Blood in the Canals (Venice and Vampires)

[Purple]

Raven was actually napping when she heard the urgent knocking at her door. She didn't sleep much, of course, vampires didn't need too, but it had been a few nights since her last nap, and she would dare to say she needed one. At first the knocking came to her like a dream, something she could brush away, but when they kept coming, so fast and desperate, she finally dragged herself into consciousness and finally out of bed. The girl walked through the living room to the door, pulling it open just as the Korean boy spoke her name. She stared at him mutely for a moment, her brain processing what it was she was seeing. Without a word she pulled him inside, stuck her head through the door to make sure no one had seen him, and locked it.

"You let yourself get low again, didn't you?" she asked, though the tone wasn't accusing. She walked back into her bedroom, digging through her closet until she found an old t-shirt she'd stolen from her brother at some point. She then grabbed a navy blue towel from the closet and handed both to Vezio, pushing the blood-covered boy towards the bathroom.

"Clean up," she said. "I'll figure out how much time we've got until they come looking for you." What she did first, however, was go into the kitchen and pour two glasses of wine.

[Kage]

"I didn't mean to- I didn't even know what was happening- I didn't- and then she was on the ground- and-- IT'S ALL OVER ME, MY GOD!!" The boy said panicking, not even caring if's she'd meant for him to use the shower, turning the faucet and shoving himself into the cold water. He didn't care that it was freezing, he didn't feel it- all he could feel was paranoia and panic pulsing through his well fed veins. He didn't even notice that he was still speaking Korean (in fact, he might continue to do so for a while), but as soon as the water in the basin of the shower turned clear, the blood on his now bare torso gone down the drain, he pulled out of the shower and rapidly dried himself (not caring that his jeans were a bit wet and sticking to his legs). The shirt was on over his chest, his fingers brushing through his wet hair as he sped down the stairs and into Raven.

"What am I going to do- they're going to decapitate me! I'll die- I don't know how to fight against Slayers, and even if I did what would I do- I wouldn't know what to do- do they die? Can Slayers die, are they allowed to die- do they have some ungodly powers unimaginable- did you!? Will you rat me out- you won't will you- oh god I hope you don't- why don't you say anything, you're freaking me out-- you're calling them aren't you- you're going to turn me in- no you'll wait until I turn around and snap my head off- that's it-- that's what you're trying to do!!" Vezio spurted out every nonsense-made word that came to his panicked mind in a mile a minute (or second, either one), and it didn't help the the Korean language was very quickly spoken. It probably would have sounded like a furious-tongued foreigner to Raven just then, but he still didn't notice.

[Purple]

Raven stared at the boy with wide eyes, having absolutely no idea what he was saying. She did not speak Korean, that much was obvious, and though he was clearly panicked, she couldn't help him if he wouldn't speak a language she knew. Finally she just couldn't help it; she slapped him across the face to stop the flow of foreign babble. The dark-haired girl picked up the glass of wine she hadn't touched yet and handed it to him, hoping to calm him down at least a little bit.

"Italiano, per favore," she said slowly, enunciating each syllable carefully. She took a sip of her own wine and went to hang up the towel he'd been using, thankful that he'd let all the blood wash down the drain rather than leaving it in her shower. She wouldn't start explaining until she returned, wanting to give him a minute to quit panicking and start thinking somewhat clearly.

"The first thing I need to know is, who did you kill? That will determine how quickly the Slayers realize they're dead and come looking for the vampire responsible. They can figure out it was you by analyzing your venom, which will be in any blood remaining in the victim," she said. It was almost like CSI or something, what the Slayer's did, like testing for DNA. The difference was, the CSI people were looking for justice. The Slayers were only looking for someone to kill. She paused for a moment, thinking over any immediate concerns he might have. "I won't turn you in, don't even worry about that. I don't exactly like the Slayers' methods for all that I was one. The main thing to worry about is getting moving. We need to be long gone by the time they get on your trail."

[Kage]

Vezio stood there in silence, dumbstruck by the slap against his face. He didn't move, and only barely processed the wine in his hand. He didn't' want it so he put it aside of the table before turning towards the older vampire.

"Italian, right-- Oh right..." He swallowed, ringing his hands together nervously. "Right, right... uh- Hooker. Hooker that stood on the corner of Italska street." Vezio nodded, if only to himself as if to confirm this fact. "We have different venom? I didn't know that- oh god I didn't mean to..." Vezio put his hands to his face and gave a loud groan of annoyance at himself before jerking his head upright. "- I need to go to my house." He stated blankly, and as if to prove his point he motioned for her door. "Like- right now."

