Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shade Darker ❯ Chapter 4

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and
property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works
are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is
not meant for sale or profit.


Author's Notes: If you've read the prologue through part three, then you really know what's
going on. At least a grasp of it anyway. I've gotten some questions on where I've gotten my
ideas, well, here goes. Yes, there is a lot taken from Blade in here as for the fight scenes, and
John Carpender's Vampires was part of my inspiration for Duo in this story, as well as a touch
of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (The show, not the movie). The Laurel K. Hamilton Anita Blake
series also gave me a whole bunch of ideas, exspecaly for the necromancer. Last, but certainly
not least, if vampiric Trowa seems slightly familiar, it's because he reminds me of Angel. So
does Heero, but that's a story for another time.


And, when Treize was defeted by Wufei, his mobile suit was not blown up, so that's why he
survived.


A Shade Darker Part Four


"He's a Dampire," the girl said, causing Duo to stare at her. Heero's face actually showed some
emotion: confusion.


Duo looked over at Heero then back at the blond necromancer. "Heero, Nah," Duo disagreed.
Then he studied the Wing pilot. There was always something different about him. He's
stronger, tougher, and faster than any normal person I've ever met. His eyes . . . Duo thought as
he looked into those dark blue eyes.


He looked back at the elfin blond, her grey eyes had changed to silver. The color hadn't bled out
to the rest of her eyes, just the irises were glowing like molten silver. He could sense her fear
and revulsion, as well as a primal urge to run out of here as fast as she could.


"A what?" Heero asked.


"A kid whose daddy was a leech," Duo answered dully.


The girl backed away and said, "Get the hell away from me." She looked about as if she was
going to bolt out of the room. She spun around and tried to take off. Duo reached out and
grabbed her arm again.


"I don't think so, sweetheart," he told her as he placed her against the wall before letting her go.
The only way for her to run was between him and Heero.


"My name's Aurora Winters," she snapped.


"Winners?" Duo asked, seeing if he heard her right.



"Winters, like in the season, not Winner, like the company," she hissed at him.


Heero asked, "What are you?"


"I'm not answering any of your questions. A Called who went to the dark side, great. Working
with them," she hissed defensively.


"What is your problem?" Duo asked exsaperatingly. He looked over at Heero. There was no
way in hell that he could be a Dampier. He would have known it. His mind searched through all
the information he had learned on Dampiers, which wasn't that much.


They were the kid of a human woman and a vampire guy, and the kid was most generally a guy.
They had some vampire traits, like strength and resistance to mind control, but none of the
weaknesses. And they hated vampires with a passion. They spent most of their lives hunting
and killing them.


That's why Heero was acting so funky in the alley, Duo realized as he looked at his friend.
"Damn it, why didn't I figure it out sooner," he grumbled.


All the instances that Heero had pulled some superhuman feat entered his mind, and that was a
lot. Heero bending steel bars and so on, and the coldness that Heero treated everything. Hell, he
was supernatural and didn't even know it, until now. Duo could kick himself in the ass.


Aurora was backing even farther into the wall, pressing her body into it to stay as far away as the
two pilots as she could.


Heero asked, "What is she talking about?" Duo could sense Heero's defensiveness.


"A Dampier, damn, I should of figured it out earlier," Duo said with a chuckle.


"That's why I've been having those dreams, isn't it?" Heero asked.


Duo looked at Aurora and asked, "Why has he been having dreams?"


Aurora shrugged and said, "I'm a necromancer, not a physic. From what I know, a Dampier's
nature doesn't come out until they are like 15 or so."


"Or the Cycle of Darkness is almost complete," Duo grumbled.


"The what?" Heero asked.


"That's why I'm gonna go to Earth, Heero. To stop all the dark nastys from taking over the
world. Strange, isn't it?" Duo asked with a grin.


"So, that's why I need to find you," Heero said.


"Why?" Duo asked.


"To stop this Cycle of Darkness, or whatever, from ending," Heero replied, acepting his fate. Ya
know, when I was Called, I went into this kicking and screaming. Heero's taking it a lot more
calmly than I ever could hope, Duo thought, But then again, Heero may survive all of this and
live happily ever after. If there is a Happily Ever After for us.


