Life of Blood [Closed]

[NightNurse]

Carla listened to the conversation in silence, her mind racing. If the rebels and the dhampir succeeded in their little plan to kill Hercine, than her wish to get revenge against the vampire would be fulfilled. If only there was a way that this situation could work out well for her in some way. Sure, having the vampire who had wronged her was great, but she found herself wishing that there was something else that she could do with the opportunity.


Merlin watched Gabriel as the rebel refused to return the dhampir's sword. Merlin raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment. Not right now anyway. It was probably best for the rebels not to appear to disagree or anything in front of the vampire and the dhampir. They would seem less organized and formal, and Merlin figured that that probably wasn't a good idea.


He nodded silently when Gabriel mentioned going into the cities. "Alright, good idea." He commented. "Now we just have to figure out exactly when and where, and we should be good to go." He said.


Carla raised an eyebrow. "Now, how exactly does an unowned human rebel such as yourself get in and out of the cities unnoticed?" She asked, watching Gabriel. "In case you haven't noticed, humans are monitored pretty closely in the cities. Hell, nowadays they can barely get in and out of a building or anything without being questioned." She commented lightly.

 

[Lucyfer]

Gabriel shot Carla a dirty look at her question, “Yeah, I know,” clearly not happy with her doubt when Merlin showed none. Merlin didn’t need to show doubt, though. He knew what state Gabriel was in, knew that if he could, Gabriel would have gotten rid of his mark long ago and not been able to get into the cities.


But, it was necessary, in its twisted way, that Gabriel keep the mark. It helped this group in so many ways. He could even go in and purchase supplies in times of need.


“Anyway,” he went back to Merlin’s point, “When and where. Sooner is better, so perhaps tomorrow night,” since tonight would be unfeasible. He saw the dhampir look off to the side at that, clearly agitated with the thought of waiting. “We won’t be sure he has the message until this night, and we can’t expect him to meet us on this night.”


A nod was all he got from the dhampir, so he continued. “As to where, we can’t use these ruins or he’ll know we’re setting a trap, so we need neutral ground.” All ruins were good places to set traps. “Somewhere close enough to him that he can investigate it himself beforehand.” It would give him time to set up traps, too, but it would make it more likely that Lord Hercine would come.

 

[NightNurse]

Merlin nodded at Gabriel. "Tomorrow night would work." he said. "Although I'm afraid I'm not sure where we should meet Hercine." he frowned slightly.


Carla paused thoughtfully, watching the rebels for a moment before speaking up. "I know a place where we could set up the meet." She said, looking between the three others, her mind racing. "A friend of mine owns some property not terribly far from the city where Hercine lives, or here." She informed them. "I'm quite familiar with the property. There's one main building, used to be a slave house back in the day, but it's not being used now. It would be a good spot for our little trap."


Merlin raised an eyebrow at the vampire. "This friend of yours, why would they want to help some human rebels and a dhampir out in any way?" He questioned.


"Well, she's human. And I know for a fact that Hercine has enslaved some of her relatives. So she has a reason to want him dead. She also owes me a favor." Carla informed them. Her friend, Esmeralda, would be the perfect person to help her figure out exactly how Carla could benefit from the situation. The girl was smart, having avoided being captured by vampires for her entire life. Not to mention that Carla needed to offer something to the rebels to try and appear helpful.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘How interesting.’ Evaline raised an eyebrow at the suggestion Carla gave. It was a rare human who was able to hold on to any bit of land long enough for others to consider it their property. Usually, those humans were found and enslaved themselves. This friend had to be a rather decent hunter if she had survived so long.


Gabriel nodded his consent to the idea, “All right, if you could tell me where she lives, I can make sure that information gets to Hercine,” he looked to Carla for the information. He was good at memorizing, so he didn’t pick up any tool to right down the relevant information.


Besides, even if he forgot a bit, he imagined Hercine wouldn’t get it mistaken.


Evaline spoke, quiet, “Are you sure you wish to do this?” She let her gaze move to Carla, “Hercine will investigate the area before we meet. He may cause harm to your friend if he notices the property is not abandoned,” or he might not meet at all if he thought he did not hold the higher ground in the deal. A place owned by a human was risky.

 

[NightNurse]

Carla nodded when Gabriel asked for directions. She was about to answer when Evaline asked her if she was sure that she wanted to do this. The vampire paused before nodding.


