Do you bury me when I'm gone?
Do you teach me while I'm here?
Just as soon as I belong, then it's time I disappear
-Lyrics to 'I Disappear' performed by Metallica
Crimson Bonds Part 21
Charles never knew a Vampire could sound like that. But the vicious, haunting shrill cry from the Rogue that pierced the night went right through him to straighten his back like a firm twig and locked his feet where they stood. It was the sound of a desperate animal that had been trapped... and had nothing to lose in clawing its way out.
"You stay close, kid," Duo snapped under his breath, fangs bared and a hand holding tightly to the long bow of a staff. In a blink, he twisted the two halves of his weapon to bring on the glowing, green laser of his scythe.
At the same breath of time, Anna slid her right hand's fingers into the trigger mechanism of her crossbow, flicking off the safety with the pad of her thumb as they began to crouch down in anticipation of the fight to come.
For the miles upon miles of land that they could see beyond the edge of the tree line where the Preventers had stopped, there was no so much a twitch of movement spare for the swaying of the tall grass that covered the hillside. In the light from the high moon, those bending stalks gave off a winking wave like a rippling tide coming in from sea.
Into the quiet, the Irish Infected called, "You know you can't outrun us now!" Fangs in plain sight, she ordered, "Just show yourself and put and end to this."
And an entirely different gust of air darted through the grass from an opposing angle to shoot right for the team to scale the tallest tree directly ahead of them. Materializing onto a thick branch, the Vampire that the agents had hunted down emerged to appear just as Charles had described her from the blood sample that she'd unknowingly left behind for them.
Light brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, average height, green eyes. Alluring and athletically built, the culprit would certainly have turned countless heads over the course of her existence. For the young Vampire who had helped track her, it was a startling revelation that such a beauty could be capable of the terror that he had seen first-hand.
"Well, well, well," the Rogue purred, her gold-rimmed irises fixed on the young man of the team. "I thought that I might have had a little more time to take out my anger on the humans before I became the hunted. I have to say that I'm impressed."
Duo's eyes narrowed further as he announced, "You have been found guilty by the Preventers to have killed at least one known innocent living. The sentence is death to you and any accomplice to your act." At that, there was a telling flash of panic in the Rogue's face that she quickly covered into a neutral expression.
But that glimmer was more than enough for her captors to catch.
Slipping her left hand back behind her, Anna gestured to her son to make himself ready as she demanded up to the Infected above them, "Where is he?" She made no clarification to who 'he' was... but then, every soul present was well aware of who she meant.
"If he plays nice and comes out, we'll go easy on you both and make your ends quick," the redhead offered. Her voice lowering, she warned, "Believe me, you don't want to know the alternative."
Charles's hands shook and fumbled in gripping the hilt of his club surrounded by long spikes. Swallowing roughly at the sight of the hand signal, he readied himself and calmed his nerves as best he could. Then he heard a venom in his mother's voice that he had never known before.
The Rogue's smile returned, only of a much more sinister nature. "I'm not about to go quietly," she commented. "And neither is he, since he had asked to be turned when he became disgusted by his own kind with their turning on Vampires the way that they have."
His violet eyes glowing, Shinigami smirked, "The hard way it is, then." Releasing a howl of his own, the Hybrid charged forth, slicing through the base of the tree that his enemy was perched on in one swipe from his scythe.
At the same time that the brunette vanished from sight in her attempt to sail onto solid ground, Anna became a blur to intercept her in mid-air. Their bodies tangling in the violent collision, they rolled off into the open field until they pushed themselves away to spring to their feet.
"Nowhere for you to hide now," the Siren grinned as she raised her crossbow. Just as she was about to release the arrow, a dark shadow that stood a whole foot taller than she did emerged from the grass behind her.
Before there was enough time to blink, it slammed a booted foot into the small of the Vampire's back. Gasping from the blow and her sudden collapse forward, the redhead's long ponytail of hair was gripped in a strong fist from which she was yanked over her assailant's shoulder to slam into the ground face-first.
Shinigami screeched into the scene, blood-thirst seeping from his narrowed eyes as he leapt for the massive mutation. Its shape shifting to reveal the young man of a Vampire that the being was, he took on the initial hit to skirmish with Maxwell enough to carry them back to the tree line and away from his Creator.
