Saint Michael Part 2

         He entered an apartment complex a couple blocks away, and Lana was able to follow him up without being noticed.  In all actuality, Michael seemed to be too distracted to notice anything.  She stood outside Michael’s door trying to decide what to do next.  She should just leave and report the news to Anne and the Assembly.  No hunter in her right mind would enter a vampire’s home without reinforcements.  Lana had her knife, but that was small comfort.  Lana was feeling slightly reckless this afternoon so she started to knock.  The door was opened halfway through it, and she barely missed hitting Michael in the head.

         “Um, hi,” Lana said, trying to come up with a reason to explain this very awkward moment.

         “Hello, Lana,” Michael said.  “Come on in.”  He opened the door wider and took Lana’s backpack and coat from her before she could protest the invitation.

         “Thanks,” she said.  “Sorry.  I didn’t realize you had company.  Do you want me to leave?”  Sitting on the edge of the coffee table was a girl with natural blonde waves of hair and bright blue eyes that were fixed on Lana with an interested stare.

         “No.  You’re fine,” Michael said gesturing for Lana to sit on the couch.  “This is Ari.  She’s an old friend of mine.  Ari, this is Lana.”

         “Nice to meet you,” Ari said with a bob of her head.

         “Same here,” Lana said beginning to wish that she had just walked away.

         “We were just talking a little about school,” Michael said sliding into the seat next to Lana.  “The sets are coming along well.”

         “And that Draven is some actor, isn’t he, Michael?”  Lana said closely watching the two’s reactions to the name.  Their faces were perfectly empty and devoid of any emotion.

         “A little melodramatic,” Michael said looking at Ari with a slight smile.

         “I’m sure,” she said.

         Lana shifted uncomfortably on the cushion.

         “So what’s brings you to my apartment?” Michael asked.

         “Well,” Lana began.  “I heard you lived here and thought I’d stop in and say hello.”

         Michael smiled and looked over at Ari.  “Lana,” he said throwing an arm over the back of the couch and giving her his full attention.  “You know what I am, and I have a basic idea who you are, but I can’t understand why you’d be so foolish as to come alone.  You must have realized by now that Ari is one of mine.  Now I won’t ask why you’ve really come because I’m not sure I want an answer.  So let us pretend that we are three high school students enjoying an afternoon together.”  Ari suppressed the urge to laugh, but her smile gave her away.  “I have some pop in the fridge if you want some.”

         “No thanks,” Lana said, taking comfort in the knife pressing gently into her back.  Lana jumped slightly as the door to the apartment slammed shut.

         “Bringing dinner home with you, Michael?”

         Lana looked up to see Draven leaning casually against the wall.

         “Nice to see you using a door, Raphael,” Ari said.  Lana could feel the subtle shift in the mood.  It was more hostile and she could feel everyone tensing for a fight.  The surge of anger and power was thick and stifling in the room.

         “Not going to run away this time, Gabriel,” he said with a menacing smile.  “And it’s Draven now.”

         “Then call me Ari, and no, I’m not staying.  I will leave what is between you and Michael to the two of you.”  Ari stood up.  “And I suggest you do the same, Lana.”  With that she disappeared.  Lana was not surprised but mentally cataloged the power with the bloodline.

         “Maybe I should go,” she said standing.

         “By all means stay,” Draven said laughing.  “I’m sure Michael will need some refreshments soon.”  Lana looked down to see Michael’s eyes shut tight and a small trembling in his body as his breath came in erratic gasps.  Lana tensed for an attack, but from Draven.  She didn’t draw her knife just yet, but kept her hand ready to do so.  She watched Draven and saw a look of pity ghost over his face.  She knew that she was missing some mental conversation and decided to use the distraction to her advantage.  She started towards the door, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, but it meant going past Draven.  Lana turned sideways and tried to slide past.  She was close enough to hear his breathing.  Suddenly Draven’s hand shot out of nowhere.  It wrapped itself around her throat and pinned her to the wall.  He stared at her with wild and unfocused eyes.

         “I said stay here.”  He flung her back into the room and the couch rocked as she fell sprawled across it.  Michael opened his eyes.  They were glassy and unseeing.  “There she is.  Fresh blood pumping wildly through her veins.  You can hear her heart beating madly in your mind.”

