Broken Fayth

Chapter 5—Chains of the Past

Mani's eyes flicked to look down the street. There was someone coming, someone dressed in a trench coat with a hat pulled over his eyes. As he drew closer and saw her, Mani saw surprise ripple over his frame.

"Hey kid," he said, revealing fangs in the dim light. "What do you think you're doing outside at this time of night? You could get your throat slit."

"I'm waiting for someone," Mani replied, oblivious to the stranger's threat.

"And who would that be?" The stranger looked up at the building. "Surely not for Astarte. She isn't into girls...even if you are cute."

Ignoring this, Mani looked at her knees. "His name is Deminon Abandon."

"What?" Mani jerked her head up as the stranger grabbed her by the shoulders. She stared into tawny eyes that seemed familiar. "Deminon's here?"

"Yes." Mani blinked as she realized whom this man resembled. "Will you help him get out?"

The stranger let go of her and stepped back, making an impatient noise in the back of his throat. "Damn vampire," he snapped.

The vampire in question was currently on his back in Astarte's room, and while he still had most of his clothes on, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be staying that way for much longer.

Astarte was on top of him, kissing and licking his bare chest, occasionally slicing the skin open. Her hands played with the button on his pants.

"Deminon..." she said. "How long has it been since I last tasted you?"

"My lady...." Demi was silenced as Astarte covered his mouth with hers. He winced as her fangs pierced his tongue; it was similar to when he had first known her...one thousand and forty-five years earlier.

He had been so stupid back then; funny how that was usually the case. He had run away from home at sixteen, lived here and there for about a year, and then...the night at the bar.

-flashback-

Demi looked around the bar; he was supposed to meeting a few friends here, but it seemed that they had ditched him.

Bastards, he thought as he took a long drink from his beer. The music was thumping in the background as someone approached his table.

"Hey, cutie," said the girl. She was tall, made taller by her high heels, and dressed to pick up a man. She wore way too much make-up and jewellery. Demi sighed.

"Look, I don't want to dance, okay?" he said. "So go away."

"I'm not really the one who wants to talk to you," the girl said, dropping the friendly façade. "He does." She indicated a table across the room; at it sat a man with red hair, dressed impeccably for such a shitty bar, and surrounded by girls.

Demi raised an eyebrow. "And may I ask why?"

"Ask him yourself," she said, and turned to go back to the table, looking only too happy to do so. Demi glared after her, and then turned his attentions onto the man. The girl whispered something in his ear, and he laughed, revealing pointed canines. Fangs, to be more accurate. Those things weren't fake.

Demi felt himself tense. A vampire in a bar. Guess the rumors were true—that demons were starting to overtake this world. The vampire made eye contact with him; there was a challenge in those eyes—something that laughed at Demi, made his blood hot, made him stand and cross the room—

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked. The vampire looked up at him, smirking.

"Follow me," he said, standing, causing the girls to whine. He left the bar, and, after quick contemplation, Demi went with him.

"So what was with that episode in the bar?" Demi snapped.

"What's your name, kid?" the vampire asked.

"Who's asking?"

"My name's Aran. I'm a...representative of someone's whose eye you've caught."

Demi stopped. If by 'representative', this guy meant the son of a bitch who turned him...he was in trouble.

"Forget it, man," he said. "No way am I getting caught up in that shit." He turned to leave, but found a man dressed all in black standing behind him.

"This is Devren," Aran said. "Now, I'll ask again: what's your name?"

"......Deminon. Deminon Abandon."

"Right. Now, if you'll come with us, we'll introduce you to Lady Astarte."

Astarte?

-end flashback-

So that was how Demi had met Aran and Devren. His 'friends'. Demi had never figured out how exactly he had 'caught' Astarte's eye—he was sure that Aran had, in fact, merely picked him out of the crowd and decided he was his mistress's type.

