Vampire King 2 chapter 9

Chapter Nine

So, this was the city, the modern metropolis through her own eyes, Raya thought as she took in the sights from one of the taller buildings in the city. She had to admit, the vampiric skills that were bled into her did come in handy, such as being able to scale buildings with little more than a thought and tear metal apart with her bare hands if she so wished. Yes, this power was something she wasn't able to even come close to mastering before but now, now she had all the time in the world to do so. However, it was obvious and evident that her body was weakening.

She was either hungry or the vile parasites within her were sucking her life faster than it naturally drained away. Vampires were always on borrowed time, if they didn't feed on the blood of the pure then they died. Now she was one of them. Vampires, unlike her kind or humans, had to feed everyday to live where as a human or a Ljusalf could go for days without food or water. The creatures growing within her took whatever reserve was there, too. This meant one thing, she was going to have to feed. Tonight.

Raya had seen little of the modern world through Cassandra's eyes because she had only been awakened when 'he' appeared. Her beloved teacher, the man she would have died for. To see him with that girl now was sickening. That little, worthless, girl. She wasn't far into her training and she was physically weak, Raya could see that. Perhaps stronger than an average teenage girl but not strong enough to be a hunter. Raya seethed at the thought, her teeth clenching. No, Church would be hers again, even if she had to kill the girl to get him.

She continued her walk up the side of the metal and glass building until she was at the top. She knew the foul blood  King could fly but she wasn't sure she could. Gifts came differently in each creature born of his blood. Her modern body was weak and unschooled, lazy. It made her angry, he must have forced her to be weak. She could not access the memories of her other self, this Cassandra. All she knew was the last few weeks as it was when she started to awaken inside this shell. Cassandra was brainwashed with his lies and pleasures.

Brainwashed about what he was planning. Raya knew the Vampire king well and she knew he was only biding his time. Even now Cassandra pleaded from the darkness to allow the children to be born. No, there was no way it could be allowed. But, for the time being, Raya needed them for leverage and so they would live. Part of her thought to allow them to be born only then to be rallied against their father. He would never strike down his own children... and so he would die begging them for mercy. Raya smiled, her lips thin and draw tight from it.

"That is the kind of thinking I like..." A voice spoke. Raya turned, seeing no one, even her senses didn't pick up on it. That was no surprise to her, however, as Cassandra was laughably unskilled as a blood sucker. "Oh?" Raya said, noticing that an access door to the roof of the building was hanging open. She walked to it, fearing nothing, her chin up with confidence. "Are you a vampire?" She asked, stopping some feet from the door, its metal frame clinking as the breeze banged it against the wall.

"I am not a vampire but I cannot venture into the light, either." The voice said, it was low, male and ugly. "Then what manner of vermin are you?" Raya asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "I am one that can give you your own body... so you can be free of that which drains you." The voice said. "That's a rather amazing feat if you can do it. What will this cost me? Though, I have an idea it will be more costly than I care to pay." Raya said, stepping back, seeing a glimmer of burning eyes in the darkness.

"Actually, you would be doing me a favor by agreeing." It said. "How so?" She asked quickly. "I am playing a game with Mr. Church... I want his little blond one for my collection most of all. I care not for him, just the little blond girl he keeps. I give you a body and you bring her to me." The voice said, a foul humor to it. "And how would you go about getting me a body? It's not like they are laying about for sale." Raya laughed, narrowing her eyes. "I collect them, it is what I do, it is what I... take pleasure in. You may have one. I can fix it to look like this body, if it pleases you."

Raya pondered this offer for a moment. She knew this creature was some old being, a land spirit, a God, perhaps even a Princi but they never made deals without some strange attachment. "How does the body stay alive?" She asked. She could feel the creature grinning, its malevolence leaking from the darkness like oil. "The body is connected to me and so it is alive as long as I am alive... you would guard me in order to save your own life." It said.

"I want it like this body but taller and stronger... I was a warrior, I had trained my entire life to become what I was before I died. I want that body again, is that possible? I also want to be rid of these vile parasites that grow within me but I do not want them dead...I do not want this woman dead either." Raya said, her lips pursed as she waited for a reply. "What will you do with them if they live?" The voice asked, a terrible amusement hidden behind the guttural snarl of it.

"Use them for leverage of course. The Vampire King's bride and his children, what fool would give them up? Eventually they will have to be killed but not before I have the heart of my enemy in my hands." Raya said and smiled, squeezing her fist shut. She could almost feel it there, the blood draining out as she watched. "Very well, I have no interested in them for collecting anyway, they are too near my own kind, after all." The voice chuckled. "Why do you not go and get this girl yourself? I feel your power, it is quite old and quite strong." Raya asked.

"I am not wholly physical and... I am being monitored. It would be like the hunter walking into the den of the bear with little more than a candle to fight him. There are two Step watching me and waiting..., they would not suspect you, however." It explained. "What of the game you referred to and Church? Isn't this... cheating?" Raya asked and smirked. "I am Princi... all we do is cheat." It said and laughed hardily. "You may call me, Hanzazal." There was a sudden shifting, as it seemed the darkness itself moved.

"I am Raya, though I suspect you know that already." She said, stepping closer to the door. "Yes, I remember you from eons past. Come with me and your body, your legend, will once more be realized." Hanzazal said, offering a shadow shrouded hand from the black pit in which it hid. Princi could not come into the sun whether spirit or physical, it was the root of why the vampire could not as well. The sun, a holy pure light, burned them, kept them at bay and away from the world of the day. Some said it was the eye of the Gods, a bright flaming mass which watched over the world.

Perhaps there was some truth to these legends. The Princi would not venture further. Raya, fearless of its power and benevolence, stepped into the showed doorway and took the creatures hand. "You will not regret this..." He said, yes it was a he from what Raya could tell. A once beautiful face horribly disfigured with scars now. A result of some divine punishment. It was obvious now that she dealt with a Princi from the void, his mutations and mangled flesh betraying that.

"Were you one of the first to be trapped or did you commit some terrible act more recently." She said, making the comment casually as she used her enhanced vision to make her way down the dark stairwell. The Princi morph into almost a liquid shadow, gliding down through the narrow passages like a serpent. "Oh, I was one of the first. My crime is as it always is and always will be... the Bright one does not like us cutting up its creations." Hanzazal laughed, his voice echoing and disembodied sounding now.

"Yes, I can imagine."