A Different Kind of Vampire

Chapter 12

Lars stared in surprise as the two vampires fought. Lukas was a little warier of Vlad’s magic than the latter was of the former’s. And it was understandable, since vampires didn’t like fire. It was one of the methods that could kill them.

But Lukas kept hurling ice spears at Vlad, and the other was forced to dodge those as well. Lars understood that the spears were meant to replace stakes.

Lars hadn’t felt this useless in months. Not since his father was killed, and his mother pretty much abandoned them. He wanted to fight, but he wasn’t sure who to fight first.

Though his instincts told him that he could trust Vlad.

He looked down towards his frozen hands. There was only a thin layer of ice now, but they were still completely numb, and he couldn’t even use them. He tried.

He looked up, and he saw Vlad looking towards him, right before an ice spear grazed his side, causing the vampire to grunt in pain. Lars couldn’t understand why the Romanian was distracted, until he felt a hand wrap around his throat from behind.

“Well now,” a voice whispered. “Don’t you smell delectable…”

“Hands off, Mathias,” Lukas said. “He’s mine.”

“Aw, but he smells so nice. And you wouldn’t deny your sire, now would you Norge?”

Lukas growled, and Vlad turned to Lars, a snarl on his face.

“Who’s this anyway?” Mathias asked, tightening his grip when Lars tried to struggle.

“Don’t know,” Lukas said. “Though he claims to be older than your sire.”

“Really now?”

Vlad looked between the two vampires, though he looked like he was trying to calculate something whenever he looked towards Lars’s direction. He snapped his fingers, and Mathias yelped before he released Lars. The Dutchman turned around to see that the back of Mathias’s coat had been set aflame, and the vampire was trying to extinguish said flame.

Vlad used the opportunity to move towards Lars, and Lukas tried to stop him, only for Vlad to cast another fireball towards him. He grabbed onto Lars.

“Hold on,” Vlad said, before turning to the vampires with a smirk. “Catch me if you can.”

And to everyone’s surprise, a pair of black wings burst out of Vlad’s back, and before anyone could react he grabbed Lars and launched himself into the air.

Lars stared at the vampire in surprise. He knew that vampires with wings were stronger, but these wings were different from what he had read about.

“How are you…?” Lars asked.

“Long story,” Vlad said. “Neither of the other two can fly. I’m just making sure I’m out of their sight before I take you to your house.”

“How do you know where I live?”

Vlad rolled his eyes.

“How do you think I knew to find you in this town?” Vlad countered.

“Fine. I still don’t trust you. I just get the feeling that you won’t kill me.”

“If you know that I won’t kill you, then what other reason could you have for not trusting me?”

“You could still drink my blood. And the blood of my siblings.”

Vlad rolled his eyes.

“I only drink human blood when I’m siring them, and I haven’t done that since the 1400s,” Vlad said. “And most of the vampires I’ve sired are either dead or sealed somewhere. There’s only one you should be worried about.”

“And where are they?”

“I have no idea. I haven’t had contact with him for over a thousand years.”

The two said nothing as Vlad landed, and Lars immediately made his way towards the front door, entering and locking the vampire out. He just wanted to forget about Vlad.

But it proved to be a little difficult when he saw Feliks in his living room, talking to his younger brother and sister.

“What’s going on?” Lars asked.

“Oh, you’re back early,” Bella said “This is Feliks. He told us that Mom was an angel, and that we’re part angel.”

“If she was an angel, then she wouldn’t have abandoned us.”

“Like, angels can’t stay in this world for long after the whole vampire outbreak thing,” Feliks said. “Like, the air is too toxic. And like she wouldn’t have been able to take you to Heaven, since Nephilim like can’t go there unless they’ve been properly trained. And like, there aren’t a lot of people that know how to do that.”

“But you do?” Lars asked, eyes narrowed.

“Like, not me. Vlad.”

Lars glared at the window, and he was surprised he didn’t see the vampire outside.

