Bits and Pieces - Vazia

Dei tudo...
Não retive nada para mim e agora estou vazia…
Dei tudo…
Mas nunca foi o suficiente
Dei tudo…
Até o que não tinha
Dei tudo…
E agora não resta nada.
Fui a minha própria emboscada.

Khira Chronicles - The reveal of the fallen (part 1)

If there was something that Khira had learned well during her years among vampires was not to trust them and to reveal the full extent of her abilities.
Their ignorance proved to be a powerful weapon if needed, it sure helped her escape to meet the Bojangles pack years ago.
She was just sitting at the local pub when the courier delivered Zephyr's invitation to break fast with him, he assured her of a very amiable vintage meal that she would surely enjoy, but more than offering a quality meal, he offered information on her mother's whereabouts.


"If he knew something, why didn't her say so when introduced to me? Maybe he didn't want the queen or Frederick to hear..."
"Did you say anything love?" Asked the scruffy old hag that tended the bar, she seemed to incorporate every concept of old wicked witch into one human, or not, vessel.
"Just talking to myself Ma'am."


She grumbled something Khira did not understand and resumed to what to seemed an "Morticia Addams" method of cleaning. The rag she used to scrub the counter must have been as old as her and it the true antithesis of clean.
Khira tried to ignore the fact that her bare arms were laying on the counter that must had been cleaned by that rag and returned to her rationalizations.


If her instinct was correct, Zephyr had something up his sleeve and the fact that he was an Elder so far away from the official Lamia court did not help her suspicions. He was up to something and by agreeing to meet him, she might be placing herself deliberately in danger.


"What's life without a little danger?" She said loudly before running her tongue over her fangs. "Might as well enjoy the meal and who knows? I may be wrong..."
"What?" The old witch yelled back to her.
"Nothing Ma'am, here is my expense." She got up and headed to find Zephyr's place of residence.


The old witch cursed and muttered to herself while watching Khira leave. "Damned young people, no manners..."


Khira didn't take long to find the location described in the message, she pondered for a few seconds if she should maybe warn Frederick of where she was but then she started remembering all his clingy attitude and quickly decided that it was better to depend only on her own as she had been taught.


Before she could knock on the door, it squeaked and opened for her revealing a very pleased vampire on the other side. He had a traditional japanese robe, the lantern Hakama, and his silvery hair was neatly pulled back in a high ponytail.


"Welcome, young one. Please do come in." The pointed with his arms the direction she should follow and she entered calmly, trying to take in as much information as possible about the place she had just entered. 


For a lion's lair, it looks quite fashionable. Let's just hope I don't become the lamb...


Zephyr lead her through the hallway until he reached a small living room, with a very cosy feel. The three sofas that populated the space looked extremely comfortable and the matching pillows added a welcoming feel to the room. It was anything but what she expected to find in the house of an Elder, stone walls and hard wood benches would me so much more in time with the owner, but she also guessed that for him to survive for so many centuries, at least she guessed that it would be his age, would have adapted to more current trends but still she was expecting the cliché. 


If she couldn't follow the preconceptions and common notions about the old ones, then she really was about to enter total unknown territory with Zephyr. The monarchs of the Lamia were old and powerful but the Elders were in a totally different category of power and might.


"Please do sit down Khira." 


She picked a long sofa across from where he was standing and sat down crossing her legs, she would play cool and relaxed until need of other stance. 


"So, this information you claimed to have, sir, will you be willing to share it now that I am in your presence?"
"Ah... the haste of youth... All in good time, dear Khira. Shall we not feed first?" He pushed a small button that had remained unnoticed by her until then and shortly after a maid entered with a child no older than 5 years in front of her and carrying an elegant decanter that resembled an hourglass filled with a rich dark colour in her hands.


"Do you like yours straight from the source? Or perhaps a bit more fresh?"

Longings and Loathings - Chapter 7

The last words

I am tired...

The days go by and I barely notice them...
The hours seem long but in a heartbeat it is a whole new week, a whole new month, a whole new year...

The silence of my solitude drove me insane and ultimately numb...
I could kick a stone as hard as I could and I wouldn't feel a thing...