Duo looked at the girl and said, "I don't think we've been properly introduced. My name's Duo
Maxwell, and the Dampire is Heero Yuy."


Heero nodded and Aurora glared. She asked, "The Gundam pilots?"


Duo grinned and answered, "The one and onlys, Good Looking."


"My name's Aurora," she snapped at him, "And you can stop with all the Come Ons. You're
worse than Damon."


"Who?" Heero asked.


"The leech in the alley with the French accent. He's been hunting me for a while," she
answered.


"Why?" Duo asked.


Aurora shrugged and answered, "I don't know, but he's also killed any male that I've made
contact with."


Duo looked at Heero and walked into the other room. Heero followed him. Heero asked, "What
is the Cycle of Darkness?"


"Every thousand or so years the really nasty forces of the world try to take it over using the
demons from Hell. Its been stopped everytime its almost happened by the Called," Duo
answered.


Heero nodded and said, "So its it come up again and you need to stop it. And I'm gonna have to
help you stop it."


"You're being pretty aceptable about this, Heero," Duo told him.


Heero said, "It needs to be done, doesn't it?"


Heero's philophy boiled down so much into just one simple question. Duo grinned and replied,
"Yeah, you're right."



Heero asked, "What about the girl?"


"She's a necromancer, basically, someone who can raise zombies and communicate with the
dead. She said something about Frenchie killing any guy that she communicates with," Duo
said, thinking.


Okay, why would Frenchie do something like that? Why only guys she comes in contact with,
what about girls? Unless . . . "Virgin sacrifice," Duo said.


"What?" Heero asked.


Duo answered, "They're probably gonna sacrifice her to something. A virgin necromancer
would be a pretty good sign of 'Hey, we love ya! Do evil stuff for us!' Damn."


"So, we kill her," Heero said simply, pulling out his gun.


"No," Duo groaned as he tried to put Heero's gun down. He said, "She could be useful. We
bring her along. We really don't have any other choice."


Heero grunted.


******

Relena Peacecraft had just made it back to Earth. With the Teddy bear that Heero gave her
cradled under her arms, she greeted Noin with a smile and a nod. The violet eyed woman smiled
and asked, "How was your trip, Miss Relena?"


Relena answered, "Everything seems to be going pretty well."


Noin smiled at the Teddy bear and said, "It seems like you made a new friend."


Relena grinned at the bear and said, "You won't believe who gave this to me."


"Heero," Noin said with a smile.


As they walked into the palace, Noin smiled and said, "Just woman's intuition." Relena looked
at the setting sun and smiled. The world was heading towards pacifism and the relationships
between the colonies and Earth were repairing slowly. And Heero had given her a Teddy bear.


Relena asked, "Has there been anything going on at the school, Miss Noin?"


Noin shook her head and answered, "Nothing. Most of the girls had gone home. I saw Dorothy
Catalonia at Treize's grave the other day, right before you came home."


"How is Dorothy?" Relena asked as they walked down the hallway. Her heels clicked with a
musical rhythm as she walked.


"Better, she's going to be okay, I think," Noin answered.


"I feel sorry for her. I really do. She lost everything," Relena told her, sympathizing with the
blond girl's plight.


They entered Relena's study, recently refurnished after a battle. She placed the bear down on a
chair and leaned against her desk. She absently traced Heero's name out with her finger tips on
the table as she looked at Noin. Noin said, "Oh, about the school, I almost forgot."


"What?" Relena asked.


Noin answered with a smile, "Nothing to be worried about, Relena, just a new student. She's
actually pretty interesting if you read her profile."


She handed Relena a manila folder. Relena opened it to see the transcript of a girl named
Minerva Celestine. There was a polite knock on the door. "Come in," Relena said.


Paygan opened the door, the old man dressed in his coat and tails, walked into the room. He
bowed politely and said, "Miss Relena, Minerva Celestine is here to see you."


"This late?" Relena asked Noin.


Noin nodded and said, "She has an allergy to sunlight."


"What?" Relena asked.


