!NOTE FROM LACHANCE!
TO DRAGON- YEAHH, I STOPPED CALLING MYSELF ASTRID AT THE END! NEED TO START DOING IT AGAIN :) FELL OUT OF HABIT, I GUESS. PS. SOMETHING EXCITING HAPPENS IN THIS CHAPTER. YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE WHO APPEARS...

"And so what happens now?"

It had been days since Phoenix had transformed. Not much had happened since the initial feeding on the young red haired boy, and the youth was growing impatient. What did Babette intend to do- stay there forever? That was possible, what with their immortal life-spans. But Phoenix didn't want to stay by this boring riverside forever. His personality, much to both of their joy, had remained, although it had... twisted a little. He was aggravated, and he could practically feel his fangs itching. He wanted to kill someone... But most of all, he wanted to do some acrobatics. He'd never gone so long without doing a flip or a roll, apart from the meagre cartwheel he'd done a few days ago, and he wanted to so badly... Everything was feeling... cushy. He'd had as much as he wanted to eat, he could sleep in whenever, and she told fantastic stories, but... He wanted to LIVE some of those stories! She'd seen the world so many times, but he wanted to see it for himself. No matter what his feelings for her were.

"So what happens now?"

He'd not meant to ask her in that tone. His voice had sounded commanding, angry, bitter... Phoenix didn't like his own tone, and wanted to scold himself, somehow. Ever since he'd become a vampire, things had... changed. He was no longer as lighthearted as he had once been, and he was thirsty for blood. The boy felt weakened. And he didn't like to feel weak. Not any more.

Babette frowned at him, and yawned in the evening moon. Her fangs showed, as her pink tongue stretched like a cats. Eventually, she shook her head, looking at him. Their eyes, both crimson, met, but Phoenix looked away quickly. He couldn't stand the resentment in her eyes. Maybe she would have liked to stay there forever- he didn't know. But the look on her face was hurt, and he didn't like her being that way, even though he didn't want to stay by that riverside forever. "Patience." she muttered, her voice sharp. "Try and have some patience."

He spat on the ground, and got up, pacing back and forth with a scowl on his good looking face. He could hear her cutting words in his head over and over again: patience. Patience. He didn't have any patience left! When he next whipped around, he saw a softer look in her eyes as she looked at him. She bit her lip, and it began to bleed. Phoenix felt a strange urge to go and lick the blood off her plump lips, but he knew that would seem sexual, although all he really wanted was the blood. He knew that another vampire's blood wouldn't nourish him, but perhaps it would quench this damn thirst... He looked hungrily at her neck, ignoring the gentle look on her face. Babette noticed this, and hastily, knowing he could now overcome her with ease, pulled her dress up to cover her neck. Phoenix laughed cruelly and turned around, to face a tree. Slowly and deliberately, he banged his head against it repeatedly, hoping she would notice. However, when he eventually turned around, he saw she was resting her feet in the shallows of the river, and staring idly into the running water. With an angry hiss, he stormed over to her, and placed himself next to her, a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Oh isn't this fun!" Phoenix said in a mocking voice, raising his arms in the air. "Let's just sit here and watch the river forever! It's not like I want to live my life, not at all..." he was brought off by the look of anger in her eyes. Quietly, he chastised himself. Sometimes, this strange new existance ran away with him... He really didn't want to be nasty to her. In his own way, he liked her... Maybe even loved her. He didn't know. There was something about that girl... And now he was being horrible to her, for no apparent reason other than he was annoyed that she seemed to be enjoying this peaceful life. Phoenix shook his head to himself. He would NEVER understand girls. "I'm sorry, Babette, I..."

"It's fine." but the cold tone in her voice told him clearly that it wasn't. He waited for a moment, thinking. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he coughed awkwardly. He'd been thinking about it for a while... Well, Babette. The mystery of Babette. Why had she been out on the road? Well, she was a vampire, but she seemed to know enough about real life to not be one of those savages living in the woods... And why on earth had she chosen to save him, when she could have just left him there to die, or drained him of his blood and moved on? Somehow, he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to know the answers. There were things about the young vampire that already shocked and disturbed him, even though he was a night-spawn himself... What if the answers were as horrifying as his existence?

Laying his head back on the ground, he shut his eyes and heard the sound of water running downstream. It soothed his ears, as a cool, night breeze tickled his face. Then, something else did. Opening his eyes, he saw that Babette was leaning over him, her brown hair against his cheek, brushing his pale skin. She was looking at him intensely, a small frown on her young face. It was not an angry frown, more of a curious one, like a small child observing something strange or mysterious... Perhaps, if a random person came along, that would be what it would look like. A small child and a demon. Phoenix smiled at her, and felt her moving to sit on his chest. Her chestnut hair moved away from his face, and he immediately missed the sweet fragrance of her hair. She looked down at him, tilting her head to one side.

"You don't look much different." she observed. "Paler, and your eyes are red and your teeth are like fangs... But otherwise, you're the same on the outside."

Immediately, Phoenix felt awkward. Was she making an observation about his looks, or about how he'd changed inside? But she wasn't talking anymore, she was just gazing steadily down into his face, a small smile on her lips. She leant down, and kissed his forehead. Phoenix felt the place she had touched with her lips burn, and a grin emerged on his own face. They looked at each other, and all the anger had melted away. Finally, after many minutes, Babette rolled off him, and went over to the stream. She sat in the place she had before, and just stared into the water. Lying in place for a second, the youth stared happily up at the night sky, before getting to his feet and walking over to his friend. He looked down at her, still on his feet, and she rolled her head back to look straight back at him. Then, Babette looked back into the river, eyes determined. Phoenix could tell she was thinking.

