they met after four, long years. The man wasn't the same as before, not even Lucian was. But still, that deep hate he feels towards the former Duke will never fade away as easy as it did in Aaron and the others. Sheridan's wound was impossible to heal and will constantly bleed and hurt.
Around nine in the evening, Carmilla appeared in Aaron's room with a platter. On it, there was a plate with soup, some bread slices and a glass with juice. The young boy was still feeling the laziness of just waking up and was still underneath the blankets. He asked Perrault and Nero to accompany him while sleeping, since he couldn't find it because Lucian wasn't with him. Both Terrennials were in their human forms and were as lazy as the boy was at that time. Carmilla smiled at him, knowing that Aaron was better than the days before and the smell of the soup made him sat on the bed almost instantly. He thanked Carmilla's gesture as he started drinking it.
"Is Lucian up already?", asked Nero, flipping his tail back and forth. He was lying on his stomach, perking his ears at each weird sound. He groaned when Perrault laid on his back, starting to play with his ears. "Tch! Annoying girl!"
"No, he is still sleeping.", answered the maid. "But Sheridan told me that Dumas was about to wake him up in a few hours."
"He can't sleep this much!", yelled the cat, who was starting to purr at the other's Terrennial's action, much to his despite. "Damn it, Perrault! Stop it!", he didn't want to admit it, but the way she was scratching his back felt too good.
She laughed.
"You are so cute, Nero! Why don't we wake Lucian up?", suggested as she started to massage his ears. The black cat purred loudly, just nodding, smiling like a fool.
They returned to their beast form and left the room. Carmilla followed short time after, and Aaron ate in silence on the bed. After finishing, he left the platter on the light table besides him. He stood up and saw that he didn't feel any dizziness from the blood loss. He smiled widely as he made it to the desk to pick up the clothes Dumas let him borrow from his own closet. He really needed to buy some clothes but, having no money with him right now and being the Guild closed at it was, he would have to use the other's clothes for a while, until the fight was over.
Some noises caught his attention. He turned to the covered window and saw a familiar creature trying to get in. It was screeching like mad, trying to be heard. Aaron rushed to it and the small vampire bat landed on the boy's chest, smelling its master's scent. Attached to its back was a different kind of paper the boy had put on the bat. So the letter had arrived to Dyango after all. Aaron sat on the desk, not bothering in putting the clothes yet, and took the paper off the bat's back. He opened it and read the following:
"It will be my pleasure to meet you again, but I think that having your mate around would be not so safe for me, seeing how he reacted the other day he saw us together. Seeing as you might stay in Sheridan's mansion for a while, why don't we meet up once they have left? Though your mate might ask the Terrennial's some help, I can easily cover up our presence in the forest using my own powers.
Having a bat delivering the message it's a bit risky seeing how the north gunslinger had taken almost every city on the East. If the bat gets kill or they lay their hands on the letters we share they will soon notice where you are hiding. Besides, sometimes they lost track of their target and don't delivery the letter in time, as it happened here. If you are free this night, I wish you could meet me up in the same spot we did the other day. I will teach you a better and safer way of delivering letter or messages to other vampires. If you can't, don't worry. I have a friend that can help me getting inside the mansion, covering up my presence. Dyango."
Sneaking out from the mansion that night was going to be a real pain. He wasn't alone like the other day. This time, the three vampires were in the same place and Aaron thought they weren't going to leave soon. He glanced at the clock and saw it was already a quarter to ten in the evening. Sheridan was soon going to sleep if he didn't have anything to work on; Lucian was probably staying to be with him. He didn't know what were Nish and Dumas going to do and he wasn't really worrying about the Terrennials, though he still worried about Alexander. They hadn't any news about him. He knew the owl was all right, but being under Oyan's pressure and power would be too much even for him, but Alexander had good ways in fooling the enemy, as he learned over those four years. Aaron had this feeling that the wind Terrennial would work out his situation inside the Guild and, perhaps for that, Lucian and the other six Terrennials didn't worry too much about him.