[Purple]

"Last time I checked their schedule, they had someone posted on Italska, which means it won't be long before they find your dead hooker," she said over her shoulder as she went into her bedroom. The girl began digging through her closet once more, this time pulling out a large pack which she proceeded to fill with money, clothes, deodorant, soap, wine, passports and IDs, anything she would need on the run. She made sure to pack her laptop, which would allow her to keep an eye on the Slayers through their online network. It was all password protected, of course, but they never really thought to change those passwords. It had been the same for the last twenty years or so, which was just dumb as far as she was concerned, considering most people changed theirs every six months.

"Every vampire's venom is different because it's infused with his DNA, like your blood, your hair, whatever. While the Slayers can't keep track of when someone becomes a vampire, they can draw DNA info from every government database in the world, except the Czech Republic," Raven explained as she walked from room to room, making sure she had everything she needed. She paused when he said he needed to go to his house. What could he need there that he couldn't wait to get? Did he still have family? She really hoped not. That would complicate things considerably. Some vampires stayed in contact with their families, though most chose to simply fake their own deaths and move on. She hadn't had much family to leave behind, and they had pushed her away before she even had a chance to.

"It'll take them about a day to get the results back and get your name, but we've got to be long gone by the time they do," she said. "We'll go to your house now, but we need to move right after that."

[Kage]

"I'll make it fast then." Vezio muttered before he tore through the threshold of the girl's doorway and went racing down the sides of the streets. He kept himself mainly hidden through alleyways and along the sides of canals. By the time he reached his house he was shaking with worry. The boy sped up the stairs and reached into the back of his closet and pulled out a backpack and a smaller pack. He threw about five pairs of clothes in there (many of them long-sleeved shirts and pants, as it was becoming winter rather fast now). He threw his wallet and passport into the separate pack, as well as hygiene things such as his toothbrush, deodorant, brush, soap, and other necessities. He made sure (after checking three or four other times) that his driver's license and other I.D.s were in his wallet as well before shoving the pack into the backpack and putting three hats into another pocket of the backpack as well. He put a black beanie on his head and headed out the door quickly, only stopping to put his hand on the front door and mutter something in Korean.

About three minutes passed before he showed back up on Raven's doorstep. He didn't bother knocking, he walked right in. She would have sensed him halfway there anyways, he assumed. "So... What now?" Vezio scratched the back of his head and blew a hot breath into his fist. Nobody ever said anything about vampires not being able to get cold or hot, they weren't completely inhuman. "Winter's right around the corner, Raven...." He murmured, his mind trailing back to when he was just on his own doorstep.



"Protect this house; protect me; protect my family. And kill that bastard that created me and ruined my life. Amen."

[Purple]

Raven was making a last sweep of the rooms, making sure everything she would need was ready when Vezio returned. She had checked to be sure she'd gotten everything, but she always had this nagging feeling that she was forgetting something when preparing for a trip. Rather than answer his question she began turning off lights around the house, asking one of her own.

"How are you with boats? And Greece?" The dark-haired girl finished her last check and walked out the front door, heading across the walkway right up to the edge where the canal was. She hopped into the boat and reached back to hold the side of the walkway in an attempt to keep the craft steady. She didn't respond to his comment about the winter, but it was something she was thinking about. Vampires kept their temperature a little bit better than humans, but getting caught on the open ocean during winter it wouldn't matter. Even if they were on land it could be bad unless they had a stable place to stay. They couldn't afford to be homeless or even close, but staying in one place when someone was looking for you was dangerous. She sighed. IT was just another thing for her to puzzle over on the trip.

[Kage]

"Greece sounds fine." Vezio replied as he stepped out of the door after her. He stopped and looked around for a moment and made to step towards the canal and the boat Raven had stepped into when he felt a fast, hard pressure against his side. The next thing he knew was that his backpack was on the ground seven feet away, and there was a man clinging to his side, both of them were on the ground. By the way Vezio's muscles started flexing and how his heart began racing like an engine, he didn't have to take a second guess to know that the man pinning him was a Slayer.

A sound of struggled passed through the vampire's clenched teeth, his fangs bared at the other as he held the older man's arms at bay. Hot damn he was strong! Vezio felt the restraint the Slayer's arms were giving, his fingers so close to the vampire's throat. If he got his neck, Vezio knew it was all over. With a hard kick of his long legs, the Korean managed to shove the Slayer off of himself and scramble onto his feet. He didn't know how to get rid of him!

"How do I kill him!?" Vezio roared to Raven, thanking god that the streets were a bit noisy tonight, rather, this early morning. A few people were already starting to wake up, most of them not anywhere nears the fight scene, but towards the middle of Venice, where the workers were opening shops and stores. Had Vezio cared just then, he would have noticed that it was around five in the morning for Italy just then. But again... he didn't care. He was soon rushed and pinned to a building by the older, stronger man, and he felt a pair of hands against the side of his head.

