A modern tragedy

It had been a long day. First she had had to go to school, unwilling of course. Then she had dropped her stuff back at her own place from which she went to work. It was already about nine in the evening when she was finally done cleaning the tables at the diner.
“Almost done, Dianne?” the owner of the place asked her from behind the bar. The woman was nice enough, Dianne knew her from when she was a youngster. When her parents had divorced that woman had been her rock.
“Almost.” She replied, putting a lost strand of hair behind her ear. “Okay. You know where to put the key!” she woman said and Dianne heard the sound of keys. “Good night.” The blond haired diner keeper said and with a swing of her arm she left the building.
Soon after that Dianne was done and she put away her work clothes in the locker. Quickly she grabbed the keys from the counter and closed the building for the night. It was a holiday and so the diner was only open till nine o’clock. It often came that Dianne had to work until two in the night and had to sit awake and well in the school benches.

After she put away the keys safely she started to walk home. Clouds were gathering above her in the air, it was already getting darker very minute or so. Dianne pulled her jacket closer around her and started to walk a little faster. She never particularly liked the darkness, especially when things were looking so grim and unpredictable. Suddenly her phone went and the tall, slender girl stopped for a minute to search through her bag for her phone. Just when she had it the one who had called her stopped and she grunted. Great, it was probably something important and now she was fucked... yes, she already knew that it was somebody from her class who wanted to call her about a test they had the next day.
Somewhat irritated she put her phone away again and put her redish curls into a ponytail. Soon she started to walk again, almost ran across the street. Her building was already in front of her and she smiled, as if it was an accomplishment to have reached it, she thought a bit sourly. With a sigh she stopped in front of the door that gave way to the building and she grabbed the key.

Her house was just a simple apartment. She had everything she wanted there and she already had this beautiful place all to herself for about three years now. Living in a big city such as this it was a treasure on its own to have found such a beautiful place.
Once inside she hung up her jacket and put on the hallway light. Once she got to the living room she lightened the area as well. Reds and browns were the main colours in the apartment. Warm colours, Dianne called them. quickly she grabbed something to drink from the kitchen and put her ass on the couch, in front of the tv. She was planning on looking a show before she went to bed but before she knew it she was asleep on her couch, with a still closed bottle of cola in her hands.

Some sounds woke her and she opened her eyes, noticing that...once again... she was waking up on her couch. “I work too much.” She muttered. Again there was this sound, which she now recognised as the doorbell. “Coming!” she shouted, still sounding tired after such a rude disturbing. Her eye fell on the clock in the kitchen and to her own amazement she noticed that she had failed, again, to show up at class. Already 10.30 in the morning! Damn... Miss Harris would kill her for sure.
Finally she reached the door and she opened it quickly. “Hi.” She said, smiling.

There, right in front of her, was her best friend. She was standing with her arms crossed, he eyes deadly and dark with anger. “You did it again didn’t you.” Her friend started before she just pushed Dianne aside and marched into her little apartment.
“I Cannot believe that you missed class again, Dianne. I mean come on I know you have to pay rent but you can’t just stop coming all together.” Her friend said. In the mean while Dianne had closed the door, taken a deep breath and was now with her friend in the living room. For another five minutes or so she talked on and on about Dianne being irresponsible and all those kind of things.
“Yes yes I know... anything else?” Dianne just said at the end of the story. Her arms were now crossed too and the two ladies were looking at each other. If looks could kill, both of them would probably not have survived all this.
“No that was the end of the message. I am sure you can make up a reply as we go along.” Mia now said, grinning widely. Then she let go of her bag and gave Dianne a hug. “So how was work? Are you sure you can take it covering the business for a couple of weeks while Cana is gone?” asked her friend.

Let’s explain this for a moment. As usual Dianne had failed to show up for miss harris’s class. Not that it was a bad thing, at least not for Dianne because she hated that woman’s guts. But then again that wretched creature from hell never stopped to complain about her absence. So every once in a while she just spoke her mind to Mia, because she knew that the best friend of the always absent girl would tell her anyway. this was one of those moments. When these kind of things happened you could see Mia as some sort of an answering machine with a message and after she had delivered the message it was all good again.

“Yes I am sure I can do this. It’s a great opportunity.” Dianne answered as she looked at her friend, there was a spark in her green eyes as she picked up a piece of paper from the table. “It also official now so I can expect a raise too.” She said excited.
“uh uh I see.”
“But what did I miss? Anything interesting at all?” Dianne asked while the put the paper away.
“No nothing much really. Just the usual nonsense about you being non-committing and she not getting you staying at the school... blabla.” Mia answered after the let herself fall on the couch with pretended exhaustion. “It’s so hard you know, to keep on listing to that woman. I am starting to think about not showing up as well.” She added grinning.
“now you go get a shower and put on some clothes, we have allot of things to do and we have only two more days before the deadline. So hurry up, lazy.”
“Yes madam.” Dianne answered with a smile on her face as she grabbed some stuff from the couch and hurried to the shower.

She was done in no time and when she entered the room again she didn’t look at all like some just out of bed, non committing, lazy, student. “Let’s go.”

A vampire walked into a church. It might seem like the beginning of a bad joke, but if anyone had been around on Highroad at 4 o’clock in the morning, he or she would see exactly that.
The church wasn’t much. The interior was cold and bare. The only form of decoration was the big black cross above the altar. Dante sat down in one of the benches and closed his eyes. Those protestants... He could still see the churches of his youth. They had been filled with colour, with shining gold and silver, with the faces of saints that were familiar as the faces of family. Now there you could feel the presence and might of God. Dante could feel his mind rise even by just thinking about it. He forced himself to open his eyes.
This, this church, it only showed a distant God, one that looked on from afar and judged his creation with a furrowed brow. And even this church was to good for a vampire.
Dante got up and took one last look at the cross. He shuddered.
As a vampire, he had nothing to fear. The myths about crosses were just that, myths. As a person, though...
He showed up at Matt’s house at around 5. The sun was almost showing itself again.
Matt was having a drink in his living room, that looked like a cross-over between an old factory and ultra-hip club. Which it basically was. Matt loved parties, and his latest style was Dance. Every week, young people gathered in his house and partied till dawn. There were no public invitations. You just got to know, and that made his dance parties only cooler.
Matt held out his glass.
“What do you think of this?”
“I just had some.”
“Just smell it.” Dante took the glass and sniffed.
“It smells good.”
Matt looked doubtful.
“I’ve been feeding her only Asian food for awhile, but I’m not sure if it’s working.” Matt took the glass again and sipped it.
“Hmm... I’ve been trying to recreate the taste of a Chinese immigrant I had in the 30’s. But I can’t seem to get it right. Maybe I should get a male.”
As Matt used to stay in one place for a longer time, he usually had a blood source with him. With the advent of the internet, these people were often Eastern-European mail order brides. Matt took their blood by using human methods, as he didn’t want to create all these new vampires. It then depended on his mood if he finished them when their blood quality started getting lower, or if he just released them at the other side of the country.
“I’m leaving tomorrow.” Dante said.
Matt stopped with his wine glass in front of his mouth.
“I wanted you to be at the party! You know, just like the old days!”
“I’ve already been here for 3 weeks. More disappearances are not something you need.”
Matt knew it was true. He gulped down the blood.
“Where are you going this time? Any more friends?”
“Not around here. I’ll just go somewhere big and densely populated.”
“And sleep in the sewers?”
“If I have to.”
Matt sighed.
“Well, I know I can’t argue with you. You’re too stubborn.”
Dante smiled slightly.
“Let’s save the goodbye’s till tomorrow.” He sat down in one of the probably designer chairs. They weren’t comfortable. Then again, nothing was, really.

