~Cry no more, My Brother~
(All along I have played you. Now…the final card is being dealt.)
The lights of the ancient mansion flickered, as the guests all hushed. Something eerie was happening, as each of the massive arch windows shuddered and shook. A low and evil groan as though the house itself was being shaken, like an earth quake. The guests all looked amongest them as if they were lost as to the reason the building was quaking.
Vincent stopped where he stood, as flakes of ceiling plaster rained down and the glasses and crockery on a banquet table all shuddered and shook, some glasses exploding, as a high pitch whistle rang out.
The sudden roar of cars, motorcycles….by the hundreds, and car head lights illuminated the outside of the building. The flashes of light terrified the three hundred odd guests, who all started to run for the nearest exit – the main double doors.
Vincent threw up his hands and roared at them.
“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”
But trying to stop the wave of panic that now descended upon the vampires was near impossible, as all the windows in the grand ballroom were blown open, and a wave of Shane and Carmen’s followers all started to pour in. The double doors were smashed down from the outside, and the twins barreled in, looking for Carmen through the throng. Vampires armed with axes and blades started to massacre the followers of Vincent, blood letting on a scale unmatched, and in the midst of it, the lost boys finally arrived.
Shane and David.
Unbeknownst to all, they were blood brothers. Real Brothers. The final secret was about to be revealed, as David sneered wearing his traditional black long coat, hair done to perfection in that 80′s style mullet, while his brother Shane came in wearing his regal Master’s clothing. Heads were being severed, and were rolling on the floor, as the army of Shane and David was far greater than that of Vincent’s drunken horde. Screams and crying out as the two walked towards Vincent, who was backing up seeing them reunited.
“No…Not this time. Shane. I have her now, she is mine…MINE!” He glared at David, who was busy lighting a cigarette calmly, smirking at the situation. “You hate Shane. Remember, he betrayed you!” David shrugged and then took a drag of his cigarette and blew out up at the roof before saying in reply. “Yeah, er…sorry, that was a set up. Heh, and it worked. Got your trust though, didn’t it?’
David winked at Carmen, as Shane stepped forward and asked;
“Is she really, Vinnie? Is she truly yours?” He smirked, watching Carmen out of the corner of her eye and then focused back on Vincent.
“You might want to check on that.”
<3>
In the back seat, Isabella pulls her breast away from Jason’s lips and then bends her head to his neck and is slowly licking closed her bite marks, as the bullet wounds in his back spit out the bullets that were lodged in his body. The wounds start to close as his heart…stops. He is undead.
Isabella eases back and caresses his cheek gently. Her new sire is a handsome one. Rugged and in a way distinguished. Without letting her eyes leave his gaze, she says out loud to her driver.
“I like this one.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Prepare his room, and then meet me in the observatory.”
The driver nods, stepping out of the car, only to open her door for her first. Isabella slides off her new charge and then exits the car, not bothering to wait, as she glides up to the stairs, that led up to the main house. Luther stands and watches for Jason to emerge.
“Get a move on. Mistress does not like to be kept waiting.”
<3>
As the lights began to flicker, everyone began to look around in fright, wondering what the hell was going on. The windows began to vibrate with little tinkling sounds as the panes of glass rattled in their frames. The mansion shuddered and groaned around them, shaking dust and plaster from the ceiling.
The chandeliers rattled and quaked, the crystals within them banging against each other in a God-awful racket.
One of the chandeliers broke away from the ceiling, shattering across the floor and sending glass shards flying everywhere, impaling a couple of vampires who were standing too close for comfort and sending their bodies into the dust.
The roar of motorcycles and cars erupted outside the mansion and lights from dozens upon dozens of headlights illuminated the room in its glow. Nervous and scared, nearly 300 vampires made a break for the nearest exist – the main doors at the other end of the hall.
“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” Vincent roared, to no avail. It was like trying to stop a stampede of wild buffalo. Not a chance in hell.
Carmen, a smirk on her face, ducked into an alcove, just as all the windows exploded inward.
Vampires, belonging to both Shane and David poured in through the windows, most of them carrying weapons and began decapitating Vincent’s cadre of vampires left and right, flashes of light from vampires disintegrating blinking in and out around the room.
Carmen spotted the twins looking around for her and immediately went to their side, the two of them standing in front of her as her faithful guards. Dyna and Booker even joined the fray, Booker transforming into his Werewolf form and howling with the lust for vampire blood. With the twins as her protectors, she knew she was in good hands.
