Sally was scared. Sylph had been acting more and more aggressive lately. She had, on her own authority, kidnapped one of their tormentors entire family and then butchered them. The method was hers, yet taken farther. A whole family going missing along with all of the disappearances had made the local police call an emergency situation in the town and they were in over drive. The worst part was that Sylph had come back, that same smile on her face with her eyes glowing that calming sea green clutching a severed head to her chest.
"W-Why would you bring that here?" Sally whispered shrilly at Sylph who cocked her head in confusion. "That head! Why did you bring it with you?"
"Sylph thought Sally might like it." She replied offering the head to Sally.
"I don't want it! Get rid of it!"

Sylph's expression turned into a pout and she trudged outside where she simply chucked the head up into the sky. Sally watched in awe as it sailed through the air and simply vanished into the night. She didn't hear it hit the ground. Sylph had come inside then and with a big smile hugged her.
"They were tasty tonight." She said with a big smile on her face. "All of them so tasty. Sylph's belly is full." She rubbed her stomach tenderly.
"I didn't tell you to kill anyone tonight. We were supposed to do it together." She closed the door and resisted the urge to slam it as hard as she could. She turned on the vampire, anger burning in her eyes. "Get yourself cleaned up!" She ordered noticing the blood on Sylph's skin.
She waited patiently but Sylph didn't move. "Well?" She asked imperiously, "Get going."
"Sylph... Sylph doesn't feel too good. Her tummy hurts." She complained.
"Wonderful. You didn't eat anything disgusting did you?"
" The daddy. He smelled.... funny. His blood tasted weird."

Wait... Daddy? What? "Sylph... What did you do?" Sally asked feeling her fear growing. "Who did you kill?"
"Sylph was hungry, really hungry. So she ate them all. The mommy, the daddy, the mean boy and the sister. All of them." She stood up then and took a few staggering steps and tripped over her own feet. Laying on the floor she giggled. "Silly feet. Sylph wants to go forward not down."
Sally went to her side and helped her to her feet. She hadn't noticed it before but Sylph smelled of sweat, blood and.... and... she hadn't gotten the chance often due to her age, but she thought it smelled like alcohol. Just great. Not only had she killed the boy's entire family, but now she was drunk or something.
"How stupid are you?" Sally let her drop to the floor again and Sylph's giggle and her saying "uh-oh" got her even angrier. "You don't do anything that I don't tell you to do! Understand? I am your master. I saved your life so you're in my debt."

Sylph seemed to think about it. What Sally said wasn't right. Sylph had been saved by her but that didn't mean Sally was her master. A feeling that had been inside her since the day the two of them had first met grew larger in that moment. Sally's anger and outburst wasn't proper of someone of her status. Sylph knew that she was a vampire. Sally was only a human. How dare she talk that way. It wasn't her place to give orders. Sylph stood up so quickly that her head was light and she felt like she'd just fall down again but she managed to keep herself upright.
"Sylph is not stupid. Sally is stupid. All Sally ever says is how great vampires are. Sylph has read your books and knows that vampires are superior to humans. Humans are no better than a vampire's pet. Sally is stupid and needs to shut up before... before Sylph... ugghh" In the middle of her tirade Sylph doubled over, her hand going to her mouth on instinct. She made a few more gurgling noises and then threw up a stomach full of scarlet blood all over the entryway floor.

Sally sensing her moment of superiority, and with her anger boiling her blood she stepped forward, grabbed the collar of Sylph's shirt and pulled her to her knees. "Don't you ever! Ever! Talk to me like that again! You vampire bitch!" And then with all of her strength she slapped Sylph, who's head snapped around 180 degrees. Sally let the girl drop to the floor and she fled upstairs.

For a while Sylph simply laid on the floor in the puddle of blood. The sting of Sally's slap glowed red on her cheek and she didn't know what to do about it. The blow had come as such a shock to her that she didn't know what to do now. Her stomach growled since it was now empty and since she didn't know what to think next a more primal part of her took over. She lapped up the blood on the floor until there was none left and then fell asleep.

Once her anger had dissipated Sally had curled up on her mattress and pulled the blankets tighter around herself. She was scared. More scared than she ever remembered being in her life. She was so stupid. She slapped a vampire. A Vampire for god's sake! One that had just killed an entire family before coming back here. She heard a quiet slurping sound and her mind pictured Sylph lapping up the blood on the floor. Her eyes burning green and she looked up and all Sally could see in them was a monster. Had I really wanted to become one of those? She wasn't so sure anymore. All of the romantic fiction and other stories with vampires had never been able to relay the pure fear that a vampire could instill in someone. She had been so focused on her revenge that she hadn't ever considered what Sylph actually was. She didn't sleep at all that night.

