Author: Mel
Rating: R/NC-17
Pairings: 1X2X3X4X5
Warnings: Yaoi, AU, Relena/Zechs bashing, Vampires, Lemon and dark eventually
Spoilers: none, AU
Feedback: C&C
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing isn't mine, I'm making no money from this.
Comments: I've been going to do this for a while, but hadn't got around to writing it. The pairings are fairly broad range, and, hopefully, they'll work well together. Also, I'm not in uni/college yet, so I'm guessing with most of the stuff. The movie 'Save the last dance' and the 'Night World' series are the inspiration for this.

Life Blood... Chapter 14

And I would be the one
to hold you down,
kiss you so hard,
I'll take your breath away
and after I'd wipe away the tears,
Just close your eyes dear
- Possession - Sarah McLachlan

Duo growled, actually growled, the sound reverberated through his body as he took a step toward the demon. It was Quatre's hand that fell on his arm.

"No."

Duo looked at him, violet eyes wide in surprise. "No?"

Quatre still seemed to glow with the power he had only moments before, though it was not quite as bright, and it made Duo stop. The blonde shook lightly in Heero's arms but when he spoke again his voice was strong. "Don't Duo, leave it be."

"But Kat, he killed Hilde, I have to," he trailed off but his violet eyes shimmered. Hilde was dead but the thought of her still seemed to burn him. He missed her so much, and here was one of the few people he loved telling him he could not avenger her death.

Quatre's blue eyes were soft and the hand that rested on Duo's forearm stroked softly against the worn leather. "She would not be happy that you were killing for her sake Duo." Quatre told him quietly. "Leave him alone, just for now."

"Why?" Quatre shook his head, "I don't know, but he can't die now."

"He's the new Headmaster," Wufei said softly, touching Duo's braid lightly. The touch seemed to help ease some of the tension in his frame. "We can watch him, we can make sure nothing else happens Duo." Dark eyes looked at Quatre and the Asian man smiled. "We should trust Kat's judgement. We have ignored him for too long."

Trowa nodded and Heero's arms around his slim figure tightened. Quatre's smile was sunny for the first time that night. Duo seemed torn but eventually sighed in defeat, nodding quietly, shoulders slumping.

"All right," Duo, smile tiredly. "I trust you Kat." Then he shook his head, watching as they let the demon walk on. He shook his head and rid himself of the sober mood that descended on him. "So are we going to kill some Vampire scum or not?"

Heero's arms moved from around Quatre but he left one hand on the blondes shoulder, kissing the top of his head unconsciously. "Yes, lets."

+

It wasn't long before the found what the boys had been originally looking for, a band of vampires currently roaming a park. Quatre was surprised to see that they looked just like a band of normal teens roaming about on a Saturday night. They all looked beautiful and graceful, the women had hair the glowed and the men eyes that shone. Beautiful.

And deadly.

Quatre did not have to read minds to know. It was simply amazing how different from Relena and Miliardo these creatures felt. He counted quickly, there were twelve all up.

"I'll stay here."

The other four exchanged glances at Quatre's softly spoken words. None of them had expected that and they looked at him.

Quatre looked a little sheepish. "I don't think my power works like yours, I think I have to be defending, not attacking."

They all smiled and nodded. Heero kissed the top of his head, Trowa his cheeks, Duo teasingly at his lips and Wufei's caressed his neck softly. The idea they all said their goodbyes in different ways made the blonde blush and he settled to see what would happen. They had already faded off into the night so that could only feel their presence fleetingly at the edge of his consciousness. It was easy to see they had done this a number of times.

The Vampires didn't even realise what was going on as Duo's hands snaked out in the dark, gloved fingers wrapping around one of the creature's necks. He flicked his wrists and Quatre could hear the bones snap from where he was sitting, watching the creature become dust in a few seconds. Even as the Vampire dropped the others were up, panic already flowing through their veins.

Two ran straight away, running towards the trees, hoping beyond hope to out run what they thought was only one opponent. They found just how wrong they were when the flash of silver as Trowa's knives came down and into them. They had somehow opened so that each knife had five blades. Like a wild beast. They sliced through their clothes and skin, Quatre cringed at the blood that went everywhere. They screamed, Quatre could see the fangs extend as they launched themselves at Trowa. The Vampires were running on instinct more then anything else, their minds clouded by the pain they were obviously in.

