Born To Run

The Returner · Jun 29, 2013

For the rest of the way Darien didn't speak to Rowena. He simply looked outside of the window. Only he knew what battle he was forging inside himself. Rowena so perfectly combined the somewhat good, no matter how scarce, and bad of vampires whether she knew it or not. And every time she brought out the worst in herself, she shattered the picture that has began to be formed inside Darien's mind. And with every scattered piece of that picture Darien had to fight off his annoyance that he was so naive as to believe something could have change. Every time the old thought, that vampires can only be arrogant and cruel, came back with a sly smile and folded arms. Too immersed in his own thoughts, Darien hardly noticed that Rowena was humming and even if he did notice it, he wouldn't pay it any special attention. By the time, the two of them saw the skyscrapers of Cairo forming in the distance, Darien has subdued his bad mood and it was somehow obvious from his stature. He was more relaxed and the frown was almost gone, only to be replaced with distant look as a new memory came to his mind.

Home, sweet home for Rowena no matter how she spoke those words, it was still true. As for Darien, he could never forget the quinquennium that he spent in this city, serving under a vampire. At the end of that period, he ran away. Too disgusted with the society to be able to look neutral anymore. And to disgusted with himself that he let so much injustice happen in times when he could so easily prevent it. Back then, it was hard to leave the city. Not because he had some unbreakable bonds here, but because of so many enemies and only few friends to help him escape those foes. God knows what happened to those people now. Whether they still lived or not. Seeing the tall buildings looking down at them like giants ready to crash any ant, Darien let out a long breath. The Hekan wasn't surprised when Rowena mentioned that she wanted to visit a friend. After all, if that friend had some useful information that might help them, then yes, let's talk to him. Or more like let Rowena talk to him and so Darien agreed with her in silence with a simple nod. Darien first thought that they will drive to the central Cairo, where Darien somehow expected Rowena to have friends, but then the center was the most corrupted and possibly everyone there was against Rowena by now. So no wonder they ended up in the upgraded, vampire version of a ghetto. As they parked in front of some house, Darien first carefully looked around the buildings. There was definitely no danger coming from there, so he was more likely looking for escape routs. A habit that he built throughout the years of escaping, to only end up with the one who chased him.

While Rowena had her little chit chat with the friend, Darien got out from the car, still having the blanket around his shoulders. To be honest, half naked Hekan was probably going to draw more attention than otherwise. He reached the door at the time as it was being opened and some ginger guy was greeting Rowena with a rather funny comment. So there was someone who dared to stand up to Rowena and tell her straight of the bat the she stunk. He might have taken liking to this guy if it wasn't for his next comment. Well, he was used to certain level of being degraded so he overcame this, whatever the rumour could mean, with silence, again. "Well, I see that you two are on very good terms, considering that Rowena still hasn't ripped your spine out and you haven't tried to kill her either. Can we move into the house now? Not that I am so excited about visiting yet another vampire's settlement but well, half naked Hekan is still quite a curious sight no matter where you go..." Shrugging his shoulders, Darien looked from Rowena to the ginger guy and raised one of his eyebrows. He would have entered the house himself but then, he didn't know the ginger guy and couldn't guess what to expect from him. Better to be polite, than sorry.

Aine · Jul 3, 2013

Haji didn't seem overly excited at the prospect of the pair invading his house, but his resistance, no matter how valiant, was already doomed. After a while of silence - silence filled by Rowena staring a hole into the poor guy - the owner of a building stepped aside, beckoning to them to enter. "Sure, sure. Rowena is basically my little sister. Come on." The nervousness never disappeared from his movements; it looked like he needed to do something with his hands to keep calm and the perpetual twitches also didn't scream "mental peace". "Sister? Tread carefully. Do you really want to suffer through family gatherings with me?" Rowena smirked and took the liberty to go inside. "You mean meeting the freaks who raised you to be... This? No chance in hell." Haji probably did have some sort of special permission to treat her like an equal since no massacre ensued; if anything, she looked slightly amused. Talking with her red-headed friend really brought back memories; some of them were less pleasant than the others, but they were still a part of her nonetheless. Besides, he was one of the few bloodsuckers who didn't think it was his obligation as a vampire to forfeit any sense of humor. "Welcome to my mansion," Haji stretched out his arms dramatically, his tone somewhat unenthusiastic.

The outward appearance of the house couldn't possibly be more deceitful; who would have expected fancy furniture like from the catalogue about lifestyle of grossly rich celebrities and highly advanced electronics? "Oh, I forgot about my good manners," he said, turning to face Darien. "My name is Haji. Nice to meet you, I guess. Since I categorically refuse to touch any of you until you take a bath, forget about the handshake for now and don't get too close. Thanks for being understanding," he smiled and waved from a distance, which was apparently his compensation for the missed handshake. "Anyway, make yourself at home," their host motioned towards the chairs deployed around the round, mahogany table. Haji himself, like a true gentleman, started ravaging the nearby fridge for some refreshments to offer to his unexpected guests. Few seconds later, he put three glasses of blood on the table; either he suspected Darien of cannibalism or had rather eccentric ideas about Hekans' eating habits. Sitting down next to them, he spoke urgently. "Roe? I don't wanna hear your story. At all. I've known you for long enough to get an impression you're not an idiot; maybe a little insane and not easy to get along with, but definitely not a lunatic. Betraying the army wouldn't bring a single benefit to you, especially with the kind of position you had, which only leads me to the assumption it wasn't really your choice. I don't need to get involved with the vampires who hold a grudge against you and knowing too much about them is usually enough to trigger something lethal. I will help you, but don't drag me into this unless you can protect me. And from where I stand, it seems you're not even capable of protecting yourself."

Rowena raised her glass and took a careful sip before answering; hearing Haji talk like that hurt her ego, but he was right. Her contacts had been reduced to obsessive-compulsive vampire with little to no political influence and Hekan who wouldn't hesitate to stab her in the back once they find the book; not exactly the dream team. "Don't be afraid, sweetie. Heroic tasks require noble souls; I didn't even think about asking you to actually do something constructive. Just do what is your specialty; spread rumors, that is. Anything new in the town? And most importantly, what is Sunderland up to?" She said the name in a casual tone, yet Haji's reaction - practically spitting his food - revealed the absurdity of this question. "Did someone hit you in the head? The hell do you think-" "I love how you never fail to jump to conclusions. The plan is to steal from him, not beg him for help, so save your breath," Rowena uttered, royally annoyed; she had enough brain cells to know better than to rely on Christian's non-existent good will. "Hmmm..." Haji elongated, evidently pondering over something. "That may be doable. He's throwing a masquerade ball tomorrow. There will sufficient chaos and plenty of other vamps to pay attention to. You could slip in easily." Spark of interest appeared in Rowena's eyes as she looked at Darien; she was far from superstitious, but such an opportunity had to be the fate's way of telling them "I-am-cheering-for-you-guys". "Up for some high quality entertainment at Christian's?"

The Returner · Jul 7, 2013

Darien raised an eyebrow at their exchange. He could imagine hundreds of different scenarios in which Rowena would kill, or torture first then kill, Haji. However, these scenarios didn't include this peaceful chit-chat. No threat or sign of need to kill was coming from Rowena. Following her inside, Darien entered a luxury almost unspoken of. However, he wasn't impressed. If anything, it only proofed the shallowness of vampires. Seemingly living like a rat but in fact living like a prince. Well, wasn't that puerile indeed? His face, that showed no sign of awe at all, turned even more into poker mask as he carried on to follow the conversation, nodding at Haji as he introduced himself. Seeing the glass of blood in front of himself, there was another raise of an eyebrow, a single hint that Darien could move his facial muscles. Either that guy was truly mentally off, or this was a really bad joke; either way, Darien had just decided to ignore the hospitality and went on watching Haji and Rowena. At the mention of the ball, Darien got interested in the verbal exchange for the first time, after all showing that he was actively listening. Sure that could be their chance, but the Hekan could already feel the uneasiness from having to spend time around so many leeches.

"Sure," he answered to Rowena, knowing that missing this opportunity would be the stupidest thing in the world. He will just have to overcome his grudge against vampires for couple hours, get whatever is in the house and get lost again. Nothing he hasn't done before, but maybe a bit trickier. "But we'll need to get some costumes," he added. However, Haji seemed to know quite a fair bit of how to deceive others and most importantly where to get the stuff for it since he said that he would get them some attire for the masquerade. Well, one thing has been taken care of, thanks god. Afterwards, before the silence would be broken by the chatter of the two lost and found friends, Darien interrupted, asking for directions to the bathroom and asking for some extra clothes that Haji could spare on him. Thanks god the vampire was willing to provide both and soon, Darien stepped into the hot streaming water, enjoying the drops hitting his skin and sliding down his body. His palm, where he cut himself with the silver knife, was nearly healed, there were only dark crusts that were about to start falling off. No infection got into the wound which was quite fortunate too. The water was washing off the dirt and sweat of several days, revealing the original paleness. It was refreshing, calming and Darien self-indulgently closed his eyes to enjoy it to the utmost. He used the shower gel and shampoo that was there and after so many months, he felt like a refined man, which didn't happen very often. It took him about half an hour to get every ounce of filth off his skin and from every crease of his body.

Once he left the bathroom, he looked like a completely different human being. He smelled nice first of all, but since his hair was brushed back and still dump, his cheekbones and strong jaw came out more prominently, not making him look so reserved but somehow underlying the air of secrecy around him. His eyes were the same shade but complimented by clean, pale skin, their radiant light blue color looked like two gems. Even though, he saw himself in the mirror that was in the bathroom, he wasn't aware of his looks that much, but he was aware that this whole luxury thing reminded him of his past and even though it wasn't that obvious on the outside, Darien did withdraw more into himself, distancing his mind from anyone and anything. Guessing that they would stay in Haji's for the night to wait until tomorrow's masquerade, Darien went to get some food from the car so that he can actually eat something rather than waiting for the vampire to present him with another glass of blood. Getting some dried meat and a glass of water from the kitchen, he returned back to the round table and sat down with his human meal.

Aine · Jul 9, 2013

Darien's arrival from the promised land - bathroom, that is - caught Rowena in the middle of heated conversation with Haji. Despite throwing around her usual sarcastic comments with cadence of average sub-machine gun, the tone of her voice somehow changed grave insults into mere friendly teasing. It was like Jesus transforming the water into wine, even though infinitely more astonishing. She noticed his presence thanks to her nose first; the layers of dirt had camouflaged the specific smell of Hekan blood before, but it hit her with full force now. The distant reminiscence of tasting Darien surfaced in her mind involuntarily, tempting her taste buds... What the hell, brain? Haven't we agreed on suppressing idiotic ideas a long time ago?! Rowena gulped and stood up from her chair, barely looking at her partner in crime. "My turn for the shower," she mumbled and headed upstairs, fast like greased lightning.

The bathroom had exceeded all her expectation; after so many days without proper hygiene, Rowena had to stop herself from squealing out of genuine joy. Soap, bath salts, bath foam, a lot of other cosmetic supplements she normally deemed as spectacularly useless; right now, however, they represented the touch of civilization, so the former commander poured all that chemical shit into water without second thought. The messy, torn uniform ended up on the floor and Rowena lay into the bathtub; delightful moan escaped her lips. Getting out the deeply ingrained filth from her skin felt so divine that all her problems simply dissolved for a moment. The quest for Book, the insane odds against them, the disturbing confusion regarding certain unnamed Hekan... None of it mattered when compared with the loving embrace of hot water. All the nice things had to end sooner or later, though, so she wrapped a fluffly towel around her body after approximately forty minutes and got out of the bathtub. As much as she treasured the lovely memories of past wars and bloodshed attached to her uniform, Rowena didn't appreciate the stench in the slightest. Maybe it reflected her current situation in a twisted way; was there a better deed than getting rid of the uniform to express her estrangement from everything she had regarded as holy? Gotta ask Haji for normal clothes as well, the vampire thought upon exiting the bathroom. "Huh?" Some box brushed her bare feet; it definitely hadn't been here before...

Unmistakable, rhytmic clatter of high heels on the staircase marked her triumphant return. Honestly, probably not even Rowena's old subordinates could recognize their boss right now on the first glance; full-length ball gown wasn't something they used to see on her during military maneuvers. The crimson fabric - at a guess silk or similar organic material - complimented tone of her skin that seemed very clear after the bathroom therapy, almost radiant. The upper part of her dress was essentially a corset in terms of cut; sleeveless garment emphasizing her curves. The dress a better job in that department than the down-to-earth, practically unisex uniform. It was shocking how feminine she could look with bare shoulders; they gave her constitution an illusion of frailty. The gradually widening skirt was formed from many layers of cloth, each in different shade of red, orange or yellow. Anyone could grasp the motive: flames.

"Are you kidding me, Haji? Yeah, I'm eternally thankful, it's pretty and everything, but you ARE aware that I might need to move in it, right? Judging from our short encounter, it was designed specifically as a luxury variant of a straitjacket. Geez," she sighed. "Besides, what am I supposed to represent? Matchstick? Bonfire? Cigarette?" The ginger literally facepalmed at her incredulity, but there was a hint of smile in his eyes. "Use that lump of meat you have in your skull for something other than thinking of strategies how to kill something, Rowena. It's obviously a phoenix costume; you must have overlooked the mask. And all of your other arguments are invalid since your hair is horrible." Now that came out of nowhere. "What?! You wish you had my hair. It's fabulous, not to mention that every single hair on my head has higher class than you could ever afford." "Whatever. Cutting it short was the greatest mistake of your sad life. Everything went downhill from there." Yes, Rowena - the same Rowena that could probably strangle anyone on prolapsed intestine and would do so happily if given the chance - was discussing haircuts with Haji, truly offended at the lack of gentlemanship. Darien became a witness of a peculiar phenomenon; his companion occasionally slipped into joking mode, mostly when she was really relaxed, and her old friend the condition. "Hm. Still doesn't solve my movement problems. What if I need to run? Or dance?" She indicated few dance moves, but from rather atypical arsenal; it was an imitation of Hopak, also known as Cossack dance. "That holiday spent in Russia has taken a toll on your mental health, Roe. I don't think you can do that on a masquerade ball full of sane guests..." "Technically, it's a Ukrainian dance, so shut up. And I am a master of-" Nobody had ever learned the punchline to her speech since the heels betrayed her; Rowena hadn't walked on them for quite some time now and this kind of hopping wasn't the ideal warm-up exercise. To make it short, she stumbled and struck the Hekan with accuracy of the atomic bomb dropped at Hiroshima. The chair didn't turn out to be the most stable piece of furniture ever, so they both ended up on the floor. Once again, Rowena realized how appetizing he smelled... And also how handsome he looked after that bath. Stop staring at him! "Damn. Stupid shoes. Sorry."

