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fellowshippers2004-03-26 08:33 pm
konishi-zen.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2004-03-26 08:33 pm
Crushed Rubies 5/?
Well, Yeah. It was a looong time and I utterly apologize for the delay..well, the thing was that elouisa was in NZ and it would be pretty stupid to ask her to *work* on holiday, so I'm writing this part..and if all goes well, I'll be back for seven.
So here we go:
Authors: elouisa and konishi_zen
Warnings: AU, Supernatural beasties, RPS, references to violence and drug-use. I'd also say the rating's like 14M.
Disclaimer: Only the prose is mine. I don't make claims on these people. Or the songs.
Pairings: Umm, there are a lot mentioned and hinted at otherwise, but rest assured that the core pairing's *still* monaboyd.
Summary: Part 5: We get to see a bit of the other half, plus get a bit of the NY nightlife (well, the NY in our heads at any rate).
A few notes of explanation: Red Deer (for the Non-Canadians and Easterners that don't travel often) is a small city smack in between POS Edmonton and POS Calgary. Red Deer sucks as much as these two cities and it's literally the small city from hell...actually, who the hell am I kidding? this ENTIRE province sucks worse than pissing in the wind and getting it back in your face.
Rum and Coke..or Rye and Coke, take your pick, is like the provincial drink of Alberta...shows real class when you drink this on a regular basis. It also proves how big of an Alberta hick you are too.
(Those are my opinions and if anyone's offended, tough. I LIVE in this hell-hole, I figure I can slag it as much as I want)
That's it. For now.
Archiving/Feedback: Sure thing on both counts, let us know though, ok?
Posted: on monaboyd and x-posted to fellow_shippers
Previous parts can be found here:
Prologue
1
2
3
4
Part 5: Decadence and Deceit.
Viggo sat back in the black velvet love-seat and passively watched as the others moved about the room in languid, causal movements that hid their deadliness.
He liked the lush, slow way that they glided, being almost works of arts in their movements; but they failed to rouse anything in him except a mild admiration one would feel for a well executed work of art that one has been altogether too familiarized with.
Sighing, he tilted his head back and stared at the heavily carved oak ceiling.
He hated to admit it even to himself that he missed Sion. It was a severe and painful ache that never did go away. He had always been sure that it would have dulled with time, the burning longing he had felt for the green-eyed vampire. His co-ruler of this coven.
He had asked, time and time again, where it had all unravelled.
Where it had cracked and broken so badly that neither of them could bridge the deep gap that had appeared between them and had spread to their other children until it had irrevocably splintered them into two warring clans, as stubborn and foolish as the clans of those pathetic humans they would take so much delight in watching in the old days.
Maybe if Sion had been there with him, things would have returned as they were.
But Sion had turned his back on them and Viggo had broken enough to slacken the reins over the young ones.
And now they were teetering on the brink of a war.
A war that he could sense and smell on the high wind.
He frowned then and tilted his gaze away from the ceiling towards him. The black flame of this darkly broken coven that kept him from stepping out into the sun and slipping away to eternal rest.
He stood leaning against the darkly lacquered table, one hip jutting out of the tight leather trousers he wore, looking almost palely obscene against the obsidian skin. A slight shift of his shoulders and the pale skin is gone, covered up by a matching jacket. The shirt underneath is a stark white that's so bright it practically makes Viggo's eyes ache with it and forces him to turn his head away.
He tries to be subtle about it, but the child notices it and in seconds, Viggo's got a lapful of young vampire rubbing himself against his thigh while the long length of his torso is lying heavily against his chest and long, piano player's fingers are tangled in his long hair.
"See something you would like, father?" the dusky, playful voice teases him as lips soft as velvet grasp his earlobe and tug playfully while dark eyes stare deep into his.
Viggo's face doesn't change expression as he reaches up and lets his own fingers get tangled into the artfully tousled mane of black curls that grace the unbelievably gorgeous head of the lissom creature on top of him.
He lets his fingers sink and get tangled into the soft black mass before he quickly and cruelly crushed his lips against the child's.
He forced the lips open and kissed him ferociously. Biting, licking and gouging with his own sharp eye-teeth. Either as a court-ship or a warning, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that when the blood started flowing, he began to drink and wouldn't let go until he had sated the sudden desire for food that had crept up in him when the child had been sexually teasing him.
Once he was done, he tossed the impudent child away, watching with the same dispassionate gaze as his body collapsed on the carpet like a broken puppet with no strings, his perfect mouth gashed and bloody.
"I'm not your plaything, Orlando. It shall serve you well to remember that." Viggo told him, his voice calm as he spoke.
Orlando blinked a couple of times, his eyes large and confused for a couple of seconds before they went back to opaque and filled with a maniacal gleam.
"I was only trying to be friendly, Master." Orlando sneered, getting to his feet so quickly that even Viggo had a hard time discerning the individual movements.
"Don't over-step your boundaries, little bloom. Your charm is quickly wearing away from you."
Orlando shook his head and smiled at Viggo, a wide smile that clearly showed the elongated fangs.
"Full of sound and fury you are, Viggo. Yet you signify nothing."
Viggo lashed out, leaving four furrows on both sides of Orlando's face that were deep enough for the bone to gleam dully in the light.
"I choose to let you live, little bloom. I am not concerned enough whether you spend your time indulging your madness and your sadism. I simply don't care and that's the main reason why you live, little one. But I am warning you: if you step out of line with me again, I will not think twice of breaking your fucken neck, nailing your hands and feet down on the nearest roof and gleefully watching as the sun consumes your miserable carcass. Understood?"
Orlando wiped at the blood on his face and gave a small nod, despite the anger that he was feeling flooding his senses.
It was one thing to flout authority in small matters. But to openly sneer at Viggo was an action that Orlando wasn't sure he could manage and still live to tell the tale.