He folded the note and hid it under a simple wooden box that had different types of pens. He let the bat fly away and proceed to put the clothes Dumas had given to him. For the boy, they were lightly uncomfortable. He wasn't used in wearing tight shirts with long sleeves and turtle neck, but it suited him good, oddly. Aaron was happy that the former Duke didn't think if giving him some weird tight pants, he couldn't bear wearing them. Instead, he gave him some loose jeans and a belt, along with a pair of boots, the same ones he used when he shared his blood with Lucian. Aaron left the room and walked down the stairs, finding his mate lazing on the couch. Nish was sitting besides him, talking in a soft voice, while the other kept the blanket around himself. He smiled, approaching both vampires. Nish was the first in noticing his presence but, as Lucian noticed it too, he jumped from his seat and almost threw Aaron on the floor with his inhuman strength. They shared some kisses before Dumas showed up.
"Well, since we are all up, I guess it's time to see what are we going to do tonight about the subject that concern us.", said as he sat and leaned over Nish, who put a hand around the former Duke's shoulders. "We should talk with Ernest and the others. Sheridan told me that Bea has already come with the armors early in the afternoon with her cousins. He will work on them the following three days but we need to gather the materials he needs."
"Since Acuna and Culiacan are being patrolled by Oyan's men, the only place we can go it's the Vambery, right?", said Lucian. "What materials he needs?"
"He has a list that he gave it to me so we can go and pick them up.", answered Dumas. "After that, we can meet up with Ernest at his hideout and talk with him there. I hope he has already arranged something with Alice."
"I'm sure he did.", added Aaron. The boy was sitting comfortably on Lucian's lap, who was sitting on the opposite couch.
"Oh, I forgot about that. She sent me a photograph of Oyan's spy a few days ago.", said as he searched for the pink mobile that was hiding between his armor and the cloth beneath it. "He looks like a child, about twelve or fourteen year old. It's all covered up, and you can see his glasses only.", when he found it, he put the picture on it's screen and gave it to Nish, who watched it with Dumas. "She wasn't able to tell if he is human or vampire, and neither I---"
"It's Froggy!", exclaimed Dumas, surprised. He took the phone from Nish's hands, watching the picture carefully. "Yes, it's indeed him. I though he died when I killed Ratatosk…"
"Who is Froggy?", asked Nish. Lucian and Aaron smiled to each other as they noticed a jealousy tone in the albino's voice.
"He was a very, very, very intelligent vampire that worked with Ratatosk. He was pretty short, since he was a kid as Lucian said.", started to explain. "He was nice, but had a very acid sense of humor and often picked up with other members working with the Lord. I have fought with him, too. Everyone was target from his cruel jokes.", he returned the phone to Lucian. "He was, also, very good at sneaking and retrieving information and his experiments and inventions were as good as Stoker's or Sheridan's, though he sucked badly at alchemy."
"Why Froggy?", asked with curiosity the young boy.
"Because of his hands and feet.", said Dumas, smiling. "They were exactly the same as a frog, and he was always wearing green clothes."
"Do you know his real name?", asked Lucian.
"No, not really. Ratatosk hated calling us by our names, so he actually let Froggy pick nicknames for each person working for him."
"What happened to him?"
"Well, I thought he died in the last war eleven years ago, since the last time I saw him, he was bathed on his own blood and bleeding massively. Even a vampire would die after losing so much blood.", explained. "At that time I didn't care so I left him there, to die alone. Guess the frog has jumped to another pool to save its ass.", added with a grin.
Aaron, seeing that they were most likely going to the hideout to talk with Ernest, he was trying to think in a good excuse to stay in the mansion. But all things he thought were useless as Lucian wouldn't buy them. He wanted to see Dyango that night, but didn't know how. If Sheridan was working on the armors, he wasn't going to leave the laboratory in a good while. Carmilla would be too busy fussing on him about how he was doing such work and would bring him food and other supplies for the stubborn alchemist. Nero and Perrault were going with their masters, and the ones staying would probably be Ezra, Tove and Toasty, but he wasn't worrying about them.
