Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shade Darker ❯ Chapter 6

[ 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: You're probably noticing that I'm putting a lot of little twist and turns in this
story, aren't I? I'm having fun doing it too. I'm sorry its taking me so long to get the posts up,
but I'm posting them as I'm writing them. I have school, so I get busy, as well as my job. Tell
me what you think of Aurora, Minerva, and Lilith, PLEASE! I always thought that the
Gundamverse could use a few feme' fatales.


A Shade Darker Part Six


"Shit," Duo grumbled as he banged his head into the wall.


Forest looked at him and added dryly, "I know how you feel. I hate that bitch."


Duo looked at her perched on her desk. Her long legs looked even longer perched on the desk.
Her blond hair was falling softly around her face and her huge, indigo eyes were shadowed. She
was one of the prettiest vamps he had ever seen, and to top it all off, he was beginning to like her
too.


He asked, "Why?"


She pointed to the painting of the guy with the Celtic cross. Duo replied, "He looks familar."
The dark brown eyes in the painting reminded him of Heero's brooding expression just a bit, but
the mocking, lopsided grin reminded Duo about himself.


She answered, "Because he's Liam O'Rourke."


"What?!" Duo shouted as he walked over to the painting. "The Liam O'Rourke!" Any and
every Called had heard tales of the half vampire Called who had stopped the world from ending
in the latter 20th century, only to die a few years later when the Cycle of Darkness ended. He had
sacrificed himself to save the woman he loved, story had it.


Forest smiled sadly as she touched the painting. She said, "His father was Quinn. Have you
heard of Quinn?"


Duo's mind was racing as he studied the painting. Quinn. Quinn. Damn, that sounded familiar.
He just couldn't put his finger on it. Then it clicked.


He said, "The vampire who caused the Holy Blood Crisis. He was the one who gave Catholic
priests the information of the Master vamps during World War III."


Forest smiled and replied, "For someone who's pretty against the Church, you're
knowledgeable."


Duo grinned at her and said, "Thanks, Lady, it's something like 'Know thine enemy and not get
thy ass kicked' or something like that."


Forest said, "Anyway, Lilith was not the vampire in charge of ending the Cycle of Darkness
during Liam's time. Vlad Teppes was."


"Dracula," Duo murmured, looking at the painting, "The Dragon." Dracula did indeed exist. A
lot of the really nasty vampires recorded in books and history did. It was just that they were
different from what the storybooks or media had said. Angelus never evil. Nick Knight was
pretty damned corrupt. Lestat was not egoistical. Louis wasn't melancholy or regretful. Jean-Claude was gay and didn't like women.


"Yeah, Dracula. Anyway, there are certain procedures to follow," Forest said in a dark voice.
Her eyes were studying the painting with a far away look.


Duo got it. He asked, "You were in love with him, weren't you?"


She slowly nodded and answered, "Yeah, I was. We were lovers. He wasn't popular with the
Church either."


"What happened?" Duo asked, studying the sadly mocking grin in the painting.


She sighed and answered, "Well, Lilith distracted me and my men while Liam was fighting ole
Dracula. As the portal to Hell was opening, Liam killed himself and Dracula to close it. It
worked, but Liam died. If I had gotten to him . . ." Her hand clutched in a fist. Duo noticed that
her claws had grown, slicing into her palm. Blood trickled down her hand, running down her
arm in crimson rivets.


He pitted the vampire. He reached out and touched her arm. He said, "There would have been
nothing you could have done, Forest."


She brushed tears from her eyes. Her hand healed instantly, leaving only a blood stain behind.
Duo was thankful that she didn't lick the blood from her fingers. She took a tissue from her
desk and cleaned her hand off. He watched as the tissue floated into the waist basket by the
desk.


She said, "Lilith is planning something nasty. She's making precautions to make sure it all
works out. She's planning to gain the favor of one of the Black Ones by giving him a virgin
necromancer."


