Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shade Darker ❯ Chapter 8

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: For Katrina, Marce and, even though he hasn't read the story (simply because he doesn't know about it), Lee, as well as Lys, Misty, Trio, Shinigami Baby, Shinigami Sam, and to every person who's reviewed my story. Thank you. To Katrina and Marce, thanks, my tangible muses and two great artists and friends. Guys, you make me cry out in frustration with your easy ability to draw beautiful pictures of anything, including the Gundam pilots. Thanks for reading my pale talent.

A Shade Darker Part 8

Noin looked over at the teenage girl beside her and asked, "So, vampires are real?"

Minerva smiled, flashing fangs as her eyes bled from green to crimson. She answered, "Yeah, so are witches, werewolves, zombies and ghouls. What Golden Boy was back there was a witch, but not your average witch. He sold his soul."

Noin was confused. She asked, "What do you mean?"

Minerva frowned as she answered, "I'm not sure, Noin, but I can tell you this. When he dies, that boy ain't gonna go to Heaven. He'll be in eternal servitude to some demon in Hell."

Noin swallowed. She was still handling all of this information. What she had once thought was faerie tales were very real. The girl beside her was hundreds of years old and a vampire. Noin had a distinct feeling that she didn't have the whole story.

******

Relena stood in the hotel room, looking at the golden man known as Jason. She asked sharply, "What do you plan to do with me?" She had the proud tilt of her head as every stubborn princess had when captured. She wasn't about to submit to him.

Jason sighed and handed her a bundle of clothing. She took it from him as she glared. She asked, "What do you want me to do with this?"

Jason answered, "Get dressed. I can't take you with me if you're dressed in a nightgown. I may have sold my soul, but I do have some measure of humanity."

"What are you talking about?" Relena snapped.

Jason laughed and answered, "Get dressed and you'll find out soon enough."

******

Heero followed Duo's instructions. He kept sneaking glances at his friend. He was worried about him; he had blacked out twice. Duo didn't know what was going on, and he wasn't talking about it. For once.

Aurora sat in the back seat, absently playing with a charm around her neck. Her hand could use medical attention, Heero reasoned as he looked at her. Duo just kept looking out the window. He said, "Stop, we're here."

Heero put the car into park and looked at the cheep motel. Duo shrugged and said, "Its got wards."

"A witch owns it?" Aurora asked as she got out of the USV. Her eyes glimmered silver for a moment as she answered her own question, "Yeah. There's a witch."

"How do you know?" Heero asked her.

Aurora wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. She answered, "I can sense them in there."

Duo nodded and said, "Yeah, but Kelly's pretty cool. She sets up wards when I need to crash here." Heero studied his friend's profile. Duo's usually cheerful expression was gone. He looked gaunt and tired. He didn't look like Duo. The violet eyes were dim and down cast, hell, even the braid looked limp.

Heero didn't say anything as they walked into the motel. There was a young woman in her early twenties sitting at the desk. She had slightly curly, long dark brown hair and aqua eyes. She smiled at Duo and said, "The night has a thousand eyes."

Duo yawned and replied, "And the God of Death looks through each of them."

"Hi Duo, how are you doing?" she asked with a smile, pushing the sleeves back on her bright red sweater.

"I'm alive," Duo said with a grin.

"Your same room?" she asked, studying Heero then looking back at Aurora.

"Yeah," Duo said, running his long fingers through his bangs. He seemed distant and not himself. Heero was worried about him. Heero watched Duo as he pulled out his wallet.

The woman waved his hand away and said, "You three look like you've had a rough night. It's free." She winked at Duo and said, "This time, and don't be too loud, okay?"

"Thanks Kelly," Duo said as he took the key that Kelly had outstretched to him. Heero felt something heavy and hot tingle along the back of his neck and arms as Kelly took Duo's hand, lightly stroking it with her fingers.

Beside him, Aurora's eyes glowed sliver as she watched the exchange and her face became gaunt and tight, her eyes narrowed. Heero could sense that something was wrong, but the moment quickly passed as Duo blinked and they walked into the hotel.

