When Darkness Calls Ch 07

It was a long day. The hours seemed to string by so slowly, slower than Dante could ever remember in his inhuman life. He supposed it shouldn't be surprise him that with an infinite amount of time, that it could become unbearably boring. But he had to admit to himself that it was because of his guest.

Ever since the family had met in the living room, she had stayed in her room, and the last time he had checked on her, she had been staring blankly at the ceiling, seeming to contemplate something very hard. This didn't surprise him either; he hadn't taken the news of being a vampire so easily. He didn't really know any immortal that had taken with stroll being a vampire.

Dante stared into the fireplace, contemplating his own thoughts as Light probably was at that very moment. He didn't see the flickering flames in front of him though, his memories rushed through his head like a moving picture. And he felt bad. Why had he changed her? He could have controlled his hunger; at least he thought he could. Could it have been possible to keep her alive without infecting her with this curse? Surely she deserved to be alive...to be truly alive. Not the pale imitation that the vampires cast like a shadow.

It was impossible not to linger on all of these thoughts, impossible to let go when he knew that the only option to keep her alive had been killing her. But the question: "what if?" These thoughts lingered in his head like a plague, taunting him with their futility. Dante sighed.

"Hum...well I haven't heard that sigh from the great "Dante" before." Dante jumped at the sound of this voice, turning around to stare into Chaos's dark eyes.

Chaos smiled in amusement at the sight of Dante jumping in his seat. It wasn't really considered easy to scare Dante, because he was so tuned In with the house. But living in the same house for at least fifty years could definentely do that to you.

"Sorry bout that. I just wanted to see how you were doing and tell you that Xavier called about twenty minutes ago from you office. He seemed to want some information about that chick so he could put her on file." Dante stopped Chaos from speaking with a wave from his hand.

"He can wait, that man is so impatient. When Alice came in, I must have had about one hundred calls." Dante groaned. Xavier was what could probably be called an administrator of the vampire community. It was necessary for The Judgment to have a record on every vampire.

"Yep." Chaos said in a bored tone, looking out the black window.

"But I suppose it's to be expected. The younger vampires are always a challenge, especially when we are so close to the humans' city." Dante sighed at the end of this sentence, looking away from his student and back to the spitting fireplace.

"TEACHER!!!" the scream caught both of the men by surprise, and this time they both jumped up in their seats. The scream had come from up the stairs, where the others were, and it sounded as if the scream had issued from Alice. She came rushing through the door, her hair wild, her body movements a blur to the human eye. Dante's heart stopped in his chest, and he knew what she was going to say, but it still pained him to even hear it.

"She's gone."

*****

Light sat in the shadow of her former life. Her house stood in front of her, and she looked up to her bedroom window. It was hard to believe it had only been days since she had been in the one place that was hers, the one place she felt completely safe. It filled with a sense of peace that was almost overpowering. The mere sight of the house did that to her.

Those...people hadn't been lying...about the power. Light had ran all the way to her house from the mansion, it hadn't taken that much to get past the various vampires; they kept to themselves quite a bit. She could feel it rushing through her veins like a drug. It was dizzying to feel this much power. And she was thirsty...so thirsty. Tears pricked at her eyelids.

She was home, it was over. The steps looked like a written invitation to come inside, so she did. But not with that inhuman speed, she took small steps, savoring the reunion. The inside of the house looked no different than the outside, except the absence of noise. It was dead quiet in her sanctuary.

Light wandered through the silent house, taking in the new scents that she had never noticed when she had been human. Then she stopped, and held her breath, the smell of death reeked the air; but what could have...?

She stopped dead in her tracks at her bedroom, and turned to the little golden cage in the corner of her room. Dropping on her knees, she looked towards her best friend, her baby, and her pet. Demo was dead. She wondered how the dead could cry.