Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Preventers: When Vampires Attack ❯ Chapter 3

"I'm deeply offended, you know. I extend my hospitality, and you slap at me as you would a fly." Mikael was lounging in a drapery-laden throne of sorts. Shadows seemed to extend from nowhere and everywhere to trace his naked muscular body, concealing here, emphasizing there. Amy tore her eyes from his imposing figure and tried to figure out where she was. With no recollection of how she got there, she was at a distinct disadvantage. The room seemed both nondescript and intriguing, but offered no clues.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Mikael's voice rolled over her skin like silk, each word another smooth layer. She shivered, but didn't turn to face him. Only the slight tick in her neck showed the effort she was putting into the simple choice.

"I don't appreciate being ignored." Something close to anger had crept into his voice. "Especially when you can't afford to ignore me anymore."

Amy glowered at a shadow that seemed to slither toward her, centimeters from her bare feet. Another shadow extended like an arm and edged toward her as well, and from the corner of her eye, she saw a third follow suit.

"I am Master of this country." Amy bit back a yelp and whirled as Mikael's cool breath tickled her ear. He stood barely a hand's breadth away. The same shadows still cloaked his alabaster body. "And in my home city, my power is such that none can ignore it."

She swallowed at the dry lump in her throat and turned her eyes to his face. Shadows hollowed out his eye sockets, outlined his high white cheekbones, traced lips that were full and tempting. She eyed him as Eve might have looked upon the Forbidden Fruit. In his fearsome mystery, he was beautiful, enough to make even the most celibate nun's thoughts turn to . . . well, unholy things. Amy caught herself staring and whipped her head to the side, glaring at the encroaching shadows.

A finger traced her jaw. She steeled herself against the shiver elicited. "Bugger off. I don't have anything to do with you vampires anymore."

A throaty chuckle. "You speak as if it were that simple. We are not some drug that you can choose to stop taking. Humans have been known to waste away to nothing when denied our touch." Her eyes remained locked on the snakelike shadows, but she could sense a smile kissing his sensual lips. "How have you been after Conan-?"

She whirled on him at the mention of that name, brown eyes flashing darkly. "Our relationship wasn't like that."

Sandy blond hair brushed his cheeks as he pulled his head away; those inviting lips pursed softly. "Ooooo, have I hit a tender spot? I do apologize. . . ."

He didn't sound any too sorry to Amy. She turned again and began to stalk away. "Go away. I'm through with you!"

She sensed, rather than saw, his arms raise in an encompassing gesture. "And where are you going?"

She picked up her pace.

"To where will you run?"

Amy bit back a sob and broke out in a sprint.

"This whole city is mine!" His voice rose and sounded from all directions at once. "It's all mine! There is nowhere you can go that I can't trace you. There is no place where my servants can't reach you. If I so desired, you would never leave this city."

Her legs burned as though she had been running for miles, but she pushed ahead. The shadows fell away at her feet, opening an undulating path before her. Fear tightened her throat as she balked and fell to her knees, steadying herself on splayed hands. Am I really running from him. . . . Or am I just running where he wants me to go? I could be running right to him. Gasping for breath, she shot a look over her shoulder.

He was gone.

"You can't pull out of my grasp. You never did." His soft lips brushed her right ear.

Crying out, she scrambled to her left, sitting down rather hard in her rush. No one was there.

"Are your friends safe, either?" Amy scurried away from the voice that sounded beside her left ear.

"You don't know the extent of my reach; how powerful I have become!" A wind rose and whipped about her, lashing her cheeks and arms with her own hair. Amy shut her eyes to the wind and shadows and hugged her arms about her torso helplessly.

"I will find you," Mikael continued. Two sapphire orbs smoldered before her, suspended within the shadows that encroached upon her shaking form, brilliant and frozen in their ardency. "I will find you and take you. Your power. Will. Be. Mine."

The ground beneath her opened up, swallowing her down into endless shadow. Amy screamed and clawed at the air, searching for purchase, straining to pull herself back up. But her attempts were futile; she touched nothing but air. And the freefall continued.