Duo stopped at room number 13 and unlocked it. Each of them had grabbed a bag from Duo's newly acquired stash of weapons and who knew what else. Aurora leaned up and whispered to Heero, "I didn't like the witch. She didn't feel right."

Heero simply grunted and nodded. He looked at the room. There was a kitchen, a simple wooden table, a couch, a dresser, a vidphone and a bed. Nothing more, except a door leading to what Heero assumed to be the bathroom.

Duo walked to the vidphone and called up a number. There was a guy their age with a bad case of acne wearing a red uniform. He said in a creaking voice, "Mama Luci's Pizza, your pizza pipping hot in ten minutes or less or it's free. Can I help you?"

Duo said, "Yeah, I'd like a large pizza with . . ." He turned to look at them.

Heero shrugged. It didn't matter to him. Aurora said, "Cheese."

Duo sighed and answered, "One half cheese and the other half Meat Lovers at the Full Moon Motel on Tenth street. Name, Solo Maxwell."

"Be there in ten, dude," the pizza boy said as the line went dead.

Duo leaned back on the bed and said, "I'm starving. We'll talk once I'll get some food."

Aurora asked, "What happened?"

Duo glared at her, lifting himself up just a bit, as he answered, "Can't talk right now, Babe, need food."

Aurora crossed her arms and glared. She spun away and walked over to the sink, washing out her hand. Heero went into the kitchen after her and looked for a med kit. Luck would have it, there was one there.

He said, "You may need stiches."

She looked at him with a bitter smile. She said, "No, I know from personal experience that this won't need stiches." Heero ignored her and looked at her hand. It was covered in smaller scars. He turned her hand over, seeing more scars there.

She looked away and said, "I've had to call on my power a lot."

Heero studied her cut. It was bad, but it didn't need to be sealed. He took out some sterilizing solution of the kit, opened it, and dabbed it on her hand. She hissed as it began to bubble there. He wiped the solution off and put some antibiotic cream on her hand. Finally, he wrapped it in a heavy bandage.

She took her hand away, bent it, testing it, and said, "I'm probably gonna have to cut it again anyway."

Heero shrugged, not saying anything. Her power was useful. He had to give her that. She was valuable. He looked over at Duo, who was lying back on the bed, his eyes closed. He knew Duo well enough to know that he wasn't asleep.

Heero wondered what was going on with his friend.

******

Quatre sank down on the soft, rich green carpet and stared at the fire burning there. It was snowing outside and the carolers were still going strong. He crossed his legs and stared deeply into the flames. He sighed as he looked into the orange, yellow and crimson light that flickered across his cherubic features.

"Quatre," Trowa's soft voice said from the door. Quatre smiled as he saw Trowa leaning casually yet gracefully in the door frame.

He said, "Come in Trowa." Trowa walked in and sat down beside the Arab pilot. He stared at the flames as well. Quatre asked, "How did you sleep?"

Trowa shrugged and said, "I slept." His dark green eyes had some brooding emotion to them that was too deep for Quatre to touch. He reached out and touched Trowa's hand.

Then it hit him.

It was a maelstrom of images, thick with fire, blood, death, and darkness.

A slight, elfin girl with long, flowing golden hair and huge silver eyes stood in the middle of a grave. She had a knife in her hand, the metal gleaming like silver in the semi-darkness. She took the blade and cut across her left hand, other scars covering around that same area. She grunted as blood, thick, rich and red welled up out of the cut.

Her eyes turned completely silver and started to glow as she held the cut and the dripping blood to the ground. She watched as the blood dripped on the ground, not caring, then she looked up and around. The graves were starting to come to life.

A greenish-grey hand with the flesh rotting and bone exposed reached out of the grave next to her. A corpse with rotting flesh rose from the grave, digging up soil as it clawed its way up.

Dark brown hair brushed over fathomless, dark blue eyes. Heero Yuy's expression was intense and brooding as he stood half in shadow, half in light. He smirked, giving one a nice view of two, elongated canines. Fangs.

He moved from the light, standing completely in the darkness, shadows swallowing him, but still allowing him to be visible. He spun around, bent down, picked something up, raised back up and turned around.