They were fast, and brutal. But Trowa knew what he was doing, he had been killing vampires for a long time. He danced out of the feeble attack, bringing the knives down across their backs. They fell and didn't get back up, the claw marks oozing the Vampire blood, their eyelids open but the eyeballs completely missing.

The other nine Vampires became a circle, closing together, fangs out and eyes wild. They searched the dark for the others they seemed to know would be there. Wufei came out into the light, sword resting lightly in his grasp, the kimono billowing around his slight figure. The Vampires hissed at him, pulling closer together as a group. Duo and Trowa both moved so they were to in the light. And then Heero made up the fourth point of the circle around them, brandishing his glaive.

"Star boys," came the hiss from one of the Vampires but Quatre had bare moments to wonder about it before one of the Vampires flew at Wufei. The Asian boy brought his sword up and back down in a simple gesture, slicing through the vampire's skin as if it were butter. The cut was clean and he could hear the vampire take his last breath even as he began to mummify. An already decaying skeleton hit the ground.

The different ways of killing, each unique in their own way, but they all did the same thing. Quatre remembered his own bright light that engulfed the Vampires he had fought so far. Three of them decided to test their skills against Heero all at once, which would have been a smart idea, if they hadn't gone after Heero. He knew how to use the glaive in his hand and he spun it in an easy circle above his head, slicing in a fast arc into the first creature. The blade passed amazingly easily through its body before his hands shifted and he brought it up and straight down into the second. The third was caught in the back as it tried to run by a second arc.

All three fell, and Quatre was surprised too watch them glow. It wasn't that they were glowing was strange, but they seemed to glow in shadow, as if they were caught in shadow. As if shadow were some sort of light and it engulfed they suddenly fading bodies. He too left no corpse, Quatre thought in surprise.

He didn't have a great deal of time to contemplate such a thought as Trowa and Duo charged the remaining five beasts. One broke free and came straight at him. She was a young woman, Quatre even recognised her from one of his classes, and he had even thought her to be pretty a few days before when he had passed her in the corridor. Now she saw him, as she dodged Heero and Wufei, slipping through the trees, snarling in fury.

She slammed him up against a tree and snarled, teeth extending, trying to provoke free to feed and to get stronger. Quatre watched the moon glint off her teeth, felt her try to feed. His mind brushed against his and, as if it were a finger, Quatre caught the tendril that brushed at him. And he followed it back, falling head first into her mind.

Fear, so much of it, fear of death, of him. And so incredibly old. She was running on survival now, a creature of instinct, but she enjoyed Creed and wanted to try her hand at archaeology after being in teaching for so long. She had a life, was happy, and had been in love with a hot dog vender on the street a few blocks away a long time ago.

Why do I have to kill you?

Her eyes cleared for a moment and Quatre was vaguely aware of the other boy's shouts. She touched him back, caressing his mind, easing his back. And she was crying like the others had, big wet tears that ran down her cheeks, her lips, her fangs. She felt so sadly old suddenly.

"Please my prince," she whispered, placing a soft kiss against his cheek, "I am so old my Prince."

"I know sweet one," Quatre returned, wrapping his arms around her shuddering frame. He felt his power rise around them as she cried into Wufei's shirt that he still wore.

"Do you believe in an afterlife my Prince?"

Quatre smiled at her as the world became so bright around them. For a moment she looked so new to the world again, so fragile and fearful of what was to come. He kissed the top of her head, lips brushing against her fine hair. "You will be with him again, go with love sweet one."

She was still crying, clinging to him as the light engulfed her and she was fading away. And yet she smiled up at him, eyes bright, full of hope. "Thank you my Prince."

Quatre's arms felt empty as the light passed on again. He became aware of the tears running down his cheeks and the crisp early morning breeze. He looked at the four boys who surround him, surprise and wonder on their faces, Duo didn't even seem to realise he too was crying. And then Quatre's world went black, the last thing he felt was Heero's arms once again wrapped around his small frame.

[ch. 13] [ch. 15] [back to Mel's fic]