"My body has a severe intolerance to UV light, Miss Peacecraft. I cannot go out into the day," a
husky woman's voice said as a young woman walked into the room. Relena almost gaped at the
sight of her. She was tall and slender with pale skin and waist long, wine colored hair. Her hair
was the dark purpleish red of fine wine. She looked at Relena with bright, pale green eyes in her
classicaly sculpted face. She was, perhaps, one of the most beautiful girls that Relena had ever
seen.


"I'm sorry," Relena told her sympathetically.


The young woman laughed, a husky sound that unintentionally brought attention to it. She
replied, "It's not your fault, Miss Peacecraft. I was born this way, and how could I miss the day
if I never experienced it?" There was a note of sorrow in her words. Relena pitied her.


Relena said, "Please, call me Relena."


"Then you must call me Minerva," she replied, holding her hand out. Relena took it. It was
long fingered, elegant, pale and cool.



She said, "Paygan, could you get someone to turn the heat up just a little bit." It was to be
expected. It was mid-December, snow was on the ground, and Minerva had just gotten here.
The girl was probably freezing.


Paygan nodded and replied, "Yes, Miss Relena, I'll go do that right away." The gentle old man
trotted off, leaving the three women alone.


Relena indicated a chair and asked, "Minerva, why don't you sit down?"


Minerva gracefully sank down into one of the high-backed chairs in the room. She had a certain
grace to her that strangely reminded Relena of Heero. The girl said, "Thank you."


Relena sat behind her desk and asked, "What brings you to my school?"


Minerva smiled and answered, "As I've told you, I have a severe allergy to sunlight. I can't go
out in the day without a severe reaction, luckily, I'm from an L5 colony. So, sunlight isn't really
a big concern there."


"I thought they use natural UV rays in the colonies?" Relena asked her, unsure.


She chuckled and said, "Yes, every doctor I've been to has told my mother the same thing. They
just can't figure it out. On Earth, I can't go out during the day, but at home, I'm just fine. It's an
interesting question."


Noin asked, "Why did your mother want you to come here?"


Minerva smiled and answered, "My mother is one of the CEO's of Cyurgen Medtech, as said in
the files, well, with everything that's been happening in the colonies, she's curious on the
pacifism issue on Earth. So, I volunteered to come to school here. I get sent to a boarding
school half of the year anyway, so why not just to this one on Earth? Besides, pacifism is the
wave of the future, am I not right?"


Relena smiled and answered, "You are right, and it's good to see someone who believes in total
pacifism."


Minerva smiled as well. She said, "I'll think I'll like it here."


Noin said, "Paygan will show you to your room shortly."


"Thank you," Minerva said. She stood up. Then she asked, "Question, do the windows have
curtains in the classrooms?"


Relena smiled and nodded. Minerva looked relieved.


******

Quatre and Catharine walked along the snow-covered streets. There were a few Christmas
carolers around singing songs and ringing bells. If their plight hadn't been so serious, Quatre
would have liked to stop and listen to them. He liked artistic things that no one else would have
picked out, except maybe Trowa.


He held out the photo of the Gundam pilot out to a chestnut vendor in the street. He asked,
"Excuse me sir, but have you seen this young man?"


The elderly man squinted pale blue eyes, faded with age. He said, "I think so, about three days
ago. He was walking, watching a vidcast, and he walked right to that alley." He pointed to a
dark, deserted alley. At this time of night the alley seemed really foreboding, and an easy place
for someone to ambush someone.


He went on, "And he was pulled in there."


Catharine asked, her voice pitched higher with fear, "Did you see who grabbed him?"


He shook his head. All of Quatre's fears were confirmed. Something had happened to Trowa.
He froze beside Catharine. The girl looked at him with pale violet eyes. She whispered, "Oh,
Trowa what's happened to you?"


Quatre took Catharine's cold hands and told her, "Catharine, I promise you that we'll find
Trowa. I swear it." The pair didn't know that they were being watched.


******

Lilith watched with narrowed eyes. She recognized the couple on the street from Trowa's mind
as she drank from him. The cherubic boy with the pale, golden hair and the aquamarine eyes
was Quatre Rabeba Winner, the Sandrock Gundam pilot. Lilith snarled at him. All of Trowa's
thoughts about the little cherub were warm and sweet.


