Lack of a proper update = writing
Once again being cruel to D'arcy, though this is the first time writing for Kyros. I'll get a rant up sometime soon, as I could probably do with a very long one dealing with odd dreams, allergies, artist's block and days out.
I'm not normally curious, at least to the point it gets the better of me. Very seldom I even get curious about anything now, getting old. I have my moments however, the very odd time I let curiosity get the better of me and ends up taking me to gods know where or leads to other events happening that often shouldn't or couldn't have imagined would.
I usually end up regretting letting it get that far. This time however I do not. I found out some things that I wish I didn't, such as the cruelty of some vampires, something I never wish to see again if I can help it.
I found this out once before, after having to go in and get a friend out and away from someone I had trusted. I could kick myself for trusting that damn healer in the slightest, having seen what he did to D'arcy, the state he left him in. It's a wonder the vampire even survived it...
I knew D'arcy had been through a lot, years before I knew him. But I had never realised just how much. He's suffered torture, the loss of his father, loss of other family members and, at one point almost a few others along with the loss of his sanity due to what he has suffered. The torture by far was the worst of it, the vampire that did it knew exactly how to hurt D'arcy and pretty much break him. It haunts him even now, his nightmares bother him and still some fears he hasn't quite got over.
I found out exactly what had been done to him while he was ill and I offered to help look after him. I didn't expect however that the former assassin would end up in that bad of a state.
****
When I was turned, I was told that vampires were not affected by illness, that we were immune to it, since this was how I had died in life. I believed this and it was true to a point, what I was not told however, was that vampires were just as prone to wound infections as any other creature. I'd thought that even if we were able to become 'ill' through this, it wouldn't have half as bad an effect on a vampire as it would a human. I was wrong...
After yet another wander he wasn't meant to be on, D'arcy ended up with a wound infection in his gut. This caused a high fever, a hellish cough, nightmares that made him toss and turn all night not allowing him to get any rest and thinking he was back being tortured again. I hadn't thought a vampire could be affected by something as badly as that.
Listening to him talking in his sleep was the worst of it. While thinking he was being tortured again, he'd describe what was being done to him as if it were still happening. That was the most disturbing to listen to, I don't know how Vaughn could sit in the same room and not let it show that it bothered him.
The tell-tale sign that something was wrong came when the bouts of coughing started. One could hear them all over the mansion, often waking many of the vampires in there. Myself included. Of course he claimed there was nothing wrong, that it was only his throat was playing up and that it would pass as it normally did. I remained unconvinced as did his brother, Seth, who had also been woken.
We both worried for the vampire's health, even more so when the cough grew steadily worse over the days. The cough sounded almost like an old dog barking, something vampires aren't meant to have at all, never mind on an almost hourly basis. It made his brothers and family worry even more; they knew it was the sign of something worse to come, especially with the nightmares growing more vivid for him as well. They knew what to look for, I didn't. I wondered what the hell D'arcy had been through that he had been left with such and how he had managed to hide the after effects of it so well till now.
After another restless night for D'arcy, I decided to confront him, perhaps find out what was wrong exactly, see if I couldn't get him to see Vaughn, impossible though this task was.
I found him on the roof of the mansion, sitting somewhat near the edge of it but not quite. This was something we both found odd, that he was afraid of heights yet he had taken up his father's habit of sitting on the roof and was not bothered by it. Providing he didn't look down that was.
I approached him quietly, appearing by his side and sitting down. He glanced over briefly but went back to staring out into the distance; I followed his gaze, see what exactly was so interesting that he would stay up here. For now he was merely staring out to the scenery, which wasn't hellish much. Nosgoth did not have much to offer in the way of scenery, weren't even able to see the sky. What little greenery was left was few and far between, the odd patch of trees near a village perhaps but, as I said, these were very patchy. It often made me wonder what the land was like before the corruption, before our so called Lord's empire was forged and the trees were cut down to cause the smog that filled the sky.
The sky itself was hard to see, couldn't even see what kind of night it was. The very few patches between the smog let only a few stars peek out from behind it, but these were covered by clouds. It would've been a reasonable night, if one could see it.
I drew my gaze away from the view of the mansion and glanced at D'arcy. He seemed to be looking ill, something that should not have been possible for a vampire. He looked like he'd had little sleep, not fed as much as he should've and I was sure I saw little beads of sweat on his forehead. This vampire was not well.
"Odd isn't it...I hate heights yet I'll sit here for hours on end" He said, speaking for the first time since I had sat with him. His voice sounded raspy, hoarse even, the effects of hours of coughing were apparent.
I just nodded.
"Just don't look down, never get you down from here then" I said, my tone slightly joking and he threw me a mock glare at this.
I glanced over again, noticing D'arcy's wings twitch slightly. I had often wondered why he kept them if they were no use to him, his fear of heights kept him from using them. I didn't ask, I had no right to, it wasn't my business.
He cleared his throat, a slight cough breaking forth. My gaze turned to him once more and he waved me off, he obviously thought it wasn't as serious as some of the 'coughing fits' he'd had hours earlier. I remained unconvinced of it and waited till it had finished in case the slight cough led to a full blown coughing fit in which I would need to get him back into the mansion.
"I'm fine..." He said, and thumped his chest a couple of times, clearing his throat again.
This made me even more convinced that the vampire was far from fine. It seemed that every time either D'arcy or any of his family claimed to be 'fine', it often meant the exact opposite. That they were hiding something from the rest of their family and instead of trying to cause as little worry as possible, it almost always caused more worry.
Again I noticed the beads of sweat on D'arcy's forehead, there seemed to be more now and I put my hand to his forehead, despite the confused, almost annoyed look I received. As I thought, the vampire had a slight fever and I stood up from my place on the mansion roof.
"What did you do that for? I'm fine" D'arcy asked, standing also, one hand immediately going to his stomach.
"The fact you’re holding your gut says otherwise and you've got a fever. I'm taking you to Vaughn" I told him and went to the door.
"I don't need to see Vaughn; I'm not running a fever"
"I may not be a healer D'arcy, but I do know when someone's running a temperature. I don't feel like dragging you but I will if I must" D'arcy scowled at this part, "You know damn well I will if it comes to it"
Grudgingly he followed, if only to save his pride and we went to the elder healer. Vaughn was one vampire that did spark my interest, being that he was the last of Ancients, a race that had long since died out. My curiosity was often peaked when he sometimes spoke of his father, Phaethon of the Winged Race, though these times were very few as the two did not get on. I wondered what the elder vampire had seen in his lifetime, what he had experienced and what could be learned from him. There was much that could be surely, if only from his skills as a healer. Sooner or later, I had decided, I would make a point of learning what I could from the elder vampire as this had to be of benefit.
We found Vaughn in the healers room at the desk in the far end of the room. He was surrounded by bottles and books, some vials also lying on the desk. He looked round and barely suppressed a groan seeing the state D'arcy was in. I looked apologetic and shrugged.
"He's running a fever, looking worse if that's possible" I said, then backed away when Vaughn got up and let him deal with the other vampire.
Vaughn led D'arcy to a bed, making him lie down on it while he checked the wound on his gut. I looked away, still unable to look at the damage that had been caused. I heard Vaughn sigh and I glanced back briefly, cringing when D'arcy started coughing. It sounded worse than before.
The wound was re-bandaged once the coughing had finished and D'arcy was given a bottle of blood, being made to stay in the healers room for the rest of the day where he could be watched. I stayed if only to keep him company. I left just after sunrise, both Vaughn and D'arcy insisting I leave in case I did not sleep and ended up with my Master giving me an earful for it.
I was reluctant to leave, a gut feeling telling me that it might not have been the best of ideas. Sure enough it wasn't, D'arcy ended up getting worse through the day, the infection he had managed to get having taken hold of him and now caused the coughing fits to lead him to be sick and the nightmares getting worse than before, though how I'm not sure.
I returned to check on him the next night and found him to be in a worse state than I had left him. He'd finally fallen asleep but this was restless. He tossed and turned, whimpering and muttering in his sleep, begging for something to stop. I had no idea what it was, I assumed something from his past, possibly how he got the gut wound in the first place. I looked at Vaughn and sat next to the bed.
"Careful, he's likely to punch you" Vaughn warned and I moved back slightly, just out of reach.
D'arcy whimpered quietly, curling up slightly on the bed. I reached out and patted his shoulder lightly, but this only caused him to curl up even more, no doubt thinking it to be his tormentor from his nightmare.
"You're safe now, no one's going to hurt you" I told him quietly, an attempt to reassure him. It did not work; the response was only that of him curling up even more on the bed, whimpering again.
