Children of the Night II

Adam

Annabeth Chase was nothing like Celine had described her to be. She had told Adam of Athena's chosen daughter's many tales. Of how she had saved the world more times than they could count. How Annabeth Chase should not be underestimated by anyone. How anyone stupid enough to take a werewolf on by themselves without any silver on them could save the world multiple times was beyond him.

Regardless of what he thought, this was something that Adam couldn't ignore. There hadn't been a demigod vampire in a long time. Hundreds if not thousands of years. It had been that long. But it must've been the first time in history that a demigod was turned into a royal vampire. A chill ran down Adam's back. A vampire with the blood of a deity and the Fallen Angel himself. Adam didn't want to think about what could happen if the Olympians decided to wage war against his people. He didn't know who would win, but he did know one thing.

Lucifer didn't take kindly to his children being harmed.

Adam made his way through the pitch black hallway towards the center of their hideout. All along the cavernous ceilings were bats of all kinds and sizes. The walls were smeared with dried up blood. Every so often there would be an unlit candle embedded into the wall with a bat perched on it. Even in the black of night, Adam could see perfectly fine, like it was daylight. Though he did notice that a lot of newborn vampires had trouble with this fact.

He stopped in front of a fountain. It was a multi-tiered roman style fountain with elegantly carved marble stone and etchings into the side. In the center was the statue of a half-naked woman clad only in a cloth. Spouting from her mouth was the only liquid that would ever be present in a vampire's lair. Blood.

For a while, Adam stood in front of the fountain staring through the spray of blood. Finally, a part appeared in the middle and projected the silhouette of a woman. Celine.

"I suppose this is about Annabeth Chase isn't it Adam?" Her voice was quiet, almost like a whisper, but at the same time forceful. "Hm. You do know what this means right?"

"Yes. I do. The Scarlet Council."

"Don't worry about that. For now, we need to worry about what Ms. Chase's mother will do. I don't doubt that Lady Athena will be angry, but I don't think she'll start a war against Lucifer's chosen over something like this. But…" There was a moment of apprehension in Celine's voice. "But still I wonder. Will we be able to fight a deity?"

"I'd prefer not to dwell on that milady. What shall be done with her?"

"What is there to be done? You know that a vampire can never become a human again. There is nothing we can do. Just…try not to let her die on the first day that she wanders out of the Hideout?"

"Don't worry. I've sent Mia along with her. Teach her how to hunt and if possible get a handle on what her skill is."

The silhouette stood up. "I see." Silence. A few seconds later Adam spoke up.

"Do the other council members know?"

"Of course." Celine scoffed. "I felt it as soon as it happened. The others should have as well. They are well aware of what has taken place. And I assume that all of them are waiting for Reinhardt to order the Scarlet Council to convene. I will tell you when it so. So for now, just lie low and treat Annabeth like you would any newborn."

Adam nodded and Celine's silhouette disappeared. A sigh passed through Adam's lips. Every meeting with Celine caused him a great deal of stress and anxiety. He never knew what exactly she was thinking and if she approved of how he was handling her former charge. Celine was really the only Vampire that Adam needed approval from. Why? Adam didn't really know. A love for his mother maybe? Though, Celine was his mother in blood and blood alone.

With that done Adam left the fountain and made his back to the living area. Mia and Annabeth were gone for now and shouldn't have been back until early in the morning. As for the others, Adam knew that Evan and Sam were out in Buffalo looking for a Lycanthrope den. Tariq had gone to D.C to give their leader a message. And if he remembered correctly Aisha said that she was off to hunt. Her hunting grounds were in Brooklyn if she remembered correctly.

"Yo! Adam!" A voice called out from the couch. "So where's the demigod girl? Been waiting to meet her." The voice belonged to a short redheaded girl. Her skin was pale and her eyes were bright green. A wolfish grin was on her face as she tugged at her black hoodie and slipped out of her black Vans shoes and crossed her legs.