The girl with the auburn hair and the pale violet eyes was Catharine. Trowa didn't know it, but
Catharine was his sister. Lilith could sense the same blood within them. She made it a point to
drain the girl at some point in time with Trowa watching. Maybe it would teach him obedience.


She pulled out her digital phone from her back jeans' pockets and punched in a number. She
dialed Damon's number. Damon's accented voice answered, "Bonjure, mademoiselle, this is
Damon speaking."


"Damon, I found something interesting. Get Hawk over here ASAP. I have a mission for him,"
Lilith told him with a cattish smile, her fangs flashing.


******

The cold and snow didn't bother the pair of vampires as they walked into the night. Trowa felt
the icy pricks of wind on his face, but it didn't bother him. How could it? He was already cold.
He looked at the elegant vampire beside him and asked, "Where are we going?"


Treize smiled and answered, "Into the night."


Trowa asked, "What is that supoce to mean?"


Treize chuckled and said, "You are so impetuous, Trowa Barton. I want you to see some
things."

They stepped into the limo. Treize said, "If you are curious, we are going to the nearest town,
where your circus is at."


"Catharine, I have to see her," Trowa told him. He had to see her, make sure that she was all
right and to let her know that he was all right.


Treize said, "That may not be a good thing for you to do, Trowa."


"Why's that?" the Heavyarms' pilot snapped.


Treize sighed and said, "Your sister won't understand what happened to you. Neither will the
other Gundam pilots, Trowa. You have to leave them behind."


"I can't," Trowa told him, "It's my duty . . ."


"Everything's changed now. Duty and honor are not important things to most vampires," Treize
interrupted him regrettably.


"What about you?" Trowa hissed.


Treize tiredly rubbed his eyes and replied, "Yes, I know. I know I'm also going to be hunted as
well when someone finds out that I am not dead."


Trowa didn't say anything. If he was to be killed, that was his business. He looked out the
window and they approached the town. Treize told the driver, "Stop here." The car stopped and
Treize got out, glaring, Trowa followed him.


They started to walk on the side walk. Trowa could hear the heartbeats of everyone around him,
the thrill of each life. Treize said, "If you concentrate, you should be able to hear their
thoughts."


Trowa glared at him and shut his eyes. He could hear hope, fear, joy, love, hate, anger, and just
the whole of people's beings. It was amazing. He stood there with Treize on the sidewalk, just
listening to people's thoughts, seeing what they were made of. It was a rush of power. He could
feel the life force of every person around him.


Then, something cut through the feeling.


No, stay away from her! Leave her alone!


It was Quatre.


He heard it again, this time, stronger in his mind, Trowa, I'm sorry that I couldn't help you.


"Quatre," Trowa murmured as he began to run toward the call.


"Trowa! Wait!" Treize called out. He heard Treize's voice in his mind, Damn it boy, it could be
a trap. Trowa ignored him as he ran.


******

Quatre and Catharine were surrounded buy six men dressed in black. Their leader had bright,
unruly hair the color of fresh blood. His eyes were glowing the same red and he had fangs.
Quatre could sense some sort of dark power around them, a hunger of sorts.


"Get behind me Catharine," he told her softly, not knowing who they were, but knowing that he
had to protect her.


"I don't think so, Pretty Boy," the redhead said as he jerked Quatre up by the lapels. Quatre
automatically tried to break the man's grip using pressure points, but he wasn't budging. He
balled up his fist and slammed them into the other man's ears. He simply laughed.


One of the men grabbed Catharine and twisted her head back. Quatre shouted, "No, let her go!"
He saw sharp, white fangs gleam in the dim light. What is he? Quatre thought as he watched as
he leaned his face into her throat.


"No!" he cried fiercely as he reached out for his best friend's sister.


"Shut up, boy," the guy with the redhead growled as he punched Quatre. The blow had crushing
impact, and the last though that he had before he blocked out was: Trowa, I'm sorry.


******

Trowa, I'm sorry.


Trowa ran into the alley, the same alley that he had been abducted. He could feel the bloodlust
thick around him as he saw six others of his kind holding Quatre and Catharine. Catharine stood
blankly as the vampire bent down and sank his fangs into her throat. She didn't even scream.
She just looked blankly.


