At First Sight Of Sunshine ~Chapter 5~

Chapter 5

“Light and Dark”

         It was half past six when I hung up the phone after a long conversation with Conrad Gates. Conrad, or Conner to his friends, was what we Vampry call a Free Blood. He lived with in the rules of the Council but had no loyalties too it, nor was he bound by some of the restrictions the rest of us were. He was, however, a trust worthy Vampire… if such a thing is possible. So upon receiving his word that no harm would come to my guests I felt more at ease, though not completely reassured. You have to understand that it wasn’t a lack of trust in his word, or a lack of knowledge on my part;  while I trusted Conrad, and while we had an alliance of sorts, and even though I knew every Vampry with in 100 miles of Spokane County… it only takes a few moments for things to go terribly wrong. Especially when you are dealing with Vampires, even more when you are dealing with a lot of Vampires congregating in a little place, add to the mix the fact that I was bringing the last daughter of a blood line that had plagued us for centuries, and you have the potential for problems. Big ones.

         I shook the uneasiness out of my mind and walked to the downstairs of my house. I never used it much, there was a couch, and the rooms all had beds. Not for me, but for Vampires passing through. When I had moved to Spokane I had established that I was the dominant Vampire in the area. It’s not hard when you are as well known as I am…but I don’t want to go into that, not yet. But dominance has an issue; you are expected to keep an eye on all the Vampires in your area, meaning watching out for their well being and also making sure that the laws of the Council are up held. Part of the job description is providing a save haven, a place where Vampires who are ‘passing though’ can stay. This was what my downstairs was for, though I’d had little need for it, the Vampires in Spokane were either permanent residents or knew someone who was. The large bureau at the far side of the room was the only thing that I ever used; I opened the top drawer and lifted out a pendant, strung up on a silver chain. The piece was about the size of a silver dollar, with deep engravings on its otherwise smooth back. I fingered the words knowing what they said without reading, and then flipped it over to admire the craftsman ship of the front. The center had a single, small stone that was the same pale blue as my eyes, there was a cross beam traveling horizontal from either side of the stone that blended seamlessly into the outer ring. The face of the pendant was inset lower than the rest and two elegant wings were carved finely on the surface. On the beam and the outer ring were elegant markings, they looked like intricate lines but it was writing. Our writing, the language of the Vampry. It declared who I was, and who my family was, it was a symbol of power. I fastened the chain around my neck feeling much better. I didn’t know if the Vampry here would be fool enough to risk my wrath, but I was pretty damn sure that not a single one of them would dare to cross my Clan.

         I was taking a moment to admire how well the necklace blended with my ensemble when the door bell rang. I glanced at the clock on the wall which boasted 7:00 on the nose, and hurried upstairs. I was plenty surprised when I opened the door to the sight of Victoria and her father standing on my doorstep. I saw, though I’m sure I was not intended to, the flash of surprise and moments worth of apprehension in Mr. Hellsing’s face when he first glimpsed my completed look…eyes, fangs and all.  I flashed my toothy smile at them both.

         “Hello Victoria, Mr. Hellsing. I wasn’t expecting anyone so soon.”

         “We just wanted to make sure we got the right place.” Mr. Hellsing said a little dryly, by the look in Victoria’s eyes it was not really a “we” sentiment. Mr. Hellsing looked around, “I was surprised that you could afford housing in this neighborhood.”

         “I may not live with my family,” I said looking at them both, “But that doesn’t mean they don’t take care of me. We just don’t get along in person…”

         “Well dad!” Victoria announced as she slipped forward to me, “As you can see we did have the right address, so I’m good now. See you later! I’ll get a ride home don’t worry.” I looked from her to her father and back, and from the look on his face I had a really good idea what was coming… and I wasn’t too happy about it.

         “I’d like to wait for the others to get here…” Daddy Hellsing mumbled as he looked around.

         “DAD! Come on! I’ll be fine…. Lillith!” she looked at me pleadingly “Lil’ tell him it’s fine here.” I looked at the man and opened my mouth to speak but he held up his hand to silence me…which pissed me off just a lot.

