Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter II: Bloodlines ❯ Chapter 12

Chapter XII

Clark woke up late in the afternoon, but she stayed in bed for a while to think.

She felt like everything should be different now. Her world had been turned upside down so many times last night it was ridiculous. But she was the only one immediately affected by the things Gabrielle had told her, so there were no outward markers that she could point to and say, "Look, that's not what it was like before."

It almost felt like a dream and she spent several seconds wondering if she'd actually left the hotel room yesterday or just taken a nap. But there was no way she could have dreamt all of that up.

Especially the part about Gabrielle being there the night her family was killed. Or the part about Gabrielle taking over the world. Or the part about Gabrielle having a sister.

Clark sat up as she considered that last thought. Gathering information about Cynthia was something she could actually work on. Clark ordered room service and quickly got dressed. She booted up her laptop and set to work. A search on the keyword Apophis turned up very little, so she added Egypt to the query. She didn't get much more, but there were a few sites that proved to have some interesting information.

Apparently, Apophis was the archenemy of Re, and the personification of darkness, evil, and chaos in the form of a snake. He battled Re every night, as the sun god made his way through the underworld, and occasionally won for short periods of time, which manifested as eclipses. But Re ultimately escaped Apophis every time, though Apophis was never killed. In fact, it was written that should either Re or Apophis destroy the other, it would mean the end of the world.

Clark kept searching for another hour, but didn't find anything more detailed. Many sites that listed the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt tended to leave Apophis out completely, which seemed odd to Clark. Apophis appeared to be the only god capable of killing Re, who was probably the most well known Egyptian god ever, and the two battled every night, yet the snake god was overlooked by most indexes. Weird.

She changed her search and decided to see if she could find any connections with the name Cynthia. According to one database, it was Greek and was an alternate name for the moon goddess Artemis. It referred to her birth on Mount Cynthus, though other resources named the island of Delos as the goddess' origin where she was born with her twin brother Apollo.

Clark did a quick search to remind her of the particular attributes associated with Artemis and was both surprised and not at what she found. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and was regularly identified with the moon, which made a lot of sense in terms of vampires. But she was also known as a protector of children, not something generally associated with vamps in Clark's experience.

Clark mentally filed the information away and checked the time. She was going to have to hurry if she planned to be ready when Gabrielle arrived. She shut down her computer and then headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She came out a few minutes later and put on a pair of black jeans, a black long sleeve cotton shirt, and her black boots.

She looked at her assortment of tools and weapons and quickly stashed a knife into her boot, and then added several other pieces of equipment to her body. She felt rather naked without her more obvious pieces of vampire hunting gear, but it wasn't like she was planning on a Hunt while she was out with Gabrielle.

Clark did one last check of herself and then headed out the door.

~\/^^^\/~

Gabrielle stood near the entrance to the lobby and waited. It was a large area, complete with soft-looking couches for visitors to sit on, and small trees in the corners, along with works of art hanging on the walls for ambience. People went in and out and Gabrielle idly watched them go about their lives without a glance in her direction.

The sun had set a few minutes earlier and Gabrielle had been unable to keep herself from rushing to meet Clark. She hadn't even stayed long enough to tell the others where she was going or even that she'd met up with Clark the night before. She knew they were probably worried about her; it was, after all, their duty to protect her. But Gabrielle knew she was safe and she just didn't want to take the time to inform them of that fact as well.

She just wanted to see Clark again.

Gabrielle couldn't keep the smile from curving her lips. She was acting like some human adolescents did when they first fell in love. She was being irresponsible, inconsiderate, reckless, and maybe a little bit blind, too.

She knew the likelihood of a 'happily ever after' for her and Clark was basically nil. But Gabrielle had been watching humans for a very long time. None of them ever truly ended up happily ever after. And those that appeared to usually got bored and left to find something more challenging. Being happy for short periods of time was wonderful, but never having to work for that happiness wasn't very fulfilling, so in that respect, Gabrielle thought they would, at the very least, never get bored.

As the elevator doors opened, Gabrielle's attention was pulled from her thoughts and placed squarely on the tall figure exiting the lift. The woman scanned the room and stopped when her eyes landed on Gabrielle. They stood watching each other for several moments before they both began to move simultaneously to bring themselves closer to each other.

"Hi," Clark said hesitantly.