Sylph opened her eyes and saw the floor at an odd angle. She yawned and sat up rubbing at her eyes. Her head hurt kinda and her body was stiff from sleeping on the tiled floor. She stretched and stood up another yawn and she felt her cheek sting. She unconsciously brought a hand up to touch the skin there. Then she felt someone staring at her and she turned her head to see Sally standing there in her pajamas. Eyes wide with fear.
"Good mor..." Then the memories of last night hit her. Sally yelling, her yelling. Sally hitting her. Anger filled her and countered the pounding in her head. "Human filth! Worthless cattle!" She shouted startling Sally. She charged at the girl only to stop a foot away leaning over her where she had fallen backwards and sat cornered against the wall. A stain was rapidly spreading from the crotch of her pajamas as she looked up at Sylph.
"I-I-I-I-I'm-I'm s-s-s-sorry!" Sally cried shielding her face with her arms. Sylph closed her fist and her arm shot forward lightning fast.

The noise was so close and so loud that Sally could have sworn it was her head making it as her skull caved in and gave way. She hesitantly opened her eyes and turned her head slowly. Sylph's expression of hatred chilled her to the bone and her arm was close enough to her face that her cheek brushed against it as she turned her head. Sylph's arm was buried halfway to her elbow in the wall. As she watched Sylph pulled her arm out dragging several chunks of cardboard and drywall with it.

"I should kill you, you worthless dog. But I think those police you kept talking about will be more than happy to do it for me. SO enjoy being burned at the stake."
Sylph turned away and stormed out of the house slamming teh door behind her as hard as she could. Coincidentally this tore the door from its frame and so she simply tossed it into the yard and stormed off into the streets of the city where she randomly punched walls and other things. When she grew hungry she simply grabbed a man who wore clothes with holes in it and drank him dry. She felt her world tilt slightly as the taste filled her mouth again, same as the man the other night but she didn't mind. She relished the inebriation and continued her frustrated march through the city.

Meanwhile Sally curled up into a ball and sobbed as she felt her body relieve itself where she was.

OOT: I warned you...

The room, though dark, was gleaming white. Liquids, strange chemicals and substances, bubbled in vials and test tubes.
The door opened and two old looking men came in. A strange grace to their movements gave away their vampiric nature, and the power they carried themselves with told of ancient blood in supernatural veins.
"You have informed the others?"
"They have no say in the matter. I have already obtained the samples."
"And you're certain that the human will do as we instructed?"
"One fact of their kind is that they are sentimental, fearful beings. The fool will do anything to bring back that which he thought lost."
A slightly balding human lay slumped over a computer that buzzed and beeped with data.
"How long before completion?"
"We will need a few more weeks. Days at best. Unless, of course, the other council members can be persuaded..."
The taller of the pair tilted his head.
"They would never understand. They trust all those below them blindly, so assured of their own superiority, but watch each others like chess players. We must certify our superiority, and make sure our dominance. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
The human started stirring, mumbling a name in his sleep.
"...Matthew... I... I'm so sorry..."
The shorter one sniffed in derision. "Pathetic."

Talon hugged Katia, "Well then.....what do you think she'll say when she finds out I'm alive.....?"

Katia rested her head on Talon's chest. "I'm sure she will be surprised." She replied. "She did leave you for dead...she would be surprised that you're with me, and that I was the one that saved your life."

******

Valentina had the car stopped, as she waited for the 'child' the counsel had asked her to find. "The school is in this area, so I'm sure if we are patient enough we will find this child." As she said this, she saw a small girl across the street, on some kind of tangent. Valentina got out of the car, and could smell blood on the wind. Her eyes glowed a soft red, then turned back to their blue luster.
"Is she the one?" One of Valentina's female 'servants' asked.
Valentina nodded her head. "Yes." She replied. "Give me five minutes, then follow me." She ordered, then vanished.
Valentina rushed across the street, faster than human eyes could keep up with, and grabbed the small child, carrying her into the alley, then set her down. "My dear girl, you're lucky I was not ordered to kill you for the things you've done." She said to Sylph.

Talon held her in his arms, "But will she want to kill me or you instantly?"

Katia looked at Talon. "I really don't know." She replied honestly. "Though it's true that ancient purebloods are more violent, it's really hard to gauge how one will react in any situation."

"Who are you? Why are you attacking Sylph?" She asked staring up in curiosity at the woman who had just grabbed her. It had all been so fast.