It had been a very tedious so, or at least so it turned out to be.
The village the two young women had chosen to go to had been of no use for their research and so they turned home empty handed.
“I cannot believe that we’ve wasted our time on this... I’m going out tonight, are you coming?” Mia asked Dianne while she turned up the driveway of her house. “No I think not, I have to run past the diner real quick... maybe if you drop by around nine or something I might know some more. Is that all right with you?” Dianne replied, seeming a little doubtful about the whole going-to-a-party-plan. She knew that when Mia was going to a party that they never got back home all in one piece or before the sun came up. Sometimes not even that.
“Hm... I can do that I suppose. I mean I think of you as a friend so I can make that effort.” Mia said, her lips split into a smile right after that. “no problem Di. Just don’t get to into the whole diner thing alright?” her friend said while she got out of the car, slammed the door, cursed because her finger had been stuck between the door and her car and then she waved. “see you tonight then!”

Dianne had run past her apartment real quick before she went to the diner. She had to change clothes of course and she had to take some just in case she did want to go to the party later that night.
After some hours though, the diner was quiet and there was nobody to be seen. the diner was closing at nine so it would be alright after all. Dianne was already cleaning the tables at half past eight when Mia came in, an excited look was on her face.
“Di,” she started, seeming out of breath because she had been running for some reason, “I don’t care if you don’t want to come, you don’t have a choice. I will force you anyway.” she said.
“W-what .. why... who?” Dianne said a little confused. While she listened to her friend rattling on about this and that and how she had met this guy who had met another guy who was going to some other fellow’s party.. halfway she just lost track but, as the good friend she was, she sometimes said “ah.” And “ow.”
“So are you coming or what?” Mia ended her story, almost standing across Dianne now that she had finished and demanded an answer worthy of her tale.
“It’s all right, I’ll come with you. Somebody has to keep an eye on you anyway and besides it’s not like we have class tomorrow.” Dianne said and she shrugged. “Just help me with the last tables, then we can go to your place and change?” she proposed, which, of course, was very much appreciated.
“I love you you know.” Mia grinned and soon she started to help.
After some more minutes the diner was closed and they both drove towards Mia’s place, there they changed to go to the party of the guy who had been seen by another guy who had told something to another guy who had told Mia... not at al confusing of course.

The car came to a stop and Mia took a deep breath. She had known that the party was held here but she hadn’t expected it to be so.... huge...amazing...breathtaking. the place was amazing. It was not really meant to live in but still. Unlike Dianne, who really loved old and dusty and history stuff, she was very much into the art and abstract kind of things. “Come on, let’s go.” Mia said and she got out of the car. Silently, Dianne followed, not that much blown of her feet by the place. “I don’t really like it... it’s so...just so.” She murmured.
“Don’t care. Come on.” Mia said, waving with her hand in order to make Dianne walk faster. Dianne grunted but followed and soon they got to the door. Something weird took place but in the end they could enter the building. There Mia was gone as soon as she saw the guy she had been talking to that afternoon. “You’ll be fine won’t you?!” she had shouted to Dianne, who obviously felt out of place there. “Sure.” She had grunted back.
And that was how Dianne ended up with a glass of wine in her hand while she was finally looking at something she was interested in. the painting of an old mansion she had seen before.

His leaving was taking a little longer than Dante had wanted it to take. He had woken up late, a little hung-over from the girl he had drained the night before. It was always like that. If he had fed, he became slow. That almost got him killed one time in Victorian London, when a female vampire hunter had caught his trail. He had just finished a street prostitute when she showed up, looking like any well to do woman. He took of his hat for her and she passed him. Only when the stake he felt the air move behind him, did he understand what was happening. He managed to turn in time and caught the stake on his arm. After that, she was done for. Oh, she did put up a fight. But Dante was better.
Dante made his way through the mass of people that had gathered at Matt’s house. He wasn’t hungry, but the body heat and the sound of all those hearts pounding their own excited rhythm was delicious to listen to. He couldn’t care for the music. Dante had heard church choirs, he had witnessed a concert by the young Mozart in Vienna once and was one of the spectators at the first performance of ‘Figaro’ (after which he had supported the lower classes by drinking an arrogant young aristocrat). This? This was like a mockery of what music should be. Still, the crowd seemed to enjoy it. They should, as most seemed to have had enough alcohol to be in a good mood. He did see one guy puke in a corner, wipe his mouth and continue as if nothing happened. Hopefully Matt had a good cleaner.
Where was Matt anyway? Dante didn’t exactly need to say goodbye, but he knew Matt would be disappointed if he didn’t. And Matt never forgot anything. Dante sighed. One time Matt had refused to let him in until he apologised for something Dante had apparently done the last time they had met. It was especially hard because Dante couldn’t recall what it was he had to apologize for.
An hour later, he still hadn’t found Matt. Maybe he was feeding his mail order sushi or something. Dante was sore tempted to leave, but he didn’t. Instead, he ‘accidentally’ bumped into someone.
“I am so sorry.” Dante slightly inclined his head, then looked at the girl in front of him. He had chosen his target well. She was young, with a nice smooth skin and extremely green eyes. And, most importantly, she had long, red curls. Dante had always had a soft spot for redheads. That had been his downfall. “Can I perhaps apologise by getting you a drink?”
He wasn't even hungry. But flirting had always been one of his many weaknesses.

