Midnight Raevyn

-Adversity-

She smiled awkwardly at her niece who lay in the recovery wing. Cylia had never been one for smiles and laughter, but she felt it was her duty, as the new commanding officer of the peace force, to support her soldiers. Even as she smiled falsely, her eyes burned with rage at the thought of the three delinquents who had caused all this suffering, if they had not been there everything would have gone according to plan. Her niece would not be lying here recovering from a gunshot wound that might leave her crippled, and maybe she would not be here sulking at her subtle demotion. Yes she had been made the head of the National Association of Peace, but it was at the cost of the her position on the council. She twitched vehemently as a moan escaped her niece, Nathali, the poor foolish child. In no way was she ready to be an officer of such a dangerous organization. Cylia blamed herself, for the whole ordeal, if she had ignored Nathali's crying and whining about doing her part, she would still be healthy. Her mind however, would not remain on her niece, because she was consumed with her thoughts about the council. She could not think past her demotion, subtle though it was; she still burned with humiliation. Cylia was aware that she had little chance of being re-admitted to the council, thanks to past occurrences. They had used her recent "success" with the NAP as an excuse for removing her, but the real reason for her expulsion was based on her belief in the Gabriel Report. That fucking report had damned her, but it still had the potential to save her.

She had presented her theory that a member of the house of Gael still remained, but was denied for her lack of proof. No one agreed that some lost report could prove her theories. She was hated and despised for her crackpot ideas; some council members saw her as a dreamer, who would only hold them back, and slowly with time the council as a whole began to question her place among them. They would have removed her then, but she was the council's public face. The remnants of Presidia looked to Cylia as the embodiment of the council. The people loved and respected her, if she was cast out unjustly based on a theory many people in Presidia believed, the little support they had in Presidia would have been destroyed. But it seemed they had finally found a way to be rid of her without disrupting the masses. They had given her the job as the head of NAP, a position that appeared to give her so much power, but really left her with none. The people would rejoice at her "promotion" finally the leader they loved would protect them and their families. Bitterly Cylia rose from the side of her unconscious niece vacating the recovery wing. She needed time to think, time to sort out her obstacles and figure out her next move. And for that she needed to be alone

The monstrous cavern that Raen dwelled in burst into momentary light as she lit a lone match, in her hand was a sleeve of papers that had an archaic feeling to them. They were dry and yellow and disfigured, yet Raen took no notice of this and gripped them with a vise like hold. She smiled viciously to herself as she lit the sheaf of papers. She did not drop the blazing sheets but held tightly to them and watched the fire consume the paper, a loving look in her gaze.

"That's a good boy, burn for mummy." Her eyes glazed over as the fire began to lick at her fingers rapidly scarring her flesh, still she did not drop them. Suddenly a hand swiped the blaze from existence scattering the ashes across the floor.

Raen sighed and turned her venomous glare on the intruder, "In the future such entrances will not be ignored."

The silver haired figure dropped low to the ground in a stance of regret, "I'm sorry I couldn't watch you harm yourself, I'll refrain in the future."

Raen smiled, all animosity forgotten, "Forget it Sylver, besides I was just having a little fun."

Sylver glared in return, "So mutilating your flesh is fun?"

Raen turned fiercely holding eye contact, she pointed at the ashes strewn across the floor, "These remnants are all that's left of the Heimlich Papers. They were the only copy."

Sylver's anger faded, "You mean that the council was bluffing when they claimed they had discovered laws that would utterly destroy our kind?"

Raen frowned, "Hardly, they were being honest, but I discovered the papers whereabouts and had them retrieved. They were being hidden in the census archives."

Sylver looked hard at Raen, "How were you able to get in, the census archives are heavily guarded?"

Raen gave a bitter smile, "Heads rolled."

Kae was glad to see Sylver leave, in fact she was more than glad, she was nearly ecstatic. Sylver was a child and a menace. A menace that Kae did not want to deal with. She knew that her dislike of Sylver stemmed from the fact that Sylver was infatuated with Red; but she ignored that little fact and continued to think of Sylver with animosity.

