Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Preventers: When Vampires Attack ❯ Chapter 4

Amy woke to pain. Thankfully, her head still swam in some sort of drugged daze. But the pain found a way through the haze in her mind. Her entire body felt like one giant bruise. Her face felt stiff, as though something had caked across the surface of her skin. But her skull, her skull was one big mass of hurt. Groaning softly, she tried to rub her aching head with her hand, careful not to open her eyes - she wasn't sure she was quite ready for that. She soon discovered that was not going to happen; her arms wouldn't move. Her heart quickened its pace, rapidly fluttering inside her chest, while her body froze with panic. She couldn't remember what had happened. Where was she? What was going on here? Where was Wufei?

No! a rational voice admonished from a far corner of her mind. It seemed strangely muted, as though someone were speaking into thick folds of cloth. You can't panic. Once you do, you're a dead woman. Wonderful, optimistic li'l voice. . . . Harsh, but true.

Slowly, gently, she opened her eyes. To her surprise, she saw that she was sitting in the center of a small, unfurnished room. Her hands seemed to be tied behind the chair and her ankles strapped to chair legs. Besides her and the chair she was tied to, there was nothing save the plush carpeting under her feet. But somehow she felt that she wasn't alone. Something tickled at the back of her mind; something vaguely familiar. . . .

"Poor Phoenix. Someone has clipped your wings," a deep, masculine voice purred from behind her, just outside of her vision. She jumped and bit back a surprised gasp. So she wasn't alone. "Does it hurt very badly?"

The voice. . . . Something about that voice nagged at her tired brain. It seemed as familiar as the peculiar presence in her mind; like something she should remember. She knew the voice somehow, yet a name and face eluded her. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to concentrate, and immediately wished she hadn't.

"You remember me, don't you?" the voice sighed, almost languorously. "Of course you must. How could you possibly forget. . . ?"

She felt as though someone had thrown ice-water on her. "Mikael," she whispered hoarsely, trying not to let the fear show in her voice. She felt her lips crack beneath the coat of blood. Blood? Yes! There had been a fight. . . .

He chuckled, rich and smooth as flowing cream. "I knew you'd never forget me." His voice grew closer until Amy began to shake with the effort of not turning around. Not that her bonds would allow her enough freedom to do so. A strong yet gentle hand fell on her shoulder. "Does it hurt very badly? You are sore, aren't you?" She shivered at the feeling of his warm breath on her neck. "You'd like me to untie you, ne?"

She cleared her throat, forcing her voice to sound firm and steady. "I don't-" she squeaked. Okay . . . maybe not as firm as she'd hoped. She tried again. "I don't know what you're playing at, Mikael. What do you want? Are you afraid to talk to my face?" More questions flooded her mind. Why had he sent for her like this? Where were the other vampires from the alley? Was Wufei alive? Had Stacie and Duo been attacked similarly?

"Ah, Phoenix," Mikael sighed ruefully. "The time for that has since passed. You will remember: I graciously invited you to come visit me a number of times. And you refused. I sincerely lament taking these measures, but, really, put yourself in my place, eh? You can see where I'm coming from...." Although his voice was soft and remorseful, Amy knew it was all an act. Good ol' Mikael.

"Oh, yes. You poor baby," she crooned, wincing as the dried blood pulled at her face. "How could I ever deprive you of the honor of my presence?" It was good to know she could still be just as sarcastic as he was.

Mikael chuckled again and began stroking her shoulders lightly. His soft, cool fingers slipped beneath her shirt and slowly trailed along the bare skin of her back. She stared at a fixed spot on the floor in front of her, but shivered pleasurably under his sensual touch. She could only hope he hadn't noticed that.

"You like that, eh?" Damn; he'd noticed. "I'll bet you've missed me. I don't know how you could have stayed away for so long. Every other woman I've-" His hands paused on her shoulders. "Hmmm. Well, that certainly explains it. Little bird, I've never made you want me." Uh-oh.