         Lana’s head had fallen against Michael’s outstretched arm, and she could feel him leaning closer to her.  She whipped the knife from it sheath and pressed the blade against his throat.  She had Draven’s full attention now.  He bared his teeth angrily and started toward her.  She pressed until a small trickle of blood ran down Michael’s throat.  He just stared past her.  His face had fallen into the blank expression of a stone statue.

         “I leave unharmed or I remove Michael’s head from his shoulders.”

         Draven moved in front of the door.  “I have all the time in the world, Lana.”

         “Kill me.”  Lana heard a whisper.  She looked over into Michael’s brown eyes, which stared consciously into her own.  “Kill me,” he whispered again.

         Draven had frozen and was watching Michael with amazement and more than a little fear.  Michael pushed himself forward so that the trickle of blood became larger.  Lana pulled the blade back.  She had never met a vampire who wanted to die.  Lana needed to get out of there and she saw that.  Without much thought on the matter, she flung her knife at Draven.  It hit him square in the shoulder with a sickening thud.  The pain blinded him enough that Lana was able to slip passed him and run all the way to her house.

         She lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.  She closed her eyes but she could still see Michael’s pleading eyes wanting to die.







         Draven pulled the blade from his shoulder with a grimace.  He stumbled over to the couch where Michael was sitting in a daze.  “That’s one piece of work you got there,” he said as fell into a seat beside Michael.  “You two deserve each other.  You’re bleeding,” Draven observed dryly.

         “So are you,” Michael said with the same flat tone.

         Draven laughed.  “So here we are.  We both need blood to replace what we’ve lost.  The problem is that I have no problem obtaining mine.  What are you going to do?”

         Michael stood up and started to walk towards the bedroom.  “I’m going to die,” he whispered.

         “The thirst will win,” Draven called after him.  Michael appeared suddenly in front of Draven and smashed his hand into Draven’s throat.

         “I am tired of this constant battle between us.  I had a master too.  I outgrew him.  I don’t want to live anymore.  You have succeeded in making my life Hell.  There is no point to it anymore.  I can’t be human again, and I can’t survive as a vampire.  Now get out of my home.”  The second Michael released him Draven disappeared.







         Lana came in late for last block the next day.

         “I was worried,” Nicole said.  “Michael isn’t here and neither is Draven.”

         “Draven is one of Michael’s fledglings,” Lana said, dropping heavily into her usual seat.  “And I’ve spent the entire morning reporting to Anne and the Council.”

         “What happened yesterday?”

         “I followed Michael home.”

         “By yourself,” Nicole said shocked that Lana could be that stupid.

         “Yes.  By myself,” Lana answered as if this were the hundredth time she had repeated the story, “and I met Arianwen, another of Michael’s fledglings.”

         “Well, he sure does get around.”

         “Stop interrupting.  He knows I’m a vampire hunter.  So does Ari and now Draven.  Everything was fine until Draven showed up.  There is something wrong between Michael and Draven, and I got caught in the middle of it.  I only got out of there by wounding Draven.  I lost my knife in the process.”

         “Bet that made Anne happy,” Nicole said absorbing this new knowledge.  “The information made the trip worth wild, though.  Or didn’t the Assembly think so?”

         “Not particularly.  I’m suspended until I can retrieve my blade.”

         “Have fun with that.”

         “Thanks for the support.”

         “Happy to help.  Look who’s coming.”

         The two girls watched as Draven walked quickly to their spot in the auditorium.  There was no mistaking the distraught look on his face.







         Michael had given up.  He had lived for so long, and he had tried everything.  He had been a servant, a master, an archangel, and a mystery.  Eventually he had disappeared altogether, but it wasn’t enough.  He wondered how he had ever lived in the old days.  How did he develop a conscience so quickly?  The years felt like rocks cleverly placed on his chest.  Each year brought a new one, and he was smothering under the weight.  Other vampires survived by starting new lives, most of the time by creating fledglings.  Michael had long ago decided that his blood was spread enough as it was.  Ari had been his last.  And now he had failed at starting another new life.