The painting was beautiful. She had been staring at it for quite some time now and she was just about to go and look for Mia to tell her she wanted to leave, when someone bumped into her. “I am so sorry.” The person said to her. Not that she heard it of course. Her glass of wine was now empty, yes she had refilled it for about two times, and the wine was now on her dress. She didn’t even notice the person in front of her but what she did notice was that the anger was boiling up inside of her at that point.
“Can I perhaps apologise by getting you a drink?” that same person said. She did recognise it to be a man now so that was one step in the good direction.
“No.” She hissed, looking at her dress still that was now ruined for life. “No you cannot apologise by getting me a drink. Because I had a perfect good drink which is now not so perfect anymore as is my dress. So just go and flirt with somebody else, because, I am NOT in the mood right now.” She said and then she looked at him.
The man who was standing in front of her had blackish hair, a light skin like herself, but blue eyes. Normally she would have flirted with him for a while, probably because the evening was already such a flop that she would have wanted something to do. Right now, however, that didn’t matter and she was just angry and wanted to go home. “So you can stick in your apologising drink. Excuse me.” And with that she walked away, towards the bathroom, to try and at least get some of the wine of off her dress. Also, she hoped she would find Mia so she could drag her ass outside and go home.

So she did find the bathroom and eventually she did find Mia... but not in the way she had hoped for. She had struggled for a while but eventually she thought she looked a little presentable and she had gone looking for Mia. She asked some couples and individuals but nobody knew the girl she described to them... until someone did. “She went to the stairs I think... about ten minutes ago. She didn’t come down so I assume she is still there.” The kind man said and so Dianne also went up the stairs.
There she saw her friend... more or less.
At first she couldn’t believe her eyes and Dianne just stood there, motionless. “What the hell is going on here?” she asked after a few seconds that seemed like centuries. The man was holding her friend who was bleeding while the man was...well...drinking it.

“NO,” the girl said, looking at her dress. “No, you cannot apologise by getting me a drink. Because I had a perfect good drink which is now not so perfect anymore as is my dress. So just go and flirt with somebody else, because, I am NOT in the mood right now.”

The girl turned and looked at him. She looked as if she was in shock, but instead of responding normally (and ignoring the scene she couldn’t yet comprehend) or trying to talk to him about what was happening, she started to scream at him.
It did not even have any relationship with anything, the dress or the bloodsucking. She was just hurling insults, telling him what was wrong with him, with people in general, with the world. Dante grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes, trying to get her to calm down. It didn’t work. She started to struggle. He had to make her shut up, in case more would come. Luckily modern music was very loud.
Somewhere in the struggle he found himself very close to her. She was full of adrenalin and her blood flowed quickly. Her heart pounded in a exhilarating rhythm.
He was so close he could almost taste her blood. And then his teeth sank into her skin and he could really taste her blood.

Matt and Dante looked at the bodies.
“I thought you agreed that three disappearances were already too much,” Dante said.
“I’m sorry,” Matt said, not sounding very sorry. “She smelled like that concubine of Louis XIV. The exact same smell! How is that even possible? I just had to see if she tasted the same. It had been so long and I could only remember she was delicious.”
Dante sighed.
“I feel like I could burst at any moment. There’s too much blood in me.”
Then he grinned.
“I haven’t had that experience since I was a new-born.”
“Well, glad I could bring you back to happier times.” Matt looked pensively at the girls. “We can’t bury them now, too many people around. But if they are reported missing, and they left traces leading here…”
“You could burn them,” Dante said.
Matt shuddered.
“I’d rather not.” Like most vampires, Matt had an issue with fire.
“For now we could put them in my bedroom,” he decided. “We lock the door, everyone will go home and tomorrow I’ll dump them somewhere safe. Them and what’s-her-name, the Polish girl. The police usually takes 48 hours to investigate a missing person anyway.”
“You can handle that, can’t you?” Dante said. “I only stayed this long to be able to tell you I was leaving.”
“I was busy,” Matt said, looking a little smug.
“Apparently.”
After they’d put the bodies away, the two men embraced.
“Until next time,” Matt said. “Don’t make it as long as last time. Three decennia are like… at least five different lives.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Dante said. “And I am very curious to see who you’ll be next time.”
With that, Dante left. It had been an interesting visit.

There was her best friend in the arms of a Total stranger who was biting her in the neck and sucking her blood. Yes, it seemed like some real bad horror movie and it was... but this time it was real. Dianne couldn’t really comprehend it and just stood there for a moment until she heard the door behind her unlock again, a sign that somebody else had entered the room behind her.
“You did a good job with the dress,” she heard somebody say to her. Hell, she did know that voice from somewhere. “And I have that drink I owe you.” And that gave her the clue.
So she turned around and saw the same man standing there, the one who had ruined her dress and had made her spill perfectly good wine. She wanted to say something but first she couldn’t find the words for it. For a moment there was complete and utter silence. She was well aware of the man behind her with Mia in his arms, for some reason she already knew that this was real enough and that Mia was probably hurt very bad... maybe even dead.
“That’s it! I am done! To hell with it!” she started, raising her hands in fury. “It’s people like you who are the pests of this world and ruin everything.” She stated. Seriously... this always happened. But this was not how it ended, she kept on yelling more stuff, not everything about Mia or anything that was happening right here in the room... she was just so very frustrated.
Then he grabbed her by her shoulder, probably trying to calm her down of a sort, which only infuriated her more and she hit him.. and again and again. She kept on struggling when at some point he couldn’t seem to handle it anymore. There was this strange flash of something is his eyes... something predatory-like and then everything went to fast for her to understand. Within moments it was only the darkness that surrounded her.

Her head hurt so much. She was so terribly hungry as well. What the hell had happened in the room? And where was she anyway. she opened her eyes and closed them immediately. It was way too bright in the room and so she tried again. With squinted eyes she sat up straight again. She was still in the room... now however she noted some other things. there was a bloodstain, no two of them, on the carpeted floor. And there was this smell... what was that smell... damn she was so hungry. When she looked next to her however she took in a deep breath. There was Mia. Eyes staring upwards but without emotion or that shimmer she always had in them... there was nothing at all.
Dianne struggled to get up, fell off the bed and got up again, staring in total horror at her friend. Then again... there was this smell...
Suddenly the door opened and somebody came through. “O shit...” she someone say, with a familiar kind of voice.

#
Now some ten years had passed. It had been hard for her to adapt, that was a light understatement even. The first few weeks had been nothing but horror for her, she just couldn’t seem to grasp the idea of what had happened to her. There was but one thing that had kept her going and that was the hatred for her maker. Of course she had thought about death for some time, wouldn’t it be better? More logical? But then if she was she couldn’t make his life a living hell if she would ever see him again.
Matt had been rather kind to her. He had taken care of her, taught her all that he knew about the things she would have to know. yes, she had made some mistakes but that had been only natural for a new born vampire with nothing but hatred and anger as basic feelings to go on. She had ripped some people apart, had wanted to make Matt his live a living hell but since he had been the one who cared for her she couldn’t simply do that.
They were in England now, London somewhere. Life had continued but more than ever Dianne had the idea that she was standing outside of it. Like she was watching it all pass by. It was her birthday, she was now 31 years old... though she would always look like the 21 year old she had been that night.
“So, is there something to do tonight?” she asked Matt as she closed the book she was holding. There wasn’t a word she had read in the last hour or so. Of course she had changed with time. From a creature filled with hatred and anger she had turned to one that didn’t seem to care at all and from that she had turned to something more like herself. Like mentioned before, she still seemed 21 years old but something had changed her appearance for some reason. People seemed somehow more attracted to her... which wasn’t that much of a miracle since she had spent about 4 years trying to figure out everything there was to know about being a vampire.