**************

The pack moved through the city, hoods pulled up to hide their faces, their bodies covered completely in dark blacks and browns. Moving in a silent sync only interrupted by the occasional mumbled question. They wandered through town, searching tirelessly and efficiently though they asked questions of no one. With their search finished all four of them stood on the driveway staring at Sally's house.

****************

Sally sat with her mother watching TV. When one of the neighbors had seen the door lying in the yard they had immediately called the police. After entering the house they found Sally curled up in a ball and shaking. When they tried asking her what had happened she refused to answer and they concluded that she was too upset to think clearly. They called her mother, who rushed home, and tried to console her shaken daughter. She also informed the police of Sylph, and they said they'd keep an eye out for her. The police concluded that the break in had been conducted by whoever had been kidnapping other children Sally's age.
The door was replaced, the hole in the wall patched and her mother had decided to take time off work to make sure her daughter was all right. She asked about Sylph but Sally didn't know what to tell her, so she just said she didn't know. And now here the two of them were, watching TV and not talking, because neither really knew what to say to the other. Sally was just glad her mother was actually home for once and they could be together. Her mother clearly didn't know what to say because she didn't spend any time with her daughter at all. She was completely estranged.
The doorbell dinged and donged its little tune in the hallway and Sally got up to get it. She opened the door, expecting...something. Instead she saw four similar faces with green glowing eyes and creepy smiles.

***************

The pack advanced into the house dragging Sally with them. Her mother was easily subdued. The pack leader stepped forward.
"Where is 404?" She asked emotionlessly.
"404?" Sally and her mother both asked. The leader nodded to one of the pack members and the member snapped the mother's leg. The woman screamed. Sally stared in shock.
"Where is 404?" The leader repeated again.
"Who is 404?" Sally's mother sobbed through the pain. Another nod from the leader. The pack member ground the two edges of the broken bone against one another.
"We have as long as we need. You will tell us where 404 went." There was certainty in the leader's emotionless tone.
"Do... Do you mean Sylph?" Sally asked, not wanting to see her mother hurt anymore.
The leader's creepy smile turned predatory.

Valentina folded her arms, as she stared down at the child with a disappointing stare- the same kind of stare a mother would use on a troublesome child. "I am not attacking you, child." Valentina stated flatly, in a tone only a mother would use. "If I wanted to, believe me, you'd offer up little resistance against a pureblood."

"Pure... Blood?" Sylph asked. She thought hard, trying to see if the term made sense to her. It didn't. "Sylph does not know what that is."
She considered why the woman would possibly be coming after her and a thought came to her.
"Sylph wasn't going to hurt Sally. Sylph just wanted to scare her. Sally was being mean to Sylph after all the help Sylph gave her. Sylph got angry and yelled at Sally. Sylph is sorry, but Sylph doesn't think she can talk to Sally again." She looked like she might start to cry. She had lost her temper and hadn't meant to be mean to Sally. But Sally had hit her. Yelled at her for helping. It wasn't fair.

*****************

They didn't get any information. The girl didn't know where 404 had gone. The pack's leader was angry and she took it out on her victims. The pack members complied without hesitation and the night was full of experimentation. They didn't normally get to torture, so she had to experiment. It went well but the two died quicker than she had anticipated so she just played with the bodies as they cooled. Breaking bones, tearing out organs, using parts of the body to torture. She learned a lot even without the screams.
"Leader, there is no point in furthering our actions here." 407 said to her. She nodded and tossed the eyeball she had been playing with back at the corpses.
"Very well. 409, ask for new instructions. Let's get moving."
'Yes Leader" They acknowledged and filed out of the house. Their leader looked at the back of her hand. The number 410 was tattooed there.

The corpse was intact, completely drained, hooked up to pumps and various tubes.
"Are we ready?"
"It is a grave undertaking we do here. We make this decision, we must be certain. We will face obstacles."
"Yet... who could get in the way?"
"With our new soldier on our side... no-one."
Two vampiric smiles formed in the darkness.
"Shall we convene the council?"
"It may be the only way to obtain the final touches. Their hearts must be taken."
They left the room, about to commit an act of violence so heinous it would be remembered for thousands of years to come...

Talon looked Katia in the eye, "If its what I need to be with you, and to help keep us both safe, I'll do it......even if I have to stab her to get her blood......"

Katia looked into Talon's eyes. "You remembered something before you fell unconscious; didn't you?" She said with a worried expression on her pale features.

******

Valentina looked down to Slyph with a disappointed expression on her face. "Well, whatever the case, you have to be more careful." She said in the same motherly tone. "You cannot just go out and take children on a whim. There are consequences for your actions." She looked more closely to the child, then knelt down to her height, and placed her hand on Slyph's head. "No, you can't talk to Sally again, or see her again. The counsel is on their way to her house to compel her to forget her time with you, and to compel her family to leave the city to keep you from going back there." She tilted her head softly. "Do you know where your mother is?"

