Seve
Seve studied the many bodies teeming the crowded street. Whatever festivity that ensued further complicated his hunt and he was growing increasingly agitated.
He could easily swipe them dead and he turned that appealing notion over in his head, weighing it heavily with a broadening, sinister grin.
The combined smells and noise hindered any probability of narrowing in on one particular being.
Fortunately, he had Pearly.
He cast piercing blue eyes upon the ethereal one. She studied the crowd with a vacant stare, having gone within herself, tuning to that special ability that she mastered beautifully. "Have you located her?" he demanded above the resonating sound of human revelry.
Her eyes took on that unworldly, unnatural sheen as she raised slender, bent hands to the air before her. "I feel them moving."
"And the woman?"
She was silent a moment, tapping deeper into her gift. "She is with them."
Seve turned and pinned Ward sharply, "Where else could they run?" he commanded, his patience for the pathetic human wearing thin.
Ward shifted uneasily beneath that unrelenting, icy stare. "I d-don't know." He stammered and then his eyes rounded with dawning, "The Carpathians!" he exclaimed, "I've tracked Petri there before."
"He's moving away from the humans." Alessandro stated.
Seve smirked, revealing a hint of his fangs. "It matters not, in due time humans will come to know of our existence." His eyes scanned the swarm of faces, sharpening in on the undead that slipped among them.
The others had arrived.
Petri was outnumbered.
Varian
The Carpathians were as ever dark and obscured, holding secrets all there own, its facet appearing slanted beneath the radiant moon as it cast beams of silver upon its dense foliage.
Varian could recall a time when these blessed trees had cradled him in his darkest and weakest of days.
He could remember that moment he found Lily, dispersed upon the earth like a fallen angel, betrayed by her own flesh and blood. She'd been his for the taking from the very beginning – and his for the keeping.
As he thought this, his arms tightened about the woman in his arms, holding her firm against his chest as she lay unmoving, shielded by the blanket that cloaked her.
He was sick of fleeing. The inevitable was at hand. For centuries he had eluded Ward and his damned science, but greater forces were involved with far more wicked plans at play.
Seve sought to rise against the humans. He believed their child would lead him to the sun and if that were a possibility, it meant death all around.
The laws they had abided for centuries on end were crumbling vastly. The elders were tired of hiding within the shadows. The wolves were furious and a war was coming and he believed this night would further unleash a chain of events.
"They're coming." Blanch warned subtly, her blue eyes steady against the encroaching darkness.
The terrain beneath seem to shudder with the elders approach, even as a sudden violent wind whisked through the entangled trees, splintering limbs in its violent current, spun powerfully by the hands of one ethereal vampire.
Varian caught eyes with Pearly as they stepped free of the thickened umbrage. She grinned a crooked smile of sheer cruelty, even as her slender fingers spun their wickedness that which awakened the woods, her eyes shimmering of that power.
Seve smirked beneath the steady moonlight as he swept them carefully with an intensely humored perusal. "I'm disappointed, Petri." He said, "You have but a fledgling and a human at your whim?" his eyes swept briefly over Jackson before fixing heatedly on Blanch, "I may very well kill you, daughter.'
Blanch remained impassive to his cold declaration, meeting that piercing stare with an unfaltering gaze her own.
Seve averted his attention to Varian, "So what now, Petri? I cannot imagine one as ruthless as you, submitting so easily?" he paused, his grin broadening. "Although it would please me immensely to have you cross over and join me."
Varian kept his gaze anchored upon the elder, "I seek an understanding between us."
Seve arched a black brow, "I'm listening."
"My mate and child need not be harmed in this." He cast velvety daggers on Ward, "Or to be used as your experiments."
Ward appeared visibly shaken, his eyes wavering to the woman in Varian's arms. For a moment, Varian could have mistaken that look to be one of anguish? It seemed nearly ludicrous considering all the bastard had done to her.
"Surely you understand this is all for the greater good of our kind?" Seve affirmed with a lightness of tone that hinted at the evil restrained.
"What of their betrayal?" Alessandro hissed, "They've conspired with our enemy. They cannot be trusted."
Pearly who'd been silent up until that point stepped tentatively forward, her silken skirts billowing about her feet like a gossamer veil, her crystalline eyes peering questionably at the woman in Varian's arms. "Perhaps, Dark One, you would bring your mate forward?"
Varian stiffened, his arms tightening. "She remains with me."
Seve narrowed his eyes, sensing deception. He raised a hand and motioned to the undead crouched within the blackness, awaiting his signal.
Blanch gasped as two men inched forward, each brandishing an arm that gave way to a slouched body.
Varian could feel a growl rise from his throat as they dropped Talon's listless body in the clearing that separated them. He collapsed into an unmoving heap, his skin that ugly shade of gray, proclaiming their means of torture upon him.
Bloodletting.
