“The more you take, the more you blame.

But everything still feels the same.

The more you hurt, the more you strain

The price you pay to play the game.

And all you seek, And all you gain

And all you step on with no shame.

There are no rules, no one to blame

The price you pay to play the game.”

- “Price to Pay” by Staind (Shades of Grey.)

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Chapter IX

Nobody’s POV:

Valator exited the grimy shower and got dressed in his usual gloomy attire. He slid several ornately, decorated kunai into the folds of his cloak and pulled the black hood over his head, only revealing his charismatic, crimson eyes.

“Time to go,” he muttered with reluctance to himself as he left the ancient cathedral, all thoughts of Annabel forgotten for the moment.

Darmthrin laid face down on a massage table; his eyes closed and a smile of peace and comfort pasted on his hideous face.

A groan of happiness escaped him as the dingy, blonde masseuse worked miracles; her hands molding, pushing, and easing into the muscles of his back.

About ten minutes before the masseuse finished her wondrous massage, Darmthrin raised his hand up, motioning for her to stop.

Her shapely legs swung back and forth with easy grace as she walked over to face him. She bowed low and Darthrin’s eyes leered at the cleavage that billowed out of her tight, leather top.

“Now go and send Valator in.”

As the blonde left to do his bidding, he wrapped the towel more securely around his waist and shifted to sit up. He wiped his bald head with a towel, cleaning off the sweat. The energy pylons they used in the Underground were almost completely drained so to preserve what energy was left, they shut down all air conditioning systems.

His blood shot, brown eyes dilated as Valator stepped in. The vampires’ magical energy was intoxicating and clouded the senses like a drug and Darmthrin almost got high just being around him.

Valator stood still and resolute next to the door; his eyes dimmed to the lightest red, almost pink as he encapsulated all his powers in a small, hollow cavity in his body. He certainly didn’t want Darmthrin to feed off his magic.

A loud, rumbling laugh erupted from between Darmthrin’s thin lips as he threw his head back.

Valator’s left brow quirked upwards as his right pointer finger touched the tip of a kunai from beneath the folds of his cloak.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist THAT much money,” Darmthrin said smugly as though he had won some small battle.

Valator shrugged and appeared nonchalant to the statement as if he really didn’t care either way. He would remain silent for as long as he could; Darmthrin had an easy way of twisting and turning words around to his advantage.

Valator waited patiently.

“Hmm, I figured with your damn cocky attitude; you would have said something by now, guess you got smart, much different then how you used to be when I first employed you,” Darmthrin said with a challenge in his voice, hoping to catch a rise out of Valator, but with no avail.

He stood like a statue, not a twitch in the face, not a squeak of voice.

Darmthrin gave up for the moment and slid off the table heading towards a small wall divider to change.

Valator grimaced. He never understood how Darmthrin attracted the women he did with those dirt colored eyes, practically non-existent lips, short and stout frame, and bald head. Not to mention he had the worst looking, straggly beard coming in. He looked like a poor homeless man. There were deep creases in his skin and unnatural thick wrinkles around his left cheek and neck from a burn he had gotten years ago.

Valator closed his eyes and inhaled slowly and softly as he waited. Little images rose in his mind and flashed with such speed, he could not exactly identify what each small memory entailed, but he was sure that he didn’t want to know or remember just then.

The jingle and crackling of ice hitting a glass and scotch touching ice awoke Valator from his quick reverie and he watched Darmthrin with an intensity that no one could withstand.

A chuckle.

“You know, I can practically feel your eyes burning holes through my back, but I’m afraid if you want me dead you’re gonna have to do it the old fashioned way,” Darmthrin said with the confidence of a bull.

He turned slowly and matched Valator’s death glare easily.

“I know why you’re here and I don’t have much to tell you. The man I want you to kill called in his bet; all I know is his voice. I have it recorded on a tape that I want you to listen to before you start out.”