"Megan. I already told you," The guy sitting across from her began. "We're the only ones here. If you couldn't already tell." He had sandy blonde hair and his mismatched green and blue eyes rolled as Megan stuck her tongue out at him. The sleeves of his long sleeved shirt were rolled up and there was a tiny rip in his black jeans.

"Yeah, well whatever."

"Blake's right you know," Adam said to her. "I sent Annabeth out with Mia to learn the basics. How to hunt, where to hunt and what to avoid. You know. All that stuff. Now, how'd the meeting go?"

Blake grimaced. "Annabeth's mom wasn't too happy. Said that she wanted to talk to you personally." Megan shivered. "Well, not too happy would be an understatement. Absolutely fucking livid more like. I'm surprised she doesn't just come here and fuck our shit up."

"That's because she can't," Adam replied. "Lucifer's Shield makes sure of that. And don't worry about what Athena will do. She can't do anything against us without angering the Lord of Light. Regardless I will do as she asks and meet with her."

"Um…She never said where-'" Adam cut Megan off.

"Don't worry about that. For now, Blake I want you to take over teaching Annabeth the ropes for Mia and Megan I want you and Mia to go search for that rogue lycanthrope. Tariq saw him down in Hell's Kitchen a few days ago. He might still be there."

"Alrighty then!" Megan jumped up, her Vans somehow back on her feet. "Come on Blake! I want to meet the new girl!" He didn't even get a chance to say anything as the tiny redhead grabbed him by the collar and dragged him along behind her.

"W-wait! Megan!"

Without another word Adam looked up to the ceiling. He could see the moonlight pouring in from the large hole in the ceiling as well as the occasional lightning with thunder. He leaped up all the way back up top to the skyscraper in a single bound. Off in the distance, he could see the Empire State building.

He quickly made his body intangible as a bolt of lightning formed and came right at him. The bolt of lightning passed right through his body and struck the ground with the force of a nuclear bomb. If not for Lucifer's Shield the entire block would have been destroyed into nothing. Adam continued to stare up at the Empire State Building's Spire.

"I'm here."

A loud boom roared in his ear as the presence of a divine being crept down Adam's spine. He quickly turned himself intangible once more as the hands of a literal goddess reached out to rip his throat out.

Snarling at him and looking anything but a goddess was Annabeth Chase's mother. The Goddess of Wisdom. Athena. Her raven black curls blowing back behind her, gray eyes burning with the fury of a storm as she glared at him, and lips curled up into a snarl. Adam stepped to the side and turned tangible once more and brushed off the imaginary dust off of his shirt and stared at the livid goddess.

"You don't look too happy." Her only response was an angry growl. Adam couldn't help but smirk at the look on her face. "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Don't play coy with me Vampire! Turn Annabeth back!" Adam smiled wolfishly at her anger and sat on top of a stack of steel beams. "I will only warn you once and once only. You will turn Annabeth back into a human or not even your Scarlet Council will be able to help you here."

"So it seems anger can cloud even the Goddess of Wisdom herself." Adam knew he was pushing his luck, but he needed to make his point. "But have you forgotten that it's not the Scarlet Council you need to fear. But our…father you could say. Lucifer will not be happy. And I'm not sure even the gods of Olympus can go up against a Fallen Seraphim." Athena's figure burst out into a golden light. Adam felt his skin begin to burn slightly and turned himself intangible. He felt his blood vessels jam slightly. Adam could only turn himself intangible one more time. Any more than that and it would be certain death for him.

"You-'"

"Need I also remind you that it is literally impossible to turn someone back from being a vampire? You need to look at this with a clear head and think with the mind of Athena the Goddess of Wisdom, not Athena the mother of Annabeth Chase." Athena glared at him with a fury.

"You will regret ever turning my daughter into one of your own Adam Summers. Your father may protect you from other deities, but that will not protect you from your mortal enemies. One year from now everything shall be taken from you. One year from now, you will make an enemy out of someone that not even your father will be able to save you from. I vow this." The goddess hissed before disappearing in a brilliant golden light.