She was very aware of the feelings she herself had for her sire Red, and while they were the same feelings Sylver harbored, she treated them in an entirely different respect. Vampires did not birth vampires, they made them, there was absolutely no reason for mates or lovers. It was never written in stone but the fact was well known and agreed upon anyway; vampires were incapable of companionship, of compassion, or any emotion past civility. Those who discarded this rule were spat upon, and eventually slaughtered for their weakness. But Kae could not deny that such feelings of infatuation, not love, no it could never be love, stirred in the depths of her heart. She was even more ashamed to admit that it had always been this way. Since the moment Red had sired her.

Most of her kind slowly forgot their past life after being reborn, and Kae was not an exception, but usually the memory of rebirth faded too. She remembered her siring perfectly, every miniscule detail captured in her sub-consciousness. On many occasions she still dreamed of her encounter with Red, as terrifying as it might have been.

Even as she stood guard at the gate of the Monastery, her mind envisioned her turning. She saw the dark hallway that revealed door upon door, the horrid smell of blood, sex, and liquor. The moans that echoed down the narrow hallway as the occupants of the room practiced debauchery, and orgies of all kind. She could not remember much of her past, but she knew this place, this whore house, had once been her home. It was in this very hole, that Red turned her, masquerading as a "customer"

Kae was old, by mortal and immortal standards alike, she had lived many lifetimes, and watched the world shift many times. She had been born at the end of the golden era, a time when humans were weak and stupid, and dark creatures reigned taking their fill of mortal flesh, whenever the whim struck them. She was from a time before the Great White Nations, and she relished in this fact, and looked down on all humans, and all vampires after her time.

She may not have been aware of it when she was originally turned, but becoming an immortal had made her better than she ever was as a human. She was no longer a common tramp in a whore house, but a lady of the night who hunted the weak and foolish, and that was something to be proud of.

The breaking of glass shook Kae from her dreams, and dropped her back into reality. She sidestepped a male body, that was thrown from a stain glass window, Red jumped from the window cursing, landing on his feet despite the thirty foot drop. He kicked the bloodied body before him, spitting harshly on the dead man. Several others followed him out of the window, landing deftly beside the red head.

Kae smirked and slid next to Red, "So how did it go?"

Red frowned and kicked the dead man again, "Well we got a new place to crash."

Kae smiled enjoying the viciousness Red exhibited toward the dead priest, "I know your angry that our old place was taken over by peace officers, but you really shouldn't take it out on him." She nodded towards the dead priest. "Once a upon a time we feared his kind, they were the only ones who knew our weakness."

Red sneered at the corpse, venom spilling from his voice, "Once upon a time, is right, lots of things were different back then. Priests were actually priests, and not meddling, perverted little fools. Humans used to know their place in the world and acted accordingly. Lycans used to run the streets. Now priests are rapists, humans think themselves all-powerful, and we killed all the Lycans. Besides, that's not what's got me pissy."

Kae gave Red a pointed look.

Red snorted, "I don't know why the hell I tell you anything." He passed a sheet of blood red paper to Kae who took it gingerly.

Raen's handwriting was apparent with a glance, she had this style, this other world grace that shined in her writing. The note was a biting but clear, Raen wanted to see Red ASAP.

Red's eyes were glazed and distant, bitterness leaked into his voice, "Looks like our majesty requires my company."

Kae was confused, Red was rarely cynical or bitter usually he was pretty happy-go-lucky. She didn't dare push the issue, instead she waited for more information, unfortunately he didn't offer any more.

Red masked his emotions, his face becoming a blank canvas. He turned towards the members of his clan, "Stay here, make yourselves at home, I'll be back soon I've got business to take care of."

Kae turned to join her clan, but was surprised when Red's cool hand held her wrist. "Kae I want you to come with me." His voice was but a whisper, and he trembled with each word, never had she seen Red so vulnerable. "You keep me grounded, and right now I really need that."

Kae nodded stiffly, and averted her gaze, she respected Red a great deal, even so much as to allow him to have has moment of weakness in private.

AN/ That took longer than expected, but what's done is done. I planned to make this chapter longer, but after thinking it through I realized, this chapter would have went on forever, and unfortunately I would have died. R&R.