vampire von abgemeldet (an epic Vincent/Yazoo vampire story) ================================================================================ Kapitel 44: ------------ 44 The hunt turned out to be a desaster though. Just as Zack had predicted, the next night he rose from his coffin he already found himself surrounded by a group of vampires, includig Sephiroth, who asked him politely to join the scheduled hunt. Vincent had no objections this time, surprising the rest and making Sephiroth arch an elegant eyebrow. He was then led to the surface, a round crumbled platform deep in the woods. They spread their wings, leading a large carriage that was held by some of the older, stronger vampires and flew through the nightsky. The others were in an excited, almost exuberant mood that had unnerved Vincent quite a bit, but Zack, who was flying by his side, had shot him a warning look and he had just hidden his displeased expression behind his collar. The wind had felt good on his wings and the night was beautiful, so the two of them fell a little behind. “Listen, I know you have some… objections to how we manhandle mortals, and don´t try to deny it, the others noticed too. They might be cruel, but they are not stupid. You have made quite some enemies, pal. They do not show it openly and you may not care, but they do not like how you view the humans. They think it´s disgraceful for one of us to have pity with them.” “And what do you think?” Vincent asked coolly, observing the other from out of the corner of his eye. Zack shrugged and swayed his wings. “I do not think about it much. They are necessary food for me, I think. If I would let it get through to me, I´d probably become insane… Just do me a favor and do nothing stupid, alright? Just… do what the others do, get over with it and go back.” The vampire just gave a short nod, and they went down with the others, where small lights shone into the dark night. It was a secluded village they had chosen, nothing large, maybe ten, twelve houses. Silent signs were given, and Vincent followed Zack around a farm. They were about twenty, maybe more, and they had effectively surrounded the village, leaving no way to escape. The dogs had started to bark upon their arrival but became strangely silent all of a sudden. Zack, leaning against the wall, motioned for the other to follow and Vincent did, leaning with his back against the wall as well. It was when he came by a window that everything went wrong. He had just absent-mindedly glanced inwards but the sight before him caught his eye. There was an old woman, sitting in a chair by the fire. She had a wollen blanket drapped over her knees and a steaming cup in her little hands. Her face was wrinkled, but her eyes were still sharp and friendly. Two children, a boy and a girl were sitting by her feet, listening to her tales with stunned faces. The girl, approximately 4 to 5 winters old, clung to her older brother´s shirt, a thumb in her little mouth.The boy kneeled in front of his grandmothers chair, hanging to her every word. Another, younger woman was sitting a little farther away, knitting and smiling at the little group. A door opened and she looked up as her husband came in with a stack of wood over his shoulders, saying something with a shake of his head that made his wife laugh, and the older woman look at him, miffed, before she bestowed her attention back on her grandchildren. It was a peaceful picture that was suddenly and brutally disrupted as the door burst open and two of the vampires bounced in the room with bared fangs and ceasy grins. One of them went for the man who had quick-wittedly grabbed for a wooden stick and hauled it at the vampire, without even the slightest chance of winning the fight. His arm was held over his head before he could even try to hit the attackers and a crunching sound, followed by a scream, spoke of a very crushed bone. The woman had thrown herself over her two children, screaming and pleading that they would be spared, but she was only pulled away from them violently, the other vampire grabbing her hair and forcing her out of the room. With the other hand he held the struggling boy under his arm, laughing and saying something to the second vampire, who let go of the father´s arm, who meant no harm to them at all anymore. Pushing away the crying girl from the indignant grandmother, he pulled her old head back ruthlessly and thrusted his teeth into her neck. Eventually she stopped squirming and the vampire let go off her, grabbing the traumatized girl und pulling the man on his broken arm behind him. “What are you doing?” Zack suddenly hissed next to him, following his gaze and groaning “Oh no please…” “I cannot do this,” Vincent declared. “I do not care what will happen to me and I am prepared for leaving your goup. But I will not do such a think.” “Look,” the other murmured, licking his lips “It´s not about being thrown out here! If they get you they will kill you, or probably worse!” “I do not care.” Zack threw his arms up in exasperation “What about Lucrecia then? They will torture her just to make you miserable, you know!” The vampire looked at him uncertainly, shifting his form. Zack moved a hand over his mouth, looking as if he was thinking very hard. “Okay fine then,” he finally said, looking a little relieved “I know; you will go back and guard the carriage, okay? You don´t have to do anything, just stand there and wait for me. If anyone asks, send them to me, okay?” Vincent nodded, truly grateful. “Thank you.” “Yeah yeah, just… go.” Zack looked a little embarrassed and just waved a hand. Vincent nodded again and went to the carriage, who was already stuffed with scared and injured villagers. Vincent told his mission to a pair of sceptical vampires, but then they just shrugged and went to help the others, glad that they hadn´t to do the boring job. Vincent placed himself next to the carriage so he didn´t have to look at the frightened people, and tried to tune out their