The Returner · Jul 10, 2013

Darien ate his food in silence. Haji didn't seem to be so talkative to strangers and the Hekan himself didn't feel like talking either. And so after filling his stomach, he was just looking around. Seeing all the details and the luxury that the vampire indulged in. Yes, pathetic, but then vampires were always like that. From time to time, he checked the clock on the wall, seeing the hands moving soundlessly, counting each passing minute. He wondered how long it would take Rowena to be done. Not that he needed the bathroom or was desperate for her presence, but the longer it took her, the more it was a proof that, after all, she had a womanly needs as well. It was a proof that she was, to some very short extent, normal.

As the clacking of high heel shoes resonated within the walls Darien turned around and saw Rowena approach. Holy fuck! If he wasn't so self-conscious, Darien would have dropped his jaw through the floor to the basement. Instead of that, he raised both of his eyebrows in clear surprise as if that female vampire who just entered the room wasn't the Rowena he knew but some damn hot chick. Mentally slapping himself for admiring Rowena's appearance, even though it was undeniable that she looked very attractive, Darien couldn't help himself but look her up and down couple times. He couldn't control some things, like his heart beat. It sped up for couple seconds before he managed to get hold of his scattered thoughts and, surprisingly, feelings as well. Why did his body react this way, he wasn't sure. She is still your enemy, he told himself, but for the first time, this exclamation somehow lacked confidence. As Rowena tried to dance, he nearly snickered. "You deem yourself to be better than humans and you can't even dance," he uttered quietly and upon seeing her fail in that field, Darien was glad that he was taught classical dancing. Yes, even Hekans could get around to learn some good stuff if they were employed by certain vampires.

The next sequel of events happened quickly. Rowena was trying to put Haji's comment down with some witty reply of hers, when she was suddenly falling towards Darien. He couldn't do as much as comprehend how that would end. He did manage to put one of his hands on her back and the other one stretched out to soften the fall, when they were both suddenly on the floor. Yes, even in situations like that, with someone he despised, Darien was protective. But no matter how tough Rowena deemed herself to be, she was still a woman and her body against his felt...well, the best way to put it is - fitting. Being just as surprised as the vampire herself, Darien just stared at her for couple seconds. Seeing her face so up close, and clean, there was something within Darien that has moved...and no it wasn't his crotch. Being able to notice the details, Darien could guess that Rowena was embarrassed, even her voice gave that slightly away. Well, so was he but there are some things in the world, that can't be helped and the situation as a whole was actually hilarious. "Well, if you have told me sooner that you need dancing lessons, I would have gladly got up and taught you instead of you throwing yourself at me like this." There was something light about his tone as if he was well amused but for the sake of the pride that Rowena might still have, he wasn't laughing. Skillfully, he helped her up to her feet whether she liked it or not, because she did seem somehow unstable on her feet.

"Either way, I am serious. If that jumpy impression of a dance is the best you can do Rowena..." Raising his eyebrow, he looked down at her, her closeness still pressing against his senses, somehow getting harder to ignore. "Believe it or not, I underwent some lessons of classical dancing and if we want to blend with the crowd, I suggest you let me teach you or help you get used to dancing in this dress." Taking few steps back because it was getting unbearable to be so close, Darien leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest, he waited for her answer not being really sure whether he wanted her to agree to his suggestion or dismiss it immediately.

Aine · Jul 11, 2013

There was a common pattern to Rowena's way of handling embarrassment, as Darien might have noticed already; whenever she felt overpowered by something, her normally sharp tongue lost its threatening edge and joined enemy ranks to dig her deeper. It was like gaining a short-lived VIP invitation into corner of her mind that stored all the remarks that were labelled as "not cool enough" to use in real arguments. "What does everybody have against the culture of Eastern Europe? I swear on my honor it was a legitimate dance with rich lore. You can find many historical instances where..." The vampire quietened in the middle of her sentence when she fathomed the funny anecdote about Stalin and Khrushchev would have been more than slightly off topic. Frankly, Rowena knew she was babbling; identifying the problem hardly posed a challenge for anyone with IQ higher than room temperature. Getting a hold of herself, though, was another matter.

Sudden appearance of unwelcome guest in the form of nervous butterflies in the stomach couldn't really be connected to that fall; she had had her fair share of bizarre accidents back in the days of military drill. While none of them had been as outlandish as trying to dance a Hopak in a fancy ball gown and bringing down random Hekan in the process like miniature meteorite, they held undeniable degree of puzzlement. This felt... different. Way too different for her to lie to herself authentically; yeah, she had to admit that Darien was distracting. Regardless of the principles hammered into her head since early childhood, Rowena couldn't really perceive him as a filth anymore... She paused for a moment to think about his offer; some training in that area surely wouldn't hurt her, especially for the sake of camouflage. The downside was that she would have to touch him, but somehow, this simultaneously counted as an advantage in her book. If she had been keeping a diary, this would have been an instant she could have written something along the lines of "and that's how I abandoned the logic" inside of it.

"You're truly a man of thousand talents," Rowena chuckled, yet there were no signs of actual mockery in her voice; just some sort of underlying, unobtrusive amusement. The habitual icy expression or condescending smirk that screamed "I-am-better-than-you" had disappeared somewhere in the mysterious depths of the universe. "Well, seeing you are dedicated to our case to the point you're willing to dance with me, I can't find it in my heart to refuse. Fine, let the awkwardness commence." She walked up to him, still a little unsure in her movements, and looked him in the eyes with an unspoken question. That's when it occurred to her; Darien didn't seem overly disgusted with their... brief intimate contact either. Imaginary question marks few centimeters above her head almost obtained tangibility. Was that even possible? Hmmm... This theory seriously needs a confirmation. For science!

"I think we might want to concentrate on pure basics for now. Scandalous for a lady of such refinement as me, I know, but if my memory serves correctly, I've danced exactly twice in my life and everytime I did so, I just kinda... Hung on the guy and waited for the music to end." Stimulated by morbid curiosity that was stronger than self-consciousness - the same inquisitiveness that regularly got her into troubles - Rowena put her arms around Darien's neck tenderly, leaned on him to fill the gap between their bodies and put her head on his shoulder. "Roughly like this." His warmth, the solid muscles she could sense underneath his shirt, the pulse of his heart; it all felt surprisingly right and her own heart started beating a bit faster. Biting the Hekan on the spot probably would have been a child's play; he was practically defenseless to her advances. A simple steal. And yet, something prevented her from going through with it; she couldn't bring herself to undermine that delicate trust established between them. Moreover, Darien had given up his blood voluntarily for her before. Maybe, just maybe... Rowena distanced herself from him just enough to converse normally, searching for the hints of discomfort in his eyes. "So? What should I do? What about my stance? Where do my arms belong?"

Haji was watching the pair wide-eyed; everything he had ever known about this world shattered in front of him. Poor man.

The Returner · Jul 12, 2013

Yes, there was more to Darien than what met the eye. Secrets that the public should never learn as well as details that were not so harmless when revealed in a good time. Just like the fact that he could dance. As long as it stayed within those borders, not adhering to the part of the story which would stray into the realm of past, Darien was fine with whatever was about to come. Well, fine might have been way too a fragile word for the current situation, but somehow, he was ok with the thought that Rowena might agree to the little lesson. And sure enough, she did. In that moment, Darien felt somehow uplifted, yet his heart gave away couple faster beats for no obvious reasons. Why did he feel like a teenager who was just asked out by the prom queen? Oh wait, he didn't have any teenage fun when he was younger. As usual, when feelings got too confusing, clouded his judgement, or harmed professionalism, Darien suppressed them, just like now. Though, his trying was somewhat futile since the barrier he built wasn't strong enough and threaten to break any second.

Watching her advancing on her unstable feet, Darien almost felt like standing up and supporting her baby steps, yet that would indeed be very unnatural for his character. Moreover, he could still feel Haji's presence around and for the sake of whatever needed to be preserved, Darien had to seem uninterested and cool. Refinement, hmm? He thought somewhat ironically and then the hell broke loose. Rowena must have gone insane. As she put her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, his eyes went wide with surprise, his mind momentarily blank until it was disturbed by sudden slightly faster beating of her heart. Like a true teenager, Darien got secondarily paranoid that she must have heard it and must think something. Therefore, he assumed a straight face again, though his eyes gave away the unspoken question that was screaming in his mind. What on earth are you doing? As she distanced herself only the slightest bit, her face again not so far from his, Darien understood. If she was playing a game then Darien would gladly play along, accepting her rules, maybe bending them slightly.

The primary question that was so obvious in his eyes, disappeared. It was replaced by a simple acknowledgement which could have concerned anything from their lesson to the success of the mission. However, the smirk on his lips was undeniably self-confident with the hints of secrecy, creating a mix that would bring any human female to her knees. "Frankly speaking, you have it all wrong," he said without hesitation, being sure that Rowena wouldn't do much harm to him at this point. Not in the state she was in, which to Darien seemed like someone hypnotized her and used her as a puppet for private amusement. Unfolding his arms from between their bodies, Darien placed his palms on her side just to stabilize her as he straightened up, once again being taller than her even when she was wearing high heels. Yet those hands were slightly lower than socially acceptable, testing how far Rowena wanted to take this game. Surprisingly though, he enjoyed the closeness on some whole different level, shoveling the horror-stunned part of himself on the side, but still keeping his rational part of consciousness just so he wouldn't go over the edge too much. Arranging her arms around, they ended having almost a perfect stance for waltz. His palm, that was resting on her middle back now, pressured lightly to make her come even closer so that their bodies were touching once again. Looking down at her, self-confident expression never faded. Though, as she inquisitively looked into his eyes before, now he was searching for some clue as to what was she thinking; how she regarded this very unusual, completely insane sequel of events.

"Now we don't have any music but the steps are pretty simple. Usually, woman doesn't have to know them that much, because it is always the man who leads. Unless you get too commanding, but I suggest you don't, because honestly I can't do Hopak." His voice wasn't lecturing or strict; it was light and somewhat relaxed which was very unusual to Darien's normal behavior. In his mind, he could already hear the music and his body was somewhat thrilled to be dancing again. Yes, he liked it no matter how unmanly thing it was. His enjoyment of that simple discipline caused him to become a very good dancer. "We'll start with waltz. It is simply back and forth with some turns. You start with your right foot taking a step backwards, left foot following. Then right foot taking a step towards me, left foot following. We'll repeat that couple times until you get used to it, ok?" He tried to explain, giving her couple seconds to absorb the information, he then adjust himself against her body ever so slightly, getting a better hold of her, his mind already full of Dmitri Shostakovich's Second Waltz music. Then, bringing himself up a little bit on the balls of his foot, he made a first careful step forward, watching Rowena, trying to be gentle not to step on her foot. If she stepped on his foot, he wouldn't say a thing just give her a reassuring nod. With the music inside his head and her looking so beautiful, his heart began beating faster again and he felt somehow drawn to her, wanting to turn with her, do all the amazing things that waltz allowed him to do with a woman. Seeing that Rowena actually wasn't that bad, Darien smirked, obviously planning something. "Trust me with this, don't take the lead," he told her suddenly before he went all waltzy on her, leading her across the living room with accuracy of professional ballroom dancer. His lead was easy to follow like a silk ribbon. While dancing, it was as if Darien became a different person, different man - refined and classy.

He danced few more steps, slowing down until the two of them came to a halt. Holding Rowena in his arms few more seconds, searching in her eyes again, he then let her go and took a step back, her presence once again too much to bear, his own mind getting unreliable. Too many different thoughts ran through his head preventing him from thinking clearly, even more to say some intelligent in that moment. She was just way too womanly, too alluring for his senses and aside from feeling of sudden attraction, there was fear starting to crawl in the dark shadows of his soul. Not fear of what has just happened, but fear of what might follow, fear of the consequences. Taking a deep breath, Darien tried to look as if he was evaluating the whole lesson. It worked out in a way, but it wasn't a perfect mask. "Well, that's waltz, mostly used in any noble event, masquerades a lot as well. You seem to have got the hang of it quite quickly," he said, and something in his stance or expression even underlined the fact that he looked somewhat lost or unsure. For an outsider, it was, though, a riddle to detect what exactly made him feel that way. For Darien, he was just overwhelmed with everything really. Rowena's look, his feeling of the present and the past. Believe it or not, no matter how cool headed he seemed most of the time if someone nudged his feelings a bit too much, it would confuse him. As any other man, he just didn't have much of a clue about how to deal with that phenomenon.

Aine · Jul 13, 2013

True meaning of the phrase "playing with fire" somehow managed to stay a secret to Rowena. The bold vampire stood firmly by the opinion that anyone who refused to take necessary risks simply deserved their low position in the hierarchy. Either you man up and seize the control over whatever is currently bothering you or you let others act in their own selfish concerns and lose everything; no middle ground existed... At least that's what she had thought until now. Inexplicable feeling that could be described by the lyrical "I-am-so-fucked-right-now" filled her chest as Darien's shocked expression melted into nothingness and something way more sinister took its place. Unlike the vampires she had interacted with before her banishment, Darien clearly wasn't afraid of her eerie reputation, and it showed. In spades. Probably for the first time in her life, Rowena started to fear she might get burnt. "How tragical. Seems like all my ambitions of becoming a professional dancer are nothing but empty hopes of a naive girl. Care to demonstrate how it's done?" And he did care, judging from the eagerness with which he placed his arms around her. She wasn't any expert on dancing, much less on anything even remotely close to etiquette, yet Rowena was quite convinced that her partner's hands had absolutely no right to remain in those lower regions. What surprised her more than Darien's audacity was her own reaction; she didn't mind, not really. Yeah, some sort of uneasiness crept into her expression, making her look like startled animal, but she didn't try to gouge his eyes out or otherwise incapacitate him. A phenomenal display of trust.

