Awakening The Impaler

Vlad glared at his younger brother. \"Why are you here, Radu? Have you have been spying on me the whole time?\"
Radu smirked. \"Why brother, you mean to say you never knew? Never sensed my presence in the slightest? It must have been because you were so preoccupied with enjoying this lovely one here.\" His smile turned knowing as he threw a glance at Cain, whose face was expressionless. \"He\'s a very talented kisser, is he not?\"
\"First you betray me by turning into Sultan Murad\'s whore all those centuries ago, betraying your own family in the process - and now you dare insult me further by showing your face to me once more!\" The Impaler\'s mouth tightened into a thin line. \"So many times in the past have I thought of seeking you out to destroy you once and for all; Lucifer knows how I’ve wanted to. Instead I decided to let you live while I entered torpor - that way you would think yourself safe to prey on others as you always did, and at the moment of my choosing I would find you. However, I know now that it was a mistake to assume this.\" Vlad\'s green eyes narrowed dangerously. \"I should have killed you anyway, brother mine. A long time ago.\"
Radu raised one pale hand to shake an admonishing finger at Vlad. \"Tut tut, such murderous thoughts are quite out of character for a man of your calibre to have against his own flesh and blood, don‘t you think? I must admit, though, that it pays excellent tribute to your name as the Impaler... you do an admirable job of living up to your blood-spattered name.\" He smiled. \"Ah, I forget myself - I have another surprise for you as well, my brother. Come with me, won\'t you?\"
Cain\'s golden brows furrowed in concentration for a second. \"I can sense another vampire just beyond that door,\" he told Vlad. \"And your blood runs in his veins also... the scent of it is just like yours.\"
\"What do you think you\'re playing at, Radu?\" Vlad demanded of Radu as the younger Tepes went to the door and opened it. The stranger stepped in, pausing to look around the huge bedroom for a moment. Upon entering, he nodded to Radu, and then bowed elegantly to Vlad. \"You look well, my brother,\" the man greeted him.
\"Brother Mircea,\" Vlad smiled. Whatever the reason Radu had had to bring their brother across from the land of the dead to this place wasn\'t really very relevant at the moment - he may not have been too fond of Radu, but Mircea was an entirely different matter.
Mircea nodded in confirmation. \"I must admit I\'m surprised to see you still alive after all these centuries - Father would probably be tossing in his grave at this moment, if he knew of this. I\'d say he\'d be quite delighted to see we\'re all still here carrying on his name, in one fashion or the other.\" He flicked a cursory glance at Radu, who twitched ever so slightly.
“It’s been a long time,” Vlad told him smilingly. “I thought we’d lost you for good to those Turkish bastards, after you and Father were captured for a time.”
His elder brother smiled back briefly, then his warm greeting expression sobered. “I’ve been sensing a disturbance from the Underworld for some time now,” Mircea said, getting straight to the point. “I wished to find you and enlist your help in finding out what this might be, but when I went looking for you I came across Radu instead. Turned out that he had this burning desire to see you as well… though he wouldn’t really say why.”
Radu shrugged. “Vlad and I have some… things to straighten out. Don’t we, brother mine?”
Vlad’s green eyes glared daggers at his hated sibling, and he turned his back on the younger Tepes briefly. “No matter how glad it makes my heart to see you once more, Mircea, if you wish for my help I shall not give it unless Radu is out of the way somewhere. Kill him if you must, imprison him by magical means perhaps… but I will not have him anywhere near me or my beloved Cain.” The golden-haired vampire in question raised one blond brow, but kept silent for the moment.
Mircea shook his head determinedly. “Whether you like it or not, brother Vlad, surely you must admit that in a time like this, it is necessary - nay, compulsory - for us to join forces so that we may cast out this evil… which is beginning to be known among vampire circles as the Reapers, who by their very existence threatens to consume our kind and that of the humans.”
Radu smiled. “I don’t really mind what happens to the humans, although I’m aware that they serve an important function as our sustenance, but on the other hand I care very much about what happens to that lovely violet-haired man I see in Cain’s mind this very moment…”
Vlad’s teeth clenched slightly, but then he gave up and sighed, looking to Cain to see what he thought of Mircea’s idea. Personally Vlad wanted nothing more than to leave Radu to the mercy of whatever it was that Mircea had discovered, but if he truly had some sinister design on Cain’s progeny Shido… then killing his hated brother was out of the question. Maybe Radu could prove useful somehow…
The blond vampire closed his eyes thoughtfully. “The Reapers are like no other race of Nightbreed I have ever encountered,” he said at last after pondering this a little. “They can walk somewhat during daylight, they attack humans and vampires alike, and can even take on any human or animal form they wish. Their bite is viral, causing their prey to turn not into a vampire, but a Reaper like themselves - which means that at the rate in which they hunt, it will take less than six months for this entire continent to turn Reaper.” His tawny golden eyes opened again, and they burned with fury. “But they shall not have their way so easily, not while I have strength to kill them!”
“Indeed they shall not,” Mircea agreed.
“You have met these ‘Reapers’ also, then?” Vlad asked of his golden-tressed friend, who simply nodded.
“A suggestion, dear Cain?” Radu ventured just then.
Vlad glared at him to silence him, but Cain gave a nod.“Go on.”
“I thought perhaps you ought to warn Shido about the impending uprising of this new Nightbreed,” Radu continued, giving Cain a grateful look. “He poses himself as a supernatural investigator and guardian of the humans, does he not?”
Another nod.
“Then he either has not had time to learn what knowledge we have gathered about the Reapers, or he does not know about them at all. Therefore, it is imperative that he be informed immediately, so that we might then gain another ally in our war.”
The Impaler glanced at Mircea, then nodded. “Radu makes a valid point,” he conceded reluctantly. “Shido may prove a fairly powerful ally if he were brought over to our side of the board - I for one suggest we travel to Japan and warn him about the Reapers as soon as possible.”
Cain smiled and nodded. “I thank you, Vlad - I am most grateful for your assistance, all of you.”
The Impaler just smiled at him… a smile he usually reserved only for those whom he eventually intended to seduce; and Cain knew it. The kiss they’d shared earlier on in Vlad’s bedchamber was still all too fresh in the blond master vampire’s mind, and even now he could not fully meet Vlad’s piercing green gaze when the Prince smiled at him.

