Sacrifice Helle

Chapter 18

I opened my eyes slightly. This was the weirdest wakeup I had ever had. First of all, Darien had turned around in his sleep and I could feel something hard press up against my back. In addition to that he had folded his arms around me, like I was some sort of teddy-bear. Not only, but it took me quite a while to remember where I was and who the fuck was laying behind me. Then I noticed what was covering my body, and it was not a blanket like I had first assumed. It was a black bat-like wing. Then I opened my eyes properly, not knowing exactly what to think, still drowsy, but memories of yesterday came back to me.

I pushed Darien’s arm away so I could sit up and studied this wing closer, it was his alright, the other wing laid out on the floor behind him. My attention was switched when I noticed something moving in another corner of the room. I quickly turned my head, there was someone there. The creature was hidden in shadows, but his eyes were fixed on me. Dark eyes. He then bent over towards one of the candles that had gone out and lit it up. He lent back against the wall and looked at me again. I recognized him, but didn't remember his name. He had been wearing a bandana earlier, now I could see that he had rather short hair, cut up in the neck and longer at the front, hanging down in his eyes. And he had long, pointy ears. He was just looking at me, his eyes were so dark, like deep, deep brown or black. I stared at him, he looked so different form anything else I had seen, from a distance he would look normal, but now that I had him close he really was something special. He reminded me a little of the vampires, only he had more life in him, but he held the same deadly beauty. And his eyes weren't glowing, they sucked up the light in them instead. I was fascinated. Then he moved his lips and spoke, "Wake him up."

It took me a second to understand who he was talking about, then I hit Darien hard in his stomach with my elbow. The elf laughed a little. "Ouch... what are you doing..?" Darien woke up. "Lathien, hey, I didn't notice you coming..." Darien sat up, then realized his wings were out and pulled them back with a short glance in my direction. "You know,", Lathien started, "the wing really is best off outside, it'll hurt less, and it'll heal faster. Plus, keeping yourself in human shape is using to much of the little energy you have left..." Darien ignored Lathien and sat up. "Where are the others?" "Ah, that’s right, you should get out of here. The place stinks if her!" Darien got up on his feet, then he stumbled and had to sit down again. I didn't dare to move, I got a feeling that we were in trouble already, and that I should just keep quiet and let the two others handle everything. I looked back at Lathien who was still sitting in his corner. He was looking at me, "You can put that back on now.", he said, hinting to my shirt. "Oh, yeah, right...!" I clicked my bra back on, it was a little troublesome when I couldn’t see what I was doing, but I eventually got it on. Then I threw my shirt on. "They are still feeding, but they will come in not to long. Bringing her here was not one of your best ideas.", the elf said to Darien. Darien was busy getting dressed, but he mumbled a few, "mhmm, yeah yeah.. mhm..", back to him. "Why?", I asked. The elf didn't bother answering. "And get yourself something to eat!", he told Darien. "Come on let's go!" Darien pulled me up on my feet and close to him. "But.. what.." I looked at the elf and saw him disappear and the room got replaced with a back alley instead.

"Where are we?" "Down town. I need to eat. I would have put you off at the cathedral if it wasn't for..." He looked at me, "I don't think those angels like you hanging out with me, and I don't think they'll let you try to get your sister back. Even Iselin recommended you didn't."

It was in the middle of the day, some people in the streets, nice weather as it had been for the last week. Darien left me off at a café and told me to wait for him. He didn't look to good, he was pale and his voice was weak. I was thinking about what I could do. Darien would take me to Vaan, but what was I supposed to do? Why would Vaan give Asami back to me? Why would he? I couldn't fight him. All I could think of was that I had to talk to him, negotiate with him in some way. It was the only thing I could try. After about an hour Darien came back, he had gotten some of his color back. "Done?", I asked him. "Not yet, I need more... But I'll do that later, let's just go." We walked out of the café and back into the alley, he pulled me close again and when I looked around we were in front of a cave entrance in the park.