Lucian's pink phone rang. He picked up the call and noticed it was Ernest talking, asking when they were going to come. Ursula told them that Oyan seemed very quiet these days and his men weren't so active as before. He was up to something, that's for sure, and they needed to move as fast as he was if they wanted to win this fight. Lucian set an hour and hanged up. He looked at Aaron, who sighed. Even when his face showed he was angry, the joy building inside almost made him jump from the seat.
"What? Do you want me to stay again?", said before his mate could say something.
The vampire smiled sadly. He kissed the boy softly on the lips.
"Please. Tomorrow night you will be completely healed. Though Vambery it's empty after we killed Polidori, you have to remember that when someone goes higher on that building, the stronger the monsters are.", he kissed him again. This time, Aaron returned the kiss. "In your state, you will last only the first twenty floors."
"I'm not that weak!", cried offended the boy. Lucian gave him a look that made Aaron sigh for a second time. "Alright, alright. I will stay.", the vampire laughed under his breath as he nibbled his left ear. Aaron moaned softly, shivering at the contact.
"Thank you.", whispered Lucian into his hear before sliding his tongue in it. "I promise I will treat you well when I return.", said with naughty voice, making Aaron blush softly as he smiled at the propose.
He got up like Dumas and Nish. They prepared themselves and left a couple of minutes after. Aaron could feel he was alone in the house even when Carmilla and Sheridan were in the laboratory but they weren't going to even know he was gone until they looked up in his room. He went upstairs, to his room, and closed the door lightly. He walked to the window and saw the walking silhouette's of the vampires before they lost themselves in the shadows of the forest. Aaron would wait at last half an hour before leaving. He wanted to make sure Lucian and the others were outside the territory since he didn't want them to fight against Dyango.
Looking up in the closet, he took out some warm clothes he put on and Lucian's jacket, which let it on the bed as he glanced to the clock. It was almost midnight. Dyango and he met up around one in the morning if he remembered correctly. He was going to be bored for a while.
Sitting on the desk, he took the letter and read it again. He started to think about the friend that Dyango mentioned in the letter. Who could be? Was going to be a vampire, a human? He admitted he was nervous about this friend since he didn't know if Dyango was worth of trusting. Aaron shook his head. If he didn't give him a chance, he would never know.
He was surprised to see a very concordance with Dyango's name and with the Solar Child's name, Django, whom Toasty talked about almost a week ago. Aaron often thought if they weren't the same person. If not, at last having some kind of similitude with each other. The young man was very polite and nice with him and that's something Aaron admired and liked about him. He was still a brat, was bad mouthed (he blamed that sometimes to Lucian, who was ten times worst than him), and was still immature in some ways. He needed to grow up a lot, now he thought of, and perhaps having Dyango as his friend and the vampires with him would help him to achieve that goal, though he didn't want to grow up so fast, he still wanted to enjoy life and not worry about his responsibilities. Once he turns eighteen and after all the fight ends, he will start thinking getting a job. He couldn't depend anymore from Ernet's and Bea's money. He wouldn't worry where to live since he and Lucian shared the payment of the Inn, thought it would be nice to have their own place. But for now, having the Inn was very good. Besides, the owner knew them for quiet a while and sometimes tolerated that the boys didn't have any money to pay for the month's debt. Aaron smiled at that. He was glad that some people were that gentle with them, especially now that Lucian is a vampire.