         “My inelegance has reported some vampire activity in this area, the more people there are with you… the better I’ll feel about this.” He crossed his arms over his chest, I knew the battle was over… but Victoria did not.

         “Dad. I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl, really.”

         “If you’d like to just stay home young lady I’ll-” I coughed into my hand and they both suddenly realized I really had been standing there the whole time. I stepped back and motioned them to come in.

         “If you really want you can continue the conversation inside… but I don’t want to spend all evening on the door step.” I raised a brow at them and they both walked inside looking embarrassed. I thanked my insight to turn on the lights when I got home, as we entered the living room I looked over my shoulder, “Would either of you like something to drink? Or some chips or something?” Mr. Hellsing shook his head no, but Victoria nodded, adding yes drink… no eats. The questions followed as usual. What will it be…what do you have… the list of options… and finally the choice of Earl Grey tea. I left them still discussing the issue and pulled out my tea tins and infuser. Instant boiling water from a tap is an ingenious invention, it saves so much time. So while I waited on the tea to brew I pored myself a glass of Syntho and chugged grudgingly.

         I emerged with a makeshift tray of tea things the usual sugar, milk, spoon. The scene that greeted me was an interesting one, Victoria was sitting as far from her father as my living room would allow, with her arms crossed sullenly and facing away from him. And he was slumped in the chair staring at the floor. “Well!” I chirped and made them both jump, “I’ve got your tea…don’t know how you take it so I left some options.” I set the tray down and sat on the couch that separated the two of them, Mr. Hellsing looked up.

         “Your house is really interesting Lillith. It’s very…” he looked around for a moment, “Dark.”

         I smiled, “My sister-in-law is the guilty party… she insisted on decorating the place.” Which was the truth, I would have been happy sleeping on the floor with no furniture at all, but Elizabeth had insisted that I make my house look inhabited.  She’s one of the only Vampires I know who still cares about things like that, it’s part of what makes her charming.

         He was about to say something else when the door bell rang again. I was actually relieved to see Adrik’s silly smiling face, flanked by the others standing there. The moments that followed were a jumble of chaos. Comments about my home, me explaining it away, decisions being made about who would ride with whom, Mr. Hellsing finally left and soon after we all followed suit. Victoria, Heliyx and I went in my car, the others rode with Scy. I pulled out of my driveway and took the lead… off to the party…

*****

         The party was an odd mix of fun and hesitation on my part. I enjoyed spending time with my new friends, but at the same time I was all too aware of how dangerous it was. We had been greeted by Conrad at the door, dressed up like a bad Stoker Dracula, cape and all. He welcomed us and remarked on how surprised he was that I actually brought people. I laughed at some of the Vampire costumes my fellow Vampry had managed to dig up. And they in turn had to comment on mine.  When I found myself alone for a moment by the punch bowl, which had been poured into a caldron over dry ice making t smoke like witches brew, a nice effect. Conrad made his way over towards me with a grin.

         I smirked back at him, “It’s a nice costume, by the by, Conrad… but the blonde hair ruins the image.”

         He chuckled, “You know I hate hair dye. Besides, I’ve always thought Dracula should have been a blonde.”

         I shook my head smiling, “Mr. Stoker would roll in his grave…”

         We were both silent for a moment before he continued, "Interesting isn’t it?" he commented staring out at the room and I looked at him with what I assume was a puzzled stare. "Vampires pretending to be humans, pretending to be vampires?" he motioned with a shrug.

         I punched him in the arm, "That phrase belongs to a certain Miss Rice if I am not mistaken, you quote stealing mosquito."

         He laughed and patted my head, something he had taken to doing in the last few years which I deeply resented. "We were doing it long before Miss Rice came onto the scene; I believe I should give credit where it is due."

         “That may be.” I paused and took a sip of the punch, “But that’s not entirely the point. Now what do you really want.”

         “You know me too well…” He smiled softly as he let his eyes sweep the room, after a moment his eyes stopped on Victoria. “So that’s the famous Daughter Hellsing? Quite a pretty sight… isn’t she.”