I was about to walk over to it, but Darien held me back. "Keep a safe distance from the entrance.", he told me, "And stay in the sun." "Vaan's in there?" Darien nodded. "So now what?" "Let's just see if he comes out..." "I have a better idea.." "What?" "I know of someone who can go inside of there without even getting seen." "Who?" "Raphael!" "No! No angels! You know what he'll do? He'll just take you out of here and with him, that way you will never get your sister back!" I stopped and thought about it. 'He is right, Raphael doesn't want me to go after Vaan, he just want me to stay in that cathedral..' "Waiting for someone?" We both jumped a little and looked up. The sun was in my face and made it difficult to see, the cave entrance was almost a black pitch. But I lifted my hand up to shade over my eyes and focused on the cave. It was Iselin. She had on that same cape as I had seen her wearing outside of the cathedral, and her face was hidden in shadows, but I saw her long black hair hanging down from underneath it. Silence. "We want to see Vaan!", Darien said to her. Iselin didn't respond. "Is he here?", I asked her. "You may come in, Helle.", she said to me and signaled for me to enter the cave. Darien grabbed hold of my arm, "Don't." "Fine..." Iselin started walking back inside.

"Wait!", I called, "Is he here or not? Is she in there?" "Why don't you come and find out?" Darien tightened the grip around my arm. He wouldn’t let me go, instead he said to Iselin, "Tell him to come here! She's not going inside with you!" "Hmpf! What am I, your messenger?", then she disappeared into the shadows of the cave. Darien kept his eyes on the entrance and said, "He knows we're here, hope he's curious enough to come." 'But even if I get a chance to speak to him, what am I to say?' The whole idea of coming here looked so stupid. Then we heard a laughter, the voice of a young boy. "Yes... so stupid...." Then I saw a couple of eyes shining in the dark. 'Vaan?' "Right, sweetheart." Darien looked uncomfortable. "Why don't you just get out of here, don't you love your life?" "Leave Darien, Vaan! I'm the one you need to talk to!" The eyes shifted to me again, they were staring, and the feeling I got was rather unpleasant. "Is she here?" "Your sister is so beautiful, if only the Lord let's her live she will grow up to quite the beauty..." "The Lord isn't getting her, I want her back!" "To bad." Then he laughed again. "Can I at least see her? Talk to her?" Silence for a while. Darien didn't like this silence at all and pulled me closer to him. He got into a defending position. "Hmpf, like I care about you so much that I'd burn my skin for you!" "Will you let her see her sister?" "She can see her... If she comes inside..." I interrupted him, "Why do you need her anyway, can't you just give the Lord something else? Even.. You can take me!"

At this Vaan laughed heartily and the eyes disappeared. "What's so funny?!" "Ah... just..." Then he started laughing again. "Shut up and talk to me!" The eyes suddenly glowed again, they were closer this time and now I could see how blue they were. Darien pulled me backwards. "I told you already, I'm not going to burn my skin for your sake." "I don't think you would need to burn your skin to get to her...." "Then why bother pulling away?" "Just instinct." "You're boring me. Here's the deal, Helle... I can’t take you, mainly because you're not a virgin, and then again, your sister is just a much better gift. However, you are welcome to join us... It would be sweet to have the sisters close at the ceremony. Just like last time...."

"Join you?" "Like I said... Come inside." "No!" "Then you will never see your sister again." "What do you mean by 'join' us?" He laughed again, "Hmm... Just for the advent. After the ceremony you can go home again to your parents. And you'll have the chance to be close to your sister until that point." "Chance?" "Yes, you have to decide quickly, or the chance will be gone. I'm sending her off shortly, if you join us now, you might see her before she is sent off." "Sent off where." "To the underworld off course!" Darien interrupted, "She doesn't need to follow YOU to the underworld, even I can take her there!" "But YOU can’t bring her close to her sister. Me on the other hand... While in my company many doors will open. With HIM... Hmm, perhaps you can see the ceremony from a distance.. You'll certainly not speak to her, or come as close as to even look her in the eyes!" "That’s a GREAT offer, Vaan, you are so generous, but can I have at least a couple of hours to think about it?" "Heh, take your time, but like I said.. you better hurry..." "Darien, let's go!" We teleported out of there.