Aurora. Duo nodded and waited for her to go on. She replied, "She's building an army to keep
you busy and is planning to kill you off before you even get to where she's gonna finish all of
this."



"Over my dead body," Duo told her.


Forest smiled grimly and replied, "Exactly. Anyway there's information about the vampires she
has working for her on the disk."


"Thanks," Duo told her.


Forest grinned wickedly and asked mischievously, "Do you want the means to beat her?"


Duo only grinned. Forest hopped off the desk and grinned. She said, "Come on." They walked
out of the office and headed down an elevator. Duo leaned up against the steel wall as it rushed
down with a static hiss.


In a few moments, the door opened, leading into a vault. Duo's senses were telling him this
wasn't a trap, but the young pilot was cautious anyway as Forest began to walk down the hall.
He looked around and she stopped at a door. She unlocked it with a few quick key strokes and
they walked into a vault with a table on it.


Duo noticed all of his gear folded neatly on the table. He shrugged his scythe on his back,
slipped the leg sheath on and finally slid into the duster. He dangled the cross for a moment,
letting it catch the light. Smiling softly, Duo slid the chain over his neck. He turned around to
the statuesque blond and said, "Okay, now what?"


Forest walked over to a heavy drawer. She opened it up and pulled out a shimmering blade. It
was a nice bastard sword. The hilt was black, and there was a blood grove in the blade that was
also black. She pointed to the blood grove and said, "That's silver that's been colorized. This
should kill anything that you come in contact with."


"Cool," Duo thought as he laid the blade down. Swords really weren't his thing. Maybe Heero
could use it or something.


******

Heero was worried about Duo. He wouldn't admit to anyone, except himself. Duo was sort of
humanity's hope. That seemed strange, the God of Death was humanity's hope. He looked over
at the petite blond girl sitting in the over stuffed chair by the window.


Heero would have killed her if that had helped them on their mission, but Duo wouldn't allow it.
There was nothing special about the girl Heero could tell by looking at her. She was attractive to
look at and she was a necromancer.


With the help of one of Duo's heavy journals, he had found out what a necromancer was.
Someone with an affinity to the dead. They could control the dead, raise corpses to do their
bidding and so on. They could also draw power from the dead. There were two types of
necromancers: the ones who used Dark Magic and the others with the natural born ablitity, like
Aurora Winters.


Heero sighed and moved to the window. Aurora said, "He's probably dead by now."


Heero only grunted in response as he looked out the window. Louisville's sky line twinkled at
him in a brilliant array of pinks, reds, blues, greens and gold. She said, "This is a dangerous city.
Maxwell's one of the Called, a Church Boy, he's an automatic target for leeches."


Heero sent her the Death Glare. She glazed right into his eyes with silver eyes. He'd never seen
any eye color like that, and he thought that Duo's violet eyes were strange. They were the color
of molten silver, glowing with some sort of energy. She looked angry and hateful. Heero said,
"Duo's fine."


She chuckled and said, "If you say so." She continued to look at the window.


Heero only grunted as he turned away from her. Truthfully, he was worried about Duo. Duo
was, perhaps, the one person that he could truly call his friend. He turned away from the girl
sitting on the couch, perhaps cursed in as many ways as he was.


Then he felt something. The hairs on the back of his arms and neck began to rise. He sensed
something close by, it was like the sense he got when he was around vampires, but it was
different. Aurora stood up and whispered, "Ghouls. Dammit, they found me."


Heero pulled out his gun and crept around to the door. He told her sharply, "Get down." She
hid behind the chair, watching him. He knew nothing about ghouls, but he wasn't about to go
down without a fight.


Suddenly, a pale grey hand shot through the door with thick red claws on the fingers. The door
was shattered by the hand and Heero was shocked to see six beings, wearing jumpsuits, with no
hair, pale grey skin, red finger nails and red eyes. The one who just shattered the door snarled,
displaying a mouth full of sharp teeth.


He shot two rounds into the ghoul's chest. It kept coming. The bullets didn't faze it. The bullet
wounds just bled as the ghoul kept approaching. Suddenly, it leapt at Heero.