His hands slowly pulled away from her shoulders, sliding up and out of the bloodied remnants of her shirt. And suddenly, he was standing in front of her. To her disappointment, he was just as she remembered him to be. An angel; a deadly, fallen angel. Soft strands of sandy blond hair caressed an impossibly handsome face. Depthless blue eyes regarded her with open amusement; sensual lips curved upwards in an impudent grin. Unbidden, her eyes traveled along his powerful body, down his bare chest, smooth and muscular, where his arms were crossed carelessly. His strong, limber legs were practically shrink-wrapped in black leather pants. Idly, she wondered how he had gotten into them. And how would he get out again. . . . She made herself stop. God, a dead guy shouldn't look so good. There had to be laws against this or something.

Wolfishly, he watched her eyes take in his perfect body. "Hmmm . . . yes. I believe this could be interesting. And yet I wonder. . . ." His grin widened to bare the slightest hint of fang and those fathomless blue eyes sparkled with the innocence of a child. She wondered if he practiced that look in front of a mirror when he was alone. He'd had well over 2000 years to practice. "I must show proper courtesy to you since you are my guest. How would you like this?"

"Uhm . . . uh. . . ." She swallowed and frantically tried to make that necessary connection between her brain and her mouth. "Mikael, I still don't know what you're getting at. Just tell my why I'm here and we can both get on with our own business." God, but he was perfect. Her skin tingled just freakin' looking at him!

Mikael smirked knowingly. "Naiveté is charming, but it just doesn't become you." He sighed melodramatically and traced his firm jaw-line with a finger, feigning uncertainty. "I suppose I'll just have to guess at your desires. Yes. And perhaps we can discover new ways to play."

A synapse snapped into place. "Whoa! Ah, Mikael, you don't want this."

His cunning eyes defied the deceptively innocent mask of his face. "Why ever not?"

"Well, geez, I… Look at me! I'm all dirty and bloody and-"

To her chagrin, he threw back his head and laughed like she had just told a great joke. "You think that mask of blood bothers me? Could it be that you've forgotten. . . ?"

His arms unfolded, reaching out for her as he drew nearer. He clasped her shoulders again, then slowly, seductively lowered himself to sit on her lap, his legs straddling her waist. His hands rose to caress her neck and jaw as he leaned forward, sending flecks of dried blood floating to the floor. She pulled her head back until she was pressed flat against the back of the chair. Her wrists tugged at their bonds until she thought they might just fall off - her wrists, not the rope; too bad. There was no way to escape. Now if she could only fully convince herself that she wanted to elude him.

"Just . . . relax," he breathed, and brushed his lips against hers. His eyes stared, unblinking, into hers. Creeped out, she squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth. He pressed his lips to hers, baring his teeth so that the tips of his fangs prodded her lower lip. She heard herself moan softly, unsure whether it was from fear or illicit desire. Encouraged now, he took possession of her mouth, kissing her with a lip-numbing ferocity that stole her breath away. After a few moments, he pulled back, scrutinizing her face with those piercing lupine eyes - a predator's eyes. "I knew you'd like that. Am I good or what?"

She slowly opened her eyes - one eye at a time - to stare at him dumbly, trying to remember how to breathe. God, what to do, what to do. . . ? Suddenly, she became aware of the pendant, hanging cool and heavy between her breasts. It wasn't getting any warmer; there would be no shield. This was the second time it had failed her in one night! Ah, sheee~it. She was definitely screwed (oops - bad joke). If a simple - simple? who was she kidding? - kiss did this to her, the full "treatment" would kill her. Not that she doubted she would die happily. . . .

"Heh." He saw the doubt on her face. "You want this, I know that, too. How could you possibly resist?"

She knew she should. She just couldn't. What the hell was going on?! In the far corner of her brain, a small voice continually shouted "Wufei! Wufei!" but that voice seemed so far away, now. As she acknowledged that voice, it swam up from her darkening mind, only to recede farther back than before.