"No!" Trowa shouted as he rushed the vampire. He spun a cartwheel and back flipped right into
the vampire's face. His boot caught on his fangs as he was snapped back from Catharine.
Catharine's prone form started to crumble to the ground.


Trowa reached out and caught his sister. Yes, she was his sister in mortal life. He knew that
now, he could feel the lingering tie of blood, but it was quickly fainting. To only find out that
you had a sister before you lost her. There was a certain irony in that. He gently laid her to the
ground, ignoring the scent of fresh blood.


Then he noticed Quatre in the leader's clutches. He was draped carelessly over the other man's
shoulder, his pale blond head flopping like a dead body's. Trowa saw red.


He snarled. His fangs lengthened, he felt a rush of cold, hard power run through him. He
snarled, "Let him go."


"What, the kid, he's rather pretty," the redheaded male laughed.


Trowa glared and spun to the ground, sweeping his legs around, kicking two of the vampires'
legs from underneath him. He placed his hands on the cold concrete and swiftly brought himself
up into a handstand. Using his powerful legs, he wrapped them around another vampire's neck,
snapping it. He flipped back up to face the redhead with Quatre draped over his shoulder.


The redhead said, "Ya know, he wouldn't fall for mind control."


"You bastard," Trowa hissed at him, keeping his eyes focused on Quatre. That violation, mind
control. That was why he was in his certain perdicimant. He was so busy focused on Quatre
that he forgot about the other five vampires.


He spun around just in time to block a kick to his face. He parried the blow only to be grabbed
around his waist. He was thrown against the wall. The redhead smiled, shifting so that he was
holding the small blond young man in his arms. Trowa sneered, "Let him go." He struggled,
even with is new found supernatural strength, he was nothing against the five vampires holding
him.


"Naw, we're taking all of us with you," the redhead smirked.


"Go to hell!" Trowa hissed, his serenity gone. He had Quatre in his arms; Quatre was in trouble,
he had to save him.


"Five of you against two humans and one other vampire, a fledgling at that," Treize's cultured
voice said as he entered the alley. Trowa locked his eyes into the brilliant blue gaze of the older
vampire.


He said, "Get Quatre out of here. And save my sister." With his panic over Quatre, he almost
forgot Catharine.


"Don't worry Trowa, none of us is going to be harmed this night," Treize cooly answered as he
brought out a rapier from the folds of his black cloak.


"Treize Kusherenada," the redhead sneered.



Treize held the sword up in challenge. The only person who caught a reflection in the blade was
Quatre. He replied, "Yes, Hawk, I believe. I challenge you."


"Challenge me my ass, what do you think this is, the 18th century?" the vampire named Hawk
laughed.


Treize sighed and said, "Yes, you were sired in the 21st century, lacking manners and decor, as
was common in that time. Also, you're American, and we all know how uncivilized the
Americans are."


A smirking image of Duo Maxwell came into Trowa's mind despite everything. Hawk hissed,
"Arrogant fucker, get him." He pointed at Treize. Trowa was immediately dropped to the
ground.


He automatically took up a stance. Treize held up his hand and said, "Later, Trowa. I can
handle this on my own. Get your friend."


"Quatre," Trowa said softly as he turned to look at Hawk. Very calmly and coldly, Trowa said,
"Let him go. Gently." The vampire laughed. Trowa spun gracefully, slamming his fist into the
vampire's solar plexis.


Hawk sneered and dangled Quatre's prone form in front of him. He said, "Come get and get
him, Bangs."


Trowa glared as he double flipped, spinning his legs strait into the other vampire's face. It
caught Hawk off guard, causing him to drop Quatre. Trowa gently caught the other pilot,
holding his warm form in his arms like it was the most precious bundle in the world and the
colonies. He turned to see Treize.


The other vampires had surrounded him. The older vampire looked very calmly at them and
said, "Gentlemen, we can be very civilized about this." A vampire snarled and charged at him.
Treize gracefully spun around, cleaving his sword right into his neck. The vampire's head fell to
the ground as its body discentigrated into ashes. "I guess not." Treize said simply.


