Fic: Vampir Srce - Chapter One 2/2
I must learn to write much shorter chapter's mustn't I?
Part One: kaseykcnew.livejournal.com/16477.html
Chapter One - Part Two
“I want that essay question done for tomorrow’s lesson you lot! No excuses!” Amelia called after her class as they hurried out of the classroom, some on their way to their next lesson, others to lunch and others home. Amelia waited until the last student left the classroom and closed the door behind them before she let out a loud sigh of relief. “Oh heavens! I forgot how trying Matthew can be when he wants to be!”
“I would have thought that girl would have been more of a problem for you?” Will enquired, sounding casual and not like he was prying. He watched Amelia for any signs behavioural markers that could give her away but he found none. He couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed about that fact.
“Oh Kathryn? Oh no, no, no. Kathryn’s a lovely girl when she wants to be.” Amelia assured as she sat back down in her seat and began logging off of her computer. “She’s normally more lively than she was today. She’s usually the life and action of the class infact. Whenever she’s not here the class is usually more subdued and less active; she’s like a catalyst really. And she’s quite brilliant.”
“Yeah, I noticed that. You do realise she didn’t look at that book for more than two seconds before she answered your question on the GAS Model?” Will asked as he leaned against Amelia’s desk sounding curious. Amelia smiled up at him and he smiled slightly back knowing that he had to try to not appear to be snooping unconditionally.
“Oh that doesn’t surprise me about Kathryn. Not one bit! She’s a very smart young lady and she knows it too; she knows just what she has to do to get the good marks and just how much work she has to put into things so that she doesn’t fall into the ‘geek’ category. In fact, I don’t think she really fits into any of the categories teenagers have for each other nowadays. She’s quite the odd one in that respect, but she’s also pretty normal. She smart, funny and she knows how to turn heads - though she doesn’t really bother with that; it’s knowledge that her heart thirsts for. That’s why she’s so good at this subject; that and she seems to intuitively understand the way people work.” Amelia answered as she collected her files and slipped them into her bag that was under the desk. She stood up and sighed. “Well, that’s it for me until 2:30. I’m going to get some lunch if you want to join me?”
“Thank you Amelia but I was thinking that we could use this time to get to know the layout of the college and to try and talk with some of the students, just to see what they know.” Helen answered as she smiled. “You go and get some lunch Amelia. You probably need the energy from a good meal after this class.”
Amelia laughed at her and nodded her head in agreement. “You’re quite right Doctor Magnus. Right as usual.”
“Call me Helen please.” Helen said as she opened the door to the classroom and they filed out, waiting as Amelia locked the door with her keys. “It’s only fair that you call me by my first name Amelia.”
“Of course, but you’ll have to forgive me; old habits die hard I’m afraid.” Amelia smiled and Helen was about to reply when she was cut-off by a voice coming from the end of the corridor. A voice that she knew very well.
“They do indeed don’t they Helen?”
Slowly turning around Helen absently noted that Henry and Will had slipped their hands to their concealed weapons. Before she could consciously begin to stop herself Helen exclaimed. “Nikola? What are you doing here?”
Nikola Tesla; ex-vampire, one-hundred years plus genius with an ego to match, strolled down the corridor towards the four of them with that irritatingly smug grin of his which made Will and Henry both want to hit the man repeatedly until he couldn’t grin anymore. “Helen. Is that any way to greet an old friend?” He pouted childishly and Helen resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his antics.
“Please Nikola. You can’t talk about ‘greeting old friends’ after the stunt’s you’ve pulled in the last decade.” Helen said sarcastically as she stalked up to stand directly in the ex-vampire, glaring at him in annoyance. “Now, tell me why you’re here Nikola.”
“Will you get the chains out if I don’t tell you right away?” Nikola smirked as Helen blushed so slightly that Nikola didn’t pick up on the fact. He leaned in closer to her so that his face was mere millimetres away from her own, she could feel his breath on her face, and he said. “I’m giving a series of talks to students here about physics because I believe that the children are the future.”
Two simultaneous snorts resounded around the corridor as Henry and Will moved both to flank Magnus and Nikola took a small step back to give Helen some room to breathe. “You? Believe the children are the future?” Will said in disbelief as Henry snorted again.