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Adam spread his arms out and backed up to edge of the skyscraper and fell down into back into the vampire's lair.

Blake

"Megan! Can you stop!?" He halted and jerked his arm out of the smaller girls grip. Man, for such a small girl she sure had one hell of a grip. Megan grinned at him and beckoned for him to follow along. She pulled her hoodie up over her head as they exited the lair. "Seriously. You can't just do that."

"Do what? Drag you along by your arm forcefully without your consent?" Blake rolled his eyes and Megan laughed. "Come on. Let's go find Mia and the new girl."

"She has a name you know." It was Annabeth if what Sam had told him was true. She was the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom. But the lady they met in Central Park looked anything but wise. You'd think that the Goddess of Wisdom would be more level headed about this, considering she's you know, the Goddess of Wisdom and all that. But anger is a powerful emotion Blake guessed.

Megan was humming. "Annabeth Chase right? I've always wanted to meet a demigod." Blake frowned.

"You know those rumors aren't true right? They're just like normal people. Except with the blood of a god going through their body."

"Yeah." Megan agreed. "But I heard from Sam that one of them could freaking summon the dead and that another one could force people into doing what they want with words alone. Kind of like Kilgrave, but not nearly as cool."

Blake sighed. "I don't know if you remember, but you know that Celine can shape shift into anything she wants right?"

"Well yeah, but come on Blakey! How cool would it be to force people to do your bidding just by talking to them?"

"Not at all. If you were at all responsible or a good, well-meaning citizen. And don't say "Well, I'm a vampire" as an excuse. Because it isn't. You're just being an asshole."

"A cute one. But yeah, I know. It's an asshole thing to do. Besides what other cool powers do the other Royal Vampires have?" Blake shrugged. "Well, there you go. Anyways, where did Adam say Mia took Annabeth to?"

"Her hunting ground. Somewhere in Manhattan if I remember correctly."

"Aw fuck," Megan swore. "That's too far! Damn it, why couldn't she just have gone to your hunting ground? You never even go there."

"Megan. Shut up. Don't you have Mia's contact on your phone?" The redhead smiled and held up a jet black iPhone 7. "Why don't you call her then?"

"I could. But my phone would get wet." Blake rolled his eyes and swiped the phone from Megan's hands. "Hey!" She reached out to grab it back. Blake put a hand on her forehead as he called Mia. "You big meanie! Stop abusing fucking height god damn it! And give me my phone back!"

"Hey, Mia, it's Blake. Meet us on top of Grand Central Station. Adam wants me to switch with you so you and Megan can go hunt some Lycan. Can you do that?"

"Yeah. Sure why not? Just finished teaching Annabeth how to use her vampire strength and all that stuff. Anyways I think I'll get there in a couple of minutes. See ya. Oh, and can you tell Megan to actually start using her phone? Thanks and bye."

"Ugh! You…You cunt!" Megan pocketed her phone and glared at him. "Wait a second, you're not a girl so I can't really call you a cunt…Hmm…You fa-Hey where are you going!? Wait for me!"

It was raining hard. A bolt of lightning flew from the sky and struck a skyscraper off in the distance. After nearly ten minutes of walking and waiting for Megan to catch up the two of them finally reached their destination.

With a single bound he and Megan reached the top of Grand Central Station wherein he saw two figures leaning over the edge of the building. "Mia! Over here!" The strawberry blonde sharply turned her head. She said something to Annabeth and began to walk over to Blake and Megan. Blake's eyes wandered over to the girl beside Mia.

He felt his throat dry up. Long blonde hair and ice blue eyes with skin so pale it might as well as have been white. Her skin looked smoother than glass and didn't even have a single blemish on it. To be honest, Blake had never seen anyone more beautiful than Annabeth Chase did. Not even her mother. A literal goddess. She stood off to the side as Megan approached Mia.

"Yo! New girl!" Megan began. "What's up? How's it going so far? Has anything cool happened yet?" With a sigh, Mia and smacked the short redhead upside the head. "Hey!"