Mikael leaned in again, his tongue darting out to taste the blood on her cheek. She scrunched up her face and turned her head away until the opposite cheek pressed hard against the chair. He chuckled and licked her face, from jaw to cheekbone, with his full tongue. He drew his tongue back into his mouth and ran the dried blood across his palate, throatily savoring its metallic tang. Finally, his throat convulsed as he swallowed the blood - hers and Wufei's. Freaky.

"A good reminder. Why you are important to me. And how you incited poor little Karl's bloodlust." He paused to lick her cheek again. "The Elemental power burns in your lifeblood." Mikael's tongue darted out to lick his lips.

"Okay, Mikael, you're really creeping me out now." Amy squinted her eyes to peer at him through her dark lashes. "You're just-"

He laughed into her face and seized her chin, effortlessly turning her head until she faced him. Then he pressed forward, silencing her, claiming her mouth once again. In a last, desperate attempt of defiance, she refused to respond to the kiss in any way. Back straight, fists clenched, she sat there like a wooden Indian. But there was no doubt that her resolve was weakening. She felt his fiery touch travel down her neck, raise thrilled goosebumps on her chest as if she wasn't wearing a shirt at all. He shifted his entire body forward, pressing against her, deliberately trying to awaken the carnal desires within her. And doing a damned good job of it, too. He increased the power behind the kiss, forcing her lips apart and applying yet more pressure until she thought her lips would bruise. Then one of his hands trailed lower, softly caressing her breast. She froze, numb with shock and an unwelcome (or so she tried to convince herself) burst of pleasure.

Suddenly, she snapped. What was she doing, sitting there passively, letting Mikael do this to her? She didn't want to do this with him. Correction: her body sure did, but she knew it was wrong! What kind of a mindless ninny was she to....?

The mind-web. The fecking vampire mind-web trick! Over five years away from vampires must have deadened her senses; how else could she have been so stupid? As Conan had explained years ago, it was only a matter of triggering or numbing the correct parts of the brain. Vampires could use this on most unawares, and on many who were privy to such preternatural trivia. Once she knew what she was dealing with, Amy had been a fast study on slipping out of mind-webs. In her line of work, she'd needed to. But now…. Had she simply forgotten? Was he stronger? Had she gotten weaker?

Clinging to her newfound resolve, she finally responded to his fierce kiss. She bit down on his lower lip as hard as she possibly could.

Despite that infamous vampire constitution, Mikael leapt back with supernatural agility, pure shock and, yes, pain written all over his face. Blinking in disbelief, he slowly touched his fingers to the lip. They came away covered in his own blood. The blood he had stolen from some unfortunate victim, leeched dry by his deadly kiss. Snarling ferally, he ran his tongue over the wound and bared sharp, glistening fangs. "You'll pay for that, my little bitch! I was planning on making this enjoyable for both of us. But you haven't changed one bit.... Still set to complicate matters, I see." Eyes narrowed furiously, he moved to stand inches from her. Oh, God! What had she done?! Great goin', Amy; it's been nice knowing ya. He was eyeing her neck. "I don't have to be a mind-reader to know that you're thinking of Toran al Tel. Well guess what. This time your friends cannot know where to look. And Conan hasn't the balls to show his face in public. No one will be saving you this time, so your antics will earn you nothing."

She bit back a scream as his hand darted out to grab a fistful of her hair and roughly yanked her head to one side. Watching him from the corner of her too-wide eyes, she tried to think of ways out of this mess. Mikael aggressively straddled her lap again, this time burying his face in her neck. His breath, hot and moist, rippled against her skin. Was he sniffing out her jugular? God, but he was. Like a shark, searching for blood.

"Your blood for mine," he hissed. "That sounds even to me."

His tongue darted out, caressing the soft skin on her neck, readying it for the bite which would soon follow. She felt herself leaning into the warm, wet pressure of his mouth. He gently nipped at her neck, moaned throatily, and tightened his grip on her arm. Amy felt a moment of cold shock as his fangs pierced her skin.