Oh shit...

"RAVEN!!" Vezio called desperately, his voice pathetic and scared as he felt the strain against his neck as he tried to keep it from being twisted and pulled. Even though he spoke in Korean, the girl's name came out rather clear (despite the heavy accent and how it was pronounced on his tongue).

[Purple]

The noise that came just seconds after Vezio's cry was sure to bring some curious humans to their windows, even in this part of town. Blood came spurting out of the Slayer's head near his left temple, caused by the gun at his right. The man was dead before he hit the stones of the walkway but Raven didn't bother dealing with his body. There was no time.

"That is how you kill a Slayer," she said, dragging Vezio towards the boat. Slayers could heal minor injuries like vampires, but their abilities were less extensive. Anything that would instantly kill a human would kill a Slayer, such as a direct shot to the head or the heart. While everything about them that would help kill was enhanced, their defenses were rather lacking. Raven tossed the gun to Vezio--he ought to be armed seeing as he had the death mark on him--and grabbed another from under one of the boat's seats and stuck it in the waistband of her shorts. She quickly undid the boat's moorings and sped off down the canal, aiming to put as much distance between them and the dead Slayer as possible.

"Believe it or not," she said, "That attack was a good thing. There's no way headquarters would have tracked the hooker back to you this quickly. He must have been the one on patrol last night, probably found her and followed your scent back to my place. He would have smelled me there too and waited until you came out to attack, knowing that going in after you would be suicide. But now he's dead, it won't be until the next shift starts this evening or some human finds the hooker that they realize something's up and even start the tests. By then the scent trail will be cold and all they'll have is a name and an empty house."

[Kage]

"Yeah, but someone's going to report the dead Slayer in front of their house sooner of later." Vezio muttered, removing the first bullet and putting it in his front pocket. Now, if the gun went off for whatever reason, it would be a misfire and not, like, shoot him in the groin. He opened his jacket and put the gun in the inside pocket before zipping it up. "...'m freezing my ass off, and we've barely been out here longer than twenty minutes." Vezio's breath was visible as he rubbed his hands together quickly before shoving them in his pockets.

"....Thanks... for saving my ass... Ah... again." The vampire muttered, visibly shaking, but not with cold, at the shock and fear of having been so close to having his head torn from his shoulders. He listened to Raven talk on about how the attack was somewhat of a good thing before he moved onto the floor of the boat and laid down on his back (no longer on the seat). "Even if they lose the trail, they'll pick it back up, won't they? There are more Slayers around the world, right?" Vezio murmured, his head on the older girl's feet, his hands resting on each other in front of his head. He stared at his fingers (uncovered by his leather fingerless gloves), before closing his brown eyes and inhaling deeply. "Stupid Slayer... wearing my out." He snarled lightly, tired after the adrenaline rush left his veins and the lack of a good nap in a few weeks started to wear down on him.

[Purple]

"Someone will report a dead guy to the cops, sure, but it'll be awhile before the Slayers connect it with us. It's a bit suspicious that the Slayer on duty when a vampire killed a human turns up dead the next morning, but he wasn't bitten at all. He was shot in the head, and few vampires know the proper technique for killing a Slayer. Most just try to rip their throats out and hope it'll work," she explained. She was trying to be optimistic, something she didn't usually attempt as it was prone to failure.

"Come on," she said, stopping the boat for a moment. Raven stood and stepped inside the little cabin that was about the only protected area on the boat. It wasn't heated, but with the doors closed and enough blankets, it would be warm. She pulled on one of the bench seats, extending it to about double its original width so that it could serve as a bed. She lifted the cushion of the other and grabbed a few blankets for Vezio to use.

"There are groups of Slayers operating as a branch of the government in every country except the Czech Republic, but that only means that they avoid the police rather than work with them. They keep in touch through the Slayers' network, which is mostly online," she explained, "so yes, they will pick up the trail eventually. My job is to make sure that takes as long as possible." Raven grabbed a pillow from under the seat as well and then slid the cushion back in place, tossing the pillow to Vezio.

"You can sleep in here for awhile, and I'll drive," she said, "I'll wake you in a few hours when we reach Croatia." Their ultimate destination was Greece, mainly because the Greek and Italian Slayers had always hated each other, so they wouldn't cooperate well. However, the boat would need gas soon, and to stop in Italy would be beyond stupid. Croatia was their best (and closest) bet. Raven wrapped her jacket more tightly around her and went back to the wheel, shutting the sliding door to keep as much heat inside the cabin as possible. She was freezing too, of course, but they had to keep moving, so she wasn't about to admit it.