Some of the words that the vampires asked to him when he went to the castle were running in his mind for quiet some time now. They asked him if he would give up what he was to become something else and he, moved up by his heart and feelings, answered that he would, without doubts. Yet now was starting to have them. He didn't know if he was going to be ready to actually ask Lucian if he could transform him into a vampire, nor he was sure if Lucian was going to allow it. What if his mate refused to do it? Is there another way to let him be immortal and stay with him? He didn't know anything about that; he had to admit he was a truly ignorant. Perhaps Sheridan knew about a way or had a book that talked about it. He could ask later and then, be ready a few years later. Lucian was a vampire now and will not age anymore, staying with his youth figure until someone killed him, while he would do completely the opposite. Aaron sighed, touching the mate mark he had on his neck. It wasn't as swollen as the day they mated but still ached and he knew it was still red, looking now more like a hickey than anything else. He blushed, remembering those nights they made lustful love under the influence of the Moon and the aphrodisiac. He smiled. He never knew he would fall for someone like Lucian, but he told himself several times that they attracted to each other because of their own personalities, nor he knew he would actually fall for a man but no one had yelled at him for his choice or told him anything about it. It was good to see that they had an open mind in those things. Aaron didn't know what he would have done if Ernest, Bea and Kay fought with him for his sexual tendencies.
Another thing he didn't understand is why Lucian would change preferences. From what he was told, he loved a woman back when he was still human and a gunslinger. How he didn't mind going from a woman to a man so easily? Unless the man was already bisexual from the beginning. Now that he thought about those changes, he still was amused at how easy Lucian changed his mind about his vampiric powers. The first time he was completely angered about them, complaining about them, hating them, and cursing because there was nothing to do. Then, like out of nothing, he was actually excited about the idea of turning, at last, into a vampire. Who or what made him change his mind? He didn't want to ask; fearing it was something Lucian would regret telling him or didn't want to answer. Aaron groaned. His mate was so difficult. He was so full of mysteries. Sometimes it felt as he didn't know anything from Lucian at all, since the man closes to his own mate sometimes, not really wanting to talk about certain subjects like his past. All the boy knew about it was years before listing in the Guild and that the man suffered a lot, so much that bringing up those memories again would make him revive those feelings he was trying to bury deep underground. Sometimes, he would say a few things but then, Lucian would shut up, tell Aaron to forget what he said and change the subject or leave from wherever they were at the moment. It was so frustrating. Aaron was trying to understand more about Lucian's life, but the man was complicating it all. Why it was so wrong telling him his past? With more reason, he should now he was his mate, and if he wanted the boy to understand some moods about him that Aaron didn't really like at all.
When he lifted his head and looked at the clock, it was already ten past one in the morning. Standing up in a rush, the boy took Lucian's jacket, put his gun around his hips, closed said jacket and left the room. Closing with extremely care the door, Aaron walked soundless on the hallway, reaching the stairs, watching if the Terrennials, Sheridan or Carmilla were around. Using his basic instincts and what he learned all over those years in the Guild and from Lucian, he sneaked out from the mansion like a real thief. The boy shivered as a cold breeze blew softly in the night. He tightens up the jacket around his neck and proceeds to walk away. The Moon was barely seen in the dark sky and the shadows around the forest weren't helping him at all. He couldn't see as good as vampires and managed to walk with the little he had, jumping at each sound he heard. He walked not so long when he met up with Dyango, who was sleeping on the same branch of the same tree he found him the first time he came to the forest. The young man was covered with his dirty coat and wasn't aware of the kids presence. Taking this to his advantage, Aaron climbed the tree with swift movements and managed to sit on a branch near Dyango.
"Good evening!", he said in a loud voice, shaking the man's shoulders.
"I didn't do it!", Dyango shouted, sitting up and looking around. "Oh!", said as he blushed deeply in embarrassment when he saw Aaron smiling at him. "Good Heavens, I'm sorry! You should think I'm some sort of crazy man that talks in his sleeps…"
"We all do it some time in our dreams.", he knew that for sure because Lucian, some nights before full moon but way before he started to have his mating cycle, made interesting noises while he was sleeping, mumbling words and tossing around the bed. Aaron had to wake him up several times because first, he couldn't sleep and second, he was too embarrassed to keep hearing the man's pleasure sounds. "I thought you might have left already because I wasn't coming."
