Bloody Reputation [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

Reputations were double-edged. It was a truth Anima Lucis Callum had come to know through the years as she and her brother built up their reputation. So, Anima wasn’t at all surprised to see the ruins they were heading towards had snipers on the broken walls.


In fact, she laughed over the hum of the hoverbike’s engine. “Look up,” she motioned with her blue eyes, though she knew Casper would know where to look. He had been doing this exactly as long as her, after all. “It’s adorable, isn’t it?”


The people who hired them always came armed, as if they thought they could kill the mercenaries who were hunting down what they, themselves, couldn’t kill.


Vampires.


Anima made a show of speeding up, and didn’t care if Casper matched her speed or not as she zipped right into the ruined amphitheater, and made sure to come to a quick halt, twisting the bike and her body to the left, hard, as it came to a stop. Sand flew into the air as the air keeping the bike aloft sprayed up, almost into the faces of those who stood waiting for her and Casper.


With a simple kick from the side of her left boot, the hovercycle settled itself onto the ground and allowed her to dismount. The tension around was glorious and she sized them all up, brushing back her short black hair and then letting her gloved hands lock behind her back. “Who among you is Richard Montgomery?” The leather-clad woman asked, looking among the ones before her and expecting one of them would answer.


“A—are you the Callums?”


“Yep,” she answered for them both. The exchange of looks indicated she’d appropriately thrown them off. She understood why.


It was broad daylight, and she wasn’t even wearing a hat. Of course, wearing a hat on the hoverbike, at that speed, was impossible. The sun was burning her, but it had done so her entire life. The pain was like an old friend.


~***~


The burning of the sun was not an old friend to Desiderata Linnea Ehrmann. She and Hazel had used the night to their advantage, but when the threat of the sun made itself known, Desiderata panicked. They hadn’t been close enough to a town to hole up in, but fortunately she stumbled upon an abandoned home.


Now the red-head found herself in a corner, golden eyes aglow in the darkness, “I’m sorry,” she apologized to the other woman as she kept her arms wrapped firmly around her legs. The home wasn’t the best. Sunlight trickled in through cracks and windows. “I know this isn’t what you wanted.” This was another sort of confinement, to be trapped with a vampire in a house, in the sun.


Of course, the blonde could leave at any time now, but Desiderata knew she wouldn’t. Dahlia needed her, as she needed Dahlia, though their needs were different, they fit well together. Desiderata had power and money. Dahlia had blood, and she was human—that made moving about the world easier. When they got far enough away, Dahlia could arrange things for the both of them.


Alas, that was still some days away.


Desiderata was looking forward to that. Anything, really, to get out of the dirty and torn red dress she was in. There had been a bit of a scuffle with Dahlia’s guards. Desiderata made an effort not to kill any of them, but she wasn’t sure how successful she was. She hadn’t stuck around, after all.

 

[Tsukiyama]

In all honesty, Casper wasn't much of a talker. He could say more with his eyes and actions than he ever could with words. So when he was motioned to glance up, he did just that, a low grunt in his throat as acknowledgment. He hiked up the speed and sped forward, coming nearly alongside his sibling, clouds of dust flaring behind their hover bikes.


Casper wasn't as flashy as Anima, simply kicking his boot out to slow to a stop, foot dragging along the dry earth until he came to a stop, his hover bike lowering to the ground and allowing him to step off. His arms settled across his chest as his sister did most of the talking, his sharp gaze on the humans before them, intimidating. As if it weren't enough that they were in broad daylight, exposed. He made no indication that he was in pain.


"We expect half the payment up front." Came Casper's deep voice, nearly zero room for argument in his tone. By the looks of the Montgomery man, he didn't want to go angering the undead. Or close to it, anyway. "The other half when we bring you the girl, or what's left of her." His lips curved into a sinister smile, some of his dark humor shining through.


The poor man looked horrified.


~***~


Dahlia had little to no idea how to help the poor vampire she now had as a companion. Dahlia didn't burn in the sun, nor did she know anyone who did, until now. The young woman lowered herself to her knees before vampire, her eyes scanning the broken pieces of the building where rays sun crept through. She obviously couldn't repair the building, but maybe she could help in another way.


Dahlia unclasped the cloak she wore, sliding it off her shoulders before wrapping the dark fabric around Desi, pulling the hood up in hopes to hide her face until night. It wasn't much, but she obviously could use it more than the blonde herself. The sun kept her relatively warm despite her flimsy sundress, so she'd be fine until night fell.


"Not everything can be perfect all the time. No need to apologize." Dahlia smiled reassuringly, turning her head this way and that to see if there was anything else that could be used to hide her vampire comrade. It was slightly unnerving when steam sizzled off the poor female, she couldn't imagine how badly it hurt.