“Are you looking for someone?” Dante emerged from the shadows, just as the hunter turned the corner. Immediately the man fired his crossbow, causing a stake to fly in Dante’s direction and then shatter on the wall. Dante had easily dodged it.
“First time?” Dante asked.
The man was scared, but also angry. Dante could smell it from the pheromones and heard it from the heartbeat.
“I’ve killed dozens of vampires before you,” he said.
Dante laughed.
“Well, I’ve killed hundreds of humans,” he said. “Thousands maybe. And at least a couple of them were hunters.”
“Monster.” The man was loading his crossbow as fast as he could. Dante watched silently. A crossbow was old-school. He wanted to see if he could dodge it again.
“Yes, I am,” Dante said. “More importantly, I am a monster that knows it’s a monster. You might have faced vampires before, but if they believed themselves to be at least in some part human or redeemable, they did not posses my strength.”
“Being human isn’t weakness!” The man shot his crossbow again. Dante waited till the last moment to turn. The arrow scratched him.
“Oh, but it is,” he said, while he easily slid across the street towards the man and struck the crossbow, so that it sailed through the air. The man took a couple of steps back and took out a knife and a stake. “Humans have desires. They want things. They want love, friends, acceptance or baser things like money, fame and sex.”
The man lashed out with the knife, trying to decapitate Dante, while following up with a stab of the stake towards the chest. Dante evaded the sword and caught the man’s other hand. He bent it backwards.
“That’s what makes them weak. Those desires. They have always something that’s distracting them, always something that makes them forget themselves. Me? I don’t want anything. I’m just here. I’m just fighting. Are you just fighting?”
The hand broke with a loud snap. Even so, the man tried to strike him with the sword again. Dante caught him with his other hand. He used force until the sword clattered on the ground.
The man kicked him. Dante couldn’t care less.
“I don’t need to kill you, you know,” he said. “I already fed tonight and I don’t kill for fun. However, a friend of mine doesn’t need a hunter so close by.”
The man was panting. His pupils were dilated.
“People know where I am! A disappearing hunter only brings more hunters.”
“And a talking hunter might bring even more.” Dante studied the man. It was actually little more than a boy.
“Where are your parents, young man?”
The boy turned pale.
“Dead,” he said. “Killed by you lot!”
“That must cause you an enormous amount of pain. To dedicate your life to them in this way…” Dante nodded and took the boy’s head between his hands.
“What are you doing? What…?” With a snap, the boy’s neck broke.
 
Dante dumped the body in the Thames. He had bound some stones to it in order to keep it undiscovered for as long as possible. London was a big city, so even if hunters came looking for their colleague, they would take some time. Dante would try to hunt in a different part of the city as long as he was staying at Matt’s.
He hadn’t seen his friend in ten years. Dante had been doing his usual routine, living a nomad life and jumping from city to city. He knew that Matt was here because some other vampires had told him. As it had been 10 years, Dante had decided to pay him a visit.
He walked up to the once probably stunning, now slightly decayed town house and rang the bell three times. Dante wondered what Matt had turned into now. It was funny though, to meet him again in London. The last time they had been there together, was probably in the fifties, before Matt’s impromptu departure to America.
A few moments later, the door was opened and Matt stood in the doorway. He was wearing skinny jeans, a cap and he sported a beard, huge glasses and a mustache. His t-shirt had the name and logo of something that was probably a band on it. Dante blinked a couple of times.
Then he saw Matt’s face.
“What is it?” Dante asked. “What did I do wrong?”
Matt didn’t answer. He just stared at Dante.
“I think it’s better if you leave,” he eventually said.
“Ten years is too soon?”
“It’s just not so convenient at the moment.”
Dante sighed. He couldn’t do this.
“Just tell me what I have to apologize for. And let me in, because the sun is rising and I don’t know if I have time to find another place. What is wrong?”
“I can’t explain,” Matt said. “But you really can’t stay here.”
Dante rolled his eyes.
“Listen, I just fought a hunter and now I am hungry. I don’t have the patience for this.” He pushed his way past Matt. “I am going to stay and if you don’t want to tell me what is wrong, I will leave tomorrow. But tonight I’m staying here.”
“No!” Matt said, as Dante pushed open the door on his right. “Don’t…”
But Dante had already stepped into the living room.

Dianne wasn’t the only one who had changed… a bit… Matt was doing one of his crazy things again. He had told her all about some of his previous lives. Sometimes to give her an example and sometimes just because...well that just it, just because. And so by the looks him she knew that there would be something to do that night. However they didn’t get as far as to discuss what the plan was exactly.
The doorbell rang and Matt got up. There was this strange look on his face and Dianne knew there was something more happening than he wanted to share with her. “What is it Matt? Spill it.” She said, but there was no reaction. He simply walked away. The window next to her was open and she smelled something very...very familiar. The hairs in her neck were already standing up straight, the anger was boiling up inside her. Hopefully she was wrong about all this and the person that was standing on the other side of the front door wasn’t the person she thought it would be.
Matt opened the door, she could hear the shrieking sound of it.
“What is it?” he asked. “What did I do wrong?” and with that she already knew enough, though she did want to listen more closely to the conversation. She put her book away and moved from her tiny reading corner into the living room, so she could hear even better what was being said.
“I think it’s better if you leave,” Matt said.
“Ten years is too soon?”
“It’s just not so convenient at the moment.”
the other person sighed.
“Just tell me what I have to apologize for. And let me in, because the sun is rising and I don’t know if I have time to find another place. What is wrong?”
“I can’t explain,” Matt said. “But you really can’t stay here.”
something was happening obviously.
“Listen, I just fought a hunter and now I am hungry. I don’t have the patience for this.” He said and he started pushing himself past Matt, who was still standing by the door trying to hold him back.
“I am going to stay and if you don’t want to tell me what is wrong, I will leave tomorrow. But tonight I’m staying here.”
“No!” Matt said “Don’t…”

He came into the living room and he still looked exactly like before. Not that she noticed it, the part that he had been in a smallish fight not to long ago, she was already furious. “O no you’ve got to be fucking shitting me!” she said. Unbelievable, she thought again. She had known that it had been her maker at the door but nothing had prepared her for the fury she would feel when she finally saw him again. But instead of going to him and lashing out, what she realllyyyy wanted to do, she turned around on her heels and marched off, towards her room. She wasn’t ready for this quite yet. The hunger was already accompanying her up the stairs and she felt the urge to sneak off and just go for a little pleasure hunt.