I could trace the path of my veins with the edge of a dagger and only see the red that would escape.
The source of life only as a reminder of color...

I move to my balcony and look outside at the people walking in the streets...
Little ants, always running in search of something. Family, work, money, sex, success...

I imagine myself laying in the floor on one of those streets near death and I see all those faces and feelings I am no longer able to express or feel. Disgust, pity, horror, judgement, sadness...

Maybe today I could jump...
Who would miss me anyway?
Yes, maybe one last act of impulsivity to be able to feel...
Feel through the eyes of the little ants, how wonderful that would be...

                                                   *

"Vehicle 49, we have a jumper on 3rd Street"

The radio squeaks and the words came out automatically, not the first I had to communicate it.

The city is brutal and without mercy. 

People give up every day and I am but a spectator to all the gore.

Everything is unchangeable, immutable and hopeless. How I wish I was numb to the violence, numb to the world around me.

Khira Chronicles - Requiem

How long has it been....

The sore muscles of her weakening body burned. She tried once again to release herself from her restraints but the silver chains that held her must be enchanted.
Those damned wolves were waiting for her, she had been betrayed. The real question was by who?

When she reached the woods near the Forgotten Forest, a pack of wolves took her as prisoner and tortured her for days, even though she claimed to be just a traveller. It only made it worst.
Her memory started to fail after months of torture... She remembered only the bleeds and the burns...
The silence cut only by their mocking howls and Eleannor's screams and hisses.

I hear the sound of something dripping...
I'm being bled again...

The sound of approaching footsteps forced her to open her eyes. Her lids felt heavy and her vision blurry. Before her was Raven, the one that seemed to be the leader of her captors.

"Lady Eleannor, I can't help but to thank you for your precious contribution. We had never laid our hands in such pure elder blood." she grinned maliciously and poked Eleannor's right thigh with a burning red poker. "It's such a shame that you are becoming so weak... Maybe I should get you something to eat..."

Raven stroke her face violently and laughed hysterically.

"Soon enough, all of your disgusting and murdering familiars and kindred will fall. Thanks to your precious blood, you will all meet your doom."

She started howling then, soon all the others joined the deadly song, the song for the dead.

The song of my death...

The moon was full and soon Raven and her pack turned, running into the wild hunting and procreating.

Peace for now... She thought before hearing another noise. Her hurting eyes tried to inspect the rotten warehouse they trapped her in, she was too weak to focus, her throat burning with the thirst.
Then he came into view...

It can not be...

"Eleannor, dear... It has been so long..."
"Frederick? Is that you?"

He moved quickly to her and released her restraints. He picked her up and carried her in his arms away from the putrid confinement she was in. He caressed her burned cheek and whispered against her forehead.

"Some of these will not heal, beautiful."
It was the last thing she mumbled before fainting.

"I know..."

What hides in the Dark - Desperation Room

The place was pitch dark and all she could hear was remote sounds of dripping water.

How long had it been since she was trapped there...

She couldn't remember how she got there, the only certainty she had was the sore body and gushing wound on her forehead.

Slowly she tried to stand up but the effort wore her out at the first try, her legs were aching from the muscle atrophy and her back hurt like she had been kicked several times.

She tried to adapt her eyesight to the blackness around her. She rubbed her eyes and the filth in her hands made them immediately sting and tears began running to clear her sight.

An ugly sound echoed all around her, making her recoil and lean against the mossy wall. 

the only sound now were her clattering teeth and shivers, she tried to focus on the shadows, moveing her head from side to side randomly, her panic taking over any remanescent sense of reason within her.

The hours passed and she slipped on and off sleep, her exhaustion taking over every nerve on her body. Light seemed to enter through tiny ventilation holes at times, but the dark dominated her spirit now more than the place itself. Her desperation was her biggest confinement and the will to escape was now almost non-existent.

She heard it...

There...

Once again she tried to move, she dragged herself trying to reach for the source of the sound. A million thoughts crossed her mind. What was there? Should she hide? 

A moving shadow caught her attention, all that she thought was to get closer, to escape from that awful confinement, to find help.

She tried to yell but no sound escaped from her throat.

She wanted to cry but her tear channel was too inflamed from the dirt and filth of her hands.