He was holding Relena Peacecraft in his arm. Her body was limp as she lay in Heero's strong arms, her mouth slightly open in response as Heero bent down and pushed the hair from her neck. He stood there for a moment, looking at her neck.

The boy was dressed in a priest's out fit with the high, white collar. His braid trailed down a meter from his back, a rich chestnut brown. Duo Maxwell's normally brilliant, shining violet eyes were dull and shadowed. He looked tired, worn and beaten.

He reached under his shirt and pulled out a silver crucifix. He took it off and dangled it in front of his face. He studied the cross for a few moments. Smiling bitterly, he tossed the cross as far as away as he could.

The young man was dressed in all black. Half of his face hidden by his golden brown bangs. The dark green eye gleamed as it looked on. Trowa Barton wrapped his arms around him. He was watching something with tears in his eyes.

Lying on the ground was Duo Maxwell, his hair shorn, his eyes staring blankly at the sky, his chest not moving. His face was splattered with blood and he was nude from the waist up. The muscles of his chest were marked with bloody slashes that trailed around to his back. They were whip marks.

A young woman with rich, ebony hair so black that it shimmered blue walked over to Duo's corpse. Her eyes changed from a rich brown to a glowing crimson. She smiled as she bent down to his body, lightly kissing those dead lips. She stroked her hands over Duo's injuries, looking at Trowa all the while.

Trowa froze, his eye widened in panic. She rose up, the leather of her bodice and pants creaking as she did. She tossed her mane of incredible hair as she walked over to Trowa. Trowa murmured, "No."

Lilith threw back her head and laughed. The laughter was rich and deep, almost touchable. She pointed and Trowa shook his head as he saw Treize impaled on a pike. Treize looked over at Trowa with his bright blue eyes and smiled grimly. With that, he exploded into dust.

Lilith laughed and snapped her fingers. A collar appeared on Trowa's neck, attached to a leather leash that Lilith was holding. There was a girl screaming in the background as the image burned into flames, as well as a malicious laughter and thousands of glowing eyes.

Quatre screamed. He stood up, his head spinning, and found that was a mistake. He lost his balance and began to crash to the ground. Trowa, faster than lighting, reached up and caught the Sandrock pilot. Quatre was shaking. He was so afraid, his head was pounding, he couldn't think strait.

Trowa asked, "What happened?"

Quatre took a few cleansing breaths. It didn't help very much. He answered, "I had a vision."

"What did you see?" Trowa asked as he sank to the ground, still holding Quatre in his arms. Trowa's skin was cool. Not cold, just cool. He didn't hear a heartbeat in the Heavyarms pilot's chest.

Quatre slowly breathed. His heart was pounding hard. He took a deep breath. He answered, "I can't explain it Trowa."

"Try, Quatre, you can do that," Trowa gently prompted, sitting Quatre back up. Quatre, still unsure of his balance, dug his fingers into the carpet.

Quatre took a deep breath. He answered, "There were parts, Trowa, that I can't really explain."

"Try then, please, it could be very important," Treize said from the door way. Quatre shivered slightly as he felt Treize's cold power wrap around him. Trowa reached out and steadied him.

Quatre asked, "How long has he been there?"

Trowa looked up at Treize and replied, "A while, ever since the vision started."

Treize walked over and knelt beside the two pilots. He said, "Please, try to explain what you saw."

"It was too horrible," Quatre said, shivering, hugging his arms to his body.

"Please, Quatre, for me," Trowa pleaded.

Quatre looked up into those dark green eyes and said, "Death. There was a lot of death."

He sighed and went on, "First there was this girl. She was pretty, but she cut her hand and let the blood dripped to the ground. She was in a grave, and the corpses came to life."

"A necromancer," Treize said helpfully.

Quatre knew what that word meant, it meant someone who talked to the dead. Treize smiled sadly and said, "They don't talk, they command. Go on."

"Next, strangely enough, was Heero. It was like he was half in shadow, half in light. Then the shadow swallowed him, and the next thing I knew was that he was holding Relena Peacecraft in his arms, and he had fangs," Quatre explained, trying to get the chilling image from his mind.