"No more...It hurts..."
With another whimper, D'arcy uncurled slightly but then blindly swatted at me, missing completely. I went to pat his shoulder again but thought better of it; I'd probably get the same reaction as before and end up not helping in the slightest.
"How long has he been asleep?" I asked, looking over to Vaughn as he began preparing some bandages and gathering a few bottles together on the desk.
"Three hours at most, he didn't want to sleep" Vaughn answered, not looking up, going to the chair at the other side of the bed.
"Has he always had nightmares like this?"
There it was, the fledgling curiosity that I was now letting get the better of me.
Vaughn shook his head a brief look of what could only be described as anger appearing on his face, for a moment, I had thought I'd offended him somehow. I was about to apologise for whatever I'd said but he held up his hand in a bid for silence and I promptly shut my mouth.
"He hasn't always had nightmares but I assume he hasn't told you much about the reason for them" There was a slight bitterness in his tone, and he turned his gaze away for a moment as if remembering a past memory that was not pleasant.
I shook my head, no; he hadn't told me anything about the reason for his nightmares. He'd told me little about his past and what little I did know of I had gained the knowledge from his brothers or fledgling the odd time when one of them were willing to speak of it.
"I'm not surprised; he never does talk about it. If he won't tell you then either Lachnel or Davin will, but it might be best if D'arcy tells you himself"
I nodded, not entirely sure of what he meant. What was so bad that he didn't talk about it now? What could cause a reaction like I had seen moments before from Vaughn? I didn't ask however, deciding it was best if I did hear it from the vampire himself.
D'arcy groaned quietly, one hand going to his head as he shook it slightly. He looked over to Vaughn then me and tried to sit up, hissing quietly, giving up moments later.
"How long was I asleep?" He asked, looking over to Vaughn again.
"Three hours" The elder answered and got up again, going back over to the desk.
"Great..."
"You’re getting as bad as your brother" I commented, earning a scowl from D'arcy.
"I am not that bad"
I said nothing more on the subject, the fact he had slept so little still bothering me slightly. I wasn't sure how either he or his brother managed to get by on so little sleep, Lachnel being the worst of the two. The younger vampire often stayed awake for days, getting perhaps an hour at most of sleep and then would claim that this was enough for him to function on when it was obvious to all around him, it was far from enough.
****
The days passed and the infection and fever only worsened. I sat with D'arcy most days, his family also coming and going, mainly his younger brother, Lachnel, his fledglings and, to use the human term, girlfriend, Ariela.
I wasn't sure why they used this term, it seemed too human to me. There was still much that I didn't understand about this family and their ways. One would've thought, as vampires, they would use the vampiric term, referring to her as his mate rather than girlfriend. Again, I didn't ask about this, not seeing that I had much of a right to.
Ariela stayed a majority of the time I was in, only leaving to check that her own son was staying out of trouble. My own fledglings stayed out of the way, the odd time Thanatos, my son, sat with D'arcy's daughter, Hazel while she was in. I stayed during this time, only leaving when Vaughn insisted I needed rest despite that I disagreed and could stay awake a while longer.
When I returned to the room again I found that D'arcy had managed to doze off but again, was bothered by nightmares. Ariela also still sat with him, clutching his hand as he slept in the hope that her presence might remind him that he was no longer in the hellish place that his nightmares made him think he was. It didn't seem to work as he still tossed and turned, muttering for something to stop and that something else hurt.
It hurt Ariela to hear this, she only wished to help. It seemed she couldn't however, nor could I. D'arcy was stuck in his own personal hell while asleep and it seemed that none of us could reach him there or help him deal with it to allow him a peaceful night's rest.
With another whimper, D'arcy jerked his hand away from Ariela's, turning onto his side quickly and curled up on the bed. She reached out, putting her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly, causing him to whimper again and try to roll away, almost rolling off the bed completely. I barely managed to stop him, almost getting punched for my efforts when D'arcy struggled and tried to get away as if I were the worst of his nightmares.
"You're safe D'arcy...No one's going to hurt you..." Ariela said, again reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. Again, D'arcy shrugged her hand away and Ariela sighed, looking to me to help somehow.
I shrugged, looking helpless for a moment. I wasn't sure how to help him, or even if I could. I wasn't sure what the vampire had suffered and how exactly I was meant to convince him that he wasn't suffering from it now. I could make a guess at what he had suffered, going by his muttering but this was only part of it, I didn't know all of it, though I doubted the rest of his family did either.
Ariela took D'arcy's hand again when he turned onto his other side, then looked back over at me.
"Any ideas?" She asked.
I shook my head.
"Talking to him doesn't seem to be helping, what more can we do?" I answered, looking back to D'arcy when whimpered quietly.
"Has to be some way of convincing him he's not there any more"
And where is 'there', I wondered silently but did not say anything. There were times I felt left out if I happened to be around when D'arcy was speaking to his brothers or family, when they spoke of events that had happened that I didn't know about or hadn't been around for. There was often no point in asking D'arcy about them, if it were a bad memory for him then getting any information was like pulling teeth. The vampire didn't half have his secrets.
"He doesn't recognise either of us, didn't know me from when this happened, I don't know about you..."
"He didn't. Met him a few years after it"
I nodded, looking over at the door when Vaughn came back in the room, having gone out earlier unnoticed by either Ariela or I. He looked over to us and stood at the bottom of the bed before going back to the desk. He began gathering bottles and bandages again, looking over his shoulder when D'arcy gave another whimper, muttering once again that it hurt, whatever 'it' was.
"What hurts...What have you gone through..." I muttered quietly, not realising I had spoken aloud till both Ariela and Vaughn looked over.
"My back...Skin's ripped open...Almost none left..." D'arcy murmured in his sleep, surprising the three of us.
Ariela made a motion with her hand for me to continue asking questions. I didn't know how this would help but I did as I was asked.
"Where are you now?"
"The cell...Been left here..."
I glanced to Vaughn and Ariela. Ariela only motioned again for me to continue while Vaughn stayed silent, a frown now appearing on his face.
"Who did this to you..." This seemed to be a stupid question, but at the time, I truely knew nothing about the torture D'arcy had suffered and the vampire that did it to him.
"Caleb...Punishment for betraying him..."
I clenched my fists, shutting my eyes for a moment, quickly opening them again. This...This made me angry, little did I know that as compared what had been done to him later, this was was not as bad.
"What's happening now? Are you still in the cell?"
"No...Their coming back for me...It'll start again..." With another whimper, D'arcy curled up even more than before. The fear had been quite apparent in his tone in his last statement, that 'it would start again', it was no wonder he was afraid of what else was going to be done to him.
It seemed I would get no more from him and I pulled the blanket up a bit over him, patting his shoulder lightly before I stood up from the chair and went for the door, leaving the room. Once outside, I leaned against the wall, slumping to the floor. I couldn't understand how someone could hurt another that much, that they would still be haunted by what had been done to them so many years after it. Why would they? What had D'arcy done to deserve such a 'punishment' as he'd called it? What kind of vampire would do that to another over a betrayal? No answers came, and I doubted they would, not unless I went to the vampire himself and this was out of the question as I did not know where Caleb was.
I could hear Ariela try and reassure D'arcy once I had left, but had little success at doing so. Whatever this punishment was, he'd suffered terribly because of it, at least he must've done to react like he had done to both Ariela and I trying to convince him he was not suffering it any longer.
I got up before anyone found me, somehow managing to hide how I'd been affected by the reaction I had received. I went back into the healers room, finding that D'arcy was awake, once again trying to sit up from the bed, as usual being stopped by Ariela. I took up my place at the side of the bed again, saying little and stayed quiet for the rest of the night till I was told to go and rest myself.
****
I was reluctant to return to the healers room the next night, unsure of what I would find out this time, if anything. It seemed obvious that D'arcy had suffered more than what he had desribed the night before, but what exactly, I didn't know and wasn't sure if I wanted to find out.
I went in the room, taking the chair next to the bed as I had done before. D'arcy, for the moment, was still awake, but how long this would last, I didn't know. He still looked ill and seemed still to be running a fever. While it had only been Ariela and I in before, Lachnel now sat on the other side of D'arcy instead. The younger vampire looked worried and made no attempt to hide it, despite assurances from D'arcy that he was fine and the infection would clear up in a few days. Both of us didn't believe it in the slightest.
Vaughn was still in the room and turned around from the desk, bandages in hand and began re-bandaging the gut wound. Both Lachnel and I turned away while he did this. I glanced back every so often when D'arcy hissed, I didn't know how he suffered it, turning round again when Vaughn finished and went back to the desk.