"Hi," Gabrielle replied.

Clark looked around at all the people and decided they needed to find someplace private. She considered asking Gabrielle to come up to her room, but an image of her in bed with Gabrielle made her mentally shake her head. She wasn't ready for that, no matter how much she might want it, and it would be way too easy to give in to her desires in that kind of setting.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Gabrielle interrupted her thoughts.

"Um, no. I had some breakfast when I woke up, but that was a while ago," Clark replied.

"Then you should eat. Is there somewhere nearby?" Gabrielle asked.

"Yeah, come on," Clark said, and she led Gabrielle out into the city.

They didn't talk very much while Clark ate. They seemed to be content to hover around the edges of one another. After nearly three weeks apart, it was almost enough just to be in each other's presence again. Almost, but not quite.

Clark finished with her food and paid the bill. They walked together along the streets of the city. After a few blocks, Clark finally got up the nerve to start a conversation.

"So, how have..."

"Are you..." Gabrielle began at the same time.

Clark smiled and laughed a little, and Gabrielle looked away embarrassed.

"Um, you go ahead," Clark offered.

"I was just going to ask if you were all right."

"You mean after last night?" Clark guessed.

Gabrielle nodded.

"I don't know if it's all sunk in yet," Clark answered honestly. "I think it might be a while before it really hits me."

Gabrielle nodded again and tried to swallow her fear that Clark might end up hating her again once it all "sunk in." She hadn't thought about it until Clark had continued to remain quiet after her initial greeting, but the longer she'd kept silent, the more Gabrielle worried that Clark was rethinking her feelings.

"What about you? How have you been?" Clark asked.

Gabrielle glanced at her and then faced her eyes forward again to see where they were going.

"I've had a busy past couple of weeks. But I guess you already know that," Gabrielle speculated. "I've been okay. Michelle and Shiri have been very supportive, and Yelena is proving to be a loyal friend. Their servants have been very helpful as well. I don't think this tour would have been very successful without Samantha's assistance. It'll almost be a shame when she's Gifted."

Clark didn't comment. It wasn't that she didn't have anything to say; she just wasn't following Gabrielle's words very well. She kept looking at her lips while they moved and the rest was irrelevant.

Gabrielle looked up at Clark's silence and then tried to stifle her grin at seeing Clark's intense gaze on her mouth. There was no mistaking the woman's thoughts and Gabrielle felt her anxiety lessen a little at the familiar spark of passion she found in Clark's eyes. Gabrielle surreptitiously looked around to see if there was a more secluded area where they could go. Off to her right, she saw an alley and she angled them over to it.

As Gabrielle rounded the corner, she stopped and backed up against the building, reaching out for Clark to come closer. She'd been wanting to kiss the Vampire Hunter for weeks now and she realized there was no reason to wait, since the woman was standing right in front of her.

Clark must have realized the same thing because she didn't waste any time pinning Gabrielle's body to the wall with her own. Clark reached under Gabrielle's cloak and wrapped her hands around the vampire's waist, pulling her even closer, as she slowly lowered her head.

As Clark touched her lips to Gabrielle's, the rush of familiarity, the scent of Gabrielle, the feel of her, all of it came together and pulled the air out of Clark's lungs and the thoughts out of her mind. She pushed her tongue into Gabrielle's open mouth and reacquainted herself with the vampire's fangs, which were slowly extending from their normally retracted position.

Gabrielle allowed herself to indulge in the taste of Clark's mouth and didn't try to stop the woman from enticing her fangs out of hiding. She'd drunk a large amount of blood the night before and didn't feel she was in any danger of giving in to Clark's teasing. But she could smell Clark's blood and she moaned at not being able to taste it.

Clark pulled back from Gabrielle's mouth and offered little kisses to the skin nearby. Her need for Gabrielle was suddenly very strong and it was like no time had passed since their last kiss. But this wasn't the drugged haze she'd been in before and now she knew that feeling hadn't been caused by any special abilities of Gabrielle's vampiric nature. She was just in love and very horny and a little thing like the loss of her humanity didn't seem nearly as important as making love to Gabrielle at the moment.

However, Clark was pretty sure she wouldn't like being a vampire. The whole thing about killing humans and drinking their blood just wasn't very appealing. But she'd heard about the connection that occurred between a vampire and their prey during feeding and she wanted to feel that with Gabrielle.