"Is there anything I can do to help?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Casper could settle any argument. People usually preferred to talk to Anima, since Casper was just so intimidating with his deep voice and piercing stare. His demand for half came at just the right time, their identity confirmed.


Richard swallowed and pushed a hand back through greying blond hair. “We can pay you half up front, but you’ll only get a quarter if you don’t bring her back alive.”


Anima arched an eyebrow, “Now that’s cheating,” she said, “If anything, we should be demanding more if we have to bring back her ashes. After all, killing two vampires is worth more, but we’re sympathetic people,” no they weren’t. “So we’ll only charge you for the price of one, and the return of whatever we can.”


Richard looked a bit disgusted, “And how do I know you two won’t just kill her?”


“We’re paid, that’s how. So I suggest you pay,” she released her own hands and held one out.


The man reached back and took a bag, placed it right into her hand. She didn’t bother with the counting, but tossed it to Casper. His job. He enforced the fairness and justice around here. “So, what can you tell us about them, then?”


~***~


The cloak was an unexpected comfort, and Desiderata lifted her head when she felt its weight fall over her. The hood was adjusted by the human, and Desiderata managed a weak smile at the gesture. If it were only as simple as a good cloak! Given, the less she had revealed to direct sunlight was always good. “Thank you.”


At the question about anything else, Desiderata shook her head, “I’m afraid not. We haven’t figured out how to get over this debilitation,” there were those who were trying, with their inhumane experiments, but no successes. “Just rest, please Dahlia. We will travel again at night, and you should be well rested. We have a lot of ground to cover.” It would take many nights.


Hopefully, by the next dawn, they’d be in a much better place so that Desiderata didn’t need to worry about the sun, and Dahlia could go out and adventure in some friendly town. It was not unrealistic as a hope, there were towns, they just had to be careful about being seen, for the time being. They were still quite close to where Dahlia was from.

 

[Tsukiyama]

Casper allowed his counterpart to deal with their "customer", his attention only really seeming piqued when he caught the bag of money, peeking inside the bag while his sister continued the conversation. He made a brief motion, a nod, to show that they hadn't been shorted. Casper tucked the pouch away in one of his saddlebags before straightening up.


"This is her," Richard removed an old photo from his jacket pocket and placed it in Anima's hand. "She never talked about going anywhere in particular, but from my men's perspective the vampire was wearing red and had red hair, if that helps any."


Casper made a sound of acknowledgement as he walked over to Anima, peeking over her shoulder to see the picture, gravel crunching under foot. "We could use something with her scent on it." Cas decided, lifting his head and peering at the elder human expectantly.


He scrambled to retrieve an article of clothing that supposedly would carry her scent, recently worn and unwashed before he finally offered it to the twins.


*~~~*


Dahlia felt utterly helpless, her brows pinched and her lips settling in a frown. "But--" She stopped herself and decided to obey, knowing that she would only hinder the vampire if she were tired that night because she hadn't slept in the day. The blonde settled alongside the vampire, relaxing onto her side with a small sigh.


Her eyes had been closed for all of two minutes when they opened again. "Would it help if we hid you in a closet? Or maybe there's a basement...ah, we already checked." Dahlia recalled, her lips pursing in thought. It may or may not have just been difficult for her to sleep in the day rather than the night like she was used to, though she would have to learn to flip her schedule from now on to match up with Desiderata.

 

[Lucyfer]

The nod was all that Anima really needed to see from Casper regarding the money situation. ‘Good.’ A few too many people had tried to short them in the past. At least this man wasn’t stupid. He even came prepared with a picture, a brief description of the vampire, and above all—clothing!


Vampires, of course, had better senses than humans. The same was true of the dhampir. Less than a vampire, higher than a human. Without a real direction to go, scent was going to help her and her brother out far more than anything.


Anima kept hold of the picture, and passed the clothing on to Casper. It was an odd thing of dignity to her, but she didn’t really want to sniff the clothes in front of the humans. It seemed bestial, even if it was practical. “Well then, only one more thing to do,” Anima tucked the picture into an upper pocket, within her black duster. “Please take us to the place where Dahlia was lost, and we’ll go from there.” Anima turned back to her bike, though imagined she’d have to walk it along.


She didn’t see that these folks had any hoverbikes. How annoying.


~***~


The weight of the human fell against her, argument ceasing. Desi let out a sigh, relief mingling with her fears. ‘I know.’ This was abnormal for Dahlia. Even if they had traveled all night, sleeping while the sun was up was a difficult thing to get used to.


Desiderata had found it difficult when she was brought into that vampire’s home, all those years ago, and she couldn’t see the light of the sun there. The windows were always kept closed, metal shutters drawn during the day.