There was a female vampire in the room. It didn’t surprise Dante that much. He already thought he’d caught the scent of someone else there. It did however shed a whole new light on Matt’s behavior. Matt had always said he didn’t want anyone in his many lives, as they would limit him in who he could become, but maybe this time…
The vampire stared at him with open hostility. Dante raised an eyebrow. Maybe he had interrupted something. Or maybe she was just one of those vampires that were really territorial. She was cute though. He didn’t know Matt had such a refined taste.
Dante was just about to say something nice and flattering, when she burst out.
“O no, you’ve got to be fucking shitting me!” the vampire yelled.
She turned around and stormed off, up the stairs.
Dante turned around at where Matt stood, still looking particularly unhappy.
“That’s quite a girl you have there,” Dante said. “You sure you can handle it?”
For a moment, Matt didn’t respond. Then he frowned and looked at Dante as if he had said something really weird.
“You mean you don’t remember her?”
Now it was Dante’s turn to look strangely at Matt.
“Remember her? I’m sure I would remember someone like her.” She had nice red hair, too.
Matt still looked as if he didn’t believe Dante.
“Ten years ago,” he said. “Do you remember you were staying with me ten years ago?”
“Of course I do,” Dante said. “There were no other vampires there. I’m absolutely sure.”
“Then do you remember the last night?” Matt’s voice grew louder. “Maybe you remember the girl you fed on back then?”
Dante grinned.
“I’ve had so many…” Then he realized the implication behind Matt’s words and he actually thought back.
A redhead. That one had been a redhead too. But… that couldn’t mean…
“I swear, if you are playing a game, Matthieu…” Dante felt himself getting angry. Behind the anger, however, there was a growing sense of unease.
“I am not, Dante.” For some reason they had switched to French, the first language they had spoken together.
“But that’s impossible. I would never.”
“You did!” Matthieu yelled. He took a deep breath. “You idiot didn’t finish your job and because of that, I’ve been taking care of and raising a very angry vampire. I mean, look at me, I look like I’m her age! I can’t have that responsibility!”
“No. No.” Dante couldn’t comprehend it. “I’m not… I cannot…” He was this close to switching all the way to his native language.
“Well, you’re back now,” Matt said, in English again. His tone was cool and collected. “So you can do what you were supposed to do when she woke up. I’m sorry to say she will probably try to kill you though.”
“Matt…” Dante faltered. “I think you were right and it might be better to leave…”
Matt immediately straightened up, his back to the door. He looked defiantly at Dante, the effect of which was only undermined by his stupid big glasses.
“Oh no,” he said. “I can’t let you do that. She’s seen you, she knows you’re here. And you know of her. You’re stuck now. For better or worse.”
“You know I’m not meant for that,” Dante said. “I never wanted to create a new vampire, ever.”
“Don’t make me say it…” Matt stared at Dante.
“Say what?”
Matt took a deep breath again and exhaled slowly.
“You don’t have a choice,” he said. “You’re her sire.”

She could hear them talking downstairs. She felt like a child, eavesdropping on her parents. Except these two men were not her parents and one of them had ruined her life by ending it in a way while the other had been through allot of pain himself to keep her in check.
However she could hear the resign in her sire’s voice. he wanted to leave again, just simply leave her... he didn’t even remember her. Not that it was that much of a deal... but it was. She might have been hating him with her guts for about ten years now but for him she was nothing more than a human back then... and now she was just another pain in the ass.
She closed the door behind her but didn’t bother sitting down in the chair behind her desk. She took one look at the window, opened it wider and crept through. With a soft thump sound she landed on the ground metres below the window. She looked up, said a silent prayer that Matt would not kill her for this and as soon as she was out she was on her way to... well... somewhere.

She was running now. She had done nothing wrong, of course, but right now there was a person who thought she had. She also remembered him from earlier in her life, when she was still near her old town. “Don’t you run away from me!” the man behind her shouted. She did stop however and that sudden movement shocked her follower. He came to a slipping halt and Dianne looked at him. She was pretty hungry... she licked her lips and her eyes turned a little brighter. “You creature from hell.” She heard him hiss. “No, not really... though in a way you are right, I am in hell.” She said, suddenly grinning viciously. Then she attacked, she didn’t really care about this at the moment, as long as nobody saw her it would be fine. What she didn’t know, or chose not to know, was that she was being watched b another.

Boredom was not something he looked for in a life- or death situation. Time to spice it up.

The man had not known what to do. When she lunged at him he just stared at her, stupefied by something... though in her opinion he had already been stupid for following her. She grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him through the air, with a hard cracking sound he landed against a wall. The sound of bones breaking, isn’t that the most musical sound? She wondered for a minute. However he got up again, she had already anticipated that, and he came charging at her. She was simply standing there yawning, then she grabbed him by the wrist and hit him, again, again, then threw him headfirst to the wall next to her. “You should have left me alone.” She hissed at him before she mutilated him some fore and eventually killed him.
That was when the second guy came in. she hadn’t noticed him because she had been too busy getting rid of that one hunter that she forgot about the fact that he might have been in company of somebody else. “You wretched creature from hell!” she heard somebody yell. But before she could move there was a sharp stinging pain in her shoulder. It burned really and Dianne didn’t quite fancy that pain but she kept low on the ground, keeping that pained look on her face. As if he could possibly know what she was planning right know, she thought amused.

That was the point when she also noticed somebody else coming, no two someone’s. Immediately she started to get a headache and she listened to the man who was now standing above her. Muttering something about feeling eternal pain etcetera. “Well then I am lucky that I am not that old yet and that I have killed only a hundred people still.” She mentioned calmly. That was the point when she grabbed the stake with her left hand and pulled it out so quickly that the human eye wasn’t able to see it happen.
Anger was something that made her stronger, and made her do stupid things, and this involved both of them. so when she had the stake ready in her hand she trusted into the hunter’s chest. There was nothing for a moment, just the sound of his breathing and heart trying to regain control...it was a fatal trust however and he staggered. There was a line of blood coming out as he coughed up blood. “You... will...go...to...hell...” he said at last, stuttering a bit. “probably.” She muttered and that was when she turned is back to him and looked at the two men.
“I don’t need you right now. I am well enough on my own at the moment.” She said, talking only to Matt and trying to ignore Dante.

