In Memoriam

Harbinger Of War

Rickey and Raven ran quickly away from the house and were running through the large front lawn, when Caelian ran out of the darkness and tackled Raven, causing Rickey to stop and look back to his brother. "Moira! Gol! He's getting away!" Caelian yelled, as he sat on top of Raven, who struggled beneath him to get away. Rickey began to run back toward Raven, until he saw the sisters running out from behind the side of the mansion toward him. Moira sped up, getting closer to Rickey, as Gol slowed down to help Caelian and pointed her gun at Raven's head. "I suggest you stop, before I kill him." Gol warned Rickey. Raven tried to look at Rickey, "Keep going or we're both going to die." Raven said. Rickey looked between Moira rushing at him to Gol and Caelian keeping Raven pinned down and felt the panic overwhelm him. Just as Moira was about to tackle him, he seemed to disappear into a black fog and reappeared behind Gol, grabbing her arm holding the gun aimed at Raven and pulled her arm back. Gol looked behind her, as a chilling deep growl came from Rickey, who was looking down at her. The once white sclera of his gold eye had turned deep red like blood. Rickey's lips were parted, gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw, a cracking noise coming from his teeth. A single trail of what appeared to be blood fell from his obsidian eye down his cheek, as he opened his mouth and moved toward her neck to bite her. Moira watched in horror and ran in their direction. Caelian looked up at Rickey, slowly standing up and away from Raven. "What the hell?" Caelian said, much to his regret, as he drew Rickey's attention away from biting Gol. Caelian turned to run and made it a few feet from Rickey, before something sharp stabbed into his leg. He looked down at his leg as he yelled, seeing many sharp feather-shaped objects piercing his leg and pinning him to the ground. Moira stopped in her tracks, seeing the large bloodied black wings protruding grotesquely from Rickey's back, his shirt torn open behind him. Rickey turned to look at Gol again, glancing down at Raven, then to Moira. Seeing the horrified expression on Moira's face, he pushed Gol away from him and crouched over Raven, who was still laying on the ground. Gol ran to Moira, hugging her, and they both looked at the twins. Rickey began to raise his left arm in the air, a black fog forming where his hand was reaching, and he seemed to physically grab the fog. The fog began to take the shape of curved war scythe, spikes forming below the main blade. He slowly pulled the fully formed solid scythe from the black fog and brought it down quickly on Caelian, piercing his shoulder with the main blade, the smaller blades puncturing down his back. Caelian let out another yell, which faded into an exasperated whimper. Rickey pulled his wing out of Caelian's leg and violently ripped the scythe out of him, as Caelian fell unconscious to the ground, bleeding profusely.

