Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays
I'll send 'em howling, I don't care... I got ways...
No one's gonna hurt you, No one's gonna dare
Others can desert you, whistle, I'll be there
Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while
Bit in time...
Nothing's can harm you, not while I'm around
-Lyrics to 'Not While I'm Around' performed by John Groban

Crimson Bonds Part 18

Northern Italy...

On a remote stretch of sandy beaches in Cavallino, three beings stood against that backdrop of a dark night sky. Far in the distance behind them, the sprawling residences lay in peaceful silence with the low roar of the waves rolling in.

During the day, the youngest of the visitors marveled over the sheer beauty of his surroundings. There was no wonder to why the resort brought so many revelers during the warm season. With only the light of the full moon to brighten the miles of water and coast, there was no hiding the serenity and wonder of the shoreline.

However, for at least one unfortunate soul, it was this very beach that became a hell on Earth in their last moments. This was the last known whereabouts for Anthony Barone prior to his disappearance

"That was bad," Anna breathed as she stared out to the patch of sand ahead of her. "This was really bad." Stepping forward a couple of paces, she brought herself to stop at the point she had been the most focused on and lowered herself into a crouch with a haunted look in her gold-ringed eyes.

Careful to not disturb the scene when he moved to stand behind her, Duo chewed on the inside of his cheek as he watched his sister at work with her tracking abilities.

What appeared like any other bank of granules, he could only imagine what it was she saw in it to have made her chilling comment regarding the attack that had taken place in that spot.

Not about to question her talent, the Hybrid scanned the area to have a better idea to what had transpired.... while at the same time not wanting to know.

Opening her mouth to give the scenario, the Irish Vampire paused and peered over her shoulder to take in her son. "Can you tell me what unfolded here, Charles?" she inquired.

The young Infected blinked widely as he hurried to his mother's side.

Anxious to put the lessons that she had taught him to use, he licked his lips and pointed at the same area in front of her to think aloud, "Barone was sitting here for a while. Judging by the slight divot that's remained, he was alone and stayed in place for at least an hour before she came up behind him."

"She?" Duo broke in, violet-and-silver eyes enlarged in surprise. "You can tell that the Rogue is a female?"

Nodding, Anna peered up at him, explaining, "Normally, we wouldn't be able to tell by the nearly invisible tracks, but this one was sloppy and left a clue behind."

At that, she sunk her hand beneath the surface sand until it was nearly buried elbow-deep. As her palm was pulled back into view, it carried a lump of darkened sand that had stuck together like glue.

Blood. Enough to have been worth a couple of droplets... more than enough to tell a Vampire a great deal about the being that it belonged to.

His gapping jaw closing with an audible snap, Maxwell murmured, "Damn. You had this whole beach and you were able to pick up on that little spec. Amazing." He was offered grins of appreciation from the Infected as he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I guess there is a little bit of good news," he stated, "an experienced Rogue wouldn't have left their own blood behind like that. And the fact that she was injured in the struggle at all is more proof that she hasn't been at this for long."

Anna brushed her hands clean of the sand and rose to her feet, commenting under her breath, "That is the theory so far." Gesturing to Charles, she urged, "What happened from here, son?"

Suddenly uncomfortable at having a vivid picture of the carnage that had taken place, the immortal ran a hand through his short, red hair as he pointed off to the ocean. "The victim was dragged out to the water and tormented there for a time," he shared. "I can see the shift in the stones just under the waves where his heels dug in to kick."

Keeping away any emotion now that she was deep into the investigation, his mother responded flatly, "Good. What else?" Duo could feel his chest rising and falling with his quiet, unconscious pants for air as the horrific events played out as he heard them.

Reluctant to go on at first, the tall redhead gestured to the right and continued, "Barone was carried back to the beach with little life left in him before he was finished off..."

Voice hitching to cut him short, he cleared his throat to all but whisper, "painfully judging from how disheveled the sand is there, before his body was shredded and carried far into the sea to never be found thanks to the tide that had rolled in. The whole thing happened fast, but it was brutal... like it was personal for the Rogue."

Shallowly, Anna nodded, "Still on point so far. Now, can you tell what direction she took off in?" Not about to try to speak again beyond his constricting throat, Charles pointed to the southwest but went on staring at the patch of beach where the murder itself had occurred.

"Well done," the Siren praised sincerely. "I'm impressed that you were able to pick all of that up for your first tracing of an actual crime scene." Resting a hand on her boy's shoulder, she willed him to meet her gaze and said, "It's a lot different when it's for real as opposed to something that your father and I fabricated for your training,... isn't it?"

Nodding vehemently, he managed, "Yea."

It was a night and day difference. There was an excitement to the prospect of a hunt for Charles when he was back in the comfort of his home and family when he knew that what he was studying did not involve a very true death. This was a young man who had been killed in a most heinous way.

Anthony Barone had a family and friends of his own who would never know what had become of him... and perhaps that much was a blessing.

But they would never see him in this existence again. And it was all thanks to a Vampire who wanted to take out her frustrations on another, weaker creature.

Resting a hand on his nephew's free shoulder, Duo told him, "This is only an idea to some of the things that we've been up against over the years, kid. As rough as this attack was, there have been and will be worse cases than this."