While spending two years as Astarte's human lover, Demi had learned to trust the two vampires, although they were much older than him (his father's age at that time, although they looked like they were in their twenties) and really didn't have any business hanging with a human, much less Astarte's pet. And after getting to know them, he realized just how badly he had handled the situation—it would have gone so much easier for him if he hadn't given into Aran's smartass behaviour.

"Ow," he said, as Astarte bit his shoulder hard. Demi blinked and came back to reality. He looked down into the tawny eyes of his mistress.

"Deminon..." Astarte pouted, eyes glittering dangerously. "Were you ignoring me?"

Demi smiled a little, and rolled so that he was on top. "I could never ignore you, milady," he said, and kissed her neck.

"Good boy." Astarte's slender fingers entwined in Demi's hair, holding him closer. "And now that I have you back, it will be like nothing changed."

Demi barely stopped a shudder from going through his shoulders. While the two years he had spent as her lover had been...fun, he still didn't relish the idea of spending time with her again. Ever since he had been turned, Astarte just hadn't seemed very appealing anymore.

Okay, he thought. I know it's futile to pray to God...but Michael, if you're listening, help me you goddamn bastard! And then I'll do whatever job you want me to do without complaining, and for a slightly lower price than what I was originally going to—

The door to the bedroom banged open.

...Wow. That was fast.

Astarte growled and pushed Demi off of her. She pulled back the drapes on her canopy bed and snarled, "I said no disruptions—" She cut off, a look of total fury crossing her face.

Demi sniffed the air and felt something inside of him drop. Pulling back more of the drapes, he looking at the trench coat-clad figure that now stood in the room. The coat was stained with blood on the front, as were the hands that clutched a hat. Tawny eyes exactly like Astarte's looked at the two on the bed with mild curiosity and amusement.

"Well," the newcomer, another vampire, said. "Getting at it a little early, aren't we, Astarte?"

"Artemis," she snapped, hissing the name out. "How dare you come here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Artemis, Astarte's own twin brother, pushed back the long dark bangs that fell in his eyes as he caught Demi's eye. "I'm just here to pick up Deminon. I heard he was in town and just had to pick him up for a drink. We have quite a bit to catch up on."

Astarte stood, seething with anger. "You bastard—Leave now, or—"

She was cut off as her brother moved forward with impossible speed, gripping her chin and making Astarte gasp in surprise.

"Listen to me, Astarte," Artemis said in a quiet voice, still smiling. "I'm the elder sibling, and besides, Deminon is mine. I turned him; it's my business what I do with him. Understand?"

Demi watched the goings-on with mild apprehension. Astarte wasn't stupid; she knew as well as Demi that Artemis was the stronger vampire—he had been turned first, he had been a vampire longer, and he had a greater empire than his sister. In other words, Artemis always won.

Not that that didn't keep Astarte from fighting back now and again.

But not this night. "All right," Astarte said, gritting her teeth and moving aside.

Artemis smiled and winked at Demi. "Come along now, Deminon; I have a car waiting."

Demi quickly moved off the bed, buttoning his shirt, not daring to meet Astarte's eyes. He followed Artemis to the throne room, past a small pile of Astarte's vampires that had tried to stop Artemis on his way in. Aran and Devren were moaning in the corner; Demi snorted. They would live—barely. Such a shame that Astarte didn't have better security...

"So what's the story, Artemis?" he asked, unable to keep some malice out of his voice. "Not that I don't appreciate the rescue, but why the hell would you come in just to get me?"

"Oh, I'm always coming by to check on my sister," Artemis said over his shoulder. "Just like in the old days. It was by chance, really, that I dropped by tonight. And then a little angel told me you were here, and asked me to save you."

"Angel?" Okay, now Demi was confused. "What the fuck—"

"Watch your language; we'll be in the presence of a lady soon." Artemis continued to smile as he opened the door to the street. There was a limo waiting, and standing on the sidewalk was Mani.

Demi blinked and glared at Artemis. "Angel...I get it."

Artemis shrugged. "It seemed to fit—she's definitely not human, too pure to be a demon, so that leaves the Seraphim."

"Whatever. Stay the fuck away from her, Artemis."

