Dark Encore

Chapter Nine: The Eyes Are Windows…

"You and me

And these shadows keep on changing

And I'm haunted

By the lives that I have loved and actions I have hated

I'm haunted

By the promises I've made and others I have broken, oh

I'm haunted

By the lives that wove a web inside my haunted head…"

- Poe, "Haunted"

Author's Note: This chapter will mostly consist of a conversation, and…not much else, but it's for the plot's sake. Forgive, please? ^_^;

~*~

Out of the curiosity that had lead to a tragedy so many years ago, Meier decided to go and check on the captive - if indeed that was how she was to be termed; from how Mnemosyne had phrased it, she seemed more like one of his patients. Yes, Mnemosyne was a doctor, although of the strangest kind, even among vampires. He was able to cure amnesiacs and, if it was so wished, to give a person a glimpse of a past, whether it be their soul's or someone else's. He was often paid in money by the vampires that could afford it (all those who could not only paid what they could,) and as of late all of his income had gone into repairing a damaged ship destined to go to the City of the Night. According to himself, a close friend of his wanted to go to the City, and Meier's castle was an ideal launching ground…but the tale digresses…

Being the one in charge of the castle and all that entailed, it was merely a few minutes before Meier found out where the girl - her name was Rose, wasn't it? - was being kept, and only a few minutes more before he reached the room, gliding over on dark wings. He could have just broken down the door and killed the girl in order to make Mnemosyne pay for his insult, but he wasn't the kind of person to kill one that was (albeit temporarily) under his roof! Therefore, he knocked on the door. Thunk, thunk.

A tired, quiet female voice said, "I don't know why I should get visitors, but it's all right…if you want to open the door, go on ahead. I don't know how to lock this door anyway." Meier almost smiled at this show of politeness, and then he opened the large, ornate door. Inside the ornate vault of a room, facing the door, was that same girl the elder had dragged in. Her luminous hazel eyes widened slightly at his appearance before recognition flickered inside said eyes and she calmed down. She wore a white tunic of some coarse fabric (wool or linen, perhaps) along with black pants and similarly dark boots. She still wore the cape the Vampire of Memory had given her, of course, and with good reason; although Meier never admitted it, nor did he need to care about it, the castle was one of the draftiest places on the face of the planet. A slight inclination of her head, and the girl continued, "My name's Rose…in case you didn't catch it the first time we met."

"The first time we met?" Now, wonder of all wonders, Meier was puzzled. When had they met? He took a look at her again and then remembered… "Ah yes. You're one of those vampire hunters I met on the road a few nights ago, aren't you?" His cool tone then turned ever-so-slightly curious, "If you are such good friends with Lord Mnemosyne" - how he despised using that title! - "then why do you hunt vampires? You certainly do not seem the type…"

She turned away from him slightly, her eyes pensive. After a long silence, she said, "I suppose no one ever figured out that I don't follow my friend around by choice. It's not that I don't like her, indeed we're much like sisters, but I don't like killing people. After she mistook Mnemosyne's attempt to help me for an attempt to kill me, she had me follow her around the world m-murdering people." Her voice was incredibly sad, and Meier felt just a little pity for her.

He pitied her a small amount, yes, but that didn't stop him from asking the next question: "Why are you here?"

Rose's response to the question was to look right at him with those tired, thoughtful hazel eyes. She looked uncertain - untrusting - for a moment as she searched Meier's face to find out the motive behind the question. Apparently she came to a conclusion, because the next thing she said was, "According to Mnemosyne, I am here for his help…but I get the feeling that he told you otherwise. I…I am sorry…" She bowed her head again, clearly embarrassed and contrite.

Meier couldn't help the hint of a smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "It's no trouble to me, Mnemosyne is well known for his pranks. I was actually expecting him to do something like this." The smile disappeared, and Meier noticed that Rose looked alarmed for a second before calming down. "Tell me…what did Mnemosyne promise you, exactly?" Rose's surprise at the question was so obvious that the small smile threatened to reappear on Meier's face. "I simply wish to know, that is all…"

"That's actually a smart move, asking me about what I am doing here," Rose said after some silent reflection. "Not knowing things can spell death if one's not careful. Of course," here she giggled slightly, "what would I know about death, anyway…"

Meier nodded; that was a joke, of course. For him, it wasn't too difficult to discern the joke in her statement, or the hint of sarcasm that might have been there anyway. She, a vampire hunter, would know about death, and a good deal about it too - having the duty of dealing death to people would do that. "From your profession, you would know quite a bit…speaking of which, I see you don't have any weapons with you. That's foolish."

At the comment, Rose lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I…don't like fighting…and I don't like arrows either. Arrows…they make me think of fire and its ability to kill…It's like I nearly lost something or someone to fire once…" Meier realized then that this young lady was probably troubled, whether a great deal or not was uncertain - but she was troubled, it most likely had something to do with the past, and it failed to explain why Mnemosyne would help a human. Since humans feared and hated vampires, he wouldn't normally work with a human… He needed to know why the elder would be so interested in this human. Provoked only by his curiosity, he moved across the room to Rose and looked right at her, probing her eyes for some hint as to why Mnemosyne would be so interested -

Agony; she could but watch as horrors unspeakable unfolded before her. "I love you. I can't go on without you…" "I carry a heavy burden on my conscience." The lights transformed into candles, the illusionary candles that surrounded her as she died. "…You let me dream…" …but it didn't end there. Discord; the spirit moved on, spiraling towards the future. "You seem so familiar, it's like I saw you before…only it wasn't you, was it?" "Why? Why do you hate them so much?! Why do we have to hunt vampires?!" "We don't need to hunt him, I don't want to hunt him! Let it be!" Static; the present made a desperate guess at the past, willing it to the surface in a moment of dark clarity. "I chose this long ago." Sorrow; she made her final choice, forsaking all once again in her desperate search. "My destiny, my path was set when I made a choice long ago. Forgive me for my deceit, Erika…"

Meier swirled back, crimson eyes wide with shock at the lightless ones that he nearly fell into. What was that?! Lightless eyes blinked, regained their luminosity and lost the slight golden cast, and Rose stepped away, stunned, surprised, and yet not horrified. "What was that?" she whispered, echoing Meier's very thought.

Curiously, hesitantly, their gazes locked again. Crimson met hazel - and, shocked once again, each saw a person that haunted them in the other's eyes. She saw the crimson eyes had haunted her for so long in the dreams of her last life; and what did he see? He saw the eyes, the soul within those eyes that he had never thought to see again. After so long, she had returned… These realizations were made in a brief moment, and both said in a chorus of joy:

"It's you!"

Meanwhile, two figures finally reached the other side of the bridge…