((I should probably stop taking seven years to post these parts.. sorry, please forgive me...Just a quick filler of the last one since it was so long ago...Blade was in the woods, and had to find her way back...met a guy...they fought a bit...he disappeared she found her way back--it took her twelve hours..and now voila! ))

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I avoided the red eyes that bore into my skin like a hot brand. He was close to screaming, I heard it in his voice, saw it in his expression. Damian's jugular was protruding from his neck along with a vein that throbbed in his forehead; his hands were balled into fists and if Vexx, the nurse that I encountered a mwezi before, wasn't standing there I was sure he would've punched me.

"Bitch" was the word that brought me back to reality and I stared at him through light blue lens, dumbfounded. Standing, still having to look up to meet his gaze, I pushed him back, "Excuse me?"

"I said, you're a naive bitch." His voice was still calm, though I could hear the cracks of anger steaming through, "Why didn't wewe kill him?"
"He wasn't on my list to kill, plus I was at his mercy. I may be willing to do some risky shit for you, but I'm not going to spit in the face of Death."
"Darling...I am the face of Death, and wewe disobeyed me; I could easily wring that tiny neck of yo-"
"Disobeyed? I was told to make it back to the mansion...and whoopdiedoo, I'm here Damian, now can I get some sleep, I'm exhausted." I nodded toward the room at the end of the hallway.
"No," he took a step forward, then another, and another, until I was backed against the wall, "You aren't going anywhere...You have to pay for letting that boy go and taking until nightfall to get here."

Before he could fulfill whatever sick punishment brewing in his head, I managed to escape him and dart toward my room. I locked the door, ignoring the threats and screams and words. They didn't hurt. Nothing he did could hurt me. I moved to the vanity ilitumwa against the wall, and stared at my reflection. It was infuriating, the mask, the hood, the uniform...all his. I tore off the gas-mask and tossed it aside, then peeled off the clothing, discarding it as well. Quickly, I slid toward the wardrobe and removed a silk gown, the soft pink fabric smooth against my skin. Once I was dressed, I moved back to the mirror and met the lonely eye of the face that returned my gaze. She seemed so alone on the other side of the mirror. She needed a friend, a lover, anyone, to keep her company. She was tired of being a pet.

Annoyed with life, Damian, and the world, I collapsed onto the bed, trying not to focus on the shouting, so instead I scanned the ceiling as if it would give me some sort of answer. Of course it just remained blank, and silent, making sure I knew I was alone. I turned on my side and tried to clear my mind and block out everything for just a few minutes. But no matter how hard I tried to rid my mind of everything, one thing stayed. And I didn't realize that it would be his eyes that would stay burned into my mind, along with the image of his face. Every intricate detail was etched into my brain. When he spoke, how his jugular would throb, and I could still envision the blood surging though that artery, asking to be drunk from. I remember his lips being formed into a snarl. His smooth but sharp tone, intimidating, but I'm sure it could make someone do something without a single threat being spoken. au the soft stubble that stuck from his jaw, hinting that his priorities were about hunting and less about being clean shaven. But in the end, his eyes stood out the most. I never saw his hair color, but that didn't matter, I knew those eyes. The crystal orbs that possessed so much hatred in them like a burning fire. Never in my life, even though I was still trying to discover who I was, have I ever seen icy blues as eccentric as those, yet I couldn't shake the feeling I'd met that gaze before.

A dull thud pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned my head to face the window, concealed kwa the dark, velvet curtains. When nothing came again, I faced the ceiling again and let my eye flutter shut. But the moment I let my world fade to black another soft thud broke the silence. This time I sat up, and took my uniform koti, jacket from the edge of the bed. Once I slipped it on, and drew the kofia up, I stood and moved to the window and drew the heavy curtain back. Unlocking the window, I looked out, fresh air rushing into my lungs. The nyasi blew gently below, but besides the faint rays of the moonlight reflecting off the dew, nothing seemed out of place.

Sighing, I shut the window and returned to the soft bed, pulling the koti, jacket tight around me just for extra warmth, before shutting my eye again. Sleep came slowly; but when she did, her arms wrapped around me while she gently cradled me into a deep sleep. Quietly, she conjured up soft lights behind my eyelid that eventually formed into wild dreams, the most prominent one, the one that stuck out the most, scared me.