"Esmeralda lives a couple of miles north of the property. Her home is hidden. Even if the vampires look in the area, they'll never find her. She's almost never at the slave house. Trust me, the place looks abandoned. I was just there a couple of weeks ago." She said. About fifty years ago, Carla had used the property as a hiding place when she was being hunted by fellow vampires. That was before Esmeralda was born, Carla had known the girl's father, watched Esmeralda grow up. The girl was practically Carla's little sister.


"The property is about seventy miles from the city. Hercine just needs to go west from the city's main entrance until he finds it. There's a road, it's never used, by it's easy enough to follow. Just tell him to follow to abandoned road until he finds the big, abandoned building." She informed Gabriel.


Merlin listened to the conversation. "Alright," he said, once Carla had stopped talking. "Sounds like a plan then."

 

[Lucyfer]

It seemed this Esmeralda wasn’t advertising the property as owned. Smart. Evaline nodded and then let herself slide down the wall she’d been leaning against, so that she was now sitting. It wasn’t because she was comfortable in their presence, but she was considering the energy she needed to save. “We’re going to have to travel tonight,” she concluded when the mileage was mentioned.


If a whole bunch of rebels were to travel that far, to get there by tomorrow, they’d have to start walking that night (thanks to the vampire). They would also have to find shelter from the sun for the vampire’s sake, but also hers.


She was already depleted of blood. She wouldn’t be able to stand a full day in the sun and be able to survive if an accident happened with Lord Hercine tomorrow.


Gabriel noted that she wasn’t enthused, but that was to be expected. She was bait. He glanced to Merlin, “I’ll go now, and I’ll be back by evening,” his day was going to suck, too. No rest at all for him until the next sunrise. “Is there anything else I should get when I’m in the town?” Now was as good a time as any. They would all need to be prepared to deal with Hercine.


Merlin would get the honor of telling everyone else, though, that they were going to go after Hercine with a dhampir as bait and a vampire on their side. Gabriel didn’t envy him that position at all.

 

[NightNurse]

Merlin nodded at what the dhampir said about leaving tonight. "I agree. We'll leave as soon as the sun goes down. If you're not back by then, we'll wait." He said, turning and facing Gabriel. He paused at the other rebel's question about supplies. "Nothing that I can think of." He said finally. "I think everyone has what they'll need." He said.


"Just be careful, alright?" He asked. He realized that he needed to tell the others what was going on. How exactly should he explain that he's made a deal with the enemy to take down a bigger enemy, who has survived through many rebel attacks before? He let out a soft sigh.


"I need a sword, or something." Carla informed Merlin. "Before we attack Hercine." Merlin gave her a look, with Carla ignored. The vampire looked over at Evaline.


"Are you alright?" She asked, watching the dhampir.

 

[Lucyfer]

Gabriel smiled a little at the concern, “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you soon,” Gabriel didn’t waste any time. He headed out the door and his steps could be heard taking him out of the building. He was gone before Carla made her request, which was likely a good thing. He would have protested that, too. He didn’t want to see anyone with vampiric blood in them holding weapons.


Evaline chose to agree with Carla, “It would be good to have her armed if she is going to help,” she informed Merlin. Evaline already knew that she couldn’t be armed in approaching Hercine. She was bait, and she had to look like bait. That meant, no weapons. No armor. Nothing.


At Carla’s query, she closed her eyes and lifted one shoulder in a shrug, “I will be,” meaning no, she was not presently fine. She relaxed her posture, “You should rest. We’ll have a lot of traveling to do.” She spoke to both Merlin and Carla, not sure how well the humans would do if they weren’t well-rested.

 

[NightNurse]

Merlin, and Carla, watched Gabriel leave. After his fellow rebel was gone, he turned back towards Evaline and Carla. He looked over at the vampire.


"I guess you can have a sword once we're closer to Hercine." He said. "You two can rest. I have to explain the situation to my people." Merlin said with a slight frown. Carla chuckled.


"Oh, I'm sure that your people will just love this situation." Carla said with a slight smirk. "They do seem to listen to you though. After all, they stopped trying to brutally murder me when you said 'Wait, don't kill her, she might know something.' " She said with a smirk, leaning back against the wall. "I wonder if you regret that."


"Don't make me." Merlin said dryly.