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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Encased completely in darkness, Amy felt her body land with a thud and bounce slightly.

"What-" a rather groggy voice sounded at her elbow.

Amy gently flexed her limbs, wincing as her muscles screamed their protest. Her eyes darted around the inky depths of the room. Despite the lack of visual, she knew she was back in the bedroom, and beside her was-

A hand groped at her shoulder, followed by Wufei's voice. "Amy?"

"Did-" Her voice cracked and she had to swallow a few times before she could say any more. "Was Mikael . . . anyone . . . here?"

"What?" Wufei sounded a bit more awake. The bed bounced slightly as he sat up and gathered his legs beneath him. "What happened?"

"I- I guess it was a dream. . . ." Even to herself, her voice sounded unconvincing. She winced again as she raised a hand to touch her cheek. The skin felt raw and chapped beneath her fingers. She suppressed a shudder. "I'm . . . fine."

"Are you sure." Wufei firmly placed his hand over hers. "I've never heard you so-"

"I said I'm fine." The response came much sharper than she had intended. His hand fell away. "Wufei, I'm sorry. I.... It's just that seeing that vampire today brought back an old demon of mine."

"Mikael."

"Yes," she whispered, afraid of what her voice might betray.

He didn't say anything, just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight to his bare chest. He had his share of demons, Amy thought as she relaxed in his embrace. And it had taken him years to face some of them. Hers, she might have to face at any time. But she would get out of it unmarked, she promised herself that. Mikael was not going to get another chance. She'd lost him once; she could do it again.

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Amy sighed and mopped up another spilled drink. Today was proving to be a real heartbreaker. The Preventers had trotted on over to the local police barracks and requested information on the murders, but there was nothing which hadn't already been viewed. The murder sites were all old and useless, practically worn back to normalcy by the weather and nature. All but Laura Asano's bedroom. But search as they did, they still uncovered absolutely nothing of value. Although Duo seemed rather intrigued by her underwear collection. Of course, as soon as Stacie smacked him around a bit, he was back on track.

Now they were back at Libido, on the job and on the lookout. The bar's patrons seemed just as normal as ever and, although there were a few dead-out drunks in the room, the right tongue had not been loosened. Amy entertained herself with some good, old-fashioned people-watching. Nightclubs attracted all types; a person with a curious eye wouldn't get bored easily.

And then he walked in. The scrawny blond from the previous night. Amy quirked an eyebrow, recalling their brief encounter. She pretended not to remember him. She gave him his drink and put her energy into maintaining a healthy, yet unsuspicious, distance. She had just begun to clear some unattended bottles from the countertop when he called out to her.

"Hey, baby." The words were hissed, as by an angry cat. Or a snake. The skeletal guy gave her the creepiest "come hither" look she'd ever received. This could be fun; she could use a good chuckle.

"You're Amy, aren't you." It wasn't a question. She didn't answer. He took a slurbling sip of his poison and continued. "I'm here on behalf of a friend. He noticed you were in town…." He let the last word slur off slightly, replacing spoken communication with an appraising once-over.

Amy glowered ardently as his eyes lingered and thin, white lips pursed. Dammit, I have a glass bottle in my hand. If he doesn't stop in .2 seconds. . . .

The man seemed to sense his impending doom because he cleared his throat and began studying his drink. "He'd really like to meet you and-"

"Sorry." The word was so frigid that Amy was surprised that the slime-ball didn't have frostbite. "If `he' is into that, there are strippers in the next room. And some of them do house calls." She hefted her bottle and sauntered off to the other end of the bar.

The man finished his drink off rather quickly and left money on the counter before heading out. Amy stretched her neck out of joint trying to see if he wandered toward the stage in the next room, but between the dim lighting and milling patrons, he managed to lose himself rather effectively.

"You get all types."

Amy yelped and leapt back about a zillion feet as Damien appeared at her elbow. The man fixed a solemn gaze toward the barroom door. After a moment, he offered her a small smile. "Don't pay that sort any attention. If he comes back, you tell me about it, alright?"