[Kage]

Vezio caught the pillow and as soon as Raven turned, flopped down and crashed. No dreams came to him for a long while while he slept, but after about half an hour they started to bombard his sleeping mind. They weren't consistent, most of the pictures and videos skipping around from one scene to a completely different one, and if he were awake Vezio was sure he would have gotten whiplash from it all. The one scene that kept playing over and over again, and seemed so real-- too real-- was of the Slayer with his hands against Verzio's face.

It all seemed much too realistic in his sleeping mind- the pressure he felt against his jaw and cheekbones, the strain in his neck as he tried to prevent it from being torn in half by sheer strength from the other. Eventually this scene played on forever in the Korean's dreaming state of mind, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. The only acknowledgment of the boy having the nightmare was when he, every now and then, gave a struggled huff of air, the sound much like someone was being strangled. Or when his fingers clenched or lashed out slightly around the blanket keeping him somewhat warm. It wasn't a pleasant thing, to be in an endless loop of your fear, but it was also something that couldn't be broken unless the mind and body decided to awaken.

This continued on for the rest of the vampire's sleep. Even when they stopped to fill up Raven's boat with gas in Croatia Vezio hadn't thought to wake up, stuck in his nightmarish slumber.

[Purple]

Raven had been able to stop in a little fishing town and get gas for the boat without much trouble. The people there were used to strangers passing through and paid her no mind. It was after they'd gotten back out on the water that the slight trouble had come. A pair of Croation police boats were out on patrol, moving slowly through the water with lights flashing but no sirens. She would have bet that they were both half asleep and not prepared to find anything that morning, but it wouldn't be good if they saw the Italian boat. They would wonder what she and Vezio were doing there, would ask where they were going, where they were staying, what they were planning on doing, questions she didn't have any answers to, much less ones that would keep the police from being suspicious. Luckily she saw their lights through the fog in time to pull the boat around behind a small island and kill the motor before they could catch sight of her. They would have heard the motor, but they wouldn't be able to tell where it came from and hopefully would assume it was just a fisherman and move on.

Raven waited at the wheel of the boat, trying to make as little noise as possible while still being ready to bolt at half a moment's notice. The flashing lights passed approached the island at their same slow pace, eventually disappearing from view on the other side. It felt like years before they appeared again, continuing on their same path past the little island and farther down the coast. The vampire let out a gush of held breath and slumped in her seat, realizing once again just how damn cold she was. She stood and went into the cabin to pour herself a glass of wine, watching the sleeping Vezio as she drank it. He looked...uncomfortable, tense, something that was hard to be in sleep, something that was almost always caused by dreams. She stood there for a moment longer before deciding to wake him. He'd killed a woman and almost had his head ripped off today. Whatever he was dreaming, it couldn't be pretty.

"Hey, giovane. Hey. Wake up!" she said softly, shaking his shoulder less than gently.

((giovane=young one))

[Kage]

Vezio's eyes snapped open, the irises a bright red as he gave a yowl of surprise. He panted, eyes staring forward blankly passed Raven, his fangs fully extended. There was a moment of silence, only his heavy breathes sounding off, before his eyes blinked back into their deep brown color and his fangs retracted into his gums. The young vampire gave a shaky, heavy sigh, pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead as he scrunched his eyes shut tightly.

"Thanks..." he murmured quietly, running the same hand through his orange hair before letting it fall in his lap. Yet another moment of silence passed before a chill ran up his spine and caused a shiver to travel through his skin. Vezio's eyes opened slowly, his eyelids low as he looked over at the bottle of wine. He merely stared at it before reaching his hand out slightly and swiping his fingers in the air like a sort of, "Gimme it," motion, his eyes turned to the side.

[Purple]

"No problem," she said, handing him the bottle. Raven sipped her wine, watching him carefully. If his reaction was any indication, he'd been dreaming about the encounter with the Slayer that morning. She thought of her own Slayer nightmares, which, though slightly different, couldn't be much worse than what he'd been having. He felt like crap, that much was clear, and honestly, she wasn't feeling so great at the moment either. Even if vampires couldn't die from the cold like humans, they still felt like they were going to, and it wasn't at pleasant. She looked back at the wheel of the boat, knowing she would have to return to it eventually, and decided that she would put that off for a little while. She had time to stay inside and warm up if this island was as uninhabited as it appeared to be and the police were as oblivious as the seemed to be. Best take advantage of it.

"Move over," she muttered, sitting down on the edge of the makeshift bed, "It's fucking freezing out there."