Clark kissed along Gabrielle's cheek, down to her chin, and then licked at her ear. It wasn't by chance that her neck was now less than an inch from Gabrielle's mouth and her extended fangs.

Gabrielle tried to stay calm, but her panting breaths were evidence that she wasn't succeeding very well. She wanted Clark's blood more than she'd ever wanted anything in her entire life, and considering how many centuries it spanned, that was saying something. She licked Clark's neck and listened to the blood pumping just beneath the surface. She kissed the taut flesh and just barely grazed her fangs over the skin that covered and protected Clark's left carotid artery.

Clark tried to remain still, but she was breathing so hard, she almost couldn't hear herself think. She wanted to grab the back of Gabrielle's head and force the vampire to bite her neck. Her right hand was even starting to move up Gabrielle's body on its way to do Clark's bidding.

"Well, isn't this just precious."

Gabrielle whipped her head around so fast that Clark couldn't see the movement. Clark turned her head at a much slower rate in comparison and tried to see who had spoken, though from the voice, Clark had a pretty good idea who it was.

"Is this a bad time? Should I come back later?"

"What do you want?" Gabrielle practically growled.

"Why? Are you looking for gift ideas? I didn't know you cared."

Cynthia stepped forward and Clark couldn't help the shock that swept through her at seeing another Gabrielle, even though Gabrielle had told her they were twins. The difference in hair length was the only way to tell them apart, except for the smirk that seemed permanently etched onto Cynthia's face.

"So, this is the great Vampire Hunter," Cynthia observed, as she continued to move closer to them, stopping only a meter away. "You are quite beautiful, much more so than your pictures. And I bet intelligence to match. It's a pity I didn't recruit you first."

"Never would've happened," Clark replied confidently, but Cynthia's smile only widened.

"Oh, you don't even know me and here you've already judged me. I'm hurt," Cynthia pouted, but it only lasted for a moment before she went on. "I thought you were smarter than that. You must know by now what my sister plans to do to your species. I would think you of all people would want to stop her from fulfilling that little ambition she has for world domination. Isn't that your association's creed? 'Defend humankind against all evil.' Oh, wait, I forgot, my sister already owns them, and you too, apparently. Guess it's all up to me," Cynthia sighed dramatically.

"Well, if you're going to start defending humankind against all evil, maybe you should start by killing yourself," Clark said.

"Ouch. Is it that time of the month?"

Clark tensed to move forward, but Gabrielle held her back with one arm across her body. She spoke.

"I'm only going to ask you this one more time. What do you want?" Gabrielle said.

"Well, so much for small talk. All right. I was thinking we could have a small get together tomorrow night at sunset. Just you, your Hunter, and me. Maybe we can come to an agreement regarding your plans for the humans. Something along the lines of 'you won't try to control them for your own purposes and I won't try to stop you.' I know, not much of a compromise, but what can I say, I'm used to getting my own way." She paused, but when neither of them responded, she continued. "Well then, I guess I'll leave you to your own little get together. I'll expect you both tomorrow evening at my temple. You know where it is, sister. Oh, and please don't be late. It's rude."

Clark barely blinked her eyes and Cynthia was gone. Clark glanced at Gabrielle.

"So, that was Cynthia."

Gabrielle nodded.

"Why didn't you tell her you'd already decided not to go through with your plans?" Clark asked.

"I don't think that's what this is all about. She's just playing games, but I can't understand her real objective," Gabrielle frowned.

"She said you know where her temple is."

"Yes."

"Why don't we go check it out?" Clark suggested.

Gabrielle looked like she was thinking it over and then nodded.

"You should get your equipment. You did bring it with you, didn't you?" Gabrielle asked.

"Of course. It's back at the hotel."

"Then lets go."

As they walked back to Clark's room, Clark told Gabrielle what she'd found during her search online. Gabrielle confirmed most of the information Clark had learned about Apophis, but she wasn't able to add much more.

From what Gabrielle remembered, no one had ever truly embodied the snake god, except maybe her father. The humans had made up Apophis to explain her father's behavior at the nightly blood rituals in which his children participated. Osiris had been their first attempt, a god of the Underworld who ruled over the dead, which fit in well with her father's actions of overseeing the rituals. But after he'd started actually participating in the rituals and demanding blood sacrifices for himself, they'd revised their ideas and proclaimed him to be Apophis, the evil twin of Re, who was their benevolent ruler during the day.