Darmthrin walked over and opened the door, but stopped and glanced down at the hand that clutched the green-jaded handle of a sharp kunai; Darmthrin snorted.

“I guess you forgot that I can see through practically anything. You’re cloak conceals none of your weapons, nor your future actions. Follow me.”

He headed down a mucky, dirt path and Valator reluctantly followed, scolding himself for having been so foolish.

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“I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking cut his head off and feed his brains to the demons...AHHHH!”

Ruine screamed in frustration as she sat at the bottom of the stand up shower. Unlike Valator’s, it actually resembled one and was also clean. She ran a pale, manicured hand through her black, short curly hair which was now straight and plastered to her skull from the pelting of the shower water.

I hate him. I loathe him.

She banged her head against the tiles and cracked five also causing a small indentation in the wall, but sustaining no damage herself.

What am I going to do?

I am not a leader...I need a leader.

She stood after several minutes of cursing, screaming, and self-inflicted pain, washing off the soap from her body. She let out a loud, long sigh as she turned the nozzles off and whipped the fluffy, black towel off the bar.

Stepping out she stared into the mirror. She was striking and not even in a beautiful way. It was her eyes and her voice. Her eyes were clear panes of malice, pain, and sorrow that never went away. Her voice was alluring, beckoning. It was rippling and washed over the opposite sex smoothly like water running over a rock. It sent tingles down any spine; she even attracted women.

But her body held no curves; it was a almost-board like, but she attracted many and repelled just as much.

She loved to kill men. She hated their ranting, the laziness, the selfish nature.

Her right finger traced the pale, bite scar on the right side of her neck and a single tear slipped down her porcelain cheek. She brushed it away angrily and wrapped the towel tight around her body as she headed out into the main hall way. She occupied one of the gothic buildings in the vampire ridden area on the outskirts of the city. She had, in fact, only been a building down the street from where Valator had gone to feed.

“Ruine! I need to talk to you as soon as you’re dressed,” yelled another female vampire named Elira. “I’ll be down in a minute, Elira.”

This wasn’t any news to Ruine. She knew what this meeting would be about. Lately the lower demons of His armies had grown braver and bolder as they attacked vampires almost regularly now. Before, they were rarely even seen for a hundred miles around the city. Something had to be done. In large numbers, they could be lethal and kill many vampires.

Ruine jogged up the stairs and let the towel drop as soon as she stepped into the room. She opted for a fuchsia, leather corset top with part silk, part lacy see through material that wrapped around her chest, black leather shorts, and black suede boots that had four inch heels. She rubbed the towel into her hair fast and viciously and let the curls bounce freely around her face.

Ugh. Time for another pointless meeting of talk and no action.

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The man-child had a goofy smile on his face that most people thought could only be achieved by long and many tokes of marijuana. Yet, his eyes were not blood shot and were not dilated. He was simply a happy man who seemed to not have a care in the world.

As he strolled slowly through the park humming the song “The Yellow Brick Road”, many stared and some simply stopped in their tracks and gaped like fishes. One would think it would offend the man-child, but on the contrary, he took it all in good stride. He would simply stop, laugh, and walk around the frozen human like a curious child seeing a new animal for the first time. He, in fact, seemed to think of them as his own personal entertainment.

What nice, lovely people they are, trying to humor me with their funny faces.

His naivete was odd, especially for someone who was, in reality, 2000 years old. He didn’t look at all his age. Children fancied him and it was no surprise. He had the same attitude as that of a five to ten year old, but the temper and rage not of this world.

His smile reached his eyes and rested there as four boys around the age of six grabbed his hands and dragged him along to a solitary, out of place sand box. They all plopped down and started to build their own sand castles, chattering about whose would be biggest and how many doors they could put before it collapsed. It soon became a race and a game that the man-child joined into without hesitation.

William’s POV:

Bloody hell. What am I going to do?

My own personal job, under Darmthrin, were to run his daily errands, occasionally find his old employees if need be(like Valator), and keep a budget over everything.