Once within the confines of the shrubbery, rocks and other natural surroundings, the newborn Infected was able to disappear and reemerge within the thick of their battle to keep his challenger guessing and reeling from an unexpected shot from seemingly nowhere.
Quick to see the disadvantage that he was at by coming up short at every strike he tried to land, the Hybrid panted through his frustration and the tiring task of keeping up.
Back in the field, the Rogue giggled, "Oh. That would be Jackson." Removing a long knife she had concealed at her hip, the smile faded into a threatening snarl as she closed the distance between her and the stunned Preventer fighting to push herself up, and added, "And this is good night to you, dear."
"Mom!" Charles cried when he materialized before the brunette to slam his club into her chest with a direct blast. The front of her red blouse shredding at its contact with the sharp shards of his weapon, the lovely Vampire cried out in surprise and pain as she was knocked back to roll along the grass once again.
At her son's arrival, Anna found her bearings and pushed herself back up to her feet. Both wide-eyed when they spotted their target, they watched as she lifted her upper body on her hands propped at either side of her. Peeking beneath the gaps of her tattered shirt, glints of gold from a metallic corset shone through.
For not having expected to have been caught as quickly as she had been, the Rogue was certainly prepared to protect herself. But it was the stunned look on her scratched up face that worried the redheaded Infecteds.
"Mom?" the little murderer repeated in quiet disbelief. "I thought that there was a resemblance, but I never would have imagined..."The corner of her healing lip curled up as she chuckled, "This just became a whole lot more interesting."
Were her heart still beating, Anna knew that it would have been pounding in her chest at the dark things that her opponent promised within her green eyes that had locked onto Charles. Her Achilles heel had been exposed, leaving the Siren vulnerable while having to look after both herself and her boy at the same time.
"Get back te de trees, Charles," the Irish Vampire whispered urgently with a tinge of her accent, never taking her focus from the brunette who was slowly climbing back to her feet. "Now."
Unable to so much as blink as he stared deeply into the nightmare that was threatening to come for him, her son finally found his voice enough to breathe, "B-but... what about yo-"
Spinning on her heels to face him, Anna shouted, "Now!" In the next fraction of a second, she bolted ahead with not a moment to spare in knocking the young Infected down to the ground when the Rogue had narrowly missed slicing him through. Instead, her blade that had shifted into a machete cut along the back of the Siren's sweater to cut the material off her body until only the metal corset below was left.
In the briefest of moments that he had to realize how close he had come to being killed, Charles found himself gripped in two strong fists and hauled onto his feet in one fierce pull to be nose-to-nose with his irate mother. "Go!" the Siren screamed, tossing him aside to have her arms free so that she could wrap them around the Rogue that had come around again.
Struggling to keep his knees from buckling as he stumbled back a couple paces, the boy was at odds as he witnessed the intense fight between the female Infected.
When she was not utilizing her crossbow, Anna had turned to holding off stab after stab made against her with the long dagger that she had pulled from the holster strapped to her left upper arm. Their corsets flashing in the moonlight with their every move, their blindingly fast attacks were matched equally as they mixed in darting to and fro throughout the span of the field.
Not about to disobey the direct order that he had been given and risk endangering his mother, Charles reluctantly took hold of his club and shot back into the shroud of the trees. Following the howls from Shingami, he came to find himself deep in the cover of high branches. What awaited him left him gasping sharply in shock.
Shinigami was being made to be little more than a toy for the mutation of a Vampire that was able to escape any harm aimed at him by melting into the ground or dissolving into one tree and reemerging from another to take the Hybrid by surprise.
Regardless of how fast the braided Companion was, he simply was not a match for such a crafty talent spare for being lucky in getting a hit in here and there.
Worried as Charles was over his mother, he could quickly see that it was actually his uncle who needed the most help at the moment.
And he had the advantage at not being noticed.
His eyes narrowing, the young immortal crouched down behind a large rock from a corner of the ring where the battling creatures were progressing towards. Squeezing onto the hilt of his club, he saw how Jackson slipped in and out to pick up on the pattern that Duo was too distracted to notice.
After a few passes and near misses from Maxwell, his violet eyes glowed all the more with his rage and he snarled as he carved a large gap into the ground with his scythe when he was within inches of beheading the Infected.
