Phoenix stood in a darkened room. The curtains were shut, and he could smell something strange in the air... He wasn't quite sure what it was. He couldn't... He couldn't feel himself. Then, looking down, he saw nothing was there! His body had disappeared! He tried to scream, opening and shutting his mouth, eyes wide... But he had no mouth and eyes to move! None-existant tears were dripping from his none-existant eyes as he squirmed in mid-air, and then he saw something... A shadow in the dark room. A shadow in the corner of the room, creeping towards... what was it... a bed? The youth could see a sleeping figure on the bed... Fast asleep, unaware that the shadowy figure was going to do something! Phoenix wanted to save the sleeping person, a young child with curly red hair, he saw, but he couldn't do it! He was writhing, like a worm, in mid-air, trying to move, to save the innocent child! He couldn't let him die! A feeling of dread filled him, as the shadowy figure reached the bed... He had to cry out! He had to cry out, and save the child! But before it happened, Phoenix knew what was going to happen...

The shadowy figure's head sank to the child's neck, and a piercing scream filled the room, and Phoenix felt a feeling of ecstasy feeling his body as he watched, in desperation, as the child screamed and cried, and blood splattered all over the room, and the shadowy figure's deep laughter... Deep and sultry, brooding and evil... Who was this monster? Phoenix thought, as he struggled to be free of the invisible binds. Who was this evil being who could do this to a poor child and enjoy it? He hated the pleasure he was feeling as the shadowy figure drank the boy's blood, and he didn't know why he was being affected... He could never do that to an innocent child! An INNOCENT CHILD!

And then, as the shadowy figure sat up, and Phoenix saw his face... His heart practically stopped beating. A pale face, with high cheekbones, and blood running down from his lips... Long, shoulder length slightly wavy white blond hair, and eyes as red as the blood that splattered his face... It was him! He had just killed that child, just sucked his blood until he breathed no longer! And the Evil-Phoenix smiled a smile of pure malice at him, and walked towards him, eyes firmly on where Phoenix's eyes should've been.

"This is what you are, Phoenix." the vampire breathed, and Phoenix screwed up his face and screamed, long and hard, as he struggled to get away. That wasn't him! Not that twisted, empty, shell of a person... He could never kill a child like that! So thoughtlessly, as if this child could just sit up and walk away... He was gone. His family would mourn him! "This is who you are... embrace it."

And then, the dream shattered into thousands of pieces.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Phoenix woke up, and found sweat beading on his forehead. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead, as he sat up, and shook his head. Strangely, his hair was wet... But how? Then, a horrible thought occured to him, and, heart frozen, he looked down to his left... But Babette was sleeping peacefully next to him. She was breathing, he could see that, and there was no blood on her. Still, to reassure himself, he pressed one finger to her neck to check her pulse. It wasn't beating and he was terrified for a second, but then he remembered that her heart wasn't beating anyway- she was a vampire. "Babette?" Phoenix whispered. The girl grumbled in her sleep and turned over, and he sighed in relief. But why was his hair wet? Dreading the answer, he looked outside, and saw it was early morning. The sun was coming over the trees, and the woods were peaceful. The burnt out remains of their fire were still smouldering away, black in the morning sun. The river was flowing slowly and, yawning, he got up to go over to the river and wash whatever it was out of his hair... Pushing the tent flaps open, he made his way out into the sun... But then, the second he stepped out of the tent, he felt an indescribable pain searing through his body! It felt like he was on fire, like he was being boiled alive, as he shrieked and threw himself backwards into the tent. Looking at his arms, he saw ugly red welts were appearing on his pale skin... What had happened? They stung painfully, and he hissed in agony, a tear dribbling out of his left eye... He heard a soft yawn and turned his head to see Babette smiling sleepily at him.

"What's wrong?" she said, before yawning again like a little cat. He winced in pain, not looking her, as the rash on his skin sent another shock wave of pain through him. "Went outside... and it hurt." he replied pathetically, not bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes. He didn't know why: he'd just taken a step out of the door, and inhuman pain had filled him. Why? Would he ever be able to go outside again? What was going on? But then, she laughed quietly, and shook her head at him. "What? I can't ever go outside again, now!"

"You're such a drama queen." she chuckled, getting up and crawling over to him. Babette gently took his hand that was nursing his arm, and pulled it away. Like a baby, he let her, and watched her carefully as she stared at the rash. "Ahh, you shouldn't have gone outside. Vampires can't go out in the sun, remember?" From her pocket, she pulled a sticky yellow salve, dipped a finger in, and began to softly rub it onto the rash. It hurt for a second, before turning to delicious numbness. Phoenix moaned in pleasure as the pain slowly disappeared. Babette smiled grimly. "There. It'll sting, later, but this should take most of the pain away... What in the Void possessed you to go outside anyway? Did you..."

