This is absolutely late and I'm sorry! I've been busy and overwhelmed and had crippling writers block. Which is odd, I never usually get writers block with my OTP here but every time I opened this document I couldn't think of anything.
-YD-
Vlad landed in the VHC building, which was abuzz with activity.
"Your Grandness! You received the carrier bats?"
"I did. What's the status? And where's Roqueloire?"
"Here sir."
Roque appeared next to him, some VHC staff member reading off a scroll to Vlad.
"France, Italy and Belgium. All with sudden upsurge in biting and slaying"
"Spectacular" Vlad rubbed at the bridge of his nose "assemble my best envoys, and find me Bertrand du Fortunesa. Roque, with me for a minute."
Roqueloire followed him into a side room, keen eyes questioning.
"Sir?"
"I wouldn't trust anyone else. While I'm gone, you are to stay in my castle and keep my sister and my" the word son sat heavily on his tongue "nephew. Allow nobody but yourself, Ingrid, Adam, Adze and Bertrand in. The permissions have been reset. Deadly force is authorised."
"Of course sir. I consider it an honour to be chosen."
Ingrid's kiss still tingled on Vlad's lips, threatening to distract him as only Ingrid could. A knock at the door disturbed his thoughts, Roque opening it with suspicion.
"You wanted to see me sir?"
Bertrand stepped in, head bowed in a mark of deference.
"I have to leave Transylvania, and I want the people in and out of my castle. Aside from its three other residents, only you two are permitted. Adam's tutoring can't be interrupted."
"I see."
They didn't move.
"What are you two still doing here?"
"Oh. Right."
They both vanished, only soothing a few of Vlad's raw nerves as he knew someone was protecting Ingrid and their son. Drawing in a deep breath, Vlad headed back out.
"The assembled vampires you wanted sir."
Vlad eyed them, mentally inventorying which he trusted in charge.
"You five, Belgium. You six, France. The remaining four, with me in Italy. Remember, we're on the side of peace. Anyone who comes back with unnecessary violence to their name will suffer my extreme displeasure. Go!"
The vampires scattered, tiny flocks of bats flapping off in multiple directions. Vlad cast a look toward his home, longing to be back there for nights with his son and mornings with his sister. Then he turned for Italy, their history meaning their opinions on the cease-fire carried more weight - hence Vlad making that trip himself. He would circle round to France and Belgium too, just to be sure.
The Italian Slayers Guild was up in arms, one trigger happy slayer almost surprising Vlad with a stake as they landed.
"Wait! It's the Grand High Vampire!"
The slayer backed down, eyeing the convoy.
"They with you?"
"Yes. Where are your bosses?"
"Two out in the field, three in there waiting for you."
"Then lets go. The sooner this mess is over, the better."
They were led through a hugely uncomfortable UV-light-illuminated corridor, air heavy with argentalium and Vlad's skin prickled and itched in response. His powers protested, demanding to destroy the vampire-draining substance.
Finally, they were led into the windowless, candlelit room every Guild had since the cease-fire. A semi-comfortable meeting space for both sides, with plush armchairs and steel benches.
"Took you long enough."
Vlad grit his fangs, holding up a hand to stop Jakob, the somewhat impulsive but fiercely intelligent vampire behind him.
"I moved the minute I got the memo. Packed a bag, set up teams and came straight here. I prioritised Italy over France and Belgium because I knew you wouldn't even entertain the notion of listening to anyone else."
Cesar, the head of the Italian Slayers Guild, rolled his eyes but sat gracefully in his seat, face full of questions.
"I take it this sudden surge is not of your doing?"
"No, and I'll happily join in ashing whoever is responsible if it means the cease fire doesn't fall apart."
"That will be a tough sell."
"The peace was a tough sell to begin with. It's worked for seven years, surely a group of impetuous renegades don't deserve to be responsible for making it all fall down?"
Cesar hmm-ed to himself, sipping at his elegant goblet of fruity wine.