 

[Lucyfer]

Gabriel had to leave the sword in the hands of another before he left. When he returned, he had it shoved back into his hands rather rudely, “What is it, Yvonne?” He asked, puzzled by the demonstration of anger.


The dark-skinned woman shot him a glare, “We’re working with the leeches now,” she said as Gabriel started to put the blade over a shoulder. “That sword’s the dhampir’s, isn’t it?”


“Yeah….” He guessed that Merlin had informed the group at large. Reactions were clearly mixed, but he got them all to work together. In the evening light, he could see the rebels moving about to prepare to leave. “I think it’s gonna work out,” he said, “I got the letter into the hands of Hercine himself.”


That had been an awkward moment, to see Hercine in the town. He’d run before Hercine had so much as opened the letter, and was out of the town in a heartbeat. “We’ll see,” Yvonne went back into one of the abandoned buildings where she was packing up the rest of the supplies.


Gabriel walked on, looking for Merlin. He saw first the dhampir, out in the evening sun and with quite a heavy-looking backpack strapped to her. “Robin, what are you doing?” He demanded when he saw the young rebel boy.


Robin looked to Gabriel with guilt written on his face, but the dhampir didn’t so much as pass Gabriel a second look as she took the flask from Robin. “That’s the prisoner!”


“Well, uh,” Robin flushed.


“That water’s for us.”


Evaline drank of it all the more greedily when Gabriel said that, and made a show of wiping her hand by her lips when finished, and handed it back to Robin with a, “Thank you.”


“She’s like us, isn’t she?” Robin asked, “I mean, she hunts vampires.”


“She drinks blood.”


“And water,” Evaline noted dryly, “Would you prefer I drank blood from someone?” ‘Would that save your precious supplies?’ Evaline was trying to be kind in keeping her own strength up. She didn’t let Gabriel answer, “Merlin’s in the house with Carla.”


“Right…be careful around her,” he warned Robin, before walking off to go after Merlin.


Robin just rolled his eyes, “Sorry ‘bout him. He’s never known a good vampire.”


Evaline raised one silver eyebrow. “You have?”


“Yeah!” And Robin just became a thousand times more interesting to the dhampir.

 

[NightNurse]

Carla reached out and took the sword as Merlin handed it over to her. She inspected it for a moment before tucking it in the sheath hanging around the vampire's hips. She scowled, wishing she had her sword. She had lost it a few months ago, being an idiot and forgetting it in a rush to escape a hoard of vampires. She looked back up at the rebel leaders, noticing that he had tensed up and rested his hand on his own sword.


"Do you really think that I would attack you?" She asked. "I would have to be an idiot to do that. Even if I did kill you, we're surrounded by your people. I'm smart enough to realize that I probably couldn't get out of here alive. No offense, love, but despite how you've treated me up until now, getting myself killed in an attempt on your life really isn't worth it." She said.


Merlin narrowed his eyes at the vampire, not believing anything she was saying. "Excuse me for not taking any chances." He mumbled. He was admittedly in a bit of a foul mood. The rebels had reacted pretty much how he had expected them to, but that didn't mean that made the situation any more pleasant. He watched the vampire wearily as she walked passed him, out into the hall.


Carla stepped around the rebel leader, walking out into the hall. She spotted Gabriel and looked a little surprised. "Well, look who made it back alive!" She said with a slight smirk. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised."

 

[Lucyfer]

Gabriel scowled at the vampire when he entered the home, and she was the one he encountered first. “I’ve been doing this for a while,” he told her, noted the sword. “I hope you can use that,” he didn’t have as much faith in her skill of fighting.


It seemed they both doubted each other. Gabriel walked by her to go into the room where Merlin was. It was easy to tell his friend was in a bad mood, and Gabriel didn’t need any explanation for it. He knew exactly why based on Yvonne’s reaction.


Robin was always the strange one. Yvonne’s reaction was likely akin to the rest of their group, “Hey there, miss me?” He greeted with a smile. He didn’t wait for a response, but went on to say, “I got the letter right into Lord Hercine’s hands,” he thought that would make Merlin feel more optimistic about things. Gabriel had not only done the task, he’d gone above and beyond by approaching the vampire himself.

 

[NightNurse]

"You live for two hundred years, darling, you learn how to handle a weapon." Carla commented lightly to Gabriel. She continued walking down the hall and then out of the house. After being in the same house for almost a week, being outside felt nice. She shut her eyes for a second, not moving until she heard footsteps. She opened her eyes slowly to see a burly blonde human walk past her.


