|
"Amanhã "Written By: Painted Smile Disclaimer: Not mine Rating: PG 13 Warnings: Some violence, yaoi, supernatural theme Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: Sudden storms, disappearances, murders.
Strange creatures and even stranger animals on the streets. Duo knows
something wierds happening, and he knows the other pilots know what
it is. But they won't tell him. Amanhã
Chapter 6 Povoe o medo o que não compreendem e não
odeiam o que não podem (People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer.)[1] * Vampires are creatures of habit. Every day, for the past week, Lucinda has flounced in at exactly seven AM, woken me, and dragged me off to whatever inane task I’m assigned to for the day. At twelve, Vander will arrive, and lean against the nearest convenient wall, smirking at me. I hate him. I hate his hair. I hate his eyes. I hate his smirk. I hate his ears. I hate his shoes. Are we sensing a theme here? After an hour or so, Vander will lead me off, to do whatever the hell he wants me to for the rest of the day. Today, I got to clean and polish the household’s shoes. All fifty-eight pairs. Lucky me. Which brings me up to now. My fingers are black, literally coated in shoe polish. How many goddamn shoes do they need? There are about six permanent residents here, but other than that, it’s a floating population. Vander, Lucinda, their mother Civateto, Lidérc, the matronly woman, Vivienne, and the other human, Mina. The others come and go. I’m not sure how many there are in the Baiser de la mort, but it’s well over two hundred. “Done yet, Sparrow?” inquired Vander. He was, once again, leaning on the wall behind me. Right behind me. So close, his shoes were practically touching me. I shook my head, silently. “Hurry up, little bird. Father has a meeting in half an hour, and he’ll need his shoes.” These kids idolise their Father. They hate his mistress, Mina, and fear their mother, Civateto. Sometimes I wonder- A cold finger ran up the back of my neck. I jerked, twisting to face the young vampire. “Stop that.” He raised one silvery eyebrow. “Does the bird presume to order its master? That seems rather unwise, wouldn’t you say?”
Having your blood sucked out of you is definitely not recommended. It hurts like hell, because they’re sucking faster than your blood is pumping, and Vander was sucking in the opposite direction. I’ve gotten bashed up pretty badly before, but this beat them all. So now, I’m just going to stay quiet. I’m pretty sure the other guys are still in the house. It’s a big house, but I’m pretty sure I know where they are, too. On the second floor, there’s a locked door. It’s thick, solid oak. It’s the only room in the house locked. These guys don’t take security too seriously. So the guys have got to be in there. I’ve been trying to figure out how the hell to pull us out of this mess, but so far, I’m coming up blank. The only other human in the place is Mina, and she’s no help. She’s happy to be here. Vander shifts restlessly. What’s Lidérc’s meeting about, I wonder? Yesterday, several car loads of vampires arrived. Lidérc started sucking up to them (not literally) so I’m guessing they’re important. Finally, last pair. No more shoes for me! Turning to face Vander, still on my knees, I look up at him and hold the shoes up for his inspection. As he leans forward, I had to resist the urge to smash the shiny things into his face. And they say I have no self control. He shrugs, not caring whether they’re clean enough. “Come.” He turned, walking out. Following him slowly through the maze of dark corridors, I tried to avoid looking at some of the more..... morbid décor. Unfortunately, it’s everywhere. Lucinda walked into the hallway, followed by her mother. Civateto is a tall, regal red-head. She gives the impression that everyone and everything does not meet up to her expectations. Except herself, of course. She’s perfect, naturally. Stupid bitch. “Vander, take that back. It can’t come. I don’t know why your Father allowed you to keep it, but I won’t have it befouling my sight.” Sniffed the vampiress. Vander gave a winning smile, complete with fangs. “But Mother, there isn’t time. And you don’t want him to have free rein of the house, do you?” Civateto sniffed, and swept imperiously down the hall. Vander winked at Lucinda, who giggled. The little blonde girl trotted to my side, snatching my hand and insistently pulling me after her mother. Everyone’s favourite Ice Prince followed, still smirking. I’d never been into this wing before. There was always at least two vamps leaning, oh-so-coincidentally against the wall. The disgusting décor changed, the walls going from dried blood to a sort of yellowish grey/white. Bleached bone. Charming. Our little parade stopped, outside an el cheapo[2] door (why is it, that although most of the furniture in this house is worth thousands, all their doors are absolute crap?). The vampires gave each other nervous glances, then walked in with their heads held high, giving everyone inside a