Bloody Memory

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The story on this chapter maybe a bit sentimentil and cheesy, but that's okay, hehehe
I think I will start to make stories about Vermillion and other occupants of PHANTOM coven by now. Starting with Vermillion, thus the others will follow...

You know, I'm kindda trailing off... like I don't explain much about Scarlet while he recovers himself on the clinic or about Bowman couple, etc. I think it doesn't really necessary. From this chapter, the story line jumps from one to another, so maybe it's a bit confusing. Thank you for everyone who read my story, and please review.

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Chapter Nine

Jamie awoke abruptly only to find that he didn’t sleep on his own room. Instead of it, he was inside a room which looked like a hotel room. He realized that he was well covered by the upper sheet and blanket, shielded him from AC cold air, and that the room was out of lights. The only light that lit the room was coming from the outside; it was also somewhat dim indicating that night had fallen upon. Jamie wondered how long he had been slept when he heard a ‘click’ sound of door being opened.
Opal smiled widely when he recognized that his little hostage had awoken. He sat on the sofa across the bed and, not bothering to shrug off his coat, he leaned backward with his arms folded and one of his legs bent across another, seemed relaxed by himself.
“Well...” he chuckled lightly. “You finally awaken.”
Jamie eyed him fearfully and suspiciously, deciding not to reply anything to his words. He clutched his blanket tightly and formed somewhat a ball from his own body, curling inside the blanket and sheet while he sat facing his kidnapper.
“Don’t be afraid, child.”
There it was! That enthralling voice again! Jamie vaguely remembered Scarlet had told him about the enticement within vampire’s voice. He remembered it but... somehow, the words flowing from those red-hued lips sounded ...right and nice.
“Don’t be afraid of me. Relax. You will be all right.”
Jamie slowly nodded and started to feel relaxed. The back of his mind told him that something was wrong but he couldn’t figure... he couldn’t find what was wrong. He saw Opal stood up and then moved towards him, making his body twitched in anticipated, reflexive movement. He felt his hand upon his head, stroking it softly. He heard the silver vampire murmuring soft words of comfort, but he didn’t catch the meaning. They sounded like they were spoken in some strange language.
“~Relax, child. I won’t harm you... yet.~” Opal smirked slyly when he saw the boy drifted off again to the dream world.
He stood and threw his sight out the window. From his hotel room’s balcony located on 17th floors, he could see clearly the ruckus he had made earlier at the Ainsworths’ house. He didn’t call Callahan yet, reporting his works; but he surely didn’t care about that pathetic casino owner. He didn’t have any grudge against the happy family, so he didn’t bother himself by killing them all on spot. Despite that, he found Jamie much more worthy as a fish bait to lure Scarlet to come to him.
He smiled ear-to-ear. He had sent a powerful mind attack to Scarlet’s brain; he felt a little worried that the effect would be so strong Scarlet couldn’t bear it and finally decided to kill himself despite of searching for Jamie and himself. But he shrugged those minds away, knowing that the younger vampire shouldn’t be so much weak.
“~If he lose just by that simple mind breaking, it’s meaning that he’s just another pathetic being, even unworthy for becoming Vermillion’s apprentice.~”

***

Darkness surrounded him. He floated on his walks; he barely touched the ground. If there was any ground beneath him...
Suddenly the darkness changed to bloody red, starting from one point in front of him. He stared at the redness leaking from the point, confused. He recognized a figure lying in the middle of the redness...
His eyes widened as he recognized the figure further. He screamed in horror but he found his voice didn’t come out. He kept screaming and screaming silently; tears burst out running down his cheeks.
He ran towards the body, trying to reach him but he somehow didn’t make it out. He couldn’t reach him...
Suddenly the body disappeared. He stopped on his midway only to find bloodied arms wrapped around his waist and chest. He horrifyingly looked over his shoulder, only to find the empty holes where the eyes supposedly resigned, blood leaking from it, and the pallid, dead slightly parted mouth with blood oozing from inside... the face of the figure previously lying on the redness ground seemed horribly pale and deadly horrifying...
He screamed in desperately fear and agony. He could see the pallid, bloodied mouth pronounced silent words...
You... killed... me...
You... killer... monster...
You... don’t... deserve... to live...
Don’t... deserve... to... live...
Die... die... die...
Die... in... misery...
Die...
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