It was incredibly fast, and Heero bearly managed roll out of its way. With a grunt, he grabbed
his arm and snapped it. The ghoul hissed at him. While Heero was battling the ghoul, the other
five were advancing toward Aurora. The girl stood up and kicked the window. Glass shattered
into the night with a musical jingle.


She picked up one of the shards of glass and sliced it against her palm. The ghoul that was
fighting Heero looked at her, his crimson eyes glazed with fascination. Her blood dribbled down
her arm in scarlet rivets. She waved her hand in front of her and her eyes began to flow.


There was a charge picked up in the room. It was cold, like a winter wind, and not the one
coming through the shattered window and dark. Aurora stood through it all, panting slightly.
The ghouls froze. She scrambled out of the window and out onto the balcony.


"What the hell?" Heero asked as he stood up to go after her. She had stopped the ghouls, but
how? He grunted as he ran to the window, but one of the ghouls snapped out of their trance. It
reached up and grabbed Heero on his leg.


Heero pointed his gun at it and shot it through the head. It screamed and flopped on the ground.
Distantly, Heero knew that it wasn't truly dead. He'd just stunned it momentarily. He rushed
out the window to see Aurora climbing down the fire escape.


Heero jumped down to the level she was on, it was only about a ten-foot drop. She blinked and
looked at him. She said, "The only way you can kill a ghoul is by fire. They're not like
vampires or zombies. They're tougher. They don't fear anything but fire."


Heero grabbed her arm and began to drag her down the fire escape. He said, "Tell me more, like
what they can do and how strong are they."


Aurora came easily. There was no way that she could keep up with a trained Gundam pilot, but
she was doing a pretty decent job. She's done this a lot, Heero realized as he looked at her. She
didn't look back. She just kept moving.


She replied, breathing hard, "They don't like fire. They're super strong and hard to kill. Unlike
vampires, they don't have any powers, and they usually serve vampires. They are nocturnal as a
rule, but they can and do come out during the day."


Heero looked up, getting a feel of the situation. Suddenly, one of the ghouls jumped down to the
level that they were on. He pulled out his gun and shot it in the head. He jerked on Aurora's
bleeding hand and said, "Come on." He drug her down the fire escape.


Then, the ghoul stood up. It reached for them with lighting speed. Heero was ready for it this
time. He spun around, grabbing its arm, and flipped it over the fire escape. Its clawed hand,
unfortunately, reached up and grabbed the railing. Suddenly, the other five ghouls sprang from
the window.


They hissed at them. Heero glared at them, trying to figure out some plan of action. He knew
that his gun would only stop them momentarily and he didn't have anything flammable or
explosive on him. "Damn," he cursed softly.


Aurora looked around as well, trying to find a gas pipe, Heero supposed. He looked down at the
fire escape. There was a fifteen-foot drop. No problem for him. He said, "Come on."


"What?" she asked as Heero lifted her up. He easily sprang to the railing with the slight weight
of the girl in his arms. "You gotta be kidding, you'll break both of your legs," she told him
harshly. Heero only grunted as he hopped off the railing. Aurora screamed as they fell.



Heero landed easily, his legs absorbing and displacing the force of the fall. He set Aurora down
into the snow. She squeezed on the wound on her hand, making it bleed again. She started to
walk in a circle around them, her blood staining a pink circle in the snow. Her lips were moving
softly, as if she was chanting.


She stepped into the circle and said, "Don't move."


"Why not?" Heero asked her, not understanding.


The ghouls sprang down from the fire escape. They approached the circle. Heero took a stance,
ready to run or fight if the need occurred. And it looked like the need was going to occur. One
of them tried to cross the circle, but Heero felt that cold rush of power again. The ghoul
staggered back.


Aurora answered, "I drew a circle in my own blood. The dead can't cross it, at least for a while.
If I had some other materials, I can make it permanent, but I don't have the materials to do so.
This circle just bought us some time."