They had nearly drained him entirely and his pulse beat faintly upon the air.
"What shall it be, Petri?" Seve commanded, "Either you join us, or let your fellow companion die?"
Black, velvety eyes hardened to shards of granite. "If you want her, come and get her yourself." He snarled viciously.
Varian felt the sudden ignition of rage within the elder. It struck the air like a silent charge and rendered nature immobile.
A silent command passed unbeknownst to them and suddenly Alessandro was rushing them, his eyes varnished of an unsettling red.
A fierce intensity riddled the air, proclaiming the power that sailed its current. Varian knew all too well that Alessandro had the ability to crack the earth if he so deemed it.
The elder halted a shy few feet, dark eyes burning skeptically over the blonde hair peering from beneath the blanket.
And as realization dawned with the trickery at hand, he raised a palm to unleash the power at his fingertips.
Varian reacted, wrenching backward and simultaneously disclosing the woman in his arms.
Marguerite launched, fangs bared and eyes aglow with her own ferocity as she whipped an arm clean across Alessandro's unsuspecting face. The blow sent him sprawling like a sac of grain to the dirt.
A fierce hiss rendered the air and they crouched, their fangs lengthening and eyes burning of their darker other.
"Kill them!" Seve roared savagely, eyes ablaze. "Kill them now!" he wagged a hand and suddenly the foliage exploded with bodies.
Jackson
Jackson advanced, reaching within the folds of his vest and brandishing a firearm in each hand before unleashing multiple rounds, each bullet meeting their mark, catching several bodies amidst the air and dropped them instantaneously.
Alessandro gained footing and froze, studying the rapidly dropping bodies as they writhed in pain, rendering them useless.
Raising dark eyes to the human firing rounds, he noticed every shot forced from the barrel was laden heavily with silver.
Snarling, Alessandro advanced toward him.
Jackson whirled, leveling each barrel directly at the elder charging him. He managed several shots before he was struck squarely in the chest by an unforeseen force.
The impact wrenched him skyward; casting his weapons aimlessly to the dark as his weight all but carried him to the ground with a painful thud.
He groaned as he rolled to his back, only to find the elder looming above him.
"What will you do now without your silver bullets?" he hissed, fangs lengthening further beneath the curl of his lip.
The elder jerked him from the earth, wrapping cruel, unrelenting fingers about Jackson's throat.
Jackson scrambled within that iron grip, grappling with the darkness that arose swiftly beneath those cold, pressing fingers. He felt his consciousness waning and just when he thought oblivion would consume him solely; he found the hardened hilt of the dagger concealed within the folds of his vest.
He unsheathed the blade and plunged it deep into the elder's lifeless chest.
Alessandro shrieked beneath its sudden sharpness jammed between flesh and bone. He staggered, releasing Jackson all at once, grabbing earnestly at the hilt protruding as black blood began to ooze profusely from its intrusion.
With a violent roar, he pulled the blade loose, turning it over in his palm and raising black, icy eyes to the human sprawled.
He flung it aside and leapt but suddenly was struck with such an unsuspecting blow, it sent him reeling.
He pivoted sharply to his feet, his mouth peeling tightly back from his sharpened fangs as black eyes clashed furiously with fiery, blue ones.
Alessandro smirked, straightening as he swept Blanch from head-to-toe, all the while, black blood continuously streaking his chest.
"Are you challenging me, sweet one?" his lips curved into a twisted, wry grin.
Blanch
Blanch raised her chin, sensing Jackson at her back as she met Alessandro's hardened stare.
His black eyes swept her brazenly, "There was a time I sought to make you mine." He declared heatedly.
Her blue eyes remained emotionless, "I would never be yours, Ales."
Those granite eyes narrowed angrily, "Good thing, for now I seek only to rip out your heart."
And he lunged.
Varian
Varian could feel Marguerite at his back, swiping those maddening claws in a circular, lethal motion, slitting throats and dropping bodies in union.
He could smell the detestable and pungent stench of blood, the only kind belonging specifically to the undead and not just any undead but the godforsaken.
As he delivered blow after blow, he could see more solid bodies emerging in his peripheral as if the darkness itself unleashed all immortal, drawn by the sickening lure of bloodshed.
Even the beauty of the moon failed in shedding light to the vacant stares peering hungrily. They were Rogues. Empty of all things but savagery and fueled by the unquenchable thirst that consumed them.
Varian steadied his footing, sweeping them one-by-one with a quick perusal, weighing his numbers. They were clearly outnumbered but Marguerite proceeded in her unwavering assassination, never faltering.
Two leapt and he met their assault head-on, catching one midair and the other with a fist to the ribs. The vampire in his grasp struggled meagerly, pawing at the lean fingers tightening to the point of crushing.
Its body went slack and he released it like the dead weight it was, spinning to the other as it gained momentum, lunging.