To be honest, it wasn't so bad, him touching her; the goosebumps Rowena got from it were more than credible proof. Shaking her head slightly as if wanting to snap out of some trance, the vampire let Darien adjust her position to his liking. Submitting to someone else's whims like that felt really strange; she was the type to lead and never follow blindly. That unhealthy obsession with actively commanding everyone and everything - presumably occupational disease - had to retreat for now. Determined grin settled on her face, erasing the momentary discomposure from before. "Maybe I'll teach you next time. If nothing else, it's an awesome stress relief method. One out of one Rowena agrees; that's hundred percent rating." Again, she smiled, listening to his instructions. Waltz didn't seem as a rocket science in the terms of difficulty, not for person reasonably talented in the sports department. Rowena usually wasn't the one to trip over her own feet... On the other hand, shoes on high heels weren't her usual footwear. Nodding to suggest she understood the guidelines, the vampire shot another quizzical look after Darien. The first steps caught her off guard; yes, there was nothing difficult about them in theory, but the endless repetition could be a challenge for someone who had no idea about the music meant for this type of dance and therefore about the rhythm. Another type of challenge was mustering enough self-command to actually concentrate on the regularity of steps. Hekan's presence caused an overload to all her already heightened senses. If only he didn't smell so deliciously; that was one sensory perception she couldn't block out at all.

The strategy of trying to center on the dance exclusively didn't work for her, so Rowena swiftly decided in favor of plan B. Instead of ignoring Darien stubbornly, she took a deep breath as if preparing to dive into unknown waters and focused on him only, conforming to his steady movements. Soon enough, the right steps came to her more or less naturally. The second she gained some sort of security, though, Darien noticed and apparently thought it would be fun to perturb her with something advanced. "Wait, don't do anything weird, I still need to..." However, he didn't take her genuine panic into account and suddenly, Rowena felt like her feet were barely touching the ground. The initial tension left her body as she learned to accept his guidance fully, fascinated by heart-breaking elegance of the waltz... And, unfortunately, by him as well. What was happening certainly didn't make any sense. Practically all vampires were drop dead gorgeous - genetical benefit to lure in their human preys from the times when they could only hide in shadows - and that never stopped Rowena from hating most of them rather passionately. In fact, those pretty faces only further fueled her desire to break their noses and destroy that perfection. So why would she drool over Darien of all people?! It made Rowena feel shaky and weak, which wasn't a sensation she welcomed with open arms. Yet somehow, when the Hekan interrupted their lesson, the vampire found herself wishing they could continue for a little while. Her expression was that of a reluctant enchantment; it quickly changed into disinterested facade, but she couldn't repel the impression that he saw everything anyway.

Darien also didn't seem unfazed - which flattered her in a way - but Rowena believed that out of the two, she was on the losing side of the barricade. He beat her at her own game, pushed her into the defensive; the most dreaded situation on any battlefield. Oh, this is SO not over. I can't let him snatch such an easy victory. "I honestly think you played a major role in that. As a teacher, you're not bad at all..." And then, she raised up on the toes to steal a kiss from him. It was an ephemeral contact, short enough to be classified as a friendly peck on the lips, perfectly polite and perfectly innocent... Except that the mischievous spark in her eyes and sly smirk denied it more than eloquently. "Yes, not bad at all. Thanks, Darien," she put an emphasis on the magic word, violently suppressing the sudden urge to run away and avoid any possible chain reaction. Or to hit him over the head with something particularly heavy to make him forget about today's night dubious events, which would have solved everything aside from her own emotional instability. What possessed me to manifest a superiority with a KISS? Couldn't have I punched him instead? It did feel nice, though... Damn. Just... Damn.

"Wow. Now I can say truthfully I've seen absolutely everything. I can die in peace," Haji reminded them of his presence, his tone bordering between utter disbelief and gleeful amusement. "Well, I guarantee you that can be arranged," Rowena retorted quickly, somewhat alarmed that he was indeed there the entire time. She was never, ever going to live this down. The vampire remembered Dawson's generous offer regarding her face-saving departure from this world; now it almost looked like a fair deal.

The Returner · Jul 15, 2013

For a second there, Darien thought that he won the game, that he managed to outdo Rowena. That thought somewhat to calm him down as if winning could legally deny what was going on inside his head. He nearly resumed his previous cool state, oppose to his battling feelings and confusing thoughts. But then, he also should have known better and if anyone was more competitive than him, it was Rowena. Clearly, she was willing to destroy all the conventions just to bring herself on the top and trample on others. Sure, her intentions were not so drastic this time, because as far as Darien was concerned, this seemed to be just a harmless game of dominance. Harmless...it would have been that if there wasn't the persistent sensation of need. Yet, when she stood on the tips of her toes, and Darien just about understood what she was about to do, it was too late for him to stop her and even if he would have wanted to stop her, a part of him doubted he would do anything productive. She has pressed the imaginary button deep inside his being and set in motion things that were never meant to be awakened. Seeing her mischievous spark in her, Darien cheek muscles flexed and relaxed in turns, his expression hard as if he wanted to chastise her, yet no words came out. Moreover, there was something additional to his look. It gave out a clear message 'This isn't over yet'. Looking at Haji, Darien grinned, something feral in the expression.

"Well, who would have thought Haji, that Rowena would crave me so much as to step over the borders of the two worlds and give me such an innocent peck." There was light tone in his voice, joking even, despite the heavy feeling within his chest. This small note could hardly win him back what was rightfully his - pride and sanity; yet he was also that type of person who wanted to have the last word. After all, it was always him making the decision and being the last one to speak. Even though, he looked relaxed on the outside as if he had just had a good time with a friend, he wanted to pack his things, leave the house and the two vampires behind, going somewhere far, far away. Maybe middle of the desert, or deep jungle, where he would be all on his own, with his own mind. There, he would be able to regain what has just been stolen from him. Could Rowena know or guess what mess she has just made? Not out of him yet. No, he wasn't that far over the edge...just yet. That much he knew and for that he held hope that maybe he would be able to save himself at some point. Though, he could feel his foot slipping. Not looking at either Haji or Rowena, Darien calmly took a sip of the water that was still on the table. He would leave, but not just yet. It would only seem as if he was running away like some crazy teenage boy who wants to hide away from the world. But he couldn't take it any longer. Rowena still played a big part in his sudden confusion but the longer he had to control his outwards attitude, the harder it has got. He had to be alone, to screw up his face, to swear, do anything but not be cool and collected. Anything, that would help him release the tension.

"I think I am gonna rest for the rest of the night. After all, these past few days have been quite intense. Which room could I use?" Words came out surprisingly easily and Darien even managed to mimic a simple shadow of a smile, no matter the fact that it would probably be the last smile of the day...or week. Waiting for Haji's directions, Darien then departed, taking the water with him so that he kept his hands occupied; otherwise, he would end up clenching his fist all the way. He needed some peaceful time, quite time with himself. Away from Rowena and all the strange effects she had on him. The moment he was out of the room, Darien felt a bit better though the heavy feeling from his chest didn't really disappear and as he relaxed further, his face gained this funny, yet horrified expression. As he entered the room that he could use for the night, he leaned against the door, slightly wide eyed, his breathing heavy. Just what on earth is wrong with me? He kept on asking himself over and over again, but every time, silence was the only answer he got.

Aine · Jul 17, 2013

That little remark clearly couldn't shift the metaphorical scales in Darien's favor as actions spoke louder than words, but Rowena still had to try her hardest to maintain her poker face when Haji chuckled appreciatively. Seeing his old friend in such an uncommon situation was like a second Christmas to him and he didn't spend any energy on hiding his feelings. "Haha, yeah, isn't she cute? I mean, after all those years of cold and callous exterior you just come and sweep her off her feet with one dance lesson." To say that Rowena didn't like the direction where this conversation was heading would have been an understatement. Quite an understatement. Only steel self-control acquired over years of serving under incompetent twits prevented the lovely combination of embarrassment, slightly suicidal thoughts and anxiety from demolishing everything in sight. "Haji, sweetie, before you start referring to getting along with me as some magnificent accomplishment in a video game, remember that I know your greatest weakness. I don't really want to jumble up the labels on your pirated DVDs, but frankly, you're not giving me a choice." "You wouldn't!" the ginger exclaimed, horrified just from the mere idea, and Rowena smirked. When Darien asked about his room, Haji shrugged. "I don't really care. Try the second door on the left upstairs, that room should be vacant." Rowena was glad that her companion had decided to go to bed early and not because it underlined his loss; his presence simply made everything difficult. "Just a friendly suggestion, Darien... I would lock the door if I were you. You don't want me breaking into your room in a surge of uncontrollable passion, right?" the vampire smiled, her voice as smooth as velvet. "Nighty-night."

Rowena spent most of the night discussing various topics with Haji; even though none of them said it out-loud, both knew this was likely the last time they would see each other under such a calm circumstances. Rare nostalgia washed over them and they found themselves reminiscing about the sheer craziness of their first encounter. It was a goodbye and maybe a requiem to some extent. Fatigue, however, hit Rowena as well since the past few days really hadn't been relaxation at a wellness center, so she betook herself to the bedroom. The naive hopes of undisturbed sleep were crushed soon; her mind wandered infallibly to the forbidden area without Haji to provide for a suitable distraction. She had kissed Darien. Just to show him who's the boss here, which I fucking did. Besides, it wasn't a real kiss. No big deal. Somehow, her own arguments sounded hollow and fake; the vampire understood the anatomy of lies and this one in particular stood on feet of clay. Assuming that some cardiovascular illness hadn't turned up to throw a party with her other health problems, the thrill behind the action she had taken was very real. Rowena touched her lips, totally astonished expression on her face. He is a Hekan, someone not even entitled to be my food! Repeating old facts - facts she didn't even believe anymore - meant nothing, though. The damage was already done.

After few hours of discontinuous sleep plagued by nightmares and strange visions, Rowena ditched the bed. The hygiene right after awakening felt refreshing; there was nothing better than a quick freezing shower to stir all her senses. Sadly, good news stopped here. Anyone who claimed that being able to admit you had a problem eventually led to solving it was a damned liar and should be sentenced to exemplary execution. The strange infatuation she felt for him apparently existed in its own dimension inaccessible to outside influences and thus ignored all the conscious attempts of elimination. Rowena applied the rules of psychological warfare and brainwash herself into sanity, yet the efforts were exceptionally counterproductive; the more she tried to suppress her improper notions, the more she had to think about Darien. Great. And now what? Should I test out Pavlov's reflex in practice and punch myself in the stomach every time I see him to cultivate artificial disgust? Interesting idea, but possible death caused by internal bleeding wouldn't be a fair price for mental peace. Certain psychos preached that psychological pain was infinitely worse than any physical pain. Our heroine, on the other hand, called such individuals "posers" and thought the worst pain they had ever experienced was a pinched finger.

Rowena stuffed herself back into the costume Haji had picked for her and descended to the living room; the guys were already there. "Ahh, what a beautiful day we have... Absolutely perfect for the classy event that's awaiting us." Her steps in high heels already gained elegance; nobody could really accuse her of having a long learning curve. The usual confidence returned to her posture, but that was a result of her considerable acting talent. "Nice day to you as well, Roe, but stop with the pleasantries. I know how fond of them you are, but we need to solve Darien's problem with suitable clothing first," Haji answered, turning to face the Hekan. He motioned towards few boxes lying on the ground. "I have gotten you few costumes in different sizes, so try them on. At least one should fit."

The Returner · Jul 19, 2013

His back was pressed against the door for quite some time, as if to prevent anyone from getting. Clearly, that anyone was Rowena. Though, it was completely illogical for him to think that she would go to such lengths as to break into his room, his already confused mind didn't want to rule out that possibility anyway. After all, she has proven many times that her own mind works in very, very strange ways. His heavy breathing returned to normal after some time as well, as if he just gained back his strength from a long run; or a very short, abrupt sprint, which would be more likely if compared with his tussled feelings. Locking the door behind him, either out of sheer habit or unconscious need for prevention, Darien sat on the big double bed, placing the glass of water on the bed side table. And there he was. Once again tossed between his logical, rational self and his teenage, emotional self which still hungered for what has been once taken away from it. This is not right, he thought and the rational side nodded vehemently whereas the emotional Darien raged within his cage. What has happened in the living room was obviously something very unusual and shouldn't be repeated. Darien knew that there was a risk when he entered the game that Rowena provoked, but he truly underestimated the extent of that risk. Feeling that if he would go any deeper into his thoughts, if he would try to solve this already well-known puzzle of his heart, he might as well throw away all his hopes for winning this fight. To prevent himself from losing the war of the Book of Thoth, Darien entered something like a meditation. There was only one way, hopefully effective way, how to stop the inevitable from happening. Accessing his memories that were locked away for almost a decade, bringing back to life all the bad that has happened to him, all the reasons why he was who he was, Darien began forging a new armor of hatred, aloofness and vigilance. It was a battle he had to win within himself, but it wasn't a battle fought for the first time. As he opened his eyes, Darien almost saw the world in new colors. Dark colors of the reality illuminated the room and once again he was himself. Feeling tired from all the effort that he put into caging the unwanted and casting out the intrusive, Darien took off his shirt ready to sleep even though it was early but he would need strength for tomorrow, if he wanted to tick another mission as accomplished.

The night was quiet and cool. Darien didn't have any dreams or at least he didn't remember them. However, when he woke up, he was even more tired than when he went to bed. Only momentarily wondering what could be the cause, he got up to get himself some coffee, which would definitely help to bring his senses back to life. As he descended down to the kitchen, he got lucky that both Rowena and Haji were not there yet, because his face did really look as if he didn't sleep for about a week. Quickly washing his face in the sink in the kitchen, Darien then proceeded to making himself some coffee. By that time, he looked better, refreshed but still sleepy. It was then that Haji came in and the two of them exchanged the usual casualties. They even touched upon the problem of his costume to which Haji answered that he got something sorted, yet his tone wasn't really reassuring. Not long after that, Darien heard the all too familiar clacking of high heels shoes. His face immediately assumed poker expression, his eyes somewhat hard as if he was about to criticize anything within his sight. Well, it wasn't so obtrusive a look, it was just his way of keeping anything distracting out of his mind. That anything, again, was Rowena. As she went down the stairs, even more beautiful than yesterday with the make up on, Darien took a sip of his coffee, seemingly at ease. Yet that move was perfectly calculated. He could feel the iron bars of the prison within his soul shaking. He just had to take a second to repeat the reasons for the detention - hatred, aloofness, vigilance. Three words that worked another kind of magic within. His second mantra if you please. Only now, did Darien also noticed the boxes. On his way down, since he was so sleepy, he must have overlooked them. Placing down the cup, he took all the four boxes at once. "I'll see you in a bit." And with that he went back to his room, for privacy of changing clothes in which he will probably look hilarious anyway.