The shadow moved in her direction and as it reached her it stopped.

"Ready to beg Megan, my little whore?"

He laughed and started kicking her again on her torso.

"You'll never be free again..."

He spat on her face and started moving away from her, leaving her bleeding and hurting wishing for her death to come quickly.

Khira Chronicles - Eleannor's entrapment

"Franklin and Georgia, you know this is something that must be done... I do not wish to approach her after the order to terminate her life has been given"
"But, Eleannor, darling..." Georgia said while looking at her nails with profound admiration "You didn't even know that she lived, or at least you were not sure..." She smiled staring now at her with that feral eyes, showing her craving for blood was high and her murderer instincts wanted to hunt.
"I had the sense, but never acted on it", trusts her hands to circle her neck, an action that for the common mortal would have meant suffocation but that for Georgia, it might mean decapitation "Don't mock me Georgia, I am still your superior and your acid comments will not favour you"

Eleannor had only dicovered recently that Khira did not past as expected and now associated with wolves, she could become a liability unless she could bring her to Court and teach her the ways of the Elders.
She has already a name for herself, the Sculptress... But I am still Eleannor, the Bloody and she will bow down to me.  

"El dear..." Franklin spoke in his languid way, his words smooth as velvet "What will your husband make of your sudden departure?" He smiles viciously and laid down on the sofa, caressing his bare chest before making a vertical cut which wasn't long until Georgia attended it with her tongue.
Franklin, don't patronize me... He will have to accept it. I leave when I want to, we are no longer humans. In our kind, men never had much of a saying, especially after Saeya took over the Elder council."

"I'm just concerned that he may take it personally...." He stands up and moves to Eleannor, so quickly that the normal eye would not catch a glimpse of his movement. He runs his finger seductively across her neck and licks her neck line up until her ear "You refuse to give him offspring but you go after your long lost child..."
Just as fast as he moved, she grabs his arms and tosses him back on the sofa and lays on top of him with her fangs fully extended, brushing his neck.


"Franklin, Franklin... For someone who lives of his lovers, you don't value your body much do you...." She bites down his neck and feels the rush of blood pour into her mouth. When she stops, Franklin's arousal is obvious and the image of Eleannor licking the remaining drops of his blood of her lips, makes it throb even harder. "My lover... These matters do not concern you..." She pulls on his wavy brown hair to bring his lips to her, where she whispers "Pleasure me Franklin... I have a long journey ahead."
Without hesitation Franklin obliges, tearing apart her silk gown he starts to kiss down her stomach, while Georgia watches them with angry eyes and vengeance on her mind.
"Leave!!" Eleannor growls at her as Franklin starts to reach her core.

                                                                           *

"Lady Eleannor will leave tomorrow night after sunset..."
"Good, I'll make all the arrangements... If we are sucessful, we get rid of both of them and then there is only the husband to take care of."
She grabs his arm hard before letting him turn away "Make her suffer..."
He releases himself pulling his arm free and walks into the night laughing creepily.

Khira Chronicles - Beginnings

"I can see it's not going to be that easy to find her" she scratches her head gently tucking the locks of her hair behind her ears.

When Khira decided to go after her mother, she had no idea whatsoever of what she was going to find. Would her mother even recognize her? Probably so, but would she welcome her? Probably not, not after what she went through after looking for her herself, and probably not after seeing Khira chose the wolves over her at that time.

But what was to be expected from her after being abandoned by her mother...

Khira was a baby when she was delivered to an orphanage, her mother was dead and so the hospital placed her in a state facility. She grew up to meet the same destiny that came to her mother, she died... and then came back.

Apparently, or so Bogart told her, she must have caught some of the blood change during the birth that caused her to be reborn after dieing in an car accident. Her first times were brutal and bloody, just like it is for all members of her Undead family as she came to know later.

When the Elders became aware of the existence of a stray child, she was hunted and that's when she discovered that she did have a certain talent for sculpting flesh,and set about perfecting her craft. She gained a reputation due to her particular craft, the Sculptress, the Elders and the Royal House clans called her.
Eventually, an older vampire got hold of her and left her to die a second time however it was then that her vampire classical story ended... and not in ashes.