Then she fell back into a lake of liquid fire. Her entire world was made up of passion, heat, and impossible pleasure. He was in that world, too, Mikael. Somehow, she was aware of both of them; Mikael's pulse pounded through her veins. She felt his bloodlust, his insatiable thirst. At his very capable hands, she reached new heights of sexual ecstasy. She forgot about Wufei, about her life, about her sanity. This was reality; there could be nothing else. From somewhere far away, in the distance, she heard someone screaming as though they retained no more than a fingernail-hold on coherence. Then she realized it was her. The scream intensified. And was drowned out by a loud rush of blood in her ears.

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"Oh, yes, yes, YES!!! It . . . it's long . . . and hard!" Stacie screamed.

Wufei staggered against the wall outside the Maxwells' apartment, catching himself before his legs totally gave way beneath him. Unfortunately, his bad arm - he thought it was broken - smashed into the wall. A brief wave of dizziness swept him up for a few moments before he could reorient and give himself yet another swift mental kick. He was beginning to wonder if he should have called Barton in instead. But no, like a fool, he had headed to the Maxwells' apartment. His logic: their apartment was closest to his own location. This should be the easiest and quickest way to get help. But he had forgotten one thing: the fact that this was, after all, Duo.

"Oh, harder, harder! Yeah! That's right!" Her voice reached his ears again, excited and urgent, but muffled through the corridor wall. The way the blood pounded in his ears, it was a miracle he could hear anything.

Gathering up all of his courage, Wufei pulled himself along the wall and bodily thudded against the door. All sounds inside ceased. Gritting his teeth, he swung the side of his leg into the door again. Moments later, the door opened and Duo peeked out curiously. He was blessedly and fully clothed. Wufei needed no further proof that there was, indeed, a God. Duo's violet eyes widened in horror as he beheld his friend's bruised and bloodied body. "Oi! Wufei! What happened to you? No, wait. Stacie! It's Wufei; he's hurt bad. C'mon and help me get him onto the couch!"

Stacie wasted no time in hurrying over. The urgency in her husband's voice puzzled her. Duo usually didn't get this serious unless something really extreme had happened. "Ah! Wufei, what happened?"

Wufei was silently grateful that both of them were fully clothed. "I am . . . sorry to interrupt your. . . ." He broke off, at a loss for words.

Duo and Stacie supported their injured comrade, throwing his good arm over Duo's shoulder. Together, they helped him limp to their couch. "Aw, that's okay, Wu. She was guessing too well, anyway. I think she was gonna win in a few more seconds."

Guessing? Guessing what? His confusion must have been evident because Stacie added, "We were playing charades. So, Duo, what was the answer?"

"A pencil. How the hell do you act out `a pencil'? Stupid game. . . ." Duo rolled his eyes disparagingly before turning to Wufei again. "What happened to you?"

After a deep, carefully controlled breath, Wufei told how he and Amy had been surprised in the alley on their way home. Eh, leaving out certain parts. Wouldn't Maxwell love to know that. "And when I regained consciousness, it was daylight and everyone was gone. They've taken Amy."

"And you have no idea who 'they' were or what they wanted? There's gotta be a motive behind that. Muggers wouldn't have stayed around after you showed them you were ready to fight back." Wufei supposed Duo spoke from experience. "Did they take your night's earnings, too?

"Who cares? Let's hunt them down and bust their sorry asses!" Stacie growled, slamming her fist against Wufei's bad shoulder for emphasis.

"OW! Watch it, mad onna!" Wufei howled. His eyes widened as his wallet practically materialized in Duo's nimble hands. "Maxwell! Put my wallet back--!!"

"You're loaded, Wu-man!" Duo whistled softly and flipped the wallet open. As Wufei sputtered incoherently, the American thumbed through the various cards and IDs within. "There's no way they were after you for money. The way you talk about them, they weren't interested in you, period. Good lord, Woof, is this you??" Duo gleefully pointed to a particularly hideous ID. Wufei spluttered on, if more quietly than before.

Stacie eyed the havoc that Wufei's bloody being had left on the sofa. "Uh, maybe we'd better get you cleaned up. Let's get you to the bathroom and then you can strip down and wrap a towel around your waist. We'll wash you off."