***

Arthur decided to locate himself and his team, include Scarlet, on the clinic his old acquaintance had owned for. He thought that Callahan wouldn’t be so recklessly attacked both Frank and Emily in front of cop’s nose. He didn’t trust Jameson though, so he secretly asked his higher-up relation within the central of Marble City Police Department to look after them without Jameson knowing.
He barely peeled off his own bandages, while discussing about their next plan of rescuing Jamie with his subordinates when that piercing scream tearing through the air.
He stopped dead, recognizing Scarlet’s voice. He quickly ran towards the room next door where the young vampire had been laid at; ignoring his messy bandages around his midsection; followed by the others. He almost collided with Dr. Randy Bowman, who was the owner of the clinic, and his wife, who was also his assistant, Jennifer, on the corridor.
“Fuck, Randy!” he cussed loudly, earning a glare from the older man.
The sixty-years-old doctor also cussed, albeit faintly and swiftly pulled the door open. He switched on the light and rushed to check the young vampire. He was stopped midway by Arthur who was gripping his arm firmly; he paled all over his feature.
“Don’t—!”
“What do you mean by ‘don’t’?! Can’t you see him agonizing from his nightmare?!”
“He doesn’t recognize your scent! Even when they are unconscious, vampires can sense as sharp as when they are conscious! He will surely tear you apart if you, who are mostly stranger for him, got closer to him!”
Hearing these warnings, the old doctor paled. He swallowed hardly and inwardly trembled when he asked, “I—I see... so what should I do?”
“Prepare the blood ampoules you have and maybe, some aspirins? Paracetamol would be fine. I’ll try to wake him and calm him down.” The doctor nodded and gestured his wife to comply the request.
Arthur then turned his eyes to the now writhing Scarlet and inwardly winced. The young vampire was looked so frail and miserable... so painfully suffering.
He stepped forward, ignoring Sarah’s yelps of anxiety and stood beside Scarlet’s bed. Those piercing screams had been let out again from Scarlet’s throat, tearing through the tensed air inside the room. Everybody, some clearly and some others inwardly, winced hearing those agonizing sounds out from Scarlet. They unconsciously held their breaths when they saw Arthur crept to the side of the bed.
Arthur grabbed Scarlet’s shoulders firmly and shook him gently.
“~Scarlet! Scarlet! Wake up!~” he spoke in vampiric.
Scarlet’s eyes abruptly opened after a few shaking from Arthur; tears could be seen burst running down his cheeks. He looked around frantically and finally locked eyes with a very concerned Arthur. He panted and hiccupped in his cries, slowly turned into sobbing when he found Arthur’s chest and buried himself onto it. Arthur embraced him tightly and comforted him, silently rocking him back and forth.
“~He condemned me to death! He hated me because I killed him! He...~”
“~Scarlet, that wouldn’t be possible! Vermillion wouldn’t hate you no matter what—!~”
“~But he said that! In my dreams! He said that I deserved to die! He said that I’m a killer monster! He—he...~” Scarlet whined and later, screamed again in agony. His head was throbbing painfully. It was as if someone tried to hammer him with one big nasty nail, tearing his head apart.
“~Scarlet!!~” Arthur yelled both in panic and concern. Tightening his embrace around the crimson haired vampire, he turned towards Randy and shouted, “Where are the blood and aspirin?! Give me those!! ...Goddammit, Scarlet...”
Arthur could feel his own tears stinging on the corner of his eyes, threatening to run down his cheeks. No! He couldn’t stand to see this child suffering like this again. Those past days were enough! Please don’t torture him over those horrible memories again... please... God...
Scarlet screamed painfully when the hammering pain overwhelming his head again and he thrashed within Arthur’s tight embrace. Stop! He shouted inside his mind. Stop this agony! Please...
“~Please...~” he whimpered against Arthur’s chest, when he felt the pain slightly fading; suddenly feeling terribly exhausted and limp. Arthur looked at him with glazy eyes filled with sorrowful concern and almost affectionately gaze.
“~What?! Scarlet, tell me! ...God... Scarlet...~”
“Please...” he spoke again with common language. “...Kill me... I can’t stand it anymore... Kill me...”
Everyone inside the room gasped, shocked from hearing his sorrowful plea. Arthur stared at him in disbelief and pain; his tears had already run down his cheeks he didn’t even hell care. Both Allan and Tyler gazed at the young vampire shockingly; while Sarah ran towards Arthur and Scarlet, crying openly and wrapped her arms around their bodies; barely circled them.
She shook her head over and over and nearly choked herself with her own tears when she finally yelled, “No! No! No! You can’t! You shouldn’t! No...”
Sobbing, Scarlet’s eyes once again went dimmed and blank leaving his irises void and lifeless. He purposely silenced himself, making Arthur abruptly yanked him up and shook him almost violently in order to wake him up once again.
“GODDAMMIT, SCARLET!! DON’T GIVE ME THAT LOOK EVER AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME?! SCARLET!!” he cried desperately.
Sarah yelped in shock. “NO! STOP IT, ARTHUR! You hurt him!!”