"You raise an interesting point. The greatest minds went into building this peace, mindless thugs shall not be the death of it. I can report to the other Guilds you are on board with extreme measures?"
Vlad had to word it delicately - he couldn't risk upsetting either side.
"Within reason. The vampires responsible have to be stopped, but the Slayers need to be prepared to go back to asking first and maybe staking later afterward. This isn't going to turn into a free for all on vampirekind."
Still sipping at his wine, Cesar looked between Vlad and the assembled vampires and slayers.
"Acceptable. I'll pass on the message, and you'll accompany us to the last spate of attacks."
"Alright. You guys have blood donated ready? Only I would rather my guys feed before going out to fight."
"Sam! Bring a crate of AB neg in."
The young slayer at the door ran, his footsteps rattling along the ground. Vlad dug into his bag, popping a bottle of soy blood and downing the lot.
"You still drink that?"
Cesar asked, standing next to Vlad while the other vampires fed on the bags of donated slayers blood.
"Yep. Never drank human, never plan to."
He was doing his best not to breathe, the scent of freshly opened bloodbags thick in the air.
"Still as strange as the day we met."
"I aim to surprise."
Jacqui, the Slayers Guilds second in command, watched the vampires feeding with measured distaste.
"So uncouth."
"You didn't give them cups or straws. If you treat men like beasts, they will respond as such."
"Hmph."
Jakob finished his second bag, then wiped his mouth delicately with a handkerchief.
"We're done. Let's get this over with. Sometime before sunrise would be good."
Cesar clapped his hands, a dozen Slayers charging into the room armed and ready.
"Alright. The Grand High Vampire and I will be in charge. You follow his orders as my own, unless it directly threatens your life or the life of another human. He understands and controls vampires better than us."
"Unless these guys are holding a stake on you, I don't want to see s fang out of place. Are we clear?"
"Yes Your Grandness."
"Didn't hear you Jakob."
Jakob rolled his eyes.
"Yes sir."
Cesar seemed faintly amused by Jakob's attitude, indicating to the others.
"Ok. The vampires ride with me. To the vehicles!"
Vampires riding in cars was always awkward. Human transport was so slow.
"How much slower is this to your kind?"
Cesar was driving, Vlad in the passenger side of the front with vampires awkwardly eyeing each other in the back.
"A lot. It took two weeks to drive from Transylvania to Stokely. I could fly there and back twice in one night."
"So this must be torture for you. I'll pass that along... the other Slayers will get a kick out of it, I'm sure."
Vlad could feel the irritation pouring off his colleagues, but he could overpower them back into line much easier than he could the slayers.
"Whatever keeps the peace. How far is the place?"
"About twenty miles, we can be there in fifteen minutes. Then you'll be helping with the tracking, of course."
"Naturally, as the superior race."
Cesar didn't respond other than to raise an eyebrow at Mikkel's comment, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as they led the other two jeeps behind them.
"You have a plan, I assume."
Vlad nodded.
"We need at least one still un-dusted, or we can't find out anything. Theres always the chance this is part of a bigger plan. It's foolhardly to simply slaughter them all."
"Hm. I concur. I'll be present for the interrogation, of course."
"Obviously."
He knew his mind should be on the task at hand, but Vlad was fighting not to let his thoughts slip to how no matter how efficient he was that night, he wouldn't be back in Ingrid's coffin that morning. He ached to be back with her and Adam, twitching everytime he thought of how he wasn't there to keep Adze away from them.
"Are we there yet?"
"Jakob, please don't make this a breather holiday drive."
"I'm bored. I didn't realise there would be periods of inactivity. I would have brought a puzzle cube."
"We're about five miles away. Not far."
"It is when we're travelling a tenth of our normal speed."
Vlad rolled his eyes as Jakob and Cesar bickered, practically dancing with relief as they stopped. The smell of death was heavy on the air as they climbed out, dust piles and dropped stakes telling there had been deaths on both sides. Kneeling down, Vlad placed his hand on the footsteps of a vampire - elegant boots, not practical combat wear.