Wufei opened his mouth to protest, but the Maxwells were already pulling him to his feet. Halfway across the living room, it occurred to him that it might be less painful if he just followed along. In a little while, he was sitting on the edge of the bathroom tub, feeling very naked. Stacie had prepared a basin full of water and some medicine that stung like hell. As they dabbed cloths soaked full of the acid, Stacie tried to distract him with small talk.

"Ow. God, that must have hurt. And that. And that. And that. Wow." She wasn't doing a good job of it, he noted.

Suddenly, her cloth stopped blotting his broken arm. "Holy shit! Duo! Look at this!" The braided man quickly complied, abandoning his own cloth to get a closer look.

"What the f-?! Wufei! How did you break this arm?"

Wufei gritted his teeth and looked down at the arm. Now that it was clean, he could see the damage that had been done to it. His arm had been crushed by...a hand. Cursing softly, the Chinaman afforded himself a closer examination. The only visible damage - besides the small lump in his skin where the snapped bone jutted outward - was a sickly dark purple bruise in the shape of a single handprint.

"A guy just grabbed your arm and snapped it?" Duo was baffled. Such strength was inhuman, practically impossible. Unless. . . .

"Vampires!" The word hissed past Stacie's lips, gone before she could recall it. The three exchanged a wide-eyed glance. "The vampire murderers?"

Wufei swallowed hard and stood, all but falling forward against the doorframe. "They have Amy. We've got to go save her."

"Wufei. . . ."

"They are not going to . . . to . . . do that to her and leave her in some-" He took an unsteady step into the hallway and reached for the front door.

"Ah, Wufei? I don't think you want to go out quite yet." Duo gently turned Wufei away from the door and directed him back into the bathroom. Stacie was waiting there, a wet and bloody towel extended between her hands. She smiled appreciatively, looking down at-

Wufei blushed, roughly grabbed the towel, and secured it around his waist again. Duo frowned at Stacie. "Okay, let's get back to helping Wu, here."

"But-" Wufei began angrily.

Duo shook his head and pushed him down onto the side of the tub again. "You can't just run out yelling, `Justice! Justice!'' You gotta have a plan first."

Wufei's face fell. For once, he had to admit that Maxwell was right.

The braided bishounen grinned sympathetically. "We'll get her back, Wu-man. We have all day to plan." He carefully patted Wufei's uninjured shoulder. "Just hang tight, yo."

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Wufei watched as the sun gradually disappeared behind the distant mountains, bathing the town in stark orange light. Only a few more minutes before twilight set in. Then they could move. The thought caused him to check the invisible power which surrounded him; his dragon birthright. Of course, it was still there. Where could it go? He was being foolish. But it was hard to keep himself occupied when it was so close-

Silently berating himself for his impatience, the Chinaman shifted on the plush couch, turning to face the Maxwells' bedroom door. Duo was perched on the corner of the bed, toying with his beam scythe as his wife changed from happy-go-lucky Stacie to the insidious demoness Selket. They were both in costume - Wufei really didn't know why they insisted on costumes - and Stacie was generously applying make-up to her smooth face. For once, Duo seemed preoccupied, not paying attention to his wife's almost magical transformation.

"Are you sure this is the only way?" Duo grumbled. He nervously shifted the hollow staff to his other hand. "How do you know we can trust him? I mean, I've never met Mikael, but I've heard plenty." He afforded Stacie an almost-accusing glare.

Stacie shook her head and adjusted the eye-catching scarlet Selket costume until it showed as much cleavage as possible, just short of falling off. Duo glanced out at Wufei and gave him a sympathetic smile. What's he grinning at? Suddenly, Wufei realized that his mouth was hanging open. Oh. He clamped his jaw shut with a dull click.

"Mikael and I are . . . good friends," Stacie explained, expertly fluffing up her hair. "I know how to deal with him. And, no, this isn't the only way, but we did decide it's the best way, didn't we? As Master Vampire of the US of A, Mikael should know of most vampire activities. But if he doesn't, he can look into it for us."