Lachnel turned also, his owl landing on the bed, nudging D'arcy's hand. He gave her a quick pet before she came over to me and sat and stared at me. Tilting her head, she hooted and flew up, landing on my shoulder.
"Attention seeker..." Lachnel said, facing his owl as I petted her quickly then let her step onto my hand before handing her back to her Master. His 'attention seeker' comment earned him a light nip on the tip of his ear.
D'arcy chuckled quietly, before it led to another coughing fit in which he was almost sick. He wasn't however and this seemed to be a good sign, at least to Vaughn it was. D'arcy lay back on the bed once finished and frowned at the worried look Lachnel still held. He sighed, but it came out sounding more like a wheeze than anything else.
"I'll be fine...Don't worry about me..." He told his brother, his voice sounding raspy and hoarse.
"Yeah right...Given how bad you're sounding now is enough reason for me to worry" Lachnel answered.
"Should try and rest a bit, look like you need it" I suggested. D'arcy frowned and Lachnel nodded in agreement. I didn't say that he looked like he needed the rest as well since I would just be met with an argument over it.
"He's right. You do need it, might give you more of a chance to heal" Vaughn agreed. D'arcy sighed or rather, wheezed again but made no comment, not even bothering to argue with the elder. I wondered if that was only to keep the peace or if he didn't have the strength to argue after that last coughing fit.
He closed his eyes and turned onto his side, his arms folded across his chest and within minutes he was asleep. Lachnel pulled the blanket up over his brother's shoulders, it helped apparently. Never mind it would end up as a wrinkled heap on the floor by the time D'arcy woke up again after becoming restless, if it helped him get some reasonably peaceful rest then that was all that really mattered.
This peace did not last long. After about ten minutes at most, D'arcy began whimpering, curling up on the bed then turning onto his back quickly. I moved away slightly, almost being hit by his wing when he turned again.
"Ariela said you'd managed to speak to him when he was like this" Lachnel said, as he watched his brother toss and turn in the grip of his nightmare.
I nodded.
"Think you could try again? It might help..."
I had almost dreaded being asked to do this again, another reason why I had been reluctant to sit with the vampire if his family were around. I did want to help, I didn't like seeing D'arcy like this or listen to him suffer, he'd suffered more than enough and didn't deserve any more. Yet, I wasn't sure if I could help, and how exactly I was meant to help. Speaking to him while in this state only made him speak of the nightmare, as if it were happening to him at that time and I didn't know how that was going to help. Then again, perhaps if D'arcy heard his brother, it might help more being that he didn't know of me during the time that he had suffered.
I nodded once again, looking back to D'arcy, moving once again before I was punched in the gut this time. He began muttering, curling up even more and I took this as my cue to try and help.
"Please...No more..." He muttered, uncurling briefly and turned onto his back.
"No more what? What's he doing to you?" I asked. I felt nervous, I almost didn't want to know what had been done. I had asked and so I would find out, no matter how bad it was.
"Mocking me...Says I'm weak..." I noticed Lachnel look away at this, and I was tempted to ask but I did not, I was there to help D'arcy, or so I reminded myself.
D'arcy turned again, digging his claws into the pillow, his eyes shutting tightly. This must've been one of the more painful memories.
"Now what's he doing?" I pressed, risking patting D'arcy's shoulder, hoping that this would help. It did not.
"Ramming pokers through my chest...Stopped...Going to the table, taking something from there...I don't know what it is...Punched me because I didn't do as I was told...Broke a couple of my ribs too..." He paused, whimpering, digging his claws into the pillow even more then continued, "Ramming some cloth down my throat...It hurts...Throat burns...Chest hurts too..."
I immediately regretted asking. Lachnel gritted his teeth, looking ill, upset, and quickly left the room. I felt an urge to follow, not wanting to hear any more of what D'arcy had suffered at the hands of this creature, no longer fit to be called a vampire. I did not however, I stayed next to D'arcy's bed and looked over at Vaughn who also had stayed through it all. He had managed to remain stoic throughout, something I had no idea how he had managed to do.
"Go if you wish, I'll look after D'arcy" He said, but I shook my head. I was determined to sit this out, helping in any way I could.
D'arcy gave another whimper, as if to remind us of his presence in the room. As if we needed reminding...I turned to him again, waiting till he spoke again, if he even would. He did, again begging for the pain to stop.
"Has he done anything else to you?"
"Broke two more of my ribs...Ripped the cloth out of my throat...Throat burns even more...Blood's running down my mouth...Can feel it..."
This time I couldn't hide how ill I felt hearing this, he'd had...I tried to hide how this one was affecting me, but I couldn't. Lachnel returned and I had never been so glad to see the younger vampire. As soon as he took up his place at D'arcy's other side once more, I left, standing outside in the corridor, leaning against the wall.
Lachnel could be heard trying to calm his brother once I had left, but received a worse reaction than I had. His brother seemed convinced that Lachnel had been killed somehow and was now nothing more than a hallucination or a spirit sent to haunt him. A reminder that he had failed to protect the brother he valued so much.
Again I was left wondering what D'arcy had done to deserve that, no one deserved to suffer that. What else had D'arcy suffered? What the hell else had he been put through? One part of me didn't want to know, the other...The other wanted to rip Caleb apart for doing this. It occurred to me that there was so much I didn't know about D'arcy, for one thing, how he survived what was done to him. The only answer that came there was the stubborness of Xaviour's fledglings. All of them were stubborn, D'arcy often claiming that that was all that kept them alive and after hearing what I had, I believed him, now more than ever.
"Kyros?"
My head snapped round, my hand immediately going to a dagger at my waist, old habits appearing once again. I hadn't heard anyone in the corridor and was surprised to find Seth in the corridor also. I hadn't been that...out of it...Had I? I cursed myself for it, turning to speak to D'arcy's brother.
"How's he doing?" He questioned, glancing to the healers room.
"No better, no worse. Hasn't had a moment's rest because of his nightmares but the cough isn't making him sick, one good sign" I replied, following his gaze for a moment.
Seth nodded, then went for the door, stopping at it, turning back to me.
"Coming?"
I followed, sitting next to the bed as D'arcy still slept.
Dawn came and the three of us were ordered to leave. Lachnel and Seth were reluctant to leave their brother while I couldn't get out of the room quick enough. They must've noticed this as both left the room shortly after I did and followed me to the main room of the mansion. We stayed there for a majority of the day, Lachnel having trouble staying awake, while I just couldn't sleep. Seth was the only one who did manage to doze off, but it didn't last. Everytime either Lachnel or I moved around at all, Seth was awake again only to doze off minutes later. Such a light sleeper must have driven the Rahabim clan mad, especially if he was prone to wandering around as he did in the mansion when he couldn't sleep. He was the first to leave, heading to his own room. Lachnel left soon after, I wasn't sure where he had gone, the library more than likely, it would be naive of me to assume he had gone to rest. Not now I had come to know the vampire or at least what his sleeping habits were like.
I stayed in the main room, ending up dozing off in the chair but moved to the couch when I was awoken. My own rest was not peaceful and I was reminded of some bad memories of my own. Nightfall came and I waited a while longer in the main room before returning to the healers room again. Again I was reluctant, unsure, nervous even. I didn't know what I would find out this time and I almost didn't want to.
****
Eventually I returned to the healers room. I stood outside in the corridor, in a way, almost trying to build up enough nerve to go back in. I felt nervous, afraid almost of what I would hear next. I scolded myself for being such an idiot, clenching my fists for a moment. Unclenching them, I let out a breath that I didn't even realize I had been holding and went into the room.
I was slightly surprised to find Isis also in the room. The Cold Shadow healer had always been badly affected by what had been done to D'arcy in the years previous, despite this she almost always insisted on treating him. She was one of the few he would listen to, out of the healers at least, however it always worried Seth that she would end up upset after treating his brother, reminded of what she had to watch.
The chair next to D'arcy's bed was empty, seemingly it had been left for me. I took it up, sitting next to D'arcy's bed as I'd done on nights previous, D'arcy looking over when I did.
"You alright?" He asked, a slight frown appearing.
I would never understand this vampire, here he was, suffering from an infection from a wound that gave him hell at the best of times yet he asked if I was alright. I looked at him as if he were mad.
"I'm fine. Worry about yourself for once" I answered, if rather gruffly, which I immediately regretted.
D'arcy was unfazed by this, apparently knowing me well enough to know that I didn't mean for it to have came out like that.