It didn't take long, just two boxes, until he found a costume that fitted him perfectly. It was a Baroque style jacket and vest made from black velvet and embroidered with golden thread. Underneath, Darien wore the casual, button up white shirt with Chinese collar so that it wouldn't get in the way of the whole costume. To top his sleek look, the costume then included black trousers and polished, black, leather shoes. The simplicity of these two pieces of clothing only supported to overall outlook. Darien looked like some Baroque high born. If only he felt a tinsy bit good about his appearance. Instead, he felt like some expensive Christmas tree decoration - too shiny. Well, it couldn't be helped, he had to go with the flow, which also meant that he brushed his hair back so it looked like yesterday after he has gotten out of the shower. Once again, it made his facial features stand out more. The mask that came with the costume was the only thing that Darien was appreciative of. Not that it would only nicely hide his face and therefore his mild dissent, he also liked the small detail of music score that was on each side of it. Fixing that on his face, it was time to return to the living room. To be honest, it didn't really take him longer than 45 minutes. Moreover, it was always lame if someone was first at the party. Walking down the stairs one more time, Darien looked like a completely changed man. There was different swing in his steps, he held his body differently. Clearly, he had no problem assuming the role that was given to him. "I think we are ready," he said when he reached the two vampires. From behind the mask, Darien felt safe, as if there was barrier between him and his female partner; therefore, he didn't find it so difficult finally looking at her properly, once again taking in every detail of her body. Yet this time, there was no hullabaloo in response to the acknowledgement of Rowena's dazzling look.

"I'll drive since for tonight you seem to be my...owner or whatever," Darien told Rowena, pronouncing the last part a bit skeptically. Moreover, Rowena in her amazing dress and high heels might have been, or not, able to drive. Darien didn't want to risk anything. What would the guests think if a vampire lady got out from behind the wheel while the Hekan was on the passenger's seat? It would be outrageous and completely ruining their cover. Without any second glance or hesitation, Darien asked wordlessly for the keys just by extending his arm palm up. Having snow white gloves on, even more brought up the unspoken fact that this wasn't his first time attending an event of such kind. Everything pointed in the direction that Darien knew exactly what he was doing, that it all wasn't one big coincidence. Receiving the keys also with the instructions on how to get to Christian's mansion, Darien thanked Haji for the costume and his help before making his way to the door and holding it open for Rowena with professional stance of experienced doorman. The car was still there, no damage done to it, no parts missing. Well, one can never be too careful and to be honest, Darien wasn't sure if there were or were not little metal thieves within the vampire society as well. Either way, they could use the Aston Martin once more, for which Darien was glad. As he got behind the wheel, a cold chill ran through his whole body and a sense of deja vu washed over him. He knew where it originated from, yet he didn't let the reason access his mind and make mess in his composure. No matter how strong and stable Darien seemed on the outside this night, he was rather fragile on the inside. With a quiet growl of the engine that sounded like a yawning kitten, Darien pulled away from the house, thinking that they probably won't be coming back for dinner.

The streets were not so busy and the two of them didn't run into any problem. Darien somehow quickly acclimatized himself to the wealth and luxury so that he didn't feel irritated every time a porsche, or a ferrari sped past them. Yes, he was going within the speed limit, like Rowena did before, because getting caught by the police was still the last thing they needed. As it turned out Christian's house wasn't that far from Haji's, mere half an hour, but directly in the center, and they joined the queue of cars that were all routed towards the mansion. It seemed like a rather big event, indeed. As they were tagging forward, the house slowly came into view. House, actually, was quite of an understatement. This mansion was the utter sign of riches higher than even Darien has seen before. His fingers grasped the wheel tighter in either sudden irritation or mental support for the upcoming play he and Rowena had to perform. Looking at her as they stopped for a while, the look in his eyes was hard to decipher. It seemed as if he was evaluating her, her ability to play this game on a level they needed. He didn't doubt her, he in fact unconsciously doubted himself, but maybe, just maybe, he was looking for something in Rowena's eyes. Yet that moment was gone before it gained any sense. After all, they had their go on their roles yesterday and even though it proved to be slightly deadly, at least to him, Darien was a man of faith and resolution. He wouldn't let this mission fail. Yet, he hoped that the walls and iron bars he has built around his inner self would last the whole evening, until the last second.

As they pulled on the side, by the entrance, a young boy opened the door for Rowena, clearly taking in her beauty and stuttering a very shy welcome. Darien wondered whether that boy did that with every lady he has seen so far or not. Because if the former was true, then he definitely was not on the list of promotion from the owner of this house. Darien got out on his own and gave the keys to that young boy without as much as a word or a glance. Under normal circumstances, he would have offered his female companion his arm to lead her around, yet she was a vampire and he was just a Hekan. Because of that, he had to trail behind her as some kind of bodyguard...or a servant which was more common way of thinking about Hekans attending these kinds of events. At least, it used to be that way as far as he remembered. "Shall we go inside?" He suggested with a slight movement of his arm towards the wide opened door through which music and golden glow gave the night unspeakable shades of serenity. As they entered, both of them got engulfed not only in the heavenly light and sound of orchestra, but also in aroma of many perfumes and exotic food as well. The entrance hall was decorated in golden, white and red shades. Its own bean almost overwhelming. All the women were dressed in diverse gowns, some very extraordinary, so to speak. All around vampires were chatting with each other while holding thin glasses filled with champaigne; some clearly engaged in cryptic conversations; the younger ones lightly chattering. Darien noticed couple other Hekans in the room, their faces, or what he could see from beneath the mask, unknown to him. Then somewhere of on the side, Darien could hear laughter so clear and light like the sound of a jingle bell and for a second he experienced the feeling of familiarity again. As if he had heard it before...somewhere. With his heart, unreasonably speeding up ever-so-slightly, Darien wanted to turn around and see the source of that noise; yet, Luck wasn't on his side in that second as a man who everyone was addressing with respect was on his way to them. This man was about the same height as Darien, but clearly a vampire considering his lean figure and elegant steps. His costume was similar in style to Darien's but it was in white and blue with the jacket longer and with some frill around the neck. The man's long chestnut hair was tied at the crown of his head with a piece of silk of matching color with his costume. Half of his face was covered with Venetian white mask, but what was visible pointed out sharp features of an eagle, his bright eyes set on them, his thin lips twisted somewhat in a welcoming smile.

Aine · Jul 21, 2013

Rowena was sitting at the table, waiting for Darien to decide he is ready to go. Her slender, long fingers were tapping a strange rhythm into the mahogany wood; just like many times before, she just needed some activity, no matter how trivial, to occupy herself with. It helped to liberate the ideas imprisoned in their usual patterns, to make them run wild and think outside of the box... And God knew she could use some good planning right now. They were about to step directly into the hornet's nest with their only advantage being the masks hiding the identity of two most internationally wanted criminals of the world; maybe they could be deemed as suitable candidates for Darwin Award by casually serving themselves on a silver plate to Christian like that. As a faithful devotee of the adrenaline sports, Rowena had a weak spot for insane plans that worked wonders in combination with a moment of surprise. Good half of her tactical successes consisted of the moves so unpredictable, insolent or seemingly idiotic that nobody knew how to react accordingly; the rest of them could be ascribed to carefully crafted lies. Of course, the vampire's experience with any and every plan ever amounted to bitter realization that each scheme was doomed to fail because of holes in it that simply couldn't be prevented beforehand; winning depended on the ability to adapt to new circumstances. Still, pondering over various outcomes was a good mental exercise for her, and the one she performed methodically with joy.

Seeing him again, though, didn't exactly fill her with satisfaction; in the secret corner of her soul where the demons of past were sealed, she dreaded the encounter. Some instinct told her Christian wouldn't welcome her back with tears of happiness in his eyes and a bouquet; not that it would change her opinion of him. Frankly, Rowena couldn't care less about his attitude towards her; as far as she was concerned, Sunderland could ritually burn a voodoo doll representing her at every anniversary of their first meeting and she wouldn't give a fuck. No, her fear lay in something else. The man who often starred in her nightmares might easily serve as a catalyst to awakening the part of her personality that should never see the light of world again, especially during important mission; the breakable, fragile side she had buried so thoroughly. I'm not the one to take the blame, the vampire thought absentmindedly. It was a purely automatic reaction, a phrase she had repeated so many times in past it had become a background noise without any real meaning. Huddle of randomly organized letters spoken just for the sake of habit, not to convey information. Haji could read Rowena quite well, so he didn't try to interrupt her train of thought. They had said their goodbyes properly yesterday and the ginger knew the nature of her reflective states shortly before every bigger action. Darien, however, wasn't familiar with it; his exclamation broke her concentration instantly. Looking up to the source of distraction, still half lost in some imaginary world, her eyes widened in awe. Damn. How did this happen?! She had already admitted the Hekan was attractive, but that costume enhanced different, normally hidden aspects. The kiss came back to haunt her; suddenly, she wanted to claim his lips once more - this time like an adult - to survey his body with touch and maybe do few other things that would make any well-behaved girl blush. Needless to say, the lust sincerely frightened her; Rowena was immensely thankful for the mask conveniently covering most of her face.

"Yeah, let's go." The keys swiftly ended up in Darien's possession. Giving up the position of a driver wasn't something she did voluntarily, but it had to be done in order to imitate the usual master/servant dynamic between a vampire and a Hekan. "I packed you some equipment you might find useful later; normal clothes, for example. I don't know what are you two planning to do, but knowing you, Roe, it's not gonna be a tour de social events." Haji smirked, but there wasn't a trace of merriment in his features. "Take care of yourself and don't forget to eat properly," he added, his expression so deadly serious it almost looked funny. "I'm afraid I can't promise you anything about the latter - you know how much of a diet freak I am - but I'll try my utmost not to die. Thank you for everything, Haji. Am I huggable at this point or do I still smell?" After a prompting nod, she hugged her friend shortly. "Bye." Darien's unexpected act od chivalry made her somewhat uncomfortable; not every woman liked being treated as a princess. Sure, they were in minority, but Rowena was a major representative of the group because she felt those were nothing but empty gestures. No complaints came from her, though; Darien needed to get into his role and she would assume hers, too. Without any grand foreplay, the vampire sat on a passenger's seat, flattening her skirt instinctively to avoid getting a wrinkles on it, and waited for him mannerly to handle the driving.

Now it was her turn to stare out of the window aimlessly, to take in all the familiar views of streets that used to be her home for years. She hadn't been born there, as her noticeably European name suggested - Wales was actually her fatherland - but Cairo had grown on her somehow. Diverse thoughts ran through her mind during the journey; most of them revolved around the masquerade, of course, and Hekans in general. To be honest, she didn't understand why so many powerful vampires insisted on buying a Hekan. Did the flood of money in their vaults somehow hurt their ability to open the door for themselves? Badge of authority or not, it still seemed contrived to Rowena. She had never owned one before this fraud as her salary wasn't nearly high enough to hire a Hekan and still be able to pay for her electricity bills, yet nobody had dared to look down of her because of this. The two managed to reach Christian's mansion much earlier than she had estimated, though her guess was probably harmed by an unconscious wish to delay their arrival. Get your act together; it's just another covert operation. Nothing more, nothing less. When she caught Darien's gaze full of something she identified as uncertainty, Rowena conjured up an encouraging smile; a reflex acquired while serving as a commander. Leadership was a peculiar thing. She had often terrified her subordinates to death to ensure their absolute obedience for fear was a better motivation than love, but sometimes, usually before extremely dangerous mission, they needed a touch of kindness as substitute for a placebo pill. "Come on, let's roll. And if we don't make it, the fact that we'll leave beautiful corpses behind should be enough of a consolation," Rowena uttered in spirit of her trademark gallows humor and headed for the entrance.

The doorman's shyness didn't move her; she barely spared him a glance, acting as if the boy was mere dust at her feet. Nothing signified supremacy quite as complete and unshakable disdain for anyone of lower social rank. Ignoring the ostentatious splendor and suppressing the feeling so similar to drowning, Rowena walked through the hall, confidence inscribed in her steps and certain alertness in her eyes. Every single vampire in this mansion was her sworn enemy; one tiny mistake would send them all in murderous frenzy. Fairytale-like setting couldn't wipe out their true nature. And yet, in a twisted sense of the word, it felt somewhat exciting as well; thrill had always originated from the possibility of loss, at least for her, and it increased exponentially with its probability. Playing the dice with universe could be considered her hobby. Yes, she was definitely going to get herself killed one day... And perhaps sooner than she expected, considering who exactly rushed to greet them.

Her heart sunk in a sudden panic attack; Rowena would recognize Christian anywhere just from the aura of lenient equanimity surrounding him. The host didn't pay much attention to Darien, disregarding him as if he was little more than his companion's pricey handbag, and smiled warmly at Rowena. "Allow me to welcome you in my humble residence personally, milady." She had never been so aware of her own body before; instructions like "don't clench your fists", "breathe normally" and "forget about murdering him with your glare" flashed through her head all at once. "It was an honor to receive your invitation, Mister Sunderland," she smiled in return, offering her hand for him to kiss. The voice that came out of her was distinctly someone else's, more high-pitched and carried a different color; a wielder of Vicissitude could learn subtler tricks like altering their vocal cords with great dose of patience. Christian's lips caressed the back of her hand, making Rowena shiver internally. "You are too kind. Tell me, lady, haven't we had a pleasure of meeting in person before? Cheesiness of this exclamation should by banned by law, but I have a feeling I know you from somewhere." She could practically sense the ice cracking under her weight. It was very unlikely he had detected her so soon; they hadn't seen each other for ages and she had changed a lot not only in terms of personality. "Wouldn't revealing my identity ruin the point of such an event as masquerade, sir? And so early in the night, to boot? The game hasn't even started yet; let me participate for a little while before we throw our masks away. Besides, if you knew who I am, you would have to kill me." Rowena laughed merrily without a hint of nervousness while her inner self was writhing between the desire to break Christian's teeth and blacking out from the pure stress. Maybe she had really wasted her talent in the army for Hollywood would have loved her style. "Beautiful and witty? Oh, trust me I wouldn't hurt such a rare flower." The smile was apparently sewn to his face by some competent chirurg. "Say, may I have the privilege of the first dance with you?" Say, may I have the privilege of cracking your skull with my bare hands? she parodied him internally, but her mind couldn't come up with a decent excuse. Bowing slightly, she nodded. "Nothing would make me happier. And as for you," Rowena turned to Darien, her tone gaining a sharp edge, "you probably aren't able to grasp it, but I won't require your assistance for dancing. You have my permission to go and have fun with... hmm, other domestic animals." Saying that felt surprisingly wrong, yet their cover couldn't be blown by showing any signs of respect towards her supposed slave. "Hekans," she snickered, talking to Christian again. "Such a silly creatures. Anyway, lead me to the parquet, sir. I'm all yours." Fine, look at the bright side of the matters, the vampire thought when she hung on his arm, perhaps you will be able to get something useful out of him.