Trowa looked at Treize. Treize shrugged and said, "I don't know Trowa." Quatre had a feeling that he did. Treize said, "Go on, Quatre."

He sighed and said, "Then it was Duo. He took off his cross and threw it away from him. He didn't look like Duo. He looked hurt, lost and ready to die. It wasn't Duo. The next thing that happened was that Trowa was looking at a dead body, and it was Duo. Someone had tortured him.

"Lilith walked out, kissed Duo's body, and went over to Trowa. You were killed, Treize, then Trowa was put on a leash," Quatre finished, looking at both their expressions. Trowa was as unreadable as always while Treize mearly looked thoughtful.

Treize stood up and said, "Well, then we must prevent these visions from happening."

"We go look for Duo and Heero then," Trowa said determinedly.

Treize smiled and replied, "No, they'll come to us."

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked, able to function normally again. He made sure that he didn't give out the details of Treize's death. He also wanted to know what Treize was talking about.

Treize smiled that angelic smile of his and answered, "You'll see soon enough, Quatre."

******

Minerva slid into her leather jacket as Noin stepped out of the car. Her pistol was hidden on her body that was for sure, but she wasn't sure what to expect when she was to enter this building. She could feel the power of the coven of witches that lived here.

Noin asked, "What are we doing here?"

Minerva answered, "Getting help from an old friend. Yours and mine."

"What are you talking about?" Noin asked.

Minerva smiled and simply replied, "You'll see."

She walked up to the door and knocked on it. Noin waited beside her, blowing her dark violet hair out of her eyes. There was no answer. Minerva grunted. She guessed she was going to have to get a more directive approach.

She gathered up all of her power as a vampire. She felt it trembling along her skin like a dark, cool wind. She looked up and searched the house. She felt only one spark of power. She sighed as she directed the power at the point in a rush. Her head spun for a moment as the power ebbed away.

She took a deep breath, even though she didn't breath, but the motion was comforting none the less. She felt sore and weak. Her muscles were contracting in pain. She had to feed soon or someone was going to be in trouble.

She waited, concentrating, trying to ignore the pain. She felt the presence of a young witch come down the stairs. Noin asked, "What are we waiting for?"

"You'll see," Minerva answered, pressing her index and middle fingers to the middle of her forehead. Her head was pounding in hunger. She had to feed soon.

"Are you okay?" Noin asked her, placing her hand on Minerva's shoulder. Minerva jerked away and stared at the other woman with glowing, crimson eyes. Her fangs were bared in a silent hiss as Noin backed away from her, pulling out her gun.

"She just hasn't fed, so she's a little cranky," a husky, sing song female voice said at the door. There was a tinge of irony in the statement, as if the girl was making fun of her.

Noin gasped and smiled. She said, "Dorothy Catalonia?"

"Hello Miss Noin? I know why you have came. This vampire is a friend of Mr. Milliardo's," Dorothy answered. Minerva turned around and looked at the girl. Dorothy was dressed in a scarlet top that revealed a great portion of her perfect skin, tight blue jeans, and her knee length, platinum blond hair was caught back in a red ribbon. Her split, strange eyebrow raised up as she looked at Minerva.

Minerva sighed. Zechs had told her where the witch was at in case she needed her. Well, she needed her. She said, "Zechs said you'd help if I said this, 'There once was a girl who hid her true nature. There once was a man with a dark linage. The man, unknowingly, had given this girl command of something very important. She used this command foolishly and he realized his mistake. He asks, for this mistake, would you help the girl standing here before you?' That was what he told me to say. He'd said that you'd get it even though I don't."

Dorothy laughed and said, "Come in Mistress Minerva, please. You too Miss Noin." She spun away, laughing slightly, as she walked into the house. Minerva felt the imaginary boundary that held her there slip away as they walked in the house.

"Why am I not surprised that Dorothy is a witch?" Noin asked as she put her gun away. Then she looked at Minerva with her earnest violet eyes and asked, "Is Zechs really alive?"