But that frustration equaled a wave of excitement for Charles. He knew where the Rogue's accomplice was going to reemerge and so he entered the small clearing that the skirmish had shifted to.
Letting out a cry from the effort of his swing, the redhead leapt and raised his club over his head to bring it down fast with his descent to have it pummel the top of Jackson's head when he began to slip up from the ground where his weapon touched down. His head falling with the fatal blow, Jackson's entire body spun onto its side as it curled in tight ball from the sheer power of the hit.
On instinct to keep his nephew from having to finish off the remainder of the grim task that needed to be done, Shinigami swooped in to guarantee that there was no way of the mutant coming back by proceeding to tear his remains into bits.
Charles fought for his breath as he fell back with wide, horror-filled eyes as the shadow that the Hybrid cast on him in the moonlight of the bloody act when a voice shrieked from behind him, "No! You little bastard!"
The force of a runaway freight train slammed into him, knocking every sense and bit of unnecessary air from his lungs as he was held onto by his waist to blast through a half dozen trees that were shattered in the process. Covered in splintered chunks of tree bark that jutted from his battered body, the redheaded Infected felt a hand squeeze down on his throat while he coughed and turned himself onto his back.
Beaten and bloodied herself, none of those injuries having come from the carnage that she had just caused thanks to using Charles as a shield for herself, the Rogue straddled her prey with a crazed look in her green-and-gold eyes.
This was a being out for revenge of the worst kind... one who was willing to make his suffering her last act. Her crimson-dripping fangs in full display, the brunette screeched as she threw herself down to deliver a bite that would sever the boy's neck.
His eyes squeezing closed, Charles hardly recognized the whimper that filled the air to have come from him in his anticipation of the agony to follow.
Only when he felt the graze of his would-be killer's fangs scape his skin, the other Infected heard a terrifying scream rise in the distance, causing the ground to tremble in its wake.
Somehow through the growing sound and quaking earth, there was a distinct thunk and a warm splatter that fell on the redhead's face a second before the weight on him was lifted.
Crying out in surprise, the young agent fought for breath out of instinct to collect himself. Finding that the Rogue was nowhere to be found, he leapt to his feet to look on in renewed horror. Growling deeply, Anna had taken the now lifeless body of the once beautiful Vampire to rip it apart inch by crunching and squishing inch. A terrible face of unforgiving rage set in place as she separated the Rogue's torso, the Siren grunted between her efforts, "No... one... hurts... my.... son!"
Unable to feel anything as he stared on, wide-eyed and skin paling a couple shades from its already light hue, Charles had to turn his head away from the carnage that he would never have imagined his mother capable of.
Having caught a glimpse of the arrow that was protruding from what was left of his attacker's back in a clean shot between her exposed shoulder blades, he reached up to wipe away what he now knew to be her blood that had dripped onto him.
The world spun in what was the youth's first sensation of truly feeling ill.
Rushing to his rescue when he felt as though he might fall over, his Uncle Duo appeared at his side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to keep him upright. "Hang in there, kid. The first experience of this is always pretty rough," the Hybrid said quietly. "It'll be over soon."
And no sooner had those words been spoken did a calm silence settle.
Gold-rimmed eyes open, Charles cautiously turned towards the clearing as the braided Companion's securing arm released him. Completely unaware of her audience, Anna panted heavily with the anger that she had felt for the Rogue who was little more than an unrecognizable heap at her feet. Covered in blood, both her own and her enemy's, the Siren's exhales came out in low growls.
Every bit as startling as the sounds coming from his mother was the wild, disheveled and half-dressed appearance that the boy's mother was in that breath of time to him. It was the first time that he was ever afraid of her... and yet it was more of a fear born out of respect than out of anything bad. That look into how absolutely devoted she was to protecting her child was an incredible thing.
Her narrowed eyes relaxing as her dripping fangs retracted, Anna's face twisted into one of her own terror when she finally spotted her son staring at her.
"Charles," she whispered brokenly. Becoming a blur of herself, she sealed the space between them to worry over the injuries to his arms that were not shielded by the armor he wore beneath his long-sleeved, skin-tight shirt. "Here," she urged, raising her wrist up to his lips.