         Michael felt a dark bubble growing in his chest.  The darkness he had always pushed away.  The bubble grew and grew until all his wrongs burst over him like a wave over a rocky beach.  He closed his eyes and let it come.  He sat up on the bed and peeled off his sweaty shirt.  It was over.  Using the blade that Lana had left, he sliced each wrist and lay back as his heart slowly pumped the blood out of his veins.  The pain was almost unbearable.  Each beat sent knives through his veins, ripping his soul apart.  But it stopped the memories.  The searing pain blocked all the visions of his past.  His mind was finally clear and focused.  He concentrated entirely on that feeling.  He could see his body arch with each wave of torment.  He lay on the crimson stain of his own blood.  Then even the pain was gone.  A gentle black fog crept into his vision.

         Somewhere outside himself he heard some one say, “God damn it.”  He felt himself being lifted from the bed.  It felt like he was floating.  Something was pressed to his lips.  He tried to make his arm move to push it away, but he didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.  Somewhere in his mind he knew that Draven was trying to save him, and he wanted to fight it with every part of his being, but instinct took over, and his throat convulsed as he swallowed the liquid running down his throat.  The blood poured into his veins and warmed his ice-cold limbs.  He could feel the cuts slowly healing.  They would never truly heal as it was a Hunter’s blade that had made them, but the bleeding was stopping, and Michael was regaining his strength.  His mind snapped a back to awareness to see himself latched on to Draven’s wrist in the middle of a bed of his own blood.

         “No,” he said, weakly pushing Draven’s arm away.  “Why can’t you just let me die?”

         Draven cradled his wrist against his chest.  “Because despite everything we’ve done to each other I love you, and I think some part of you still loves me.  If I can’t appeal to that part, I’m running out of ways to save you.”

         “I don’t want to be saved,” Michael whispered.

         Draven picked up the blade lying on the bed and stood up.  “I’ll be back,” he said and then he was gone.







         “Lana,” Draven said when he reached the two.  “I need your help.”  That was the last thing Lana or Nicole expected to hear out of Draven’s mouth.

         “For what?” she asked.

         “It’s about Michael.  He needs more help than I can give him.”

         “Why would I even think about helping you?”  Draven lifted his hand.  Lana noticed the bite marks on the wrist, but more importantly, he was holding her knife.

         “Here,” he said flipping the blade around and giving her the handle.  “Now will you come?”

         Lana looked over at Nicole, who shrugged.  “Just remember that you’re the one who has to answer to the Assembly and most of all to Anne.”

         “I know,” Lana said looking down at her knife and the blood smeared along the blade.  She wiped it on her jeans and slipped it back into its sheath.  “Alright.  Let’s go.”

         Draven wrapped his arm around her waist.  She pulled away.  “What are you doing?” she asked.

         “It’s faster than walking.  Now stop being so difficult.  We don’t have much time.”  Lana raised an eyebrow and let herself be pulled against Draven.  In an instant they were gone.

         When they reappeared, Lana immediately recognized the apartment.  Draven grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the back bedroom.  Blood covered everything.  Michael’s white shirt was thrown against the wall, and it was the only thing not stained.  The bed was dripping and the white sheets were a dramatic contrast to the red liquid that covered them.  The edges of the pool were just turning sickly brown.  But there was no Michael.

         “Damn it Michael,” Draven swore loudly.  “May the Gods damn you to Hell,” he yelled at no one.

         They already have, a voice whispered faintly in his head.

         “Let me help you,” Draven said under his breath.

         No.  And the voice was gone.

         “I think I know where he is.  Come on.”  Draven pulled Lana to him.  She grimaced but didn’t pull away.  They vanished.

         They reappeared on a mountaintop.  The chill air blew in gusts around them, and the crystal blue sky seemed to stretch forever.

         “This is beginning to make me nauseous,” Lana said to herself.

         “You’ll get used to it,” Draven said turning to a small stone chapel that barely stood behind them.  One wall had collapsed outward, and debris had slid down the mountain at the time, but now soft green moss covered everything.  A dark green vine climbed up the ragged edge of the destruction.

         “I’d rather not think that I’ll be doing this enough that I will,” she said sharply.

         Draven turned around.  The sarcastic grin was back and his black eyes sparkled.  “It’s not that bad, is it?”

         “Thirty-five,” Lana said.

         “What?”

         “I’ve killed thirty-five vampires.  I have hunted vampires all my life.  So the answer is yes, it really is that bad.”

