Oceans of Time

Whatever Molly had been expecting, it hadn’t been something so…understandable. Who didn’t long for normalcy? Some…break in what was an endlessness and something you couldn’t see past. Mina had been alive longer than she had initially thought, reading about her…

Immortality sounds nice, until you realize what all it means.

“It’s really as simple as that?” She asked, arching a dark brow. Molly was still wary, and would be for some time. But if this was true…at least Molly could have a small measure of understanding.

   “May I have a cigarette? Terrible habit I know,         but it won’t hurt me and I’ve been in this room for hours.” 

Mina didn’t come here for a heart-to-heart chat. It was all in the file, after all, and if the Dee Society had their facts correct she didn’t need to explain.

   [a tiresome story, really. No justice for the dead and all of the     accolades given to an aristocrat with a greasy mustache and     no impulse control. The film adaptations made her sick.]

   “Listen, I know you must have been expecting something more..       sensational, but I’m afraid that’s all in the past. 

      I kill vampires because I have to.             I kill them to end the spread of corruption.

@vampbait​ (continued from x)

“Personal gain is by definition, personal.” If Molly had had fangs, this is likely where they would have lengthened…where she might have growled. Instead, the ire came and went–rather, came and was quickly pushed to the back burner. She’d take it out on a training dummy later.

She lifted a shoulder, and held up her hands. “But now we’re just splitting hairs.”

As though the previous conversation hadn’t taken place, Molly pulled out Mina’s file, and pursed her lips as she flipped through it. It was mainly for show–she’d already read it backwards and forwards and annotated.

“Pretty fascinating read, really.” She finally said. “Only thing it leaves out in here, is why you’re here at all.” Her eyes flashed up to Mina’s. “We both know what you can do and what you’re capable of. Why are you working with Dee?”

Perched in her seat with a poise unknown to modern women-- back straight, shoulders squared, chin held high-- Mina averted her gaze. She knew she had struck a nerve, but aggression was not the emotion she had sought in the other woman. She pursed her lips in mild distaste. 

   [Ah, the ferocity of youth!]

     “The Society may have--          ---within it’s vast archives,        the means of ending my curse.”

It was a simple answer, for Mina had learned that the truth was often far more useful than attempting to weave a lie. 

    “We don’t?”

Guard stations were supposed to have guards, right? It made sense, then again, Lucy knew way more about this place than he’d ever want to, and he trusted her enough not to lead him into danger. He nearly reached for her hand again, but stopped at the last second to avoid a second rejection.

    “Okay, just don’t– I dunno. Sorry.”

Talking probably wasn’t good. No need to alert any other guards, that weren’t apparently in the guard stations.

    “Don’t worry about me. We just need      to get out of here, right?”

Lucy shook her head-- whether to clear it or to answer Victor’s question uncertain. She looked pale even by her standard, her steps weaving slightly as she made her way to the end of the corridor.

   [the cloying scent of copper and iron and something else      that seemed to tug at her very veins and cloud her thinking]

She stopped, reaching out with one hand to steady herself just inside the doorframe. Breathing deeply only seemed to make it worse, and Lucy had to close her eyes for a moment.

     “Wait, I need to think,” Lucy gasped, turning away from Victor. “I can’t breathe.”

   [she’s still there in the cell where he left her you could go back haven’t fed in days not like she’ll object we could go back she’s still there in the cell--]

Lucy shook her head again, pressing her free hand to the side of her head in an effort to clear the static. She was still for a moment, and then straightened slowly.

     [Nein. That would be wrong.]

Victor was about to reach for Lucy’s hand, but she seemed to want to keep distance, and he bit back a wounded frown. In his state of mind, he wasn’t sure what was wrong. There wasn’t much time to brood, however. Lucy already took the initiative, and he was quick to follow in her path.

Well, he shut the door on Mina first with his boot before catching up to Lucy.

    “So…do you know how to avoid it?”

As fun as it was taking down obstacles, Victor still wasn’t completely ready to fight again.

Growing overwhelmed by the scent of Mina’s blood, and ill-prepared for the effects, Lucy covered her nose and mouth with her hand and tried not to breathe. She watched from a distance as Victor kicked the corpse, seeming oddly cheerful given their situation.

Seeing it now from the other side, Lucy felt regretful of her former career. Now, she only wanted to be away from this place-- the Vaults.

     “Ah, we don’t want to avoid it. There’s a service stairwell, leading out.” She answered in a careful tone, trying to keep alone as she led him down the hallway.

Another wave of euphoria crawled through his throat and washed all over his body; not just for the second rush of her blood, but also from the satisfaction that Mina was dead. Again. It never wasn’t satisfying.

To keep from going completely catatonic on the effects, he pulled away and stumbled back to his feet, sighing.

    “She’s fine.”

Victor glanced up to Lucy as he nudged Mina’s body with his foot, smirking slightly for feeling more merciful than her swift kick.

    “Wanna get out of here?”

Lucy still looked equally horrified and mesmerized, unable to tear her gaze away from the dead woman on the floor.     [There was something alluring about her scent-- like laudanum]

“She’s dead.” Lucy looked away, trying not to breathe in anymore of the cloying-blood scent as she stepped around Mina. Neither did she get too close to Victor-- wary of his blood-soaked figure. Then she paused, leaning down to retrieve the keys from the floor.

   “Yes, please.” Lucy started down the hall, self-preservation instincts kicking in.

While Mina was doing most of the tricky work of unlocking the door, Victor began his slow approach, still trying to avoid any light as he got closer. It wasn’t just Mina he had to keep out of sight from, but he didn’t want Lucy giving him away just yet either.

His senses were still dulled, but not as much as they were. All the pain that was resurfacing, he just turned into fuel to get more blood– no, shut up hunger. to stop her from killing Lucy.

The moment the door was open, he used the sound of the lock to leap forward, finally in Lucy’s view, and he whipped his hand around to grip Mina by the throat from behind. This time, he had more sense to grab her hand actually holding the keys, and he punctured her neck with his teeth.

As Mina stepped into the cell, Lucy screamed--      ---but only because of Victor’s sudden attack.

And then she was caught. Struggling didn’t help; it only tore his fangs deeper. Mina’s cry of surprise was short-- even her breath stolen by Victor’s stranglehold. Slowly, her strength ebbed, until she slouched against Victor, unconscious.

The keys fell to the floor with a jumbled clang.

Lucy hadn’t moved. It had all happened so fast! She watched Victor feed, equally horrified and transfixed.

Step on me Queen

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