The young Infected did not hesitate to sink his growing fangs into her flesh for a couple deep, healing gulps. At his first gulp, the shards that penetrated him were pushed out by the closing gashes that had held them in place until they collapsed to the ground. Biting her lip, the Irish Vampire shivered at the sensation of his desperate drink but had the instinct to soothingly rub his back until he was finished.
Sucking in a sharp gasp when he pulled away, Charles smiled.
Caught up on the emotions that he had been able to harbor up until then, he felt a thick lump form in his throat as he took in his wounded mother.
In the face of her own loss of blood from cuts far worse than anything he had endured, his well-being was still her priority. Instantly taken back to how furiously she had come onto the Rogue that had harmed him, he was beside himself with appreciation for being her child.
Attempting to speak with his jaw opening and closing soundlessly a few times, Charles breathed, "Mom... I..." Shaking his head, he cleared his throat and told her softly, "Thank you."
Taken aback, Anna's eyes grew at the profound message of everything that he was expressing in that grateful sentiment. Relieved that her earlier intimidating state had not scared him as she had dreaded, she beamed as they clung onto each other tightly.
Duo stood back with a content grin on his face. Without so much as a scratch remaining to blemish his skin, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned up against one of the trees that had remained intact through the fight .
One day, he hoped, he might be fortunate enough to experience such a bond with a child of his own. But until then, he was happy to bask in moments like this one between his sister and nephew until his concern for the Irish Infected got the better of him.
"Your turn, sis," the braided Companion chuckled deeply, straightening himself to move towards the Vampires. "No point in suffering any longer than you already have."
Upon his closing in on his sibling, Maxwell winced at how deep and horrid most of her inflictions were... one being a shoulder-to-shoulder length gash along her collarbone where the Rogue had missed slicing her throat open by the width of a fine hair. From it, her blood was still dripping down to her amble breasts that somehow managed stay within the confines of her metallic corset.
Grinning in appreciation, Anna accepted the wrist offered to her and took a few sips from her brother's essence as her wounds healed themselves by the time her fangs retracted again. She giggled when she was assaulted with another fierce embrace and buried her head in the Hybrid's shoulder as she returned the gesture in kind.
At a brief flash of realization, the Siren gasped at their close contact and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, brother. I'm must be covering you in blood."
Snorting, Duo reassured, "Like I care. Now shut up and let me have this for my benefit to make sure you're alright." His sister giggled as their arms just squeezed on all the tighter.
When they stepped apart, the siblings smiled and exchanged a high-five. "The Dream Team exists on," Anna snickered at their self-proclaimed nickname to their pairing in the field.
"Damn right," the Hybrid smirked. Pointing at his nephew, he curled his finger towards himself to bring. "And you," he grinned, "awesome job for your first mission."
He locked the young Vampire's neck in a strong arm when he was near enough and rubbed his free fist into the top of his head of red hair. "I would have eventually gotten to that mutant, so let's be clear that you didn't save me... just helped me take care of him faster than if I hadn't had you there."
Laughing, Charles freed himself and fixed up his shaggy mop of locks. "Got it, Uncle Duo," he promised with a wink. "And believe me that I'm never going to get on your bad side after seeing Shinigami at full effect."
As her son and brother shared a one-armed hug, Anna commented, "Speaking of which...." She let out a low whistle in her full appraisal of the damage around the patch of trees and clearings. "We better get to cleaning up around here before the sun starts to rise." Eyeing herself, she added, "Then I need to get to a lake or river so I can clean up on our way back to camp."
Thrilled as he had been to participate on the hunt and play a big role in removing the threat of a Rogue from the world, Charles looked forward most to what that meant. "Then home," he all but whispered, a longing smile on his face.
"Yea," his Mom sighed in the same relief. Patting his back, she nodded firmly, "Home."
Not one of the agents was about to put that off any longer. Becoming blurs of themselves, they went to work in leaving no trace of what had transpired behind.
* * * * * *
Meanwhile... In Washington...
Amidst a deafening roar from the crowds gathered before the Capital, the redheaded correspondent with the world's eyes on her lowered the paper that had been handed to her and stared in disbelief into the camera recording her.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she announced, "this is, indeed, a historical night. We have received the official word that the Senate has just passed a new law calling for tracking bracelets to be placed on Vampires to tighten their registration. More to come as we learn the details."
TBC...
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