"I forgot." Phoenix replied, gritting his teeth as another stab of pain took him over again. The salve seemed to work in short bursts because, a second later, the pain went away. "I'm starving. Is there something we can eat?" then, he answered himself before the young vampire could reply. "I need blood, don't I? But we can't go out now, it's day... we'd burn." lying back down, he put his hands under his head. So... he was a vampire, now. Living off blood. His eyes would be red and he could feel his razor sharp incisors poking into his lip. And... he would live off blood. Silently, Phoenix wondered if his dream would come true, and he really would kill that little boy... no remorse... A strange, almost pleasant thought. Phoenix felt like his mind had changed: no longer did he feel slightly squeamish at the idea of blood. Murder, he wasn't sure he could live up to, but blood... He licked his lips. And this girl, Babette, who he'd only met yesterday but felt like he knew so well...

"Boy?" Babette said, illiciting a growl from Phoenix. He hated being called 'boy'. It made him feel young, weak, vulnerable... Not a pleasant feeling. But Babette seemed unfazed, because she leant over him, looking into his eyes. With a low chuckle, she brought a hand to his pale cheek, and stroked slowly. "You're such a perfect specimen..." she breathed. "So born for vampirism... You're even handsomer now."

Phoenix sniffed. He didn't hold much stock of "handsomness". He'd found it rather ridiculous when young things trailed after him, asking to be signed in intimate places just because he was goodlooking... He liked to be followed by people who admired his acrobatics, not the way he looked. He especially didn't like it when people he considered friends or, with this strange girl, even more, told him how attractive he was. He didn't need to be told he was.

Nevertheless, not wanting to seem pathetic by rebuffing her, he chuckled. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." he teased. She giggled at his outright flirt, and he laughed too. He loved her childish laugh. "How old are you?"

Silence. Phoenix knew that you should never ask a lady her age, after having his cheek slapped so hard it had been red for weeks when he asked one of the older dancers, completely innocently. However, with his new friend, why shouldn't he? She was only a kid, after all, of eleven years old by the look of her. So why was she blushing, eyes on the ground. Realising his mistake, he hastily amended, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend, I'm just..." what was he. Interested? What about Sylvia back home? But she didn't even like him, although they flirted frequently, but he got the impression that this kid... did. And he liked her. How could he like two girls at the same time?

"No, no. It's fine." Babette didn't sound fine. Her voice had taken on a cool element, and she gave him a slightly nasty look. Internally, Phoenix shook his head. He would never understand girls. "I'll tell you someday, perhaps. But you don't need to know at the moment. There are other things I have to tell you... about your vampirism."

"I almost forgot." he said sarcastically. She frowned at him, recognising the annoyance in his tone, and lay her head back against the tent canvas, looking into his eyes. Babette could sense something in this boy: a deep, bubbling fury and violence that... excited her. She missed the piercing green of his eyes, but the crimson colour that they were now... He really was like a phoenix. However, she couldn't help being a little irritated at his sarcasm. The young vampire glared at him. "No you didn't." she answered, her voice cutting. It was a bad comeback, and she knew it, but she was too tired and drained to think of anything better. He looked at her sideways, a half smile on his face. "I know." he replied shortly, then, sitting up he went to her, and sat crossed legged, eyebrows raised. "I want to know... Does it hurt people? When you... well..." he didn't want to say it. He knew he sounded pathetic, but he didn't want to hurt people. Even if he needed blood to survive, and that thought was appealing to him, but pain... He'd had pain himself, and he would not wish it on anyone else. As a child... well, to be an acrobat you must have a flexible body. So he'd had his limbs twisted and manipulated, pulled out of their sockets and put back in again, and... and it had been infernal. A screaming baby, having his limbs twisted into shape to be an acrobat... And he'd watched other babies having it done to them, and silently pitied them. He wouldn't wish that sort of pain on anyone. "Feed on people. Does it hurt them?"

Babette looked into his eyes. She couldn't quite tell if he was serious. There was something about him... something about him that she thought even he didn't recognise. Something embedded deep in those heavily lidded eyes, a madness and depravity that she'd seen when she'd turned him the night before... He didn't know himself at all. Phoenix didn't know his... potential. And, perhaps over time, she could help him realise it. But how would she answer that it hurt, it hurt a lot. Couldn't he remember how much it'd hurt when she'd bitten him? A feeling of annoyance bubbled up in her. Couldn't he remember anything that happened that night?

The girl wasn't sure whether to mollycoddle him, to lie and say that it didn't hurt in the slightest... But she couldn't lie to him. Not to this boy. What was it about him, that had made her pity him? She'd found him, a vulnerable boy, completely knocked out, lying in the middle of the road, covered in blood... So why had she decided to save him? They say that when a vampire finds it's mate, they know and turn them... But was this boy destined to be her mate? Perhaps, one day, this boy would kiss her as she had kissed him, and remember it completely... But she could never hold his child. That thought upset her slightly... Gods, she was getting ahead of herself. This boy, a handsome 14 year old, probably had a sweetheart back home... She wouldn't lie to him.