Awwwww, isn't that sweet? Amy chuckled and collected the stranger's glass and money. He even sounded sorta concerned. "Tha- Oh!"

He was gone.

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"23 . . . 24 . . . 25 . . . 30 . . . 31. What do ya think, Stacie? One hundred and twenty-one dollars in tips. Not bad for my second shindig, eh?" Duo grinned smugly and slipped the wad of bills into his skin-tight leather pants.

Amy grinned and pressed closer to Wufei's side. None of them had done too bad on their "new jobs." Duo, Stacie, and Wufei just seemed to be natural strippers - what a talent - and her own previous experience at Alan's bar and strip club hadn't seemed to hurt her any either. Of course, she hastily reminded herself, we're not doing this for the money. There are murderers that need to be reckoned with. A sobering thought; now if she could just continue to hold that in her mind.

The Preventers were on their way to their apartments, having just left Libido a few minutes ago. Not surprisingly, they were the only ones on the streets except for the occasional corner hooker. Most respectable folks wouldn't even consider being in this neighborhood at such an ungodly hour. This left the streets quiet and deserted; great for profound thought, bad for paranoia.

Stacie laughed and rolled her head on her shoulders, working the kinks out of her neck. "Yeah, not bad. You're sooo popular. How much did that old balding man throw at you? He sure did like your routine. I thought I saw him lose his dentures in his beer, drooling."

Duo began to look panicky.

"Or maybe he just wants to chop off your hair and use it as a toupee." Amy hid the giant smile which broke out on her face.

The braided bishounen reassessed the situation and sniffed disdainfully. "I see I have to put up with jealousy now. Ah well, you can't have it all. I come pretty close, though." He winked at Stacie.

"Hardly." Wufei emerged from his silent, withdrawn state long enough to roll his eyes irascibly. He stopped suddenly, pulling Amy up short. "And if I have to listen to you much longer, Maxwell, I'll go crazy." He turned to his partner. "Would you like to take a shortcut?"

"Aw, go on, party pooper," Stacie scoffed, clinging to her husband's arm. She grimaced at Amy. "I think he needs some tender lovin' tonight . . . if you can yank his head out of his ass, that is."

Amy struggled to control her laughter. "See you guys later."

Wufei directed her into an alley as the Maxwells continued along the main sidewalk. They made good time, hopping from side streets to alleys to the main road. Still, Amy was relieved when they reached the elevator to the surface. The guards at the airplane hangar had changed, but they were friendly enough, even offering them a ride back to their apartment. Wufei surprised Amy by politely refusing, instead sharing a slow walk. If only she could be sure that his thoughts were on this seemingly romantic act rather than the details of the case. However, as they neared the apartment complex, their pace slowed. He encircled her waist with an arm and openly enjoyed the star-strewn night sky.

"Hey, are you okay?" Amy tilted her head back to search the Chinese man's face. "You're acting very . . . different. Weird."

He paused and regarded the moon, his expression thoughtful, distant. "It's just been a while since I've seen such a clear view of the sky. When I had Shenlong…."

She let him lose himself in the stars for a moment, then steered him behind the apartment building. Once they were secreted away in the darker alleyway, she fixed him with a solemn gaze. "What is it really, Wufei?"

Without the night sky to draw his eyes, Wufei sharply met her eyes. "I don't think Maxwell or his wife understand. We are on a serious case here. This is no time to play `striptease' and have a good time. There are innocent people . . . children dying out there while we waste our time acting like jackasses. These people, their spilled blood, their grieving families . . . they cry for justice. We are their only means of avenging the deceased. And yet here we are. . . ." He broke off, shaking his head in disgust.

"Hmmm . . . methinks Stacie was right. You need to lighten up, Wu." Before he could protest, Amy scored a big kiss on his lips. Little by little, one muscle at a time, he began to relax. Slowly, he backed her up into the side of the building, slipping his hands beneath her shirt to glide up her back.

Laughing, she tried to squirm away. "Not here! Not in public." Somehow, her words lost their sincerity when mumbled into his warm mouth.

Wufei lowered his head, playfully nibbling at the side of her neck. "Public?" he murmured between nips. "We're in a dark alley. Small town. No one's around. . . ."