The Returner · Jul 23, 2013

The sound of the piano mingling with the string instruments had strange effects on Darien. For a few seconds he felt his chest contracting almost painfully. Last time he attended a ball was with her; last time they secretly sneaked into an empty room and had a dance together, and after that... Physical pain would have brought him back to senses but he could hardly punch himself in the public or clench his fists at the very least, nor could he silently curse, since vampires had very sensitive ears and Darien didn't want to cause any dispute. So what brought him back to reality was the sound of the man's voice. Smooth like honey, eloquent like an encyclopedia, attractive as a pouch of diamonds. Yes, there was something about him that Darien found intriguing. Something that he would study if he had the chance since it was hard to decipher on the spot when so many eyes were upon them, or at least that's how it felt to Darien. He didn't minded that much but there was this unsettling itch in his back as if someone was trying to stare a hole in his back muscles. That was when Rowena wasn't Rowena anymore. Darien had to consciously stop himself from looking surprised and dropping his jaw on the floor. He had no idea how on Earth she just did what she did, and he was as hell sure that he wasn't using his illusionist powers. Even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to produce such a trustworthy sound. Making a mental note, Darien had to make sure to ask her about this little trick later. Maybe he could use it to perfect his own skill.

Staying out of the casual conversation of the two, Darien acted as the proper Hekan - silent and obedient, when Rowena, so snobbishly ordered him to leave. He knew it was her role and complied to her wish just to keep their cover, but why was he so irritated? Something told him that the source of his annoyance wasn't within the way Rowena had treated him, but in something else and as he watched her and Christian walk away, hand in hand, his frustration grew and so did the revelation of the reasons for it. Man up! There is no time to for this emotional nonsense, he chastised himself, turning around, looking over the great hall once more. Was it just him or were there more guests? It wasn't entirely impossible. Just how many people did this Sunderland guy invite? And between all the guests Darien noticed couple things straight away - not everyone seemed to be filthy rich, considering their robes; and there was no redhead in sight. What was he thinking? That he would meet her here? She wouldn't probably recognize him and if she did... then heaven helped all of them, because she wouldn't just let him go this time, he was sure of that. Being frowned upon by couple vampires for standing somewhat in the middle of the crowd, Darien muttered 'sincere' apologies, bowed and retreated towards the wall, which was the place for Hekans. Hekans would come with their owners, they'd be showed off before discarded in the corner of the room, staying there for the rest of the night, without as much as water for refreshment. Just as he was passing by a drink station, someone bumped into him from the back. Making a quick move forth, Darien turned around to catch or support whoever was falling on him and that was the moment, he wished that he was executed all those 15 years ago rather than being saved.

"Oh my! My wine..." The woman's hair was the purest shade of ginger that shone like Spessartite Garnet in the lights of the hall and so did her blue eyes as she looked at him, at first gregariously confused, then repelled before her expression finally settled on inquisitive notch. Darien himself could count every millisecond that passed since the moment he laid his hands around her back and on her arms as to prevent her from stumbling over more. Every millisecond that felt like hours to him. So much for the little possibility of meeting her here, right? Whoever wanted to screw up with him, just did a grand job. Noticing the light stain of white wine on her dark dress, Darien saw the opportunity in it to kneel down, get his face out of her sight and try to fix the spilled disaster; even though, the stain would have vanished the moment it would dry. Darien grabbed the napkin of the bartender who was already on the edge of the drink station trying to see if there was something he could do. The rapid notion with which Darien yanked the napkin of his arm, convinced the man that his helped was not needed. "I am very sorry, madam. It was my fault," Darien murmured as he dropped himself on the floor and began gently drying the spilled wine, without smudging it all around. Did she know that the emerald green dress only underlined the shade of her hair and made her look like the best adept for an actress of Poison Ivy? By the moment, Darien was on his knees, the small congregation that clustered around them, slowly dispersed, seeing that the Hekan, who probably caused the fair lady to trip, was amending what he caused ('Of course, he did it on purpose! These Hekans are no good for anyone'). Yet, Darien could feel her eyes burning into his skull. "Stop it!" She finally ordered in a voice sharp is a machete and hard as the Einstein riddle. She significantly jerked her skirts away from him, to only give that punch feeling to her ordered. "I am truly, truly sorry," Darien repeated as he got back up and stole one quick glance of her still so perfect face. However, her expression wasn't near as half as angry as her voice was. There was this hint to it which made Darien shiver all over. No, it wasn't desire this time. It was recognition.

"Do I know you?" She asked and stepped closer, so that she was less than an extended arm away. He could smell her perfume and see the details of her mask. There was nowhere else to run, no reason to bend down on the floor unless he wanted to faint. "No, I don't think so madam," he repeated and bowed his head in apology but she grabbed his lower jaw and forced him to look at her. He had nowhere to escape but to look into her eyes and pray that she would want to settle the score in private. He could deal with private punishment, private torture, private death even, but not a public exposure... What is more, she was already dragged through public humiliation once before, Darien somewhat doubted that she would want to go through it again, no matter what liberation it would bring her. Her fingers tightened around his jaw and he clenched his teeth in reply, anticipating the possibility of having two funny bruises in the place tomorrow...if he survives tonight that is. "Liar," she hissed at him. "I would recognize those eyes anywhere. They are mine," she whispered with such determination which could build the walls of anti-nuclear bunker. With a single flick of a wrist, she pushed his head back slightly, letting go of his jaw. "Follow me, you have some explaining to do." Her voice was cold, domineering, irresistible, and so he followed her, every fiber of his body shivering with the possibility of seeing the world for the last time. He had deeds and misdeeds to pay for tonight. He ran far too long to be able to avoid it now. This ravishing redhead, his long gone mistress and first, yet long gone, source of hope who gave him life when he was about to lose it, might as well be his end tonight. Darien was never pessimistic, grumpy yes, but not cynical; yet tonight, with Vanessa recognizing him, Darien lost all hope again. He, out of all vampires and people, knew that what Vanessa La Croix sets her mind on, she always gets that, and for the past 7 years, she was set on ridding the world of the only thorn she had still stuck in her heart.

Aine · Jul 24, 2013

Music, light like the air itself and as delicate as a spider's web, made it easier for Rowena to concentrate on the right steps; she allowed her musical ear to determine the implications encoded within the melody and her body followed the lead obediently. Darien's dance lesson was enough for her to get the feel of that simple discipline, so imitating it didn't pose an insuperable problem, especially with a dancer of Christian's caliber. The stiffness so characteristic for beginners ceased to burden her movements; it was replaced by certain degree of fluency and elegance. Normally, she would have enjoyed the rapid progress in the learning process as picking up a new skill, no matter how unprofitable, always filled her with pride, but the magic simply perished with his arms possessively around her waist. "I shall respect your wish to guard your identity, my lady, but don't you think just dancing silently is a little cruel? What have I done to you to deserve such a treatment?" Christian smiled charmingly, turning her around like a puppet. Rowena's sarcastic self fought an epic battle against the allied forces of reason and self-preservation instinct; oh, how much she would have loved to give him a detailed list.

"Where is the cruelty in silence, sir? Sadly, our world is full of persons who are in love with their own voice; those who talk, talk and talk without really saying anything worthwhile. I'm trying to break the trend," the female vampire answered, looking straight into his eyes. "So you're a revolutionary as well? Oh my, who would have thought the rose had thorns? Rest assured, I highly doubt you're the one to waste your breath on trivialities. Tell me something about yourself." He truly hadn't changed in the slightest; a gentleman so resourceful and swift with his tongue that ladies practically threw themselves at his feet and hoped he would notice them among other yearning females. The traffic in his bed was probably quite frequent when taking into account his dashing looks and tremendous wealth; too bad that Rowena had no intentions of falling for the same tricks twice. "Careful with your judgement; boring you to tears is perfectly within the field of my capabilities. Why don't you grace me with few details from your interesting life? What is like the famous Christian Sunderland when nobody is watching to evaluate his every step?" Was it just a semblance or did a trace of defiance appear in his eyes? As much as she was grateful for her only shield - the mask - the fact that Christian relied on its defenses, too, annoyed her. "There's always somebody watching, lady. My life probably isn't as exciting as you imagine it to be. Besides, the difference between how much you know about me and how much of a mystery you are isn't fair." Just from these three sentences, Rowena understood her former fiance wasn't going to let slip anything even remotely important; he carefully analyzed every word before it came out of his mouth, sorting out what was appropriate for the lady in red to hear and what could hurt his public image. Pushing him into corner with further questions would have been a foolish thing to do as Christian would only get suspicious, so she just laughed in response. "Let me remind you one old folk wisdom; everything is fair in love and war." Even though you would be surprised to find out what out of the two I am referring to, sweetheart. "On the other hand, I guess sharing few innocent snippets about me wouldn't hurt. You can call me Juliet..."

By the end of the dance, Christian gained some insight into life of Juliet, independent young woman who had earned most of her riches by "investing here and there," "buying things for cheap and selling them expensively" and generally spent her days in a way that would drive real Rowena to suicide out of boredom in less than four hours. Her toleration meter for this kind of routine was very low; discussing the economics irritated her possibly more than Christian's presence. To be honest, this simultaneously improved her mood. Somewhere in the unexplored realms of her mind, so deep under the surface its influence manifested solely in dreams, Rowena feared that certain part of her might still feel something for her first love. Now she could see those worries had been groundless; not only she didn't, but Christian also wasn't the most prominent object of her hatred. He didn't matter so much. It was truly uplifting, maybe even worth a small, private celebration. Triumphant fireworks had to wait, though, since the desired map to Book of Thoth couldn't be so kind as to steal itself, fold properly and jump into their car on its own. The crowd of partying vampires, mostly figures unknown to Rowena, restricted her movement constantly as she was trying to fight her way to the corner of the room designated for the unlucky Hekans. However, when the efforts finally paid off, it looked as if Darien had disappeared off the face of Earth. One of her eyebrows went up; sure, perhaps nothing sinister had happened, but the big red warning light in her head started flashing furiously. In situations like these, it was better to expect the worst possible outcome because the assumption usually saved the time.

Looking around once again, confirming that Darien had really expanded the mirthless statistics of missing persons, Rowena decided to go search for the map alone. There wasn't much she could do to find him with the millions of contrasting scents mutually overlapping in one huge, confusing tangle... And perhaps he had also opted for the variant of searching without his partner instead of standing near the wall idly. One never knew with him. Doing her best to blend in with the sea of faces, our heroine bravely headed for the first checkpoint. The swing in her steps was completely relaxed as if the building and few neighboring countries belonged to her only; a key to succesful espionage lay in ability to pretended you had every right to stick your nose whenever you wanted. Hardly anybody bothered to question a devil hidden in plain sight. Rowena managed to get to heavy wooden door with complicated carvings practically undetected; the vampires were too busy with destroying their brain cells via drinking. She sighed inaudibly, pushed the door and entered the room.

It was every bookworm's dream come true. Library, probably the most sublime one since the times of fabled library in Alexandria; shelves upon shelves of neatly lined books - too many of them for anyone to count - few comfortable leather armchairs just waiting for someone to sit down and start turning the pages... The pleasant smell of old paper hit her nostrils, along with unmistakable, intoxicating scent of Hekan's blood. The scene unfolding before her eyes acted as an armor-piercing slap to her; Rowena really didn't appreciate some unfamiliar red-haired bitch being so dangerously close to her Darien. Whether she wanted to taste him or kiss him, both made her blood boil equally. Rowena coughed loudly; her face was void of any emotion, motionless like a picture, entirely monotone... Different people had different ways of voicing the anger. Most of them swore, insulted sundry deities or just screamed their rage out. Rowena frowned and smirked on her good days; true hell broke loose when she dropped the grin and went blank. The poor soldiers of lower ranks knew that expression, and probably better than they wished. The last time their commander made that face, she single-handedly sank an enemy shipboard. With bare hands. "Am I interrupting something?" Rowena asked casually, her tone icy like an arctic glacier. The first instinct was to rip her throat without beating around the bush, to dismember her slowly while making sure she lives through most of the ordeal to experience the glorious feeling of her limbs being chopped off... Fortunately for the stranger, the remains of Rowena's common sense outvoted the red vision; killing her right now would have undoubtedly destroyed their cover as torturing a vampire to death tended to be a loud affair. "Look, I understand not every member of our blessed society is able to afford a Hekan, but I have very little to do with local charity organization. If you're as desperate as to settle with twisted interracial experiments, go molest someone who isn't a part of my inventory. Thank you for your cooperation." She stared at the ginger with murderous intent so clear any homicidal maniac would turn green with envy. Give me one, ONE reason to decapitate you and I will do it, cover or not.

The Returner · Jul 26, 2013

He followed her through the crowd and into the corridors. Half of his mind paid attention to the surroundings, in which direction they were going. His sense of orientation told him roughly where in the mansion they were yet the lack of knowledge what each room was for or how big it was, made it difficult for him to guess the actual structure of the whole house and it's layout and how far they were from the main hall. Now he wished he had seen the map of this mansion before they came here. Well, it was a bit too late to wish for something that couldn't be fixed. Throughout the whole time, his was looking at her back and as she turned a corner, the crowd got sparser with every step. Yes, not everything could have been fixed no matter how much one wished and hoped for it. What he and Vanessa had those years ago, seemed to be lost in the folds of memories and oblivion. There were nights, especially after he escaped from the prison, when he wished that things would have turned out differently. During some of those nights, he wanted to either go back to her and beg her forgiveness or get his revenge since the last words she said to him hurt so badly, still, as if she just used him and didn't need him anymore. Though, part of him knew, or maybe hoped it was true, that she still had feelings for him. If there were any feelings at any point to begin with. That hopeful part of Darien was now leading his steps. He could resist Vanessa, but somewhat didn't want to, no matter how dangerous this could turn out to be.