“Who’s Vlad?” Henri asked.

“A vampire that claims to be different,” Lars said. “What kind of vampire doesn’t drink from humans?”

“Like, Vlad,” Feliks said.

Lars glared at the smaller man, noting that he didn’t seem so shy anymore.

“Get out,” Lars said. “We’re not interested in anything you have to say.”

Bella and Henri protested, but Feliks merely examined his nails.

“Did you hear me?” Lars demanded.

“Like, I heard you,” Feliks said. “But, like, it’s totally in your best interests to come with us. Like, if you go on the way you are, then you’re totally going to die. And they might die too.”

“Out,” Lars warned.

“Feliks, time to withdraw,” a voice said from outside, and Lars felt annoyed by the fact that Vlad had been listening.

Feliks sighed, but stood nonetheless. Lars watched as he went to the front door, and he felt his annoyance grow when the other turned back to wave towards his brother and sister.

And then there were only humans in the house.

…

The humans stared at the front door in fear. They each anticipated some sort of creature that would end up being even worse than vampires.

And they were well aware of the fact that they would be even more delicious for those creatures.

“Feliks, could you open the door already?” the female voice demanded. “Though I don’t know why it’s locked. You never lock it, especially not to me, Raj or Vlad.”

The humans looked at each other in surprise.

“She knows Vlad and Raj?” Feliciano asked.

“She could be lying,” Alfred said.

“I don’t think so,” Matthew said. “She doesn’t seem to know that we’re here. She’s more focused on trying to get Feliks to open.”

“Maybe if we pretend nobody’s here, she’ll get the message?” Jason suggested.

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” Hans said. “The light’s on.”

“Dude, turn it off,” Alfred said.

“Al, that’s just going to confirm that someone’s here,” Matthew said. “I’ll… I’ll go talk to her.”

“Mattie, no,” Alfred hissed.

Matthew ignored his brother and walked over to the front door. He opened it, revealing the woman on the other side. She blinked in surprise when she saw him.

“Um, you’re not Feliks,” she said. “Who are you?”

“My name is Matthew,” he said. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Not really. I was hoping to see Feliks. Is he here?”

“No, he’s not. He went with Vlad somewhere.”

“Oh, you’re a friend of Vlad’s as well. But when did he make new friends? I thought he was sleeping.”

“He was. He woke up a few days ago.”

“Oh, okay. But… how are you… Sorry if this seems rude, but… what are you?”

“Can’t you smell me?”

“Non. I’m a mermaid, and on land, our sense of smell is even weaker than a human’s.”

“O-oh. Um, I’m a…”

“Mattie, don’t!”

Both the mermaid and Matthew jumped in surprise as Alfred ran up to his brother, throwing an arm around him and glaring at the mermaid suspiciously. She blinked in surprise, looking between the two brothers.

“The odds of you being my prey is smaller than the odds of me being yours,” the mermaid said. “I mean no harm.”

Matthew sighed.

“We’re Nephilim,” he said.

“Oh, then neither of us are each other’s prey,” she said. “That’s a relief.”

She giggled when she saw the brothers’ looks of confusion.

“Nephilim aren’t predators, which means I’m not your prey,” she explained. “And Nephilim fall in the domain of land and sky, which puts you out of a mermaid’s hunting ground. We don’t consider you prey.”

“Sharks eat humans,” Alfred said.

“Humans fall under the category of shoreline and water travellers. They’re our prey. However, Nephilim don’t really go near water.”

“And what about a phoenix?” Matthew asked.

“Phoenixes don’t really need to eat all that much,” she said. “Fire is all they need to stay alive. Unless it’s a blue-flame phoenix, they don’t do well in cold. All phoenixes avoid water, so once again, the predator-prey relationship doesn’t exist in any form between a phoenix and a mermaid.”

“And… what was Raj again?” Alfred asked.