It was true that Viggo was pretty much ambivalent to whatever the coven chose to do to fill the endless parade of static nights at their disposal, but when anyone of them came too close to defying him, he was quick to put a stop to it in the most effective and violent manner possible.
"Good. Now get out of my sight. All of you, before I choose to rip you to shreds for even being in the same room as me."
The rest of the coven, Liv, Marton and Craig all looked at Orlando for what to do. Orlando sighed and jerked his head towards the heavily panelled doors.
They followed him out, the only noise of their leaving being the heavy swish of fabric and the quiet echoes of the door closing behind them.
Once that had happened, Viggo laid against the love-seat and stared out the window, trying to push away the brittle longing for Sion. Trying to forget the way that lightly golden arms would hold him to make him feel safe, the way that liquid jade eyes would smolder in the darkness as they watched over him.
But he couldn't forget them. Nor could he recall the freshness of them anymore. They were becoming like thin and inadequate photographs left out in the sun.
He sighed and laid his head over his arm.
Even the memories had become empty and dusty fragments.
He closed his eyes and savoured the pain.
The only thing he had left of him.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Lij..uh are you sure this is a good idea?" Dom shouted over the nearly deafening thudding of Ministry's "Jesus Built My Hot-Rod" as they cruised the nearly packed dance floor.
It had been close to four months since Dom had arrived in New York and he still hadn't gotten used to the crazy routine of going to the clubs, partying till practically dawn and then heading to work.
He had tried to keep up with Lij, but lately, his stamina was flagging and there was simply no way he was going to do as much speed as Lij seemed to in a week.
That was why even though he was enjoying himself immensely, he was having second thoughts about staying out too late that night.
And he was having a hell of a time letting Lij know that also.
"What?!" Lij shouted back as he expertly wove through the crowds with a jittery grace that Dom couldn't help but envy.
"I said "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dom practically yelled in his friend's ear once they had navigated through the sea of humanity and had ended up in the corner booth they had scouted out earlier in the evening.
"What? Staying out?" Lij asks as he sits down and pulls up his shirt with the too torn collar which had an annoying habit of slipping down his shoulders and exposing his chest and a bit of nipple.
"Fuck. Well, yeah. Aren't we scheduled to open at like FIVE in the fucken morning? Or did the tail make you forget that already?"
Dom asked, rolling his eyes at Lij, who was now pulling his torn fishnet glove up his forearm and looking like he wasn't listening to anything Dom was telling him.
"Yeah. I know. I'm not that dense." Lij replied as he ran his hand through his thick, blue streaked hair and looked at Dom with kohl lined eyes.
He winked at his friend and Dom really felt like slapping him one.
"Lij. Come on man. Don't you think maybe you should give it a rest? Just for one night?"
Lij's eyes turned a dark, steely blue at Dom's question and Dom knew instantly that he's just said the wrong damned thing to his friend.
Biting back a sigh, Dom leaned over and put his hand lightly on Lij's, careful that his touch is loose enough and not at all restraining.
"It's getting that bad again?" he asked the younger man.
Lij bit his lip and looked away at the badly drawn band poster on the wall of the booth before nodding.
"You didn't tell me." He noted, making Lij shrug.
"Didn't wanna worry you." He replied before letting his head fall heavily on the table.
Dom sighed and fought the urge not to slap his friend for being such an idiot.
"Look, Elijah. Just fucken *tell me* when it starts getting bad, okay? It doesn't fucken matter that I'm gonna be worried or freak out. You're my fucken best friend, you shit-head!"
Lij blinked at this.
"Yeah. I know..It's just that well, things were going so good, I didn't want you to start thinking that it was starting to be like it was back in Red Deer, ya know?"
Dom nodded.
"I know, Elijah, but it's not like it's gonna kill me to help you. Just come in and fucken wake me up. You know I'm gonna be there, all right?"
Lij nodded at the question.
"You promise though?" Dom asked, still not wanting to let the
matter drop until he had gotten at least something out of Lij that was more than a nod.
"Yeah. I promise."
Dom smiled and let his friend's hand go. It was something small, but at least it was something.
They sat in silence for several moments, just trying to relax and get back into the vibe again when the DJ began to play a Theatre of Tragedy tune that made them both grin at each other before rushing back onto the fray that was the dance floor.
Once they were on the floor, it was by an unspoken agreement that had them dancing as sexily as they dared, groins rubbing, limbs locked as they danced; getting heated glances from both sexes as they put on their little show.
Once the song was done, they split up and were swarmed by admirers wanting either a dance, a kiss or a fuck in the washrooms.
Dom had pushed a lot of the hands and bodies away, not wanting to really start anything.
The dancing was a way to release tension for him and to get Lij some tail. That was about the only reason that he had agreed to that particular arrangement years ago.
Although he was fucken lonely, he really hadn't had any desire to get entangled up with people he didn't know and get diseases he didn't even know how to spell.
He also didn't want to admit it, but despite the long silence and the uncertainty, he was sure that someday soon, Billy was going to come back into his life.
The mere thought of him was enough to make him feel a warm rush and the blood to rush to his ears.
He didn't know what the hell it was about Billy, but he could honestly say that Billy was totally unlike anyone he had had either the pleasure or displeasure of meeting.
He wasn't sure whether it was something so trivial like his features, or his voice. It was the entire package, he knew, that made him lie awake night after night mourning the fleeting moment that they had shared by the bus terminal. Mourning the loss of the phone number that he had given him.
Dom scowled and tried not to let it bother him again. Despite knowing that Lij was only trying to be helpful when he took the jeans to the laundry along with his clothes, he couldn't entirely repress the angry twinge he felt at the destruction of that piece of paper.