"How much time?" he asked as he looked around. The ghouls hissed at the imaginary barrier
that they could not cross. His brain was already trying to form a plan to get them both out of this
mess. He knew it would be very simple to kill the girl, but Duo had said that she could be
useful. She had already proved Duo right on that account.


She shrugged, licking her lips. Heero noticed that she was sweating despite the cold. She
answered, panting, "I don't know. I've never done this before. This isn't really a true circle
either. It's just something spur of the moment. The only reason it's holding up because I'm a
true necromancer. That's it."


"Five minutes," Heero simply said, looking around. Five minutes, from his experience, was
enough time to drastically change something. Maybe in five minutes, he could figure something
out.


He looked up at the room. Light still shone from their window, glittering and promising. He
had some explosives up there, he knew. If he could get to them . . .


He looked at the necromancer and said, "Stay here."


"What, Yuy, what are you doing?" she asked as Heero sprinted out of the circle. The ghouls
hissed at him as he jumped.


His nimble fingers wrapped around the railing and he grunted as he pulled himself up. His feet
found a metal bar. He scrambled up the fire escape ladder. He heard something hiss behind him
as he climbed. When he reached the eving where the ladder became stairs he turned around to
see the ghouls climbing up after him.



Heero started to run up the stairs, his feet pounding on the steel grating of the stairs. He heard a
growl as one of the ghouls jumped in front of him. He spat, "You're threatening my mission."
With that, he shoved the ghoul off the platform and continued to run up the stairs.


He didn't look behind him to see if the ghouls were gaining on him. His focus was getting to the
explosives that Duo had brought with them. Mainly, napalm. Heero's mind raced for the
information about it.


Duo shook a grey bomb and said, "Napalm."


"What?" Heero asked, finding that the name sounded vaguely familiar.


Duo grinned manically as he softly sang, "Napalm sticks to all the little children, all the little
children of the world. Black, yellow, red, brown, and white, they're all the same when they
ignite." [1]


Heero glared and Duo chuckled. He answered, "A chemical used during war fair in the mid-twentith century, Heero. It burns at really high temperatures and it can't be gotten off. It sticks
to shit like crazy. Primitive, but effective at frying vampires."


He knew that Duo also had something else that was really primitive: matches. Heero had always
thought that matches were worthless when one had a palm thermal generator, but he knew that
matches would catch on fire, no matter what, even when wet. Duo, despite his eccentric
tendencies, was practical. His eccentric habit would be balanced by practicality.


He hopped into the window with ease. His feet cracked already broken glass as he ran to the
room where Duo had stored all of their equipment. He heard the ghouls behind him. He took
out the napalm bomb and the pack of waterproof matches that Duo had brought.


The ghouls fell silent. Heero couldn't hear them coming anymore. He could feel them though.
They felt like something discussing creeping along his skin, exspecaly at the backs of his neck,
arms, and along his spine.


The door burst open. Six pairs of crimson eyes glowed in the darkness as they watched the
Wing pilot. Heero hunched up his muscles and jumped. In a superhuman effort, he managed to
clear the ghoul's heads and get behind them. Landing in a crouch, he uncorked the bomb and
threw it at them. As the liquid sprayed the silvery undead, Heero lit a match and tossed it at
them.


It caught the chemical with a quiet WHOOSH. Heero rolled out of the way of the fire as it
spread. He ran out the window, jumping off the fire escape. He ran down the fire escape only to
jump down it half way as a gas pipe caught on fire.


Heero grunted as the fire exploded behind him. He rolled to the ground, not landing gracefully,
his body rolling in the snow. He pulled himself up on his arms as he watched the hotel go up in
smoke.


Aurora stepped from the blood circle and knelt beside him. She asked, "What did you do?"


His lips twitched upward in a sort of a smile. He answered, "I took care of our problem. The
hindrance has been destroyed."


They stood up and watched the fire. She said, "Well, this is sort of a bad thing."


Heero only grunted in reply as they watched the fire.