"Well?"
"They went that way."
"You're certain?"
"I have senses other vampires could only dream of. But yet, I'm certain. The footprints go that way."
A couple of slayers frowned, but held up their stakes.
"I'm not walking in front of armed slayers."
"Me either."
"I'm not turning my back on a biter."
Vlad rolled his eyes, wishing this was done with already.
"Then I guess we're doing a buddy system. Cesar and I will take the lead."
"We will?"
"Yep. As a sign of trust. Pair up!"
That strange tone in his voice flickered over, prompting everyone to comply.
"Much better. Now, lets get going. No biting, no slaying."
"But-"
"Apart from the renegades, yes. Can we go before I die of old age?"
"I rather think the sun would do you in first."
With some more bickering, they eventually got moving. The vampires made little effort to cover up their , though they seemed very surprised to see the Grand High Vampire at their door. The slayers got their pound of flesh. Or rather, dust. They took one back with them, a UV cage only one of the precautions, alongside argentalium cuffs to ensure their powers were muted.
"Name?"
"Bite me."
Vlad rolled his eyes, digging up the 'command' tone again.
"Name?"
The echo carried a near irresistible demand.
"Cuthbert."
"Wow, you are old."
Cesar watched curiously, standing next to Vlad.
"Does that voice work on everyone?"
"Mostly. Need to be wearing my crown to affect humans and slayers with it, but I can hypnotise you all without the hat remember."
The man's keen eyes didn't so much as blink or flicker, acceptance followed by a nod.
"Fascinating. I may pick your brain about the intricacies of it sometime."
"Sure. Just come to Transylvania some time. Cuthbert! Are there other attacks planned?"
Cuthbert hissed, baring dirty fangs that made Vlad and his obsessive oral hygiene cringe.
"What do you mean, others?"
"Several other countries were hit. Too well timed for even these messy, poorly executed attacks to be totally random."
"Is your precious peace at risk?"
"Well, the head of the Guild is stood next to me. So probably not."
Cuthbert snarled, pacing like the caged animal he was.
"Some of us might have agreed this peace was ridiculous and then agreed to stage some rebellion."
"I'm going to get that out of you in full one way or the other. I can run amok in your head from here. I can let the Guild extract it with even more unpleasant ways. Or you can spill. This century please, I have a race to govern."
"You're so full of yourself just because you were born the Chosen One."
Vlad cocked his head, observing Cuthbert like be was a mildly interesting bacterium.
"I didn't want this job. I never even wanted to be a biter. That gave me a unique view on how our race had become mindless beasts, none of the aristocracy we once commanded in this filthy habit of hunting those who cannot fight back. Now everybody can eat, and everybody lives. The way we were, we would have wiped out humanity and turned on each other. Peaceful coexistence was about saving vampirekind as well as humankind."
Cesar had watched the exchange silently, looking at Vlad in a new light.
"You continue to intrigue me Vladimir Dracula."
"I do that. He's all yours. If you're feeling kind, do it quickly. I want to he sure the threats abated before me and my followers move on."
"Very well. Jacqui can have Cuthbert, she's itching for a kill."
Vlad nodded, checking the time and calculating the timespan needed to reach either France or Belgium.
"Bats."
"Where?"
"No. I mean, bats! Like fuck! Blood and garlic! It's an exclamation. It's too late for us to leave, we'll never beat the sunrise."
Cesar hummed, watching Cuthbert become ashes dispassionately.
"We have the windowless room. You and yours are welcome to spend the day here. Unharmed, of course."
"I'll never sleep, but me and mine appreciate your hospitality."
"Do we?"
"Shut up Jakob. Shall we?"
"This way. Have him swept up."
Cesar vaguely gestured at the dust pile.
"Yes sir!"
Vlad insisted his followers rest, taking guard duty for the night - if he was lucky, and fast, they could be done and back in Transylvania for the following dawn.
He needed to get back to his son.
-YD-
I am so sorry for the lateness! I'm hoping not to take a month to update again. Sorry!