Dyango smiled, putting his coat back.
"I was going to leave, but I fell asleep instead.", answered. "I was sure you weren't going to be able to leave the mansion today, but I guess I was wrong", he yawned, stretching up, feeling a bit lazy. "So, how are you?"
"A little worried about the guys.", answered Aaron, sitting on the branch. "They went to the Vambery to pick up some materials Sheridan needs, and I don't know how long are they are going to be out."
The man hummed.
"Then we should get moving back to the mansion.", said Dyango as he stood up.
"What?", the boy imitated him. "You can't!"
Dyango arched his eyebrows, in surprise.
"Why not? Shouldn't be better if your friends and mate meets me?", asked.
"What would you think or say or act if you suddenly bring a stranger to your brother's or friend's house, saying you just 'met' him?"
"….Point taken."
"Well, we will not know how they will react until we all meet.", said the shadow under their feet. Aaron yelled, scared, looking everywhere. "Ah, don't worry, little one. I'm not going to hurt you."
"I will make sure of that once I can see you!!", replied Aaron, still looking around. But he only heard a soft, male voice. "Who is that one?", asked to Dyango.
"My Shadow.", answered, pointing down to the ground. "He is nice, just a bit… mm, well. He has a very acid humor.", Dyango jumped down on the ground. Aaron followed. "He has an incredible ability of manipulating shadows at will and he is a great shape shifter."
The shadow under Dyango's shoes changed its silhouette and Aaron looked at it, amazed. Then, it started to shine in a light, purple color, slowly coming out from the ground and reaching its full height, which were only a few centimeters taller than Aaron. The shadow reached the man's chest, not really that tall. The shadows slipped away from the body and they revealed a young looking vampire, covered in black clothes. The vampire boy had short, but smooth white hair and same red eyes as his entire race. He smiled, showing the tip of his fangs.
"Pleased to meet you.", said the vampire boy. Aaron noticed that some shadows were coming from his long cloak, dancing and then disappearing in the air, as they were alive. "I'm Black Shadow."
"I'm Aaron.", said the boy back, eyeing the vampire. He didn't have the same aspect that modern ones. Could it be that this vampire was even older than Dumas himself? Besides, the clothes he was wearing weren't anything like Casket Armor. "Pleased to meet you too!"
Black Shadow laughed softly.
"It's amazing how much energy you have.", said as he started to walk around Aaron. "How much sugar do you eat a day?"
"…None?", answered Aaron, not really understanding the question at all. "Why you ask?"
Dyango giggled as he pushed the vampire boy aside softly.
"Like I told you, he has a weird and acid sense of humor.", instead of reacting offended, Black Shadow grinned, returning to his previous form of Dyango's shadow. "Come, let's go to the mansion."
"No!", yelled again Aaron. "Please, don't go! Sheridan will not like it, especially if your are a dhampir who is accompanied with a vampire; he hates them."
"Gotta figured…", he sighed. "We need someone in common that can introduce me into your group, but I can't think of anyone."
"Neither I…", just then, an idea came in mind. "I know! Once the guys return, you can come here and say you want to help us!"
"But, didn't they already make a reunion?"
"So what? Just say you missed it and heard it from another fellows, and you want to help.", Aaron saw that Dyango wasn't too convinced, and sighed. "What's with you? You rejected meeting the others after you encountered Lucian a few days ago. Are you afraid of him now?"
"There a few things I can't tell you right now that concerns your loving mate.", answered Dyango, feeling uncomfortable talking about his personal stuff. "I will once the time comes but right now… I can't. I'm sorry."
Aaron smiled sadly. He knew how he felt. Talking about his father and all he had to go through the war four years ago was hard too.
"It's alright, then. But try to meet them before we go into battle. Once it starts, no one will trust a new welcomer in our side."
Dyango snorted.