I pried my eye open. There were muffled voices yelling, one seeming to be a man, the other a woman. And everything was too dark. I couldn't see an inch front of my face. Where was the vampiric eye-sight? Along with the darkness was a cold that chilled to the bone. I tried to pull the covers over myself. When I tugged at the soft blanket it didn't give into me, wrap, upangaji pamoja me up, and expel the cold, it didn't even budge. Again, I gave another tug but the cover stayed. Annoyed, I blindly outstretched my arms to locate the thing that weighted the blanket. But when hands touched a solid form I pulled back and sucked in a breath. The shape quivered and gave off a soft, childish whine before speaking, groggily, "Blade..?"
Blade? Who was that? Who was speaking? Where was I? Before I can open my mouth and ask, the small boy--who had complained--turned on his side and stared at me. He had the most brilliant red eyes I had ever seen, the rubies reflected the moonlight making them dazzle in the dark. I felt his hand close around mine and, in the soft light, he gave an apologetic smile, "Blade, wewe awake?" Quickly, I pulled my hand back and scooted away, falling backwards. The decent felt like a mile, and when I staggered to my feet, I brushed the long blonde locks out of my face. Long?! I had short hair! Panicked, I looked to my hands, their small size resembling a five-year-old's. I opened my mouth, feeling the tears burn, "Dante...I'm scared!" Dante? I didn't even try to say that, it was like I couldn't control my words. Quickly, I backed up, until the cool ukuta stopped me, leaving a good three feet between me and the bed. I heard shuffling on the kitanda and then the click of a chain. The light that glowed from the lamp "Dante" had just turned on was dim but just bright enough that I could see the small boy.
"Blade, it's okay to be scared, but we have to get rest," he spoke with an apologetic smile before brushing the blonde locks out of his face, which only fell back, resulting in the small boy to huff.
"But Dante..." the shouting got louder and there was a loud crash that made me wince, and still I found myself continuing, "Daddy's mad at me, I don't want him to be mad at wewe too."


I watched as he slowly clambered off the kitanda and kneeled in front of me. Gently, he wrapped his small arms around my own body and I couldn't ignore the warm feeling in my chest. Dante pulled me close and I heard his soft whisper, "Dad's not mad, Bla-"
"Yes he is! He was mad because I broke the picture! Kelsey tried to take the blame...and now Daddy and Mommy are fighting because of me!"
"No, they aren't it's not your fault... Dad is just busy....and I don't want wewe to blame yourself."
"But Daddy sa-"
"Shhh, let's go back to be-" the boy's sentence was cut off with a loud bang at the bedroom door. There was a growl and a low voice boomed for the door to be opened. Dante looked to me, and kissed my temple whispering, "I won't let him hurt you," before helping me to my feet and onto the bed. He joined my side and urged me to lay down before taking my hand, and replying to the voice behind the door, "Dad, we're trying to sleep!"
"Bullshit! It's passed both of your bedtimes! I heard wewe talking! Now let me in!" The door flew open and a silhouette of a burly man stood in the entryway. He charged mbele and reached for me, but Dante moved between us. "Dad" grabbed him, and growled, pulling him to the corner of the room. He then grabbed me and shoved me out of it, locking the door behind me. I heard him screaming , and Dante, and soon mine, his and Dante's all rung out together as I slammed my fist against the door. I needed to get in there! I needed to help! I couldn't make out what he was yelling at Dante, but I banged the door harder and harder and harder, all while screaming as loud as I could.

"Hey!"
The voice pulled me from me sleep, and I shot up, moyo pounding, blood pumping. Quickly, I turned to the window where the knocking was coming from and backed off the bed, grabbing the first thing I could put get my hands on. Again the voice called from behind the curtain before it was drawn back and there stood a figure. "You know..." His voice, that voice, spoke lowly, "You should probably lock your window...someone might just take the opportunity to sneak in." His kofia was drawn, but I could still see a smirk on his lips. Before he could further his spill I threw the object as hard as I could at him.


Instantly, he caught the mto shaking his head, is smile gone in a flash, "Pillows aren't best defense against big ba-"
"Get out!" I cut him off again. I was not about to allow him to get an advantage over me. So when he denied my offer of leaving I was taken aback a bit.

"No." He strolled around the room, examining the luxurious bed, curtains, carpet, and went on to avoid any further demands that he leave, "Nice place wewe got here, so where's your master?"
"In th- No! I don't have one, I live here alone, now leave before I make you." Why was I even giving him a chance? I should've lunged mbele and threatened his life with my fangs, but something in the back of my mind wouldn't allow it. It wanted to know he was here when he obviously showed nothing but disgust in the forest.
"Last time I recall wewe trying to make me do something, wewe were the one that eneded up regretting it."
"Well, last time I recall, you were the one that nearly killed me, and look here wewe are, in my room, not killing me."

"How do wewe know I'm not here to kill you?"
"Because wewe would've done it kwa now."
"You're smarter than wewe look fledging..."
I ignored the maoni and tried to get back to the subject that was zaidi important, "Why are wewe even here?"
The man took his place on the upendo kiti, kiti cha against the wall, careful to keep his features concealed, "Well, wewe see, after our little encounter, I came to the conclusion that you'd be better off dead. One less vampire in this world is one less innocent person that has to be fed on. So, I made it my goal to track wewe down, and with my expertise, it was quite easy. And when ?I got to a giant mansion in the middle of literally nowhere I guessed this must have been where wewe stayed. After a quick scan of the perimeter and noticing only one room with the light on, I guessed it was yours. Are wewe scared of the dark? I've never met a vampire who actually keeps the light on."
"N-no! I just..er...fo-forgot! To turn it off..."
"Right...So to make sure that the room was yours, I looked around and found some small rocks, small enough so they wouldn't break the glass, and threw them at your wind-"
"Are wewe sure wewe were tracking me down to kill me au ask me on a date?"
"Don't flatter yourself...Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I threw a few rocks at your window. When wewe took the bait and looked out the window, it confirmed that, that was in fact your room. Just make sure wewe weren't expecting anything, I waited for an half to one hour. But wewe see, when I climbed up to your window seal, with the help of those hideous gargoyle statues...are they really necessary?"
"Go on!"
"I heard screaming. I think it was you, it sounded like wewe were scared au in pain. So I knocked, and knocked, and knocked. When wewe wouldn't answer I even called a few times, until finally your yelling stopped. I didn't know if wewe were dead au what so I took it upon myself to enter. Only to find wewe were very much alive...That brings me to my question. What in the hell were wewe dreaming about that made wewe scream like that?"