Shaking his head a bit, he was just about to step off the edge of the dance-floor when a hand wrapped itself around his upper arm.
Dom sighed in frustration. He really hoped that they take a "no thank-you" without anymore hassles and leave him alone to nurse a drink and maybe even build up the courage to do some speed in order to be able to baby-sit Elijah and be decent for work tomorrow.
He looked up at the man that was holding his arm (and silently cursed the fact that he was smaller than most of the teenagers in New York. Including the girls) and nearly stopped breathing.
The man's eyes were like nothing he had seen before. The colour was deep and unsettling, despite being what could have passed as just a basic hazel in the daylight. In the lights of the club, they seemed to have more depth and more shadows than most people's eyes usually had. They fit perfectly in his face, which was classically handsome in an Edwardian English way, with broad cheekbones, strong jaw and straight nose. The hair too, was also perfect, since it was straight, dark and long and framed his face in loose tangles and straight lines. It should have looked out of place, since the hair and the face didn't match the black leather, satin and cotton that the body, tall and thin was clad in.
"May I buy you a drink?" the stranger asked, his words flavoured in an accent that sounded slightly English to him. Maybe it's the accent, or the fact that he's never really encountered basic politeness in a club, or maybe it's the slight flash of topaz in the eyes that made him nod his consent.
The man nodded and led Dom off the floor with as much care and conscientiousness as one would show to a waltzing partner before leading him to the bar.
"What would you like...?" The man trailed off and lifted one dark eyebrow at Dominic.
"Uhm. It's Dominic and I'll have a Rum and Coke."
Dom winced at the sound of his voice and his request. It seems that it was true after all: You can take the boy out of the Prairies, but you can't take the prairies out of the boy.
"Sure thing. I'm Marton, by the way." he added smoothly as he signals the bartender for the drink.
There was a small moment of silence and Dom used it to scan the crowd for Lij and found him laughing it up with another dark-haired man that looked slightly like a gypsy and a pale-skinned, dark haired woman.
Normally, he would have shook his head and paid no more attention to him, but the oddness that struck him about Marton struck him again when he looked at the woman and the gypsy. Both were too out of place for an industrial club, dressed in clothing that was too rich and too expensive for even the store-bought goths to be able to afford. They were also too..beautiful. They both looked like they had been sculptures that had suddenly come to life.
Things simply didn't add up with them and that made him nervous in a way that sent off warning bells in his head.
"Are you looking for your friend?" Marton asked Dom, who nearly jumped out of his skin and nodded weakly, feeling like a little kid that's been caught doing something bad.
"Don't worry. He's fine." Marton assured him as he handed Dom his drink.
"Aren't you having anything?" Dom asked as he accepted it. His fingers brushed against Martons' and he had to fight hard not to shudder at the preternatural chill emanating from them.
Marton grinned at him and shook his head. "I will. I'm not in the mood about now."
Dom nodded and took a sip of his drink, enjoying the flat, sweet taste of Coke and the spicy burn of the Rum as they went down his throat to warm up his stomach.
As he took another sip, Marton moved closer and began to play with the longish ends of hair, only occasionally letting his fingers trail over the exposed flesh of his neck.
Each touch made Dom purr slightly and move closer to Marton.
Although his fingers were cold, the way that he was moving them over Dom's skin was making the desire curl tighter and tighter in his lower belly, making him forget his vow not to get involved with anyone that night.
Marton whispered something in his ear, but Dom didn't really pay attention. The laughter that followed the phrase is soft and sensuous and Dom found himself kissing Marton.
Hot, heavy kisses that intoxicated every fibre of his being. Melting him, shaping him into a different being. Kisses that he can't imagine not experiencing ever again in his life. Kisses that his body needed desperately.
Dom put the drink down on the bar and practically wrapped himself around Marton, not ever wanting to let him go. If Marton asked to fuck him, he'll say yes without hesitation. He hasn't been touched that way in months and his body was screaming, begging for that touch.
Marton moved his mouth away from Dom's trailing hot, searing kisses down his jaw, down his neck and stopped right at the juncture of Dom's shoulder and neck.
He kissed him a few more times, just to make sure that Dom was still sunk into a mire of lust before he bit.
Dom let out a soft groan, making Marton pause. Dom didn't notice and was now rubbing himself against him, silently begging for more attention.
Marton grinned and was about to give Dom a deeper bite and get the blood flowing when he was rudely and forcefully pulled away from his meal.
He was about to snarl at the interruption when he was pinned by a pair of chartreuse eyes glaring daggers at him. Only one person had eyes like that. Boyd.
"Leev 'im." Boyd ordered, his fury visible in how thick his brogue was, almost making the words unrecognizable.
"Is he yours?" Marton whispered, his eyes turning cloudy with his anger.
"Aye. Ma scen' is on 'im." Boyd replied, pointing to the oblivious Dom's left side.
Marton frowned, but dutifully bent his head and gave the skin a lick, making Dom shudder.
He made a face when he tasted the scent, but backed away.
"Keep him on a fucken leash then, Boyd. Even if he is yours, next time I find him like this, I will take him."
Marton warned the Scot, who laughed shortly.
"That'll be the day, Marton. And you know it. Now get away from him before I decide to break your worthless neck."
Martons' eyes flashed dark like obsidian, but he retreated away into the swirling mass of bodies, leaving Dom blinking in confusion.
"Dom? Dominic?" Billy called his name several times, wondering how much Marton had pulled him out of reality to feed and whether it would be difficult to pull him back in again.
But to his relief, Dom blinked and the spacey expression was gone, replaced by surprise and joy at seeing him there.
"Billy?" Dom asked, not really believing what he was seeing, since only a moment ago he was kissing Marton like a drowning man clinging to a rope and then Marton had gone and Billy was standing in his place.