full view of the contents of their nostrils. Trailing after them, I tried not to let my curiosity show. The room was large, with the roof so far above our heads, that in the minimum light, it was virtually invisible. In the centre of the room, was a long, wooden table. Old, shiny, varnished wood. About twenty seats were stationed around it, most of which were filled with what could only be more vampires. Lidérc sat at the head of the table, and his gaze flickered down towards us as we entered. His eyebrows rose a little at the sight of me, and he looked accusingly at Civateto. She pretended not to see. Lucinda led me in a death-grip to the corner of the room, and pointed at a stool, then flounced off to another corner, without glancing back. Vander came and leaned on the wall behind me. Apparently he was too young for a place at the table. The low murmur of voices halted abruptly. The el cheapo door was opened, and three vampires entered. They were followed by Heero, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre, who were in turn, followed by three more guards. My friends were lead to the end of the table, and their handcuffs were attached to the legs of the table, effectively forcing them to kneel. I growled softly. They couldn’t possibly have heard me. But Heero glanced up, at me. His eyes widened, as he took in the bite mark on my neck, Vander leaning against the wall behind me..... and the collar. I swear, if I ever get a pet, I won’t make it wear a collar. It is the single most humiliating thing in the world. Mine was black, with streaks of silver twisted through. At least it was a decent colour. He looked.....horrified, and surreptitiously nudged Wufei, then looked pointedly at me. One by one, the others glanced at me, their faces all mirroring Heero’s. While this little ritual was taking place, the vampires had resumed their conversations. Quatre jerked his eyes away from me, just as Lidérc cleared his throat. “We have before us, the Four mentioned in the prophecy. The Silencer,” he pointed at Trowa, “the Solitary Dragon,” Now Wufei, “the Golden One,” Quatre, “and the Enigma.” He looked last at Heero. “And,” here he raised his voice, so it echoed around the room, “the witches have regained the child.” Dead silence filled the room. Lidérc smiled, satisfied by their reaction. “We will, naturally, be taking the infant out of their incompetent hands. They’ve already lost it once. There can be no second chances. These four,” here he nodded at the other pilots, “Will be coming with us.” * We left immediately. In the rush, no one thought to take me back to my room, so I took advantage of it. I was expecting the vamps to have cool black cars, but no. These guys have weird tastes. Heero, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, Vander, some freaky dude, and me ended up in a hippy van. Lovely. I tried to edge inconspicuously edge towards the others, who were behind one of those mesh luggage barriers. It didn’t work. Vander saw me, and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word. “Duo!” Quatre whispered. I nodded, as Quat was pushed aside by Heero. “Status?” “Bit woozy still, from blood loss,” the others winced sympathetically, and I saw Heero’s eyes trail up to the bite on my neck, “but otherwise fully functional.” “Mission report?” “The house has about six permanent residents, the Commander Lidérc’s family, and his mistress Mina, who’s human, as well as a functionary, the cow who caught Quat.” Heero nodded sharply, then poked a finger through the wide metal mesh, and touched the mark on my throat. “What happened?” “I pissed Vander off.” Wufei nodded at Vander, and raised an eyebrow in question. I nodded in reply. “Can you guys do any….” I wiggled my fingers, “Special stuff?” They shook their heads. “They’ve put Devorn bands on us. We can’t get them off.” Trowa explained. Vander reached over and grabbed the back of my collar. “I don’t think Father would like you talking to them. And I don’t think I like it either.” He informed me coolly, yanking me back to crouch at his feet. Heero glowered at him. Heh, whaddya know? Even vampires can’t meet Heero’s death stare. The van turned sharply, throwing me off balance, and sending me sprawling. It bounced around, on what I guessed was a dirt track, before coming to a juddering halt. Stepping cautiously out, I glanced around. Trees, trees, trees, some very appealing ladies, more trees, werewolves, a bunch of pale guys with bright red hair, trees, and of course, an angry mob. No party should be without one. In this case, however, it seemed the mob was here in support of the Baiser de la mort. Or so I assumed, from the lack of stakes and pitchforks. The people/creatures parted, as Lidérc swept imperiously towards the gatherings centre, and we all followed, pulled along in his wake. At the very centre of the clearing, a pentagram had been drawn in what I was desperately hoping was red paint. The smell of it wasn’t too reassuring. At each point of the pentagram, stood a witch. The one