"Yes, I know the feeling, been there…", mumbled as he remembered some scenes from his childhood. "So! Let's talk about what I really want to know!", said suddenly, changing his energy, his mood, his voice.
Aaron took a step backwards.
"…What?"
"I want you to answer some questions about your mate's behavior!"
Aaron sighed. Another long night.
They talked about Lucian for the last couple of hours. Dyango went really deep in details, writing down everything the boy was saying about how Lucian changed of moods depending on the Moon's phase. Sometimes, he wasn't affected by it. Sometimes, he was, mostly on mating cycle. Aaron had to tell the change of role that the vampire seemed to like when they were on bed, as well as the weird taste for pain Lucian had, and the high fantasy of being physically abused by his young mate. Aaron had some troubles answering those questions, he wasn't used at talking about such personal details but since Dyango was the author of the vampirism book and he was doing more research to do another version of it, he couldn't reject him. After a while, he felt more comfortable about it and all the information flow from his mouth to the paper that the pencil was writing.
Dyango asked some weird questions Aaron couldn't decipher their meaning. One of them was if he always had brown eyes, to which he couldn't answer due that he was way too young when Lucian left the Guild but, according to Ernest, he did, though he wasn't sure of it. Another one was if he had some sort of scar on his face, especially on the right cheek of his face. Aaron denied knowing any kind of scar. If Lucian ever had one, he would be the first to know.
"Did he always been a masochist?", asked the man.
"As far as I know, yes.", answered the boy. Both of them decided to return to the tree since they weren't going to the mansion. It was safer and they had less chances of being seen. "And sadist, too."
"Do you know how he transformed into a vampire?"
"Yes, but it's too confusing.", Dyango stopped writing. He lifted his head and watched Aaron.
The boy proceed to tell about Nero's strange creation, how he bonded with Lucian and how he lived with the curse being controlled by the talisman inside the eye-patch and how he ended up accepting the curse and finally transforming into a vampire.
"He changed his mind?", repeated Dyango. "How? As you tell, he was furious. Who made him change his mind?"
"I honestly don't know. Wish I knew, though. I could understand him a bit better…", he smiled to himself, thinking how long his mate and the others were going to be at the Vambery. Then, he remembered they were going to see Ernest. He thought how he had forgotten about that. "Augh… I completely forgot!"
"About?"
"Lucian and the others are going to the Guild's hideout to discuss the situation. I told them I wanted to go, but I don't know when they are going to pick me up, if they ever remember they have to.", Dyango chuckled. "Then they say I'm the clumsy one…"
"Well, it's almost four in the morning.", said as he watched his wrist watch. "If they are going to pick you up then you should return to the mansion.", he stood up, stretching his legs. "Oh, before I go, I have to teach you a few things…"
Aaron blinked, confused, as he stood up too.
"What things?"
"I bet you didn't know you can control Dark Matter now you have been bitten by your vampire mate, did you?", the boy shook his head. "Thought so. Lucian doesn't want you to harm yourself, maybe that's why he hadn't told you anything about it.", more confused, Aaron stood still, waiting for Dyango to explain things a bit more. "Alright. When a vampire mates and marks his partner, usually some of his powers transfers to the other, even if this is human. Don't worry, you don't have the curse.", he reassured to the boy, who was starting to panic. "They are harmless for you, since the biting has two functions; one, the most obvious one which is to mark, and two, being a vaccine."
"To restrict the dark powers within me…", finished Aaron, and Dyango nodded.
"Exactly! Boy, you learn quick, eh!", he smiled. "Now, since you now have those dark powers in you, even if you are human you can develop them and be able to use them with proper training.", Dyango opened and extended his left hand from which started a black and purple fire that soon transformed into living flame shadows. "It requires patience and a lot of physical and mental work.", the shadows returned to its previous form and took the appearance of a rat then, a small wolf and last, a bat. The flame bat flew around both males before hanging from a thin branch. "Using it to create these little creatures you can deliver messages to anyone at the same time, since you can make as many as you want."