Moira and Gol heard the sound of hooves on pavement. They turned to see a giant black horse dressed in black and red armor, its eyes blazing blood red flames and smoke coming from its nose as it snorted at them. Rickey grabbed Raven off of the ground, helping him stand and pointing to the black horse. Raven nodded and took off running toward the horse, quickly climbing onto it, glaring at the girls as he rode off away from the mansion. Rickey let go of the scythe and pulled his hand away from it as it disappeared into a black fog again. He let out a sound of exhaustion, his wings folding behind him, as he closed his eyes. A strange silence and sense of calm fell over the entire mansion. Rickey reached up and tried to wipe the drying blood from his cheek, opening his eyes again, showing that they had returned to normal. He groaned as his wings began to bend and contort, blood squirting outward as they disappeared inside of his back. He looked down to see Caelian passed out from pain and blood loss on the ground, then looked toward Moira and Gol, before falling sideways onto the ground. Lily and her husband walked toward Rickey and looked down at him, seeing that he was unconscious. "That was impressive." Lily said quietly. A group of men came out of the house, half of them grabbing Caelian and the other half grabbing Rickey. Gol and Moira walked up to their parents. "That's...not a vampire." Gol said. "That's what he was before he was a vampire." Lily said. The family walked into the house behind the men who were carrying Rickey. They walked behind the center staircase and down stone stairs that lead into the basement, walking past a row of cells and into a dark room at the end of the long hall. The men laid Rickey on a bed in the room, then turned to leave. Moira, Gol and their parents all entered the room and looked at Rickey. "All of this for nothing." Moira whispered. Lily glanced at Moira, "Not for nothing, daughter." she said. "He could be out for awhile." their father said. Gol stepped toward Rickey. "He almost killed me..." she said, glaring down at him. "Chaos is his job." Lily said, as she walked forward, folding her hands in front of her. Gol turned to look at Lily, seeing a smile on her face. "You sound proud." Gol said, glaring at Lily. "I am. I'm very proud. He's...beautiful." Lily said. Gol looked at Moira with a disgusted look on her face. "He fucking killed Caelian! And, almost killed me!" Gol yelled. Their father adjusted his standing position and sighed, "Come on, girls, leave your mother to her work. We'll go find someone nice to eat." he said, as he motioned for the girls to leave the room. Moira sighed and said "Really, dad?" as the three walked out of the room and shut the door behind them. Lily turned to the door and locked it from inside. Then, she turned back to Rickey, walking up to him and moving his arms and legs toward straps attached the bed he was on. She tightened the straps, making certain he wouldn't be able to break free once he would wake up. She leaned over him and looked at his face, glancing back at the door, then back to him as she gently grabbed his jaw and turned his face away from her. She moved her fingers down his neck slowly and parted her lips, clenching her jaw. She inhaled sharply, taking in the scent that came from his skin. She unclenched her jaw and breathed heavily, closing her eyes, as her fingers trailed down his chest. "An eye for an eye, Father Ricardo." she said. As she opened her eyes, streams of blood red tears came from her eyes. She flattened her hand out, pressing it against him, rubbing her hand up and down his chest aggressively. Rickey made a slight groaning noise, beginning to wake up. She lifted her hand and slammed it down next to his head, as he opened his eyes to see her hand close to his face. He tried to turn his head to look at her, but she grabbed his jaw and held his head in place, opening her mouth wide and biting into his neck with as much strength as she could. His expression became one of pain, confusion and sorrow. He shut his eyes tightly and his mouth opened in a scream that wouldn't come forward.

Rickey opened his eyes, hearing the familiar sound of his blood being sucked from his body. He closed his mouth but his lips parted weakly, sweat beginning to form on top of his skin, and his eyelids started to feel heavy. His breath became labored. Lily moved her hand gently from his jaw to the back of his neck, as Rickey could no longer attempt to turn his head toward her. She pulled her teeth from his neck and moved her lips across his jawline, leaving a trail of his own blood on his jaw. She reached his lips and looked into his eyes. She could see that he was barely aware of anything, his eyes half closed and empty. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips, before standing back up and looking down at him. He didn't move and his breathing was shallow. "You'll survive." she said. "But, while you're here, you'll suffer for what you did to my sister and your attempt on my daughter's life. If you fight us, I'll let my daughters feast on what's left of you once I've had my way with you." she said, as her gentle tone became threatening. He still didn't move. She wiped his blood from her mouth and reached down to wipe sweat from his face, causing him to inhale a stridor breath deeply, as if she had roused him from death. His body jerked upward and he tried to pull his arms up, struggling against the straps that held him, before relaxing and looking around. "Rest well, my dearest. I'll come back to check on you again in a few hours to make sure you're still as alive as you can be." she said sweetly. She walked toward the door and turned off the harsh light that had been illuminating the room, leaving him in pitch darkness, before unlocking the door and walking out. She locked the door again, then turned to leave. Rickey laid on the bed quietly, his eye glowing in the dark. He began to laugh and cry simultaneously and quietly to himself. "Abigail." he whispered. His laughing became somewhat louder, as he said "Your sister is almost as bad as you.". Then, his laughter stopped. He furrowed his brows and screamed Abigail's name. Lily walked upstairs and toward the kitchen on the first floor. She could hear him screaming her sister's name. Moira walked up quickly to Lily. "What happened to him?" she asked her mother. Lily looked at Moira and saw the concern in her eyes, "Are you worried about him?" she asked. "No, but he's my hunt. He belongs to me. Is he dying?" Moira asked. Lily's expression changed and she gave an innocent smile to Moira, softly touching her daughter's cheek. "He'll be alright, he's just upset." Lily said. Moira caught the scent of Rickey's blood on Lily's hand and backed away from Lily. "What did you do?" Moira asked. Lily's expression became serious, "He almost killed your sister, Moira." she said. Lily turned from her mother and ran behind the main star case. "Moira!" she yelled. Lily touched her keys to make sure she still had them with her and sighed as she found them, then turned back to walk toward the kitchen.