"You best watch yourself, leech." The rebel sneered at her. "If Merlin hadn't asked us not to hurt you right now, you would be dead." Carla just chuckled softly.


"Has nobody ever taught you manners, boy?" She asked, starting to walk again before waiting to hear if the rebel spoke again. She kept walking until she spotted Evaline.


"Hey." She greeted the dhampir. "These rebels are terribly rude." She commented. "It's like they've never seen a nice lady with fangs before." She smirked, before noticing the young rebel by the dhampir. "Who's your friend?" She asked Evaline.


After Carla left the room, Merlin let out a sigh, reaching up and pushing one hand through his hair. He really hoped this all went well. He knew that he was jeopardizing his people's faith in him by working with the 'leeches.' Not to mention the fact that he was also putting their lives at risk by going after a vampire like Hercine. He turned towards the door when he heard Gabriel, a relieved smile gracing his features.


"Hey, I'm glad you made it back okay." He said, raising an eyebrow when Gabriel said that he had delivered the message right to Hercine. "Really? Gabriel, that's great!" He said, looking more hopeful about the situation. At least now he knew that Hercine was aware of what was going on.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Is this vampire still alive?” Evaline had to know. She had to hope that others were alive who would help in the fight.


Robin, however, looked down and shook his head, “No,” he spoke rather quietly, “She was killed a few years ago, but I got out,” and that was when he’d stumbled upon this group.


Both Robin and Evaline perked up when the steps of someone approaching reached them, and Eva gave a small smile at the question, “This is Robin,” she said with a gesture towards the boy, curiously unmarked though Eva would bet he had been ‘owned’ by this vampiress he remembered. “He does not seem to be so rude.”


Robin hadn’t taken part in the cruelty against Carla. He had not even seen it, since at that time he had been resting. His shift was mostly in the day, rather than the night, “Hello,” he sounded a bit nervous. He hadn’t seen or met Carla, and he didn’t know what sort of grudge she might hold against all of them.


~***~


Gabriel was happy to see that his words had the desired effect. Hope was brought back into their fearless leader’s face. “Thank you,” he said, taking the words in stride. “So, where can I be of help now?” He was certain he would get stuck carrying something. He just wasn’t sure what else needed to be packed up before they were able to leave these ruins and get on with things. “And uh…did you have any troubles?”


He hesitated to ask, knowing the answer was ‘yes’. What he wanted were the details—who might be more troublesome than the others, and what more to expect from the rest of the group.

 

[NightNurse]

"Nice to meet you Robin." Carla said, watching the young rebel. He looked nervous. She smiled kindly at him. "I'm Carla, but you may know that already." She didn't recognize the human from when she was captured. Hopefully, that meant that Merlin was keeping such a young rebel out of the direct line of fighting.


"I'm not sure if you're going to believe this, but you have no reason to be afraid of me." She said gently. She didn't like seeing such young humans involved with matters like the vampires versus human fight. She also didn't like the vampires who used young humans as servants. She found them particularly distasteful. She hoped that this young human had a better life among the rebels then among vampires.


--


Merlin paused for a second when Gabriel asked where he could help. "Well, when we go I want you up front with me." He said. "You can help watch the dhampir and especially the vampire, make sure they don't try to pull anything." He paused. "You seem the least likely to try and strangle one of them." He commented. He let out another sigh when Gabriel asked him if he had had any troubles.


"Well, the others reacted how I expected them to." He said. "Although some were more tolerable of the situation than others. Robin is okay with it. I thought he would be. It look a lot of convincing just to make sure nobody would kill Evaline or Carla the second they stepped out of this house." Merlin informed Gabriel.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Yeah, I already knew,” Robin put a hand behind his head and let his fingers hide away in his black hair as he looked up at the woman. He was starting to grow now, being fourteen, but he was still shorter than a lot of people. “And I believe you, just…ya know, we weren’t that nice to you and I’ve had a few years with them. Not…normal to run into a nice vampire. Not with these people.”


That was, of course, to be expected. Rebels and vampires didn’t tend to mingle on good terms. “I think we’re going to be on our way soon,” he told her, though suspected she already knew that. “Were you able to rest well?”