"Yes. It hurts a lot." she tried to skate around the details: the feeling as if your throat was being ripped out, the feeling of utmost agony as the fangs sink into your sweet flesh... She would put it simply, and try not to scare him. "It hurts a lot. But remember, boy, it isn't hurting you... and it's over too fast for them to notice much. All these humans, every single one of them..." she gestured in a random direction, and saw his eyes followed her hand. "Are cattle. Prey for us. And that's it." she hadn't lied, directly, although she had not gone into detail. She couldn't tell him the rest, for fear that he may kill himself to escape from his bloodsucking future. But, as she looked at his face, he didn't seem shocked... He seemed intrigued.

"Boy...?" she said, her voice hopeful. Perhaps he wasn't as wimpy as she'd originally presume? Phoenix didn't look sickened, not at all. Interested, curious, yes, but not scared or disgusted. He wasn't looking at her, though. He was looking through the tent flaps, eyes slightly clouded over. He was thinking about something. "Boy?" he turned his head around slowly, and Babette felt an unwilling thrill of fear pass through her. He had a smile on his face. Not a great beaming grin, more of a smirk, but it was there. Her heart was not beating, but if she'd been alive, it would have been. His probably still just about beat, because he was newly turned, but it would stop, soon. It took 72 or so hours to be fully transformed. And now... he would be 14 forever. Better than being eleven for eternity.

"Yes?" his voice was brooding, offhand, as if he wasn't really paying attention. Babette could tell his mind was on other things. She didn't reply, not letting her gaze fall from his face. He was looking straight back at her, although dreamily, and she was slightly worried that his hunger for blood included her as a possible feeding victim. His eyes certainly looked hungry.

"You can't feed on other vampires." Babette's voice came out in a high squeak, and she coughed, trying to regain her usual drawl. "Err... Because we don't really have bl-" "I'm not going to feed on you." the girl relaxed. She'd been worried for a moment... but then again, he was certainly capable of lying. A murderer always was. "Babette, I'm hungry. Can we go find someone to... kill?" The words that emerged from his lips were almost unwilling. But a shy smile emerged onto his face, and he blushed, a little embarrassed. Babette looked at him for a moment, from under heavy eyelids... then smiled.

"Yes. But tonight. For now, come. Let's get some rest first." and, leaning back, she yawned slightly, as she had when Phoenix woke her. "Sleep well, boy." But before she could hit the ground, Phoenix crawled forwards, and placed an arm around her back. "Can I...?" she nodded, a small smile on her lips, as she opened her eyes and looked into his. Slowly, he lay down too, and they lay in each other's arms, like lovers, foreheads pressing together. Both shut their eyes and, soon, sweet sleep overtook them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Astrid?" Astrid turned around, to see a blond youth with startling blue eyes behind her. Silvanus. She smiled coyly at the appearence of her lover, then turned her head around again, swinging her legs over the side of the Void to stare down onto Nirn. She was rather pleased about how everything was turning out. Lukos and Babette had met, and now her son would surely be initiated into the Brotherhood... the young vampire seemed rather taken with him already. Astrid did not approve of his vampirism, but there was little she could do about it, apart from throw something at Scarlett and hope that the girl understood the hidden meaning... Or not.

The Nord woman felt a warmth beside her and, glancing sideways, she saw her lover was sitting next to her, staring into the same spot as her, eyes intense. Feeling her gaze, Silvanus looked around at her, and grinned. "He grew up fast." he chuckled, and Astrid laughed, and leaned her head in towards him. Resting on his shoulder, she sighed. "Ysabel started walking today." she said, a happy smile on her face. Silvanus raised his eyebrows at Astrid, confused at his partner's sudden compassion. She'd never been this happy when any of their other grandchildren started walking or talking or were born... She'd made a suitably huge fuss about Lukos, but otherwise... He snorted, and she laughed too. Then, suddenly, she bit her lip.

"I wish we were back on Nirn. Except for the fact we'd be ancients by now... Well, I would."
"Vain as ever, Astrid." Silvanus said, mock tutting her. She sniffed, and looked down, thoughtful. "No. I'd have made you bite me, or Babette. Do a Scarlett." Astrid muttered. Why is it that both of her children had become vampires? "Yes, we all know you like to shout at her. I think she can hear you." Silvanus teased. Then, for a second, he paused. "I think EVERYONE can hear you." Seeing the murderous look in her eyes, he put up his hands. "Sorry! Sorry! I... I love you...? DON'T KILL ME!"

Silvanus nearly got pushed out of the Void for that one.

!NOTE FROM LACHANCE!
Sorry about the huge delay! I've been extremely busy. Everyone goes on about "luck of the Irish" but that doesn't stop me getting huge writers block... I didn't have enough words (I always do 3000+ per chapter), so I did a small, slightly (alright, not...) humourous part with Astrid and Silvanus. I can just imagine them. Most of their stuff will be for comedy purposes only, to lighten up the evil atmosphere with everyone else, and we'll have some Arcturus, Lucien Lachance, and Falkreath Sanctuary members guest-starring in their little bits. Next chapter will be out Monday, probably, Tuesday latest. It will be more action-y than this one, this is just a filler to make Babette and Phoenix's relationship bigger... And yes, Silvanus and Astrid call Phoenix Lukos, because that is his actual name :) Astrid :p