"Isn't dangerous, though? Wouldn't they end up as normal monsters?", asked Aaron, seeing how the little bat looked around.
"Completely the opposite. Being shadow creatures, they can mix up with other shadows or monsters. Gunslingers will never notice them and they will go straight to the person you want to receive the message.", explained Dyango. "It's safer this way. You can make them held a paper letter if you want."
"How do I do it?", asked Aaron, putting both of his hands out of the coat's pockets.
"Practice, boy, practice.", said the man, laughing. "It requires some control of your mind and physical work to maintain the form on your body. The mind is the one that creates it and makes it stay alive.", he looked at the flame bat and, in a blink of an eye, it vanished. "A single thought and it's gone.", he turned to Aaron. "You have it and you have to take it out. There are thousands of ways of doing it. Your work its finding yours.", Dyango petted the boy on his head. "See ya!", said before disappearing in his own shadow.
Aaron headed back to the mansion, thinking a way he could take those dark powers out of him. He couldn't ask for Lucian's or Dumas' help because they would start asking him question about where he found it. Perhaps Nish was going to help him without asking him anything. He hoped so. He was the last one and the only one he knew that could help him.
The mansion was too quiet when he entered it after being absent for the last three or four hours, he didn't know. Did Sheridan notice it? Aaron closed the door softly behind him, making the less noise he could. He hadn't seen the Terrennials either and was starting to feel somehow unease. He swallowed hard, reaching the stairs and just managing to get to the first five steps when he heard someone clearing his throat. When he turned around, he gasped.
"Dumas?", said the boy, surprised.
"Lucian had a feeling you will flee tonight, too.", answered the former Duke, reaching the boy and grabbing him by the collar of the coat, lifting him up. Aaron yelled, scared. "What's with you, kid? You aren't like this."
"Why are you here? Didn't you leave with the others?", asked instead. He couldn't tell him yet about Dyango.
"I did, but then I returned when Lucian told me I should stay to watch over you.", answered the horned vampire, going upstairs not putting the boy down yet. "I can't believe how right he was about you.", Aaron pouted, not really saying anything. After all, he didn't have anything to say. "What the hell were you doing outside in the forest?"
They reached the boy's room and entered. Only then, Dumas put Aaron down as he closed the door behind him. Aaron took the coat off and let it fall on the bed, as he flopped down on it too. The vampire sat on the bed also, rubbing the boy's back softly.
"What's up? Something concerning you?", asked the man.
"Why didn't Lucian told me that he transferred some of his powers to me?", the hand rubbing his back stopped its movements. Aaron turned his head a bit, watching Dumas' dead stare. "What?"
"Who told you?", asked in a sever tone, but the boy knew he was worried about him.
"I read it on that vampirism book.", said. It was a lie and Aaron knew it, but nothing else came in mind at that time, and he feared that Dumas could see through him and discover the truth, as most vampires could do.
"Why would you want to control them?", the rubbing continued. Dumas felt lightly calmer now, though still angry or tense, Aaron couldn't tell. "For a human like you, it's dangerous. Your body it's not used to work with that type of energy."
"What's the worst that could happen to me?"
The horned man pushed the boy's back softly, but enough to cause a small pain to the boy.
"Didn't the book says it?", Aaron cursed himself.
"No, if it did, I wouldn't be asking, right?", said in his usual and casual voice, looking at the vampire with an amused expression that made the former Duke smile.
"Don't ask Lucian, Nish or me to teach you, because we will not."
"Why?"
"I already told you; it's dangerous. I don't want you to be in danger for a stupid whim, alright? It's not usual that a vampire mates a human, so I don't know how said dark energy affects the human's body. And I don't want you to be the first feeling those effects."
"What if the dark energy doesn't affect me?", dared the boy. Anything to make the horned man change his opinion.