Vincent was backing away from everyone, shock written all over his face.
“No…Not this time. Shane. I have her now, she is mine…MINE!” he roared, snarling in anger at Shane. He looked at David.“You hate Shane. Remember, he betrayed you!”
David shrugged, looking at Shane before blowing out the drag he’d taken from his cig.
“Yeah, er…sorry, that was a set up. Heh, and it worked. Got your trust though, didn’t it?” David threw Carmen a wink and she tried her damnedest not to smirk. Shane stepped forward, eying Vincent with contempt.
“Is she really, Vinnie? Is she truly yours?” Shane asked, glancing quickly at Carmen. She stepped away from the protective guard of her twins and moved to Shane’s side. She wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and pulled him into a scorching kiss, that was hot enough to blast a hole in the wall. With a delightful moan, she drew back from him, licking her lips as if savoring the taste of him upon her lips. She moved her arms from around his neck to around his waist as Shane looked at Vincent, that familiar Hollywood grin on his face.
“You might want to check on that.”
If it were possible to kill people with a look, Vincent managed it really well. Carmen withdrew herself from Shane’s arms and slowly approached Vincent, fingering the vial in her pocket.
“You know…I had every intention of letting you walk away from this…knowing that you were beaten at your own game. But you made a mistake…” Carmen stated, withdrawing the vial from her pocket. Faster than humanly possible, she was at his throat, shoving him to the ground, the vial popped open and ready. “You killed my mother! And for that, you fucking die!” she snarled, rapidly shifting into her vampire form. The vial came down and smashed against Vincent’s face, the poisoned blood acting quickly as his skin began to bubble. For good measure, she leaned in and ripped out his throat with her teeth, spitting away his foul flesh before backing away from the smoking and dying vampire at her feet. She wiped the blood from her mouth as she returned to Shane’s side.
The cry came from the back of the room. The only one that truly loved Vincent was still standing, though she had suffered a brutal attack from Carmen earlier on. She crawled across the floor, to where his shocking remains lay. He was in the final moments, twisting and jerking; his black blood seeping out of his ruined body creating a black pool all around him. She reached for what was left of his head and cradled it, as disgusting as it was. Bridgette sobbed as she rocked back and forth, then her tears stopped as she slowly raised her head, laying the head of Vincent on the ground. She pushed herself to standing, and started to laugh. It was the laughter of someone that had completely lost her mind. All around, were the remains of nearly all of Vincent’s followers and she was the only one left.
“Does Shane know of how you sacrificed Matt and Sarah? Huh? You would give up anyone just to be the Queen. One day she will betray you too, Shane!….All of you!” she shouted to the remaining Vampire army.
“There is only one Queen of the night…Only one! And she is….”
Suddenly there was a massive gun shot fired, and it blew a hole into the skull of Bridgette, the entire back section of her skull being blown away. Bits of brain and black blood poured out of the opening, as she slowly collapsed upon her “Father” Vincent.
The whole room turned to see who fired the shot.
Blowing the barrel of her revolver, Marissa smiled at everyone.
“Sorry I’m late….I like to make an entrance.”
<3>
Isabella was not used to having her sires ask her such things, and she looked at him coolly and then said. “I saved you…sort of.” She offered a wry grin, and then continued. “You were about thissssss close to death.” she pinched her finger tips together to illustrate the point, and then shrugged her shoulders. “I came along at just the right time, and took you home with me. I fed from you, and you * she brushed her body against his, sensually.* “…fed from me. Now you have my blood in your veins, and you are…not dead. You’re…just not alive either.”
She stopped just outside his new room, which Luther had quickly prepared.
“This is your new home. You are to remain here, the rest of your nights till the end of time.”
Luther gave Jason a fierce look, before he trudged off to his own room, leaving Isabella and Jason alone.
“I’m yours, Jason…just as you are mine. I will be in your dreams, and your nightmares. You will lust for me, and I for you.” Isabella licked his chin before sealing his lips with a hungered kiss. She pulled away licking her lips.
“Your life before you met me, is now over. To the rest of the world, you are dead. But we know better. You…are now Vampire.” She said, grinning broadly, waiting for the realization to hit him.
<3>
The distraught young woman gained her feet ranting at all within hearing that Carmen allowed Matt and Sarah to be killed, that one day Carmen would betray Shane and everyone else in the room, before the report of a gunshot echoed in the near-silence. Bridgette’s skull exploded backwards, splattering black icor and bits of brain everywhere as she slowly collapsed upon her “father”.