He said nothing more, more than likely planning to ask about it later at some point. He seemed to be looking slightly better than he did, the infection finally starting to go but nowhere near gone completely. It was an improvement at least.
"Feeling any better at all?" Isis asked, approaching the bed, leaving the desk she had been working at.
"Not much..." D'arcy answered.
Isis sighed, checking his temperature then took her glove off, pressing her hand to his forehead for a few moments. She took her hand away again, putting the glove back on again, going back to the desk, gathering some bandages together.
She began re-bandaging the gut wound and D'arcy hissed, almost digging his claws into his hand. Isis muttered a few apologies, promising it would be over soon. D'arcy nodded but still dug his claws into his hand, hissing again.
As promised it was over with reasonably quickly. D'arcy sighed and let Isis deal with the slight wound in his hand he had made while digging his claws into it. He lay back on the bed and looked down at his hand.
"You should get some rest, you need it"
D'arcy frowned at this but didn't argue, there was no point in arguing with her. He did as he was told, closing his eyes and pressing his arm over his eyes. Isis looked over to me, wondering if he was asleep yet. I shook my head, he wasn't yet.
It didn't take him long to fall asleep however. Again, I was dreading this, what would he remember this night? What could be worse than having something, literally, stuffed down his throat and then ripped back out again? I didn't want to find out and I only hoped that there was nothing that would be worse than this.
Once more the whimpering and muttering started not long after D'arcy fell asleep. Isis continued working at the desk for a while, glancing over her shoulder every so often when D'arcy whimpered. I sighed and patted D'arcy's shoulder, pulling the blanket over him, receiving only a whimper and a blind swipe which missed me completely.
When he whimpered again, Isis got up and stood beside me.
"It's alright D'arcy...You're safe now, he can't hurt you" She said.
He whimpered, muttering quietly, "Not real..."
"She is real D'arcy, Isis is here and so am I. We won't let anyone hurt you anymore" I only hoped my words helped, but it seemed they didn't as he only whimpered.
"Not real...Another hallucination...Should be gone now anyway..."
I frowned, I didn't like where this was leading and from the look of it, neither did Isis.
"Why? Why should she be gone?"
"In that room again...Never appeared then...Only after..."
What looked like guilt appeared on Isis' face, but she quickly hid it, hoping I hadn't noticed. She motioned for me to continue asking questions, patting my shoulder lightly.
"What's happening to you now?"
"Tied to a table...There's rats in a cage on the other table...A cauldron's in the room as well..."
I didn't want to ask any further, I didn't want to know what was going to happen with the cauldron and rats, what could happen with them. Curiosity got the better of me, and against my better judgement, I did question him further.
"What's he doing to you?"
"The rats are crawling over me...Shouting at the humans to lift the cauldron...Putting it over me...Over my gut...Rats are stuck there now...Heating the cauldron up...It hurts...Burns...The rats are chewing...Oh gods their chewing through...It hurts..."
"...Chewing through your gut...That's how you got your gut wound in the first place..."
D'arcy yelled at this point, starting to thrash around as if the rats were still crawling over him. Isis held him down in case he hurt himself, telling him it was alright, and that he was safe again. It seemed to work and he did calm down. When he did, Isis backed away and looked back over to me.
I felt sick, I must've looked like I was going to be sick. I stood up shakily and went for the door. Isis went to follow, seemingly concerned about me, I turned back and shook my head.
"Help him" I simply said, looking back to D'arcy when his whimpering began again.
Isis sighed and nodded, taking up my place next to his bed. She told him it was alright now, that he was safe, he'd escaped and no one would hurt him. He seemed to believe her and for a while, calmed down again. I left the room, sure that D'arcy was going to get some rest.
I however was not. Once outside the room, I slumped to the floor as I had done in nights previous, drawing my knees to my chest, putting my head down, my forehead resting against my knees.
Vaughn had said there were bite marks around the wound while treating it after it had been made worse, I didn't think that such a thing was possible. To have rats chew through...It made me ill to think about it, I didn't know how D'arcy had survived it. I don't know how anyone could. The idea that he was too stubborn to die seemed to be the only thing that could pass as an explanation for it, but stubborness can only last so long.
****
After hearing about the rats, I didn't try to help with D'arcy again. I couldn't. Isis had more luck than I did, it seemed since Isis had watched and dealt with what D'arcy had suffered, that she had been there throughout and he recognized her, it allowed her to help him more. He seemed to believe her more than the rest of us, since she had been there.
I still sat with D'arcy while he was awake, but didn't stay as long as I did when he tried to get some rest. I felt slightly guilty about this, but I couldn't stay, I feared what I would hear next. I often ended up in the main room, falling asleep there on one of the couches.
Lachnel also couldn't stay very long, hearing what he had, had triggered his own nightmares. The vampire didn't even try to sleep after hearing about D'arcy's nightmare, it had seemed to disturb him most of all.
It reinforced the idea that stubborness alone kept Xaviour's fledglings alive. I was sure that that was all it was, how else could D'arcy have survived what he had? No vampire could've, most would have given up long ago, either going mad or having been killed long before. Yet D'arcy had survived that and had gone on to recover from it where most others would not.
I could only imagine the pain he must've endured with the gut wound, it had never really healed from the looks of it and it certainly didn't help when the healer wrecked it even more. It must've hurt like hell now...
****
The days passed and D'arcy finally began showing signs of improvement, eventually recovering from the infection completely. This came as a huge relief for his family but for a while, they did keep a closer eye on him, making sure that someone was always with him whenever he went a wander.
This annoyed him to no end, he insisted he didn't need a 'babysitter' as he called them and that he would be fine on his own. He needed only to be reminded of what state he was in due to the infection to quiet this arguement and he grudgingly agreed to take someone with him.
During this time, it was I who spent a lot of time on the roof of the mansion. I could either be found there or the main room. This seemed to worry D'arcy slightly, he seemingly felt guilty that I had been there through the worst of the nightmares. He didn't approach me however, apparently afraid of what I would now think of him after hearing about some of what had been done. He thought I would think less of him...That I would think him weak for some reason. This couldn't have been further from the truth, I did not think any less of him, it only made me determined that he should not have to suffer anymore.
Eventually D'arcy did come and find me. I was on the roof when he did. I sat near the edge, one leg swinging off it, staring out into the distance. D'arcy approached and sat beside me, I moved back from the edge, noticing the nervous glances he kept throwing to the edge of the roof. He looked thankful for this and moved back also, his wings spread out behind him.
We were both quiet, neither of us really knowing what to say to the other. A few times D'arcy turned to say something but didn't, I said nothing, letting him say what he was going to.
"Vaughn said you tried to help a bit" He said, looking over to me.
I nodded.
"Tried to. I didn't do very much helping" I answered, my tone slightly bitter. I was not happy that I had not managed to help at all and that he had suffered.
"Probably think I'm weak now...After sitting through that"
"No...Far from it. I don't think you weak nor do I think any less of you than I did"
D'arcy looked unconvinced, no doubt thinking I was just saying that to make him feel better.
"Many vampires wouldn't have survived that let alone recovered from it. I couldn't have..."
There was a look of surprise at this admission. With it, I had hoped that it would help, that if I'd admitted my own weakness, that I lacked the strength to get through what he had suffered then he would see he was not weak as he so believed. It seemed to help slightly, but not as much as I had hoped. Instead, he dropped the subject, shaking his head.
"Couldn't have been pleasant to listen to my ramblings..."
I shook my head. It hadn't been, it had given me problems sleeping as it had Lachnel. I wasn't going to admit it however, lest I made D'arcy feel any worse than he already did.
Silence reigned once again, D'arcy now staring out into the distance, absently folding his wings before stretching them. I got up from the roof, standing for a few moments before heading back to the door back down into the mansion.
"Where are you going?"
"Back down, you coming?"
D'arcy shook his head and stayed where he was. I shrugged and went to the door, stopping briefly, glancing back over my shoulder back to D'arcy. I would probably never understand this vampire completely, all that I did understand about him was that he was a stubborn bastard and likely, always would be. It had got him through many situations that most vampires would have surely been killed in and for this I was glad. It meant that if we were ever in need of a stubborn bastard, he would be one.
He was like his father in that sense, however I did not tell him this. While many often had, D'arcy never liked being compared to his creator, the two never getting along very well. It was obviously something having gone back years before and I didn't feel I had a right to ask about it.
I turned back to D'arcy briefly and called over, "Don't look down. I don't feel like dragging you inside"
"Shut up"
I grinned and went in, aware of D'arcy following. He was one vampire I would never fully understand and I likely never would. Some things in this world were not meant to be understood only accepted for the way they were, and the former vampire assassin, D'arcy, was one of them.