They entered a room which turned out to be a library. A huge space filled with book and odor of old pages. A smell that was so familiar to Darien that it somewhat made him mentally sick. Of course, no one would waste their time in here while there was a party going on, so it was no surprise that this room was empty. Yet Darien didn't get much chance to look around properly. He was roughly shoved against the wall and held by the neck. No matter how lady-like Vanessa was or seemed to be, she was still a vampire and vampires were, by default, stronger even than Hekans. He gasped for air while looking at her, trying to decipher whatever was going on in her head. She seemed to be enjoying his struggle as there was a hint of a smile on her lips which wasn't friendly but sadistic. Yet there was some hint of dissatisfaction in her eyes. As if his current reaction was not enough. As if he was meant to be doing something else. The frustration build up within her and just about when Darien began to think that he was truly going to die there and then, she let go of his neck and hit him hard across the face. The fact that he was breathing in deeply to balance the lack of air in his lung and his momentary weakness, left him somewhat defenseless against that strike. Feeling the back of her hand hitting him across the cheek, his teeth accidentally biting down on his lower lip, tearing it, Darien stumbled onto the side, colliding with a small table that slid across the floor, away from the Hekan. Soon, Darien could feel her close again, this time she was holding him by the lapels of his long coat.

"I've spent years wanting to be able to catch you alive," she whispered to him, her voice somewhat trembling with unspoken feelings. "Years when my own family hated me for bringing them down from the top, for forcing them to form a clan. You caused this Darien." She was looking him straight in the eye, and somewhere in between all the mixed emotions that were hidden deep inside but slowly leaking into the world, Darien could see that she meant what she said. She did blame him, even though it was not his fault back then. Carmilla started the fight. The hurt has returned and attacked his chest with an iron grip. It felt almost real as if the pain of the past was crushing his heart again. It showed in his eyes, yet she didn't pay it any attention. Instead, she let out a quick hush of air as she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, possibly. But then her gaze slowly dropped down to his torn lip which was lightly bleeding at that point. Of course Vanessa could smell the scent of his blood and since she drank some all that long time ago, she also remembered the taste of it in her mouth. She moved closer as if to suck on that small injury and for a second bring back what was lost. Truth be told, Darien's breathing grew heavy in anticipation. He could feel the long gone reaction on Vanessa's closeness and her desires. He shivered a bit in answer to his own desire. Part of him wanted her to suck on his lip, to lick away every last drop of his blood; a different part wanted to push away. She was no longer the woman he knew, she hurt him, she didn't deserve to even think about him in the way she used to. Whether heaven listened to Darien screaming consciousness, he would never know, but the moment Rowena entered the room, he was partially happy and relieved to see her, yet her expression and tone of voice was more than worrying.

Vanessa turned her head around very slowly, her eyes just as hard and uncompromising as Rowena's voice. "Is that so? Well, that is strange because the last time I saw him, he was in prison waiting to be executed. You must have got him on the black market then," she said, her body almost fully pressed against his, yet she managed to face Rowena somehow. "Legally, he is still mine and I can do with him whatever I want." Her words were decisive, her hand possessively placed on the side of his neck. Only Darien could feel her nails digging into the soft skin near his spin. Vanessa was so sure about her proclamation that she made the first mistake that any human or vampire could do when it came to dealing with Rowena. Vanessa didn't know that Rowena had a short fuse and it blew very easily, but then it was already too late to stop the redhead from licking his torn lip; after all, getting the taste of his blood. He could see the atomic bomb exploding within Rowena's eyes and he had only a second to act. Pushing Vanessa to the side, which she wasn't expecting at all, Darien stepped in front of Rowena whose fist was already flying through the air and grazed Darien's cheek bone. The 'uh' from behind him told Darien, that Rowena probably hit her aim. However, the Hekan himself had no clear idea what to do, he just knew that he had to stop Rowena from doing whatever her anger would make her do. And so as he stood in Rowena's way, his feet firmly planted on the floor, her body came crashing against his due to the forward force with which she wanted to deliver the blow. Making one step backwards to gain back his balance almost immediately, Darien and Rowena ended up in a tight embrace. Yes, Darien had his arms around Rowena's back, holding her very close to him so that he could somewhat prevent her from making any radical movements or, at least, making it very hard for her to move forwards. Side of his face was right next to hers, his lips very close to her ear. "No, Rowena. Don't." He said, for some reason still out of breath. Whether it was the abating of the sudden enthusiasm of Vanessa's closeness, or this very sudden intrusion into Rowena's personal space which made him equally as excited, Darien couldn't help but feel desire building up inside his mind a stone at a time again. "She...could be important," he added and clearly Vanessa eavesdropped because she chuckled.

"Oh yes, you remember it right Darien. I am important even after you destroy everything I knew. And so my sweet Hekan, you will come with me to face your fate." Another mistake that Vanessa did there. This time with Darien. Poking the old guilt, desire and pain that was combined in a cocktail of determination, going with Vanessa was the last thing on Darien's mind at that moment. If Darien was seven year younger, she might have tried to gain some dominance over him and actually succeed. But he was no longer twenty. Things have changed and so has he. Yet Darien still knew Vanessa's very well. He knew that she wouldn't leave without him. Not after Rowena posed a possible threat to her pride. "I'll take care of this, Ro...mistress," he told Rowena in a whisper, playing his role even when under pressure of the past that came to life. Hoping that she would either let him do what he had to do, or that he would be quick enough while doing it, Darien loosened the grip around Rowena's waist. At the same time, Vanessa's hand landed on his shoulder. In that moment he let go of Rowena, grabbed Vanessa's wrist and pulled her towards him while at the same time, his fist was moving fast towards her, hitting the beautiful redhead in the solar just as hard as he would hit any lethal enemy. There was the ever-so-familiar 'ah' as the air was knocked out from Vanessa's lungs. Right after that surprise attack, while Vanessa was confused and sort of immobilized, Darien pressed a spot on her neck which made her faint almost instantly. Yet still, Darien caught her so that she wouldn't hit the floor. Picking her up in his arms, he gently placed her in one of the nearby sofa's. It was obvious that part of him still cared about that woman who wanted to rip out his throat open, yet the words 'I am sorry for hitting you' wouldn't come out. The chapter was closed now. Vanessa and Darien, who they were and what they had, all that was finally gone from his mind and even the remnants of his feelings for her would soon disappear.

Aine · Jul 28, 2013

There were only few real warranties in the blistering uncertainty of this restless age; namely, perpetually rising taxes, the fact that vampires probably wouldn't come begging to humans in attempt to gain forgiveness for their sins and merciless irreversibility of laws of physics. Rowena, while quite rebellious towards justice system created by her species, faithfully obeyed the law of action and reaction. Vanessa hadn't just crossed the imaginary line once; she had traveled around the planet in those few seconds and crossed it again, spitting on it. Perhaps she usually operated in more refined society where violence wasn't the ultimate answer to every moral dilemma - in Rowena-free environment - but frankly, that didn't excuse the sheer naivety. Ignoring the warning signs Miss Finchley gave off was about as intelligent as looking at shaking, smoking volcano ready to erupt and thinking "Wohoo, let's climb that shit, because YOLO!" She could handle the uppish words with ease given her reputation of having a tongue sharp like sword, but all the fun ended when the bitch licked the blood off Darien's lip. Three things happened at the same moment. First, Vanessa wandered away from the list called "Relatively insignificant menaces" right to much more exclusive "Mortal enemies." Second, red mist appearing in front of her eyes smothered any efforts of reason to resolve this conflict peacefully, allowing the instincts to take over. And third, her tightly clenched fist flew through the air, aiming for the target with deadly accuracy of a professional boxer. You would be surprised to find out how many vampires - or humans, for that matter - couldn't punch properly. They often used disproportionate amounts of power at the wrong times, couldn't hit the place they intended, some even broke their fingers due to their thumb being in a poor position; of course, Rowena didn't suffer from these beginner mistakes.

She bent back slightly, just enough to enrich the punch with the right swing, and threw the entire weight of her body along with her strength, exploiting the hammer effect to the maximal extent. The result would have been so much more awesome if both participants of this private party had kindly stood in their places and let her do wonders, but no; Darien just had to mess with everything. Rowena couldn't do much more than blink in shock as he shoved the redhead out of the blow's trajectory. Even stopping the attack was impossible at this point; her fist hit his face with full force. There were no dramatic sound effects like in bad action movies, but one didn't have to be a combat specialist to guess a punch like that couldn't have been enjoyable even for a hardcore masochist. The superiority of physics had been proven once again when she landed into his arms mere seconds after, just as surprised as she was angry. The vampire hugged Darien back for one breathless trice in order to stabilize herself; purely instinctive move and yet it made her feel somewhat... strange. Certain part of her realized how hilarious this situation would have looked to any witness. That part - the detached sarcastic narrator - was laughing its ass off in the privacy of her mind, but it didn't seize the control over the majority of her being. Brand new wave of anger washed over her, this time directed towards Darien rather than Vanessa; why, exactly, had he rushed to her rescue so enthusiastically he didn't hesitate to take the blow meant for her?! The storm of emotions, however, was more complicated than that. Aside from badly justified disappointment, disbelief and fury, Rowena also felt something eerily similar to genuine regret that she had hurt him, even though he really brought it upon himself. There was also the sense of being close to Darien again, taking in his scent, feeling his arms around her back; it made her wish he would take advantage of the situation and do something rash. Clearly, all that random bodily contact of past few days didn't help her mental state at all. "Important? For what, exactly?" she asked, her voice heavy with unspoken accusation.

Needless to say, Darien's next step - knocking Vanessa out - soothed her wrath a little bit. Doubts still lingered within her mind, uncomfortable questions like "What would have happened if I hadn't come?", but for now, it seemed he had chosen to abandon his former mistress' side and Rowena knew very well how futile all those "what ifs" were. Her expression lost the threatening edge, yet the tension was still apparent. "Well, isn't that cute. Since I don't really see any signs pointing to the conclusion she dragged you here against your will, I have to ask; is it your habit to follow around anything with boobs and pulse or are you trying to sabotage this mission specifically?" She strove to sound like her usual, joking self, but the voice betrayed her; it lacked the necessary aloofness and distance. The incident was obviously bothering her... And judging from the shimmer in her eyes, possibly on more levels than just on the professional. After few seconds of silence, Rowena's gaze strayed to his torn lip and slowly swelling face. She was sure he deserved it, yet at the same time, sympathy forced its way into her heart without her permission. Looking up to him due to the annoying height difference, the vampire touched his injured cheek lightly, almost caressing it. "It shouldn't be broken. Does it hurt?" Nooo, of course not. Yay for idiotic questions!

"Anyway, back to the object of our desire. I know for certain that Chris used to have a secret cache here... Right there," she exclaimed after a while of visual search, pointing to the generic picture of green landscape on the wall. The ladder leaning against one of the shelves served as a way of obtaining the books from higher floors, but Rowena swiftly decided to use it as an instrument of crime. She set it in the right position, kicked away the shoes since climbing in a high heels would have been too much of an adrenaline experience even for her, and headed to the top barefoot. The picture quickly ended up in her grasp, revealing a small safe. "Eureka. I'm gonna drop the painting; could you hold it in the air for me so I can get it back comfortably afterwards?" Let's see if Christian changes his codes. Rowena reached for the combination lock with bated breath, dialing the ever-so-familiar numbers. With a metallic clang, the safe opened and gave up its riches. Few trinkets appeared in her field of vision; mostly bracelets and necklaces, ancient and probably so expensive it could feed an average family for months if sold at some solid market. Nothing of interest so far... That was when a single scroll in a plastic wrapping caught her eye. "No map here, but this might be an interesting read. Life and adventures of prince Neferkaptah." Everyone knew the legend about first mortal to find the Book of Thoth so there was no need to guard its depiction in a safe-deposit box... Unless this version contained something special. Putting the painting back into its place, the vampire climbed down with her treasure and handed it to Darien. "You have more room in your coat. Shoving it down into my corset just wouldn't be classy." She retrieved her shoes and smirked at her colleague. "Come on, we've got other locations to explore."

Rowena stole a last glance full of hatred toward Vanessa's unconscious body, feeling sorry for the fact Darien couldn't have done something more permanent to her, and led him through the corridors back to the main hall. Something in the confidence of her steps suggested that she was familiar with every turn; it seemed she didn't have to think about the directions even though the passages resembled one giant maze. Fine. So... The second checkpoint will be probably the gallery. Another location worth checking out could be Christian's bedroom. Small groups of chattering vampires consumed all the space again; Rowena couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted. This was exactly the kind of society she wanted to avoid so much when she had joined the army. Blabbering, hypocritical dopes who did nothing but exercise their facial muscles all night. "Miss Juliet?" No, not him AGAIN. What have I done to deserve this? Isn't there like million of other guests? Rowena turned around to face Christian for the second time, charming smile gracing her features. "Ah, what a pleasant surprise." The host returned her smile, but then he noticed Darien's beaten face; even though Christian seemed to be ignoring him dismissively, this detail was a little hard to miss. "May I ask what happened to your servant? He doesn't look that well." Rowena just shrugged, relaxed on the outside, yet thinking furiously about the correct answer. "He... fell. On my fist. Repeatedly. I am not very tolerant to displays of disobedience," she stated matter-of-factly, as if the subject of their conversation was weather. Punishing the Hekans practically counted as a sport in high society - it wouldn't surprise her if they started to organize tournaments dedicated solely to tormenting them - so this confession shouldn't cause an uproar. And it indeed didn't. "Is that so? I hope you haven't hurt yourself in the process. Anyway, while discipline is a nice thing, this penalty might be poorly timed as it will surely affect his ratings. You are going to participate in the competition, right?" How could she forget? Exhibitions of Hekans were pretty common in any noble events since the owners liked to show off with skills of their pets; these competition often included interesting choreographies consisting mostly of rather inventive use of common Hekan powers. Oh, damn. "But of course. I couldn't pass up this opportunity." Christian slightly bowed. "Excellent. I can't wait for this little spectacle to begin. Follow me to the stage, then..."

The Returner · Jul 31, 2013

He was standing there, by the armchair, looking down at his previous mistress while thinking over how to quickly, and possibly with as less uncomfortable information as possible, tell Rowena what has just happened. Somehow, he knew that he wouldn't get away with whatever he said anyway. Rowena was inquisitive as far as he knew her. "This is Vanessa La Croix. I guess you know her for her great knowledge of ancient Egyptian history and folklore. Where Christian has the material thing, she has the knowledge," he introduced the unconscious lady who was calmly breathing as if nothing has happened. Yet, Darien was sure that once this stunningly beautiful vampire would regain consciousness, she would become furious, aggressive, seeking revenge. He knew that much about her even after all the years. Whoever would get in her way after she'd wake up, would be in life threatening danger. Possibly, pretty much like with Rowena when she got her vision clouded with red mist of rage. How come that every female vampire he ever got in contact with turned out to be uncontrollably maniacal, manipulative, control freak? Turning around his eyes were somewhat reserved and there was this hint in his stare that whatever he would say next would be the only information Rowena would get...for the time being. "She was my mistress a long time ago." Simple as that. Under different circumstances he would have tried to disprove the fact about him following anything with boobs since that was a bit of an exaggeration, but there was no time for that, and for some reason, he didn't have the strength to argue with Rowena at that moment. Her gentle touch seemed to have no effect on him, he just looked down at her, silent. Obviously, such a gesture from someone like a former army captain who was meant to be as tough as possible, had no outward effect on Darien's behavior. Yet inside, he wished she would just get on with whatever she came here for. Not that he was angry at her at that moment. After all, it wasn't his place to be upset. He just didn't feel like being around anyone, the least another woman. Moreover, a woman that could probably mean his death at the end of the day.