**Later on that night**

The lavender-haired individual sitting in a large comfortable-looking chair behind the requisite office desk bolted to his feet with a start upon seeing the four vampires enter his office. “What the… Cain!” he snarled, raising a hand to his face and biting down in order to form a lethal-looking sword from his own blood. “What are you doing back here?”
“I could say it’s because I’ve come to take you home, Shido,” Cain purred urbanely. Vlad noted with amusement at how much like himself Cain had become in these centuries past; it seemed that Cain had gotten much better at turning on the charm as Vlad himself was. “But unfortunately, that is not the case this time. Do you know anything about a group of demonic individuals that have appeared recently and are going about murdering vampires and humans alike?”
Shido lowered the sword a little. “Yes, I know about them. What does that have to do with you? And who are these vampires you’ve brought in here?”
Vlad, Mircea and Radu stepped forward and bowed in unison, introducing themselves one after the other. Radu’s eyes lit up as he got a better look at Shido; Vlad could clearly hear what he was thinking, and the fact that Radu was showing interest in a vampire that was still in thrall to his master Cain worried him a little. Then again, if Radu chose to challenge Cain for ownership of Shido and consequently lost, was that really any skin off Vlad’s nose?
“The ones you are hunting are known only as Reapers,” Vlad told Shido simply in reply to his question. “And they are far more dangerous than any other Nightbreed you may have come across, for they hunt both humans and vampires, through day and night. Neither type of victim are killed or turned when they are caught by a Reaper, but instead become one of them. Not only that, but if they are not stopped soon, these Reapers will spread like an infection and take over this entire world within a year. As a master vampire, I cannot allow that. And as a so-called protector of the humans, neither can you.”
Mircea nodded. “They are quite easy to spot, as you might know,” he took up Vlad’s narrative. “Since they can walk in daylight somewhat, but not without a great level of discomfort, they must shield themselves from the sun’s killing rays with much clothing, which is most often either white or dark coloured garments.” He grinned. “And of course, they are much uglier than even humans could be… it is hard to believe they are related to those of our kind, for I believe we are much more handsome.”
“Developing an ego, are we Mircea?” Vlad teased his elder sibling. “Those of royal birth should not concern themselves with such trivial blandishments. Also, you are a paramount warrior… even more reason to keep that ego under control.”
The elder Tepes laughed good-naturedly. “Never fear, Vlad.”
Shido was about to step in and demand further information about the ‘Reapers’, when his good friend and oftentimes ‘blood donor’ Yayoi entered the room. “Shido?” she asked of her superior in surprise. “What’s going on?” Her eyes narrowed on seeing Cain standing with the three strangers. “What’s he doing here? He hasn’t hurt you or anything, has he Shido?”
“No, I’m fine,” Shido assured her. “He’s come to share information on those new Nightbreeds we’ve run into recently - along with these three. This is Vlad, Mircea and Radu… they’re from the Tepes family.”
Yayoi gasped, her pretty face turning a couple of shades paler than usual. “Not Vlad Tepes the Impaler, Prince of Romania?”
Vlad bowed floridly to her, smiling broadly. “The very same, I assure you. And you are?”
“Yayoi,” the dark-haired woman managed to reply, although she still appeared to be quite shell-shocked by meeting the Impaler and his family in the flesh (so to speak) so suddenly.
Almost as if they all had the same thought, Vlad and his brothers approached Yayoi to take up one of her hands and kiss it, in turn. “A pleasure to meet you, Yayoi,” they murmured together.
Suddenly a tiny green-skinned fairy emerged from under the top hat Shido had left on his desk, and marched crossly across the desk surface to jump onto her master’s shoulder. “And were you just gonna leave me under there while you hobnob with all your vampire buddies?” she demanded of Shido.
“I wouldn’t do that, Guni,” Shido protested, but by this time Guni wasn’t listening anymore. She’d flown right up to Mircea, who stared back at her in bafflement. “Funny, you don’t look as scary as I pictured you Tepes’s to be,” Guni remarked. “Well anyway, I’m Guni, Shido’s good friend - and if any of you ever tries to hurt him, you’re gonna have to deal with me. Got that?”
“Yes indeed,” Mircea said hastily. He threw Vlad and Cain a look as if to say, What have you got us into?

