Vampire Nightlife

It was a song.

A song borne out of misery? Not necessarily. But Chaerin did sing and it was no hum, no simple melody that you whispered but instead it was something you could have called a real song.

Something that you sang to pass the time–surely.

But it was something more.

Chaerin was not really the 'sing-song' person, and if anything, Lukas had heard Lily singing while the two of them worked. A 'merry working' song if you could call it that. Beautiful, melodious and something that lifted the spirits.

It was a great contrast to Chaerin's voice.

This was a song of challenges, of a strength that existed in spite of the pain–it was a song that beckoned the greatest of foes and to look them in the eye and utter the words "Strike me at your strongest" with an unwavering look.

There was no surety, no certainty that things would get better.

If one was more realistic, they would have thought of the worse. A pessimistic, realistic–but not exactly wrong reality. You had to be prepared for the worst in most cases.

And that was it.

Chaerin's voice didn't deny that, but to be able to face things in spite of that possibility and future? She sang. And it was with an eat-shitting grin that she sang out loud even though her throat may grow dry.

No water, blood and barely much moisture to be had.

And yet the hymn kept her alive and as Lukas stared at her stunned for a minute, two, or even longer–he also joined in the song. Not knowing the lyrics, but the two of them had their fun.

Much like a small human standing in the face of giants.

As they sang, a small butterfly beat its wings to the rhythm until finally the vibrations of a vehicle came by and past the tiny creature. The van of the Vampires, or if you'd like to call it the Vampire Van–sped through the desert terrain and was headed for the two.

How'd it happen?

It was not mere fate, chance or luck.

Sometimes, it all boiled down to the connection that each one held.

***

Drusilla of the Sanguise House–or rather, the predecessor of it was surprised and in a state of umbrage when Lukas so willingly handed the dagger to the daughter of the Vardokens.

Of course, she had known, she could tell what the young Vampire-man had in mind. It was like staring at clear water and asking what it reflected back at you. Sometimes, it was all too predictable.

Like cycle to cycle and age to age.

Heroes, Villains and whatever role that happened to play would occur again.

Whether it was man facing down giants or Vampires challenging dragons. For Lukas' sake however, Drusilla chose to not put Anastasia dis Vardoken into the Trials of Worth and considered it a mere errand.

However, it also meant that Drusilla would also come face to face with the reality of her kind. And if she had met Emerys di Verdant? If the two had been able to chit chat and talk?

Why, they'd come to the very same conclusion.

"Soft, city boys." Emerys di Verdant had once called Lukas.

"Weak and fragile Vampires." Drusilla had said to herself in a disappointed manner.

She had known better humans who held their blades better than Stacy gripping her weapon now. It felt like a grave offense for Drusilla for the ostentatious dagger to be in the hands of the ill-equipped.

Oh, Stacy fought and dodged–the single poison scorpion.

It was a pathetic sight and Drusilla would have accepted the young woman fleeing and outpacing the scorpion now rather than facing it. It was hard to say who was toying with the other–and maybe it was the scorpion who found it offensive that the big, lumbering creature didn't just kill it.

For a little bit, Drusilla chose to tap into the weapon and exuded an aura–directing it into the scorpion. Whether or not it had intelligence similar to that of a Vampire, it could at least detect strength and its body shook and it quickly buried itself in the sands.

Stacy's grip tightened around the weapon and she bit her lip enough to draw blood.

Calm, cool and collected–if Drusilla had heard that refer to Stacy, she would have laughed and coughed up blood. Each individual had their comfort zone, a place where each one felt like an expert of their own…

But it was in fighting that Stacy lacked in capacity.

Nevertheless, in Drusilla's own reluctant accolades–Stacy quickly refocused and ran towards the direction where Lukas told her to go. And she was perhaps every bit as serious and driven as Lukas had deemed her to be.

After all, it took a certain level of courage to go outside the city of Lux when you knew deep down inside that you had nothing to offer to the battlefield.

Perhaps it was just plain idiocy.

Who was able to tell?

Anastasia dis Vardoken much preferred to be known as 'Stacy', and she could be her snappish self and not worry about the consequences of her blood and ancestors. And now her chest pounded as she rushed.

If Lukas had not known whether he'd meet Theodore, Alexei, or Chaerin–somehow Stacy could tell that it was her brother who she was going to meet.

A bond between siblings that was strong.

They only had each other after all.

And perhaps if Chaerin could have something more to envy about Stacy, it would have been this as well. A relationship so strong that you could detect when the other person was in danger and a relationship where there were no lies, secrets and distrust.

"Alexei!" Stacy shouted.

It truly was her brother lying down in the sand, and he seemed to have held his hand out as if strangling someone by their throat–and then his eyes snapped open, Alexei sat up and then turned towards her.

"You're more awake than me, Ana?" Alexei blinked a couple of times and then rubbed his face. There was no question in his face as he glanced around the desert and realized they were out of the van.

Stacy had a lot of questions to ask, and Lukas had been brief about the details but she made a face as she heard her brother. "Don't call me that." she said.

Alexei pointedly ignored her and his gaze flickered to the weapon that she held on hand. His expression turned a tad serious. "That's… that's not yours, Stace. Did you steal that?"

"No, Lukas gave it to me. But we don't have the time for this." Stacy clicked her tongue and looked at the direction that she came from. "We have to regroup with Lukas and the others."

"Well, that dagger is in better hands with me." Alexei said, dusting himself and then glancing at the sky. "Also, isn't it going to be daylight too? Somehow, it's like I can feel like the sun will rise in a few. I don't like it."

Stacy looked at her brother and held her tongue. Between the two of them, it almost seemed like Alexei was more gifted but Stacy refused to hand over the weapon–much to the slight gratification of Drusilla.

She was not fond of being passed around so simply.

The two siblings then quickly set out into the motion, choosing to run as fast as they could to meet up with the rest. There wasn't much conversation between the two but they did exchange a few more words.

"What did you dream of?" Stacy shot a look at her brother.

"... What did you dream of?" Alexei asked right back at her.

"..."

"Ladies first."

"... the conservatory." Stacy mumbled quietly. "Back when grandfather was still alive."

Alexei's expression hardly shifted, as if afraid that he'd make the wrong reaction.

But then he made a scoffing sound and then ran his fingers through his hair. "I dreamed about strangling a being who called itself a Dream Eater or something. Gah, dreams are so random."

"Yeah. Random." Stacy repeated.

The two eventually found Theodore and what an awkward moment that had been. Stacy was afraid that maybe the assassin from the Hunters Association would simply leave them or whatnot, but to her surprise, he didn't.

"Good. The two of you are already together, I don't have to look for each of you separately." Theodore glanced at them and then pointed in a direction. "I'm not sure if Lukas said to meet here, but we're going back to the van."

And what a silent way back it was.

Neither of the Vardoken siblings would have made an effort to talk with Theodore, but then Alexei did. As they stepped into the van, he glanced at the driver and asked.

"Did you strangle anyone in your dream?" Alexei casually asked.

A minute passed and Stacy thought that Theodore would ignore the question. But then he looked up in the rearview mirror and spoke.

"I wanted to strangle a few." Theodore curtly replied.