Slowly bringing his head close to the wide eyes watching him, he frowned, "What we have to do to end this is just as viscous. But you understand why we must... right?"

There was no hesitation from the young immortal when he nodded his head of red hair. Though he'd never met the human who had spent his last horrific terrifying moments on this beach, Charles wanted the blood of the Infected responsible.

She struck once and she would strike again, potentially carelessly and risking exposure that the rest of his kind did not need.

More than that, the lives of other mortals were on the line so long as that wicked Rogue was walking the earth. Whatever he had to do to stop her, the Preventer in training was committed to the task.

Content that her son was ready, Anna released him as she pressed, "Describe her from what the blood tells you."

"Average height, brunette, green eyes," Charles rattled off, finishing with a smirk to the Irish Vampire. "You could easily take her on your own, Mom." It broke the tension enough that his guardians both snickered and shook their heads in amusement.

Winking, the Siren stated, "I appreciate the compliment, son, but it's always best to never underestimate a Rogue when they are this blood thirsty. We've been taken by surprise before by assuming that we were in for an easy time. About the only thing we can be certain of working in our favor is that we have her scent to find her."

Maxwell grinned, "That's a lot better than the luck we'd had in the last couple of missions before this one."

Running a hand over the top of his head, he took a second to peer out to the ocean once more before he suggested, "We better get out of here before any of the locals start stirring. It's only a couple of hours before the sun will start rising again."

Under her breath, Anna agreed, "Close the gap as much as we can between us and our target and set up camp." Lightly brushing her child's side, she smirked, "One of us still requires sleep, so we can take the time to set up camp before his bed time."

Charles groaned, "Ma. At twenty years old, you're physically younger than I am." He laughed when she reached up to pinch his ear.

"Only physically," his mother was fast to remind. Folding her arms, she asked, "Are you going to argue that you're growing tired after nearly two whole days of running around on this search without a break?"

Simply the thought of sleep had the young Vampire suppressing a yawn as he shook his head, "No. I admit I'm burning out a little."

Duo snickered, "Alright, then. You'll need your rest for whenever we intercept our Rogue, so we'll ease off for now."

Stretching his arms high overhead, he gazed back out to the horizon and considered aloud, "Maybe once we're settled I'll come back to visit this place during the day so I can get that awful mental picture of what happened out of my head-"

But just as he started to shift, the Hybrid noticed his sister's back straighten rigidly. Following her line of sight, he noticed the corner of beach where Barone had been killed and dismembered. And the wide-eyes of her especially pale face had the hairs of his arm standing on end.

"My God, how is that possible?" Anna breathed. "I should have seen that before when I started to wonder how in the hell she was able to rip him to bits so quickly."

Frowning deeply, Charles then stared hard at the sand that his trained eyes could interpret.

With a sharp gasp in finding what he'd initially missed, he breathed, "She wasn't alone... at least not when our victim was being drained of his blood in the final stage."

Maxwell could feel the cold rush of it as those words sunk in. "How many others were there in the attack?" he questioned, his pitch and volume rising along with his concern.

The Infected exchanged anxious glances and faced the braided Hybrid.

"We're dealing with two, but the second one... I have no idea how they were able to come in and not leave something behind to show their trail," his nephew informed. "The one who was injured in the initial struggle looks to have been the one to do all of the hard work when the second looks to have appeared from thin air then disappeared again."

Because he did not have the experience in a case like this, Charles did not understand. However, Duo and Anna were able to piece it together quickly.

Their narrowed eyes locking, they hissed, "Mutation." So the Rogue was not an Original and she had created an ally. A powerful one at that given the nature of the third-generation Infected's gift that could allow them to appear out of nowhere.

His own shoulders tensing, the volunteer agent's eyes grew as far as they could as he spun towards his mentors.

"This open-shut case just became a hell of lot more complicated," Maxwell sighed. "We're going to have to move and hope that we can get to them before another Vampire is born to add to their Clan." If they were not already too late, he regretfully thought to himself.

Nodding firmly, Anna replied sharply, "Right." She gave her son a reassuring smile as she praised, "You did well, Charles. I have to admit I'm impressed with how well you tracked the scene. Lead the way as soon as you're ready."

The handsome boy beamed in gratitude for both the compliment and the trust to take the helm, though there was also a hint of his raised concerns over what was to come. Rolling his shoulders back, he faced the direction that had become his primary target's escape route and shot off in a blur of himself.

Duo stayed back only long enough to smirk to his sister, "You and 'Fei oughta be proud of him. But then, he did have two of the best Preventers to break him in." Winking, he bolted away before the wide-eyed Infected could respond.

Anna giggled, shaking her head and charged fast on his heels.

*   *   *   *   *   *

"Aunt Midi," Carol laughed as she stepped into her new home's living room, "You're definitely in your element when you're house cleaning. Um... all of you."

For every corner of the space, there was a copy of the Latin Infected working to dust, arrange and put the finish touches into readying the area for the move. Pausing in their work, they smiled brightly to the teenager at the same time, "Thank you, dear."

