When Darness Calls

The ominous wail didn't seem to faze the ethereally beautiful man. As soon as he turned his lovely amber eyes to the doorway, he turned them back towards her, a slightly bored expression on his ashen eerie face. Light felt alarm course through her body as she looked in the path to a lovely, well, more than lovely woman. Her black, curly hair was curled up gracefully as if it has always been so beautiful. Her electric green eyes were fixed on Light murderously. The man named Dante must have noticed her fright, because he looked at her with a slight smile on his pale face, and placed a long arm around her shoulders. This made the woman frown even deeper.

"This is Lucrestia." The man said with that same secretive smile, and then all of a sudden his smile turned into a frown.

"Is...something the matter?" Light asked quietly, staring at the slight imperfection of a frown on his otherwise perfect face.

"I just realized that I don't even know your name." Dante said with an air of ease, even as the black haired beauty watched them. Then, he turned towards the woman and with a wave of one of his long, white fingered hand, the woman disappeared.

"You want to know my...name?" She stuttered through these words, a result of his speculation and closeness. His arm was still wrapped securely around her narrow shoulders.

"Well, a name doesn't really mean that much. But it would be an easier way to address you." He said conversationally, and lightly tapped his head, as if to say "duh."

"My name is Light, Mr. Dante." She said warily, and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. His brows furrowed for a moment, and then smoothed out again.

"I wonder...how did you get such a strange name." he didn't seem to direct this question to her, but was talking to himself.

"My mother, died when I was born. Her name was named Aaylah, which they said meant "light bearer." So they named me Light." She attempted to explain this, feeling like brainless moron. She looked back over at the man and found that he was staring at her again, with that same small secretive smile on his lovely face.

"Well, Light, I have four other people, one of whom you just saw. And we really must talk." The mysterious man seemed to be worried, because his brow furrowed up again, and he pushed his brown hair out of his eyes. She faintly noticed that his hair was to his nose, and made him look kind of like a rock star.

"How old are you?" She asked curiously. He looked very young and vulnerable with his brown furrowed in consternation.

"I am twenty-five." He said, and looked towards her as if he were thinking very deeply.

"You don't really look twenty-five." Light said suspiciously and then moved a little bit away from him. He seemed to realize that his arm was still surrounding her, and moved it, sitting his chin in his beautiful hand.

"I don't look my real age." Dante said with a slightly ironic smile. Then, he moved his hand to her arm and pressed her forward.

"What are you doing?" Light said, panicked and surprised. She tried to drag her hand back to her own body. He simply exhaled heavily and hauled her forward.

"We are going to go meet the other house occupants. They have been worried about you, miss." He said quietly. "We have some explanations to give to you." She let herself be pulled forward.

When he pulled her through the door, she wanted to crawl right back inside the now-familiar room. The strangeness of this house scared her like nothing else ever could. The doorways were high arches that looked probably from the nineteenth century. The floors had an unfamiliar wooden texture, and all of the smells that were in her nose confused her.

"Why did you make me drink blood earlier?' Light asked with a mixture of fear and confusion. Wondering if she could trust this man, and hoping she didn't fall for trusting him. He looked her squarely in the eyes, stopping and running his hand from her shoulder, up to her face.

"It is necessary for our kind to live." He whispered, and grimaced as if in dire pain. His amber molten eyes darkened with despair. And she couldn't help it. She knew she should be afraid, but she couldn't bring herself to fear this man. To feel anything terribly bad accept a sense of foreboding. She lifted her own hand and placed it over his hand that covered her face, luxuriating in the contact of another person.

"Excuse me for asking...but...what do you mean?" her lips barely moved as she said this, but the words managed to spill out. "What...what are you?"

His face darkened when she asked this. Instead of the usual beauty and lightness that seemed to be on it, she saw deeper. These shadows told of misery...and darkness...and even...pain. Pain so unbearable that no normal human would be able to hold it in their body. Pain that racked and burned the soul. It confirmed to her that he was not human.