         “Well, the reason I’m dragging you around in the first place is because Michael tried to kill himself this morning.  He chose the longest and most pain way.  I think he wants to suffer.”

         “Why?”

         “Because he trying to make up for past wrongs.”  Draven shrugged.  “I don’t know, but I was hoping you can help.”

         “Why me?”

         “He cares for you.  And he won’t listen to me, and I don’t know how to find Ari.  Maybe if he heard from a human that the entire race doesn’t hate him it would help.”

         They walked into the musty chapel.  Lonely rafters held up nothing but the sky, and the one standing wall cast a shadow across the room.  Draven crossed to a door behind the dilapidated altar.  He pulled the door open and ended up pulling it right off its hinges.  With a look of disgust he tossed the mossy and rotting thing with a clatter into the crumpling pews.  When Lana’s eyes adjusted to the darkness she could see a dark winding staircase.

         “Why here?” she asked.

         “This is one of the chapels that was dedicated to Michael.  Sometimes he hides in the basement.  There are only a few of them, and I’d rather not search them all.  I picked this one because he hasn’t been here in ages.  Here take my hand.”

         “Can we keep the contact to a minimum?” Lana said, with her arms crossed.  “Do you realize that it makes my skin crawl every time a vampire touches me?”

         “Yes, but I can see in the dark.  Can you?” Draven said.

         “Fine,” Lana said with a sigh, and gingerly took the hand he had offered.  The steps were slippery and uneven, and more than once Lana lost her footing and fell into Draven’s solid form.  He caught her and navigated the best he could, keeping up a steady stream of commentary about the stairs.

         “Last step,” he said.

         “Finally.”

         “I don’t see him,” Draven said scanning the room.

         “Maybe he heard us,” Lana said letting go of Draven’s hand.

         “Even if he did, he only has enough strength for one trip.  He didn’t take that much of my blood.”  Lana grimaced at the mention of blood drinking.  She touched the knife that had been returned to its sheath at her back.  It provided a small measure of security.

         “I’m not going to attack you,” Draven said noticing the gesture.

         “I refuse to take any chances.  And I wouldn’t have come without it,” she added.

         “I know.  That’s why I gave it back.  That and I couldn’t leave it with Michael.  Come on.  We’ll try another one.”  Lana steeled herself for another trip.  She stood ramrod straight in Draven’s arms.

         “Relax,” he said with a laugh.

         “I don’t think I will.”

         “Women used to enjoy this,” he said smiling down at her.

         “Stay focused here,” she said shoving an elbow into his stomach.

         “Alright, alright.”

         This chapel was just like the last one with crumbling walls and moss growing on everything, but the sky here was dark gray and foggy with rain on the horizon.  There was the electric feeling of an impending storm in the air.  Lana realized Draven’s arms were still wrapped around her.

         “Get off,” she said pushing him back.

         “Touchy,” he said throwing up his hands.

         “Exact opposite,” she said rubbing her arms where Draven’s skin had touched her.  “Let’s just go.”

         “Fine.”  He walked into the church.  The layout was the same, but this time Lana didn’t need Draven’s help walking down the stairs.  A flickering yellow light reflected off the stonewalls.  Draven didn’t make a sound as they continued.  Lana couldn’t even hear him breathe.  She knew from experience how sensitive vampire hearing could be so her footfalls were silent as well.  The room wasn’t brightly lit.  The light came from a lone torch by the stairs, but it was enough to see by.  Michael was stretched out across a bench against the far wall.  He didn’t even look up when they came in.

         “Go talk to him,” Draven whispered in her ear.  Lana took a deep breath and slowly walked over to Michael.  She knelt down beside the bench.

         “You alright?” she asked quietly.

         Michael sighed.  “This has nothing to do with you.”

         “It’s beginning to.”

         “Go home.”

         “Sorry.  I’m stuck here until you make a break through.”

         “You’re my physiatrist now.”

         “Just a concerned friend.”

         “Did your Assembly send you?”

         “Yes and no.  I was supposed to kill you next time we met, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

         “Why haven’t you?”

         Lana rubbed her palms on her jeans.  “I don’t think you deserve it.”

         “Did they tell you what I did?  Did Draven tell you?”

         “No.  A good hunter doesn’t question orders, and I didn’t ask.”