Evaline merely listened, preferring to observe the interactions for the moment. She did glance off towards the home now and then, wondering when Merlin would come out to get them all on the road. She also watched the other rebels, making sure none intended to cause them any harm. She might not have her sword, but she’d still bet she could take down most of them if they wanted to try anything.


~***~


Gabriel nodded. “I can do that,” he could easily stay up front with Merlin and watch the blood-suckers. That didn’t sound too challenging. “I’m surprised I’m in that role, though,” he would have thought Robin, but he supposed Merlin still saw Robin as too young.


Gabriel was probably one of the few in the group who thought Robin’s potential wasn’t being used nearly enough. He never pushed the issue, though. He didn’t need to remind anyone of when things began for him, least of all Merlin who was born into this life. “I knew you’d be able to convince them all,” Gabriel said, placing a hand momentarily on Merlin’s shoulder.


He moved it away just as quickly, “C’mon. Let’s get them all moving, then.”

 

[NightNurse]

Merlin shrugged slightly at Gabriel's comment about being surprised he was in the role Merlin had asked him to fill. He trusted the other rebel to not attack either of the leeches. He felt a bit bad for thinking this, but in this sitaution he didn't really trust many of his people to leave the blood suckers alone. They hated vampires, and dhampirs by default. Merlin did too, of course, but he realized that working with them to take down Hercine was the best option. The lesser of two evils, if you would.


Merlin looked over at Gabriel with a slight smile when he touched his shoulder. "Thanks for the confidence." he smiled. "And you're right. We should get going." He said, turning and walking towards the door. He walked down the hall and paused for a second before stepping out of the house. Everything would go according to plan. He just had to keep telling himself that.


--


Carla nodded in understanding. "No, I get it." She said to the young rebel. "I understand why your people did what they did." Of course she understood, but that didn't mean she wasn't a bit offended over the whole ordeal. She didn't tell Robin this, however. Best not to make the young rebel freak out and say something to make the others attack her like a pack of crazed animals.


When Robin asked her if she had rested well, she nodded slightly. "Well enough." She commented, glancing back towards the house that she had exited. "And you're right. There they are now." She said, watching Merlin leave the house.

 

[Lucyfer]

They walked under the light of the moon and rested during the day, since Carla couldn’t go out at all under the beams of the sun. They were close to the meeting grounds by the end of the first day, which was good. They didn’t want to be late for their meeting with Lord Hercine.


When darkness fell, plans were made and rebels sent to various spots. They couldn’t all be visible to Hercine, after all.


Two reports came to Merlin that night. The first came from Gabriel, who approached with clear caution. He dropped his voice to whisper, “Someone’s nearby,” Gabriel hadn’t ventured out to find out if it was a scout from Hercine, or someone else, but he had noticed the movements too close to where they’d made camp for the day.


Robin came running up to him second to report, “Evaline isn’t waking up.”


Evaline wasn’t so much asleep as she was unwilling to move. She’d wrapped a scarf around her face and buried it in a pillow, but it didn’t get rid of the scent of the humans around her. Marching all yesterday had drained her, even though it had been at night. ‘Shouldn’t have let Carla drink, shouldn’t have….’ Her mind repeated, over and over, but she had known it was the only option. There’d be no convincing a human to let her drink. ‘So now you’ll starve until you go rabid?’


She nearly dug her fangs into the pillow. She had ignored Robin when he came to get her and feigned sleep. ‘They’ll bind me up nice for Hercine soon enough. A starved dhampir will be convincing. Then….’ Water wasn’t going to fix this. Perhaps Hercine would have a loyal human with him she could tear into.

 

[NightNurse]

When Gabriel approached Merlin with the news that somebody was quite close to them, the rebel leader wasn't sure what to do. If he sent somebody out, they might not come back if it was a vampire. He was musing over what to do when Robin came to him with the news about Evaline. He let out a long sigh, pushing his hand through his hair.


"What's wrong with her?" He asked the young rebel. Maybe the dhampir was just tired. Or there was something else going on. That would be just fantastic.


Carla was just standing around near Merlin, not doing anything in particular. She was a bit tired from walking. She turned back towards the leader when she heard Gabriel mention somebody being nearby. Arching an eyebrow, she went over to the two rebels.


"It could be a scout of Hercine's." She commented lightly. She herself wasn't very worried. If they were attacked, she could say she was a prisoner. The vampires would believe her, at least long enough for her to get away. The vampire narrowed her eyes slightly and peered around the rebels. "Whoever it is, they're right there."