“Naga. They prefer deserts or tropical jungles. They don’t go to the shoreline all that often. The predator-prey relationship doesn’t exist there either. It’s why the four of us make such great friends.”

“Um, are there any predators for vampires?” Alfred asked.

“Non,” she said. “Vampires are corpses that have new life breathed into them from demons. They don’t really fall under anyone’s prey. They do have rivals, like werewolves.”

“Great,” Alfred groaned.

“Um, could you please let me in now? I promise I won’t hurt you.”

The two brothers exchanged a look, and after a moment of staring they turned back to the mermaid.

“I guess,” Alfred said. “But… you better not be trying anything.”

“D’accord,” she said. “My name is Michelle, by the way.”

The two nodded, and they led Michelle to where everyone else, with the exception of Lovino, was sitting.

“Guys, this is Michelle,” Alfred said. “She’s a mermaid.”

“I seem to recall Feliks saying something about ‘stranger danger’,” Gupta said.

“Oui, that sounds like something Feliks would say,” Michelle said.

“So, what exactly brings you here, bella?” Marcello asked.

Michelle giggled.

“I wanted to see Feliks,” she said. “He’s an old friend, and he’s the only one of my friends who’s easily located that isn’t one of my kind. And it’s boring being with the same people over and over. So I came here.”

“How, exactly?” Jason asked. “I mean… I don’t think we’re close to the sea or anything.”

Michelle simply smiled.

“That’s my little secret,” she said. “So, how much do you know about the supernatural world?”

“Not that much,” Matthew admitted.

“Alright. Then in Feliks and Vlad’s absence, I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

…

Lovino was lying in his room, simply staring at the ceiling. There wasn’t a light switched on, and he found the darkness so familiar.

Uncomfortably so, but comfortably as well.

Uncomfortably, because it reminded him of his time in captivity. Where he was trapped in the world of darkness. But comfortably because he didn’t feel comfortable in the world of light anymore. He knew that he didn’t belong. Not anymore.

As they seemed to be doing a lot recently, his thoughts drifted to Vlad. The other had lived for millennia without the sun, and he showed clear signs of missing it. Vlad was a creature of darkness who yearned for the light.

And Lovino was supposed to be a creature of light, yet he felt unwelcome.

He closed his eyes, thinking about Alfred’s question. They wanted to know what he had gone through, and it was understandable. But he didn’t want them to know. They would treat him like some sort of disease, like…

Like how Alfred treated Vlad.

It wasn’t fair. Why did those things have to happen to him? Why couldn’t they just leave him alone? Why couldn’t they have killed him?

Why did…?

He sobbed, and that was when he realised that the tears were falling. He curled up into a ball, his body shaking with his sorrow. They had violated him, in every sense of the word. The Bad Touch Trio, a group of vampires that enjoyed sexually abusing their victims.

He was tainted. He would forever feel their hands on his skin, their tongues, their teeth… He could feel…

And he didn’t want his brothers or their friends to know. He had just been reunited with them. He couldn’t lose them again.

Suddenly the dark room felt overwhelming, but it wasn’t the darkness that was crushing him. It was the loneliness. The same loneliness that he had felt in his cell, when they weren’t feeding from him or…

He pushed himself to his feet, and with an almost desperation stumbled out of his room and to the one next door.

He tried not to feel disappointed when he didn’t see Vlad. Of course he wouldn’t be back yet. But he needed something to ground himself.

So he lay down on the bed. He tried not to smile when he discovered that Vlad’s scent still lingered. It was a surprisingly sweet and floral scent. He breathed deeply of the comforting scent as he started to drift off.

…

“Like, now what do we do?” Feliks asked.

Vlad sighed. The two of them were on the roof of an abandoned house a few houses away. Close enough to watch them, but far enough to prevent other vampires from knowing which house they were watching.

Since Vlad was focusing on that particular house, he could hear the conversations coming from inside. And he knew the siblings were arguing.