"Aye. It's me." Billy replied softly,
trying to quash the aching need to feel Dom's skin under his fingers, his scent on his clothes, his mouth on his lips.
"Ah! This is so fucken unbelievable!" Dom shouted right before leaping at Billy and embracing him in a bone crushing hug.
"I've never thought you'd be here! Of all places!" Dom cried in relieved joy.
"I've missed you so fucken much."
Billy didn't reply right away, since he was busy debating whether he should simply accept the hug and break it off gently, or push Dom away and disappear without a trace; effectively cutting things off between them and making sure that Dom would be safe from all of them.
He would have taken the second option if it wasn't for the warmth and genuine emotion that was practically oozing from Dom at that moment.
Warmth and Emotion: Two things that Billy hadn't realized how much he missed until that particular moment.
Which was why he found himself returning the embrace and whispering "I missed you too." in Dominic's shell-pink ear before pulling away from him.
"Yeah. I lost your number, or else I would have called you earlier."
Dom explained a bit sheepishly as he took a gulp of his forgotten drink.
Billy smiled, a slightly aloof smile that hid his chagrin for having had tried to deceive Dominic.
"Ah. Well..." Billy found himself tongue-tied and not at all sure what to say in return. He didn't want to encourage him, yet he didn't want to be an asshole and drop him coldly.
And there was also the simple fact that they were hunting to factor in. It was his job to keep an eye on Weaving from the left side of the club and he knew Sean would be pissed if they lost track of the wanker.
Which luckily, despite all the distractions, hadn't happened.
Weaving was still zoned on Miranda and Karl, whom he was trying, and failing miserably, to charm.
"How bout I give you my number then? Lij won't mind you calling."
Billy blinked at the request, then nodded. He could always claim he lost it and avoid the club for a time until Dom got over him.
"Here." Dom reached out and grabbed Billy's arm and with quick movements, scribbled his and Lij's number on the inside of his arm, close to the elbow, making Billy look up in surprise.
"That's so it doesn't wash off before you write it down."
Dom explained. Billy smiled a bit and willed his emotions behind a wall of nonchalance. He couldn't afford to be charmed, gladdened and distracted by the boy. Especially not when hunting and not when *they* were around.
There was a moment of silence that fell both between them and the club, since the DJ was looking for another song to start off the new set.
Both men looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed.
Although Dom was ecstatic to see Billy, he also could sense that Billy wasn't feeling the same way. It was almost as it he was hiding what he was feeling from Dom. An emotion that wasn't matching up to his words.
This realization made Dom wonder whether he had simply been expecting too much from a chance encounter with a stranger. After all, things did change between people. Time, distance, other people. They all contributed to change.
Fidgeting, Dom opened his mouth to speak when Lij ran by him, pulled him away from Billy right before the lights fizzled out.
"Lij? Lij? What the fuck?" Dom protested as Lij used his pocket flashlight to find their booth.
"We gotta get out of here Dom. Shit's gonna go down tonight. Here's your jacket."
Lij replied as he tossed Dom's old denim jacket at him before grabbing his own black trench and hastily putting it on. Once they had gotten their jackets on, Lij pulled Dom to a barely used exit and shoved him through.
Once they were outside, Lij looked around before walking away as calmly as if he were on an errand for cigarettes.
"What the fuck Lij?" Dom hissed as he walked right beside him, careful to appear as casual as Lij did.
"I'll tell you when we get home. After you fucken promise me never to talk to that guy again."
Elijah replied in a flat voice as he led Dom to the subway.
"What?! Why not?!" Dom whispered harshly.
Lij remained silent for several minutes, ignoring Dom's protests until they got to the entrance of the station.
"Look, Dom. You know I don't fucken interfere with anything you do, so just this once, fucken humour me, okay?"
Dom bit his lip at the request.
"Can you tell me why at least? I can't fucken promise you anything if you don't tell me what the big fucken deal is."
Lij sighed.
"All right. Well. That guy and a couple of others started showing up at the club like about a year or so ago. They're not there very often, but when they show up, they find bodies in the general area. There's no concrete evidence, but everyone knows they're behind it. That was why when I saw him and his friends, I pulled out."
Dom was staring at his friend, unsure of what to say. Part of him wanted to say it was bullshit and go back and try to find Billy. But the other part of him believed Lij. Especially since Lij was looking as spooked as hell. And he knew that it took a hell of a lot to freak Elijah Wood out.
After a few minutes of having Lij stare at him and his mind arguing over whether it was all bullshit or not, he finally spoke.
"All right. I'm not gonna talk to him again." Dom promised a bit reluctantly, glad that he had never really told Lij who it was that he had travelled with.
Lij nodded and they continued on their way home in relatively companionable silence, completely unaware of the man with a shock of reddish-blonde hair and bright blue eyes watching them from a dark street corner a block away.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What is it Dave?" Billy asked as they stood on the roof and waited for the others to finish feeding. That was the rule. Whoever had done the initial catching got the first turn at feeding. This time it had been Dave's charms and Billy's hands that had scored that particular kill, so they got to feed first. Once they had drank their fill, they had moved away and enjoyed the night and the fact that they didn't have to dispose of the body.
Although they had been quiet for awhile, Dave had been extremely fidgety; wanting to break the silence, but not daring in case it was bad manners or simply the wrong time.
"Oh. It's cool?" Dave asked as he nervously ran a hand through his long mane of strawberry blonde hair.
"It always is, Dave." Billy assured him, knowing that it was a valid question. If it had been Sean, he probably would have ripped his head off without a second thought.
"They have their eyes on him and his friend." Dave told him, his voice so soft that even he had to strain to hear it.
"Dominic?" Billy whispered, his heart skipping a few beats as he spoke.
"The child you were talking to. Yes. Him. I heard them talking. Marton wasn't too pleased you stopped him and says he's gonna try for him again, and Orlando wants his friend."