Minerva nodded and answered, "Yeah, he's alive and well. He hired me to protect you and Relena."

Noin asked, her thick with anger, "Why didn't he come to us himself? Why, Celestine?"

Minerva sighed, her body ached, she felt her fangs lengthen and burn in her mouth. She answered, "Because he had something to take care of."

"What?" Noin snapped, not neccisarly angry at Minerva, but pissed at her love.

Minerva sighed and rubbed the bridge of her forehead. She answered, "Saving you humans, that's what, and that's all I'm at liberty to say."

"The end of the world as we know it could be upon us," Dorothy told them as they walked through the house, her long hair swinging. She looked back at them with her slanted violet eyes and smiled. Minerva wanted to sink her fangs into that pale throat and drink till there was nothing left. Nothing at all.

Minerva swallowed as they walked through the house. Soft, classical music was drifting through the building. It wasn't a manor, but more of an apartment building for a bunch of witches. Practicers of the Black Arts. Not Wiccans or Druids, but practicers of the Black Arts.

Dorothy wasn't a White Witch, but she wasn't a Black Witch either. She hadn't sold her soul, but she had dabbled in some dark magicks before. Minerva could feel it pound on her skin. Noin looked at her. She knew she wasn't walking as strait, but she didn't care. She was moments away from ripping them both apart when Dorothy handed her a goblet filled with rich, warm, freshly taken cow blood.

She grabbed the jeweled goblet and drank the contents. Minerva had never attacked a human for feeding and she wasn't about to start now. No matter how annoying the witch. The rich, warm blood felt good sliding down her parched throat.

Her head cleared and the pain stopped. She handed the goblet back to Dorothy, realizing that she had just made a terrible mistake. The feeling only lasted for a moment. She felt groggy. Her mind was spinning.

Dorothy chuckled and said, "Never take blood from strangers, Mistress Minerva."

"Bitch," Minerva choked out as she collapsed on the ground. She heard Noin calling for her name before the world spun into darkness. The last thing she thought was, Damn witches, damned poisons. Great.

******

Duo felt human again. His belly was full once more. Most people thought that he ate too much. He didn't. One would eat a lot if they had faced hunger a large portion in their life. He stretched on the bed, content, and sighed.

Heero asked, "What is it?"

Duo sat up on the bed. Aurora was standing at the sink, facing them both. He sighed and said, "The End of the Cycle of Darkness."

Aurora went pale and she clutched the sink. She whispered, "Who's ending it?"

Duo locked at her and answered, "Lilith. She wants you to be an extra prize for a demon so that all the vamps and dark forces don't get wiped."

"Oh, shit," Aurora murmured, playing with something on her neck. A necklace of some source.

Heero asked, "What does this mean?"

Duo handed Heero the disk with all the information that Forest had given him. He said, "That'll explain everything to you better than I can." Automatically, Heero began to download the information from his laptop. The screen glowed faintly against Heero's pale features and reflected in his dark blue eyes.

Aurora looked away and turned at the sink. Duo walked over to her. She looked at him with huge, silver eyes. She said, "I would never imagine this. They had hunted me for so long . . . I just thought that they wanted a necromancer. Oh, damn, I was wrong."

"They still do want a necromancer, but you're gonna be a gift for one of the Dark Ones," Duo told her with a slight smile. She went even paler as she brushed strands of blond hair from her elfin face.

Why do I always gotta go for the pixie-elf types? First Hilde, then Aurora, Duo found himself thinking as he studied her. He wanted to hold her, just take her slight form in his arms and comfort her. That wasn't lust that was something else. Duo swallowed and looked away.

He quipped, "Well, no demon's gonna have his way with you while The God of Death is still around."

He walked away from her and Heero looked up at him from where he was sitting on the floor. He said, "Lilith has agents in this area."

"Illiana the Ghoul Queen, I know," Duo told him, leaning against the couch. Heero was going to take the floor if he had anything to say to that. Duo'd get the couch and be a gentleman and give Aurora the bed. Or join her later. That was to be seen.

"She's a child," Heero said, pointing to the screen.