Wufei tore his eyes from the seductress and silently ran through some incantations and ancestral prayers. Best to be prepared - and he needed something to distract him from Selket. Duo could gape and gawk all he wanted, but it was a little harder for Wufei to admit the demoness's sex appeal.

Duo watched his wife primp and preen, slowly contemplating the situation. As she put some finishing touches onto her lips, he voiced his thoughts. "Why would he want to help us? I mean, sure I'm Shinigami and all that, but from what I've heard, he won't give a rat's patootie. I'm god of Death; he's undead. Will I have to prove my power here, or what?"

"Of course not!" Selket traced a fingernail across her perfect reflection in the mirror. "He owes me a favor. Leave it at that."

The Chinaman had no doubt of what kind of a favor this was. Judging from Duo's stormy expression, he had a pretty good idea as well. Poor guy. Must suck to be married to a woman who was a professional seductress. Then again.... Still murmuring his prayers, the Chinaman sneaked another glance at Selket as she executed a perfect pirouette in front of her full-length mirror. Duo was one lucky man to have all that-

"Hey, Wu-man! You coming or are you having a nice, long chat with those dead guys? Tell `em their boss says hi."

Wufei decided that Duo didn't need any sympathy after all. He quickly redirected his energy to declaring dishonor on the braided man. Much more productive. He continued grumbling under his breath as he followed the couple out the door. Once they were out in the corridor, their strides became long and purposeful. Their destination was understood. One nice thing about being out and about at twilight was that they had no fear of being run over by small-town busybodies. Most people - the sane ones - were having dinner, nice and safe behind closed doors. The insane ones . . . - naw, couldn't be them - were headed for the roof.

"Okay, you two. Be nice to Mikael when we get there. He may be an egotistical jerk, but he's my egotistical jerk." Miniature lightning bolts flashed dangerously behind stunning violet eyes. Selket smiled at Duo, her facade deceptively innocent. "Just kidding Duo. But, seriously, the most important thing to remember is that we need him. Just don't let him know that. Make him think it's just a favor to repay me." Her smile darkened, silently daring Duo to comment on the matter.

To his credit, Duo swallowed his sharp retort and busied himself with fastening the scythe's staff to his belt. Right now, the staff appeared to be a black metal pipe; the only peculiarity was the presence of two hollow nubs at one end. Wufei knew, from previous experience, that this ostensibly guileless pole could transform into a lethal scythe in a matter of seconds. There were no switches to fumble with, no fuel to run out of. This otherworldly weapon was powered solely by some unknown dark energy and the stamina of Duo's mind. Ordinarily, this would aptly worry Wufei, but the braided bishounen - like Stacie and Selket - underwent a veritable transformation when he decided to become Shinigami.

On the roof, the makeshift team approached the waist-high safety ledge under the cover of twilight. The moon had not yet risen and the sun, though hidden from view, cast a diffuse glow over the town. Wufei shaded his eyes against the harsh streetlights and leaned over the railing, looking down into the alleyway below - the alley where he had been attacked last night. Only four stories between him and the cooling asphalt. He grinned. And jumped.

The hot late-summer air surged at his face, beating and howling at his rigid body. He focused on the ground which rushed up to meet him in a dirty black blur. He squeezed his eyes shut, exerting an intense will. In a split second, the muscles within his chest contorted painfully. Wufei arched his back, gritting his teeth against the pain, as twin spikes shot through the skin at his shoulder blades. Behind him, leathery red wings unfurled and bloated against the sirocco, surrounding him in a glistening mist of blood. His wings caught the right currents. A severe arch of his back and he was rising up once again.

"Yo, Wu-man! Scare us half to death, why don'tcha?" Duo (now Shinigami) called as Wufei joined them in midair. He had grown jagged black bat-wings. Selket's membranous demoness wings beat in time with his.

Wufei chose to ignore him. Instead, he motioned for Selket to lead the way to Mikael's lair.

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