         “And you’re a good little huntress?”

         “I don’t know how to fail,” she said with a shrug.

         “Don’t worry.  You’ll learn.”

         “Come on, Michael.  Let’s get out of here,” Draven said stepping up next to Lana.

         “Draven,” Michael said turning his head.  His brown eyes blazed into Draven’s.  “Why don’t you tell her about the thousands we murdered?  The thousand in the Assyrian camp and the hundreds that sacrificed themselves to the coven.  Each one died in a vampire’s embrace, and I started it all.”

         “That’s not who you are anymore,” Lana said placing a hand on his shoulder, and trying to ignore the pinpricks that ran up her arm at the contact.  Michael slid his shoulder out from under her hand.

         “You think I’ve lived this long without knowing what vampire touch does to hunters?”

         Lana pulled her hand back.  “So what do we do now?”

         “I leave,” and Michael disappeared.

         “Damn it,” Draven said.  “I didn’t think he had enough power left.  He wouldn’t go to another church.  I know them all.”

         “So where is he?”

         “I don’t know,” Draven said shaking his head.

         Lana thought for a moment.  “I know where he is.  If I give you a reference point, can you get us there?”

         “Sure,” Draven said with a shrug.

         “What do I have to do?”

         “Just picture the place in your mind, and come here.”

         Lana stood up and Draven pulled her to him.  She pictured a bed of soft pine needles beneath towering trees.  The orange sunlight that broke through fell in sparkling rays, casting long shadows underneath the canopy.  It was the first place she had met Michael.  She opened her eyes to see her vision.  Draven stood with his mouth open staring in awe at the sight before him.

         “Beautiful,” he whispered.

         Lana spotted Michael’s shoulder sticking out from behind a tree he was sitting against.  Silently she put a hand on Draven’s shoulder and pointed to the bare skin.  He nodded and they walked over.  He was sitting with his back pressed against the tree.  His eyes stared vacantly at nothing.  His skin was so pale that they could almost see the little blood there was rushing beneath the surface.

         “Michael,” Lana said softly, kneeling in front of him. 

         Draven stood behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder.  She winced slightly but the pain was becoming less.  Michael’s eyes shifted back to this world.

         “I didn’t think you’d find me here,” he whispered through cracked lips.

         “This is where I first met you, remember?”

         Michael rested his head against the tree and closed his eyes.  “Yes.  I remember.”

         “Michael, you need to drink,” Draven said.  “We’ll just get some blood in you and you’ll be fine.”

         “Always the hopeful one,” Michael said with an ironic smile.

         Draven grimaced as the memory came back to him.  “You’re not evil.  Stop thinking that way.”

         Michael rested his arms on his knees and closed his eyes again.  “Darkness comes and Darkness goes, but vampires are always there.”  Lana slapped Michael as hard as she could, snapping his head to the side, but getting his full attention.  His eyes blazed with anger as he licked a drop of blood from his lips.  Lana felt Draven’s hand convulse on her shoulder, his grip threatening to break her collarbone.          

         “You’re a vampire,” she said angrily at Michael.  “Stop acting like some damn righteous martyr.  No one even remembers the things you have done, and no one ever will.  You are a nobody.  You inflict suffering on yourself.  Do you think it’s penance for deaths you’ve caused?  Grow up.  The world is not flowers and rainbows.  Death is a part of life.  So what if you help?  Stop being such a saint and move on.”

         The fire behind Michael’s eyes was slowing growing throughout Lana’s tirade.  Draven knew what was happening, and he was beginning to fear for Lana’s life.  He knew first hand that you didn’t cross Michael when he had that look.  Michael was sitting as still as stone.  The only movement was his lip beginning to twitch with rage.  His vision was tinged red with anger and thirst.

         “Saint Michael.  That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

         Faster than either Lana or Draven could react, Michael shot forward and had his teeth in Lana’s neck.  She gasped as he drew the blood out of her.  She didn’t fight this time.  She lay limp in his embrace with her arms wrapped around him.  He reached behind her and pulled the knife from its sheath and tossed it into the woods.  Then he crushed her to him and pulled the blood from her veins in waves of pain.  Michael’s body craved her blood with a white-hot intensity.  He could feel strength returning to him with each mouthful he swallowed.  Michael’s anger faded as the thirst did.  And he became gentler.  Her heart pounded in his ears.  He heard his match the beat.  Then Lana’s heart began to slow.  He relaxed his grip on Lana a little, and pulled his face away.  He swept a tangle of hair out of her face and brushed his thumb over her trembling eyelids.  He was vaguely aware of Draven kneeling next to them.