closest to us was guarded by Dancy, who saw me, and winked. I looked over my shoulder, trying to catch Heero’s eye. But he and the others were gone. Twisting, I searched the faces for them. Finally, I spotted a flick of gold hair as Quatre was dragged into…. I couldn’t see what. The clearing was lit by a flaring light, and as I whipped back to face the pentagram, I saw it originated from the witch in the east corner. The light of the sun dimmed suddenly, as clouds rolled over the sky. The next witch shone a brilliant white, followed in turn by the remaining three. It was so bright, I ducked my head. Blind? No thanks. What I heard next, made me jerk my head right back up again. A humming sort of sound, like you hear when you go way too close to a beehive. In the centre of the pentagram, a blue whirlwind of light was spinning. It twisted and leaped, fighting, trying to escape. But the five pillars of white light kept it trapped. Finally, the blur began to slow, as we caught our first glimpse of this all-powerful baby. A familiar pink jumpsuit became visible. The voice of the cowering Ligue member flashed through my head “….my team found an inconspicuous hiding place, like you ordered….” And Quatre “….“There’s something strange about this building. Lately it’s been feeling almost.... empowered….” I fought down hysterical laughter. _Marny_ was this super-kid? The baby next door? Holy shit. The witches broke formation and lunged for Marny. So did everyone else. Dancy was closest, stretching out her hands and actually brushing the pink sleeve, before the fore-field kicked in. Everyone within a two metre radius of Marny was blasted back. A shimmering, translucent dome formed around her. The Specials picked themselves up, and the braver ones cautiously approached the barrier. Slowly, a daring and stupid vampire stretched out his hand, and flinchingly touched the force-field. Nothing happened. Gaining in confidence, the others approached, running their hands over the dome, murmuring softly to each other. I could see their inhuman silhouettes against the pearly glow of the force-field. It was pretty damn freaky. A werewolf, who seemed to have finally realised there was no convenient door in the dome, let out a frustrated howl. Marny laughed, and clapped her hands. She seemed much bigger than she had been. She looked at least a year old now. A rush of sound came from behind me, and a swirling dark cape brushed my nose from my position, once again crouched at Vander’s feet. A vampire swept imperiously past us. To my shock, Lidérc went down on bended knee to this stranger, who didn’t so much as glance at him. “Nosferatu….” Murmured Vander reverentially. I blinked. Wasn’t he some famous vampire? Nosferatu extended one pale hand to rest on Marny’s force-field, but before he’d even touched it, a whip-crack sounded, and a furious woman wielding a staff stood beside him. “Aradia,” Nosferatu sounded amused, “I would never have thought to find you here.” Every witch in the area flocked to Aradia, some of the bolder ones curtseying to her, and fawning over her. The regal woman paid no attention to them. “I have as much right to be here as you do, Nosferatu. The creature is my offspring as well.” _This_ was Marny’s mother? This evil witch-goddess-thing? And Nosferatu was her father? Too weird. “This creature, as you call it, is our salvation. It will raise as to our rightful place, above the masses of human scum.” It was unnerving, to hear that said, in the vampire’s cold, precise voice. Anradia cackled. “You fool! This monster will destroy us all, and leave the humans to despoil our world! Already, they trample our sacred groves. The Isle of Avalon is a _tourist attraction_ for the Goddess’s sake!”[3] Nosferatu was getting mad. He didn’t like to be laughed at. A sizzling black…. feeling began to emanate from him All my senses began screaming _danger_. But the insane bitch-witch was completely oblivious. He turned sharply away from her, and glared at the dome. Nothing else. And I saw the dome crack. Apparently Marny did too. She wailed, and the crack healed. Nosferatu frowned, and turned on Lidérc. “You reported you had the five from the prophesy?” he asked sharply. Lidérc nodded to his cronies, who dragged the others forward from where they’d been hidden. Nosferatu grabbed Trowa by the neck, and pushed him towards the wall. He bounced off. Nosferatu tried all the rest, one by one. He seemed a bit cautious of Heero. None of them went through. All this time I’d been edging my way to the front, thanks to Vander’s inattention, and now I was really close to the dome. I could see the little smirk on Marny’s face. Some jerk behind me pushed me forward. I tripped, and flinched, awaiting the impact of the dome. It didn’t come. I had fallen through the force-field. * [1] Andrew Smith I've decided this story is going to be WAY to short
to call it an actual fic, so it's now a prequel. The actual fic (where
Duo will get his powers for real) is gonna be called Alvorecer de
Amanhã Chapter |