Once the old vampire left her, the scent of blood caught the attention of a wolf and in this state of near death she was welcomed by a pack. In their care, she learned about herself and about principles no one had ever bothered to teach her. She learned about unity and family with them and at the same time gained much of the hatred they had for her own kind.

So, you see when Eleannor, her mother, came looking for her it wasn't a warm welcome that was expecting her. The wars between the wolves and vampires have existed for centuries and although Khira was an exception, a bastard daughter of a Royal Vampire house like her mother was not as happily welcomed. She was treated as a spy, tortured and bled. Eventually she got away, Khira never fully understood how but she did.

Ironically, the time came for the reverse to happen - Khira in search of her mother. The differences between the wolves and her grew more and more as years gone by and her needs as a vampire separated them.
Bogart, the wolf that rescued her that night, told her she must claim her heritage and learn the extent of her power. He send her off with a hug and she felt alone again...

After a few months she made it to a city run by an Elder woman of no Royal blood, she heard of her poise and ruling and became curious. It happened that her instinct guided her correctly, her mother had been there not long before she arrived. She met a strange vampire there.

He claimed to have loved her mother and that she never returned her feelings for him although she shared her bed with him, but he didn't seem very reasonable...
Soon after discussing her mother, he started to sweet-talk her and it became obvious to Khira that this Frederick clearly had some unfinished business with her mother and was trying to project it on to her.
Fool...

-image: Young Vampire - Vieux River - Uberwald by Fayte Devious - Glimpses of Discworld - An Assassin's Perspective

What Hides in the Dark - Dark night

After driving for hours, the gas ran out and now they were stuck in this God forsaken road, miles from civilization.
  "Bruce, this is all your fault!" Brenda screamed "I told you we needed fuel, but no... Why listen to my sister?!"
  "Relax B, it's going to be fine. We'll just wait for dawn and walk to a gas station and you could as well have done it since you're Ms perfection-and-know-it-all"
Bruce has always been dismissive of other people's concerns but when it came to her younger sister, well, he knew he screwed up big time.
  "We're off the interstate Bruce, how the hell are you going to find a station?" shakes her head thinking about how much she wants to kill him right now, but even that wouldn't be a good thought as it would only leave her here in the middle of nowhere all by herself.
The cold cut like glass in the darkest of nights and all they wanted was to reach home safely no matter how they tried to blame it on each other.
 "Stay in the car, I'm going to find some wood to start a fire."
 "Why not use the car heat?" Bruce just shakes his head dismissively and walks away into the woods. "Stupid me... no gas no heat."
She just stays there and tries not to move to waste any body heat she still has inside the car, she locks the doors just in case and lowers her body out of sight as much as she cans until eventually she fells asleep.

The sound of someone pounding the door desperately wakes her up, she straightens herself but sees nothing.
Apparently they ran out of battery as well, I'm going to kill him she thinks before spotting her brother slightly hidden behind a tree, signaling me to get down again but before she even gets the chance to do anything the pounding restarts and she screams for her life. I need to get it away from the car before it breaks the glass Brenda is a sitting duck, Bruce looks for anything that may serve as weapon nearby and finds a branch among the wood he collected, not thick enough but he doesn't care as long as Brenda is able to get away.
 "Hey asshole, over here!" he yells waving his arms to to catch its attention.
The creature slowly turns away from the car and starts walking slowly preparing to hunt him down and then starts chasing Bruce drooling in anticipation.
Bruce soon grows tired, the hours without eating taking its toll in his stamina, so he hides behind another tree and waits holding his branch like a baseball bat. As soon as he hears the creature, he takes a swing and runs back in the car's direction.
Brenda keeps screaming and crying in complete shock screaming for her brother's name. Totally out of control looking out through every window, shaking. Then she spots him, running in her direction, she shakily tries to unlock the door but before she is able to control the shivers and shaking of her hands, her brother is pinned down and dragged back into the woods.
 "Bruuuuuuuuuccccccccccceeeeeee!!!"
She cries and shivers and all that crosses her mind is that she's next, she has nowhere to hide and as she turns to look again to try to get a glimpse of the her brother's body through the window, the glass breaks.