The next few minutes, Darien did as he was told by Rowena. He was becoming somewhat withdrawn from the moment, getting more immersed in the nothingness of his mind. Rowena, however, seemed to be very aware of what she was doing as if she knew this place very well. Darien had some suspicion about her and Christian and what has happened between them even before they set out on their journey to this place. He could see the underlining hints and signs that something was off, that she regarded Christian in some other way too than just down-right, ready to kill enemy. When she descended the ladder, Darien obediently hid the piece of papyrus, or whatever it was, in the inner pocket of his cloak. Just nodding in agreement to move on, Darien followed Rowena again, trailing behind her just like before. And again, there was this feeling at the back of his head that Rowena must have been here before because she didn't seem to be lost at all within the countless corridors and rooms. In fact, Vanessa was the same when they walked towards the library. Could have these two women been here before? On what occasions though? Darien could imagine Vanessa attending some glamorous events held in this mansion, but Rowena? She was a military, completely not lady-like vampire he knew, and no matter how quickly and smoothly she adjusted to her role of high born, Darien just couldn't picture her well enough as to be part of this mind blowing luxury. Yet, he couldn't get rid off the omnipresent sensation that there must have been some hidden link.

As soon as they reached the hall, where the main commotion was, Darien could feel many eyes descending upon his face, the expression of most of the vampires twisting in somewhat appreciative way towards Rowena, yet disgusted manner towards him. Yes, the hot pulsing in his cheek made him very much aware of the newly forming bruise. Wishing they would just pass through the crowd and get into a less busy corridor, Darien wasn't lucky with his prayers this time, because not long after they entered the room a familiar voice reached his ears from above all the rustle. Juliet? Darien gave Rowena a quick, hardly noticeable, questioning look, before he turned neutral again. Sure, Christian could have been her Romeo of the night. For some reason, that idea would have make him chuckle, yet there was something about that silly, completely groundless theory, that it only made Darien curiouser about what has happened between the host and his temporary mistress. The mention of the competition annoyed Darien. Did they really do this kind of thing? Still? Was Rowena really going to participate? As it seemed, they didn't really have much other choice. But wasn't it enough that they were in viper's nest already? The gods, if they had as much power over this world as it was believed, must have wanted to screw around with them greatly. Yet as a Hekan and servant, it was not his place to argue with the vampires. Unless, he wanted to fall on someone's fist again...repeatedly. The excuse for his bruise was more than feasible and would withhold any possible inquisitiveness of any vampire, but there was something downright wrong about it in Darien's thoughts. Clearly, it was the fact that Hekan's were still very much underestimated and largely taken advantage off. This simple, small detail woken up his rage with which he joined the Rebellion. It poked around his mind for the reasons why he wanted to exterminate all these leeches and for few seconds he felt like the old Darien who was in charge of a small group of Hekans on the hunt for the Book of Thoth. But there was no use for this rebel. Not now.

And then, he was stood on the stage among other Hekans of different age, stature and gender. Some of them looked curiously at him, because of his bruised face, some even snickered quietly, the rest, though, kept silent. Taking his place at the end of the line, Darien wondered what he would do when his time came. Not that it mattered much since they were not here to win the main prize, but a slight wonder was never too harmful. Watching the Hekans step forth one by one, showing some tricks, Darien had to admit that there were some very poor performances while others were breathtaking. Like the illusion of fiery couple dancing on the dance floor, surrounded by leisurely flying butterflies, all accompanied by music that was surreal. It was a truly magnificent sight and Darien hoped he would be able to do something similar one days with his illusionist skill, even though he was still just a beginner, and probably didn't have much more time left to live. The presentations carried on for another while until it was Darien's turn. Making one step forward, he decided to do whatever came to his mind. No real plan, he just wanted to get through this as quickly as possible. Yet his mind carried him away a little bit. From the food station, Darien lifted some of the cutlery and with his power and brought in front of himself for everyone to see. Still without touching it, or moving even a finger, the silver began bending and entwining in strange ways. It was as if the material was nothing more than a Play-Doh. It didn't take him more than five minutes and there was a rose floating in the air. The knife blades served as rose petals while the 'teeth' of the fork served either is small harmless thorns or an outline of a leaf. It was indeed a fine art but not perfect since it was done hastily. Darien was about to end the show by letting the rose float to a vase that wasn't so far off but have decided to fail on purpose so that they wouldn't be put in the spotlight, but rather left alone. After couple seconds when the rose began moving again, it fluttered and shook in the mid air before it fell on the floor with a loud thud. He failed in everyone's eyes. It was apparent from the light shocked 'ah' that soon erupted in laughter from the vampire audience. Some Hekan's snickered behind him too. But Darien didn't pay attention to any of that. So far his real trick seemed to be working. Looking around slightly wide eyed, as if he was surprised that his trick didn't work, Darien stepped backwards to give the floor to another Hekan, acting as if he was ashamed of his failure. But in reality, he just couldn't wait to get away from the stage.

Aine · Aug 1, 2013

Believe it or not, Rowena wasn't completely untouched by etiquette; her parents had paid great attention to the universal education of their daughter and the art of moving in a minefield called aristocratic society without setting the explosives off belonged on the list of skills necessary for the survival. The nobles took it quite personally when the common folk couldn't honor them properly. Many even gladly spent their energy on systematically destroying lives of the "peasants" who weren't respectful enough. So yes, she knew how to behave... The fact that she deliberately ignored this knowledge and even used it for spiting the important vampires further by twisting the sacred rules they loved so much was irrelevant, of course. Drawing unwanted attention towards herself would have been foolish, though, so Rowena played her role just like the society expected her to. Slightly bored expression formed on her face as she watched the feats most of the Hekans had trained for months in advance; this competition obviously didn't highlight the mastery they had over their powers, but underlined their sad status of slaves, unthinking puppets. Nobody was supposed to show any kind of sincere appreciation towards them; the best performances were rewarded by mildly dismissive smiles one would give to a child after it had learned to go on a toilet on its own. As for Rowena's real feelings concerning the exhibition, she was genuinely annoyed by all that wasted potential. The illusionists in particular seemed to have countless of uses; how easily they could make another layer of reality, perceptions both visual and auditory... Having just a single skilled illusion master in her troop would have opened the door to whole new world of possibilities. And yet, despite all the logic, rich vampires bought the Hekans out of boredom to stuff them into pretty costumes, humiliate them and force them into stupid banalities, like creating the dancing couple out of imaginary flames. It was beautiful, that much she didn't deny, but her pragmatic side just couldn't stop shaking its head disapprovingly.

When Darien's turn came up, Rowena hoped he wouldn't show off too much. Winning the main prize interested her about as much as population of mosquitoes in North America, and the attention wouldn't be worth it. Holding her breath, she watched her companion bend the silver according to his will, seemingly fully concentrated on his efforts. The reality was different, though; for some reason, Rowena's mind wandered to that shocking confession about Vanessa La Croix. Darien had uttered it so suddenly she didn't really have time to react properly and ask all the questions roaming in her consciousness. No, the indignant "How could the noble vampire lady tarnish herself with a filthy Hekan?" wasn't among them. You didn't have to look too closely for Rowena's character flaws as she displayed them rather proudly, but not even her worst enemy could blame her for three vices - cowardice, vanity and hypocrisy. She understood the renowned expert on Egyptian history kinda well in that department; not that the shared kink generated any warm, fuzzy feelings for the woman. The sound of something heavy falling on the floor alerted Rowena to current happenings quickly enough for her to pretend a revolted scowl of a mistress who had just been thoroughly disappointed with her servant. "Honestly, he can't do one thing right. I should have invested in research of some new technology instead of buying him," she whispered to Christian who stubbornly remained in her vicinity despite her continuous wishing he would just drop dead from a heart-attack. Her ex-fiance simply bared his teeth in the tiniest of smiles, but as a host, it was his duty to evaluate the performances, so he couldn't really converse with her. Rowena found herself thankful for this little mercy of fate.

The spectacle went on without any significant twists. The vampires were equally hard to please, skeptical even towards a stunning illusory interpretation of the most famous act of Shakespeare's drama Hamlet, while the Hekans were trying their hardest to avoid a harsh punishment. The rivalry between them was almost tangible from the way how they taunted each other for the slightest mistakes; these humans had obviously reconciled with their roles and accepted all the ugly little details without their egos suffering the damage. Rowena couldn't suppress somewhat bitter smirk forming on her lips. These are the charming people he's fighting for? Why? Because of few genes they have in common? Indeed, Darien's motivation was still a mystery to her. In the end, all the participants whose feats were butchered or outright weak had to leave the stage, including her partner in crime. Those who stayed advanced to the next round where their abilities would be tested again, probably under more difficult conditions, but Rowena couldn't care less. Maintaining her poker-face, she slipped away from the occupied Christian with ease. Finding Darien in the crowd of rejected candidates wasn't a simple task as many resentful vampires were heading in that direction to scold their slaves, blocking her view and restricting her movement once again, but she got to him eventually. "Come," she hissed at him in a hostile way; if she had addressed him differently, somebody might have noticed.

Empty labyrinth of corridors welcomed them back, providing them with much needed bit of privacy. "This party is starting to get on my nerves. Since everyone is oh-so-busy with the grand finale of that contest, let's split up and minimize the time spent here. Explore the second floor, I'll take the third. As long as I know, there are two rooms of importance on the second floor - the door right in front of the staircase and the fifth door on left. The first is a gallery if Christian hasn't moved it somewhere else, which is very unlikely since it's been there for centuries and he's a creature of habit, while the second is his... personal museum of Egyptian artifacts. Other rooms are random guest rooms, bathrooms and such, so I don't think there's anything of value hidden there." Once again, her tone carried no doubts; Rowena spoke as if she was an architect of this building herself. "The meeting point will be here again; if you don't appear within half an hour, I will assume there are trouble. You should do the same for me. Any questions?"

The Returner · Aug 5, 2013

Few more Hekans had to show their skills after Darien's turn but nothing has changed significantly. He watched the performances with neutral, slightly bored expression. Joining fellow 'slaves' in taunting was indeed below him. Not just because he would never do that, knowing how ego damaging it can be, but he had no intentions of joining a crowd from which he ran away all those years ago. Patiently waiting for the first round to finish and the winners to be called out, Darien knew that he wouldn't progress to the next round. Joining the quite a big mass of Hekans leaving the stage, Darien couldn't pay less attention to where he was going letting the bodies of others direct him away from the stage. Maybe that was the reason why he bumped into someone going the other way. Their shoulders met only for a brief second, making both parties jerk backwards, for Darien in surprise, for the other...it was hard to tell because all he could see was just a scar on the other Hekan's right cheek that disappeared below the mask. Giving each other an apologetic nod of the head, they both carried on walking. On his way to the spot where all the defeated Hekans would be scolded by their upset owners, Darien tried to recall what trick did that other Hekan show since it seemed that he passed into the next round. Yet, his string of random thoughts and his fragile concentration on the matter was shattered when a way too familiar voice, in a too much recognizable hiss commanded him to go. His whole body automatically turned around and followed the source. Or at least, that's how it would seem to the others.

Walking behind Rowena in silence Darien didn't dare to relax his shoulders until they were all alone in the corridors again. Once he was somewhat sure that they could not be seen, his posture somewhat softened, his back wasn't held up so straight. It was a hardly noticeable change but believe it or not, even Darien had problems with looking so refined for too long. As his vampire companion began to explain where they would search, the Hekan stored all the information inside his mind. Once more stalling on the fact that Rowena knew this place way too well. "Yes, I have a question. Did Haji give you the plan of this house and you just forgot to share it with me to gain upper hand this time? Because I can't imagine any other reason why you'd know this maze so well." It was the most logical explanation Darien could come up with and he wouldn't be surprised if Rowena would agree with it, since she always seemed to be wanting to be the one in charge. Though, before she could say a word, he just waved his hand in the gesture 'Just forget it and let's get this over with.' "I'll see you in half an hour." With those simple words Darien took the stairs quickly and disappeared behind the door that Rowena described to him. In searching, he was very effective, considering his power since it could enable him to see shapes beyond walls. He could be like a bat yet instead of sending out waves of sound, he would send out vibrations. However, he used this skill very rarely since it required a lot of focus if he didn't want to suddenly cause a tiny earthquake. So this time, he just used it as a detector for some sudden intruders or unexpected adventurers anywhere in the near vicinity. Everything was clear so far.

Looking around, Darien surely entered a huge gallery. He wasn't any expert on art, but one thing was for sure - Christian's taste in painters was rather eclectic yet somehow cultivated. As he walked around trying to find something out of place that would give away that maybe there was a hidden strongbox, Darien had to shake his head few times due to what he was seeing. Just when he was about to decide that the map probably wouldn't be here, his eyes got caught on one of the creations. There was something terribly intimate about it. Cocking his head to one side, Darien closed the distance between him and the life-sized painting. No his gaze was not stuck on Christian, no matter how handsome the vampire could be considered, but more likely on the young vampire female standing by his side and with ever step he took, every second he got closer to the creation, his heart beat faster, lump was forming in his throat, the terrific sensation of revealing a secret took over his senses and Darien dropped his guard for those couple seconds, when he recognized the woman on the canvas that was starring down at him with the glance of superiority that didn't spring from commander-ship, but from the riches that she possessed. A chill ran down his spine and Darien shivered. Sudden nausea hit his body and he shivered again. Surely, part of this reaction was caused by the understanding why Rowena knew so much about this place and Christian, but frankly speaking, it would be a bit too exaggerated to think that he would feel like throwing up just upon finding out about it. No, the gag reflex was caused by something else, or someone else. One or two alarms screamed inside his mind that something was wrong, while he kicked himself in the ass for dropping his guard too low. Searching around with his delicate vibrations, Darien was almost sure that he would find someone either in the room or outside the door. He remembered feeling such queasiness before, and it meant only one thing - there was a life forcer in the house and he or she managed to find him up here. Darien inspected the rest of the room in less then five minutes before he was out and gone into the corridor. He had to be out of there as soon as possible in case the Hekan that brushed against his mind would be on his way to the gallery, possibly with some back up. Kicking himself some more, Darien counted the fifth door on the left and entered.