Billy bit his lip and closed his eyes.
It seemed that Dominic had gotten his wish.
They were going to meet again.
end of Part 5
So here we go:
Authors: elouisa and konishi_zen
Warnings: AU, Supernatural beasties, RPS, references to violence and drug-use. I'd also say the rating's like 14M.
Disclaimer: Only the prose is mine. I don't make claims on these people. Or the songs.
Pairings: Umm, there are a lot mentioned and hinted at otherwise, but rest assured that the core pairing's *still* monaboyd.
Summary: Part 5: We get to see a bit of the other half, plus get a bit of the NY nightlife (well, the NY in our heads at any rate).
A few notes of explanation: Red Deer (for the Non-Canadians and Easterners that don't travel often) is a small city smack in between POS Edmonton and POS Calgary. Red Deer sucks as much as these two cities and it's literally the small city from hell...actually, who the hell am I kidding? this ENTIRE province sucks worse than pissing in the wind and getting it back in your face.
Rum and Coke..or Rye and Coke, take your pick, is like the provincial drink of Alberta...shows real class when you drink this on a regular basis. It also proves how big of an Alberta hick you are too.
(Those are my opinions and if anyone's offended, tough. I LIVE in this hell-hole, I figure I can slag it as much as I want)
That's it. For now.
Archiving/Feedback: Sure thing on both counts, let us know though, ok?
Posted: on monaboyd and x-posted to fellow_shippers
Previous parts can be found here:
Prologue
1
2
3
4
Part 5: Decadence and Deceit.
Viggo sat back in the black velvet love-seat and passively watched as the others moved about the room in languid, causal movements that hid their deadliness.
He liked the lush, slow way that they glided, being almost works of arts in their movements; but they failed to rouse anything in him except a mild admiration one would feel for a well executed work of art that one has been altogether too familiarized with.
Sighing, he tilted his head back and stared at the heavily carved oak ceiling.
He hated to admit it even to himself that he missed Sion. It was a severe and painful ache that never did go away. He had always been sure that it would have dulled with time, the burning longing he had felt for the green-eyed vampire. His co-ruler of this coven.
He had asked, time and time again, where it had all unravelled.
Where it had cracked and broken so badly that neither of them could bridge the deep gap that had appeared between them and had spread to their other children until it had irrevocably splintered them into two warring clans, as stubborn and foolish as the clans of those pathetic humans they would take so much delight in watching in the old days.
Maybe if Sion had been there with him, things would have returned as they were.
But Sion had turned his back on them and Viggo had broken enough to slacken the reins over the young ones.
And now they were teetering on the brink of a war.
A war that he could sense and smell on the high wind.
He frowned then and tilted his gaze away from the ceiling towards him. The black flame of this darkly broken coven that kept him from stepping out into the sun and slipping away to eternal rest.
He stood leaning against the darkly lacquered table, one hip jutting out of the tight leather trousers he wore, looking almost palely obscene against the obsidian skin. A slight shift of his shoulders and the pale skin is gone, covered up by a matching jacket. The shirt underneath is a stark white that's so bright it practically makes Viggo's eyes ache with it and forces him to turn his head away.
He tries to be subtle about it, but the child notices it and in seconds, Viggo's got a lapful of young vampire rubbing himself against his thigh while the long length of his torso is lying heavily against his chest and long, piano player's fingers are tangled in his long hair.
"See something you would like, father?" the dusky, playful voice teases him as lips soft as velvet grasp his earlobe and tug playfully while dark eyes stare deep into his.
Viggo's face doesn't change expression as he reaches up and lets his own fingers get tangled into the artfully tousled mane of black curls that grace the unbelievably gorgeous head of the lissom creature on top of him.
He lets his fingers sink and get tangled into the soft black mass before he quickly and cruelly crushed his lips against the child's.
He forced the lips open and kissed him ferociously. Biting, licking and gouging with his own sharp eye-teeth. Either as a court-ship or a warning, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that when the blood started flowing, he began to drink and wouldn't let go until he had sated the sudden desire for food that had crept up in him when the child had been sexually teasing him.
Once he was done, he tossed the impudent child away, watching with the same dispassionate gaze as his body collapsed on the carpet like a broken puppet with no strings, his perfect mouth gashed and bloody.
"I'm not your plaything, Orlando. It shall serve you well to remember that." Viggo told him, his voice calm as he spoke.
Orlando blinked a couple of times, his eyes large and confused for a couple of seconds before they went back to opaque and filled with a maniacal gleam.
"I was only trying to be friendly, Master." Orlando sneered, getting to his feet so quickly that even Viggo had a hard time discerning the individual movements.
"Don't over-step your boundaries, little bloom. Your charm is quickly wearing away from you."
Orlando shook his head and smiled at Viggo, a wide smile that clearly showed the elongated fangs.
"Full of sound and fury you are, Viggo. Yet you signify nothing."
Viggo lashed out, leaving four furrows on both sides of Orlando's face that were deep enough for the bone to gleam dully in the light.
"I choose to let you live, little bloom. I am not concerned enough whether you spend your time indulging your madness and your sadism. I simply don't care and that's the main reason why you live, little one. But I am warning you: if you step out of line with me again, I will not think twice of breaking your fucken neck, nailing your hands and feet down on the nearest roof and gleefully watching as the sun consumes your miserable carcass. Understood?"
Orlando wiped at the blood on his face and gave a small nod, despite the anger that he was feeling flooding his senses.
It was one thing to flout authority in small matters. But to openly sneer at Viggo was an action that Orlando wasn't sure he could manage and still live to tell the tale.
It was true that Viggo was pretty much ambivalent to whatever the coven chose to do to fill the endless parade of static nights at their disposal, but when anyone of them came too close to defying him, he was quick to put a stop to it in the most effective and violent manner possible.