All eyes turned to see Marissa standing in the doorway, blowing at the smoke from the barrel of her revolver.
“Sorry I’m late….I like to make an entrance.” she grinned. Carmen ignored her in favor of looking at Shane, who was still staring at his daughter…now dead. She slowly reached out to touch his arm, hoping he wouldn’t throw her off.
“Shane?” she murmured, stepping into his line of sight, blocking his view to force him to look at her. “Baby? You know it had to be done, right?” she questioned. “There was no hope for her…she was brainwashed so thoroughly.” she stated. But Shane was unresponsive. With a sigh, she stepped back and looked at the twins, Dyna and Booker, who was still in his wolf form. “Let’s go outside…give him some time alone.” She could feel Shane’s pain and it nearly knocked her off her feet. But she would wait for him to come to her, just as she’s always done.
She and the others were unaware…that this fight was long over…but the war was just beginning…
~The Rose~
The child that Bridgette had been long before she was lost to Shane was a beautiful child. A flower, blossoming and sweet. Such innocence was what Shane had in his memories. The nights he sat up reading her bed time stories, the days of summer fishing on the lake, the winter nights roasting marsh mellows. Sack races, corn dogs at the fair….all the moments of a father and daughter. As Shane stood there, seeing his daughter’s blooded body now strewn across that of Vincent, it was the end of yet another chapter.
Carmen appeared in front of Shane, and tried to speak to him, to get through the haze that he was feeling. He had won back his Queen, but in the end, he lost his Princess….his rose.
“Baby? You know it had to be done, right?” she questioned. “There was no hope for her…she was brainwashed so thoroughly.”
Shane was unresponsive, as the others all left, and as Shane stood alone. But he was not alone. David came up by his side, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“She was an amazing kid once. She’s free now. Not tortured anymore of who is right, who is wrong.” he looked to his brother, who was tearful, and said. “She’ll always be your little girl”
That said, the two brothers walked out of the ball room. Leaving behind the shattered remains of Vincent’s coven.
In a gilded frame, high above the throne, there was a painting. A portrait. The Queen.
“Isabella.”
<3>
As the sun set below the horizon, Carmen was the first to wake, as usual. It took her a moment to get oriented, memories of the night before flooding her mind. It had been an emotional evening for everyone involved in last night’s battle and when Shane finally emerged from the mansion, Carmen had seen the tears drying upon his cheeks. She went to his side immediately and embraced him in a loving hug, unsure if her actions would even be appreciated.
They had returned home, leaving David and the remainder of his crew to set fire to the mansion to burn any evidence away that would trace back to them.
Carmen had taken charge of the house once again, handing out orders to her own coven as she took Shane to their room and put him to bed. He had still been in a state of shock as the sun finally pulled them into sleep.
She used her arm to prop her head up, staring down at Shane’s face as he continued to sleep, her hand resting upon his chest, her thumb rubbing across his skin in comfort. She wanted her face to be the first thing he saw when he finally opened his eyes. She wanted him to know that no matter what, she was with him, would not leave him, would not abandon him or betray him. He would come to learn that her word was her bond and she had never broken it once.
“Is it over?” He asked simply.
He knew he himself had a lot to explain. Like that of his brother David. The reasons for keeping their brotherhood a secret. That would come of course, but they would have to mourn people like Mary, and then thank Dyna and Booker for everything they did for them. Shane’s brow creased slightly, before he brought Carmen down for a kiss, which was not so much sexual, but more reassuring. The risks involved in making Vincent vulnerable were great. There was a high chance they could have lost each other, but they didn’t.
“Are you alright, love?”
<3>
“Is it over?” he finally asked.
“For now.” she replied, placing a hand against his cheek. His brow furrowed before he pulled her in for a kiss…a reaffirmation of their bond, that they were still together. They had taken a huge risk fighting Vincent on his home turf and several people had lost their lives; Mary, Sarah, Matt…Bridgette…
“Are you alright, love?” he asked as they drew apart. She gave him a tender smile.
“I should be asking you that, after what happened.” she stated. “We have some things to discuss, you and I. But first things first.” She took a nail and drew a cut across her neck. “You need to feed, baby. And I won’t take no for an answer.” she stated, her tone daring him to argue with her as she she straddled his body.