"Be nice Megan. Anyways, Blake over here is going to be taking over me. Alright? Sound good?" Annabeth nodded. Mia turned to Blake. "Now, I taught her how to use her physical abilities, I'll be leaving the rest to you. Now where did Adam say the Lycan was?"

"Hell's Kitchen," Megan replied. "We probably won't be able to find him today, what with the sun rising in what? A couple of hours? So yeah."

Mia nodded. "Alright. Let's go." Megan grinned and leaped off of the building and onto the next with a single jump. Before following along, Mia turned to Annabeth. "I'll see you back at the lair. Blake should take good care of you." Mia winked and blood rushed to Annabeth's cheeks. "Heh. See ya."

With Mia gone, an awkward silence descended upon the duo. "Alright, let's get introductions out of the way. I'm Blake Kennedy." He jabbed his thumb at his chest. "I'm the newest vampire, or well used to be until you got here."

"I don't suppose you don't already know who I am? Not to sound arrogant or anything, it's just, Mia told me that a demigod becoming a vampire, and a Royal one at that is kind of really hard to miss or not hear about." Annabeth's eyes were narrow and focused entirely on Blake as if analyzing him. "Could you tell me about yourself Blake?" she asked the two of them dropped back down to ground level.

"Sure. Why not." And so he did. He didn't say much about his old life. Not that what he did in the past had happened. It was all about the future. Annabeth, to his surprise, listened. And she listened very carefully. It's not like I'm all that interesting.

Their lair was still empty by the time the two of them got back. "So Annabeth, did anyone give you a tour yet?"

"Not really. They just tossed me right into the thick of things and out onto the streets hunting for food. I'm still kind of hungry really."

"Come on. I'll show you the way to the kitchen. There should be a packet of blood there somewhere." It was down a long and dark hallway with bloodstained walls and floors. Blake could see that the sight made Annabeth a little uncomfortable with all of it, but otherwise, didn't seem all too bothered by the sight of the blood. What kind of shit must she have been seen?

Well, regardless, Blake led Annabeth to a fairly large kitchen. It was very nondescript with only the bare necessities here and there. A large, Granite Island was in the center of the room and sitting atop the granite was a jar full of blood. It was labeled, For Adam along the edge of the lid. "Eh, I don't think he'll mind too much. You can have it."

"Are you sure? There has to be something else right?" Blake trudged over to the fridge and began to rummage through dozens of empty jars with labels on them. He found no other jars with blood on them. Well, that he was willing to give Annabeth anyways. Blake doubted that anyone other than Adam would allow Annabeth to drink from their stash of blood. "Nothing? Ugh. Well, fine. So do I just drink it…or something?"

"Yeah? It's just like water. Just drink it. Nothing will happen." Blake paused for a second. This was the blood of a Royal Vampire. And a powerful one at that. "Just a warning, though, if you find someone else thirsty, you probably shouldn't give them your blood."

"Why is that?"

"The blood of a Royal Vampire is horribly acidic, even to other vampires. Only other Royal Vampires can actually even drink the blood without burning their throat. So you'll be fine. Just not others." He replied, pouring the blood into a glass. Annabeth paled even more. Blake noted how her hands were shaking rather hard. She drank it anyways, though. At first slowly, then chugged down the rest.

"Blergh. Gods that tastes awful. Am I supposed to drink that every day or something?" Blake shook his head.

"Nah. Only every couple of weeks. You're a Royal Vampire. Blood is all you need. And when that supply of blood is hundreds of times more than that of a normal vampire, you won't need to drink blood more than once a month. Though, considering you are a new vampire, you'll have to drink a lot of blood to get that supply filled. Probably like once or twice a day actually." At Annabeth's face, Blake had to smile. "Don't worry. It's not going to be that blood. Most likely it'll be the blood of a human or animal. Drinking each other's blood is only the last resort." Blake paused again. "Most of the time."

He began to laugh at Annabeth's expression. She cocked her arm back to punch him lightly but stopped as the sound of howling reached their ears. "What is that?" Annabeth asked.

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Werewolf."