“We wait,” Vlad said. “Their interest has been piqued, and they would want to know more. Not only that, but now they’ve learned the truth of their existence, and the angel side would want to learn more.”

Feliks pouted.

“Like, this is going to totally take forever,” Feliks said. “Like, isn’t there a way to speed up the process?”

“Get Lars to trust us,” Vlad said. “It’s the only thing I can think of.”

“And what’ll it take to do that?” Feliks asked.

Vlad sighed again.

“A lot.”

…

“How could you have let him inside the house?” Lars demanded.

“He proved he wasn’t a vampire,” Henri said.

“Broer, you should have heard all the things he said…” Bella said.

“Nee,” Lars said. “His companion is a vampire. And not just any vampire. A very old, very powerful vampire, possibly a vampire lord.”

“And how would you know that?”

“He had wings, Bella. Not a lot of vampires have wings. It’s a mark of status, and clearly he’s not afraid to flaunt it.”

“What do you think they intend to do with us?” Henri asked. “Feliks said they plan to train us to use our angel side.”

“The thing vampires usually do,” Lars said. “Just without killing us. My intuition is telling me that much.”

“And what else does your ‘intuition’ tell you?” Bella demanded.

“I… I don’t know, alright,” Lars said. “My intuition is telling me to trust him, but… he’s a vampire. A soulless, heartless creature. The same type of creature that sent the world to hell. The same type of creature that killed Vader. Do you really think that I can trust something like that?”

At the mention of their father, both Bella and Henri looked away. Yes, it would be difficult after seeing a vampire kill their father, right after their mother abandoned them.

“It’s almost midnight,” Lars said. “And you two have school in the morning.”

The other two nodded, before they each went to their respective rooms. Lars stayed behind, trying to wrap his head around the whole situation.

What bothered him the most was the fact that Vlad had actually defended him against that other vampire, at the risk of admitting that he didn’t feed to another vampire. By all standards, a vampire that didn’t feed, at least not on human blood, was usually considered to be weak and pitiful.

But Vlad could use magic. Vlad had wings. And Vlad had admitted to siring seven vampires, and that most of them were either dead or sealed. The fact that they would rather seal a vampire than kill it was disturbing. It meant that they were too powerful to kill.

Lars decided to check to see if the vampire and ‘phoenix’ were still around. He went outside, grabbing a stake, just in case.

He couldn’t see anyone in the surrounding area, at least not on the ground, but then he looked up towards the roofs. A few houses away, he could see two shapes that weren’t normal, and when he saw red and green, he knew that it was them.

He narrowed his eyes. He could tell that they were waiting for him, or perhaps for one of his siblings. But they didn’t move closer, and in fact were too far away to appear as though they were stalking the house.

Somehow, Lars understood this gesture. This was to avoid alerting other vampires about him and his siblings. It was… kind of nice.

He shook his head, before retreating inside the house again, making sure to lock the door.

…

Feliks deflated.

“Like, now what should we do?” he asked.

“We’ll find an abandoned house,” Vlad said. “Find a mirror and through it, we’ll tell the others that we won’t be coming back tonight. You’ll go speak to them tomorrow.”

Feliks nodded his head, and the two immediately set to work.

…

Lukas growled, glaring at the Dane.

“He was my prey,” Lukas said. “You had no right to interfere.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mathias said. “They’re gone now. Though I wish I knew who that bastard was.”

“Come on,” Lukas said. “He wouldn’t have taken him far. He seemed too intent on protecting the human than feeding from him.”

“You’d think someone like that would have been easier to deal with.”

“Shut up,” Lukas said. He sniffed the air. “I seem to have lost the human’s scent. But I have the feeling that he’s still in this town.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I used my magic on him to freeze his hands,” Lukas said. “And according to the magic trace, they haven’t left the town.”

“Should we get the others?”

“Ja. That other vampire… Something about him just isn’t right. He’s the one we have to deal with."