I was working on the budget early and realized that we would not have enough money to buy the energy pylons we needed.

Without ‘em we have no power for air conditioning, heat, food, nothing...

...How are we going to feed the people down here?

Shit.

I sure as hell don’t want to tell ‘im.

Things weren’t clicking though. Something seemed wrong about all this because I know that Darmthrin wouldn’t keep all his slaves, cronies, and personal guards on edge. He always took care of them. And then...another alarming thought boggled my brain.

Wait a second, how in the hell is he affording Valator.

Something is going on and I want to know.

I quickly stuffed the receipts, papers, documents, and everything into my messenger bag and slung it around my shoulder.

I opened the second drawer of the oak desk and grabbed my .38 Special, sliding it in the band of my jeans in the back.

Shit...where do I go...to get information about ‘im?

I slumped in the seat, already accepting some defeat, but then...a bell rang off in my head and I jumped up and started to jog towards the entrance to the surface.

Darmthrin ‘as a secret that I’m going to find out even if it kills me.

Valator’s POV:

“Well, what do you think,” Darmthrin asked me as he shifted from his standing position against the wall and sat down in a swivel.

We were in the main security control room, listening to the recording.

I shook my head, not from negativity, but because I was confused. I recognized the voice...but couldn’t place it at all. It was like a distant memory nagging at my thoughts, straining to spring forth with all its images and forgotten secrets.

“I’m not really sure. I recognize it...but barely. How am I supposed to find someone like this? Ask every citizen in New York City to randomly speak to me?”

“Well he did have an accent.”

“Yeah, an Irish one. This is New York. I’m sure many do have that accent. This job is impossible, Darmthrin.”

“It’s a lot of money, Valator. You know you want it and you can do it.”

I had contemplated about this while listening to the tape over and over again.

Is it really worth my time?

The risk?

I’ll be out in the open almost every day and all night.

Perfect time for His little pets to come and attack me.

I leaned back into the chair and stared at the different television screens reflecting back a variety of people walking around through the underground tunnels, doing chores, performing certain...things that weren’t appropriate for out in the open, and the guards that kept everything in line, well at least fighting wise.

The sound of my teeth gritting resounded in my ears and I rested my head in my hand, breathing deeply, listening only to the sound of my heart thumping at a steady, slow pace.

I could feel Darmthrin’s hungry gaze; he hadn’t fed in a while. I suddenly felt the urge to leave and fast.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll do it. If I don’t have any luck in the next two weeks at all then I give up and you can’t come for me, any more.”

“Deal, old friend,” Darmthrin replied with an overly happy voice and a chuckle as he extended his hand to seal the deal in a handshake.

I eyed it for a moment before turning and taking the tape from the player, slipping it into the pocket of my silk vest, and leaving him alone.

Annabel’s POV:

“Ugh...the pain...so...comforting.”

My hand pulled down on the knife that was fitted about half an inch beneath the skin on my back. Blood streaming in rivulets down and onto the wooden floor of Valator’s bedroom.

I could feel my face scrunch up as I pulled down hard and fast and proceeded then to pull the knife out and toss it into the fire.

Inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale.

I wiped the blood on my back and stared at my stained, red hand.

If only George were here...I need him.

I wrapped a white towel around my back and waist and curled in the corner of the room, sobbing , crying...there was so much to be done and I would never be able to stop it.

William’s POV:

“So, what is it you want to know, my friend,” asked the African-American man that sat across from me. We were both at a bar called Blue Moon, enjoying a couple of beers and the raunchy music that blared through another door leading into the room occupied by the strippers.

“Who has Darmthrin been dealing with these past couple of days? I know we always make deals with you because I budget all his money. Everything he has spent. I know what goes on.”

The man named Helios smiled wanly and mysteriously as he took a long sip of the Heineken.

“What do I get out of this?”

