The Brethren

Chapter Four:

Angelique dragged her large suitcase up the six flights of stairs to Selenity\'s apartment. Knocking once on the large oak door, she waited patiently for someone to answer. When Selenity wasn\'t getting practice in at the Institute, she stayed in a luxurious penthouse on the top floor of a small building.

Opening the door, Selenity was confused. Before her was a vampire with a suitcase looking as if she had been crying tears that wouldn\'t come.

\"What are you doing here?\"

She asked, this was very confusing.

\"I need some help, I have got nowhere to stay. Can you help me?\"

Angelique answered. Looking like she was going to cry again.

\"What\'s the matter, Selenity?\"

Came a voice from behind Selenity,

\"Oh!\"
Gasped Eve as she sauntered over to the open door. Looking from Angelique to the suitcase and back again, eve politely invited her in.

\"Eve!\"

Selenity urgently whispered into her friend\'s ear as Angelique walked in tugging at her suitcase as she went.

With an apologetic glance at Selenity, Eve followed after Angelique like a lost puppy.

\"I\'m sorry about all this, I really am, I just had no where else to go.\"

Angelique said as she sank into tears again.

Selenity rolled her eyes and sat down in an oversized armchair.

\"What\'s wrong? Drink some bad blood?\"

Selenity asked bitterly, and with and angry look at Selenity, she turned to Eve and started to explain about Thorn.

When Selenity finally turned in for bed, Eve followed her. Once inside the room, Eve looked to Selenity for answers.

\"We just have to help her out, Sel, we just have to. Who would do such a thing? It\'s horrible.\"

\"We can\'t do much except give her a place for the daytime. The vampire code says that vampires must obey every rule that the owner of the dwelling sets down. So in the morning, I\'ll tell her not to go out at night and I will bring back blood from The Institute.\"

Replied Selenity, who had taken over the situation with calm understanding.

\"You\'re right, as always, no one should do such things to each other.\"

Continued Selenity. Looking at the door to the lounge room, she could hear the faint sob of a hurt vampire. It was very depressing, so Selenity got out her stash of Whiskey and walked out to Angelique.

\"I thought I might stay up with you and tell you the rules.\" Handing her the bottled whiskey, Selenity began with a simple set of rules, \"No smoking and no blood spillage. If I am in my room, don\'t disturb me because I am probably getting much needed sleep. And no going out at night, I will bring you back blood from The Institute. Understood?\"

Selenity inquired.

\"Completely\"

Was the last word that Angelique would say for that night, as she set herself to exploring the whiskey bottle. JD was her much preferred liqueur, but Whiskey would just have to do.

Silently walking from the room. Selenity went to sleep without any trouble. With Eve in her room and no sound from the vampire settling in the lounge room, it was almost like she was back in her grandmother\'s house, where there was to be no noise when her granny went to sleep. Giggling to herself, Selenity slept the whole night without being disturbed.



After keeping much the same routine, Selenity and Angelique actually got to know and like each other with every passed moment they spent together.

\"Selenity?\"

Angelique had asked one night when Selenity had arrived home late.

\"Selenity, come in here.\"

It was a command, not a request. So drifting into the kitchen, Selenity turned on the light to Thorn holding Eve around the neck tightly, slowly making her friend turn a ghastly shade of blue.

\"Who let that bastard in?\"

Selenity asked roughly, looking from Eve to Angelique who was now beside her.

\"I did.\"

Choked out Eve.

\"You see, you little hacker friend here thought I would be smart to call me and ask me to come talk to Angelique, here.\"

Thorn said threateningly.

Looking at Angelique as she picked up a vegetable knife, Thorn slowly rocked Eve in his hands, letting them know that he could kill her at any moment.
\"Angelique, come home, I missed you terribly, Pet.\"

He said, letting Eve have a little breathing room.

\"Don\'t call me pet, how could you, you kept my own brother away from me all this time when I thought I was alone. How could you?\"

With new tears staining her pretty face, she looked towards Selenity and said,

\"I\'m sorry, I have to break one of your rules.\"

With that, Angelique quickly brought up the knife to her throat and nearly severing her own head right off.

Falling to the floor with a dull thud, it was now Thorn\'s turn to cry. Under different circumstances, it would have been funny.

Letting go of Eve, she slumped to the floor and watched at Thorn lifted up his loved ones body and cradling her to him like she was a doll.

Still crying, he fled from the room as soon as he had put her gently onto the couch.

Helping Eve up, Selenity quietly sobbed at the loss of her new friend. Walking out the door with Eve in tail, she went to drown her sorrows in the nearest bar.



The shadowy figure walked slowly and with measure into the recently deserted apartment. Looking around, it went into the bathroom without turning on any lights. It knew it was alone in the upstairs apartment as soon as it opened the door.