It was clear this was going to take some time, for just as Desi thought she could get comfortable (well, as comfortable as a vampire so close to the sun could), Dahlia spoke up. Desi shifted her eyes down, lifted a hand, and put it on Dahlia’s head. “Sleep.” She meant to draw the human a bit closer with the action, the promise of security in the hold that would follow. “I am fine.”

 

[Tsukiyama]

Casper took the fabric in hand, ghosting his nose against it before tucking that, too, in his saddlebag. He didn't want to touch it too much and lose the scent the girl had left on it already, that would make it lose its purpose. He rose his head when his sister pressed to see the location she had gone missing, moving to walk his hover bike along behind them, seeing as the group of humans didn't have their hands on hoverbikes.


Richard and his company led the way, taking them to an area not far from the Montgomery's compound. It was clear now, no bodies - but Casper could see blood stains, his boot scuffing a reddened patch of grass underfoot. Clearly the vampire hadn't gotten away without some sort of scuffle.


Casper cleared his throat and swung a leg over the middle of his hover bike, gripping the handles and revving the engine. His eyes found his twin as the bike lifted off the earth. He was done here and he wanted to go.


~***~


Dahlia squeaked in surprise when the hand fell upon her head, her eyes widening and peeking up at Desi in surprise. The gesture was strangely calming and the blonde huddled closer to the vampire, somehow comforted by the tender hand on her head.


"..'m sorry, I'll be quiet," she whispered, tucking herself securely against the other female, knowing it would be easier to sleep against her than against the cool, hard earth. "I will sleep now." Dahlia squeezed her eyes shut to follow up her promise, despite the difficulty she still found in sleeping so early in the day, the sun filtering through the building's cracks. She'd do it for the sake of her new partner and maybe her own, though.

 

[Lucyfer]

Fortunately, they weren’t terribly far from where the scene of the crime was. The bikes were brought along.


Blood tainted the air, and Anima cast her eyes around to take in the sights. ‘None vampire.’ Though all blood smelled different, different creatures had a signature. All the scents here were human, and it caused Anima to fold her arms over her chest and huff.


Anima and blood weren’t friends so far as smells went. She did her best to only partake when absolutely necessary, but that was always a fine line that left her near starvation at times. Casper drew her attention, and she snapped her attention over to him, then nodded. “We’ll be on our way then,” she told the gathered, and walked to her own bike and threw a leg over it. A kick to the side and a twist of the handlebars turned it back on.


“After you,” she told Casper.


Now the hunt began.


~***~


Desiderata listened to the human’s breathing and the sound of her heart. It was impossible to block out, so she mostly focused on the breathing. She listened to it get slower, and then she leaned a bit into Dahlia and shut her own golden eyes.


Of course, that just made the sound of the girl’s heart louder, and with that always came the thought of the blood that was being pushed through. The fragile body besides her would be so easy to drain. ‘Enough.’ She chastised herself and clenched her jaw, tilted away from Dahlia.


She took a deep breath. ‘Just rest. Don’t think about that now.’ She would need to drink. She hadn’t last night. Whatever town they passed by next, she’d have to feed from. Though one day, Dahlia might provide, right now it couldn’t be. As Desi said—Dahlia needed her strength for the journey.

 

[Tsukiyama]

Casper kept a keen eye on his sister when they encountered blood. Her self control was as trained as his own, but he tended to keep his thirst reigned in with an iron fist. Then again, he was more open to feeding than his twin, and more than once did he have to force her to feed herself before she starved and weakened herself.


The moment he was given the green light he was speeding off, dust flaring up behind him. He kept in speed with his partner's bike, reaching back into his saddlebag to find the article of clothing and tossing it across to her. Their reflexes were nearly impeccable so he didn't have a doubt she'd catch it.


"Do you think the vampire carried her, to keep her scent off the ground?" Casper called over the hum of their bikes as they crossed land quickly, wondering why he didn't catch much of a scent quite yet. There should've been something to guide them.


~***~


Dahlia woke with a start when she finally did, a gasp leaving her parted lips as she sat up and looked around. She honestly had thought she heard something, something that sounded almost like...engines running?


She relaxed soon enough, combing her fingers through her tangled blonde hair before rising to her boot-clad feet. She hadn't slept very long, but her body just wouldn't allow it at this time of the day. She'd be tired until she adjusted, and Dahlia accepted that.


The blonde squinted at Desi before tiptoeing to the unhinged door of the old building, poking her head out, looking around to see if there was anything to be seen. Nothing was really out of the ordinary, she decided before trekking back to Desi, plopping down next to her once more, resting her chin on her knees. Paranoia, she decided.

 

[Lucyfer]

Anima caught the cloth when it was tossed to her and brought it to her nose, hardly ghosting like her brother did. She was committing the scent to memory in one, long inhale, and then she tucked it away.