“Seriously dude, how cliché can you get?” Henry raised his eyebrows at the ex-vampire as Nikola shot him a dark glare. “What’s next? You’re planning on giving a donation to some orphanage because you believe your princess could living in one and could be air to some great royal family?”
Will, Helen and Nikola all turned to look at Henry in surprise and confusion as the young werewolf raised his hands in front of himself and said defensively. “Sally wanted to know who Anastasia was. I thought the Disney version would be easier on her eyes.”
“Uh-huh... and you are teasing me when you watch Disney films?” Nikola drawled as Will’s lips twitched in amusement; there was no way that anyone couldn’t find the idea of Henry watching Disney’s Anastasia funny. No way whatsoever.
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=M Later in the day
21:36pm
“You’re here to investigate the murders of the students aren’t you?” Will asked suddenly, looking up from his whiskey to pierce Nikola with an intense stare as Helen and Henry started. Will watched as Nikola stiffened slightly and slowly raised the glass to his lips; distraction technique, avoidance of the issue, stalling. “Though I’m curious as to why you’re even bothered with these murders in the first place. From what we’ve gathered so far there’s nothing that’s of any importance to you or any of your ‘research’ so why are you looking into this? What’s the ulterior motive with this?”
Nikola glared darkly at Will as the young psychologist sipped his whiskey tentatively and waited for the ex-vampire to answer his question. Slowly placing his wine glass back onto the table between them in the rather cosy study of the home Nikola was renting presently, Nikola answered. “I’ve been having dreams lately. Something that I’m not accustomed to anymore; one of the perks of being a vampire was the lack of needing sleep.”
Helen listened in silence as Nikola stood up and moved over to stand against the mantelpiece, looking into the orange flames; his grey-eyes distant and internalised. “They’re strange... chaotic flashes of scenes of a place I’ve never been, a home I’ve never seen before in my life. I don’t really understand why they’re happening but there’s one thing that a recurring theme in them.” Nikola turned to look at them, or more specifically directly at Helen. “In almost every dream I’ve had, from whatever perspective I’m experiencing everything from, I’ve had claws. Claws not unlike those that I used to personally have.”
Helen gasped quietly as she blinked and Will frowned, taking in the new wealth of information that Nikola had strangely given to them very willingly. “Are you sure they’re nothing but dreams Nikola? I mean we both know how long it’s been since you last dreamt naturally so maybe-”
“I was passing through this town Helen only last week and I came across the exact same place I’ve seen in my dreams, and I know I’ve never been here; I checked my records Helen. The furthest I ever got was as far as Liverpool before I left for America. This town is a good couple dozen miles North of Liverpool.” Nikola said stubbornly as he threw himself down into his seat and snatched the wine glass from the table to take a gentle sip of; regardless of how annoyed Nikola was he would never throw back wine. Period.
They fell into an uneasy silence as Nikola continued to sip at his wine and Helen continued to watch her old friend; though she supposed that she couldn’t really use the term ‘friend’ when describing Nikola after the events of the recent past. But she couldn’t exactly call him an enemy either; she knew Nikola better than any other member of the Five ever had, she’d known him for far longer than the others and so that granted her a certain ability to be able to discern what he was thinking or feeling which was usually ‘on the money’. Usually. Not always.
Henry decided to pass the time by getting out his portable tablet PC and running some background checks on the student as well as hacking into the police system to get them the case file. He was so busy tapping away that he didn’t notice how Nikola’s gaze settled on his tablet PC with mild curiosity, nor did he notice how Helen’s eyes were fixed on Nikola with intense interest. Will however did and he couldn’t help but think of that scene in Jurassic Park where the hunter had been lining up to shoot that raptor in front of him when another one appeared out of nowhere and caught him out; well, okay, it wasn’t exactly the same but it worked on the same principle of one watching two watching three. So what did that make Will? The camera that caught it all? Probably. He felt like a camera sometimes, his memory was one of his biggest advantages but also one of his biggest disadvantages; especially when he couldn’t sleep because everything he’d seen was ingrained in his skull and was constantly being replayed like a video on repeat.