Well, intervention wasn’t exactly necessary. Dante watched as the girl took on the hunter, muttering dark, vampiric replies as she went. He turned to Matt.
“Did you say she needed our help?”
Matt only stared angrily at him.
The girl plunged the stake into the hunter’s heart.
“Oh, I love the irony,” Dante commented. “That’s some good, poetic…no, not justice I guess.” He grinned wickedly.
“You… will… go… to… hell…”
“Probably.”
Dante had the urge to applaud as she turned around. It was an encounter so perfectly acted out, it kind of felt like he had just witnessed a movie scene. The girl certainly had a touch for the dramatic.
“I don’t need you right now. I am well enough on my own at the moment.” She didn’t talk to him, and so it was Matt who responded.
“Dianne…” Matt moved in her direction, but Dante was faster. Before any of them had responded, he pushed Dianne out of the way en caught a crossbow arrow in his chest. Seriously, what was it with crossbows? Had they suddenly become retro or something?
The bolt had been perfectly aimed for Dianne’s heart. Unfortunately, Dante’s heart was not in the same place as hers. Grinning, he pulled the thing out and in a matter of seconds, he was standing next to the third hunter. A little girl. He smashed the crossbow against the wall and lifted her up as if she weighted nothing.
“No, no!” the girl screamed, as he took her back to the others. “That’s not fair! I thought you were humans! I was protecting you!” She was crying, but her loss was now overshadowed by fear and anger.
“Look what I caught,” Dante said. “New bloodbride for you, Matt?”
The girl was kicking and screaming. Dante turned to Dianne.
“Or maybe a sister for you?” He was joking, of course. He would never make another vampire in his existence.
"Don't kill me!" the girl said. "Please!"

"Please?" Dante lifted her up so their faces were on the same level. "Please do go on. I always love a good girl begging for her life."

“Dianne..” Matt started, probably wanting to say something like; ‘you’re coming with because I don’t like it that you’re on your own around these parts.’ However he didn’t really get to finish his words. Within a split second Dante pushed her out of the way. It had been so totally unexpected that she was slammed against the floor.
When she stood up right again she could just see Dante puling something out of his chest. She felt a little nauseous thinking about the fact that it had been her heart on that spot only so little time ago. Not that she liked him for it.
“Look what I caught,” Dante said. It made her feel a little more angry than she already had been. The hunter had made her feel a little better, this however was going the wrong way... again.
“New bloodbride for you, Matt?” he added and she growled silently at that. the creep, how dare he.
The girl was kicking and screaming. Dante turned to Dianne.
“Or maybe a sister for you?”
“No thank you. I’d rather have you quartered and beheaded as a present.” She answered, shaking of her anger in a way. Yes, she did like to be dramatic but it just worked for her, that’s all.
"Don't kill me!" the girl said. "Please!"
"Please?" Dante lifted her up so their faces were on the same level. "Please do go on. I always love a good girl begging for her life."

“That’s enough. Let the brat go. Never learned anything from your history did you?” she noted, crossing her arms and giving him an angry glare. She sighed and moved towards him so she could pull the girl free. “Vikings always let one live. So that one could bring terror into the hearts of other and at the same time, take them to their hiding place. Do you really think that by killing this little girl you’ll solve the whole darned problem? You’re even more stupid than I thought you were.” She said annoyed. Still she hold the girl with a firm grip around her wrist. “But now that she knows that’s my plan she’s not going to do it so we can best take her to find out what she knows. If she kills herself so be it. “ she added. In her head she thought I hereby promise that I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell... to oppose your every wish or command.

“Come on little girl. We’ve got allot of catching up to do.” Dianne said to the girl. Quickly she gave her a quick check, just to be sure she didn’t carry anything lethal anymore, then swung her over her shoulder and walked away, whistling softly. The heavens were already turning a little red where the sun was going to be in another minute or so.

Dante hadn’t really meant to kill the little girl. Well, not until she had given him the information they needed. Four hunters in one night, that was strange, to say the least. Almost as if they were back in the days of Napoleon.
“That’s enough. Let the brat go. Never learned anything from your history did you? Vikings always let one live. So that one could bring terror into the hearts of other and at the same time, take them to their hiding place. Do you really think that by killing this little girl you’ll solve the whole darned problem? You’re even more stupid than I thought you were.” Dianne really wasn’t pleased with him. “But now that she knows that’s my plan she’s not going to do it so we can best take her to find out what she knows. If she kills herself so be it.  Come on little girl. We’ve got allot of catching up to do.”
With that she put the girl over her shoulder and started walking.
Dante raised his eyebrows.
“I don’t think she likes me,” he said to Matt, as they followed Dianne back to the house.
“You don’t say.”
They reached the house just as the sun climbed over the horizon. Inside the curtains were drawn.
Matt put the girl in the basement and showed Dante to a backroom.
“See you tomorrow, Dan,” he said. Dante was pleased to hear him use ‘Dan’ again.
“Good day, Matt.”
 
He woke before sunset. Quietly, he stood up and went to the basement.
The girl was curled up into a corner. She was awake though, Dante could hear it from her breathing.
When he coughed, she tensed, but she didn’t turn around.
“What’s up with the crossbows?”
No reaction.
“Listen,” Dante said. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry. You wouldn’t believe me, and you’d be right not to. I do need to know a couple of things, though.”
She didn’t answer, but her breathing came faster.
“And believe me, there are ways to make you talk.”
“I will never tell you anything,” she said. Her voice was hoarse. “I don’t care what you do to me.”
“Oh, you do,” Dante said. He had heard the fear in her voice. “I know ways to make even the biggest guys scream like a baby. I can make you talk.” He paused. “Those methods are messy though, and they also take time. I know I have all the time in the world in a sense, but ironically I’m not a patient… man.”
He chuckled.
“No, I’m going to give you a choice. If you don’t talk, I’m gonna suck your blood…”
The girl let out an angry sob.
“Do it! Just kill me!”
“…but I’m not going to kill you,” Dante added. “Instead, I will turn you into the thing you fear most.”
He waited.
She was almost definitely religious. The resemblance she bore to the dead hunters was close enough for them to be family, and she was young enough to still share their opinions on things. If she was indeed the good, faithful girl Dante thought her to be, his threat would work. Becoming a vampire meant succumbing to evil, it meant wretchedness without a chance of salvation. That would be the thing she feared.
“There’s only one thing I need to know. No names, no hide-outs, just this: is there any special reason you came here?”
He could feel the hesitation.
“Who are you hunting? I’ll let you go if you tell me. And if you don’t believe that, then believe I’ll give you a nice, clean death.”
He waited.
“We were looking…” the girl began, slowly. “We came here to find the Saint.”
Dante felt his borrowed blood turn to ice.
“No,” he said. “That’s impossible. She’s dead.”
“She’s a vampire,” the girl said, simply. “Of course she’s dead.”

They were back before the sun set. She had brought the girl down to the cellar, because it seemed like good a place as any, and went straight to bed after that. she was simply exhausted about this whole thing. Not that she slept as soon as her head hit the pillow. Of course not. She simply had to make her life more of a pain than it already was, since she was thinking about her sire again. For the first time in years she was thinking about that night. Now, when she thought back, however it seemed like she saw more of the detail. It was like she was flying above it, eyeing it all. This was going to be one hell of a restless sleep, she knew.