"Vampire, I suppose the humans call us." He said in a low voice, warily, almost as if he were testing her reaction. His eyes stayed glued to her. His dark quirked eyebrows lowered in indecision.

"I...I can't be one." Her voice was slightly hysterical as she said this, and she dropped her hands like she had touched a fire, and began to shake her head. She backed up and his eyes followed her.

"V...vampire...haven't...haven't they been...gone for centuries?" She stuttered almost uncontrollably, and he raised his hands over his head and slowly began walking towards her. Before she knew what was happening she was backed in a corner. He was in front of her, a wary expression on his pale and handsome face.

"I'm afraid so...do you remember anything that happened?" He asked.

"I remember the cold...and pain...and you....I thought you were an angel come to take me home. Perhaps I was mistaken when I though I'd be accepted into heaven." She groaned and sagged against the wooden wall.

"Perhaps." A slight smile curved his lips, and he backed away, his hands in his black pockets.

"Don't vampires have fangs...and not eat human food? Because I still have a hunger for chocolate cake." She said, and continued babbling. "I mean, I guess that the cheesy flicks that vampires were in didn't portray them correctly, but I've never really taken time to look at the features and attributes of them. I didn't know I'd need it later. I always knew that something like this was going to happen...." She groaned nosily, her head pounding.

"Ahhh...well I suppose I should wait to explain it to you until we are with my fledglings. They are newer than I, and can sympathize with you in a more direct way. I don't really remember my turn..." he said and his voice was as if it flowed with the air.

They went past an indoor fountain, and Light leaned over it. There were sparkling goldfish there, swimming happily around in their little underwater world.

"Chinese goldfish, they say it brings you good luck." A slightly familiar voice said directly behind her. The man she had met earlier, Chaos, stood beside Dante, they were both watching her. She felt an unfamiliar blush come on her face.

"Come on. We have to go to the west wing. I think Fabrian and Alice are there. I honestly have no idea where Lucrestia is." Dante said quickly, and with what she thought was aggravation. She looked over at the bronze haired man, she had to remember him as Chaos, and he was smiling a wicked smile at Dante.

"Of course." Light said, and went up towards them. They both led the way down a winding hall, which came out to a flight of elegant stairs. They walked down them, and she noticed that Chaos kept staring at her.

"Err....is there something on my face?" She asked, and wished she had shut up. Dante's gaze flickered over to Chaos's.

"Of course not, just your nose and eyes, and luscious mouth." Chaos flashed his pearly white teeth.

"Hey!" She heard the feminine voice before she saw it when they entered what seemed to be a large living room. The voice came from behind her, and she turned around to see what seemed to be a petite girl. There seemed to be something swirling unnaturally in her eyes. She had a bright smile on her perfect face, and a blond haired man stood beside her with a slight frown on his own perfect face.

Light turned around and almost screamed. The woman that she had seen earlier in the doorway was behind her. A scowl was her face and with glowing eyes a deep, deep vivid red that she remembered. Light dropped to the floor on her butt, and she faintly heard Dante growling at the woman. The woman continued to look at Light as if she were a rat being hypnotized by a snake.

"I think that is enough, Lucrestia." Dante said, and the woman seemed to battle herself. She finally backed away.

The petite girl came towards Light, and lifted her hands toward her, offering to help her up. Light grabbed her hand, and let her propel her up. The girl had more strength in her than she looked.

"Thank you Alice." Dante said to the small girl and she beamed at him. Then, she turned her gaze back to Light.

"You're in our family now." Chaos proclaimed.

The girl, Alice, grinned wildly at him, and slapped him in the age-old gesture of a high five. Dante smiled with Alice, and Fabrian seemed to glow when he looked at Alice's grinning face. Lucrestia simply stared at their exchange, her black haired glistening.

And while they were all doing this, as a "family", Light was plotting on a way to escape from this place. And soon.