Washing its face it proceeded to the main bedroom to get dressed.

Searching with knowledge, it found the bar with ease and got out two twin bottles of JD.

Sitting on an arm chair, it reached over and grabbed a discarded packet of cigarettes. Turning on the TV, it sat quietly watching cartoons while it waited for the owner of the house to enter.



Hours later, there was the distinct sound of keys in a keyhole. The person at the door was definitely drunk, as the sound of fumbling also drifted through the doors thin wood.

Sitting as still as possible, the intruder waited for its victim to enter.

As the door opened, there was a deep gasp as the person at the door saw the intruder on the armchair.

\"Angelique!\"

The strangled sound of Thorn\'s voice came to her ears.

Waving the hand with a cigarette in it, Angelique silenced him and went back to watching re-runs of an old \'Tom and Jerry Show\' episode.

As Thorn drew nearer, she tensed her muscles, ready for a fight, vampire style.




Thorn slowly made his way over to the vampire that lounged in the armchair.

\"Angelique, is that you...but, but you dead?\"

He stumbled out. The look of amazement on his face soon turned to one of joy.

\"Yeah, it is.\"

Came the slurred voice of his drunken childe. Thorn thought he was dreaming it could not be the real Angelique, the one he made so long ago, sitting in her chair as if she never really died. Not only was she sitting in his favorite armchair but she was also wearing his favorite red silk shirt over her white skin tight pj\'s.

\"But, you\'re dead.\"

Thorn tried again.

\"I\'m not dead, if I was, I wouldn\'t be able to do this.\"

Angelique stated quickly as she leapt from her place and was before Thorn before he could do anything. Taking the bottle in her hand, she smashed it into his head. The bottle shattered into million\'s of pieces to collect on the floor in a ringing tone.

When the shattered glass had settle, Angelique looked disgustedly at her sire.

Holding up a hand to his mangled flesh where his cheek should have been, the look of amazement came back to his face. Too much in shock, he came back with a reflex before he could think of what he was doing, he had felled Angelique in one swift slice of his foot. Landing on the rugged floor with a dull thud, Angelique landed on her side and dislocated her left shoulder. Looking up at the face of Thorn, she watched his flesh knit back together.

\"If you are so concerned about me being alive or dead, why don\'t you pick one for me seeing as you only ever think of me as you \'childe\'. Never anything better than something you made!\"

Angelique screamed, mainly at herself for thinking she loved this thing.

\"I kept him away from you because I thought that if you found out about him, then you would leave me.\"

Thorn whispered at the girl at his feet.

\"Why did you ever think I would leave you? I wouldn\'t be here with you if it weren\'t for my brother. I\'m mad because you didn\'t let me get revenge!\"
Angelique replied.

\"I love you.\"

Thorn stated. Looked down at his feet. Astonished, Angelique stood up and walked to him with her arm hanging uselessly at her side.

\"Help me?\"

She asked innocently. And with a loud crack he popped her shoulder back in. Pain wrecked through her arm as she stared at Thorn with an ominous look in her eyes.

\"You can\'t help being a bastard can you, no wonder Franchesca left you, oh wait she didn\'t leave you I killed her!\" Angelique spat in Thorn\'s face as she innocently covered her mouth with her hand.

She smiled as she could tell that she had hit a sore spot. Of coarse Thorn had never forgiven Franchesca for making him leave Angelique, his childe, when she was most vulnerable, a fledgling. But he still thought of her as his first love.

Thorn stared Angelique down and then did something that she had been waiting for him to do; he balled up his fist and cut it across her left cheek. She reeled around and fell unconscious into the armchair.

\"Sit down before you hurt yourself.\" Thorn said even though he knew that Angelique couldn\'t hear him anymore.

He kicked the three empty bottles of JD aside and picked Angelique\'s frail body up and carried her into her bedroom.

She had been through so much, the best thing that Thorn could do for her was make her comfortable and give her some space.




When the silent snoring of Angelique came through the open door to her room, Thorn had successfully drunk three bottles of JD and one bottle of Whiskey. Beating Angelique by two whole bottles.

Staggering into Angelique\'s room, he grabbed a pillow from Angelique\'s bed and, peeling of his shoes and shirt, lay down by the terrace door, fell into a deep sleep.

Even though he knew he couldn\'t attempt to sleep in the same bed as Angelique, he wanted to be in the room. Just to be in the same room as her made him feel at ease.




Waking up, he found that Angelique had nestled her way under his arm and was now asleep next to him. The smell of her perfume mingled with the smell of Jack Daniels on her breath, it sent a pleasurable shiver down his spine. Kissing her lightly on the neck, and then her uncovered shoulder, he fell once again into an undisturbed sleep.




Is it over? Is it just beginning? Does anyone even care? Well, then if you do, review! (it rhymes!)