At sundown she rose and felt like crap. All night she had somehow relived her every moment since being a vampire. She had also noted some things she had not when she had seen them the first time. For example, the girl in the cellar was familiar to her, there had been another woman there on the background, though she had no clue to who it was or why she was there.
Grunting she got up, crabbed a towel and some new clothes, and went to take a long...very hot shower. After that she felt brand new and went down stairs. Matt was already there.
“Hi.” She said softly , trying not to disturb him in what he was doing. She could hear the soft voices from down below and her muscles strained. “I think I am going to have to leave Matt.” She said to him. She went to the kitchen, made herself some strong...very strong... coffee, got back and sat down. “I just cannot handle this. I need to be alone for a while I suppose.”
She dared not to look at him and held the cup of coffee firm between her hands. “I am sorry, I don’t want to see ungrateful because I am... But I cannot handle that shitface being here.” She said, trying to make him understand how she was feeling at that point. “besides I am nothing but a danger to you.”

 
The girl didn’t know much about the Saint. Her partners must have withheld some information. As Dante rose to leave, she said: “Wait! Aren’t you going to kill me?”
Dante raised one eyebrow.
“Only if you really want me to,” he said. “Besides, I think the others won’t like me just killing you.” He thought of Dianne and was certain she would probably rip his head off. She might even do so literally.
He climbed the stairs towards the living room, but stopped when he was almost there.
“… don’t want to seem ungrateful because I am… But I cannot handle that shitface being here.” It was Dianne. He could hear the hate and anger in her voice. Directed at him.
Well, he certainly could relate. When he thought of… no. The problem was, his sire had been crazy. For most people, and definitely for Dante, becoming a vampire was the most awful and absolutely devastating thing that ever happened to them. And if the person responsible was convinced it had been a gift, and that the receiver should be grateful… well, that was just unacceptable.
“Besides I am nothing but a danger to you.”
He heard Matt respond, but Dante had made a decision. He marched the last couple of stairs and burst into the room.
“We need to talk,” he said to Dianne, ignoring Matt, who was in the middle of a sentence. “You’re not leaving, and definitely not because of me. I’d leave, but I have business here. Even so, you can ignore me, you can yell at me, you can do anything you want, but just know that I am not proud of what I have done. You know what it’s like to be a vampire now. Believe me, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone in the world. I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

Matt looked at her with a blank look on his face. He surely wasn’t convinced by her words and he wanted to object to her going off on her own, but he didn’t have a chance. She could hear somebody, definitely Dante, coming up the stairs. He burst open the door and entered the room, stopping Matt in the middle of his sentence to... do something probably.
“We need to talk,” he said to her. “You’re not leaving, and definitely not because of me. I’d leave, but I have business here. Even so, you can ignore me, you can yell at me, you can do anything you want, but just know that I am not proud of what I have done. You know what it’s like to be a vampire now. Believe me, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone in the world. I didn’t mean for this to happen…”
She didn’t take this very well, not at all. She rose from her seat and the chair flew back against the wall. She looked at him with rage in her eyes as she made her hands into a fist. She took a deep breath, wanting to tell him everything she had felt for all these years. But she couldn’t do it. She let out her breath, turned around and walked away, her hand in the air. “Fine. Suit yourself.” She said.

Soon after that she walked up the stairs again. She had this feeling that he was going to follow her and she started to run. As soon as she entered her room she barred the door, opened the window, and was gone again. Dianne had no idea what she was going to do but she wasn’t going to stay here, not now, not with him.
It was dark. Strange thing it was, being a vampire. When she had still been a human she had been so afraid of the dark. Always this feeling of being followed, it had haunted her very being. But now she felt like it was her place, this darkness, it made her feel like home. She stopped for a moment, closed her eyes and inhaled. There were humans, she could smell them, hear them talking about the day. There was a pang inside of her because she felt left out. Why would she feel that way? She didn’t know them, wouldn’t know them. for over ten years now she had only known Matt, every day, every week and so on. She just needed someone else in her life and now her sire had returned to it, but not for the better. She felt frustrated now and started to run. As soon as she had the opportunity she climbed atop of the roofs and started to run. She was so fast, nobody alive would be able to see her. The wind in her hair, she smell of smoke from the chimneys, she felt free for that moment. Until she stopped. In front of her was a woman, standing strong and firm. “Do you’re His little vampire. How cute.” She heard. “Who are you?” Dianne hissed at her. Wanting to add she was nobodies to posses. “Don’t try to tell me you’re not his. I know his smell by far and his blood runs inside of you too. In a way you are my grandchild.” The woman said, and then she started to laugh.

“Great, you’ve done it again,” Matt said, after Dianne had left the room. 
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Dante said, too distracted to really care. “I’m going after her.”
“You’re what?” Matt sounded so confused, Dante turned to look at him.
“Is that strange?”
“Well, seeing that yesterday you weren’t that wild about assuming responsibility…”
“So, shouldn’t you be happy now? I’m doing what you told me to do. That’s a first, isn’t it?”
“Actually, I don’t think it’s a good id...”
“Those hunters, they were after the Saint,” Dante said. “I have no idea how she could be here, but…”
Matt just stared at him blankly and Dante remembered he had never talked about her to Matt.
“It’s bad,” Dante said. “Barricade the door, be on guard. I’m going.” And he was, without waiting for a response.
 
She knew what he was. The Saint, or Catharina as she had once been called, was looking at the night sky. As always, her thoughts returned to him. He had been so lost when she had found him. A sheep, looking for guidance. A sinner, waiting for someone to show him the way. He had been her first. At the time she had thought he was a mission, that she was chosen to do him right. Now she thought he might have been a plot from dark forces to lead her astray. To kill her, even. They had almost succeeded. It had been years since she had gotten her strength back. Years before she could run as fast, jump as high, hunt as well. She had had to hide in the shadows, lurking about to catch some minor prey: vagabonds, orphans, whores even, people who wouldn’t be missed. But she always remembered that Christ himself ate with sinners. ‘It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.’ As her strength grew, she knew that she needed everything to defeat him. So she started converting people, granting them an eternal body, resurrection before the Last Day. She really was a Saint, she knew then, doing God’s work on earth, fulfilling his role until he came back. But still… her first was still somewhere out there. Dante Vasari. And now, after all this time, she had tracked him down. Not only that, though, she had also found something that would defeat him.
She knew where the kid was heading and posited herself on the route. When the girl saw her, she stopped.
Catharina smiled. “So you’re His little vampire. How cute.”
As the girl stood before her, Catharina wondered about how they looked so alike. They both had red hair and a pale skin. The girl was somewhat bigger then her and had green eyes, not dark brown, but other than that, they could have been sisters.
Mirror images, she thought. One good and one evil.
“Who are you?” the girl hissed.
Catharina chuckled.
“Don’t try to tell me you’re not his. I know his smell by far and his blood runs inside of you too. In a way you are my grandchild.” Catharina laughed.
                Then she stopped and looked at the girl again.
                “I think we have a lot to talk about. What do you think about taking this conversation elsewhere?” She gestured at the chimney’s. “This… rooftop just doesn’t seem like the right place.”
 