I'm not normally curious, at least to the point it gets the better of me. Very seldom I even get curious about anything now, getting old. I have my moments however, the very odd time I let curiosity get the better of me and ends up taking me to gods know where or leads to other events happening that often shouldn't or couldn't have imagined would.
I usually end up regretting letting it get that far. This time however I do not. I found out some things that I wish I didn't, such as the cruelty of some vampires, something I never wish to see again if I can help it.
I found this out once before, after having to go in and get a friend out and away from someone I had trusted. I could kick myself for trusting that damn healer in the slightest, having seen what he did to D'arcy, the state he left him in. It's a wonder the vampire even survived it...
I knew D'arcy had been through a lot, years before I knew him. But I had never realised just how much. He's suffered torture, the loss of his father, loss of other family members and, at one point almost a few others along with the loss of his sanity due to what he has suffered. The torture by far was the worst of it, the vampire that did it knew exactly how to hurt D'arcy and pretty much break him. It haunts him even now, his nightmares bother him and still some fears he hasn't quite got over.
I found out exactly what had been done to him while he was ill and I offered to help look after him. I didn't expect however that the former assassin would end up in that bad of a state.
****
When I was turned, I was told that vampires were not affected by illness, that we were immune to it, since this was how I had died in life. I believed this and it was true to a point, what I was not told however, was that vampires were just as prone to wound infections as any other creature. I'd thought that even if we were able to become 'ill' through this, it wouldn't have half as bad an effect on a vampire as it would a human. I was wrong...
After yet another wander he wasn't meant to be on, D'arcy ended up with a wound infection in his gut. This caused a high fever, a hellish cough, nightmares that made him toss and turn all night not allowing him to get any rest and thinking he was back being tortured again. I hadn't thought a vampire could be affected by something as badly as that.
Listening to him talking in his sleep was the worst of it. While thinking he was being tortured again, he'd describe what was being done to him as if it were still happening. That was the most disturbing to listen to, I don't know how Vaughn could sit in the same room and not let it show that it bothered him.
The tell-tale sign that something was wrong came when the bouts of coughing started. One could hear them all over the mansion, often waking many of the vampires in there. Myself included. Of course he claimed there was nothing wrong, that it was only his throat was playing up and that it would pass as it normally did. I remained unconvinced as did his brother, Seth, who had also been woken.
We both worried for the vampire's health, even more so when the cough grew steadily worse over the days. The cough sounded almost like an old dog barking, something vampires aren't meant to have at all, never mind on an almost hourly basis. It made his brothers and family worry even more; they knew it was the sign of something worse to come, especially with the nightmares growing more vivid for him as well. They knew what to look for, I didn't. I wondered what the hell D'arcy had been through that he had been left with such and how he had managed to hide the after effects of it so well till now.
After another restless night for D'arcy, I decided to confront him, perhaps find out what was wrong exactly, see if I couldn't get him to see Vaughn, impossible though this task was.
I found him on the roof of the mansion, sitting somewhat near the edge of it but not quite. This was something we both found odd, that he was afraid of heights yet he had taken up his father's habit of sitting on the roof and was not bothered by it. Providing he didn't look down that was.
I approached him quietly, appearing by his side and sitting down. He glanced over briefly but went back to staring out into the distance; I followed his gaze, see what exactly was so interesting that he would stay up here. For now he was merely staring out to the scenery, which wasn't hellish much. Nosgoth did not have much to offer in the way of scenery, weren't even able to see the sky. What little greenery was left was few and far between, the odd patch of trees near a village perhaps but, as I said, these were very patchy. It often made me wonder what the land was like before the corruption, before our so called Lord's empire was forged and the trees were cut down to cause the smog that filled the sky.
The sky itself was hard to see, couldn't even see what kind of night it was. The very few patches between the smog let only a few stars peek out from behind it, but these were covered by clouds. It would've been a reasonable night, if one could see it.
I drew my gaze away from the view of the mansion and glanced at D'arcy. He seemed to be looking ill, something that should not have been possible for a vampire. He looked like he'd had little sleep, not fed as much as he should've and I was sure I saw little beads of sweat on his forehead. This vampire was not well.
"Odd isn't it...I hate heights yet I'll sit here for hours on end" He said, speaking for the first time since I had sat with him. His voice sounded raspy, hoarse even, the effects of hours of coughing were apparent.
I just nodded.
"Just don't look down, never get you down from here then" I said, my tone slightly joking and he threw me a mock glare at this.
I glanced over again, noticing D'arcy's wings twitch slightly. I had often wondered why he kept them if they were no use to him, his fear of heights kept him from using them. I didn't ask, I had no right to, it wasn't my business.
He cleared his throat, a slight cough breaking forth. My gaze turned to him once more and he waved me off, he obviously thought it wasn't as serious as some of the 'coughing fits' he'd had hours earlier. I remained unconvinced of it and waited till it had finished in case the slight cough led to a full blown coughing fit in which I would need to get him back into the mansion.
"I'm fine..." He said, and thumped his chest a couple of times, clearing his throat again.
This made me even more convinced that the vampire was far from fine. It seemed that every time either D'arcy or any of his family claimed to be 'fine', it often meant the exact opposite. That they were hiding something from the rest of their family and instead of trying to cause as little worry as possible, it almost always caused more worry.
Again I noticed the beads of sweat on D'arcy's forehead, there seemed to be more now and I put my hand to his forehead, despite the confused, almost annoyed look I received. As I thought, the vampire had a slight fever and I stood up from my place on the mansion roof.
"What did you do that for? I'm fine" D'arcy asked, standing also, one hand immediately going to his stomach.
"The fact you’re holding your gut says otherwise and you've got a fever. I'm taking you to Vaughn" I told him and went to the door.
"I don't need to see Vaughn; I'm not running a fever"
"I may not be a healer D'arcy, but I do know when someone's running a temperature. I don't feel like dragging you but I will if I must" D'arcy scowled at this part, "You know damn well I will if it comes to it"
Grudgingly he followed, if only to save his pride and we went to the elder healer. Vaughn was one vampire that did spark my interest, being that he was the last of Ancients, a race that had long since died out. My curiosity was often peaked when he sometimes spoke of his father, Phaethon of the Winged Race, though these times were very few as the two did not get on. I wondered what the elder vampire had seen in his lifetime, what he had experienced and what could be learned from him. There was much that could be surely, if only from his skills as a healer. Sooner or later, I had decided, I would make a point of learning what I could from the elder vampire as this had to be of benefit.
We found Vaughn in the healers room at the desk in the far end of the room. He was surrounded by bottles and books, some vials also lying on the desk. He looked round and barely suppressed a groan seeing the state D'arcy was in. I looked apologetic and shrugged.
"He's running a fever, looking worse if that's possible" I said, then backed away when Vaughn got up and let him deal with the other vampire.
Vaughn led D'arcy to a bed, making him lie down on it while he checked the wound on his gut. I looked away, still unable to look at the damage that had been caused. I heard Vaughn sigh and I glanced back briefly, cringing when D'arcy started coughing. It sounded worse than before.
The wound was re-bandaged once the coughing had finished and D'arcy was given a bottle of blood, being made to stay in the healers room for the rest of the day where he could be watched. I stayed if only to keep him company. I left just after sunrise, both Vaughn and D'arcy insisting I leave in case I did not sleep and ended up with my Master giving me an earful for it.
I was reluctant to leave, a gut feeling telling me that it might not have been the best of ideas. Sure enough it wasn't, D'arcy ended up getting worse through the day, the infection he had managed to get having taken hold of him and now caused the coughing fits to lead him to be sick and the nightmares getting worse than before, though how I'm not sure.
I returned to check on him the next night and found him to be in a worse state than I had left him. He'd finally fallen asleep but this was restless. He tossed and turned, whimpering and muttering in his sleep, begging for something to stop. I had no idea what it was, I assumed something from his past, possibly how he got the gut wound in the first place. I looked at Vaughn and sat next to the bed.
"Careful, he's likely to punch you" Vaughn warned and I moved back slightly, just out of reach.
D'arcy whimpered quietly, curling up slightly on the bed. I reached out and patted his shoulder lightly, but this only caused him to curl up even more, no doubt thinking it to be his tormentor from his nightmare.
"You're safe now, no one's going to hurt you" I told him quietly, an attempt to reassure him. It did not work; the response was only that of him curling up even more on the bed, whimpering again.
"No more...It hurts..."