Artemis blinked at the venom that was in Demi's voice. "Watch your tone, Deminon. I can't stand it when you snap at me." He walked to the car, hailing Mani. "Oy, girl, I picked up your package."

"Are you alright, Demi-san?" Mani called, ignoring Artemis for the moment.

Demi sighed; she was still so damn calm. "I'm fine, but you should have run for it, Mani-san. This is a tough part of town. You could have been hurt."

"I'm supposed to stay with you," Mani said. "That's what I was told."

"Any other orders from Michael I should know about?" Demi didn't know why, but he was really starting to get pissed off. It probably had something to do with having to deal with Astarte...and Artemis's appearance out of the blue. Whatever.

Mani stared at him for a few moments, silent. Then she shrugged. "Nothing comes to mind."

Demi grit his teeth and restrained himself from beating his head against a wall...or putting his fist through it. Yep, he definitely was having issues with anger management tonight.

"Excuse me," Artemis said, disguising the fact that he was starting to get pissed off at being ignored. "Shall we?" He opened the door to the limo and gestured to Mani. She silently got into the car, but before Demi could slide in after her, Artemis put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's this about Michael?" he asked. "Surely you don't mean the Archangel."

"Don't touch me," Demi snapped, pushing the hand away. Artemis's eyes darkened slightly and he gripped the shoulder again, tighter.

"I told you not to snap at me, Deminon. Now, I saved you from my slut of a sister, but I can always throw you back." He leaned closer, and whispered, "And then I'll get the story from Mani-chan."

Demi recoiled, disgusted. "You sick bastard," he said lamely. When Artemis merely smiled at him, Demi glared at the car's roof. "I'll tell you what I know later."

Artemis sighed and let go of Demi's shoulder. "Well, what else can I ask of you?" he said dramatically. Demi rolled his eyes and got into the car. Artemis slid in and closed the door.

As they drove off, Demi turned to Mani.

"What happened after I left?"

Mani blinked at him. "They threw me out."

"That's it?"

She shrugged. "The red-haired vampire—Aran—he...he apologized. And the one dressed all in black—Devren—he told me to go home." She looked away, looking sad.

Demi blinked and touched her shoulder. "No one hurt you though? No one touched you?"

"No. They...they wouldn't have. They are....er, men of their words."

Demi snorted at the pause. Calling Devren and Aran 'men' was like calling a cat a bird. Men were their prey. But she was right...even through all they had done, Demi still trusted them. After all, they were only following orders, and disobeying Astarte's orders usually led to nastily uncomfortable situations.

No more was said until the car stopped in front a mansion; the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, its light not yet lethal to the vampires. As Demi got out of the car, he could see that most of the windows had been boarded up on the inside; so obviously the home of a vampire.

The three of them entered the front doors, Artemis gesturing to a human servant that stood by a staircase.

"I'm sure that you two will want to retire," he said. "Deminon, you and I will talk tomorrow evening, if that's alright with you." Demi snorted; did he have a choice?

Mani looked up at Demi; he nodded at her. "Let's go." The two of them began to follow the servant up the stairs.

Artemis smirked as they retreated. "So that's your type, Demi," he muttered. "Helpless young schoolgirls that will listen to whatever you say."

Demi stopped, fury streaking through him; he turned and launched himself at Artemis, who smiled as he sidestepped faster than even Demi could see. He caught Demi's collar, pushing so that he lost balance, and slid into the wall. He crumpled, air knocked from his lungs, face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

"Hit a sore spot, did I?" Artemis said, laughing. "You're far too sensitive." He began climbing the stairs; as he passed Mani, he patted her head. "Careful around him, love—you don't know when he'll go over the edge."

"I...told you not to touch her," Demi wheezed, trying to catch his breath. Artemis did not reply; in an instance, he was gone.

Mani came down the stairs to help him up. He didn't meet her eyes. "You don't have to worry about it, you know," she said.