"Good. Now get out of my sight. All of you, before I choose to rip you to shreds for even being in the same room as me."
The rest of the coven, Liv, Marton and Craig all looked at Orlando for what to do. Orlando sighed and jerked his head towards the heavily panelled doors.
They followed him out, the only noise of their leaving being the heavy swish of fabric and the quiet echoes of the door closing behind them.
Once that had happened, Viggo laid against the love-seat and stared out the window, trying to push away the brittle longing for Sion. Trying to forget the way that lightly golden arms would hold him to make him feel safe, the way that liquid jade eyes would smolder in the darkness as they watched over him.
But he couldn't forget them. Nor could he recall the freshness of them anymore. They were becoming like thin and inadequate photographs left out in the sun.
He sighed and laid his head over his arm.
Even the memories had become empty and dusty fragments.
He closed his eyes and savoured the pain.
The only thing he had left of him.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Lij..uh are you sure this is a good idea?" Dom shouted over the nearly deafening thudding of Ministry's "Jesus Built My Hot-Rod" as they cruised the nearly packed dance floor.
It had been close to four months since Dom had arrived in New York and he still hadn't gotten used to the crazy routine of going to the clubs, partying till practically dawn and then heading to work.
He had tried to keep up with Lij, but lately, his stamina was flagging and there was simply no way he was going to do as much speed as Lij seemed to in a week.
That was why even though he was enjoying himself immensely, he was having second thoughts about staying out too late that night.
And he was having a hell of a time letting Lij know that also.
"What?!" Lij shouted back as he expertly wove through the crowds with a jittery grace that Dom couldn't help but envy.
"I said "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dom practically yelled in his friend's ear once they had navigated through the sea of humanity and had ended up in the corner booth they had scouted out earlier in the evening.
"What? Staying out?" Lij asks as he sits down and pulls up his shirt with the too torn collar which had an annoying habit of slipping down his shoulders and exposing his chest and a bit of nipple.
"Fuck. Well, yeah. Aren't we scheduled to open at like FIVE in the fucken morning? Or did the tail make you forget that already?"
Dom asked, rolling his eyes at Lij, who was now pulling his torn fishnet glove up his forearm and looking like he wasn't listening to anything Dom was telling him.
"Yeah. I know. I'm not that dense." Lij replied as he ran his hand through his thick, blue streaked hair and looked at Dom with kohl lined eyes.
He winked at his friend and Dom really felt like slapping him one.
"Lij. Come on man. Don't you think maybe you should give it a rest? Just for one night?"
Lij's eyes turned a dark, steely blue at Dom's question and Dom knew instantly that he's just said the wrong damned thing to his friend.
Biting back a sigh, Dom leaned over and put his hand lightly on Lij's, careful that his touch is loose enough and not at all restraining.
"It's getting that bad again?" he asked the younger man.
Lij bit his lip and looked away at the badly drawn band poster on the wall of the booth before nodding.
"You didn't tell me." He noted, making Lij shrug.
"Didn't wanna worry you." He replied before letting his head fall heavily on the table.
Dom sighed and fought the urge not to slap his friend for being such an idiot.
"Look, Elijah. Just fucken *tell me* when it starts getting bad, okay? It doesn't fucken matter that I'm gonna be worried or freak out. You're my fucken best friend, you shit-head!"
Lij blinked at this.
"Yeah. I know..It's just that well, things were going so good, I didn't want you to start thinking that it was starting to be like it was back in Red Deer, ya know?"
Dom nodded.
"I know, Elijah, but it's not like it's gonna kill me to help you. Just come in and fucken wake me up. You know I'm gonna be there, all right?"
Lij nodded at the question.
"You promise though?" Dom asked, still not wanting to let the
matter drop until he had gotten at least something out of Lij that was more than a nod.
"Yeah. I promise."
Dom smiled and let his friend's hand go. It was something small, but at least it was something.
They sat in silence for several moments, just trying to relax and get back into the vibe again when the DJ began to play a Theatre of Tragedy tune that made them both grin at each other before rushing back onto the fray that was the dance floor.
Once they were on the floor, it was by an unspoken agreement that had them dancing as sexily as they dared, groins rubbing, limbs locked as they danced; getting heated glances from both sexes as they put on their little show.
Once the song was done, they split up and were swarmed by admirers wanting either a dance, a kiss or a fuck in the washrooms.
Dom had pushed a lot of the hands and bodies away, not wanting to really start anything.
The dancing was a way to release tension for him and to get Lij some tail. That was about the only reason that he had agreed to that particular arrangement years ago.
Although he was fucken lonely, he really hadn't had any desire to get entangled up with people he didn't know and get diseases he didn't even know how to spell.
He also didn't want to admit it, but despite the long silence and the uncertainty, he was sure that someday soon, Billy was going to come back into his life.
The mere thought of him was enough to make him feel a warm rush and the blood to rush to his ears.
He didn't know what the hell it was about Billy, but he could honestly say that Billy was totally unlike anyone he had had either the pleasure or displeasure of meeting.
He wasn't sure whether it was something so trivial like his features, or his voice. It was the entire package, he knew, that made him lie awake night after night mourning the fleeting moment that they had shared by the bus terminal. Mourning the loss of the phone number that he had given him.
Dom scowled and tried not to let it bother him again. Despite knowing that Lij was only trying to be helpful when he took the jeans to the laundry along with his clothes, he couldn't entirely repress the angry twinge he felt at the destruction of that piece of paper.
Shaking his head a bit, he was just about to step off the edge of the dance-floor when a hand wrapped itself around his upper arm.
Dom sighed in frustration. He really hoped that they take a "no thank-you" without anymore hassles and leave him alone to nurse a drink and maybe even build up the courage to do some speed in order to be able to baby-sit Elijah and be decent for work tomorrow.