With another whimper, D'arcy uncurled slightly but then blindly swatted at me, missing completely. I went to pat his shoulder again but thought better of it; I'd probably get the same reaction as before and end up not helping in the slightest.
"How long has he been asleep?" I asked, looking over to Vaughn as he began preparing some bandages and gathering a few bottles together on the desk.
"Three hours at most, he didn't want to sleep" Vaughn answered, not looking up, going to the chair at the other side of the bed.
"Has he always had nightmares like this?"
There it was, the fledgling curiosity that I was now letting get the better of me.
Vaughn shook his head a brief look of what could only be described as anger appearing on his face, for a moment, I had thought I'd offended him somehow. I was about to apologise for whatever I'd said but he held up his hand in a bid for silence and I promptly shut my mouth.
"He hasn't always had nightmares but I assume he hasn't told you much about the reason for them" There was a slight bitterness in his tone, and he turned his gaze away for a moment as if remembering a past memory that was not pleasant.
I shook my head, no; he hadn't told me anything about the reason for his nightmares. He'd told me little about his past and what little I did know of I had gained the knowledge from his brothers or fledgling the odd time when one of them were willing to speak of it.
"I'm not surprised; he never does talk about it. If he won't tell you then either Lachnel or Davin will, but it might be best if D'arcy tells you himself"
I nodded, not entirely sure of what he meant. What was so bad that he didn't talk about it now? What could cause a reaction like I had seen moments before from Vaughn? I didn't ask however, deciding it was best if I did hear it from the vampire himself.
D'arcy groaned quietly, one hand going to his head as he shook it slightly. He looked over to Vaughn then me and tried to sit up, hissing quietly, giving up moments later.
"How long was I asleep?" He asked, looking over to Vaughn again.
"Three hours" The elder answered and got up again, going back over to the desk.
"Great..."
"You’re getting as bad as your brother" I commented, earning a scowl from D'arcy.
"I am not that bad"
I said nothing more on the subject, the fact he had slept so little still bothering me slightly. I wasn't sure how either he or his brother managed to get by on so little sleep, Lachnel being the worst of the two. The younger vampire often stayed awake for days, getting perhaps an hour at most of sleep and then would claim that this was enough for him to function on when it was obvious to all around him, it was far from enough.
****
The days passed and the infection and fever only worsened. I sat with D'arcy most days, his family also coming and going, mainly his younger brother, Lachnel, his fledglings and, to use the human term, girlfriend, Ariela.
I wasn't sure why they used this term, it seemed too human to me. There was still much that I didn't understand about this family and their ways. One would've thought, as vampires, they would use the vampiric term, referring to her as his mate rather than girlfriend. Again, I didn't ask about this, not seeing that I had much of a right to.
Ariela stayed a majority of the time I was in, only leaving to check that her own son was staying out of trouble. My own fledglings stayed out of the way, the odd time Thanatos, my son, sat with D'arcy's daughter, Hazel while she was in. I stayed during this time, only leaving when Vaughn insisted I needed rest despite that I disagreed and could stay awake a while longer.
When I returned to the room again I found that D'arcy had managed to doze off but again, was bothered by nightmares. Ariela also still sat with him, clutching his hand as he slept in the hope that her presence might remind him that he was no longer in the hellish place that his nightmares made him think he was. It didn't seem to work as he still tossed and turned, muttering for something to stop and that something else hurt.
It hurt Ariela to hear this, she only wished to help. It seemed she couldn't however, nor could I. D'arcy was stuck in his own personal hell while asleep and it seemed that none of us could reach him there or help him deal with it to allow him a peaceful night's rest.
With another whimper, D'arcy jerked his hand away from Ariela's, turning onto his side quickly and curled up on the bed. She reached out, putting her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly, causing him to whimper again and try to roll away, almost rolling off the bed completely. I barely managed to stop him, almost getting punched for my efforts when D'arcy struggled and tried to get away as if I were the worst of his nightmares.
"You're safe D'arcy...No one's going to hurt you..." Ariela said, again reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. Again, D'arcy shrugged her hand away and Ariela sighed, looking to me to help somehow.
I shrugged, looking helpless for a moment. I wasn't sure how to help him, or even if I could. I wasn't sure what the vampire had suffered and how exactly I was meant to convince him that he wasn't suffering from it now. I could make a guess at what he had suffered, going by his muttering but this was only part of it, I didn't know all of it, though I doubted the rest of his family did either.
Ariela took D'arcy's hand again when he turned onto his other side, then looked back over at me.
"Any ideas?" She asked.
I shook my head.
"Talking to him doesn't seem to be helping, what more can we do?" I answered, looking back to D'arcy when whimpered quietly.
"Has to be some way of convincing him he's not there any more"
And where is 'there', I wondered silently but did not say anything. There were times I felt left out if I happened to be around when D'arcy was speaking to his brothers or family, when they spoke of events that had happened that I didn't know about or hadn't been around for. There was often no point in asking D'arcy about them, if it were a bad memory for him then getting any information was like pulling teeth. The vampire didn't half have his secrets.
"He doesn't recognise either of us, didn't know me from when this happened, I don't know about you..."
"He didn't. Met him a few years after it"
I nodded, looking over at the door when Vaughn came back in the room, having gone out earlier unnoticed by either Ariela or I. He looked over to us and stood at the bottom of the bed before going back to the desk. He began gathering bottles and bandages again, looking over his shoulder when D'arcy gave another whimper, muttering once again that it hurt, whatever 'it' was.
"What hurts...What have you gone through..." I muttered quietly, not realising I had spoken aloud till both Ariela and Vaughn looked over.
"My back...Skin's ripped open...Almost none left..." D'arcy murmured in his sleep, surprising the three of us.
Ariela made a motion with her hand for me to continue asking questions. I didn't know how this would help but I did as I was asked.
"Where are you now?"
"The cell...Been left here..."
I glanced to Vaughn and Ariela. Ariela only motioned again for me to continue while Vaughn stayed silent, a frown now appearing on his face.
"Who did this to you..." This seemed to be a stupid question, but at the time, I truely knew nothing about the torture D'arcy had suffered and the vampire that did it to him.
"Caleb...Punishment for betraying him..."
I clenched my fists, shutting my eyes for a moment, quickly opening them again. This...This made me angry, little did I know that as compared what had been done to him later, this was was not as bad.
"What's happening now? Are you still in the cell?"
"No...Their coming back for me...It'll start again..." With another whimper, D'arcy curled up even more than before. The fear had been quite apparent in his tone in his last statement, that 'it would start again', it was no wonder he was afraid of what else was going to be done to him.
It seemed I would get no more from him and I pulled the blanket up a bit over him, patting his shoulder lightly before I stood up from the chair and went for the door, leaving the room. Once outside, I leaned against the wall, slumping to the floor. I couldn't understand how someone could hurt another that much, that they would still be haunted by what had been done to them so many years after it. Why would they? What had D'arcy done to deserve such a 'punishment' as he'd called it? What kind of vampire would do that to another over a betrayal? No answers came, and I doubted they would, not unless I went to the vampire himself and this was out of the question as I did not know where Caleb was.
I could hear Ariela try and reassure D'arcy once I had left, but had little success at doing so. Whatever this punishment was, he'd suffered terribly because of it, at least he must've done to react like he had done to both Ariela and I trying to convince him he was not suffering it any longer.
I got up before anyone found me, somehow managing to hide how I'd been affected by the reaction I had received. I went back into the healers room, finding that D'arcy was awake, once again trying to sit up from the bed, as usual being stopped by Ariela. I took up my place at the side of the bed again, saying little and stayed quiet for the rest of the night till I was told to go and rest myself.
****
I was reluctant to return to the healers room the next night, unsure of what I would find out this time, if anything. It seemed obvious that D'arcy had suffered more than what he had desribed the night before, but what exactly, I didn't know and wasn't sure if I wanted to find out.
I went in the room, taking the chair next to the bed as I had done before. D'arcy, for the moment, was still awake, but how long this would last, I didn't know. He still looked ill and seemed still to be running a fever. While it had only been Ariela and I in before, Lachnel now sat on the other side of D'arcy instead. The younger vampire looked worried and made no attempt to hide it, despite assurances from D'arcy that he was fine and the infection would clear up in a few days. Both of us didn't believe it in the slightest.
Vaughn was still in the room and turned around from the desk, bandages in hand and began re-bandaging the gut wound. Both Lachnel and I turned away while he did this. I glanced back every so often when D'arcy hissed, I didn't know how he suffered it, turning round again when Vaughn finished and went back to the desk.