Demi blinked at her, then relaxed. The servant showed them to separate rooms—Demi would have killed him if he had thought they would share one—and disappeared. Mani went into her room, but didn't close the door until after Demi closed his.

As he lay down on the bed, Demi looked around and felt a shudder go through him. He was in Artemis's house...on his own free will. Maybe there had been something in that drink he had had in the bar...

He closed his eyes, memories once again coming to him. He had been young and stupid when he had met Astarte...nothing had changed two years later when Artemis had caught him.

-flashback-

"You'd better be back around midnight," Devren said as Demi slipped out the back entrance that was usually barred.

"Or you'll turn into a pumpkin," Aran said, winking. Devren and Demi both stared at him.

"That was lame." Demi rolled his eyes and nodded at Devren. "Yeah, I know to be back before she gets suspicious. Thanks again for doing this."

"Hey, you're human," Aran said, stretching. "Birthdays are still a big deal to you. We can understand that, right Dev?"

Devren didn't even acknowledge the other vampire; he merely nodded at Demi, who was used to the non-syllabic answers after two years.

"Have fun with the witch, guys." Demi closed the door and started jogging down the alley.

Once he got to the heart of the city, he slowed, revelling in the brief moment of freedom. It really was the best birthday gift he could have gotten from Devren and Aran; they would entertain Astarte for a few hours, and Demi could pretend to be as normal a human as he had ever been.

He considered going to a bar, almost as quickly dismissing the idea as the scents of smoke and liquor would tell Astarte exactly what he had been doing while she had been enjoying a threesome. So he contented himself with figuring out just how much he had missed during his two years in the vampire social box.

Not much, he thought, taking in the music as it drifted out of clubs, and other little fads and trends that moved around the city. But he couldn't help but feel envy for the humans that bumped into him, ignoring his presence since it meant nothing to them. He felt envious that they knew nothing about the onslaught of supernatural beings that entered their midst—in the past five minutes he had sensed over two dozen different types of demons, vampires, sorcerers and shifters. He felt envious that if one of these teens skipped curfew, they at least wouldn't be hunted down by a powerful vampire's posse, dragged back to whatever boarded-up building they called home, and punished, possibly killed.

Like Kevin, Demi thought. Kevin had been Astarte's human pet just before him. He had ran away twice, and been brought back twice. When Demi arrived, and Astarte decided she liked him, she had killed Kevin in front of Demi.

It had been a gruesome enough death that Demi had never thought of running away, which was why he kept an eye on the time that night. Satisfied from his outing, he began his trek back to Astarte's mansion, walking at a clipped pace.

He had just entered the alley when he felt someone's eyes on him. Vampire eyes. Demi broke out in a sweat, certain that it was one of Astarte's goons; he whipped around, fumbling for an excuse.

"Hey there, kid," said a rather cheerful voice from the mouth of the alley. "Have a nice walk?"

Demi stared. Unless Astarte had undergone a sex change sometime in the last three hours, this must have been the twin brother that was occasionally brought up—usually leading to aforementioned vampiress breaking as many antiques as she could get her hands on.

"May I help you?" Demi asked roughly, trying to collect himself. What the hell was Astarte's brother doing here?

"You're Demi, aren't you? Astarte's little whore," the vampire asked, stepping further into the alley. He was dressed in a black trench coat, looking like a gangster member save for the fact that he was missing the sunglasses and a fedora. But that gave Demi a better look at his eyes, which looked so freakishly like Astarte's. Even his smile was like hers.

Ignoring the insult, Demi casually put his hands in his pockets. "Who's asking?" He knew he had to get away, but he didn't want to turn his back on the vampire to make a break for the mansion.

"Oh, I'm sure my bitch of a sister has talked about me; I'm Artemis." He gave a slight bow. "But perhaps she doesn't talk business in front of her precious little human pets."

Demi felt his anger rising and wondered if the vampire was doing it on purpose. "What do you want…Lord Artemis?" Another habit he had picked up during his stay with vampire nobility: be polite or you will get hurt.

"Oh, nothing. I just was enjoying the night air."