“No, I don’t! He will awake from his nightmare now and forever! I swear to God! WAKE UP, SCARLET!!”
Randy moved restlessly in his panic; even as a doctor, he didn’t really know what to do when this kind of situation occurred. He was trying to calm down himself and his now crying wife, when suddenly he saw the massive blade leaning at the wall near the bed started to glow. He yelped and tremblingly pointed to the blade.
Everyone, save Arthur and Scarlet, turned their attentions towards the blade. They gasped in unison when the glow becoming brighter and more brilliant. And abruptly the glow disappeared, leaving a kind of ethereal form-like-sphere floating in the air.
The ethereal sphere floated almost gracefully towards Arthur and Scarlet. It moved closer to Scarlet and they could hear a whisper—if you could say that—out from the sphere. The whisper sounded melodically and gentle, almost lovingly; successfully making both the captain and the young vampire jerked up in genuine surprise.
“...~Vermillion?~”
The sphere let out a sound-like-chuckling and floated away from Scarlet. The young vampire abruptly pulled away from Arthur and stumbled down from his bed, trying to keep in touch with the sphere. “~Wait! Don’t go! Vermillion!~”
Arthur stared flabbergasted at the sphere. He knew that Symbion vampires sometimes lived a life full of magic-thingy and miracle-thingy, but this was beyond his imagination. He stared for a few moments before snapping back to reality and he clearly glared to the sphere. “Fuck, Vermillion! You’re DEAD and now you’re back as a ghost?!”
The sphere chuckled again and whispered some words almost inaudible to Arthur. Eventually he heard the spoken words because he raised his brows in half-awe and half-mockingly; and openly laughed while wiping away his tears. “Oh, shut up, you jerk-of-a-dead-vampire! How can you do that from your own current state?!”
The sphere floated playfully once more around Scarlet, who looked at it with such sad and longing eyes, before abruptly dissipated into the air. Scarlet howled in sorrowful and disappointed sound, clawing at the spot where the sphere exactly floated for the last time. Arthur stopped laughing and began to feel guilty when suddenly he was being punched on the head, hard, from behind.
He yelped in surprise and pain, and turned around. He almost popped his eyes out from his sockets when he learned who had punched him earlier.
“Vermillion!!” he gasped.
Everyone looked surprisingly at the somewhat ethereal form of crimson-haired-and-eyed vampire who looked so much alike Scarlet, but somewhat older and wiser, with longer bangs and aristocratic, beautiful face. He scowled playfully at the captain and retorted calmly; his voice was deep, rich, and sounded melodically warm, “I told you I will do that.”
Arthur gawked at him and laughed again a moment later. “Shit!! Vermillion, fuck—shit, oh God...” he started to half-laughing and half-sobbing, “...you’re such a-pain-in-the-ass, you jerk! Oh, God... Vermillion... I—I’m glad to—to see you again...”
The crimson vampire lord smiled warmly and embraced the older man in a tight manly hug. Even though he was in his ethereal form, Arthur could feel his solid form and his warmth which he was gladly appreciative when he embraced back his dead comrade. Vermillion still smiled while raising his delicate brows teasingly at his former partner. “Since when did you become this crybaby, Arthur?”
“Oh, cut the crap, Vermillion...” Arthur scoffed and eventually smirked in the middle of his tears, which quickly he shed away.
Vermillion chuckled and turned his eyes towards his younger brother who stared at him in such disbelief and sorrowful look. His eyes softened and he walked gracefully until he was just merely a half-of-inch from him. He kneeled down until he stayed eye-to-eye with him and spoke softly, “And since when did my younger brother also become this crybaby, hmm?”
Scarlet broke in tears and wrapped his arms around his older brother’s neck. He nuzzled his face on the crook between the throat and the collarbone, crying silently.
Vermillion hugged back his younger brother lovingly and tightly, somewhat protectively and murmured in vampiric, “~Why do you become like this, Scarlet? Have I done something wrong?~”
Scarlet’s head jerked up and he looked at his brother, then he shook his head in denial. “~You’ve done nothing! It was my fault! My entire fault! I’ve killed you! I’ve killed you and I’m sinner because of that!~”
Vermillion stared at him in sad look.
“~Why? Why didn’t you tell me about our blood relation, until—until you’ve been dead for a long time?! Why didn’t everyone tell me about that?!~”
“...~I just want to keep you safe. But it was wrong, eventually... I’ve been wrong since the beginning. I’ve told you earlier if I knew about these occurrences...~”
“~No... It doesn’t matter anymore... just don’t leave me... please don’t leave me alone... Brother...~” Scarlet once again nuzzled his brother’s neck and quickly fallen asleep.
Vermillion held his younger brother within his arms for some times before he lifted him easily towards the bed and laid him down. He covered him with the blanket and humphed. He turned his eyes to Arthur and locked eyes for a moment. He then shook his head slowly and muttered, “Mind breaking...”
“...Like I’ve been thinking before...”
“Opal, wasn’t it? Such an annoying person...”