Lachnel turned also, his owl landing on the bed, nudging D'arcy's hand. He gave her a quick pet before she came over to me and sat and stared at me. Tilting her head, she hooted and flew up, landing on my shoulder.
"Attention seeker..." Lachnel said, facing his owl as I petted her quickly then let her step onto my hand before handing her back to her Master. His 'attention seeker' comment earned him a light nip on the tip of his ear.
D'arcy chuckled quietly, before it led to another coughing fit in which he was almost sick. He wasn't however and this seemed to be a good sign, at least to Vaughn it was. D'arcy lay back on the bed once finished and frowned at the worried look Lachnel still held. He sighed, but it came out sounding more like a wheeze than anything else.
"I'll be fine...Don't worry about me..." He told his brother, his voice sounding raspy and hoarse.
"Yeah right...Given how bad you're sounding now is enough reason for me to worry" Lachnel answered.
"Should try and rest a bit, look like you need it" I suggested. D'arcy frowned and Lachnel nodded in agreement. I didn't say that he looked like he needed the rest as well since I would just be met with an argument over it.
"He's right. You do need it, might give you more of a chance to heal" Vaughn agreed. D'arcy sighed or rather, wheezed again but made no comment, not even bothering to argue with the elder. I wondered if that was only to keep the peace or if he didn't have the strength to argue after that last coughing fit.
He closed his eyes and turned onto his side, his arms folded across his chest and within minutes he was asleep. Lachnel pulled the blanket up over his brother's shoulders, it helped apparently. Never mind it would end up as a wrinkled heap on the floor by the time D'arcy woke up again after becoming restless, if it helped him get some reasonably peaceful rest then that was all that really mattered.
This peace did not last long. After about ten minutes at most, D'arcy began whimpering, curling up on the bed then turning onto his back quickly. I moved away slightly, almost being hit by his wing when he turned again.
"Ariela said you'd managed to speak to him when he was like this" Lachnel said, as he watched his brother toss and turn in the grip of his nightmare.
I nodded.
"Think you could try again? It might help..."
I had almost dreaded being asked to do this again, another reason why I had been reluctant to sit with the vampire if his family were around. I did want to help, I didn't like seeing D'arcy like this or listen to him suffer, he'd suffered more than enough and didn't deserve any more. Yet, I wasn't sure if I could help, and how exactly I was meant to help. Speaking to him while in this state only made him speak of the nightmare, as if it were happening to him at that time and I didn't know how that was going to help. Then again, perhaps if D'arcy heard his brother, it might help more being that he didn't know of me during the time that he had suffered.
I nodded once again, looking back to D'arcy, moving once again before I was punched in the gut this time. He began muttering, curling up even more and I took this as my cue to try and help.
"Please...No more..." He muttered, uncurling briefly and turned onto his back.
"No more what? What's he doing to you?" I asked. I felt nervous, I almost didn't want to know what had been done. I had asked and so I would find out, no matter how bad it was.
"Mocking me...Says I'm weak..." I noticed Lachnel look away at this, and I was tempted to ask but I did not, I was there to help D'arcy, or so I reminded myself.
D'arcy turned again, digging his claws into the pillow, his eyes shutting tightly. This must've been one of the more painful memories.
"Now what's he doing?" I pressed, risking patting D'arcy's shoulder, hoping that this would help. It did not.
"Ramming pokers through my chest...Stopped...Going to the table, taking something from there...I don't know what it is...Punched me because I didn't do as I was told...Broke a couple of my ribs too..." He paused, whimpering, digging his claws into the pillow even more then continued, "Ramming some cloth down my throat...It hurts...Throat burns...Chest hurts too..."
I immediately regretted asking. Lachnel gritted his teeth, looking ill, upset, and quickly left the room. I felt an urge to follow, not wanting to hear any more of what D'arcy had suffered at the hands of this creature, no longer fit to be called a vampire. I did not however, I stayed next to D'arcy's bed and looked over at Vaughn who also had stayed through it all. He had managed to remain stoic throughout, something I had no idea how he had managed to do.
"Go if you wish, I'll look after D'arcy" He said, but I shook my head. I was determined to sit this out, helping in any way I could.
D'arcy gave another whimper, as if to remind us of his presence in the room. As if we needed reminding...I turned to him again, waiting till he spoke again, if he even would. He did, again begging for the pain to stop.
"Has he done anything else to you?"
"Broke two more of my ribs...Ripped the cloth out of my throat...Throat burns even more...Blood's running down my mouth...Can feel it..."
This time I couldn't hide how ill I felt hearing this, he'd had...I tried to hide how this one was affecting me, but I couldn't. Lachnel returned and I had never been so glad to see the younger vampire. As soon as he took up his place at D'arcy's other side once more, I left, standing outside in the corridor, leaning against the wall.
Lachnel could be heard trying to calm his brother once I had left, but received a worse reaction than I had. His brother seemed convinced that Lachnel had been killed somehow and was now nothing more than a hallucination or a spirit sent to haunt him. A reminder that he had failed to protect the brother he valued so much.
Again I was left wondering what D'arcy had done to deserve that, no one deserved to suffer that. What else had D'arcy suffered? What the hell else had he been put through? One part of me didn't want to know, the other...The other wanted to rip Caleb apart for doing this. It occurred to me that there was so much I didn't know about D'arcy, for one thing, how he survived what was done to him. The only answer that came there was the stubborness of Xaviour's fledglings. All of them were stubborn, D'arcy often claiming that that was all that kept them alive and after hearing what I had, I believed him, now more than ever.
"Kyros?"
My head snapped round, my hand immediately going to a dagger at my waist, old habits appearing once again. I hadn't heard anyone in the corridor and was surprised to find Seth in the corridor also. I hadn't been that...out of it...Had I? I cursed myself for it, turning to speak to D'arcy's brother.
"How's he doing?" He questioned, glancing to the healers room.
"No better, no worse. Hasn't had a moment's rest because of his nightmares but the cough isn't making him sick, one good sign" I replied, following his gaze for a moment.
Seth nodded, then went for the door, stopping at it, turning back to me.
"Coming?"
I followed, sitting next to the bed as D'arcy still slept.
Dawn came and the three of us were ordered to leave. Lachnel and Seth were reluctant to leave their brother while I couldn't get out of the room quick enough. They must've noticed this as both left the room shortly after I did and followed me to the main room of the mansion. We stayed there for a majority of the day, Lachnel having trouble staying awake, while I just couldn't sleep. Seth was the only one who did manage to doze off, but it didn't last. Everytime either Lachnel or I moved around at all, Seth was awake again only to doze off minutes later. Such a light sleeper must have driven the Rahabim clan mad, especially if he was prone to wandering around as he did in the mansion when he couldn't sleep. He was the first to leave, heading to his own room. Lachnel left soon after, I wasn't sure where he had gone, the library more than likely, it would be naive of me to assume he had gone to rest. Not now I had come to know the vampire or at least what his sleeping habits were like.
I stayed in the main room, ending up dozing off in the chair but moved to the couch when I was awoken. My own rest was not peaceful and I was reminded of some bad memories of my own. Nightfall came and I waited a while longer in the main room before returning to the healers room again. Again I was reluctant, unsure, nervous even. I didn't know what I would find out this time and I almost didn't want to.
****
Eventually I returned to the healers room. I stood outside in the corridor, in a way, almost trying to build up enough nerve to go back in. I felt nervous, afraid almost of what I would hear next. I scolded myself for being such an idiot, clenching my fists for a moment. Unclenching them, I let out a breath that I didn't even realize I had been holding and went into the room.
I was slightly surprised to find Isis also in the room. The Cold Shadow healer had always been badly affected by what had been done to D'arcy in the years previous, despite this she almost always insisted on treating him. She was one of the few he would listen to, out of the healers at least, however it always worried Seth that she would end up upset after treating his brother, reminded of what she had to watch.
The chair next to D'arcy's bed was empty, seemingly it had been left for me. I took it up, sitting next to D'arcy's bed as I'd done on nights previous, D'arcy looking over when I did.
"You alright?" He asked, a slight frown appearing.
I would never understand this vampire, here he was, suffering from an infection from a wound that gave him hell at the best of times yet he asked if I was alright. I looked at him as if he were mad.
"I'm fine. Worry about yourself for once" I answered, if rather gruffly, which I immediately regretted.
D'arcy was unfazed by this, apparently knowing me well enough to know that I didn't mean for it to have came out like that.
He said nothing more, more than likely planning to ask about it later at some point. He seemed to be looking slightly better than he did, the infection finally starting to go but nowhere near gone completely. It was an improvement at least.