At the center of the room, the true 'little mother' placed a tall vase of fresh pink roses onto the round table and called her mirror images to disappear.

Sighing in content, Midi appraised her efforts and nodded, "There. It's as if we had never left." Hands on her hips as she turned to peer outside, she let out a squeak of displeasure in seeing the barren front lawn. "But I simply must see to the gardening before I can consider this place ready for us."

Her eyes rolling, Carol snorted, "Only you, Aunt Midi. Only you." Raising her hands, she snickered, "Flowers aren't my thing, but I'm sure Isabel would be more than happy to give a hand there." The sounds of air swooshing upstairs reached her keen ears as she shrugged, "Once she and John are finished clearing out the last couple of bedrooms, that is."

A knowing grin curled the Latin beauty's face as she approached her niece, offering, "Perhaps some re-sculpting of the banisters would be something you would like. They could use a talented eye like yours to give them some new life. I could tell that you took quite the shine to the Celtic influence your father incorporated when he decorated this mansion for your mother."

Unable to contain her excitement at being able to put her passion for art into touching up the estate, the teenager smiled, "You don't think that Mom and Dad would mind? I have so many ideas, but I am nervous that they might not like them."

"Sweetheart, when have your parents ever been anything but supportive of you in every way?" Midi challenged, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her lips as she folded her arms. "You know that there is nothing that you could say or do that they would not love."

Carol swallowed roughly at that. Yes, she was well aware of what her aunt was also hinting to.

It was not long ago when the young Vampire had nervously spoken to her parents to share with them that she favored girls.

She had been scared out of her existence over how they would react, but they only hugged and kissed her with every encouragement that they were more than accepting of her... as well as whoever they would consider the 'lucky young woman' tied to her.

Just the memory of that discussion brought a sting of tears to the tomboy's gold-rimmed eyes.

That unconditional love from her parents was part of the inspiration behind the carvings and sculpting that she wished to include in their home. After all, it had all begun as a project that her father had taken on for her mother. And Midi was right... they would be more than happy with whatever she made.

Clearing her throat, the pixie-styled redhead nodded, "Okay. I'll grab my kit that I brought along and set up shop." In the next blink, she was gone in a whirl.

Midi giggled, shaking her head in amusement. Brushing down the front of her slacks, she smiled up to the ceiling, "It's good to be home again."

*   *   *   *   *   *

The stage was set for a new age in history. And Nancy McAdams was set for the curtain call.

Washington was already abuzz with hoards of visitors awaiting the next day's debate in the Senate over the Vampire registration laws.

Just beyond her window, the Representative could hear a growing crowd shouting either in support or in protest of her stance against the demonic Infected that plagued the earth. Once the commotion grew to a roar, the police came in to break the crowd up.

But the events transpired with little recognition on the Senator's part. No, she was far too focused on typing the last points of her argument. Finally satisfied with the whole of her report, she saved the data and closed her laptop.

Her hands closing together, Nancy bowed her head and whispered, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference." Bowing her head, she sighed and stared beyond the window of her office to stare at the Capital, its pristine walls illuminated by the street lights in the distance.

"Your will be done," she muttered under her breath.

And silently, she hoped that His will included the tide to shift in the favor of his true children, the livings.

*   *   *   *   *   *

That same evening...

Wufei had been happy for the distraction of his own assignment to keep his mind from missing Anna. The worrying over her and Charles was easier to forget when he was so engrossed in his careful coding into the worldly government's database.

But he was a father first, and that was not about to change even in light of his important job. The light knock on his office door followed by the sight of a little head that stretched no taller than the edge of his desk poking inside was testimony of that. "Daddy?" his visitor called.

Instantly bringing his typing to a stop, the scaly Infected turned in his chair to meet the gold-tinged eyes watching him. "Yes, Rosie?" he said warmly. Pushing himself away from his station, he walked over to kneel before his youngest child.

The sight of the redness in the whites of her eyes caused a pain in Chang's chest. "Still having those nightmares, little Bud?" he asked softly, running a hand over the top of her red hair.

Clutching her teddy bear to her chest, his daughter nodded, "Yea. Those monsters just keep coming, Daddy. 'm scared."

"Aw," Wufei grinned sadly. Scooping the tiny one up into his arms, he kissed her cheek. "Nothing is going to hurt you as long as I'm around, sweetheart. I'll stick around until you go back to sleep and keep those demons away."

Her little arms hooking around his neck, Rosie still managed to hold tight to her bear. Biting into her father's shoulder for another measure of comfort, she sighed and relaxed as the horrible images of her dream left her.

As he promised, Wufei stayed by his charge's bedside, reading to her until her eyelids grew heavy and eventually closed.

Chuckling deeply to himself, the scaly Vampire kissed the top of her head, whispering by her ear, "Nothing is ever going to hurt you as long as I'm around, little Bud. You don't have anything to be afraid of." Silently, he slipped from the room and closed the door behind him.

Rosie's eyes blinked open, sleep still keeping them at half-mast as she whispered, "But the monsters aren't after me, Daddy... they're after Mommy and Uncle Duo."

Lulled by her father's blood that eased the her, she dozed back off into a restful slumber.

TBC...

 

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