Will sighed softly and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand as the other one clutched his whiskey a little tighter, he really shouldn’t drink whiskey; it wasn’t good for him, or his mind, or anything really other than a destroyed liver in thirty years. But he needed something to dampen the headache that had been present all day and had increased in strength when they’d come across Nikola. He remembered how Magnus had damn near dragged Nikola off the college campus and almost thrown him bodily into their rented vehicle. It had been an oddly amusing sight watching the ex-vampire get manhandled; and strangely satisfying to. So he revealed in Tesla’s discomfort, so what? The guy loved to see them in the thick of it, it was only fair he was allowed to be happy when the ex-vampire got his arse kicked right?
“Oh man... that’s just gross.” Henry exclaimed as he pushed his tablet PC away from himself and Will leaned over and looked at one of the images on the screen. He cringed, Henry was right; that was gross. Will passed the tablet PC to Helen who looked at it closely, pulling a face as the images became progressively worse. “That’s... that’s... man! I thought those Keeper’s had been ugly but man!”
“Fascinating. It’s almost as though they literally been sucked dry, all of their muscle mass, bone density, fluid’s, everything is just gone. This can’t be naturally occurring, it’s just not possible for this level of degradation in less than a month for each of them.” Helen said as she looked up to stare at the three men who were all staring at her. “Here, Nikola look at this.”
She passed the tablet PC over to the ex-vampire as Henry exclaimed. “Hey! Don’t let the walking magnet fry that! I modified that one personally!”
Nikola rolled his eyes as he looked at Henry before turning his attention to the images on the screen. When his eyes landed on the page he froze. Helen and Will immediately picked up on Nikola’s response and Helen leaned forward slightly as she asked softly. “Nikola? Are you alright?”
Nikola didn’t answer her as he continued to stare at the image of the fourth and latest victim to die so horrifically with unconcealed horror. His breathing began to increase and both Helen and Will realised that he was having a panic-attack. Helen sprang towards Nikola as Will snatched the tablet PC out of his limp hands and tossed it to Henry who caught it reflexively. Helen sat down gingerly next to Nikola and slowly placed a hand on his back which caused the ex-vampire to tense up even more. She slowly began to rub circles into his back as she shushed his almost silently and whispered calming words to him, her eyes not leaving Nikola’s almost white face.
Will wisely decided that he and Henry should vacate the room so he poked the young werewolf and jerked his head towards the door. Luckily enough, Henry understood what he meant and the two of them quietly vacated the room, closing the door behind them before Henry spoke. “What’s up with him dude?”
Will shook his head and began walking down the corridor heading for their shared room. “I don’t know, but going from what I know of him; I don’t think he should have been as surprised as he was by those photos. I think he knows something that he’s not telling us about.”
“Yeah, well... what else is new?” Henry muttered as he opened the door to their shared room. Will didn’t answer the young werewolf as they began to get ready to sleep. “Do you think the Doc’s safe alone with him?”
“You kidding? Did you see the way she man-handled him earlier? She’s was treating him like he was a rag doll!” Will replied smirking humorously as Henry laughed. Though Will was joking he didn’t tell Henry that he’d left his walkie-talkie on in the study, sat on one of the chairs so that if anything happened he’d be able to hear through the head set he had attached to the one next to his bed. He was paranoid so what? In his profession you had to be.
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=M “Nikola.” Helen said softly as she continued to rub circles into his back. “Nikola what is it? Tell me please.”
Nikola’s breathing had finally returned to normal but he was still awfully pale which caused Helen to frown in concern for her old friend. She was worried, very worried. In all the years that she’d known Nikola she’d never seen him react like this, except for that time when-
“Nikola. Do you know who did that to those students?” Helen enquired quietly and she almost sighed when Nikola’s head jerked in affirmative. Oh dear. “Who was it Nikola?” Helen squeezed his hand slightly, she’d slipped her own into his limp hand after Will and Henry had left.
Nikola blinked slowly and his head turned slightly so that his eyes locked with Helen’s as he croaked. “I’m connected to another vampire that’s killing to sustain itself.”
To Be Continued!!