Duo nodded and answered, "Yeah, but she's like thousands of years old. She's Lilith's 'Pet'. Lilith gives that little bitch more leeway than other vamps. She'd run ramped around Lilith and the Queen of Darkness would just smile and laugh. At least, thats what I've heard."

******

Faye sat nude in the middle of a pentagram. Symbols were painted in the North, South, East, and West points of the pentagram. She stood up and took a knife which was beside the nude witch. She had a strand of hair from Duo Maxwell, long and chestnut brown, as well as his aura printed on his skin. With this, she would own him.

She cut her finger open and sprinkled blood into the circle. She dropped the blade and ran her uninjured hand down her nude body as she threw her head back. There was just one more element that the spell needed. She moaned as she started the ritual that would complete the spell.

******

Heero looked up from his laptop. Duo was pacing around the hotel room, his face etched in thought. Aurora stood by the sink, still clutching it. Heero had read of the nature of the ritual that would give Aurora to one of the Dark Ones.

The Demon would claim her body, taking her as his own. The demon would rape her to seal the bond between itself and Lilith. If the necromancer wasn't a virgin, then she wasn't succtable. Aurora ran her fingers through her hair. She knew that, and Heero wondered why she wasn't taking the obvious course of action to save herself.

Duo said, "Well, tomorrow, we go ask the Louisville Covens and see what we can find." He grinned at Heero, and Heero only nodded back. They were delaying the enviable. He wanted to go fight this thing head on, but, Heero was new to this game while Duo was an Old Hand. He hated the fact that Duo knew more, but he could deal with it.

******

Quinn grunted as he locked himself in a large, metal box; one in which sun could not get into. He sighed as he looked at the top of his self-imposed prison. Dawn was only a few hours away, and this was the safest way to get to Louisville.

He had to find Duo and Heero. He had to help them. They were going to need all the help they could get to fight Lilith, her minions, and the forces of Hell.

Quinn was a scourge of the underworld himself. He had betrayed his brethren to the Catholic Church to one of the most far spread vampire hunts ever recorded in history. He had started the Holy Blood Crisis.

"Sister Mary Anne," Quinn called out to the petite nun. She turned around. Green eyes were wide with fear. Quinn approached her as she held her rosary in front of her slight form. She was small and pretty, like a little pixie.

Anne turned to him and asked, "What is it now?"

Quinn handed her a few parchment scrolls. He told her, "Do with these as you wish." With that he disappeared in the shadows, leaving Anne alone.

Quinn knew it was only a matter of time before he was killed. He knew that Joshua Hunters, the most dangerous and skillful vampire assassin that ever stalked, was after him. It was only a matter of time before Hunters killed him. And Quinn had so much to do, so much to make up for.

******

Zechs was headed to the Carpathien moutains. It was easier to find this at the source and fight it. That was his plan. And to meet up with Treize again.

******

Faye crumpled to her knees as her release hit. She moaned as she felt the power ride as her body convulsed. As the waves subsided, she closed her eyes. The scent of sex was heavy in the room, as was the scent of magic.

She stood up and walked out of the pentagram. She picked up her soft, scarlet silk robe and wrapped it around her body. She picked up her quartz ball and looked into it. She said, "By the power of the Ancients, give me something to torment this boy's mind with."

******

Duo sat relaxed on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. Heero had been looking at that disk for the past half an hour. Duo didn't have the patience to sit there and look at a computer screen for information. Sure, he did on some missions, but he mainly snuck in, blew the base up, sliced up a bunch of mobile suits and went on his merry way.

Aurora sat at the table with a pen and a napkin from the pizza place on it. She was drawing on the napkin. Curious, Duo walked over to her and was amazed to see a perfect representation of the Louisville skyline.

He said, "That's beautiful. I wish I could do something like that."

She shrugged, moving her hair off her shoulders. She looked up at Duo with her huge, silvery eyes. She seemed so sad, so distant, so lost. A lock of blond hair fell into those amazing eyes and he wanted to push it away.

Instead, he swallowed and pointed to the sketch. He said, "Man, damn, that's pretty good. Exspecaly on a paper towel."