Varian ducked beneath the set of talons as they whisked above him. He spun widely, jamming his forearm upward, breaking the bone that made up its jaw.
As it fell, Varian turned, studying the mass of red eyes that merged, surveying for one in particular.
Seve stood afar with the ethereal Pearly at his side, observing the massacre with a gratifying gleam.
Marguerite dodged a set of fangs, shifted effortlessly on her feet and seized its neck, snapping it readily between her slender hands.
Even as its body collapsed, others followed in pursuit, moving in quickly.
"We're outnumbered!" Marguerite hissed, retreating to where Varian stood.
"I can see that." His eyes connected sharply with a pair of icy ones.
I can end this. Seve's voice resounded firmly within Varian's head. Hand the girl over to me, lest I unleash them upon the city.
Varian clenched his fists tightly, fastening all his fury on the elder. I'll have your head beforehand.
Seve's laughter resonated from a wayward corner of his mind. I've always admired your prowess, 'tis a shame I have to kill you off.
Varian was torn from the telepathic link by a sudden ear-splitting shriek. He spun around to find Marguerite buckling beneath pack of Rogues.
He lunged forward with a vicious growl but was thwarted by the sudden onslaught of bodies as talons assailed from every angle. They struck him aimlessly, their marks drawing blood. He whipped his arm about, flattening several as they rushed him, but as quickly as they fell, they sprang anew.
He could feel the anger doubling over, fused with frustration as it intensified - bordering a fine line of savagery veiled in an uncontrollable haze. He swiped madly but they kept coming. He felt their razor-like talons piercing, stabbing –
They latched onto his limbs and back, clawing viciously until his body ran with blood. The rage suddenly erupted and he saw red.
He delivered an uppercut to the Rogue hovering on his left and wrenched the other dangling from his shoulder, slamming it to the ground with such deafening force before ripping its heart clean from its chest.
He did this countless times, wrestling one after the other from his rather marred and increasingly weakening body, yet empowered by the thought of Lily and his unborn child's safety.
In this leaden haze, he caught sight of Marguerite fending off a swarm of her own. She fought with a deadly glint in her celestial eyes, wrecking havoc on those that besieged her.
Give it up, Varian! Seve exclaimed. You're fighting a losing battle.
Shots suddenly rang out, steering Seve's attention momentarily.
Varian caught sight of Jackson as he emptied his rounds into the temples of each Rogue fastened to Marguerite.
They dropped with each silver bullet.
He felt a swift admiration for the human, though bloodied, he appeared unharmed as he pivoted, emptying the other gun unto the Rogues latched onto him.
As more bodies dropped haplessly to the earth, Marguerite and Jackson inched closer, settling at his back.
"Strength in numbers, right?" Jackson jested as he reloaded his guns.
"You're running out of ammo." Marguerite noted pertly.
"Use your claws, kitten." He replied with a crooked grin.
"Blanch – " Varian stiffened as the gentler elder struggled against Alessandro's unyielding grip.
"He'll kill her." Marguerite hissed.
Bodies lay dispersed across the soil, some writhing in pain whilst others merely lay unmoving, but there were many more advancing vastly from the shadows.
Amongst the bloodshed and gore, Varian had lost sight of Ward. The damned coward was probably hiding amidst the trees.
And most alarmingly, Talon had not moved from where he lay listless and gray. Varian could feel his comrade fading and fast. They needed to do something.
"Talon needs blood." He asserted exchanging a meaningful look with Marguerite before both averted their eyes to Jackson.
Gripping his guns steadily, he glared at them incredulously. "This is a suggestion, right?"
When they answered with silence, he gave an exasperated sigh. "Keep the dead off me."
Varian nodded and with that stepped further into the clearing, drawing those bereft stares. Marguerite fell in at his side, baring her fangs.
Jackson moved quickly, dropping to his knees next to the rather corpselike vampire, his skin possessing a very deathlike pallor, even for a bloodsucker.
Reaching within the folds of his vest he withdrew a small pocketknife. Flipping the blade upward, he made a small incision and pressed for blood. As it seeped freely, he urged it against the vampire's mouth.
Varian fended off another swarm, gritting his fangs as they sank their talons deep. He ripped at them frenziedly as they clawed mercifully at his back, tossing them vehemently to the bloodied terrain in broken heaps, but others kept coming.
Marguerite resorted back to her tactic in severing heads. She pivoted full-circle, swiping jugulars and splaying the earth in streaks of black.
Jackson
Jackson had returned to his post, weakened but undeterred as he leveled his guns and fired, emptying the last of his silver bullets.
Varian shifted his eyes to where Seve was last standing only to find that the elder had moved to where Blanch and Alessandro struggled and knew, despite their bloodline, he intended to kill her.
"Where are the damn wolves?" Jackson demanded frantically, shifting uneasily on his feet as more Rogues moved in.
And as if on cue – a sudden guttural howling shattered the night.
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