Another vampire rushed at him, Treize ran him through with the blade. He jerked it out, blood
staining the blade bright crimson. He kicked the vampire gracefully to the ground and took off
his head with a clean swipe of the sword. It too exploded into ashes. He spun around, plunging
his sword strait into the gut of one of the vampires. He jerked the blade upward in a spurt of
blood and gore right to the neck. With a bloody sweep, it too was beheaded. Another pile of
ash.


"Shit," Hawk cursed, sounding a little like Duo at that moment, before he ran off. The other two
vampires' lost their heads soon after that. Treize stood there, holding the bloody sword with ash
falling around him like snow.


That's all that's going to be left of my body if I die, ashes. Nothing but ashes, Trowa thought
with a sudden spurt of fear. The thought of having no body frightened him. He was going to be
nothing but ashes when he truly died, not this undeath he was leading at the moment.


Quatre, he thought with dread as he looked down at the cherubic boy carefully held in his arms.
He was so light, so easy to hold. Not even a weight in his arms. Treize said, "How is he?"


Trowa looked at him. He had a giant bruise forming from where Hawk punched him. Other
than that, he was perfect. Trowa answered, "He's fine."


Treize said, "Lets take your sister home and Quatre to safety."


Trowa nodded as Treize picked up Catharine.


******

"Get him!" The cry was a familiar one to Zechs. He smiled, flashing fangs as he stood up to his
full height, his sword drawn. The silver blade sparkled in the dim light along with the cross he
wore around his neck.


He said, "Fools." There were seven of them. Simple lackeys for some master vampire. They
were all male, all in their early twenties, like him. He traced the sword on the ground, leaving a
line. The one who shouted charged.


Zechs calmly stood there. He spun away right as the vampire was about to impact and with one,
clean swipe, he beheaded the vampire. With a scream, the vampire exploded into ash, leaving
nothing behind. He walked in front of the line, reaching out and grabbing one of the vampires.


He pulled a pair of silver handcuffs from his cloak and swiftly chained the vampire up to a near
by fire escape. Zechs had to make sure that he kept one of these bastards alive. He needed
information, and any idiot could tell you that the dead don't talk. Cold hands grabbed around his
neck, squeezing tightly. Zechs didn't need to breathe.


He simply sneered, "You really think you can beat me?" Then he plunged the silver blade into
the vampire's heart. The vampire cried out as the silver directly penetrated and he crumbled
into the swirling, grey ash. He spun around, using the hilt of the sword to break one of the
vampire's noses. He then methodically stabbed him in the heart.


The other three charged him at once. Zechs held his sword out in front of him in classic Kendo
position and calmly stood his ground. This was child's play. The trick to battling vampires was
to kill them quickly. Injuring one would only anger it and it would heal before you knew it.


He gracefully spun and decapitated the first one. "Freak! You'll burn in hell!" one of the other
ones screamed. Zechs lunged, the blade catching the vampire in the stomach. Blood squirted
out in a bright, red stream. With one, clean swipe, he was dust as well.


"Damn you," the last one hissed. He was Asian looking with long, ink black hair tied back in a
pony tail. He said, "You are a freak in both worlds, you know that."


Zechs cooly replied, "And yet, I don't care." He charged the vampire. The Asian vampire
blocked the blow and held Zechs' blade with ease. Zechs knew he had to be more than a
thousand years old. Had to be. No vampire any younger could touch a silver blade without
extreme pain. It wasn't even slicing into his palms.


The vampire kicked Zechs. He wasn't ready for it. The blow hit his mid section, sending him
sprawling. The vampire smiled and said, "I will kill you." Zechs felt the cool metal against his
throat. The vampire maneuvered him so that they were facing eye to eye. Zechs knew the
procedure. The vampire was honorable.


"You have honor," Zechs said.


The vampire replied, "And you do not."


Zechs pulled out a wooden stake from his jacket and thrust upward. The wood sank in deep,
hitting its mark. The vampire looked surprised as he disintegrated into ash. The Lighting Count
stood up in one fluid motion and picked up the blade. The other vampire started to squirm in the
silver.


Zechs smelled his blood from the cuts he was getting from the cuffs. He asked, "Who is
planning to end the Cycle?"


