Curse of Blood, Tamer's Touch

Chapter 1- It Can Be Said:

Vanessa Blair~ 

It was dark. I knew it was dangerous to wander out this late, but I needed answers. My best friend wouldn't just up and vanish without a trace. Something happened to Liliana, I felt it.

It was advised against, though. Concern for a single person over the city, rather. Or one of lower class. The High Council had made that quite clear. Leave everything to the High Council, they would take care of all of us.

That didn't stop classism. In fact, the High Council seemed to encourage it.

So yes, staying out this late was dangerous. But if it helped me find Liliana, it was worth it. Not even tales of a twilight killer stalking the streets would stop me. I needed to find my sister in all but blood. Mysterious deaths across the district? Tragic and alarming, yes; but I wouldn't stop. Liliana was worth that risk.

A noise behind me brought me out of my thoughts, glancing over my shoulder to see a shady person walking some distance behind me. It struck me as odd, and I turned back nonchalantly even while my heart raced. This was a questionable part of town, but I'd walked these streets before without problems. Maybe he was going in the same direction as me. Yes, that must be it.

It wasn't until huge burly arms grabbed me that I realized that the man—too nicely dressed to be middle class—had not only caught up with me but had a partner as well. I struggled in the arms that held me off the ground, but I couldn't get free. A hand was put over my mouth as the other man came around to grin sickeningly at me, and I felt my body begin to tremble with fear.

What were they going to do to me? Was this what happened to Lily? I couldn't die here, not like this. I couldn't die... I wouldn't...

Liliana, please help me...!

LeDay Vamorin~ 

I watched my targets stalk the streets, cataloging their every move. They were clearly hunting themselves: another human that I couldn't see yet. Humans preying on other humans; I snorted under my breath. These creatures were so despicable. I had no qualms about eliminating those the High Council deemed dangerous to their precious society.

I enjoyed the killing.

Then something caught my attention: their prey. My eyes narrowed as my vision closed in on a young woman in her twenties. She was just below average height and slender with soft features, medium-length wavy auburn hair, and dark brown eyes. My stomach clenched as I recognized those eyes, and the callused hands of one of the few who wrote in a society that didn't know how nor had the interest to learn 9 times out of 10.

Fate must be mocking me to coerce my claws into saving someone from my past.

Swearing under my breath, I watched one man grab the woman and effectively keep her quiet as the other strolled closer, smugly. I supposed if I didn't do something, then the High Council would blame me for her death. I sighed: I hate being the hero. The mask I wore to hide my identity would have to do for now, even if it seemed to attest to my hero status—which couldn't be farther from the truth.

I shook it off as I moved, fast and silent. Off my high perch and into the alley, I closed in on the one holding the brunette. Using poisonous claws, I forced him to release the human with a series of vicious slashes crisscrossing his back and then going after the other one before they even registered what was happening. I grabbed the nobleman's neck and hoisted him off the ground effortlessly, staring up into his eyes thrown wide with fear.

He spoke in a tongue reserved for those of the pretentious upper class, choking in my hold.

"Irr-Irrui'sa...dha Haais ull Fruun eln Sheur..." ~Y-You're...the Heir of Blood and Chaos...~

I grinned wolfishly, using my eldritch aura to my advantage as I replied in the same tongue and watched his bulging eyes fill with even more terror. "Ai'ya suna du naraiyas dha irdaineda sheur—naedh." ~I've come to deliver the ultimate chaos—death.~

With that, I savored his reaction for just a moment longer before squeezing on his windpipe until I felt something pop. Then I used the claws on my other hand to rip open his stomach. Blood sprayed all over me as the man in my grasp tried to scream—not that he could. When most of his blood was on the ground—or on me—and his innards were spilling from his torso, I let him drop to the floor without interest. The other man had let go of the female a while ago (having dropped dead in moments of my attack if not by his injuries, then from the poison concentrated in my claws), and I was about to leave when she spoke up in a voice so achingly familiar that I froze.

"W-Wait... Why did you save me?"

Twitching with irritation, I glanced at her over my shoulder. I saw her freeze at my gaze as I replied in the rough tones my voice had adopted long ago, making me sound more primal and frightening. "I did no such deed. I was sent to accomplish a task; your life means little to me."

She faltered, no doubt discouraged by my blunt answer. I turned to leave again and gave her one last parting thought as I remembered that Vanessa Blair could understand Upper-speak.

"I suggest you keep what happened here to yourself; my reputation precedes me, and it'll get you killed long before I will. Fear will drive humans to do the unthinkable."

And then I left, leaving an old friend from my old life standing in the falling night among the dead to fend for herself.