"Penny for your thoughts." he whispered, sitting down behind her and pressing his torso against her back. He spoke straight into her ear, and a smirk appeared on her face. For a few seconds, they sat in silence, before Babette finally said something.

"Haven't you ever wondered where I'm from?" she said slyly, leaning back against him. Her head went onto his shoulder, and the vampire spoke straight into his own ear, like he had done her. "And why I found you, and why I spared you? I could've drained every last drop of your blood... But I didn't. Do you think you know... why?" she was playing with him, like a cat does a mouse. If any person had seen the two of them together, they would have guessed it would be Phoenix doing the playing... But if they got a little closer, they would see the sly smile on Babette's face, and the look of triumph, too.

Phoenix wanted to tell her that he'd been asking himself those very questions only seconds ago, but he was in the mood to play. Bringing one hand up to stroke her cheek, he shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know. Thought I was too beautiful to leave behind?" he teased, and she laughed. He laughed too, and pretended to guess again, putting on a slow voice. "Uhhh... Alright, here's my guess. You're actually a middle aged Orc man who was transformed by Azura to look like a young vampire. You came from the Bards College, where you were training to show everyone your amazing skills with the piccolo, but were thwarted in your plans by Sheogarath himself when he dumped a bag of faeces on your head. Ashamed, you came into the wilderness and found me, and was so captivated by my handsomness-" he was playing up to it now, acting out his own little drama, snorting with laughter, on an imaginary stage. "That you decided to kidnap me and keep me as your sex-slave until the day I die... But you thought of that, and turned me into a vampire. Cunning, oh so cunning..."

The youth was stopped in his facade when Babette tackled him to the ground, and they fell into a laughing heap. Eventually, when they stopped shaking with laughter, Phoenix (who was a natural actor) sat up straight and pulled a completely solemn face. "But of course... that's just a theory."

"Well, I'm afraid to tell you, your theory is incorrect."

Phoenix nearly wet himself with fear as an feminine, sultry, dark voice filled his ears. Frozen, he saw Babette, too, freeze as she looked around wildly, searching for whoever had spoken... But could see nothing. Nobody was there, that they could see at least.

"Intriguing, though. I never thought Babette was a middle aged Orc man."

How... how did this voice know Babette? Turning in shock to his vampire friend, he saw that the fear was gone from her face, replaced by a grin of welcome. She got up, and held out her arms, shaking her head at the blackness. Not understanding what was going on, Phoenix stared at her in disbelief, trying to work out what was going on... Who was this voice? Why was Babette finding this so amusing?

"Come out, Scarlett." the vampire girl said, tutting mockingly. "It's not polite to hide from your friends."

And then, as quickly as the voice had come, a figure appeared in the darkness. Phoenix squinted to try and see her better, but all he could see was her figure: a nice figure. Slim, but curvy, and about medium height, with a slight slink in her walk. Somehow, although he had not seen her face, he could already picture her in his minds-eye. For this voice, as he had realised only seconds ago... Was the voice of his Goddess. It was unmistakeable. That alto voice, so calmly evil, was like ambrosia to his ears. But who was she, who was she truly? If he was alive, his heart would have sped up, as he watched the woman moving towards them. She was dressed in tight leather armour, in a black and red pattern with two daggers at her waist. A cowl covered her face, with a strip of red material covering her nose and mouth. She was watching him carefully, and her eyes were narrowed... Then he noticed something. They were as red as his own. 'Scarlett' got closer to him and in a few seconds, was standing at his feet, looking down at him lying on the floor with amusement in her eyes.

"So you're who has been keeping Babette so busy." her voice gave him chills. Especially when it was directed at him. Suddenly, he felt very shy, and felt his cheeks reddening. Who. Was. This. Woman? And why wasn't Babette doing anything about it? She sounded almost flirtatious, so why wasn't the young vampire doing anything about it? He gulped, watching her. "You must be quite someone to be able to distract our Babette." she chuckled to herself, and Phoenix heard Babette laugh too.

"Honestly, Scarlett, you know how to intimidate people..." They both laughed again and Phoenix, feeling as if they were laughing at him, climbed to his feet. He wouldn't show this woman that he was afraid of her (even though he was). He looked at her in the eyes, and saw her raise her blonde eyebrows in an arch. She nodded at him, and he could see the smile in her eyes. Then, she turned around to talk to Babette, and he suddenly felt as if he was in the dark.

"I was worried. You'd been weeks." Scarlett sounded concerned. Babette smirked. Although the now grown up Scarlett was almost exactly the same as Astrid had been in looks and in personality and demeanour, she had moments of childishness that really made the young vampire laugh. She would never forget the nine year old Speaker running around the sanctuary screaming because there was a spider in her room. Lis the Frostbite Spider had eaten it for them (the thing apparently didn't have any problems with cannibalism). And now, grown up, flirtatious Scarlett just made her think of Astrid. When they were alone together, Scarlett would be as childish as ever. It was almost cute, and it was one of the things that Babette liked most about her.

"I was fine. You shouldn't worry." even in situations where Babette should be the younger one, being comforted, it always ended up the other way round. It was a thing between the two of them, that they both rather enjoyed.

"Still, it's annoying. You don't just abandon a Brotherhood mission, Bet. I nearly got killed myself by the stupid contract. Talking about deadlines and all that... Still, it would be a lot easier if we still had a Listener."

Taking in these words, Phoenix froze.

The Brotherhood.

The Dark Brotherhood.

Babette and this woman Scarlett were from the Dark Brotherhood.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So Scarlett's back! Wooooo... *sees I'm the only one cheering* Ah well. Sorry about the delay on this one, next chapter will be out on Monday. Hope you liked this chapter, reviews are what keeps me going! Astrid :) Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, a lot going on at the moment :/