"I'm not telling you shit," the vampire hissed, still struggling. Blood trickled down his bear arm.
Zechs calmly walked over to the vampire.


He placed the blade right beside the vampire's neck. He asked, "Again, who's planning to end
the world?"


"Lilith will kill you. She'll kill everything and everyone you love just because she'll like it," the
vampire mocked, grinning.


Lilith.


Zechs froze. The world was in trouble. Lilith would be the only vampire capable of ending
man's reign on Earth. He said, "Thank you." With that, he made a quick swipe. The handcuffs,
with nothing to hold onto, crumpled to the ground. Without breaking stride, Zechs picked them
up as he walked out of the alley.


******

Aurora Winters didn't like to be controlled. As a necromancer, a talent that she could very well
do without, she had immunity to mind control, but, also, as a necromancer, she was wanted by
every supernatural force that had any numbers to it. Necromancy was a rare gift. It was simple
to summon zombies from the grave with magic, but to have a natural ability to do so was an
entirely other matter.


Her "gift" had caused her parents to be slaughtered while a pair of vampires had been after her.
Two years she had been running, drifting from colony to colony, not able to reach the earth
where at least there was the light of day to stop running.


Now, though, she was going to Earth.


All because of an idiot boy wearing a braid and his Dampier friend. Duo Maxwell claimed to be
one of the Called, but any idiot knew that the Called worked for the Catholic Church. They
killed any supernatural force, from burning witches to staking vampires. She had seen photos of
the Church burning a witch on the stake during the 21st century. The look on the girl's face had
been horrible, she was so afraid as the flames licked her skin.


Duo grinned at her and said, "Come on Aurora, we're getting on the shuttle." His violet eyes
were twinkling with good humor as he grinned. She glared at the boy dressed in all black with
the meter long chestnut braid. He had more charisma than most vampires she had met. His
personality was one of the strongest she had ever met.


Now she found herself standing at a shuttle port with Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy, two young
men that humanity thought of as heroes because they were Gundam pilots, but were something
else intirerly. Maybe she should be happy that she had two famous warriors protecting her, but
she knew that they were going to die. Damon was going to kill them both, exspecaly Duo.


An image formed in her mind of Duo's throat being slashed open by Damon's sharp claws and
the vampire smiling seraphically at her. Any boy that she even talked to Damon killed. And it
was almost common knowledge that vampires could smell lust and sense attraction.


She didn't want the idiot to die.


Heero pulled on her arm and said curtly, "Come on, you're wasting time." She looked into the
Dampire's dark, endless blue eyes. She had looked at a many vampire's eyes ever since they
started to hunt her. Some of them had this amused look, some of them were seductive, most
were simply blood thirsty, only the most dangerous had the look that Heero did in his dark blue
eyes. His eyes were focused, intense, the eyes of a hunter.


She knew that he wasn't happy to drag some girl around with him. Hell, it had only been a scant
ten hours ago that he had found out that he was a Dampier. She could sympathize, but it was
like being with a time bomb waiting to go off. Nothing was more dangerous than a Dampier that
had gone vampiric, or Rouge as the vampires called it. When a Dampier tasted blood, they got
all the powers of a vampire, and none of the weaknesses. In addition, they were immortal and
could only be killed by beheading. Sunlight, fire, silver, wood, and holy objects didn't bother
them.


She looked around at the busy space port and asked, "Where are we going?"


"Earth," Duo cheerfully chirped, pulling his black cap away from his eyes.


"Where?" she asked him, her voice betraying her impatience.


Duo grinned and answered, "Louisville, Kentucky."


Aurora froze. Louisville had been controlled by vampires since the early 1800's. She asked,
"Are you sure?"


Duo grinned and said, "Yeah, vamp central, sweetheart. We won't be there for too long
though."


Heero said, "Come on before we miss our flight."


Aurora looked at the shuttle with dread. Here she was with two Gundam pilots and going off to
one of the heaviest vampire populated cities in the colonies and the world. She made it a point
that when they had left Louisville that she was going to get as far away from these two guys as
possible. No matter how much Duo Maxwell's violet eyes affected her.


To Be Continued!