He looked up at the man that was holding his arm (and silently cursed the fact that he was smaller than most of the teenagers in New York. Including the girls) and nearly stopped breathing.
The man's eyes were like nothing he had seen before. The colour was deep and unsettling, despite being what could have passed as just a basic hazel in the daylight. In the lights of the club, they seemed to have more depth and more shadows than most people's eyes usually had. They fit perfectly in his face, which was classically handsome in an Edwardian English way, with broad cheekbones, strong jaw and straight nose. The hair too, was also perfect, since it was straight, dark and long and framed his face in loose tangles and straight lines. It should have looked out of place, since the hair and the face didn't match the black leather, satin and cotton that the body, tall and thin was clad in.
"May I buy you a drink?" the stranger asked, his words flavoured in an accent that sounded slightly English to him. Maybe it's the accent, or the fact that he's never really encountered basic politeness in a club, or maybe it's the slight flash of topaz in the eyes that made him nod his consent.
The man nodded and led Dom off the floor with as much care and conscientiousness as one would show to a waltzing partner before leading him to the bar.
"What would you like...?" The man trailed off and lifted one dark eyebrow at Dominic.
"Uhm. It's Dominic and I'll have a Rum and Coke."
Dom winced at the sound of his voice and his request. It seems that it was true after all: You can take the boy out of the Prairies, but you can't take the prairies out of the boy.
"Sure thing. I'm Marton, by the way." he added smoothly as he signals the bartender for the drink.
There was a small moment of silence and Dom used it to scan the crowd for Lij and found him laughing it up with another dark-haired man that looked slightly like a gypsy and a pale-skinned, dark haired woman.
Normally, he would have shook his head and paid no more attention to him, but the oddness that struck him about Marton struck him again when he looked at the woman and the gypsy. Both were too out of place for an industrial club, dressed in clothing that was too rich and too expensive for even the store-bought goths to be able to afford. They were also too..beautiful. They both looked like they had been sculptures that had suddenly come to life.
Things simply didn't add up with them and that made him nervous in a way that sent off warning bells in his head.
"Are you looking for your friend?" Marton asked Dom, who nearly jumped out of his skin and nodded weakly, feeling like a little kid that's been caught doing something bad.
"Don't worry. He's fine." Marton assured him as he handed Dom his drink.
"Aren't you having anything?" Dom asked as he accepted it. His fingers brushed against Martons' and he had to fight hard not to shudder at the preternatural chill emanating from them.
Marton grinned at him and shook his head. "I will. I'm not in the mood about now."
Dom nodded and took a sip of his drink, enjoying the flat, sweet taste of Coke and the spicy burn of the Rum as they went down his throat to warm up his stomach.
As he took another sip, Marton moved closer and began to play with the longish ends of hair, only occasionally letting his fingers trail over the exposed flesh of his neck.
Each touch made Dom purr slightly and move closer to Marton.
Although his fingers were cold, the way that he was moving them over Dom's skin was making the desire curl tighter and tighter in his lower belly, making him forget his vow not to get involved with anyone that night.
Marton whispered something in his ear, but Dom didn't really pay attention. The laughter that followed the phrase is soft and sensuous and Dom found himself kissing Marton.
Hot, heavy kisses that intoxicated every fibre of his being. Melting him, shaping him into a different being. Kisses that he can't imagine not experiencing ever again in his life. Kisses that his body needed desperately.
Dom put the drink down on the bar and practically wrapped himself around Marton, not ever wanting to let him go. If Marton asked to fuck him, he'll say yes without hesitation. He hasn't been touched that way in months and his body was screaming, begging for that touch.
Marton moved his mouth away from Dom's trailing hot, searing kisses down his jaw, down his neck and stopped right at the juncture of Dom's shoulder and neck.
He kissed him a few more times, just to make sure that Dom was still sunk into a mire of lust before he bit.
Dom let out a soft groan, making Marton pause. Dom didn't notice and was now rubbing himself against him, silently begging for more attention.
Marton grinned and was about to give Dom a deeper bite and get the blood flowing when he was rudely and forcefully pulled away from his meal.
He was about to snarl at the interruption when he was pinned by a pair of chartreuse eyes glaring daggers at him. Only one person had eyes like that. Boyd.
"Leev 'im." Boyd ordered, his fury visible in how thick his brogue was, almost making the words unrecognizable.
"Is he yours?" Marton whispered, his eyes turning cloudy with his anger.
"Aye. Ma scen' is on 'im." Boyd replied, pointing to the oblivious Dom's left side.
Marton frowned, but dutifully bent his head and gave the skin a lick, making Dom shudder.
He made a face when he tasted the scent, but backed away.
"Keep him on a fucken leash then, Boyd. Even if he is yours, next time I find him like this, I will take him."
Marton warned the Scot, who laughed shortly.
"That'll be the day, Marton. And you know it. Now get away from him before I decide to break your worthless neck."
Martons' eyes flashed dark like obsidian, but he retreated away into the swirling mass of bodies, leaving Dom blinking in confusion.
"Dom? Dominic?" Billy called his name several times, wondering how much Marton had pulled him out of reality to feed and whether it would be difficult to pull him back in again.
But to his relief, Dom blinked and the spacey expression was gone, replaced by surprise and joy at seeing him there.
"Billy?" Dom asked, not really believing what he was seeing, since only a moment ago he was kissing Marton like a drowning man clinging to a rope and then Marton had gone and Billy was standing in his place.
"Aye. It's me." Billy replied softly,
trying to quash the aching need to feel Dom's skin under his fingers, his scent on his clothes, his mouth on his lips.
"Ah! This is so fucken unbelievable!" Dom shouted right before leaping at Billy and embracing him in a bone crushing hug.