Part One: kaseykcnew.livejournal.com/16477.html
Chapter One - Part Two
“I want that essay question done for tomorrow’s lesson you lot! No excuses!” Amelia called after her class as they hurried out of the classroom, some on their way to their next lesson, others to lunch and others home. Amelia waited until the last student left the classroom and closed the door behind them before she let out a loud sigh of relief. “Oh heavens! I forgot how trying Matthew can be when he wants to be!”
“I would have thought that girl would have been more of a problem for you?” Will enquired, sounding casual and not like he was prying. He watched Amelia for any signs behavioural markers that could give her away but he found none. He couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed about that fact.
“Oh Kathryn? Oh no, no, no. Kathryn’s a lovely girl when she wants to be.” Amelia assured as she sat back down in her seat and began logging off of her computer. “She’s normally more lively than she was today. She’s usually the life and action of the class infact. Whenever she’s not here the class is usually more subdued and less active; she’s like a catalyst really. And she’s quite brilliant.”
“Yeah, I noticed that. You do realise she didn’t look at that book for more than two seconds before she answered your question on the GAS Model?” Will asked as he leaned against Amelia’s desk sounding curious. Amelia smiled up at him and he smiled slightly back knowing that he had to try to not appear to be snooping unconditionally.
“Oh that doesn’t surprise me about Kathryn. Not one bit! She’s a very smart young lady and she knows it too; she knows just what she has to do to get the good marks and just how much work she has to put into things so that she doesn’t fall into the ‘geek’ category. In fact, I don’t think she really fits into any of the categories teenagers have for each other nowadays. She’s quite the odd one in that respect, but she’s also pretty normal. She smart, funny and she knows how to turn heads - though she doesn’t really bother with that; it’s knowledge that her heart thirsts for. That’s why she’s so good at this subject; that and she seems to intuitively understand the way people work.” Amelia answered as she collected her files and slipped them into her bag that was under the desk. She stood up and sighed. “Well, that’s it for me until 2:30. I’m going to get some lunch if you want to join me?”
“Thank you Amelia but I was thinking that we could use this time to get to know the layout of the college and to try and talk with some of the students, just to see what they know.” Helen answered as she smiled. “You go and get some lunch Amelia. You probably need the energy from a good meal after this class.”
Amelia laughed at her and nodded her head in agreement. “You’re quite right Doctor Magnus. Right as usual.”
“Call me Helen please.” Helen said as she opened the door to the classroom and they filed out, waiting as Amelia locked the door with her keys. “It’s only fair that you call me by my first name Amelia.”
“Of course, but you’ll have to forgive me; old habits die hard I’m afraid.” Amelia smiled and Helen was about to reply when she was cut-off by a voice coming from the end of the corridor. A voice that she knew very well.
“They do indeed don’t they Helen?”
Slowly turning around Helen absently noted that Henry and Will had slipped their hands to their concealed weapons. Before she could consciously begin to stop herself Helen exclaimed. “Nikola? What are you doing here?”
Nikola Tesla; ex-vampire, one-hundred years plus genius with an ego to match, strolled down the corridor towards the four of them with that irritatingly smug grin of his which made Will and Henry both want to hit the man repeatedly until he couldn’t grin anymore. “Helen. Is that any way to greet an old friend?” He pouted childishly and Helen resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his antics.
“Please Nikola. You can’t talk about ‘greeting old friends’ after the stunt’s you’ve pulled in the last decade.” Helen said sarcastically as she stalked up to stand directly in the ex-vampire, glaring at him in annoyance. “Now, tell me why you’re here Nikola.”
“Will you get the chains out if I don’t tell you right away?” Nikola smirked as Helen blushed so slightly that Nikola didn’t pick up on the fact. He leaned in closer to her so that his face was mere millimetres away from her own, she could feel his breath on her face, and he said. “I’m giving a series of talks to students here about physics because I believe that the children are the future.”
Two simultaneous snorts resounded around the corridor as Henry and Will moved both to flank Magnus and Nikola took a small step back to give Helen some room to breathe. “You? Believe the children are the future?” Will said in disbelief as Henry snorted again.