Sylph shook her head. "Sylph doesn't have a mother. Sally found Sylph in an alley. Sylph was almost dead." She looked into Valentina's eyes as the woman put a calming hand on her head. Sylph sniffed as she felt tears coming. "Sally gave Sylph blood and Sylph helped Sally. Sylph...Sylph doesn't remember anything before Sally found her. But, but there is a dream Sylph has a lot." She felt herself grow colder at the memory she hugged Valentina and began to cry into her dress as she spoke, her words muffled by the fabric and her tears. "Sylph is in a cold place. Sylph can't move and there are people talking in numbers. They hurt Sylph. Put things into her body, take things out. It hurts. It hurts Sylph so much. She is so scared." She starts to sob.

**************

410 was calm as she reviewed the message relayed to her by 409. It simply said that they were to locate 404 and that all who have seen her must be eliminated. As it stood 410 was confused by the commands. It would draw far more attention if they killed everyone who had been in contact with 404. Half the town would need to be removed and that would be an unacceptable breach of her SOGs. She communicated this to their handler for this mission, Unit 406, and was told that she would check to be completely sure.
406 came back, "410, orders are being changed. There is a group of vampires heading for the location of confirmed 404 activity. You are to head there and eliminate this team. They cannot discover the corpses of the girl and her mother." 406's voice was a monotone buzz over the radio.
"410 copies. Will return to previous location and engage the new targets."
She turned her pack around and the four of them moved as quick as possible while remaining unnoticed.

**********

Artemis was bored as he rode in the car with his two companions. Elizabeth and Anselm were chatty, this being their first Council given assignment. He hadn't bothered asking where the two were from, how old they were, or their parents names. He was perfectly content being the no nonsense superior on this job. The sooner it was done the sooner he could get back to his wife.
"This is a simple assignment." He said, interrupting their nervous conversation. "We get inside, get them to pack up and then we leave. No complications, no stealing and no turning them." The two other vampires gave reproachful looks his way but he had been listening to their conversations the whole ride. Anselm had mused about taking the mother for himself if she was good looking. And Elizabeth had said that having a child vampire would hold her over until she was married.
"While the two of you were busy, I had a look over the file. We can use the fact that the girl was bullied and since her tormentors were all victims we can compel them into leaving due to them being constantly suspect. Does that work for the two of you?"
They discussed the topic heatedly until the two of them finally caved into his demands.
"Good now that that's decided. Driver," he called up to the front of the car. A window slid down and the back of the male chauffeur's head was visible. "How much farther?"
"Only about five minutes, My Lord." The man replied.
The window went back up and he went quiet while the two vampires started up their conversation again.

*************

410 watched as the car turned the corner and pulled into the driveway. She sat patiently in a crouch, her legs burning from so long without moving. The bush that served as her concealment rustled softly in the low wind. She knew that 408 was out here with her somewhere. 407 and 409 had been positioned inside. The plan was to let the vampires enter the house, get distracted by the corpses then they would execute their ambush. The rear doors opened and three people got out, two men and one woman. The driver stayed in the car. 410 waited, her patience was running thin as the vampires took their time entering the house. Finally the front door closed until it was only somewhat ajar. A smile broke out on her young face and in an instant she was standing on the porch. A few noises of struggle came from behind her and 408 was standing there, blood on her chin and her arms. 410 took a look back at the car, knowing she didn't need to but wanting to be sure of it herself. The driver lay on the driveway his feet still on the car seat. A dark pool of blood was coming from the stump of his neck. The head was languidly rolling itself partway down the driveway.
She looked at 408, saw her eyes and knew the hidden hurt at her having double checked her work. The door was opened at the two of them stealthily made their way inside.