Back in the town again. "Where do you want to go now?", Darien asked me. "I... I don't know. Not home. Not back to the cathedral." I was afraid to go back there and face Raphael and Daniel, I had disobeyed them and left without even notifying them. They had to be so disappointed in me. And the truth was that I was seriously considering Vaan’s offer. If Raphael knew.... And there were so many things I didn't know. Like, what did Vaan mean with 'like last time'? And Iselin... could it be... "Darien?" "Yes?" "Is Iselin the sister of the one who was given by Vaan to the Lord 100 years ago?" He nodded. I remembered Iselin say 'I wish I had', when she told me to stay in the cathedral. "Do you think.. Do you think it's a good idea to go with Vaan?" "No." "So you think I should stay here?" "If you want to keep your life, the smartest thing would be to let your sister go. But I have a feeling you won't do that. Vaan... will probably..." "What? Kill me?" He nodded again. "Or.. well... look what happened to Iselin." "She chose to join him? She also went after her sister?" Darien looked at me with sad eyes. "You don't want me to go, do you?" "Vaan's playing with you. It's his idea of fun." "I need some time to think. And you, you need to eat, so just go..." "You okay?" "I ... I need to be alone." "I'll meet you later, okay?" I looked at the ground and nodded. I couldn't get to Vaan’s hideout without his help, so I had to meet up with him. But why did I feel like I was betraying everyone if I went with Vaan? I looked up again. Darien was already gone.

I walked around the town, looking at people and the town itself. I had so many thoughts in my head. I didn't know where to go, life had changes so much in so short time. And not only was Asami the problem, there had been so many new encounters, so many... feelings. I didn't know how to deal with them. How was I supposed to deal with them? These 'people' weren't even people, what should I expect from them? How much like me where they anyway? Could they feel like me? I sat down at the pavement and looked into the air, then up at the sky. It was like it always had been. Had life always been like this? Then slowly I knew what I had to do. I had to go with Vaan. For me there was no other way to get close to Asami. But my guilt forced me to tell Raphael and Daniel. They had to know what I was going to do. I just hoped they wouldn't force me to stay, and respect my decisions instead.

I started walking back to the park. I was in the totally wrong end of town, but the trip seemed so short still. It felt like I had only walked for minutes, although it must have been hours. There it was; the entrance to the park. I rose an eyebrow. Someone was standing at the gates, waiting for me. That black silhouette. "Iselin?" She didn't speak. "What do you want?" I started walking inside, she followed me. "I'm going with Vaan." She reached her hand for me, 'silken gloves'. I stopped. "Helle... It's not to late. You can still stay." "You just recently wanted me to go inside of that cave." "He listened... He told me to say it..." "And you? You want me to stay here? And not go after my sister?" "Going after her will not bring her back. You will end up like me." I tried to see her eyes, but she was completely covered up, the hood was down her eyes and I saw that she wore another silken cloth underneath. Like she was in a funeral at the 1800 century. "How come you move around outside at day, and no other vampires do?" "Don't change the subject." "Listen, I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm still gonna give it a try! Besides, you seem fine.." "Being a vampire is not fun. Killing is not fun. Not seeing the sun is not fun. Understand, Helle, that being a vampire is not something to long for." "Vaan didn't say he would turn me into a vampire, he said he'd let me go home afterwards." "And you believe him? Never mind then, if you're that stupid. Why do I even bother.."

She let go of me and walked off to the cathedral. I followed her. "Can you... Can you tell me about Vaan?" "... Why?" "I don't intend ending up like you, some information about this guy could come in handy." "It's not going to help you what I know. Only... I don't see them but I know Vaan sometimes does.", she said in a low voice, like she was wondering about it herself. "Who? What?" "Angels." We approached the cathedral and went inside. It was strange, but I felt like we were friends. Iselin and I. She had been exactly in these shoes 100 years ago, and she had done what I was planning to do. "What happened to your sister?" Iselin had stopped in the hallway and took off her hood and the silken scarf covering her face. Her beauty showed and her dark shining eyes looked at the floor, "I do not know." Then she opened the second door and walked in.