******

Zechs' fingers traced along the bloodstained pavement. He felt the hunger rise in him. He had
crossed that dark line a long time ago and after drinking blood, one could never go back. He
placed his blood stained fingers under his nose and sniffed.


It was very fresh but it wasn't human. It was a message for him. He tensed as he sensed a
vampire behind him. "Zechs," a soft, rich, deep male voice called out. It was familiar. He
slowly turned to see a man who looked strikingly like Heero Yuy, except ten years older.


His features were Heero's, just more mature, his eyes were the same, dark, intense blue as
Heero's, and his hair was the same unruly dark mop as Heero's. He was tall and lithely muscled,
Zechs' height. The vampire could look him right in the eye.


Zechs drew his sword from his cloak. He asked, "Who are you?"


The vampire held up a bleeding hand. Zechs could smell that the blood was the same blood on
his fingers. He asked, "What do you want?"


The vampire smiled faintly. He answered, "I wish to speak to you, Zechs."


Zechs watched the vampire wearily. He replied, "Fine. Talk."


The vampire said, "My name is Quinn."


Zechs froze and studied the vampire and remembered.


The Sanq Kingdom was burning. Young Milliardo stood and watched as the last embers fell to
the ground. He was alone. His father was dead as well as his mother. His sister was gone, with
that minster, Dorlin. He was alone, watching it burn all around him.


He heard a man's voice by him. It said, "Teach him, watch him. I can't. I wish I could, but I
can't. His father thought that he was his. He didn't know."


A very familar voice, the voice of a friend, replied, "Quinn, what do you want me to do? The
child is a Dampier. He'll grow up hating both of us simply because it is in his nature."


Quinn replied, "Treize, just watch him, be his friend."


"He'll ask too many questions, Quinn. It simply cannot be," Treize replied.


"Look at the child," Quinn whispered.


"He looks like his mother," Treize replied with a touch of irony to his tone.


"Aye, he does," Quinn said sadly.


Young Milliardo pushed his white-blond hair from his face and walked to the two men talking.
Maybe they could help him. He needed help, and revenge. He needed to get the Sanq Kingdom
restored to its former glory. For his mother and father.


Treize's voice said fondly, "He's going to end up like you. Stubborn and a true warrior."


Quinn sounded pleased as he replied, "I surely hope so. They need a protector."


"You know Treize," Zechs hissed, "You are my father."


Quinn smiled faintly and replied, "So, you remember that day so long ago. Did you know that
you look like your mother?"


Zechs was angry. Fury almost overtook him every time he met a vampire. Except with Treize,
and Zechs knew that they saw each other as equals and friends. Not enemies. He asked, "Why
did you do that to her?"


Quinn sighed and answered, "Your father and your mother were having problems in their
marriage. Your mother was a very beautiful woman and I was immediately enchanted with her.
We became lovers."


"Did she know that you were a vampire?" Zechs hissed, feeling his fangs lengthen.


Quinn sighed and said, "Treize had told me you had gone Rouge. Now I see it for myself. What
side are you on, young Milliardo, theirs or ours?"


"The humans, the good people of the world and the colonies," Zechs replied calmly, getting a
hold on his fury.


Quinn smiled a true smile as he said, "We are on the same side then."


"Why did you seek me out?" Zechs asked coldly.



Quinn's face went emotionless, looking even more like Heero . . . His blue eyes were endless as
he said, "Information."


"Heero Yuy," Zechs answered.


"Exactly," Quinn replied.


"I need to find him," Zechs calmly stated. He knew what was going on and he knew that Heero
would not join forces under any circumstances. He added, "But the kid won't help me, you
don't know Heero. I do. We're too much alike. We know the other's movements."


"That's why you should join forces, you both think alike. Along with Duo Maxwell, you would
be unstoppable and Lilith wouldn't be able to end the Cycle of Darkness," Quinn pointed out
calmly.


"It won't happen," Zechs told his blood father. All this man did was create him. He didn't raise
him. Treize was more of a father than this man. Treize, his best friend.