crying. Instead he had to look at the burning town and the fleeing villagers, which wasn´t really better. “Mister,” a woman was clinging to the metal bars, looking up at him with desperate eyes. “Please, I do not ask for mine or my husbands life, but the children… I beg you, please spare the children!” It was the woman from the farmhouse. Vincent moved his gaze back to the village and crept deeper into his collar. * “That should have been the last,” Zack sighed, looking a little exhausted and relieved that it was over. Usually he avoided the huntings himself, hiding behind his paperworks he prefered much to this, even though he always complained. Together they were going up the hill where the carriage had been left, pushing the last few villagers before them. But upon reaching the top, the black haired man stopped, his jaw dropping. “What the hell?!” Because there was Vincent standing with his arms defiantly folded over his chest next to an empty, open carriage. * The action proved to have been futile, though. The vampires caught the fleeing mortals soon and brought them back. Vincent didn´t even try to find an excuse and hadn´t it been for Zack´s sharp orders, the crowd would probably have tried to lynch him then and there. But so he was only escorted back and led to a cellar, where they wordlessly threw him in a cell. Vincent remained in the hole for three nights without food, and hadn´t he been so very self- controlled and had already known what restrain meant he would have gone mad. It wasn´t only the coffin he didn´t have, but moreover his fear that they would do something to Lucrecia. After two hours in the cell he asked himself feverishly what had brought him to act so thoroughly stupid. Normally he wasn´t so impulsive in his actions, so why this time?! It didn´t help much that deep inside he knew he had done the right thing. As he was lying on the ground the fourth night the door opened and a voice barked at him to get out. Tiredly he pushed himself from the dusty ground, giving the general impression of being exhausted and broken. Fortunately he didn´t feel half as shattered as he pretended, but Vincent calculated that it maybe would provide him with a considerable advantage later. He harboured no doubt that whatever was to come would be rather ugly. Rude fingers grabbed his arms and four older vampires escorted the staggering man through the badly lit catacombs. At least they predicted him strong enough to need guards… Or maybe it was the other way around, maybe they thought they had to protect him from the mob. Although there were no other vampires in the tunnels, Vincent could hear their distant voices when he concentrated.The only voices he hadn´t been able to detect the whole time were those of the mother, Zack, Sephiroth and Lucrecia. And that bothered him quite a bit. Eventually they came to a halt before a large gate, Vincent had never seen before. Even so the journey here had been very odd. Obviously this was some kind of secret part of the system of tunnels, because they had had to pass a lot of locked doors and gates. This was not for the public and getting out of here would become difficult… But it wasn´t just a prison either; the doors and hallways had been too rich and exorbitant. There was something sacred behind these doors, and a sudden chill ran down the vampire´s spine as realisation hit him. He was standing just in front of the room he never had wanted to ever enter. The mother´s holy quarters. His guardians stepped away from his figure, building a half circle behind him and lowering their heads in humbleness. Shortly after, the heavy wooden gates opened with a small crack and a vampire hissed behind him to lower his head also. Vincent contemplated for a brief moment if he should rebel but then decided against it and did as he was told. Even though he did not care about what they would do to him, he didn´t want to cause trouble for his lover. “Come in,” the authorative, but not unfriendly voice of Sephiroth ordered, and with small steps and a lowered head Vincent stepped into the room. He did not see much from it apart from the rich carpet. The gates closed behind him instantly, leaving him alone with the first in command and the third presence, Vincent noticed to be those of Zack Fair. “Vincent Valentine…” Sephiroth spoke up again, sounding thoughtful. The cloaked vampire did not know what he was expected to do, but he wavered a bit, to indicate that he really felt very weak. “Vincent, Vincent…” the silver haired vampire sighed, ignoring the other´s seemingly poor state. “Just what am I to do with you… I believe you know why you have been summoned here?” Vincent just gave a short nod, eyes still glued to the carpet. At the rim of his eyesight he could make out a golden chair and two black, booted crossed feet that had to belong to Sephiroth. He sensed Zack standing a bit afar from behind his master, but could not make out any of his feelings or thoughts. “Well, I do not know what to think about your actions, to be honest. I really would like to believe what Zack has been telling me, about you being tricked by the humans and your honest intentions, but you see… inquiries with your acquaintance and the questioning of the rest of your group said something else.” Vincent´s eyes widened at the mentioning of Lucrecia, but he bit his tongue to prohibit himself from making a sound. This would have been just the reaction Sephiroth wanted. “But I do not like to judge a person without even having heard their version of the story,” the other continued, sounding generous and awfully friendly. “So I will give you the opportunity to speak your mind now. Do you deny having freed the mortals out of sympathy for their … situation.” The curious question was underlaid with a barely hidden disgust at the mere idea of thinking about their food with something else than hunger. From Zack´s corner, Vincent could suddenly feel the urgent plea to just say 'yes' and make up a plausible