I sighed. “Listen, Darmthrin is offering a LOT of money to a guy for one catch. Money he doesn’t have. If you don’t want to be swindled by him then you will tell me. Think of this as a fair warning from me. A blessing.” I had no clue how I had gotten the confidence to think that this offering would make Helios talk, but it did.

“I’m not completely sure of every dealing, but one intrigued me and my men and it happened today.”

I leaned forward. This was just the information I was gonna need.

“He met up with some woman at some run-down restaurant. Beautiful girl. Young. Fresh. There was something a bit off about her. But it wasn’t that, that intrigued me; it was the fact that he never deals with women and not only that, but they seemed to act as if they had known each other a long time. As if they were really good friends. Now I find it interesting that you say he has no money because I saw him slide a very sizable envelope to her.”

Wheels were churning in my head trying to find some connection.

“What did she look like?”

“Can’t give a good description. We got a side profile, but...it was indistinct. The equipment wasn’t working too well today; first time too. It was weird. We had just bought all of it the day before. Images were a bit snowy, but I could tell by the way they leaned in and occasionally smiled that there was something comfortable about them.”

I nodded and stared out the bar window and into the street.

Who the hell is this?

Never in my life has Darmthrin ever dealt with a woman.

“Thanks Helios. I’ll be sure to take care of this and let you know on any updates.”

I stood, dropped fifty dollars on the table and left as quickly as possible.

Airril ‘s POV:

Sigh.

“Airril, shouldn’t he have been out by now?”

I sighed again. “Yes, brother, he should have.”

We both waited in an alley next to a bar and waited for our target to leave.

“I’m so tired of waiting!”

“Oh, would you fucking stop your whining. He’ll be coming by in a minute. I can feel it.”

And sure enough as soon as the words left my mouth, I saw the white, figure strolling happily past our smelly alley.

“Excuse me, sir.”

“I think you have something we need.”

The skinny, white male’s eyes widened as he stared at our black wings and depthless eyes.

“I don’t ‘ave anything you need,” he replied nervously before starting to run off.

“Shit. WHY DO THEY ALWAYS HAVE TO RUN?!”

Both of us started after him, he was pretty slow.

“SCREW THIS,” Ailpein yelled as he jumped and flew fast towards the target. After a moment though, he disappeared. A slow grin etched itself across my face.

So he’s a Salazar. He thinks I can’t see him.

Ailpein laughed ahead as he grabbed something invisible and threw it against a brick wall.

The Salazar immediately reappeared, blood running freely from his nose and steadily from a crack somewhere on the top of his skull.

“LEAVE SOME FOR ME AILPEIN!”

Ailpein giggled wildly as he grabbed the collar of the Salazar’s shirt and flew upwards about a hundred feet before doing an eagle dive down and ramming the Salazar into the ground.

“DAMNIT AILPEIN! DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I SAID!”

“Wha...wha...do you...w-want...f-from me...?”

I stared down at the pitiful creature and licked the blood that was gushing from a broken wrist, the skin punctured by the ivory white of a bone.

“Why, nothing deary, we just wanted a bit of fun,” I replied teasingly.

The Salazar’s beautiful stormy, blue eyes burned with fury, but he could do nothing.

“We’re going to enjoy the taste of your flesh between our teeth,” Ailpein said quite tickled by everything that had just happened. The Salazar groaned.

Just as we were about to lower our mouths to enjoy our feast, loud screech banged within my skull and I cried out in pain just as my twin, Ailpein did.

“OF ALL THE TIMES TO BE CALLED, WHY NOW,” Ailpein snarled in frustration as he melted into the ground below...just as I.

“Don’t worry, little Salazar. Your time will come.”

Nobody’s POV:

Tears slipped down Will’s cheeks as he cried out in absolute agony. He started to drag himself with his good arm over onto the side walk and in front of a shop, hoping to be found. He lay still and the last thing he remembered was a beautiful, fiery red head gasp. in surprise as she rushed into the shop to call 911.

Hope y’all liked. It wasn’t one of my best chappies, but I tried. LOL. Please review! Thanks!. :D