“There’d be the scent of horses, or a carriage, if so,” Anima called back as she started to turn her bike to the right, to circle the general area, trying to catch the scent of any of those things. “No, if she carried her, it wouldn’t have been far.” They just had to keep broadening the circle, and they’d figure it out.


That was just what needed to be done, too. Soon enough, the human’s scent picked itself out from all the others, and the bikes took off after it, to follow the direction the human had gone.


Anima brought her bike to a halt as evening started to fall. “Here,” she called to Casper, hoping he would understand. Bikes were useful as combat tools for speed, but Anima thought they might have the element of surprise on their side, considering the time. Most vampires slept in the day. Why wake the sleeping creature with the sound of their bikes, if it was unnecessary?


Anima dismounted, and then opened the compartment on the side of her bike where she kept her main weapons. A longsword was her preference, and though it had been difficult to get the bike made to hold it, she’d done so. She pulled the long thing out and then strapped it to her back.


The sheathe was made so that a pull to the left released the blade from it. Magnets, rather than Velcro, kept it all together.


She had a stake as well, with the handle of a dagger to make it easier to put the wooden thing into an opponent. There was a crossbow, but Anima didn’t reach for it. She usually only used the ranged weapons when on her bike.


~***~


Evening came, and that was when Desiderata found herself disturbed. The cabin took on an eerie orange glow in the setting sun, but more than that—there was a sound that Desiderata did not associate with the wildlife. She could not immediately place what that humming was, but it had bothered her enough for her to wake.


‘Mm?’ The weight of Dahlia was gone. That opened her eyes, and she lifted the hood up a bit to see that Dahlia wasn’t far, but was quite a wake.


The rueful smile that came to Desi’s lips could almost be called maternal. She stretched, just a little, careful enough to avoid touching the rays of sun directly, “We can leave soon,” she told Dahlia. “We’ll stop somewhere to get you breakfast,” it must be odd for Dahlia to consider breakfast at this hour, but that was how it would be for a while. “Are you okay?” She inquired.

 

[Tsukiyama]

The crossbow was more Casper's speed. He reached for his own right away, swinging the sheath of arrows over his shoulder for easy access. He carried his own stake as well, attaching it to his belt, along with several smaller daggers he kept at the ready for close combat. When he was positive he had everything he needed, he made good use of a camouflaged tarp he kept in his saddlebags, covering both bikes and settling them amongst the foliage for safe keeping. People would do a lot to get their hands on hover bikes.


"Shall we?" He called out as he took a few small steps toward and turned back, his voice low and a near whisper, but Anima would surely hear him for her heightened senses.


~***~


Dahlia rocked herself for awhile, examining the toes of her boots in an attempt to keep herself busy and above all - from bothering Desi. The woman needed her sleep. When she heard her begun to move and wake, Dahlia glanced over at her, watching carefully to see if she'd just go back to sleep. When she spoke up, Dahlia took that as a green light to talk.


"Whenever you're ready," she smiled, hooking her arms under her legs and resting her chin on her knees. Dahlia blinked at the mention of food, her stomach rumbling, but the hunger didn't reach her mouth. She was too jittery yet to really have an appetite. But she knew it wouldn't be fair to argue it.


She jolted in surprise when she was asked if she was alright, though the expression soon melted to a light-hearted smile. "I'm fine. This is what I signed up for, right?"

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Shall we?’


A smirk touched her painted lips, “You mean ‘shall I’?” Anima expected her brother would stay back with his crossbow. He’d get the first hit, the surprise attack. Anima would draw the attention initially. “Just don’t miss.” A bolt to the heart didn’t tend to kill a vampire, but it certainly put it down long enough for a killing blow to be made.


Anima took the lead, walking calmly after the scent of the human girl. To her surprise, and amusement, she came upon a cabin. She had been expecting a cave or something of the sort. ‘Perhaps this was a shed.’ That would make more sense out here. Within, she was certain she heard a voice.


‘Well sure, let’s have some fun with this.’ The sun was still on her side, after all.


So, the dhampir strode right up to the door, and of all things, knocked.


The stomach’s rumble could not be denied, and it pained Desiderata to hear it. Perhaps they could have waited a week, been more prepared. She could have invested in a carriage so that they could keep moving, even during the day. So much could have been thought out better.


“If you ever are not fine, please tell me,” Desiderata encouraged, “You signed up for this, yes, but as anyone will tell you, there is a difference between knowing something, and experiencing it.”


There was also a difference between hearing something, and acknowledging it. Desi had heard the footsteps outside, but she hadn’t truly acknowledged them as anything noteworthy until there was a knock on the door. Desi stiffened and looked towards the door, taking in a breath. ‘That’s…what even is that? New vampire?’ Such was her first thought, since the smell was bizarre.


She only caught a sniff of the one, as the wind was not in her favor that day, particularly being stuck in a house.