reason for his foolish actions, and the image of Lucrecia popped up in his head. Gritting his teeth for a moment, and voice becoming neutral, he finally answered with a simple “Yes.” “Oh?” Sephiroth made, sounding mildly surprised. “Well, that is good to hear. It really would have been a pity to find out that one of our most valuable and dearest members had turned out to be a traitor, after all we have done for him…” He trailed off, as he was rising from his seat and walked towards the prisoner. With the tip of his index finger he lifted Vincent´s lowered chin, gently forcing him to look up. Green eyes met red and for a moment the hostility between them was taking over the room, before it vanished and was replaced by a friendly and a humble expression. But at that moment Vincent knew for sure that something was incontrovertiable: they would kill him and Lucrecia without a doubt, no matter what he said. “Please, have a seat,” Sephiroth offered, letting go of the other´s chin and gesturing towards a chair next to his own. Vincent´s eyes flickered briefly towards Zack, who seemed to be immensily relieved and nodded for him to sit down. Obviously he had no idea about his master´s true intentions. “I am sorry for the crude treatment, but you have to admit that your behaviour invited heavy misinterpretation.” Vincent sat down on the chair, briefly scanning the room with all his senses. They were deeply underground and there were no ways to leave here besides the way he had come from. Deeper behind him, he could sense the faint presence of a cold entity, which had to be the mother. It was the perfect trap. “Now, would you please explain the reasoning behind your actions to me?” Sephiroth graced him with a friendly, curious smile, but Vincent did not return it. “I would love to,” he instead said, voice devoid of any emotion. “As I said, sympathy for the humans situation was no motivation for my decision.” “Then what was it?” “Disgust.” Sephiroth inclined his head in question, furrowing his elegant brows a bit. “Disgust? I am afraid I do not understand that. Enlighten us, please.” Zack didn´t look less confused, but Vincent explained himself instantly. “Very well then. I did not expect you to understand,” he donned a thin smile to his lips that was rewarded with a similar one from the other vampire. “As I said, the overwhelming emotion of disgust was what let me open the cage and help the humans to escape from the destiny you bestowed upon them. Repulsion for you and your kinship, your utter and wholly unjustified arrogance to decide whose life was to end and whose not, made me do it. The realisation that you, who treat humans as if they were nothing more than animals you can hunt down for your own joy, are no different from the lowest of beasts made me loathe you and your flock of primitive monsters to such an extent that I would rather cast your ridiculous wrath upon me than obeying your orders for any moment longer.” It was very silent in the room suddenly. The other vampire´s smile was frozen to his features, as his nails dug into the soft wood of the chair. Zack looked utterly horrified and as if Vincent had totally lost his mind. Maybe he had. Vincent didn´t know. But what he knew was that he could not live with these creatures for any minute longer. “I see…” Sephiroth eventually said slowly, relaxing his clawed fingers and trying to look undetered, even though his eyes said that he would have rather ripped the other appart right then and there. “Well, this is very unfortunate… But under those circumstances I do not see any other option for you and your acquaintance as to leave our group. I suggest you leave by tonight, I cannot guarantee your safety otherwise.” Now it was on Vincent to be surprised, but he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “You honestly want me to believe that you will just let us go.” “Of course.” Sephiroth arched an eyebrow, adding dryly “I am not such a monster as you believe I am. I will even provide you with the necessities, so you and your woman can reach a safe haven.” His expression became very business-like all of a sudden, as he leaned forward and put his fingertips together. “However, there is one condition.” Vincent crept deeper into his collar, not liking the man´s tone and the vicious sparkling in his eyes. “You will leave an offspring.” The other looked at him in disbelieve, before his eyes narrowed again and he stated calmly, “This is very considerate of you, but I have to decline. I would rather let you tear out my intestines than making another wretched creature you can use for your tremendous shemes.” “Oh, this was not my idea,” Sephiroth smiled coldly “Those were mother´s orders. And I suggest you explain your refusal to her yourself.” If Vincent still would have had a functioning heart it would have skipped a beat. Even the thought of ‘Mother’ gave him the creeps, and Sephiroth seemed to know this very well, as his cruel smile widened even more and he rose from his seat. “This way please.” Getting up from his chair as well, Vincent followed the man to a door that led into another small hallway. Sephiroth remained in the room however, just motioning for him to go down with a polite gesture and obvious glee. Not letting his uneasiness on, the cloaked vampire turned around, catching a last troubled look from Zack, and walked down the tunnel, hearing the door closing behind him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xyleel: Seit ich den Crisis Core cutscene movie gesehen habe, ist Zack einer meiner Lieblingscharas geworden! Der ist einfach so charmant und niedlich (aber du hast recht: an Yazoo kommt er nicht ran^^). Und stimmt, ich konzentriere mich immer ziemlich auf Interaktionen (wo ja manchmal nicht soviel passiert außer reden). Vincent´s Geschichte verläuft ziemlich im Zeitraffer, woran ich mich erstmal gewöhnen muss, aber es macht spass, und es freut mich dass es dir gefällt! Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)