Only one temple had ever been constructed for the evil god. It was in Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, where there was a temple for every god ever worshipped. Luckily, Cairo had been built only a few kilometers north of where the old city had stood, so it wouldn't take them long to get there, though Gabrielle had no idea what they would find there now.

They reached the hotel in short order and the Vampire Hunter suited up in only a few minutes. She put her long black duster on to cover the weapons attached to her body and then they went back out into the night.

Clark hailed a taxi and Gabrielle told the driver where to go as they got in. The ride was quiet, and Gabrielle asked the cabby to stop after less than half an hour. Clark paid the fair, not even bothering to haggle the price as most locals did, and Gabrielle led them to the site of Apophis' temple.

It wasn't a temple anymore, at least not from outside appearances, and they walked around the single story building twice before stopping in front of the only door. There weren't even any windows to choose as an alternative, which didn't sit well with Clark, but Gabrielle seemed unconcerned.

Clark pulled out her lock pick set and prepared to get to work, but Gabrielle waved her away. She took hold of the doorknob and twisted with her mind. Clark heard a subtle crunch as Gabrielle simply broke the internal locking mechanism by force of thought. Clark tried not to think about how that same ability had been used to heal her broken bones many times, as Gabrielle gently pushed open the wooden door.

Clark followed Gabrielle inside and tried to let her eyes adjust to the almost complete lack of light. The moon had been fairly bright in the cloudless sky, and with no windows, the interior of the building was pitch black, save for the minimal light coming from the open door behind them. However, Gabrielle didn't have any trouble seeing.

"It's just a big empty room," she told Clark.

Even as the echoes of her words were fading, Gabrielle felt that familiar presence again and stiffened. The door behind them slammed shut and then Gabrielle could feel the presences of at least a dozen other vampires moving closer.

"Not entirely empty," Cynthia said as she slowly walked forward. "I knew you would come, though I must say, you're a bit early."

Clark took a step closer to where she'd last seen Gabrielle, and prepared to fight, even though she was blind and in the den of the second most powerful vampire in the world.

"You said you wanted to talk," Gabrielle replied calmly.

"Yes. And we will," Cynthia said as she stopped a short distance away.

The move was lightning fast, and Gabrielle wasn't prepared to move out of the way in time as Cynthia sprayed the liquid contents of the bottle she'd been concealing in her hand directly into Gabrielle's face. She was unconscious in half a heartbeat.

Clark heard the thump as Gabrielle's body crumpled to the floor and then felt the blow as Cynthia backhanded her, knocking her out in a bright flash of lights across the backs of her eyes.

"Bring them to the throne room. And don't even consider feeding from my sister. The poison will knock you out, and if I find you unconscious, I'll know you've disobeyed me," Cynthia warned.

She disappeared down the long corridor that led underground to her lair, letting her subordinates follow at a much slower pace. She slowed down herself for the last few hundred meters and continued at a normal walk, while she tried to calm her thoughts.

For centuries, she'd kept her existence a secret. Though she'd longed to tell her sister who she was in the beginning, she'd decided against it after watching Gabrielle make plans regarding the humans' course of development. Gabrielle professed disinterest in being a goddess and yet she'd spent most of her life waiting for the right time when she could take control of human affairs.

Cynthia admitted she had enjoyed the old days when humans worshipped and feared her. It could be very intoxicating to know that an entire species of semi-intelligent animals saw you as their unquestioned superiors, able to wield the power of life and death on a whim.

But Cynthia knew the truth. They weren't gods. They had no right to interfere in the affairs of mortal humans. At least, not beyond the killing of them for food. If Gabrielle were allowed to make her dreams come true, she would lead the Order to ruin.

Humans had never been a real threat to vampires. They still weren't, at least not to the older and stronger vamps. But with Gabrielle's influence, humans could easily become strong enough to wipe vampires off the face of the earth. For the life of her, Cynthia couldn't understand why Gabrielle's far-seeing plans had never taken that little possibility into account, especially given human history.

Cynthia entered the throne room and took her seat. She would do her best to change Gabrielle's mind and to get Dana Clark to see beyond her blind love for the First Born. But if they refused... Cynthia smiled. It would be a lot more fun if they refused.