         “Damn it, Michael,” Draven swore.  “Why can’t you control your temper?”  Lana’s eyes moved restlessly behind their lids, and she shivered in Michael’s arms. 

         “Take her,” Michael said, shifting Lana toward Draven.  “She should be fine.”

         “Oh, no,” Draven said.  “I’m not cleaning up after you anymore.  When she wakes up, you can explain to her what happened.”

         Michael sighed and shook his head.  “She won’t be in any mood to listen.”

         “If she wakes up at all,” Draven said wrapping his arms around Michael and Lana and transporting them back to Michael’s apartment.

         Michael gently laid Lana on the couch and sat down on the table across from her.  Draven came back with a cold washcloth for her head.  He sat on the couch next to her and brushed her face with the cloth.

         “So what are we going to do with her?” Draven said sitting next to Michael.  “She’s lost too much blood.”

         “We could put some vampire blood in her,” Michael said grinning devilishly.

         Draven stared at Michael for a moment, trying to divine where this new attitude had come from.  “That’s the last thing she would want,” he said shaking his head.

         “And why do you all of a sudden care what a human girl would want?” Michael asked accusingly.  Draven shrugged and returned to wiping the beads of sweat off Lana’s face.

         “Just change her,” Michael said annoyed by what he saw in Draven.  “I care for her as much as you do, and if you don’t change her, she will die.”

         “I’ve never made a fledgling before,” Draven whispered.  Michael was shocked into silence at this admission.  Recovering, Michael put a hand on Draven’s shoulder.

         “I’ve wronged you so much,” Michael said slowly.  “If this is what you want, then do it.  Fledglings are not always what you plan for.  Lana will forgive you eventually.  And you have eternity to wait.”

         Draven looked up into Michael’s brown eyes.  “I forgive you,” he whispered.

         “I know.”  Michael turned his attention to Lana, who moved restlessly in her delirium.  “I’m sure you know how, so I’ll leave you.”  Michael squeezed Draven’s shoulder and vanished back to the forest.  Leaning against a tree, Michael could feel what was happening.  The blood connections with Lana and Draven coursed strongly in his veins, pulsing with every emotion they felt.

         Draven brushed his thumb across Lana’s cheek and felt the muscles quiver at the touch.  Lana’s eyes fluttered open as she broke through the delirium for a moment.

         “Draven,” she whispered.  “What’s—“

         Draven put hand gently on her lips.  “You’re going to be fine,” he said.

         Lana’s eyes shifted focus beyond Draven, then snapped shut as her whole body convulsed in pain.  Draven placed a hand on her stomach and forced her body back onto the couch and under control.  Her breath came in short gasps and her body was shivering continuously.  Draven lifted Lana and gently slid behind her so her head rested on his chest.  Then he bit his own wrist.  Taking a deep breath before the plunge, he placed his bleeding wrist on Lana’s parted lips.  Lana’s body reacted instinctively.  Her hands flew up to grasp Draven arm, and her lips immediately latched onto the wound.  Before, Draven had only known the pleasure of the hunter.  Now he glimpsed why humans would volunteer themselves.  He closed his eyes as the pleasure radiated outward from the connection and engulfed him.  He held nothing back.  The wall of his conscious crumbled and all his memories poured into Lana.  His body shivered as he tried to regain control, but he found the effort useless and gave into the waves of ecstasy that washed over him, breaking violently over his mind and shattering his self-control.

         Don’t forget yourself, a voice whispered in the whirl of colors and thoughts that filled Draven’s mind.  Draven shifted his focus and could hear Lana’s heart beating in time with his own.  Gathering his shattered control, he pulled his arm away from Lana.  She lay limp in his arms, but her breathing was even.  Draven took a deep breath and released it slowly, feeling his muscles relaxing.  He glanced down at his wrist to see the cuts already healing.  He rested his head on the back of the couch.  White, he thought incoherently.  Why is all you furniture white?  Then his world faded into darkness.