Merlin looked over at Carla, then towards the direction where she said the stranger was. He put a hand on his blade, tensing when he heard somebody.


"Carla?" A shocked voice asked, a woman appearing out of the treeline. "You're alive! Jesus, I was worried." The woman was slender, with dark green eyes. Her blonde hair was in a braid that might have once been neat but now was anything but. She looked to be in her early twenties. Carla grinned, looking pleasantly surprised.


"Hey!" She greeted. She looked over at the rebels. "This is Esmeralda." She introduced her friend. Esmeralda looked at the rebels with a cautious expression. Her cream colored shirt was splattered with dirt. She had clearly been running. Esmeralda looked nervous, much like a deer.

 

[Lucyfer]

Robin shook his head. He had no idea what was wrong with her, because she wouldn’t get up to tell him. He didn’t know if she was simply tired. He was pretty sure she was alive, though he didn’t get close enough to actually check that.


It wasn’t the most crucial thing, though. A scout of Hercine’s was mentioned, “What?” Robin hadn’t heard what Gabriel said.


Gabriel quickly filled him in, “We’re being watched,” he stated, and Robin’s frown deepened. “Hopefully that’s all they intend to do,” he cast a glance in the direction that Carla indicated, a hand going to the dhampir’s blade. As Evaline had asked, he was bringing it along to this meeting with Hercine.


Fortunately, it didn’t appear to be a scout. The one who stepped out was this Esmeralda individual. Gabriel relaxed his posture and Robin gave her a quick smile. Gabriel wasn’t so quick to look cheerful, “Is something the matter?” He asked Esmeralda, since her posture and expression showed her anxiety. It might just be that she was anxious to see a group like this moving through her territory, but there might be a larger problem, as well.

 

[NightNurse]

Esmeralda looked over at the rebel who asked her if something was wrong. She paused, looking over at Carla before narrowing her eyes. "Why should I answer you?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Carla has marks on her wrists. Chain marks. That means you people chained her up." She pointed out, looking between the rebels with a disgusted glare.


Carla bite back a smirk at her friend. Merlin raised an eyebrow, looking over at the vampire as she chuckled.


"Es, it's fine. Now, what's wrong? You look scared." Carla asked gently. Uncharacteristically gentle. Esmeralda let out a long sigh.


"Vampires, that's what wrong." She snapped. "A whole hoard of them, swarming that old slave house. Scared me half to death." Carla bit her lower lip.


"Yeah.. that was my doing." She said. She took a minute and briefly explained the situation, telling Esmeralda the rebels's plans to kill Lord Hercine. She skipped over the details about her being held for a week. Best explain that part of the situation to Esmeralda later. Carla wouldn't put it past the human to lash out at one of the rebels.


Merlin looked nervous. Could this woman be trusted? She seemed to be close to Carla, a vampire, so Merlin's first thought was no, she could not be. But she was also human. So, much like Evaline, her loyalties could go either way. Speaking of Evaline, he should go see what was going on with her. Merlin felt yet another flutter of anxiety about their plan. What if something was wrong with the dhampir? Would the plan still go smoothly?


Esmeralda looked between Carla and the rebels slowly. "Well.. okay." She said slowly. "That's an ambitious plan, that's for sure." She frowned slightly.

 

[Lucyfer]

Things just insisted on being strange today. ‘Humans that care about vampires, a vampire willing to help us out, and a dhampir…of all things.’ Gabriel thought as he watched the exchange between Carla and Esmeralda. He remembered that Carla had said Esmeralda was a human and such, but actually watching this did make him wonder more and more about the woman with them.


Perhaps she wasn’t so bad after all, if a human genuinely did care for her.


The plan was explained to Esmeralda. “Thanks,” Gabriel said to Esmeralda’s comment, “Now we just need the dhampir and—,” he looked at Robin, then in the general direction he knew Evaline was. No sight of her. Well, he looked back to Robin, “Seriously, kid, go wake her up. Shake her or—no, that’s probably stupid,” he wouldn’t lay hands on a sleeping vampire, let alone a sleeping dhampir. God knew how they’d reaction. He’d need a pole or something. “I’ll go see,” he sighed and started to walk off, debating how he might go about this if the dhampir really wouldn’t get up.


‘Cold feet?’ Gabriel wondered.

