A/N Just a disclaimer… well, because I guess I'm supposed to constantly write one. Sadly, I do not own Blood+ or the characters. I also, very tragically, do not make money from writing fanfiction. If I did, I wouldn't be living with my folks. ;) You know what? I think the disclaimers are like bug repellent. You put it on so it keeps mosquitoes away (lawyers- mosquitoes- same thing really) and you have to reapply daily or it doesn't work. :(

Please bear with me, all my lovely readers, there is going to be a LOT of information in the next 5 chapters. That means that even though it seems like a lot of time is passing in the story, it isn't. ALL of this is happening in a 24 hour period. Chapter 52 and 51 are occuring at the same time in different places- that's why there will be a double update! ^_^;;

Also, I do believe this is the most sadistic death scene I have ever written. For those that really don't like this, I marked it off so that you can skip it if it is too much for you. Just know that the guy in the fancy suit, Vibora, is killed. ;)

Dangerous Decisions

The well dressed man was moving closer and closer to her. Saya moved back inch by inch, never removing her eyes from those cold, black eyes that seemed to bite into her soul. Even as her hand moved toward the dagger under her skirt, sheer terror zapped down her spine. These men were not simply looking for a date, their plans were much more sinister. Was this what Mary Frances was talking about? Were these men human traffickers?

With hollow clacking sounds, the man dressed in a white suit came closer and closer, while Saya was inching back toward the edge of the pier. "Wh-what do y-you… want?" Saya asked shakily as she tried to swollow the lump that had formed in her throat. A pink tongue darted out quickly to wet her suddenly dry lips, hoping and praying that Hagi could sense her distress. Unfortunately, her rational mind had shut down and the thought that perhaps his own emotional turmoil could cloud his thoughts as well.

A sinister sneer pulled at the thin lips of the well-dressed man. Turning his very dark eyes to the pier and ducking his head at some private joke, he then quickly brought that wicked smile back to her as he closed the distance and grabbed her chin into his ringed hand. "That is very simple, my dear, I want to offer you a better life. A life of freedom and wealth."

"I … I don't need those things," Saya replied as best she could. This man was holding her jaw tightly in his grip and it made speaking a little difficult.

The man chuckled darkly before turning his dark eyes to George, who was still darting frightened eyes about himself. "Everyone wants a life like this. You will see soon." Grabbing her hand, he began to lead her toward one of the larger boats moored at the pierside. As he passed George, he asked, "What is wrong with you anyway? You look as if you are in a haunted mansion awaiting a ghost."

He turned frightened eyes to the dark ones of the man who he obviously worked with. "Sir," he asked before he licked his dry lips, "I saw a man tonight. He looked like that girl that killed Ardon and Keith… a-and…" at the scoffing look the finely dressed man offered, he stammered, "a-a-a-and… he looked as if…"

"George," the man stated bluntly, "in this business you will see many people. Some of them will look like some you have met before. It is of no matter." He turned his dark eyes to the girl whose jaw was still held firmly in his grasp. She looked so delicate with her beautiful eyes widening in fear- such an unusual shade that they were. His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth in reprimand before he added, "Now George, your foolish antics have frightened the girl. We cannot have that when she is about to embark on a fabulous new life, now can we?"

George took a deep breath and rubbed his arms, obviously trying to calm his terrified thoughts.

Saya noted that he was not nearly as imposing as she would think a human trafficker would look. Something frightened him- she noticed it when Hagi had appeared in the window of the resturaunt. Actually, she recalled he had looked downright terrified. Whatever had frightened him looked like Hagi, but was female- Mary Frances! Saya might not have been the world's most manipulative person, but she had to try.

Feeling her chin being released, she turned her burgundy eyes to the man that had brought her here. "She'll be coming soon," she stated as calmly as she could- trying to keep her mind cool and level.

At the statement, amber eyes turned to the girl. "Who are you talking about?"

Emboldened by the obvious fear displayed in this boy's eyes, she added in a matter of fact tone, "Her name is Mary Frances. If you ran into her and survived, I'm amazed. She usually kills everything that threatens her."

Amber eyes darted around frantically. That monster could be anywhere… and now this girl was telling him was a marked target! He wanted to cry- to run- but where would he go? She could be everywhere.

Saya noticed a blue streak headed toward them on the water, but knew her captors could not see it. With a smirk, she felt the aura bite against hers, calming her. It wasn't her usual savior, but this would do just as well.

A gust of wind caused the two men to look up. Before their human eyes appeared, out of nowhere, a tall woman in a black floor length cloak. Rings of red and blue glowed eerily beneath the dark hood. Her right arm extended behind her back with a massive skythe extending from it, dripping in blood.

A grunt came from the amber-eyed George as a large red stain bloomed on his abdomen. A splashing sound of liquid hitting the wood of the peir reverberated in the silence. George collapsed to his knees with a terrified look in his eyes directed at the tall creature who had just killed him.

Mary Frances commented casually as she took in the pathetic creature, "Don't feel too bad, your surfer friend pissed himself when I killed him too. He tasted like crap- just like you all do."

The sound of wood hitting wood rhythmically, drew her attention back to the well dressed man. "Interesting," he commented as he circled the woman, as she pulled her hood back. "Very interesting indeed."

Mary Frances worked her jaw angrily as she stood under the scrutiny of a man that she had hoped had died four years ago. She heard the words he uttered next, and it caused her to smirk. "I know you."

"You bet your candy-ass you do," she replied before narrowing her eyes and finishing, "And I sure as hell will never forget you."

"Yes," he verified with an evil smirk, "One of my men was supposed to take you to the US, right? You were the girl we found…"

"Yeah. Yeah," Mary Frances interrupted, "I know the story- I was there, remember?" She took up her battle stance and added, "I was a scared child back then, Vibora. I am a well-trained warrior now- a well-trained warrior that has killed many of your men… and now, I plan to kill you too."

Saya took it all in as a battle ensued. Did this man- Vibora- just say that they had found Mary Frances in a country other than the US? Mary Frances also said that she knew him 4 years ago. What was going on? It was well-known that Mary Frances' mother had established a business that helped victims of human trafficking, but did that mean they would know the actual traffickers?

The fight was swift and it was an easy win for Mary Frances, but she had chosen to take this man on with her bare hands. She lunged at him, and he barely dodged in time to escape the hit, but her hand caught part of his white coat. The sound of fine silk ripping tore through the night air. The heavy cane wrapped hard against her back, causing her to gasp.

As she slightly stumbled from the blow, her eyes turned to the man who was inspecting the massive tear to the fabric. Seeing her chance, Mary Frances dashed to the figure and delivered a sharp right hook to the gut and then a left to the jaw. An arc of blood came from his mouth as his head was forcibly jerked to the side.

Before the man could even voice a complaint about the expense of his ruined clothing, the creature (he was no longer certain if this woman was human) grabbed him by the collar, a glint revealed that in that smirk were sharp fangs. What was this woman?

A gasp came from the man as he was lifted into the air by his collar, red and blue rings glowed brightly as her demonic gaze penetrated into his soul! Terror seized him and he le let out a scream, but it neither swayed or upset the creature that held him. Dark masses moved behind her, and he nearly thought other demons had come to join in his demise, but in reality, they were in fact Mary Frances' wings. "WINGS?!" he cried out.

~death scene~

"Yes," she growled as her evil smirk widened, revealing more of those fangs that so frightened him. An evil, inhuman whisper issued from her as her pale face seemed to swim in his sight, "I am not human, Vibora. You and your idiots kidnapped a very young and very confused chiropteran. And now…"

It was at this point that Vibora realized her face was not changing, it was actually that he had tears streaming down his face and they had distorted his vision. He was surely about to die… in a horrific way that even his warped mind could not imagine. Her voice echoed in his mind, "...this more grown up chiropteran is about to kill you."

"But don't worry, " she added as she let him go. "Your blood is too disgusting to drink."

Sheer terror took over as the plummeting Vibora realized she had lifted them high enough in the sky that he could see Tokyo in the distance. A horrified scream came from him, but was pressed back into his mouth by the force of the air rushing into it with the velocity of his free fall.

Oh, but Mary Frances wasn't done toying with her prey, oh no. About halfway to the ocean below, she seized him from underneath, in the middle of his back, breaking him in half. He would scream, but could not. The pain blossomed red in his sight as he felt something within him rupture. His broken spine had snapped in half and was now protruding from his belly. He could not move and the pain had taken his vision.

"How does it feel, Vibora?" she asked, her voice sounding very inhuman. "How does it feel to be broken beyond repair at the hands of your enemy… and yet still be alive?"

Her only response was a sickening gurgle, so she enlightened him, "Aboard that damn ship, I was starving, I was sick, and I was continually raped and assaulted in every sickening way possible. I was a child! Not oven old enough to have my first period, you sick fuck! How many, asshole? HOW MANY?!" At the last question, she shook his body, ripping him apart even more.

"How many little girls and boys have you taken and done this to?"

The question rang in the air unanswered as she then brought his broken and dying body to her eye level, looking into his dying, unseeing eyes. With the last words, she let him plummet to the waiting ocean. "See you in hell. I hope they torture you more than I could."

~death scene over~

Saya watched in horror from below. It was the most sadistic thing she had ever seen- and she had seen so many wars. This princess who had just tortured a man to death landed in front of her on one knee, blood of her victims splattering her porcelain skin and all Saya could think was how much she looked like Hagi.

The princess straightened and turned her back to the queen she had just saved from the worst of the human traffickers that she had ever had the displeasure of knowing. With a huff of breath, she realized that there was no way that Saya had not heard something that was said between them. After a long pause of quiet, Mary Frances spoke.

Saya's mind was spinning. Thousands of questions wanted to fly from her mouth, but she could hardly summon a voice to utter them. Why is it this girl not only looked like Hagi, but her very presence felt like Hagi. When the girl was around, she felt protected- safe even. This was nothing like what she was told of the other princesses. The quiet confusion was broken when the words the young woman spoke drifted to the queen's ears.

e she'd felt around the other princesses. Why was she different?

"You can't say anything… please."

Saya was yanked from her train of thought so abruptly that she had to blink a few times to clear her thoughts. "W-what do you mean?"

Mary Frances hung her head and took a deep breath. She had told her dad some things, but not everything, but she would have to tell Saya the whole truth now. Too much had been revealed already by Vibora… the fucking asshat (I just love that word!).

The princess turned her determined eyes to the love of her father's life, knowing she was risking everything she had worked so hard to build. "Saya, what I will tell you stays here on this peir- for good."

Burgundy eyes widened and Saya gulped down the lump in her throat as questions rang in her mind- Why tell me? Why not Hagi? Who are you? What the hell just happened? Pushing the pestering questions aside, Saya nodded shakily and focused on what was about to be said.

"My name is not Mary Frances. I actually don't have one," she revealed with a nervous laugh. Her jaw worked as she came to grips with revealing her darkest secret. It felt freeing in a way, but terrifying in another. "I was not born in the US. I was born in a hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 15th 2021, and my mother died as she brought me into this world- fucked up as it is."

Burgundy eyes turned downward to the weathered wood she stood on as she pieced the puzzle together. Wait… wasn't the other daughter dead? Did she just say she was born in the same place as the…? Still thinking there were two of them, Saya furrowed her brow. Doctor Julia and Mr. David both said the girl was dead. They had her remains!

"Since I had no father or any kin that anyone knew of, I was sent to an orphanage." A dry smile came to the young woman's face as she seemed to recall something in her mind. "It was hell there. I was teased because of my skin color- my eyes. They called me Thuyet in my real language- in English it means 'Snow White'. The people that ran the orphanage thought I was a demon because of my looks and so I was ridiculed by adults and kids- even whole towns."

Saya scowled, the young woman didn't look so unusual. Indeed, the girl was quite tall and her pale skin, brown eyes, and wavy tresses made her quite the beauty. Certainly her fair looks would earn her the title angel. "You don't look that different?"

At this, the younger gave a wry smirk and enlightened the chiropteran queen, "Oh?" At this, she leaned down and her hands moved behind the short curtain of black locks that had grown out.

Her face turned back to the queen and Saya gasped at the sight. It was a short-haired version of her chevalier that was no longer her chevalier! Those same blue-grey eyes stared deeply into her, pleading for her to understand as she held a pair of brown contacts in her hands.

"You have no idea," the girl muttered. "You have no idea what it feels like to be surrounded by people that look up just to see your face… and then they can only talk about your pale skin, your blue eyes…"

She took a deep breath and squashed the horrible memories that rose like bile in her throat. Swallowing past the heavy lump in her throat, the princess continued, "When I was 6, I saw a picture of an American woman, barely wearing any clothes, in a magazine I found on the side of a dirty street. Her eyes were like mine and her skin was only a little darker than mine. It was then I decided no matter what he'll I went through, I was going to America."

"A few years later, while I was being teased by a few older kids, I got into

Saya was still trying to process what she had just seen. Something was beginning to spark in the queen's mind- this girl had come from Vietnam and her mother died giving birth to her. Could it be that this girl was the one they had thought was dead? She shook her head at the thought. How did she become Mary Frances?

"Everyone said that I would fit in better in the US. By my 6th birthday, I learned to speak English as fluently as an American since the missionaries targeted that area. They rarely tried to speak Vietnamese- they were terrible at it," she mused. At this point, her nerves were feeling frazzled. The girl hated to even recall what came next… But she said she would do this. Her fingers felt the familiar box in her pocket and expertly removed the cigarette along with her silver lighter.

"When I was about 10, that was when I realized just how different I was," she explained before she took a very heavy drag from the cigarette. "Missionary doctors discovered when I was an infant still, that I needed weekly blood transfusions… but at the age of 10, a group of older kids attacked me. I could feel my ribs and arm being broken. one kicked me in the face and I grabbed his foot... A-and bit. The taste… blood going down my throat… I-I don't… remember… what happened. All I know is the next thing, I was standing in the clearing, completely healed… surrounded by The shriveled bodies of six dead village boys- my tormentors… I had killed them all."

Saya noted the girl's hands were shaking as she described her first blood lust. It frightened her, but the look on her face reminded her of a winged chevalier with waves of messy raven hair surrounding a pale face. It had many years- more than a century, but the memory was still as clear as if it had just happened. Clawed hands were covered in blood, his eyes moved from those newly formed, deadly claws to her. The look of shame and confusion- it was exactly the same.

"It was then," she held her cigarette between two fingers and let her gaze turn to the side, releasing curls of smoke on an exhale breath, "that I realized I was something much different than anything in Vietnam. I moved from orphanage to orphanage… couldn't stay long in one place. The rumors followed wherever I went- 'Snow White is pretty and tall, but wherever she goes, the demon will follow." she took another drag from the cigarette before she turned and looked into Saya's eyes. No regret shown there- only cold, deadly truth. "People died wherever I went. I had to survive."

Burgundy eyes blinked owlishly at the statement… the confession. There was an accusation beneath the cold words and Saya knew what she was saying in her heart- without the words to back it up. The memory of a dilapidated tower and a ghostly mezzo soprano voice drifting on the wind that blew through the countryside. Brilliant blue eyes were alight with a cold fire that killed anything unlike itself.

Saya had always felt that chiropterans were an evil that needed to be exterminated so mankind would find peace. Amshel had told her different- the greed of man was what caused the imbalance that caused wars. He was just out to make a profit.

Killing was wrong- even if it is for survival. Kia once laughed at that statement and retorted, "You love eggs right? Don't you realize that a baby chicken dies so that you can have that egg? Cows die so you can have a burger." Still, in her mind, she couldn't get over the fact that someone must die so she can live.

The connection neither of them could understand brought Saya's confusion to the young girl. Chuckling out a drag of smoke, the girl commented, "I really think I would have understood Diva more than you. She knew what she was and embraced it. You shun it like it's some sort of evil. You know you don't have to kill, right? Just take a bit here, a bit there. Sure there's a mark, but mostly they don't remember how it got there."

Simply shaking her head in disbelief and denial, Saya had to allow that thought to pass by when the girl returned to her tale.

"The next year, I was in the last village I stayed at in Vietnam. I spent most of my time digging up clams at the beach since it was so near the orphanage, and I got a bit of money for these brown contacts. The nuns there were kind to me, but people were still the same."

"A man arrived at the dive were the local fishermen got drunk. He was with a young girl with dark hair and light skin… and her eyes were a darker blue than mine. She was skittish around the men but was soon sitting in their laps for what they would pay her companion."

"She found me digging clams one day and cried as she fell into the sand. Her accent was strong, but she spoke enough English so that I understood. Men had abused her body and her companion didn't care-as long as he got paid. The girl had been kidnapped from her home in Bordeaux and he wanted desperately to go back…. But he refused to return her."

"As he came to retrieve her, I made a deal with him. I wanted so badly to go to America that I didn't care how I got there. He said I was too young, but he was desperately in need of girls- especially if they we're fluent in English. I agreed to meet him that night at the wharf."

The pier creaked and moaned with a breeze that came through bringing a cold chill along with it. Blue eyes turned down to the old boards as she explained, "The girl snuck away that night. She and I struggled- she thought she was saving me. The noise was starting to wake people up, so I bit into her neck and cut her vocal cords… before I drained her of life." Her eyes held no remorse for the killing. In her mind, she had set the girl free in a way. At the time, she didn't know how horrible this would be, but knowing things as they are now, there was no way Angelo would have let her go. In his mind, all The girls were nothing more than sacks of money.

Smirking as she recalled the moment, she continued, "The next morning, I was bound for the US and the locals thought the drained corpse on the beach was me."

As she continued, she took the last drag of her cigarette, smoking in a bit of courage before she pitched the rest into the water. "The ship was the most heinous hell hole I've been in. I could not feed enough to sate myself. The trip was long and very dark. We were stow-aways on a cargo ship bound for Hawaii, where we would meet up with a ship that would take us to California. I lost my virginity to a drunk sailor willing to pay a good sum for the pleasure. I was 11 years old."

"Every night, Angelo had someone set up to give him money while they took my innocence. I was becoming weaker. When we got to Hawaii, it was then I met Vibora. He was inspecting 'his goods'. Me and 12 other girls were taken aboard another ship in the cargo hold. The captain was told that he was hauling livestock. I learned then that Vibora was in charge of trafficking around the northern hemisphere. Realizing what they had started to turn me into, I promised myself that, one day, I'd I'll them all."

"We were all dirty and tired… none of us had had a decent meal in almost a month. My hunger grew as the weeks went on and yet my belly grew. During the trip, I had turned 12 and had become pregnant. I hid my condition as best I could. One of the girls died in my arms, she was so sick. I drained her body, hoping that her tainted blood would remain contained from the others…. But they got sick too. Only seven of us made it to the states."

"I thought once we got to Cali, I'd be free to do as I pleased, but Angelo shadowed me everywhere. I couldn't feed, I was weak, and no one wanted to screw a sickly looking girl. He'd beat me if I didn't make any money, but I was starving and that did not help to hide my growing belly, but winter was cold and I wore coats to cover up my condition."

When he found out, I wasn't sure how much time had passed. He tried to beat the baby out of me. I was hurt and tired and ravenous. My vision based over and I know I attacked the bastard. When I was drained, I began to take out my blood lust on the city of LA. Not sure how many died, but when the red haze finally faded, I was in an alley and in labor. I was cold from rain pelting me. I managed to find a light on in front of a building and quietly began to cry."

"That's how I met Mary. She and her daughter, Mary Frances, helped me into the building called The Center. I was lucky, for sure that day. It was a place for victims of human trafficking. They helped to deliver my still-born daughter and gave me a place to stay. They never asked what happened to me. I stayed as close as I could to Mary. She introduced me to a lot of people that became more like family to me."

Her wistful smile fell as she recalled the next part, "When she died, I was so lost. I had finally felt like I had a mother, but she was gone as soon as I had her. I clung to Mary Frances like a sister… but she died too. I thought it was my fault. I didn't know she and her mom both had AIDS. So I buried her body in the back early that morning. I cut my hair short and dyed it red like hers. I sold The Center to The city of LA under her name- and became Mary Frances Reyes."

"I hung out with Daddy Green and worked at his yard until they fixed up an old Peterbuilt for me… with a trailer. My boyfriend Jack works for him- that how I met him." The sting of unused tears still burned at the memory of her first adoptive father. He knew her so well, and now he was gone too. "So now, you know."

The finality of those words came to Saya's ears and her brows lowered in thought. This information needed to be relayed to Dr. Julia, but the girl had made her promise not to reveal it. Her mind worked over the problem as she mumbled, "Let's head back to Omoro. You really should talk to your father about this. He deserves to know."

The girl turned to walk beside Saya as they head back down the pier. Truly, she had thought, this burden would have felt lighter now, but part of her agreed. It was time she told Hagi, her father, the whole truth. How was he supposed to remember if he was looking for them in the wrong place. "Yeah," she breathed in agreement.

The two continued on as they seemed lost in thought, back to Omoro.