"I-I don't know...It wasn't really a dream, zaidi like a nightmare....And in it there was a boy and..I was a child..but it wasn't me and then a man came in and pulled me out of the room and I wanted to help the little boy but the door was locked and everyone was screaming," I rambled the words, staring at the wrinkles in the kitanda sheets. I didn't want to tell him. Why was I telling him!
"You didn't know the boy?"
"No..I've never seen him and he doesn't look like anyone I know...but he kept calling me kwa my name."
"Your name?"
"Well, no, someone else's..."
"What did he call you?"
"I can't really remember I th- wait... Wait! Why the hell would I want to tell you? wewe came here to kill me! This is all a set up to distract me so wewe can slit my throat when I'm least expecting it!" When I looked up from the kitanda sheets the man was gone from the loveseat--I knew it! The bastard was distracting me. He was a cat and I was the mouse--he was just toying with me before the kill! Quickly, I moved to light switch so the room went completely black. I couldn't help but tense, despite seeing almost perfectly. I went to grab the silver dagger I had kept on the vanity, but it was missing. Turning on my heels I darted for the window, but instead of sailing through the opening, I slammed into something hard.

Before me stood the man his frown too visible with the low-light vision. I backed away but his hand gripped my wrist, his rings cold against my skin, and I felt the tip of the dagger waver just in front of my neck. His voice was the thing that shattered my ukuta of defense and I swallowed hard, "Any last words, kid?"
"I..am...not...a...kid!" As hard as I could, I forced my knee directly into the groin of my attacker. His breath escaped him and he surrendered the dagger into my hands before keeling over onto the ground. With the opportunity available, I sunk atop him and held the dagger as close as I could to his neck, my blood was pounding in my ears and one thought boomed loudly. This whole time I had survived off of blood packs, never fresh they tasted like plastic due to what they were stored in and were never as satisfying. Almost absent-mindedly, I dropped the dagger and leaned forward, my fangs scraping against the thin dermis of his neck. And just as I was about to dig in I heard the man whimper and it snapped me from my thoughts. "What?"
"I was just messing with you!" It was nearly a beg .
"What?"
"I wasn't re-really going to hurt you...God, that hurt like a bitch!"

"What? What makes wewe think I'm going to trust you." I pulled back seeing his face for the first time. His kofia had fell and his short blonde hair was platinum in the moonlight along with the piercing diamonds he possessed that peaked beneath his nearly shut eyes.
"I-if I was going to kill you...I would've done it in the woods...even now if I wanted to kill you, I could easily flex my wrist and slit your throat. Now please...get off of me."
I told myself not to move, commanded my body to stay put and drive my canines into his neck, but still I found myself standing and moving to turn the lights back on. He managed to get to his feet, still panting as he struggled to stand straight. A twinge of guilt settled in my stomach and rubbed my arm, "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to..."

"I-It's fine....shit..." He made his way over to windowsill and took a seat, sighing.
"So...my turn for the questions."
"What's that?"
"Why didn't wewe kill me?"
"I don't know, I usually have no problem, no sekunde thought, nothing like that, when it comes to killing a target...but those screams were beyond any...person I was sent out to kill. They were so broken..I couldn't bring myself to bring anymore pain to wewe after hearing them," he got to his feet and leaned out the window, placing one foot over the side, "Well, I better get going...Maybe we'll see each other again, on better terms huh?"
"Yeah," I was staring at the ground, my head clouded with thought ,"Wait! One zaidi question."
He seemed reluctant, wanting to leave but nodded to himself, "Okay...shoot."
"What's your name?"

"My name? Fine, I'll owe wewe for not ripping my throat out....it's Declan." With that he was out the window. And I looked up, mouth agape in shock. Did he say "Declan"? There was a sick feeling that turned in my stomach while my moyo dropped. Shakily, I got to my feet and went to the drawer where I kept the folder, that Damian had aliyopewa me a mwezi ago, of the people that I was told to hunt down--the people that had done this to me. I flipped to the page that had the picture of a man drawing his hood. All features concealed except his mouth and jaw. On the hand that was pulling the hood, were three rings, bronze, silver and gold--just to hakikisha that it was him and erase all my chances at convincing myself that it wasn't. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe there was someone out there with the same rings; on the same finger; on the same hand. Unfortunately, I was proven wrong again as I directed my sight to left. The snippet inayofuata to the picture alisema "Name: Declan Conners".

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((I ALSO APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG LENGTH... NO ONE WANTS TO READ THINGS THAT ARE THIS FREAKING LONG! ;-;))