Just as Rowena has told him, it really seemed as if he had suddenly entered a department in a real museum that focused on Ancient Egypt. There were relics, artifacts, blocks of stones, papyri and other old, dust gathering things everywhere. Most of the antiques were sheltered from the real world by glass and from the look of it, it was bullet-proof, or whatever other proof there could be, type of glass. Giving himself a reassuring nod and collecting some more hope to help him, Darien began to explore the personal museum of probably mostly useless crap. Depictions of Gods, nonsensical fragments of sentences, pieces of stones, all that seemed to the Hekan as a very serious, ill obsession. Who on earth would just pick up a stone, put it in showcase and write on the plate next to it 'Remnant of god-knows-whose sarcophagus'? Darien just couldn't be bothered to read the name properly, nor try to remember it. Shaking his had slightly, he moved on and his eyes set on a huge block of stone, that must have been taken directly from some pyramid or place alike, and transported here in a truck. Cocking his head to the side once again, the sentence that was written on this Egyptian heirloom for some reason, grabbed and partially absorbed Darien's senses.

"Knowledge is the way of Life; The way of Life lead to The way of God; The way of God leads to Inner knowledge. Inner knowledge leads to Wisdom. Wisdom becomes Life."

Chill ran down Darien's spine. He experienced an inexplicable feeling that he read this somewhere before. The whole utterance was gaining irrational dimension and meaning that he couldn't fully grasp. Checking the plate on the side, it said 'Entrance stone - Karnak Temple'. Sudden shudder lightly racked his body and Darien had to literally tear his eyes away from the stone, but even then it was as if the piece of dead, dried earth was calling to him. Forcing his steps, one at a time, the Hekan left the relic behind, frowning. The strange feeling persisted and it made him more than uncomfortable. Was it possible to feel watched by an inanimate object? Paranoia was really the last thing that he needed at this point. Searching further into the room, he finally reached a section that seemed to be dedicated to the paper stuff. Various books, or pieces of it, were positioned in a certain order around the floor on pedestals or in showcases. Maybe this is were he'd keep it, Darien thought hopefully and this time he investigated more closely. But since he didn't switch the light on, it proved to be challenging to sometimes read the smudged hieroglyphs. As he worked his way into the sector, he couldn't help it but notice that it was slowly getting darker and darker. Lifting his head up and looking around, Darien noticed that there was a window not so far off which should have provided him with enough light to be able to see. But whether it was his imagination or not, it looked like even the night outside got darker, hostile even. Clenching his teeth, determination was one of the many reasons why he has decided to carry on looking instead of calling it a day for adverse conditions and risk another punch from Rowena for slacking. Who knows, maybe he would have made it to the end of the room and back. Maybe he would have had a chance to find what he came looking for. Instead his eyes set on something rather intriguing, again. It was the 'Demotic Magical Papyrus'. Darien remembered reading about it in some of the books during the training. This papyrus was used to decipher the Ancient Egyptian language. It was the first hint, solution even, to break the language code that Egyptian used to call mother tongue. Also, it offered some explanation to understanding magic itself. Thinking about possessing a papyrus like this felt almost natural to Darien. With this piece of knowledge he might be able to learn new techniques. Something that would give him advantage over his enemies and secure him with winning position. Though, the moment he placed his fingertips on top of the glass as he tried to see whether there was some protective mechanism in use, the whole world went pitch black. Interestingly enough, Darien was still conscious.

Aine · Aug 7, 2013

For a brief moment, Darien could see a genuine fright in Rowena's chocolate-brown eyes. Suddenly, she looked like a child that was caught mutilating mother's favorite dress with a pair of scissors. The corridors resonated with strong echoes of memories, they spoke to her, whispered all the secrets; it was only natural she could orientate herself around the house just as well as all those years ago. The possibility of raising some sort of suspicion with the knowledge was the last thing on her mind. Rowena's mental capabilities re-directed its focus solely to the goal of capturing the desired map; every other concern had become secondary, somewhat muted down, so this unexpected - and probably unintended - jab at her past shattered her composure for a while. The vampire regained it quickly, though, but before she could answer with some clever remark revolving around her advanced clairvoyance skills and crystal ball, Darien silenced her. Even Rowena with her motormouth fueled by superiority complex knew when to cast her petty needs aside and shut up; getting stuck in nonsensical arguments could be a fun pastime, but not when their lives were at stake. Evading unnecessary eye contact, she ran all the way to the third floor, as fast as the high heels allowed her.

Rather masochistic rush of curiosity forced her to check out what exactly had happened with her old bedroom, yet Rowena resisted the call; even if she did have the time to waste on such a trivialities, opening the old wounds had never been on the daily programme. The first room with the metaphorical cross over it was a small, private sanctuary dedicated to pain-inducingly long and unbearably boring history of Christian's family. For some inexplicable reason, the man had always thought that him and the famous Book of Thoth were connected on a deeply personal level. What kind of brilliant reasoning led to this grand conclusion? Rowena didn't have the courage to examine the roots of his megalomania, but she assumed it was about as logical as building a factory for manufacture of sand in the middle of a desert. Only the rhytmical clatter produced by her shoes could be heard as she went through all that useless crap; hoarding so many items of zero importance simply must have been an unerring sign of a mental disorder. Nothing here, nothing there... Christian, would it kill you to wipe the dust off these things every once in a while if you insist so adamantly on keeping them? the vampire thought when she suppressed the sneeze. This search was clearly fruitless; the map, their key to the universal wisdom, had to be hidden somewhere else. Rowena often followed the path of reason, taking a great pride in the fact that she could effectively distillate the iffy emotions from her ability to think, yet when it really mattered, she also trusted her instincts. Closing the door behind her quietly, the vampire cautiously moved to the next checkpoint. Meeting someone here, be it another member of her race or a mere servant cleaning the passages, was even more improbable than the eventuality of Dawson rising from the dead and joining her official fanclub, but one could never be too careful. Rowena steeled herself, took a deep breath and entered Christian's bedroom. Sense of familiarity hit her instantly; absolutely nothing had changed here over the course of time. The walls bore the calming shade of blue, the fluffly carpet was just as creamy white as she remembered it, even the king sized bed was the same... And yet, everything somehow carried the smell of almost sterile novelty; Rowena could only presume that Christian bought the same kind of furniture over and over in regular periods, either out of laziness to come up with new design or need of a routine. Amused smirk formed on her lips as she started going through his things with persistence of a malevolent debt collector. In the next few seconds, Rowena engaged in distinctly unladylike behavior like crawling under the beds, breaking the locks on the wardrobes and generally spitting on the rules of sacred hospitality. Much to her consternation, nothing useful turned out again and her inner clock warned her that the set time would expire soon. There was no further reason to dwell here anymore, so she headed back to their meeting point, hoping that Darien had more luck with his search. The minutes were slowly passing...

Meanwhile in the museum

It was almost hilarious how their lives consisted of one long string of unfortunate coincidences. Come to think of it, bad luck was what ultimately coerced them into forming this little scandalous pact; alliance of two most unlucky persons to ever walk this Earth. Okay, that may have been a little exaggerated way of putting it, but the situation Darien found himself in didn't really support excessive optimism. In addition to his world drowning in darkness so deep it rivaled any starless night, something firm yet strangely liquid pulled him into loving embrace, wrapping around his body as thoroughly as if it was a cocoon protecting its insect inhabitant... With the significant difference that the iron grip threatening to crush his bones any second couldn't possibly be mistaken for protective structure by anyone in their right mind. "I will admit I have some problems trying to start this conversation," Christian's velvet voice pierced through the silence, "as I am not used to communicating with lesser life forms like you." Disgust of enormous proportions was dripping from his words, along with barely restrained anger. "Filthy Hekans usually don't even know half of the words I like to use and lowering myself to their level… You have no idea how much it pains me to rape English in such a horrific manner and speak like a barbarian." The sincerity that rang in his tone might have been funny if it wasn't for the slimy ropes somehow gaining the sharp edge, plunging into his skin like a knife into butter. "Alas, there's not much I can do about that. Thus, will you be a good boy and tell me what are you doing, snooping around in my mansion?" Whether Darien answered or not, the unknown force drove his head right to unforgettable rendezvous with wall; the force of the blow was so great it could cause an ugly concussion, which was probably Christian's intention as pretty much everyone knew - or foreboded - that Hekans' abilities depended heavily on mental concentration. Dizziness, seeing stars or other lovely symptoms of brain injury didn't really contribute to zen-like state of mind suitable for casting ancient Egyptian magic. "Were you perhaps looking for anything specific?" The smirk was apparent just from his tone alone. "Really, your mistress should have put you on a tight leash before you learn how to behave in a civilized society. I am sure she would thank me for disciplining you..."
"Not quite, Chris. Not quite. Just let go of your pride and admit to yourself you've never been a major expert on my psyche." A new voice emerged from the nothingness; whatever trick Rowena had used to mask her identity before, it wasn't active anymore since her vocal range returned to her usual mezzo-soprano.

The separate pieces of puzzle fit together in Christian's mind as the recognition sparked in his eyes. "Rowena?!" Five points for excellent observation. "The one and only. Have you missed me, darling?" She was watching him attentively, mindful of every fishy movement... Her face didn't betray a hint of fear; if anything, it showed that slightly conceited expression of a predator stalking its prey. Nobody would bet on her victory in a combat based on their physical attributes - frankly, her relatively short stature was anything but impressive - yet anyone evaluating their abilities by those aspects only would have been a fool. Sure, Christian was bigger and probably also more dangerous in terms of raw strength, but he didn't care for developing his potential further beyond normal vampire standard. To put it simply, the power was there, but the skill? Not so much. Even though it didn't look like that from laic's perspective, Rowena - soldier baptized by fire and blood - had the advantage here, all the more because she used to spar with him in the past. Christian probably comprehended this as well for he decided to switch to offensive to gain the initiative. Few shadows flashed from the corner, reaching for Rowena's ankles with speed so high no human eye could possibly perceive it... She responded by disintegrating into bloody splash soundlessly, rendering his move useless. As Rowena materialized, her eyes firmly closed, she felt the familiar surge of thrill in her chest again, this time sweetened by the fact the fate had finally granted her an opportunity to sort things out with Christian in the best way imaginable. "See, Christian? I voluntarily handicapped myself to even out the power difference between us in the spirit of good sportsmanship. Perhaps now you will be able to inflict the wound on me, eh?" Rowena exclaimed in an unnaturally carefree tone; of course, that was a blatant lie. He would have undoubtedly blinded her if she hadn't protected her eyes by closing them. While the result was seemingly the same - her sight stopped functioning - she had a control over it, meaning she could open them again any time and Christian probably wouldn't be able to predict the right moment to exploit it and strike with his blinding technique.

Her foe gritted his teeth, apparently too focused on their fight to talk, and tried to catch her again few times with the same success. The goal was to get him to stop playing with his special power and engage in something more... physical. Knowing Christian, his patience was about as sparse as his donations to charity... But honestly, this kind of game would annoy anyone sooner or later. She moved quickly, dissolved into the liquid and re-appeared again as a red blur, not even attempting to attack just yet... For a while, Christian forgot who exactly was he facing. Dominated by rage, he plunged after her, not really thinking... And Rowena was more than ready to receive him. Human and vampire bodies alike were riddled with small pressure points. When she felt him approaching, she opened her eyes, stepped to the side and squeezed the point on his shoulder with delight while violently kicking him into ankle. Predictably, he fell to the ground, wincing in pain, but what she hadn't expected was he would have the self-possession to grab her and pull down with him. Sound of shattered glass filled the room as they managed to hit one of the supposedly bullet-proof showcases; shards rained on them and Rowena could swear she heard the delicate fabric of her dress tear somewhere, yet that was the least of her concerns as Christian's subsequent punch left her struggling for breath. Unfortunately for him, his former lover lived by words "pay evil unto evil" and little bit of pain only strengthened the stance. "You little bitch," she barked, somewhat abandoning the usual flowery language since it really hurt, and the sharp bone from her elbow ruptured her skin, effectively impaling Christian from such a closeness. His eyes went wide; thin stream of blood appeared in the corner of his mouth, signaling that Rowena probably struck the lung. Ouch.

"You... you can't kill me," he declared with tremendous exertion. "That I can't," she acknowledged, observing his pitiful state coldly. Don't be mistaken; our heroine wasn't motivated by foolish sentiment. She would have loved to end his hypocritical existence here and now, but there was a certain... ritual prohobiting Christian from dying so easily. "What I can do, however," Rowena bared her pearl-white teeth in full-fledged smile, "is to introduce you to the wonderful world of torture." She covered his mouth and nose with her hand. "You know what's one of the greatest pains ever? Being denied the precious oxygen." Christian was attempting to shake her down furiously at this point, but the injury sucked away most of his energy. "You feel like your lungs are burning, you try to inhale, but there's only the horrible sensation of emptiness..." Calling upon the power contained in every fiber of her being, Rowena realized her plan. The drop in her concentration was drastical; she wasn't really used to crafting living flesh outside of her own body, so exhaustion showed up immediately. The result was worth it, though. When she removed her hand, Christian's nose and mouth were simply gone, replaced with new layer of skin. "And the best thing about you not being able to die like a normal, polite person? You can enjoy the feeling forever!" Her tone resembled that of a salesman promoting a new kitchen robot in a teleshopping commercial; enthusiastic and fake. The male vampire was writhing on the floor silently, apparently experiencing whole new dimension of hell, his dignity put to dust. All those wiseacres who vehemently proclaimed that revenge couldn't really satisfy anyone were idiots for Rowena felt quite content with herself. Too bad she didn't have a camera; those would have been some awesome photos. The bone went back to its place as she stood up, heading for Darien. Surprisingly, seeing him beaten like that truly resurrected the long dead compassion within her; the poor guy just wasn't having his day. "Are you alright? Can you stand on your own? I think I am slowly turning into your first aid kit, but have a sip if you need it." She knelt and extended her bleeding arm towards him; a courtesy of glass shards cutting her there earlier.

Born To Run

Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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Brilliant Psychopath

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