“Seriously dude, how cliché can you get?” Henry raised his eyebrows at the ex-vampire as Nikola shot him a dark glare. “What’s next? You’re planning on giving a donation to some orphanage because you believe your princess could living in one and could be air to some great royal family?”
Will, Helen and Nikola all turned to look at Henry in surprise and confusion as the young werewolf raised his hands in front of himself and said defensively. “Sally wanted to know who Anastasia was. I thought the Disney version would be easier on her eyes.”
“Uh-huh... and you are teasing me when you watch Disney films?” Nikola drawled as Will’s lips twitched in amusement; there was no way that anyone couldn’t find the idea of Henry watching Disney’s Anastasia funny. No way whatsoever.
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=M Later in the day
21:36pm
“You’re here to investigate the murders of the students aren’t you?” Will asked suddenly, looking up from his whiskey to pierce Nikola with an intense stare as Helen and Henry started. Will watched as Nikola stiffened slightly and slowly raised the glass to his lips; distraction technique, avoidance of the issue, stalling. “Though I’m curious as to why you’re even bothered with these murders in the first place. From what we’ve gathered so far there’s nothing that’s of any importance to you or any of your ‘research’ so why are you looking into this? What’s the ulterior motive with this?”
Nikola glared darkly at Will as the young psychologist sipped his whiskey tentatively and waited for the ex-vampire to answer his question. Slowly placing his wine glass back onto the table between them in the rather cosy study of the home Nikola was renting presently, Nikola answered. “I’ve been having dreams lately. Something that I’m not accustomed to anymore; one of the perks of being a vampire was the lack of needing sleep.”
Helen listened in silence as Nikola stood up and moved over to stand against the mantelpiece, looking into the orange flames; his grey-eyes distant and internalised. “They’re strange... chaotic flashes of scenes of a place I’ve never been, a home I’ve never seen before in my life. I don’t really understand why they’re happening but there’s one thing that a recurring theme in them.” Nikola turned to look at them, or more specifically directly at Helen. “In almost every dream I’ve had, from whatever perspective I’m experiencing everything from, I’ve had claws. Claws not unlike those that I used to personally have.”
Helen gasped quietly as she blinked and Will frowned, taking in the new wealth of information that Nikola had strangely given to them very willingly. “Are you sure they’re nothing but dreams Nikola? I mean we both know how long it’s been since you last dreamt naturally so maybe-”
“I was passing through this town Helen only last week and I came across the exact same place I’ve seen in my dreams, and I know I’ve never been here; I checked my records Helen. The furthest I ever got was as far as Liverpool before I left for America. This town is a good couple dozen miles North of Liverpool.” Nikola said stubbornly as he threw himself down into his seat and snatched the wine glass from the table to take a gentle sip of; regardless of how annoyed Nikola was he would never throw back wine. Period.
They fell into an uneasy silence as Nikola continued to sip at his wine and Helen continued to watch her old friend; though she supposed that she couldn’t really use the term ‘friend’ when describing Nikola after the events of the recent past. But she couldn’t exactly call him an enemy either; she knew Nikola better than any other member of the Five ever had, she’d known him for far longer than the others and so that granted her a certain ability to be able to discern what he was thinking or feeling which was usually ‘on the money’. Usually. Not always.
Henry decided to pass the time by getting out his portable tablet PC and running some background checks on the student as well as hacking into the police system to get them the case file. He was so busy tapping away that he didn’t notice how Nikola’s gaze settled on his tablet PC with mild curiosity, nor did he notice how Helen’s eyes were fixed on Nikola with intense interest. Will however did and he couldn’t help but think of that scene in Jurassic Park where the hunter had been lining up to shoot that raptor in front of him when another one appeared out of nowhere and caught him out; well, okay, it wasn’t exactly the same but it worked on the same principle of one watching two watching three. So what did that make Will? The camera that caught it all? Probably. He felt like a camera sometimes, his memory was one of his biggest advantages but also one of his biggest disadvantages; especially when he couldn’t sleep because everything he’d seen was ingrained in his skull and was constantly being replayed like a video on repeat.