         I kept my eyes on Victoria and replied in a calm low voice “You stay away from her Conrad Gates. She’s a good girl; I’ll not see her hurt…” He went to say something and I snapped my eyes up at him in a warning, “In any way, Conner. Do you understand me?”

         He smiled in a sly manner I didn’t like at all, “No reason to get defensive Lillith, I was just curious.” He took a sip of punch, “Consider your advice heard and understood.” Conrad sat the punch on the table and took a step away then paused and looked over his shoulder at me, “But not necessarily heeded…” He walked away before I got a chance to retort, but not before I shot him a look that should have killed…

         Grabbing a glass of punch I made my way though the room taking in the sights, Adrianne was conversing animatedly with a Vampry by the name of Krystian, Kry was a member of the Dræcul Lyne of Vampires or what Mr. Hellsing had called the Italian Vampire in his little class lecture. Her glamour was on high tonight so she looked completely normal in her punk fairy costume, but in reality Kry and her kin are a terrifying bunch. They don’t really drink blood like the rest of us… they eat people, or animals. And with out their glamour when they smile… it’s not something a human should ever want to see. But I trusted Kry, at least for tonight. As I passed by, her kinsmate Graven, in all his ever present silence and looking like he stepped out of a 1980’2 mob, took a seat next to Adrianne and nodded my way, I responded identically and went on with my inspection of the room.

         Adrik was causing a bout of laughter from a gaggle of Vampry, by telling horror stories of what happened to some shifters he knew when they got sick. I passed as he got to the climax of a story of a friend of his whom once had hey fever and sneezed and got stuck for two weeks as half weasel and half fish. His jesters and facial expressions were enough to incite giggles from everyone in eye range.

         Scy and Heliyx were sitting together on a couch talking to a few Vampires I didn’t quite recognize, the two of them looked a bit uneasy. As I said before, instinct is not something you can dilute with absence, their instincts were probably telling them to be on guard, but they had no idea why. I walked over to them and leaned over the back of the couch they were sitting on.

         “How are you two enjoying yourselves?” I asked causing them both to give a start. They looked tense and uneasy as they glanced around. Scy spoke first looking over at Heliyx then at me.

         “Okay.I don’t know what’s up, but we just feel-“

         “Jumpy” Heliyx filled in.

         “Exactally.” Scy continued, looking around again, “Like every one here is awesome, but it’s like my instincts are screaming ‘Danger Will Robinson!’” He sighed, “wow I sound mental…”

         “Not really,” I said with a slight smile, “There are some people here who I don’t know who are making me a bit uncomfortable as well.” I patted him on the shoulder as I walked away. It was true… I didn’t know who they were, and I really didn’t like there being Vampry in my territory whom I didn’t know.  I glanced around. Six. Three female, three male, mated pairs if I had to guess. Showing up with out my permission, with out my consent or knowledge… and I couldn’t do a damned thing about it with out putting five innocent people in danger.

         I caught Conrad’s eye, he was sitting the a couch visiting with Victoria.

         Don’t give me that look Lillith. I told you, understood, but not heeded. Conrad’s voice ecoed in my mind, and I replied in kind.

         We’ll discuss that later. For now, who are the six Conrad, would you invite outsiders with out telling me?

         Of course not Lillith, don’t insult me. I don’t know who they are, and you can be sure I didn’t invite them, I’m no idiot.   He looked over at the six curiously then back to me, To be honest, I don’t even know when they got here… I sure as hell didn’t let them in.

         I want them gone Conrad. I don’t know them and I am not comfortable with them so close to Victoria.

         What a tender heart you have Lillith, and here you’ve been making everyone think your so hard and malicious.  I could hear the sarcasm in his voice, it matched the smirk on his face. I growled back my answer.

         NOW CONRAD! I want them gone now!

         He nodded to me slightly, knowing when to stop pushing his limits. Conrad smiled and said something to Victoria, then he, Graven, Krystian, and four other Vampires stood almost simultaneously and walked over to the six anonymous Vampry.