**********
Artemis looked at the blood drying on the floor, the splatter on the walls and let out a sigh. Well that was one problem dealt with at least. Not the best way but at least whatever had happened to the woman and her child had probably ended their suffering quickly judging by the bodies. He hadn't been the fist to discover the bodies. Elizabeth had let him know of it. The look on her face would have passed for appalled and horrified by human standards. However she was a vampire and was no stranger to corpses in any state.
Even so, looking at the pile of severed limbs and organs, it was hard to tell what had belonged to the mother and what to the daughter. The only differences he could spy were bones that could have been smaller than others. He saw the two heads, missing their eyes, brains cut out, jaws torn away, gruesome things. If he had been a few hundred years younger perhaps this scene would have given him a bad taste in his mouth. He was too old now to really care. That didn't mean he wasn't disturbed by whoever had done this.
"Okay, Anslem, Elizabeth. We need to figure out who did this and report to the council." He turned to the other two. "First thing first. Let's figure out what's Mom's and what's Daughter's."
The other two nodded somewhat reluctantly. Elizabeth cast a furtive glance to her dress. "You could strip if you want. It wouldn't get dirty then." Anslem suggested with a playful look on his face.
Elizabeth gave him a dirty look and strode determinedly towards the gore pile.
They had separated the gore into a few different piles. There was Mom, Daughter for what they could associate then they had all the unidentified materials. The organs, bones, bits of muscle and tissue, eyeballs and everything else thrown together.
Artemis sighed in frustration, this was going to take much longer than necessary. He took a camera from a pocket and tossed it to Anslem. "Start taking pictures of this. The longer we stay here the more likely we'll be discovered. Get to it!"
A vomiting sound came from behind them and they all turned, bodies tensed ready to kill. A young girl, roughly the age of the daughter was bent over in the doorway holding her stomach. A puddle of vomit on the floor. Elizabeth went over to the girl.
"Hey there, honey. What are you doing here? You know it's not polite to sneak into other people's houses." She listened to the girl's shaky voice and tried to comfort her. The compulsion would go easier if the girl was calm.
Artemis turned back to the job at hand.

*************
409 looked at the woman who was kneeling before her, trying to soothe her. She saw the woman's eyes glow red and played along with her words. 409 then got bored. She was tired of crying and throwing up hadn't been as interesting as she had expected it to be. The taste in her mouth was bad and it smelled bad. One of them men said something and she turned away for a second. 409 took her opportunity. Jaws closing on the woman's neck, teeth puncturing her carotid artery, a hole torn in her airway. The blood immediately washed the taste of vomit from her mouth. The woman made a gurgling sound. 409 put more pressure until she tore a chunk from the woman's throat. Her hand was lightning fast closing around the woman's spinal cord. Crushing it in her hand, 409 tore the woman's head from her torso and crushed it under her foot. The body fell convulsing to the floor before it went still.

************************

"Elizabeth, hurry up with her. We don't have all day." Artemis said to the female vampire. He was worried that she might try to take the child as her own.
"I'm-" Whatever she had been about to say was cut off as she started to gurgle. Artemis and Anslem both turned at the unexpected sound to see the girl had bitten Elizabeth's throat. Before their eyes they watched as their companion was killed. Artemis was in shock while Anslem let out a cry of rage and charged the girl. Before he could lay his hands on her a shape blasted in through the door and hit him squarely in the chest. Anslem was up in a flash and moved against his attacker. The young girl stood there, eyes glowing green as her companion got to her feet, blood still dripping from her chin.
Their faces are the same. Artemis noted in shock. Something was wrong here. Something very wrong. Two more girls entered the room, their eyes both glowing green, predatory grins on their faces that were the same. The council has to know. I need to tell them.
Anslem was calling for his help. The two girls were overpowering him as they fought. he managed to land a blow on one of them and sent her flying. The other one tore his achilles tendon and he went down. The other three were on top of him instantly. Artemis could only watch as Anslem was torn apart.
He tried to move but for some reason he couldn't. Is this fear? He asked himself. He stared into the faces of the girls. Their eyes glowing green, blood covered smiles on their faces. The one that Anslem had hit came limping back into the room. She was injured and didn't appear to be healing.
"What are you?" He asked them uncertainly.
"I am Sylph.[/]" One said. "Sylph is Sylph." Another spoke up. "We are Sylph." Said a third. "Hurts." The fourth one said.
He forced himself to move. His hand passed easily through the flesh and bone of her chest. He stood there, the Sylph looked at him through wide eyes that were no longer glowing. Eyes a shade of green that reminded him of his wife's. The others grabbed him and pulled him away from her. Their smiles gone, rage in their eyes. He fought them as best he could but they simply dismembered him. His last thought, as their jaws closed on his body was, Helena... I... Love you.

*****************
410 pulled her bloody face from the male vampires neck and took her hand from inside his skull. She licked the grey gobbits of brain tissue from her skin and crushed the skull. 408 removed the remains from the rest of the body. As a group they got up and congregated around 409. They crouched down next to her. 407 put her head in her lap. 410 took one of her hands in both of hers. 408 sat on 409's other side, tears in her eyes. They said their farewells to their sister and ended her suffering. 408 did it, reaching inside 409's open ribcage, wrapping a hand around her heart and crushing it. They took her body with them outside. They laid her on a small pile of sticks and leaves. