19
A sound, loud and high-pitched, startled everyone out of his or her sleep the next morning. Evelyn opened her eyes fearfully and looked up to see a mighty dragon through the canopy of leaves above her. He was gliding effortlessly through the air, his red eyes piercing across the land beneath him.
Evelyn opened her mouth instinctively to cry out, but she was stopped immediately by a hand over her mouth.
"It's him!" she whispered, face ashen with fear.
"I know. Shh…" Vorian said in hushed tones, holding his hand tightly over her mouth, preventing her from getting up from her lying down position.
"Everyone quiet," Leont shushed.
The group beneath the canopy watched in silence as the great creature flicked his wings gently and then shot higher up into the air, issuing another hair-raising cry as he did so. No one made a sound as the beast flew out of sight, disappearing entirely from view.
"Is he gone?" Trinity asked, clinging to Jareth's arm as the seconds passed.
"Leont? You have exceptional hearing. Is he gone?" Jareth asked, glancing over Trinity's hair to look at the vampire.
"He's gone," Leont nodded. "That was close."
"We need to find some way to get out of here, or at least find a way to stop Tesla," Jareth said, standing up slowly and gazing up at the sky. "What can destroy dragons?"
"Nothing but water," Vorian said quickly. "Evelyn? Evelyn, are you all right?"
She was gasping for breath, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushing viciously.
"Ev?" Trinity exclaimed, grabbing her friend's hands. "Say something?"
"I'm…I'm okay…" Evelyn whispered, closing her eyes as cold sweat trickled down her forehead. "Breakfast anyone?"
XxXxX
Leont watched, purple eyes glowing, as his companions ate more coconut for breakfast. He had tried the fruit and had found it to be very distasteful. He needed something sweet, something with a bit of a tang, something…well, something bloody.
Vorian, towards mid morning, came up with a somewhat helpful solution to the vampire's craving. There was a stream running not too far away from the shelter, and it ran straight down to the ocean. Vorian correctly thought that the stream had salt in it, and so, for over an hour, he worked his tired magic to procure some salt for Leont. He entertained Jareth, Trinity, Evelyn and Leont as he tried for that long space of time to extract the salt out of the water. The water would shift across Vorian's hand and leave in its wake a small, almost insignificant bit of salt. It was noticeable to everyone that the whole procedure wore on the Fae, but he wouldn't give up.
When the hour was over, Vorian had a handful of salt, and this he promptly gave to Leont. Leont's eyes sparkled with delight as he took the salt from Vorian. Vorian then collapsed on the ground, muscles twitching weakly. Leont brought the salt up to his face and quickly devoured the whole pile, somewhat subduing his craving. It did hardly anything to fill up his stomach, however, but he didn't complain and didn't mention it. He seemed to be doing quite well…and then it happened.
Trinity got scratched. It was very simple really. She was walking towards one of the trees to gather some mangoes when she tripped on a root. She fell, scratching her knee in the process. There was hardly any blood, just a drop or two, but the scratch, wet and glittering, was all it took. Jareth rapidly dropped at her side and wrapped up the exposed cut, but he was too late. A gentle breeze carried the scent to Leont's acute nose, and the vampire took a full step forcefully back. His eyes darkened to an amazing degree, and his mouth went dry before it was filled with poisonous saliva.
Blood. He needed blood, needed it badly, and Trinity had just given him a whiff of it. It smelled sweet, smelled…heavenly. He wanted it, wanted it so much, wanted it dearly…
"Leont," Vorian interrupted, and Leont shook his head violently, trying to come back to his senses. "You all right?" Vorian asked, concerned.
"Oh, um, yes. Just fine, thank you," Leont said uncomfortably. "Is she…" He glanced at Trinity's exposed leg and then looked away, trying to fight images of her scratch out of his mind. "Is she well?"
"She's fine. I'm worried about you. Are you all right? Really and truly?" Vorian asked, putting a hand on Leont's shoulder.
"I'm perfectly well, thank you Vorian," Leont smiled and then shook his head again.
XxXxX
The rest of the day passed in misery for Leont. He engaged in different conversations with liveliness and amusement, but his mind was only focused on one thing. He did his best to avoid looking at Trinity's leg, struggled beyond explanation not to look at her neck or Evelyn's. His self-control was commendable and honorable, but there was none to see it, none to understand the battle that was raging within him. He didn't want to hurt anyone, indeed, he loathed that he even was a vampire, but his instincts were screaming at him to eat, to drink, and they were very nearly consuming him.
By the time night was come, Leont had separated himself as far away as he could from the other beings. He sat across the fire from all four of them, not daring to look at either Trinity or Evelyn. The others didn't understand his struggles, and it was in complete innocence that Jareth asked, "Leont? Have you any dances that you could perhaps teach us? The weather is perfect for a dance, and I thought you might perchance know some that we do not."
"I do know several dances," Leont said, shifting uncomfortably on his log. "I do not know that you would have me teach them, however."
"Oh, please do, Leont!" Trinity exclaimed, having seen Leont's surly mood and wanting to make him feel better. "We would love to learn a new dance."
"Very well. Jareth, take Trinity's left hand in your left hand. Pull away from her, then pull her towards you and twirl her. Take another step back and then pull in close to her, spinning elegantly about her," Leont instructed.
Jareth and Trinity attempted the dance steps, but Jareth couldn't quite grasp the whole "spinning elegantly about her" part, and so, with a sigh, Leont stood up and moved towards Trinity.
"Might I demonstrate, Jareth?"
"Please do," Jareth said, stepping away and handing Trinity over to Leont.
Leont took Trinity's hand and then bent low. He kissed her hand, and tears nearly formed in his eyes when he smelled her skin. Her skin, which had been torn earlier and was now scarlet…
Leont stood up rapidly and then cleared his throat.
"Let us begin, Miss Trinity."
The two began to move together, working as a perfect team. Every single one of Leont's moves was smooth and graceful, absolutely charming. Trinity was nearly entranced as they danced about the fire. The man's eyes were shining marvelously, showing clearly that they were purple, even in the night darkness. He looked every inch a vampire, dressed all in black, his black hair shining in the firelight.
A feeling overcame the young woman, a sudden feeling of helplessness. It startled her to feel so strangely, and she found that when she looked in Leont's eyes, she couldn't look away. It frightened her, and she looked away as frequently as she could, letting him move her without looking into his face.
Jareth soon took Leont's place, and he moved fluidly with Trinity, though not as elegantly as Leont had. Leont immediately went back to his seat, feeling sick. He was extremely hungry, and he had nearly smelled Trinity's blood beneath her skin when he had kissed her hand.
As soon as the dancing was finished, Trinity and Evelyn moved a short distance away from the men and prepared to go to sleep. Both women lay down on the mossy ground and gazed up at the stars, their hands behind their heads. They were far enough away from the men to speak without the men hearing them.
"You and Jareth looked really good, Trin," Evelyn said with a smile as she watched the stars dazzling above.
"It is so much fun to dance with him," Trinity grinned. "It makes me feel so much closer. It's like I can see right through him when we dance. I never did get to see you and Vorian dance together. Perhaps you should do that for us sometime?"
"No," Evelyn said with a sigh. "I danced because I had to."
"And you didn't enjoy it at all when you did?"
"Given the situation, no. We were dancing to remain hidden from Raiv. You know that."
"But what about when he was teaching you how to dance, behind the waterfall?" Trinity asked, turning and facing her friend.
"That…that was okay," Evelyn said uncertainly, with a shrug.
"Just okay?"
"All right, so I enjoyed it. It was…really nice," Evelyn said quietly, closing her eyes and remembering. "That place, with the water and the glittering stone walls, was magic. I felt so safe and at peace there. It didn't bother me that Vorian was caring for me. I wasn't afraid, even though he slept only a short distance away from me. I was perfectly fine there. Anything could have happened in that cave, and I would have been happy."
"Of course, it did help that Vorian was there," Trinity teased.
"Oh please!" Evelyn laughed and slapped her friend gently on the arm. "Good night, Trinity."
"Night, Evelyn."
Evelyn rolled over and closed her eyes.
"Yes, Vorian made it better," she whispered to herself as she drifted into sleep. "He always makes it better."
XxXxX
Four hours passed, four hours of not sleeping, four hours of battling with inner instincts. Leont couldn't sleep when everyone else did, and his vampire instincts only intensified at night. His eyes could see a thousand times better in the darkness, and his smell, his keen sense of smell, could pick up every heat wave, every drop of blood.
He waged a battle like none other with himself. Yes, there were four other beings with him, two of which would have been simple prey and delightful meals. But they were trying to help him, and he couldn't overstep his gentleman manners and touch them. Especially not when they were asleep. It was entirely disrespectful to approach women in their sleep, especially one who was engaged to marry another. But, there was Evelyn, and she wasn't engaged to anyone.
No! No, he wouldn't hurt the girls! He couldn't! What kind of a monster was he?
But he wanted food. He needed blood to survive. His hunger was driving him to madness, and without much choice, Leont stood up from his resting place and moved quietly towards the sleeping women. He drifted like a shadow over Jareth and Vorian's sleeping forms, and then stopped, eyeing his prey for just a moment before he went in for the kill.
Trinity was lying on her back, one arm covering her eyes, her long black hair folded about her arms and shoulders. Evelyn was also on her back, her head tilted back slightly, letting the moonlight illuminate her neck.
Leont's fangs dripped with poison as he moved to Evelyn's side and then dropped down, eyes glowing with near insanity as he lowered his head towards the woman's neck. Something stopped him from taking what he wanted, however. An image of Tesla pressing his lips against Evelyn's throat struck a chord of pity in Leont, and he moved away from her, turning immediately to Trinity. Evelyn had been through enough torment as it was, but Trinity had been untouched, which would make her taste all the better.
As Leont moved away from Evelyn, his cloak brushed gently against the girl's cheek. She opened her eyes, just in time to see a large shadowed form kneeling down next to Trinity.
"Jareth?" Evelyn whispered and let out a gasp of surprise when Leont turned to face her, his eyes glowing with the lust for blood.
"Trinity!" the woman screamed, struggling to get to her feet. "Trinity!"
Trinity's eyes snapped open and she let out a scream when she saw how close Leont's face was to her own. She began to struggle to her feet, but she needn't have, for Leont grabbed her by her forearms and lifted her violently off the ground. The women's screaming had forced aside all of his self-control, and he was about as uncontrollable now as a shark was when he smelled blood.
With one long stride, Leont slammed Trinity hard against a tree, pinning her easily into place with his muscular body.
"Jareth!" Trinity screamed, struggling against the man as the vampire lowered his mouth to her neck. "Jareth!"
Evelyn (now on her feet) rushed to Leont and grabbed him by the back of his shoulders. She tried as hard as she could to pry Leont away from Trinity, to distract him, but the man's mind was completely gone, and she couldn't make him budge.
Both women were now screaming hysterically, but one scream was all it took for Jareth and Vorian to wake up and jump to their feet.
Trinity struggled with all her might to pull free of Leont, but it was useless. She tried dropping to the ground, but he wouldn't let her move. She would have used her arms and hands to hit him, but he held her so solidly, the poor girl couldn't move worth a centimeter. She screamed at Leont and called his name, trying desperately to get some sense into him, but the vampire was in too much of a frenzy to hear her. He opened his mouth, his long fangs glistening in the moonlight, and then pressed his mouth solidly to her neck.
Trinity froze in terror, not hearing anything or seeing anything. The only thing she could do was feel his icy cold lips against her skin, and she closed her eyes tightly, waiting for him to bite her and, in the long run, kill her.
"Leont!" Jareth shouted, jumping to Leont's side and pushing the vampire forcefully. "Leont! Get off her!"
He punched Leont hard in the chest and then withdrew his aching hand. Leont was as solid as a rock, and Jareth became desperate as he heard Leont growl, still clinging to Trinity, preparing to take his first bite.
"Vorian!" Jareth panicked, looking over to Vorian, who was uselessly throwing himself against Leont's other side.
"It's no use!" Vorian shouted. "He's too strong! We'll have to go at him together!"
Jareth nodded, and then both men flung themselves against Leont.
Leont lost his hold on Trinity, and another blow from the Fae men sent him crashing to the ground. He became outraged, still in his drunken frenzy, and lashed out at the men. Jareth and Vorian had to fight hard to keep Leont to the ground while at the same time avoiding his venomous teeth. Jareth managed to throw a hard punch at Leont's face, and immediately, as if waking up from a dream, Leont's eyes cleared and he stopped fighting.
"Good heavens!" Leont exclaimed, noticing that both Vorian and Jareth were pinning him down. "What in the world…"
"Jareth!" Evelyn shouted, terror in her voice. "Jareth, she's hurt!"
"You idiot!" Jareth scowled and then pulled away from Leont, moving immediately to Trinity.
"Oh no!" Leont gasped. "I didn't…I couldn't have…"
"Just stay there," Vorian ordered, standing up and moving to Trinity.
Trinity was sitting on the ground, stunned, with a few lone drops of blood dripping from a small cut on her neck.
"He got her," Jareth snarled. "His venom's probably running through her right now."
"We have to do something!" Evelyn gasped, wrapping her arms tightly around Trinity. "What can we do?"
"Vorian?" Jareth asked, looking to his friend.
Vorian didn't look at him, for he was gazing at something in his hand. Upon having seen the blood on Trinity's neck, he had immediately raced to the nearby stream and gathered up some water in his hands. It magically stayed in his palms, not leaking out through the cracks in between his fingers. The water prince was concentrating hard on the liquid in his hands, moving it gently, thoughtfully.
"Jareth," he spoke calmly. "I'm going to put this on her wound. It will hurt insanely, but it will draw all of the venom out of her blood. Evelyn, keep holding Trinity. Don't let her move. Jareth, find some way to distract her. Tesla could still be flying about this area, and the last thing we want now is for him to come swooping down in the middle of a procedure."
"Oh God, please help!" Evelyn whispered, gazing up from the stars as she tightened her hold on Trinity and then buried her face in her friend's back. She would do her part to help save Trinity, but she didn't want to see what it was that would cause Trinity so much pain.
Vorian dropped down next to Trinity and then let the water, completely blue, trickle into Trinity's open wound. The woman's eyes widened with pain, and she opened her mouth to scream, but before a word could come out, Jareth pressed his mouth against hers, muffling her cries.
"Vorian, how long is this going to take?" Evelyn asked, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she felt Trinity's shoulders heaving beneath her.
"No longer than a minute. That's why it hurts so much," Vorian said, kneeling near Trinity's neck so he could watch her wound.
Just as he had said, less than a minute later, a blue tear fell from Trinity's neck and landed harmlessly on the dirt. Jareth felt Trinity breathe a sigh, and he moved away from her face, brushing back some damp hair as he did so.
Trinity's eyes were still closed tightly, but she opened them a few seconds later and looked into Jareth's eyes calmly.
"Oh, thank the Underground!" Jareth exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, my darling!"
Trinity rested her head against him for a moment, but then pulled free of his arms. She marched over to where Leont lay in the dirt, watching them.
"You worthless, brainless, stupid, selfish leech!" she yelled at him, stomping her bare foot. "You scared the freaking crap out of me! What the heck is wrong with you! It's your fault that we're stuck here, and we were kind enough to let you hide from that stupid dragon with us! You know what? I'm glad you left your chick because let me tell you if she has half a brain she'd want to move a million miles away from what you've become! A little self-control, please!" Then she stomped to the fallen log, a little ways away from everyone else, and sat down, crossing her arms and legs, fuming.
Leont was left alone, shocked and ashamed. How could he have lost control like that? He hadn't understood some of what Trinity had yelled at him, but she was right; he was worthless. He pulled himself into a sitting position and let his face fall into his hands.
Jareth blinked, a little put off by the fact that his fiancé had just gone up and yelled at a man who was infinitely stronger than she was, and had almost succeeded in killing her. Still, he knew this was her way of dealing with terror and fear. When she yelled at people, she was almost always very frightened. He gave her a few minutes to cool off, then went and wrapped his arms around her again. This time, she sniffed and buried her face in his shirt.
Evelyn stood and went to Leont. She felt sorry for the vampire. Really, he couldn't help what had just happened; it really wasn't his fault that he hadn't eaten in a while. What he needed was an alternate energy source, and Evelyn thought she had something that would help.
Vorian wasn't about to let Evelyn get anywhere near Leont by herself, and so he followed close behind her. The woman knelt in front of Leont, carefully downwind.
"Leont?" she asked.
He looked up, and she saw great pain in his purple eyes. "Yes?"
Evelyn reached into her pocket, and drew out a waterproof oilskin. "I found this on the tray of food you sent up for us in the cave. Do you like Black Pearl tea?"
The vampire smiled wryly. "Never had much care for the stuff. It was always very weak. But I thought one of you would, perchance, take a liking to it."
Evelyn raised her eyebrows. Black Pearl tea steeped quickly, and was normally very strong. "Why don't you try steeping it longer? I mean, to the point where it would be way too strong for any of us to tolerate, but maybe you'd like it better. There's also some cinnamon in there we can add to it."
Leont wasn't sure of it would work, but he was up to try anything. Evelyn located an empty coconut shell, and filled it with water from the stream. Then she handed it to Vorian.
"Can you boil the water?" she asked, "And get the salt out of it?"
Vorian nodded. Those were two pretty simple tasks, and would take hardly any effort. When he'd removed the salt, Evelyn dumped the Black Pearl tealeaves into the coconut shell, along with the dusting of cinnamon she had in the oilskin. In no time, Vorian had the water boiling nicely, without boiling over, and it turned a warm brown color with the tea. He handed the shell (which wasn't hot at all despite the boiling water in it) to Leont when it had boiled for a full minute.
"There," Evelyn said, "Now by the time that cools off, it should have steeped plenty. It will be much too strong for any of us, anyways."
Leont nodded, and blew delicately on the tea. After a while, he tried sipping it hesitantly. When he tasted it, his eyes widened.
"My goodness!" he said, "This is wonderful! And so filling!" Without hesitating, he gulped the whole lot of the brew, and then rubbed his stomach as if he had had a full meal. And indeed he had; for the tea had done the trick and filled him completely.
Evelyn laughed. "There, an alternate energy source. Now," she looked over at Jareth, who was still holding Trinity, "I think you owe someone an apology."
Leont nodded, and stood to walk over to the goblin king and the human he held in his arms. When he reached them, Jareth visibly tensed, and Trinity glared at the vampire, although she shrank back from him.
"My dear Trinity," the vampire said cordially, sweeping an elegant bow, "I daresay I owe you an apology. I am deeply sorry for losing control over myself like that. Please believe that it will never happen again. Your friend Evelyn has discovered an alternate food source for me, and I am very much full right now."
Trinity narrowed her eyes, and looked over at Evelyn. Her friend nodded, shrugging her shoulders. The small woman looked back at the vampire, and tentatively extended her hand.
"You're forgiven," she said quietly.
Leont took her hand and shook it, not daring to kiss her hand again. "A thousand thanks, my lady." Then he walked back to where he normally sat while the others slept, and made himself comfortable for the night.
Trinity looked up at Jareth, bewildered.
He was just as shocked as she was, but gave her a nervous grin and a kiss on the nose.
She giggled nervously, then stood as Vorian walked over to Jareth. The water prince nodded to her as she moved back to Evelyn, and he took his place next to Jareth.
"I want to sleep in between him and the women," he muttered.
The goblin king nodded, and they discreetly got up and moved to a place between the vampire and their women.
Trinity plopped down next to Evelyn, still nervous. "Is he going to be okay for the rest of the night?" she asked quietly, shivering.
The twenty-four year old shrugged. "I can't tell you. And Vorian and Jareth were barely able to hold him off last time. I guess all we can do is trust him, and hope help comes soon."
Her nineteen-year-old companion nodded, and they huddled extra close to each other to sleep.
a/n: Black Pearl Tea is actually very good. If you are a fan of herbal tea, you should go buy some and try it. true, it's REALLY strong and i only steep mine for like half of what it says to on the box, but still. it's good.