“Yeah...” Arthur trailed off. “...Hey, Vermillion...”
“Hmm?”
“Just—just what happened? You suddenly appear here, though in your ghost form...”
“Ethereal form, Arthur.”
“Whatever... humor me.” Arthur glanced at him, somewhat hopefully. “Are you staying?”
Vermillion shook his head gently. “I’m dead. The dead can’t come back to life. That is the fundamental law, even in most absurd kind of life, Symbion vampire included. No exception, for the denial of death is just as illogical as immortality itself, save God.” He smiled.
Arthur smiled back, even bitterly. “You’re still babbling philosophically. I just can’t understand you sometimes ...even now.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“...Nothing.” The crimson lord turned around and observing the other humans in front of him. He smiled warmly when he landed his sight upon Sarah.
“I see your effort to calm my brother earlier. Thank you.” Sarah only nodded and smiled back at him. But Vermillion didn’t finish yet.
“You will bear beautiful children; a daughter and a son. They will grow into such wonderful kids.”
Sarah gaped. “Excuse me?”
Vermillion only chuckled lightly looking her confused expression. He slightly glanced towards Arthur who gave him a ‘playing-some-fortune-telling-again’ look, and chuckled again.
“I told her the truth, Arthur. Or you’ve forgotten my ability then?”
“No, I haven’t. That’s why I give you that look.”
“Well, her fate somehow intertwines with you...” Now both Arthur and Sarah gaped and flustered.
Vermillion stood from his seat on the bed and threw his look towards Tyler and spoke mildly, “You will meet your fate when you break your own leg during a chase. Maybe soon...”
Tyler looked at him in disbelief.
He then glanced to Allan and mused, “You have already met your fate but you didn’t realize it. If you tried to keep your current jogging track, maybe you will meet her again...”
Allan gawked. “Wha—h-how...?” he stammered.
Lastly he looked towards Bowman couples and smiled widely and warmly. “Little Serena will have her second birthday this weekend and she will soon get a brother, eight month and three weeks again...”
They both gaped in awe and Jennifer quickly hugged her husband whispering that she had had the feeling that their daughter had been pregnant again, though she didn’t very sure about her pregnancy age.
Arthur, still a bit flustered, stared at his former partner both in awe and amazement, and commented, “You’re still such precognitive, Vermillion.”
“Not precognitive. Just fore sighting.” He smiled, but soon his smile faded.
“Vermillion? What’s wrong?”
“...Please take care of my brother as long as he’s here, will you? I can’t stay any longer in this form though...”
Sudden sadness and pain stabbed inside Arthur’s heart. “...I know, I promise.”
“...Be careful...” he trailed off before he locked his crimson eyes with blue-grey orbs of Arthur’s. “Say, partner, when there’s another chance to meet me again someday, will you fulfill my wish then?”
“What do you mean, Vermillion?”
“...~When I reappear again in front of you and the others, maybe we will be enemies.~”
Arthur gaped in shock.
“...~If that time comes, I want you to banish me to eternal death...~”
“...~Vermillion... it can’t be...~”
“~It will happen soon. I saw it earlier, much earlier than this time.~” Vermillion’s smile completely faded, leaving his face with such deadly seriousness and stern look. “~Evil Stream starts to move... He once again will try to conquer the world... Using so many fallen souls to forcibly comply his will, under his dark spell... including myself...~”
Arthur’s eyes widened in horror, realizing the foresights Vermillion had barely told him. “...No...”
“~Be careful and be faithful, my friends. Please take care of Scarlet, for me... Tell him about this foresight. Prepare him for the worst. I will try to nullify the effect of the mind-breaking wave inside his brain. But it’s up to you to lighten his spirit once I have gone...~”
“...Vermillion...”
The crimson lord’s ethereal form faded slowly and once again turned into a small sphere. It floated around Scarlet’ sleeping form for next couple minutes and then suddenly it went through his head and dissipated.
Arthur stared at Scarlet for moments and then let out a harsh breath. He looked down at his feet. He thought about Vermillion’s words...
Fallen souls, he thought grimly. Including Vermillion... and the others... the others who had died at that moment... Grey... Indigo... my fallen vampire comrades...
He snapped back to reality when he felt someone touched his shoulder lightly. He saw Sarah smiled comforting him. He smiled back, somewhat awkwardly; he still remembered Vermillion’s words about his own fate which somehow intertwined with Sarah’s... But for now, he would take aside that minor thought. Now, he had to focus on the obstacles before his eyes: to save Jamie from both Opal and Callahan. And to fulfill that purpose, he surely needed Scarlet to be recovered fully from his injury, no matter what.

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Okay, Vermillion just appears in his ghost form, hahaha, cheesy and sentimentil, isn't it?
I like Vermillion, he's wise and good natured, although a bit aloof; he mentored his younger brother as his apprentice and so. For the reason he didn't tell him about they being brothers, I will explain it on my other story.