"I've never thought you'd be here! Of all places!" Dom cried in relieved joy.
"I've missed you so fucken much."
Billy didn't reply right away, since he was busy debating whether he should simply accept the hug and break it off gently, or push Dom away and disappear without a trace; effectively cutting things off between them and making sure that Dom would be safe from all of them.
He would have taken the second option if it wasn't for the warmth and genuine emotion that was practically oozing from Dom at that moment.
Warmth and Emotion: Two things that Billy hadn't realized how much he missed until that particular moment.
Which was why he found himself returning the embrace and whispering "I missed you too." in Dominic's shell-pink ear before pulling away from him.
"Yeah. I lost your number, or else I would have called you earlier."
Dom explained a bit sheepishly as he took a gulp of his forgotten drink.
Billy smiled, a slightly aloof smile that hid his chagrin for having had tried to deceive Dominic.
"Ah. Well..." Billy found himself tongue-tied and not at all sure what to say in return. He didn't want to encourage him, yet he didn't want to be an asshole and drop him coldly.
And there was also the simple fact that they were hunting to factor in. It was his job to keep an eye on Weaving from the left side of the club and he knew Sean would be pissed if they lost track of the wanker.
Which luckily, despite all the distractions, hadn't happened.
Weaving was still zoned on Miranda and Karl, whom he was trying, and failing miserably, to charm.
"How bout I give you my number then? Lij won't mind you calling."
Billy blinked at the request, then nodded. He could always claim he lost it and avoid the club for a time until Dom got over him.
"Here." Dom reached out and grabbed Billy's arm and with quick movements, scribbled his and Lij's number on the inside of his arm, close to the elbow, making Billy look up in surprise.
"That's so it doesn't wash off before you write it down."
Dom explained. Billy smiled a bit and willed his emotions behind a wall of nonchalance. He couldn't afford to be charmed, gladdened and distracted by the boy. Especially not when hunting and not when *they* were around.
There was a moment of silence that fell both between them and the club, since the DJ was looking for another song to start off the new set.
Both men looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed.
Although Dom was ecstatic to see Billy, he also could sense that Billy wasn't feeling the same way. It was almost as it he was hiding what he was feeling from Dom. An emotion that wasn't matching up to his words.
This realization made Dom wonder whether he had simply been expecting too much from a chance encounter with a stranger. After all, things did change between people. Time, distance, other people. They all contributed to change.
Fidgeting, Dom opened his mouth to speak when Lij ran by him, pulled him away from Billy right before the lights fizzled out.
"Lij? Lij? What the fuck?" Dom protested as Lij used his pocket flashlight to find their booth.
"We gotta get out of here Dom. Shit's gonna go down tonight. Here's your jacket."
Lij replied as he tossed Dom's old denim jacket at him before grabbing his own black trench and hastily putting it on. Once they had gotten their jackets on, Lij pulled Dom to a barely used exit and shoved him through.
Once they were outside, Lij looked around before walking away as calmly as if he were on an errand for cigarettes.
"What the fuck Lij?" Dom hissed as he walked right beside him, careful to appear as casual as Lij did.
"I'll tell you when we get home. After you fucken promise me never to talk to that guy again."
Elijah replied in a flat voice as he led Dom to the subway.
"What?! Why not?!" Dom whispered harshly.
Lij remained silent for several minutes, ignoring Dom's protests until they got to the entrance of the station.
"Look, Dom. You know I don't fucken interfere with anything you do, so just this once, fucken humour me, okay?"
Dom bit his lip at the request.
"Can you tell me why at least? I can't fucken promise you anything if you don't tell me what the big fucken deal is."
Lij sighed.
"All right. Well. That guy and a couple of others started showing up at the club like about a year or so ago. They're not there very often, but when they show up, they find bodies in the general area. There's no concrete evidence, but everyone knows they're behind it. That was why when I saw him and his friends, I pulled out."
Dom was staring at his friend, unsure of what to say. Part of him wanted to say it was bullshit and go back and try to find Billy. But the other part of him believed Lij. Especially since Lij was looking as spooked as hell. And he knew that it took a hell of a lot to freak Elijah Wood out.
After a few minutes of having Lij stare at him and his mind arguing over whether it was all bullshit or not, he finally spoke.
"All right. I'm not gonna talk to him again." Dom promised a bit reluctantly, glad that he had never really told Lij who it was that he had travelled with.
Lij nodded and they continued on their way home in relatively companionable silence, completely unaware of the man with a shock of reddish-blonde hair and bright blue eyes watching them from a dark street corner a block away.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What is it Dave?" Billy asked as they stood on the roof and waited for the others to finish feeding. That was the rule. Whoever had done the initial catching got the first turn at feeding. This time it had been Dave's charms and Billy's hands that had scored that particular kill, so they got to feed first. Once they had drank their fill, they had moved away and enjoyed the night and the fact that they didn't have to dispose of the body.
Although they had been quiet for awhile, Dave had been extremely fidgety; wanting to break the silence, but not daring in case it was bad manners or simply the wrong time.
"Oh. It's cool?" Dave asked as he nervously ran a hand through his long mane of strawberry blonde hair.
"It always is, Dave." Billy assured him, knowing that it was a valid question. If it had been Sean, he probably would have ripped his head off without a second thought.
"They have their eyes on him and his friend." Dave told him, his voice so soft that even he had to strain to hear it.
"Dominic?" Billy whispered, his heart skipping a few beats as he spoke.
"The child you were talking to. Yes. Him. I heard them talking. Marton wasn't too pleased you stopped him and says he's gonna try for him again, and Orlando wants his friend."
Billy bit his lip and closed his eyes.
It seemed that Dominic had gotten his wish.
They were going to meet again.
end of Part 5