Quinn sighed and drifted back into the shadows. Zechs didn't follow him.


******

Trowa looked out the window and at the half moon in the sky. In a few short days, he knew it
would be full. He traced his fingers on the frosted glass and sighed. He felt the presence of
Lady Une as she walked into the study.


He saw her reflection in the glass. She asked, "How are you?"


"As well as can be expected," Trowa answered truthfully.


The former Oz general stood beside him, her chestnut brown hair falling softly around her face.
She said, "I have no idea what you are going through, Trowa, but you have my aid."


Trowa could sense her thinking: And sympathy as well, young Gundam pilot. She didn't say
because she was afraid that she may hurt his sense of pride and honor. Trowa replied, "Thank
you, Une."


"Your welcome," Une said as she looked out the window as well. She said, "You know, they're
not all evil."


Yes, I am one of them and I'm not evil. Quatre told me that much. Treize is not evil, just
practical. He didn't say anything as he looked at the falling snow. Une reached up and touched
his shoulder.


Trowa froze. He could feel Lilith's hands on him again. The memory brought out a sick
revolution in him. He stepped away and said, "Don't touch me."


Une stepped away and apologized, "I'm sorry. It's too soon. I know what you are saying." She
moved her brown hair away from her slender throat. Trowa could see her pulse beating under
her skin, thick and rich. The blood lust was brought fresh on him. It would be so easy to grab
her and drink.


Then he noticed the faint, white scar of twin puncture wounds on her neck. With sudden
dawning, Trowa said, "You were attacked."


"And I would have been killed or worse if it wasn't for Treize. He saved me," she replied
simply, the love in her eyes evendent as she said Treize's name.


"That's why you love him," Trowa said suddenly, regretting the words as soon as they were out
of his mouth. He knew he was more daring in this form, less restricted as a vampire.


She laughed and replied, "No, Trowa, I loved Treize before that. I just didn't know what he
was."


"You still loved him in spite of all that?" Quatre asked as he walked into the room. The light
was haloed behind the cherubic young man, his aqua eyes almost glowing, his pale golden hair
glinting in the light.


Une smiled and said, "Yes, I did. I loved him more because of it."


Quatre walked to the window as well. He asked simply, "What now?"


Une frowned and looked out the window. She answered, "I don't know. I'm not even sure that
Treize knows."


*******

"Damn it, the world as we know it is going to end," Treize cursed as he paced around his room.
He ran his fingers in his ginger colored hair as he looked at the computer screen.


The woman was lovely with long, golden blond hair, aristocratic features, and huge, indigo eyes.
A mocking smile played on her sensual mouth as she replied, "Treize, I've just talked to Duo
Maxwell. He's more promising than Liam."


Treize was shocked. Forest Anderson would always be in love with Liam O'Rourke, no matter
how many centuries passed after his death. Saying that Duo Maxwell was more promising than
Liam was high praise for Forest.


He had never met Duo. He'd met all the other pilots except Duo Maxwell. Which is just as well
because Duo probably would have tried to kill me once he sensed what I was, he thought as he
looked at the blonde on the other side of the comline. He was known as the God of Death
among vampires as well as being a Gundam pilot. The boy wore a priest's collar in mockery of
what he was. Rumor had it that the boy went against the Chruch's very wishes. Treize did want
to meet him, though.


Treize sighed and asked, "What do you know of Lilith's plans?"


Forest tossed her long, blond hair in a gesture that was all too familiar to the ancient vampire.
After all, he and Forest had been together as lovers for a very long time. They were almost the
same age, Treize only having 20 years on the younger vampire.


She answered, "She's the one ending the Cycle. She wants to sacrifice a virgin necromancer to
one of the Dark Ones to insure protection. She has Damon and Hawk working for her. Word
has it that Illiana just joined in the fun."