Of course. Who in their right mind would be larking about at 3 am? Besides them. Case in point. Amy rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned into his embrace, brushing his temples with soft, responsive lips. He captured her head between gentle hands and nuzzled her nose, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

A rush of wind assaulted the couple from one side, pressing clothes and hair flat against their skin. Wufei backed up a step, looking about warily. Such winds didn't normally blast through the a town like that, not with the forest so nearby. In fact, Amy was willing to bet that such winds weren't considered natural anywhere. A quick glance told her that the same thought had occurred to Wufei.

Suddenly, the wind struck again. And Wufei was caught up and flung against the opposite wall like a child's plaything. The air was crushed from his lungs as his back smashed into the unyielding bricks. Before he slid to the ground, a blur of motion flashed in the corner of Amy's eye. A man appeared - just poof out of nowhere - at the mouth of the alley. Short blond hair had been cropped less than a centimeter from his scalp, framing his gaunt, almost anorexic-looking face. Startling ice-blue eyes glared at her, the only visible feature in his shadow-enshrouded face. Strangely enough, he appeared lank and sinewy, hardly mugger material. But she had seen this man before, at Libido.

Confused, she ignored him. Maybe he had just materialized, but she could easily take this wuss. Instead of dealing with the weirdo, Amy dodged across the alley to where Wufei lay, broken and bleeding on the asphalt. She knelt beside Wufei's still form, running trembling fingers through his blood-matted hair. What had done this to him? She turned to gape at the emaciated stranger. He was digging in his pocket - for a gun, no doubt - taking advantage of her dazed stupor. Yeah, she must look like an easy mark. But victim she was not.

Amy rose to her feet, clenching her fists angrily. This guy was a dead man. He just didn't know it yet. Before she had taken two strides, someone - rather, two someones - grabbed her arms from behind. What the-?? This alley was completely deserted! As she struggled against their steely clutches, the two muscle-heads moved forward to stand at either side. They were dressed in identical black leather outfits that stretched and strained against grossly bulging muscles. Great; Tweedledee and Tweedledum. This should be fun. . . .

"You are the one known as the Phoenix, yes?" the skeleton-man hissed, sounding like the cat that had its fill of cream. He finally retrieved a syringe from his pocket and popped the cap from the needle. His thumb convulsed against the plunger, sending a thin stream of amber liquid squirting out the end of the needle. "You should have listed to me at the bar. One way or another, I must deliver this invitation from my master. Sorry this one isn't gold-embossed."

A dark tornado whirled in Amy's peripheral vision. Within seconds, Wufei tackled the man, sending the syringe flying off into the shadows. Amy felt the men's grip on her arms loosen as they tried to decide how to react to this unforeseen threat. Apparently, they had planned to knock Wufei out so he couldn't make trouble for them. Of course, they didn't know that the Chinaman was dragon-descended. You just don't that sort of thing to a man with dragon's blood running through his veins.

Amy growled and ripped her arms out of their slackened grasp without even losing too much skin. Her night was getting better. Retreating a few steps, she faced them and embraced the Fire Element which hung, as always, just within her reach. She hastily formed a makeshift fireball and hurled it at the nearest of the creepy pair. Tweedledee became a crispy critter; a little too well-done for her taste. Ah well, one cannot be too choosy. Deciding not to dwell on the matter, she formed another fireball between her palms and prepared to launch it at Tweedledum. Wufei should have had plenty of time to take care of the blond scarecrow by now. Once she was rid of this joker, she planned to enact a hasty retreat to the rooms.

"Thy future - nay, thy very life - depend'st on thine actions. Hold thee hence." Someone breathed down the back of her neck. Startled, Amy whirled to face this new menace. And found herself staring at a perfect set of glistening fangs.

Before she could match those fangs to a face, she was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground. With the jarring impact, her hold on the Element wavered tremulously before it slipped from her reach. As she tried to summon up her wits, Tweedledum kicked her into the bloody puddle Wufei had left near the wall. Her head snapped against the brick wall, throwing stars and spots into her vision. Laying there in a concussive daze, she could do nothing but watch as the vampire grabbed Tweedledum by his beefy neck and effortlessly lifted him into the air. "Simpleton! The Master wishes her to be alive," he hissed.