"Feeling any better at all?" Isis asked, approaching the bed, leaving the desk she had been working at.
"Not much..." D'arcy answered.
Isis sighed, checking his temperature then took her glove off, pressing her hand to his forehead for a few moments. She took her hand away again, putting the glove back on again, going back to the desk, gathering some bandages together.
She began re-bandaging the gut wound and D'arcy hissed, almost digging his claws into his hand. Isis muttered a few apologies, promising it would be over soon. D'arcy nodded but still dug his claws into his hand, hissing again.
As promised it was over with reasonably quickly. D'arcy sighed and let Isis deal with the slight wound in his hand he had made while digging his claws into it. He lay back on the bed and looked down at his hand.
"You should get some rest, you need it"
D'arcy frowned at this but didn't argue, there was no point in arguing with her. He did as he was told, closing his eyes and pressing his arm over his eyes. Isis looked over to me, wondering if he was asleep yet. I shook my head, he wasn't yet.
It didn't take him long to fall asleep however. Again, I was dreading this, what would he remember this night? What could be worse than having something, literally, stuffed down his throat and then ripped back out again? I didn't want to find out and I only hoped that there was nothing that would be worse than this.
Once more the whimpering and muttering started not long after D'arcy fell asleep. Isis continued working at the desk for a while, glancing over her shoulder every so often when D'arcy whimpered. I sighed and patted D'arcy's shoulder, pulling the blanket over him, receiving only a whimper and a blind swipe which missed me completely.
When he whimpered again, Isis got up and stood beside me.
"It's alright D'arcy...You're safe now, he can't hurt you" She said.
He whimpered, muttering quietly, "Not real..."
"She is real D'arcy, Isis is here and so am I. We won't let anyone hurt you anymore" I only hoped my words helped, but it seemed they didn't as he only whimpered.
"Not real...Another hallucination...Should be gone now anyway..."
I frowned, I didn't like where this was leading and from the look of it, neither did Isis.
"Why? Why should she be gone?"
"In that room again...Never appeared then...Only after..."
What looked like guilt appeared on Isis' face, but she quickly hid it, hoping I hadn't noticed. She motioned for me to continue asking questions, patting my shoulder lightly.
"What's happening to you now?"
"Tied to a table...There's rats in a cage on the other table...A cauldron's in the room as well..."
I didn't want to ask any further, I didn't want to know what was going to happen with the cauldron and rats, what could happen with them. Curiosity got the better of me, and against my better judgement, I did question him further.
"What's he doing to you?"
"The rats are crawling over me...Shouting at the humans to lift the cauldron...Putting it over me...Over my gut...Rats are stuck there now...Heating the cauldron up...It hurts...Burns...The rats are chewing...Oh gods their chewing through...It hurts..."
"...Chewing through your gut...That's how you got your gut wound in the first place..."
D'arcy yelled at this point, starting to thrash around as if the rats were still crawling over him. Isis held him down in case he hurt himself, telling him it was alright, and that he was safe again. It seemed to work and he did calm down. When he did, Isis backed away and looked back over to me.
I felt sick, I must've looked like I was going to be sick. I stood up shakily and went for the door. Isis went to follow, seemingly concerned about me, I turned back and shook my head.
"Help him" I simply said, looking back to D'arcy when his whimpering began again.
Isis sighed and nodded, taking up my place next to his bed. She told him it was alright now, that he was safe, he'd escaped and no one would hurt him. He seemed to believe her and for a while, calmed down again. I left the room, sure that D'arcy was going to get some rest.
I however was not. Once outside the room, I slumped to the floor as I had done in nights previous, drawing my knees to my chest, putting my head down, my forehead resting against my knees.
Vaughn had said there were bite marks around the wound while treating it after it had been made worse, I didn't think that such a thing was possible. To have rats chew through...It made me ill to think about it, I didn't know how D'arcy had survived it. I don't know how anyone could. The idea that he was too stubborn to die seemed to be the only thing that could pass as an explanation for it, but stubborness can only last so long.
****
After hearing about the rats, I didn't try to help with D'arcy again. I couldn't. Isis had more luck than I did, it seemed since Isis had watched and dealt with what D'arcy had suffered, that she had been there throughout and he recognized her, it allowed her to help him more. He seemed to believe her more than the rest of us, since she had been there.
I still sat with D'arcy while he was awake, but didn't stay as long as I did when he tried to get some rest. I felt slightly guilty about this, but I couldn't stay, I feared what I would hear next. I often ended up in the main room, falling asleep there on one of the couches.
Lachnel also couldn't stay very long, hearing what he had, had triggered his own nightmares. The vampire didn't even try to sleep after hearing about D'arcy's nightmare, it had seemed to disturb him most of all.
It reinforced the idea that stubborness alone kept Xaviour's fledglings alive. I was sure that that was all it was, how else could D'arcy have survived what he had? No vampire could've, most would have given up long ago, either going mad or having been killed long before. Yet D'arcy had survived that and had gone on to recover from it where most others would not.
I could only imagine the pain he must've endured with the gut wound, it had never really healed from the looks of it and it certainly didn't help when the healer wrecked it even more. It must've hurt like hell now...
****
The days passed and D'arcy finally began showing signs of improvement, eventually recovering from the infection completely. This came as a huge relief for his family but for a while, they did keep a closer eye on him, making sure that someone was always with him whenever he went a wander.
This annoyed him to no end, he insisted he didn't need a 'babysitter' as he called them and that he would be fine on his own. He needed only to be reminded of what state he was in due to the infection to quiet this arguement and he grudgingly agreed to take someone with him.
During this time, it was I who spent a lot of time on the roof of the mansion. I could either be found there or the main room. This seemed to worry D'arcy slightly, he seemingly felt guilty that I had been there through the worst of the nightmares. He didn't approach me however, apparently afraid of what I would now think of him after hearing about some of what had been done. He thought I would think less of him...That I would think him weak for some reason. This couldn't have been further from the truth, I did not think any less of him, it only made me determined that he should not have to suffer anymore.
Eventually D'arcy did come and find me. I was on the roof when he did. I sat near the edge, one leg swinging off it, staring out into the distance. D'arcy approached and sat beside me, I moved back from the edge, noticing the nervous glances he kept throwing to the edge of the roof. He looked thankful for this and moved back also, his wings spread out behind him.
We were both quiet, neither of us really knowing what to say to the other. A few times D'arcy turned to say something but didn't, I said nothing, letting him say what he was going to.
"Vaughn said you tried to help a bit" He said, looking over to me.
I nodded.
"Tried to. I didn't do very much helping" I answered, my tone slightly bitter. I was not happy that I had not managed to help at all and that he had suffered.
"Probably think I'm weak now...After sitting through that"
"No...Far from it. I don't think you weak nor do I think any less of you than I did"
D'arcy looked unconvinced, no doubt thinking I was just saying that to make him feel better.
"Many vampires wouldn't have survived that let alone recovered from it. I couldn't have..."
There was a look of surprise at this admission. With it, I had hoped that it would help, that if I'd admitted my own weakness, that I lacked the strength to get through what he had suffered then he would see he was not weak as he so believed. It seemed to help slightly, but not as much as I had hoped. Instead, he dropped the subject, shaking his head.
"Couldn't have been pleasant to listen to my ramblings..."
I shook my head. It hadn't been, it had given me problems sleeping as it had Lachnel. I wasn't going to admit it however, lest I made D'arcy feel any worse than he already did.
Silence reigned once again, D'arcy now staring out into the distance, absently folding his wings before stretching them. I got up from the roof, standing for a few moments before heading back to the door back down into the mansion.
"Where are you going?"
"Back down, you coming?"
D'arcy shook his head and stayed where he was. I shrugged and went to the door, stopping briefly, glancing back over my shoulder back to D'arcy. I would probably never understand this vampire completely, all that I did understand about him was that he was a stubborn bastard and likely, always would be. It had got him through many situations that most vampires would have surely been killed in and for this I was glad. It meant that if we were ever in need of a stubborn bastard, he would be one.
He was like his father in that sense, however I did not tell him this. While many often had, D'arcy never liked being compared to his creator, the two never getting along very well. It was obviously something having gone back years before and I didn't feel I had a right to ask about it.
I turned back to D'arcy briefly and called over, "Don't look down. I don't feel like dragging you inside"
"Shut up"
I grinned and went in, aware of D'arcy following. He was one vampire I would never fully understand and I likely never would. Some things in this world were not meant to be understood only accepted for the way they were, and the former vampire assassin, D'arcy, was one of them.