Yeah right, Demi thought.

"So, you don't believe me." Artemis strode forward, smiling.

Shit.

"Yes, I can read your mind. Astarte could too, if she actually put any effort into anything. Scary thought, hmm?" Artemis chuckled to himself, leaning against a wall. "I am surprised you didn't notice me following you, however."

"And why would you do that?" Demi spat.

"It was interesting, reading your thoughts," Artemis continued, ignoring the human. "I wonder, do you really want to escape from Astarte?"

Demi glared at him, then looked away, his emotions getting the better of him.

If you've been in my head, you know the answer, he thought.

Artemis laughed. "But you're too weak to get far."

Way to state the obvious.

"Wish you had stayed home, don't you?"

Demi's gaze snapped up to the casual vampire, surprised, then angry. He growled, "That is none of your business."

"Ah, but your past is what interests me the most. Especially since you have such strong mental shields against them." Artemis pushed off the wall. "I have certain questions for you, Deminon Krad Abandon. It will be...easier on you if you just answered."

"Fuck off!"

"Is that your final answer?" Finally the vampire's voice turned dangerous, and his eyes got a certain predatory look that froze Demi where he stood.

He blinked; Artemis was right in front of him. Cursing, he tried to back away, but the vampire grabbed his arms and pulled him close. Pulling down the collar of Demi's shirt, Artemis bit down.

Demi went limp out of habit; he had learned from Astarte feeding from him that it just hurt more if you fought back. And once a vampire had their fangs in you, it was damn hard to get them to let go. But since his life was on the line, and adrenaline was starting to rush through him, Demi began to struggle.

But it was his will against Artemis's; he was against an opponent that was faster, stronger, and deadlier than he was. Not to mention that it was his pride and stupidity that had gotten him into the situation. In any case, through all his struggles, Demi felt his strength drain as Artemis continued to drink from him. Spots danced in front of his eyes and he went limp once again.

Artemis pulled away; he laid his prey on the ground. Slicing his wrist, he put the wound to Demi's open mouth. Demi gagged and tried to spit out the blood, but Artemis smothered him with his other hand, forcing Demi to breathe through his mouth or pass out. As the salty liquid went down his throat, he felt a warmth within him disappear; his muscles tensed and he began to sweat. Artemis smiled a little and withdrew his wrist; immediately the wound healed itself. Then he watched.

Demi screamed as millions of needles dug into his flesh; he felt something, something that was changing him. Something that was stealing away his humanity. A part of him even tried to stop it—but how can you stop something that's occurring in your very blood?

As he screamed, he felt his teeth grow sharper; his nails lengthened as he clutched at his arms, tearing the cloth. He had never felt so cold—the warmth of humanity was gone from him. He felt himself pass out, pain continuing to streak through his body. And then he heard a voice inside his head as he floated through darkness.

Congratulations, Deminon. You are now a vampire. Don't worry; you'll come to in a few minutes.

Demi heard the voice, heard the words, but they had no meaning to him; his senses were weakening...Or were they strengthening with such speed that his brain couldn't comprehend it?

The only thing that made sense in his mind was why? Why the fuck had this bastard done this to him?

He heard laughter. I knew you could handle the change. You'll be better off this way. My sister either turns or kills her mortal lovers when she's finished with them. This way, you come out on top, and I piss her off to no extent. Not only that, but I've gotten my answers, and you now have a way to effectively escape. Everyone wins.

-end flashback-

Demi shot up as someone knocked on the door. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. As he got up, he couldn't help thinking, If it's Artemis, I don't care if he's more powerful than me, I am so going to take his head of. Or at least attempt to.

He opened the door and looked down. There was Mani; she had changed again, now wearing a long skirt and cardigan with her hair loose. She was holding his laptop.

"I thought you might want this back," she said, holding it out to him.

Demi blinked, and took it. "Thanks."

Mani nodded and turned around. Demi thought of saying something else to her, but didn't know what. All he could do was turn around and close the door to his room.