Tweedledum didn't even have time to scream before the vampire tore out his throat and, in the same graceful motion, threw him into the far wall. The man's massive body connected with unyielding brick and slumped to the cool asphalt, dead. Amy stared at him a moment before redirecting her efforts to standing up. Her limbs weren't working. Vaguely, she envisioned herself attempting to swim through the haze in her brain, fighting for control. Wufei's body rolled by a few feet away. She wondered why her skin felt wet and tacky. And why didn't the pendant burst into action?

Out of nowhere, the skeletal man appeared before her face, blocking her view of Wufei. His pupils had contracted to the size of pinpricks, swallowed up in an ice cerulean wave. He ran his fingers through Wufei's congealing blood a few centimeters from a jade disc covered in blood. Amy's eyes widened slightly as she realized what it was. Her pendant. No wonder the shield hadn't manifested. It wasn't in contact with her skin. Large hungry orbs focused on her eyes, watching with amusement as he licked the cooling blood from his fingertips. With snakelike grace, he extended a hand to trail his bony fingers along the back of her head, where she had struck the wall. Then he leaned forward, flicking his tongue into her wound. The fabric of his shirt brushed her cheek. She felt that all of this really should upset her much more than it did.

Before she could even think to protest, her leech was lifted away from her, easily suspended in the air by the unknown newcomer - the Shakespearean wannabe. Long silver hair cascaded down his back, falling over a black mesh shirt and a strange half-cape that reminded Amy of Trieze. A whispering breeze caught a few stray strands of the hair, gently brushing his face. Strong, smooth features were broken by an antipathic scowl. Thin, pale lips curled apart to reveal glistening fangs; the same perfect teeth Amy had looked into before she was knocked into the alley wall. "What think'st thou art attempting, Karl?"

Karl shrank away from the more powerful vampire, huddling into a fetal position. Judging from his reaction, Karl must be younger and much, much weaker. It must suck to be the new undead. Er . . . no pun intended. Really. "Her blood. . . . I can smell the power she holds," he whined, pleading. "It calls to me. Just one taste, Nicholas."

"Bah! Avaunt thee! Thine weaknesses disgust me." Karl went flying into the shadows, where he landed with a dull thud. Damn alleys - they just possessed so much potential for pain. Not fun. She'd never look at an alley the same again.

"Lay not a finger upon her being. The Master, thine and mine, did bequeath explicit orders in thy mind," the one called Nicholas hissed at the whining man. "Retrieve the syringe. Expect not the master to condone thy failure. T'will be thy bane." He didn't sound too upset over that.

There were frantic scuffling sounds in the deeper shadows, as if someone was searching. In a few moments, Karl scuttled up to Nicholas, syringe in hand. The elder vampire calmly accepted the instrument and squatted beside Amy, effortlessly balancing on the balls of his feet. He swept his silver locks over his shoulder before they could slip into the pool of blood. "Lady, if I may apologize for yon patch's incompetence. T'is for none but the master to hold to."

Amy decided she wasn't going to forgive him. Maybe she was being a little selfish, but an impending concussion can affect a person that way. Her lips parted loosely, though she wasn't sure what she should say. A pool of blood welled up inside her cheek, collecting until a trickle escaped her lips and ran down her jaw. Nicholas smirked and held the syringe to her eye level. In one fluid motion, he grabbed her limp arm and jabbed the needle into her flesh. As she watched, the liquid drained from the syringe, emptying into her veins.

Within moments, her head grew heavy, falling back against the brick wall and sliding to the bloody asphalt. Before she blacked out, Amy turned her head weakly, searching for Wufei. He lay no less than a meter from her, his body limp and unmoving. She tried to reach out, to touch him, to see if he was even alive. But her arms felt like they were made of lead. She couldn't move them. Then a thick, heavy darkness descended on her and she fell into painless oblivion.

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