She shrugged again and replied, "It's what I had."

"So, do you draw often?" Duo asked as he sat across from her at the table, strattling the chair and leaning on the back.

"When someone's not trying to use me, yeah," she told him as she looked down at it.

"Umm, so what else do you like to do?" Duo asked, peering at her. He wanted to know more about this girl that was cursed.

She shrugged and answered, "Paint, sculpt. I love art. I wanna be an artist, but that's an impossibility."

"Why?" Duo asked her quietly.

She gave a bitter laugh and told him, "Well, that was a dumb question."

"I'm being serious," Duo told her defensively.

Heero snorted from the laptop, and Duo glared back. Heero gave him the "I will kill you" look and Duo looked away. He looked back to Aurora and said, "I was being serious. I mean, eventually, the vamps will give up on you."

"Whatever," she told him, turning away.

Duo wanted to reach out to her and shake her, but she wasn't Hilde. He didn't know her all that well. Lust for her, that was a big part of the equation too, but she may not be comfortable with that. He sighed and spun the chair around.

He felt something grab hold of his mind and was vaguely aware of himself crying out as he was thrown . . .

"Lady Une told us to make you talk," the Oz solder named Nicole told Duo. Duo looked up at him and grinned.

He said, "Well, buddy, you ain't getting nothing from me."

"We have ways to make you talk," Nicole told him.

Duo chortled. Bad guys and their over used lines. He sarcastically asked, "Do you know how many people have told me that?"

"Show him," Nicole simply said to the two Oz solders standing behind Duo. The first one reached over and grabbed him by the braid.

"Fuck you," Duo snapped at him as he spat in his face. He was rewarded with a vicious slap to his injured face. He grunted as he was shoved up out of the chair, his broken ribs aching in protest. Fists became countless blows of pain as Duo moaned on the ground. He looked up, struggled in his shackles.

Nicole loomed above him and sneered, "Now, the whereabouts of you other pilots?"

"Fuck you," Duo told him as he tried to stand up. His body was weak, aching, woozy. He couldn't support his own weight. He cursed as he slumped to the ground, coughing at his broken ribs. He was jerked up again, a gun butt smashing into his stomach.

Duo cried out and coughed up blood as he sank back to the ground. Nicole said, "Well leave you alone if you just tell us where they are."

"Burn in Hell, mother fucker," Duo spat as he coughed up blood.

"He won't talk, sir," the solder told him.

Nicole sighed as the gun smashed into his skull sending him to darkness.

Duo awoke in a cold, damp cell. His whole body hurt. There was a beautiful woman with long dark hair standing in the darkness. Duo could only see part of her body and face in shadow.

She said in a husky voice, "Humans, not vampires or 'the dark forces', did this to you. Question, are they any better than we are?" With that she faded away.

"DUO!"

His eyes snapped open as he saw Heero shaking him. Aurora shouted, "Duo, snap out of it!"

"You there?" Heero asked.

"Yeah," Duo grunted as Heero let him go. He pushed his bangs off of his forehead and said, "It happened again."

"What?" Aurora asked.

"I fazed out and . . ." Duo swallowed, not able to go on. All of these visions had to do with the cruelty of human nature, mainly involving him.

He took a shaky breath and pressed his head against the cool table. Heero said, "Something's causing this."

Duo only nodded as he came back into himself.

Then, Aurora stiffened, Heero looked around, and Duo felt the presences of many ghouls surrounding them. He stood up and said, "Come on guys, we gotta get . . ."

He was stopped as the glass of the window shattered.

To Be Continued!

Hi! This is Elf calling all fan artists for "Gundam Wing". I'm building a site and I would kill to have some pics to go along with this story. So, do you think you could draw Vamp Trowa or Treize, God of Death Duo, The Mysterious Quinn, Dampier Heero and Zechs, Minerva, Lilith, Noin, Relena, Quatre, and Aurora? If you can, send them to slaybrat@aye.net! Thanks! And be sure to send your name and what you want to be known as to get credit. I'm a huge believer of giving credit. Thank you very much, signing off, the Elf with the fang sharp wit.













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