 

[NightNurse]

Merlin looked over at Gabriel when he started walking off towards Evaline. "I'll go with you." He said. He wanted to see what was going on with the dhampir as well. Plus, if she was going to freak out or something and try and attack somebody, the more people around her, the better. Merlin paused, looking over at Carla and Esmeralda.


Carla held up both hands with a slight smirk. "I promise that I won't do anything." She said. She wanted to be left alone with Esmeralda, she needed to talk to her friend in private. She needed to figure out if she could work this situation to her advantage. Merlin just nodded, giving Carla a look that clearly said 'If you try and do anything, I'll kill you.'





Merlin walked over to Gabriel. "I wonder if she's getting scared." He commented thoughtfully. That wouldn't really surprise him. After all, if he was getting served up to a vampire lord, even if it was a fake deal, he imagined that he would be a little scared too. Or, there was something else going on with the dhampir.


Carla watched Merlin and Gabriel walk off, turning back towards Esmeralda.

 

[Lucyfer]

Robin got the sense that he also shouldn’t stick around, “I’ll be near!” He offered to the two women, before he jogged off some distance from the two. He didn’t let them get out of his sight, but he did go to the perimeter of what was passing as their camp. He knew that he’d have to head off into the trees soon enough, to try and surround Hercine, but he didn’t have to leave just yet.


Besides, the whole plan might go to hell if something was up with Evaline.


~***~


“She didn’t really seem the sort to get scared,” though Gabriel supposed it could all be a front. He hoped the dhampir wasn’t getting cold feet at the last minute, though even he wouldn’t blame her for it.


Evaline tensed when she heard the heavier footfall, and then Gabriel call out, “Hey, dhampir,” he set foot into the building, “You—”


“No closer.”


It was muffled, but Gabriel made out the hissed words quite clearly. He froze to the spot. “Er. We need…we need to be going soon.” There was something recognizably animalistic in her voice. He’d heard vampires who were bleeding out speak in that tone before. He saw no blood.


“I know.” A shaky inhale was taken, and then, she composed herself enough to sit up, though clearly holding and using that breath. Her hands were clenched into fists around the cloth of the pillow. She spoke quickly, “Get whatever you need to bind me, and bind me tight.” She needed to breathe, but she was going to try to hold it as long as she could, because they all smelled too much like food.


It had been much too long, and she’d clearly underestimated her need of blood. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, and none of you need to be weaker before facing down Hercine, so make haste.”

 

[NightNurse]

Carla just nodded at Robin, watching the young rebel jog off. She turned back to Esmeralda, who was looking at her curiously.


"So," the blonde said. "What exactly is your endgame here?" She asked the vampire, who shrugged slightly. Carla had no idea what her endgame was. That was the problem.


"I'm not sure yet." Carla frowned slightly. Esmeralda looked at her friend for a moment without saying anything before letting out a soft sigh.


"Simply killing him isn't enough for you, is it?" Es asked, already knowing the answer. When Carla huffed softly, Es just nodded slightly. "Okay then." She paused. "You want to figure something else out, something that will cause Hercine more pain that simply killing him." Esmeralda knew about how Hercine had wronged Carla one hundred years ago. She didn't blame the vampire for wanting revenge. "Do the humans know about your personal history involving Hercine?"


"No." Carla answered. "It's none of their business." Esmeralda looked like she wanted to disagree, tell Carla that the rebels were risking their lives so that meant that they probably deserved to know Carla's side of things, but thankfully she didn't say anything. Carla really wasn't in the mood to argue about morals. Morals were one thing that Esmeralda valued a hell of a lot more than Carla. Carla had always figured that it was because Esmeralda was human. As a whole, humans tended to worry more about morals and what was right and wrong more than vampires did. Vampires probably didn't worry as much because their very existence was wrong. They were the freaks of nature. Simply existing was a vampire's first crime. Humans didn't carry that burden.


---


"True." Merlin mused. It had taken quite a bit of courage to volunteer to be bait at all. He paused when the two of them reached the building and Evaline told them not to come any closer. Immediately, he understood what was wrong with the dhampir. She needed blood. Desperately, judging by the sound of her voice.


"Okay." He said simply. "Just stay in here." He instructed, looking at Gabriel before reaching out and pulling the door shut. "Well, that answers that." He commented, pushing his hand through his hair.


"Come on, we have to get something to tie her up with." He said, nodding for Gabriel to follow him.