Treize grimaced slightly in distaste. Illiana was the Ghoul Queen. Or, that was how she was
referred to. She had an army of ghouls at her disposal. She looked to be about 12, but she was
sicking with her army of ghouls behind her. It wasn't right to turn a child. At least in Treize's
opinion.


Forest went on, "That's all I know. And that she's in your area. There's a center of mystical
convergence there, or something."


Treize smiled faintly and mused, "The Carpathiean mountains. Gypsies always practiced their
magics here."


Forest said, "And I gave Duo the information of Lilith's flunkies and habits."


Treize smiled fully and replied, "Know thy enemy." It was one of Quinn's favorite sayings.
Quinn, old friend, how are you? Are you still alive? Do you know about your sons? Treize
thought with a frown.


Forest grinned and said, "Duo told me, 'Know thine enemy or get thy ass kicked.' I wonder if he
ever met Quinn."


"I'm not sure," Treize said tiredly.


Forest said, "Well, I'm gonna go and see what I can do."


"I hope you make it through all of this," Treize told her.


Forest grinned seductively. She replied, "Same to you, Old One." The screen faded to black,
signaling the end of the transmission.


Treize sat in his high-backed chair and said, "The players have not yet been selected, but the act
is into play. What are we going to do now?"


******

Minerva dusted the snow off her boots before she walked into the castle. Paygan, Relena's
butler, was standing there, holding a pot of tea and teacups on a silver tray. Minerva smiled as
she walked to the elderly man.


He asked, "Would you like some tea to warm you up, Miss Minerva?"


Minerva smiled. She was ages older than this man and he was treating her like a niece or a
granddaughter. She took the tray from him, and his dark eyes widened in surprise. She guessed
that he wasn't use to people doing stuff like that. She said, "Thanks Paygan, and the name's
Minerva, not Miss Minerva."


Paygan smiled and replied, "Well, Minerva, how was your walk?"


Minerva shook out her long, burgundy tresses and replied, "Great." She felt wonderful. Luckily,
there was some row dear in the area. A heavy population with no natural predators. Until now.


She told him, "I think I'll talk this to my room and back to the kitchen when I'm done."


"Minerva, there's no need for that," he reprimanded gently.


Minerva smiled and replied, "You're busy enough Paygan. It's okay. I wanna say thanks for
your kindness." She waved at him when she walked away from him.


Then she felt like she was being watched.


******

Heero and Aurora stood in the snow. The small girl was rubbing her arms vigorously and her
hand was streaking blood along her arms. Heero looked at her and said, "Come on." There was
something not right. He felt like he was being watched, all the hairs on the back of his arms and
neck were standing on end.


She nodded, her lips trembled as she said, "Yeah, something's not right." Heero started to walk
and he knew Aurora was behind him. Heero was blocking the cold out in his mind, but Aurora
wasn't trained. Sure, she was tougher than someone like Relena because she was a street waif,
but she wasn't a trained Gundam pilot.


They walked out of the alley. Heero sensed something. Aurora's head jerked around, her eyes
glowing silver. Heero pulled out his gun. Aurora whispered, "Do you have silver bullets?"


"No," Heero answered. He hadn't been able to change his gun's ammo yet. He was using the
traditional silicon [2] ammunition. Duo had silver ammunition back at the hotel, but it was
probably melted by now.


He could feel the dark presence of something as it approached him. Heero narrowed his eyes
and focused with his mind. It was very old and powerful, but it wasn't human and it wasn't a
vampire.


Aurora cursed, "Shit."


"What is it?" Heero asked sensing something move in the darkness. His eyes focused on
something large and furry. Golden eyes glowed in the dark, looking at both Heero and Aurora.


Aurora swallowed and shouted, "That's a werewolf!"


Then, the shape sprang at them.


To Be Continued!


[1] This song is really old, a parody of "Jesus Loves All The Little Children" and it's really
morbid. It seems like something Duo would know.


[2] A friend was telling me about weapons' testing using silicone ammo because it didn't pollute
the environment like lead does or cause poisoning. So, I figured, in the future, pistols would use
this wonderful advancement.