"I prefer not risking your health or life.", he petted his back one last time. "Although Lucian should have told you about them after mating with you…"
"Should, but didn't do it.", corrected Aaron. Dumas smiled again and petted the boy's head. "When are Lucian and Nish coming back?"
"Soon. Perrault told me that they had some troubles with some Lizards in the Vambery, but they managed to accumulate high amounts of the ingredients Sheridan needs.", Aaron bit his bottom lip. He didn't know Perrault was with him too. What if the Terrennial saw him with Dyango, and heard them about the dark powers Lucian had transferred to him? The boy sighed. Couldn't this problem be more complicated? "Worried?", damn Dumas and his vampire intuition.
"Yeah…", he was being honest, at last in a way. "This whole things makes me nervous.", he heard the vampire laugh softly under his breath. "It's not like I haven't been in a war before but…"
"I know.", Dumas flopped down on the bed, facing the ceiling over him. "When I was still human, I disliked wars. Just when I transformed into a vampire, my personality gave a one-eighty hundred degrees turn, and changed to a man that loves to fight and kill.", the man sighed, putting his hands on his chest.
"Now with that body you can't do a lot, and I think Nish has something to do, too.", Aaron giggled when a deep blush covered Dumas' face.
"What nonsense are you saying, kid?", he tried to look offended and angry at the same time, but failed miserably. He was slowly changing again. "He is just my fuck partner."
"Come on! You know better than me that isn't true!", he hit Dumas softly on his arm, in a playful way.
"What makes you think that? There is nothing between us!", exclaimed with emphasis.
"Then why the hell are you so clingy and so cuddling and so loving with him?", Dumas was about to reply when Aaron interrupted. "You are always over him, fussing over him. Nish this, Nish that. You let him sleep with you (not in the sexual way, sharing beds you pervert minded vampire!), and you talk about some facts that you wouldn't say if he was a mere fucking partner.", the vampire avoided the boy's gaze, and turned on his side, facing his back to Aaron. "Why are you afraid?"
"…It's not easy for me to trust someone.", whispered Dumas. "Some of my friends betrayed me, people of my own race loved to pick on me before I become the man I'm right now. The first one to take my mask down was Rymer, and I was afraid too, of opening to someone that wanted me for how I am, rather to what or who I am, after all I went through and all the pain that I took from opening my heart.", he sighed a second time. "Nish seemed to take that same mask down again but I'm trying to create another mask beneath the first in other to protect myself from any harm…"
"How can you know if Nish it's going to hurt you if you don't give him a chance to reach you?", asked Aaron, putting an arm around the vampire's shoulders. "Isn't that unfair to him? I understand you have hurt a lot in the past but that's no reason to give up on others so easily."
Dumas snorted.
"I never say I was giving him up.", the vampire turned around and faced Aaron's gray eyes. "I'm saying that it's hard to trust again when you only knew pain and disloyalty."
"But, Nish it's a nice vampire. Besides, he can bear with you. Doesn't that give him points?"
"What the hell do you mean with that? Am I annoying?", asked Dumas, pissed.
"…Just all the time.", answered Aaron with a naughty smile. He escaped from the vampire's hands and jumped from the bed, laughing. "Get over it, dummy! You are too stubborn to see you actually fall for him!"
"You little brat!", yelled Dumas, jumping after Aaron. "Get hold of yourself because once I get you, you will regret being born!!"
Both of them kept running around the room, not really feeling the eyes of Lucian and Nish through the lightly opened door. The albino smiled softly before closing it without making any noise.
"I can't understand what have you saw in that crazy horned vampire.", said the Dark Swordsman as he and Nish walked down the hallway. "As Aaron said, he is too annoying sometimes."
"We love people not for their virtues, bur rather for their defects.", answered Nish. "You should know it better than me or them.", Lucian nodded, smiling.
"Ah, what a fate…", said between sighs. "What a fate.", repeated as he and Nish went to the laboratory to help Sheridan in getting done those armors in time.