Dante was running. He had picked up Dianne’s smell outside her room again. It was confusing though, as the trail from yesterday was still there too. He was sure now though that he was heading in the right direction.
Then, suddenly, someone came from the right, as fast as he was. They collided and went crashing down the roof together, landing in the street in front of a pub. Luckily the only person around was very, very drunk. He only hiccoughed.
Dante was dusting of his clothes and looked at the other vampire. It could have been an accident.
“Allow me to apologize,” he said, holding out his hand. “I didn’t see you there.”
As a response, the vampire snarled. He got up in a split second and eyed Dante, ready for a fight.
Not an accident, apparently.

The woman in front of her had something over her that reminded of herself. She had the same reddish hair and pale skin. Though that was all they had in common. There were some difference, not only in appearance, that came through immediately. The woman in front of her had brown eyes, instead of her green, was a little shorter than she was and the way she acted… her every move was an open book to Dianne.
She was a predator, but there was something about her that Dianne didn’t understand. She wasn’t the typical vampire of about some hundred years old, she had something over her that scared her. She shivered and looked down for a moment, only then noticing that it had to be a sign of weakness.
“I think we have a lot to talk about. What do you think about taking this conversation elsewhere?” She gestured at the chimney’s. “This… rooftop just doesn’t seem like the right place.” The woman said.
“Who says that I want to go with you?” Dianne hissed back at her. She was feeling like she was trying to get away from her nanny. For some reason she almost begged that Dante was here. She didn’t know why but right now she was feeling vulnerable as hell.

She sifted her legs a little, so that she stepped a bit to the side. “so you’re his sire huh?” she asked, already knowing the answer of course. “You sure suck. You raised a dick.” She noted. Again she moved a little more to the side. She was already eyeing her environment. She could escape, she could already see the route she was willing to take. However, could she escape? That was the question. The woman in front of her was way older than she was. She was able to do things that Dianne could imagine, she was sure. That also meant that she was faster, more cunning... more vicious when she was truly acting like a vampire.
“SHouldn’t you be somewhere else? Killing somebody?” she asked.

Without saying anything, the vampire charged. Dante sidestepped, but the other was fast. He had anticipated Dante’s move and kicked his legs from under him. As Dante fell, he grabbed the other’s jacket. Dante then used the forward motion to roll even further, so that the man was under him. He tried to get hold of the arms of the vampire, but before he knew it, the other punched him in the jaw. The roles reversed, as the man used Dante’s temporary distraction to push him to the side and hold him down. He wasn’t stupid enough to bother holding Dante’s arms. He went straight for the punches. Oh wait, he WAS stupid enough. If he had been holding Dante’s arms, Dante couldn’t have done what he did.  Which was grabbing hold of vampire’s upper arms and then using all his strength to throw the man straight against the wall to the left. Nimbly, Dante jumped up so that he was on his feet again and walked over to the man.
He kicked him in the face, so that the vampire was temporarily knocked-out, breaking his nose in the process. When the vampire came to, his eyes saw the delightful image of Dante holding a knife to his throat.
“I’ll cut it,” Dante said. “Slowly but steadily.”
The man spit in his face.
Dante started cutting. Immediately the vampire became even whiter then he already was.
“What… how… why…” The man coughed.
“You work for the Saint, right?” Dante said. He pushed the knife a little to the right.
“How do you know?” the man was panting.
“You just told me,” Dante really didn’t understand the stupidity of some people. “Where is she? What plans is she making?”
The vampire shook his head. “I won’t tell you. I can’t.”
With a sigh, Dante slashed his trachea.
“You’re right,” he said. “You really can’t tell me.” He then stopped. The vampire, not completely beheaded, gestured wildly.
Dante pulled back his knife.
“Sorry, what was that?” he said. “I don’t understand sign language.”
The vampire bared his fangs, and came at him. Dante deflected easily.
“Gotta go,” he said. “Have a good night!”
He jumped up the building above him and started running again. Now where was her trail?
 
Catharina frowned.
“I don’t really understand what you mean by suck, except of course when you’re referring to the fact that I am a vampire. And I am not going to kill anyone. I never do. I was just suggesting a civil conversation.”
She looked deep into the girl’s eyes.

“Tell me something. Do you love your sire?”

“I don’t really understand what you mean by suck, except of course when you’re referring to the fact that I am a vampire. And I am not going to kill anyone. I never do. I was just suggesting a civil conversation.” The woman opposite her said. Dianne looked at her with that look on her face that spoke more than a thousand words. That woman wasn’t very bright now was she?
“No,” she started, her eyes again searching for a way out, “I didn’t... wasn’t referring to you being a vampire. It was a thing about ten years ago. When you say that somebody sucks it means that you’ve messed up big time.” Dianne said and she shrugged. “But for you I’ll make an exception and make it count for you sucking big time and you being a vampire.” She added.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve somewhere to be...” Dianne said a little hesitantly. She wasn’t quite sure where she was meant to be but she was definitely not meant to be on this spot talking to this strange woman, who was the sire of her sire... wow, this whole thing made her head hurt. However Dianne made one very huge mistake, she looked into the woman’s eyes.
For a moment it felt like it was only her and that woman. There was something in her eyes that made her unable to move, she was standing there like a statue. What was that vibe coming of off that woman? She wondered, a little shocked to be frank.

“Tell me something.” The woman started, stepping forward a little. “Do you love your sire?” she asked Dianne.
For a moment there was nothing but silence, Dianne her trance was broken and now she just stared. Not for long though. When the woman asked her that simply question she started to laugh, so loud. “O my you really are funny.” She said, gasping for breath because of her laugh attack. “No.” She then said blankly, she had stopped laughing out of nowhere.
“NO, I bear NO love for him. I hate him with my entire being.” She said, as if it was nothing. Though if one looked at her more closely, they would be able to see her shaking from anger, frustration...weakness. yes, she felt weak because she had been in no position to do anything about any of this. It had been decided for her, even her being alive right now had been decided for her. But that had been Matt’s doing and he was a good man.
“But I am no traitor... I will NOT betray the friend of the man who did stand by my side the entire time.” She hissed at the woman. For some reason she forgot all about running away like a coward, she was going away but not like that.