Will sighed softly and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand as the other one clutched his whiskey a little tighter, he really shouldn’t drink whiskey; it wasn’t good for him, or his mind, or anything really other than a destroyed liver in thirty years. But he needed something to dampen the headache that had been present all day and had increased in strength when they’d come across Nikola. He remembered how Magnus had damn near dragged Nikola off the college campus and almost thrown him bodily into their rented vehicle. It had been an oddly amusing sight watching the ex-vampire get manhandled; and strangely satisfying to. So he revealed in Tesla’s discomfort, so what? The guy loved to see them in the thick of it, it was only fair he was allowed to be happy when the ex-vampire got his arse kicked right?
“Oh man... that’s just gross.” Henry exclaimed as he pushed his tablet PC away from himself and Will leaned over and looked at one of the images on the screen. He cringed, Henry was right; that was gross. Will passed the tablet PC to Helen who looked at it closely, pulling a face as the images became progressively worse. “That’s... that’s... man! I thought those Keeper’s had been ugly but man!”
“Fascinating. It’s almost as though they literally been sucked dry, all of their muscle mass, bone density, fluid’s, everything is just gone. This can’t be naturally occurring, it’s just not possible for this level of degradation in less than a month for each of them.” Helen said as she looked up to stare at the three men who were all staring at her. “Here, Nikola look at this.”
She passed the tablet PC over to the ex-vampire as Henry exclaimed. “Hey! Don’t let the walking magnet fry that! I modified that one personally!”
Nikola rolled his eyes as he looked at Henry before turning his attention to the images on the screen. When his eyes landed on the page he froze. Helen and Will immediately picked up on Nikola’s response and Helen leaned forward slightly as she asked softly. “Nikola? Are you alright?”
Nikola didn’t answer her as he continued to stare at the image of the fourth and latest victim to die so horrifically with unconcealed horror. His breathing began to increase and both Helen and Will realised that he was having a panic-attack. Helen sprang towards Nikola as Will snatched the tablet PC out of his limp hands and tossed it to Henry who caught it reflexively. Helen sat down gingerly next to Nikola and slowly placed a hand on his back which caused the ex-vampire to tense up even more. She slowly began to rub circles into his back as she shushed his almost silently and whispered calming words to him, her eyes not leaving Nikola’s almost white face.
Will wisely decided that he and Henry should vacate the room so he poked the young werewolf and jerked his head towards the door. Luckily enough, Henry understood what he meant and the two of them quietly vacated the room, closing the door behind them before Henry spoke. “What’s up with him dude?”
Will shook his head and began walking down the corridor heading for their shared room. “I don’t know, but going from what I know of him; I don’t think he should have been as surprised as he was by those photos. I think he knows something that he’s not telling us about.”
“Yeah, well... what else is new?” Henry muttered as he opened the door to their shared room. Will didn’t answer the young werewolf as they began to get ready to sleep. “Do you think the Doc’s safe alone with him?”
“You kidding? Did you see the way she man-handled him earlier? She’s was treating him like he was a rag doll!” Will replied smirking humorously as Henry laughed. Though Will was joking he didn’t tell Henry that he’d left his walkie-talkie on in the study, sat on one of the chairs so that if anything happened he’d be able to hear through the head set he had attached to the one next to his bed. He was paranoid so what? In his profession you had to be.
T=E=M=P=L=U=M
K= = = =N= = = =S= = = =N= = = =K
T=E=M=P=L=U=M “Nikola.” Helen said softly as she continued to rub circles into his back. “Nikola what is it? Tell me please.”
Nikola’s breathing had finally returned to normal but he was still awfully pale which caused Helen to frown in concern for her old friend. She was worried, very worried. In all the years that she’d known Nikola she’d never seen him react like this, except for that time when-
“Nikola. Do you know who did that to those students?” Helen enquired quietly and she almost sighed when Nikola’s head jerked in affirmative. Oh dear. “Who was it Nikola?” Helen squeezed his hand slightly, she’d slipped her own into his limp hand after Will and Henry had left.
Nikola blinked slowly and his head turned slightly so that his eyes locked with Helen’s as he croaked. “I’m connected to another vampire that’s killing to sustain itself.”
To Be Continued!!