         “You were not invited to this party.” Conrad said to one of them.

         The Vampry smirked, his eyes passing over Victoria sitting beyond the group in front of him, “Since when does a party of this nature need invitations?”

         “Since it is taking place at my home.” Conrad replied sharply and dryly. Then he looked at the others standing with him, “Toss them out gently please.”

         The others escorted the six uninvited out with out a struggle. As soon as the door closed behind them the tension seemed to slip out of the room. Scy and Heliyx were visibly calmer, and began chatting and joking with those around them. And Conrad took up position on the couch beside Victoria again and picked up what ever conversation had been dropped.

         Adrik was sitting next to his sister, still entertaining everyone around him with his stories. I watched from the area of the punch caldron, as one of the Vampires who acted as escort detail for the ousting of the six came up to me. He poured himself a cup of punch and stood next to me, leaning against the table casually.

         “Yes Lee?” I asked quietly looking over at him.

         “I’ve had the others follow them.” He said softly, his voice was still laced with a heavy trace of the Orient. “Kry will get back to you soon on where they go.”

         “Thank you. I appreciate your thinking ahead.” I paused to sip the punch, “Has there been any news on Jeean?”

         His dark eyes slipped to the floor as he shook his head. There was a soft quiver along his shoulders, and I knew what came next would make both of us feel uneasy, so I took a step away before saying.

         “I’m sorry… We’ll keep looking.” I turned and walked away, it was to hard to see some one like Lee cry. Lee, or Lea Tau Shang as he was born, was a five foot nine boulder of a man. He looked, even with out Vampry strength, like he could bench press a bus. He had dark almond skin that looked like he had worked out in the sun his whole life, and a face that looked like it could frighten the Mongol tribes. It was rumored, that in his early years, he had lead the Huns on some of their most fearsome triads. And now, this man who had laughed at death, stood crying by the punch bowl, because Hell’s Gate had stolen the one thing in his life that was precious to him.  Jeean had gone missing about seven months ago, Lee had burst into my home at high noon, looking like he wrestled with a chainsaw, fairly screeching that those bastards had stole her, those monsters had stole Jeean. He was a wreck for a long time… and we still couldn’t find where they took her. And we all knew that time was running out on our chances of finding her alive.

         I send up a silent curse on Hell’s Gate, for Lee and for all the Vampry and Preters who have lost those they love to their labs and scientists. How dare they treat us as if we were less than they, just because we aren’t human, just because we aren’t like them. Damn them. Damn them all to Hell.

         Conrad caught my arm, throwing me out of my thoughts, and steered me into the kitchen, shutting the door behind us.

         “Jesus H. Christ Lillith!” He almost yelled as he spun around to face me.

         I fell pack a step, “What.”

         “You’re seething so much violence it’s making ME jumpy!  Chill the fuck out!” He actually grabbed my shoulders and shook me for the last sentence.

         I shrugged his hands off my shoulders, “I’m sorry… I was just reminded of things I hate about this world.”

         “That maybe so, we all have things we hate.” He folded his arms across his chest and leaned up against the door, letting his white blonde hair fall across his blue eyes effortlessly. “Just don’t think about them that hard okay. Don’t forget, anger is kind of contagious for Vampires, a couple people were starting to get pissy with out knowing why.  It’s your job to protect the Vampry here, and it’s also your job to protect your five guests, you have to be more aware of how your actions affect the rest of us. Okay?”

         I leaned back against the sink. “Yeah. I apologize. I’m still working on this control thing…”

         “You’re going to take this the wrong way, but” Conrad sighed and pushed off the door and took a step towards me, “If I ever feel like ‘this control thing’ is becoming a problem, I will stop you Lillith.”

         I felt my eyes snap up to his, it’s an unpleasant feeling when your Vampry half tries to control you, “Is that a challenge Conrad?” I could hear the growl in my voice, I tried to swallow it.

         He smiled grimly, “Not yet Lillith. Not yet.” Then he just turned and walked away, leaving me to steam in the kitchen all by myself.