“So it’s agreed, then?” Mircea asked of Shido and his colleagues some time later. “A temporary alliance so that these Reapers can be dealt with swiftly?”
Shido nodded, his sea-green eyes wary as he flicked a glance at his master Cain. “Agreed.”
“So, where do we start, then?” Riho wanted to know. Shido shrugged, his guarded expression softening slightly as he looked at her… and Radu noticed. His own dark eyes narrowed a little out of jealousy - Vlad clearly heard his younger brother’s thought as though Radu had spoken aloud. Enjoy him while you can, little girl… for he will be mine soon enough, even if I have to kill you first…
The Impaler leaned in so that only Radu could hear him, although he sensed that Mircea might overhear - being so closely tied together by blood, the three Tepes’ shared somewhat of a psychic bond at times, although not to the point where it could prove to be an intrusion. “Be careful Radu,” he warned his younger sibling. “If anything happens to that girl, Shido will have your head… and if he turns against us, we will lose our chance to eliminate the Reaper threat. Then the demise of mankind and that of humans will be on your head - and I will see to it personally that you receive exactly the kind of punishment our people reserved for traitors.” His velvet-soft voice thinned out to a dangerous hiss as he added in a whisper, “For that’s exactly what you are, my dear errant brother - and what you always will be. I have not forgotten… and I will not let you forget it either.”
Radu turned to lock gazes directly with his brother, and his eyes flashed into golden illumination briefly. “Fear not, brother… I shan’t.” He smiled, sending out his next sentence telepathically to Vlad alone. ‘But I shall have Shido Tatsuhiko as my own, whether that weak little excuse for a vampire girl or Cain allows it or no… for I always get what I want in the end…’
Vlad shrugged indifferently. ‘It’s your funeral then - as for Cain, let me worry about that particular obstacle. I have plans for him myself.’
Radu smirked. ‘See, brother? No matter how often you tell me I’ve shamed our family through the many sins I committed when younger, or how much you hate me, you cannot deny that our paths run a similar course… as do our desires.’
Their ‘conversation’ was interrupted rather rudely as a cry split the night air, outside below the building in which Shido’s office was situated.
Shido and the others started to their feet upon hearing the shout. “That sounded like…” Yayoi began, her dark blue eyes wide.
“The cry of a Nightbreed being slain,” Shido finished grimly.
“But we’re the only registered NOS agents in Japan, aren’t we?” Yayoi objected. “So how can it be that someone else besides us has taken to hunting Nightbreeds?”
“If you would allow me, dear lady?” Mircea bowed to Yayoi, who blushed slightly. “Since the most important thing right now is for you to find a way to nullify the Reapers, I shall lend my service to investigating this new demon-slayer for you.”
Vlad stood up. “I will go with you, Mircea,” he stated. He gave Radu a look that said You too, Radu… I don’t trust you alone with them.
Radu sighed, and rose to join them. “As will I.”
Shido just nodded, and the three brothers vanished in a wavering dark fog.
Cain smiled at his tyrian-haired pet, and settled himself in the chair that Vlad had recently vacated. ”Don’t mind me,” he murmured. “I am perfectly content to remain here with you and help you find a solution, my dear Shido.”
“I’m not ‘your’ Shido, not anymore,” Shido grated at him. “You know that my heart belongs to Riho now.”
The golden-haired vampire merely closed his eyes. “For now, perhaps… but eventually it shall lie in my possession once more.” He chuckled lightly. “But if what I sensed earlier on serves me correctly, it looks as though Radu may wish to challenge me for your hand. I’d say that you have caught his eye, so to speak.”
Shido said nothing - he knew within himself that he loved Riho, knew that she needed his protection and love as he needed hers, was sure that his heart and soul belonged with Riho’s - but a tiny niggle of doubt took root in his brain at Cain’s words, and the image of Radu’s pale aristocratic countenance flashed briefly before Shido, those mahogany eyes dancing with undisguised desire. Come play with me, Shido… Let me show you all the pleasures the night holds for us…
Finally, Shido went to the window and looked down at the silent dark street below, while Yayoi, Guni and Riho excused themselves quietly for the moment. “Sometimes, Cain, I wish I’d never laid eyes on you.”
The blond master vampire only cracked one eye open to say, “It seems you have said that before, my dear Shido.”


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(Hehe, attack of the green-eyed monster much?? *pun intended, har-har* Once Radu sets his sights on something, that\'s it... poor Shido hey? *lol* Hope you\'ve enjoyed it so far, \'cause the next instalment - The Hunting Moon - is gonna get a lot naughtier! Yay!)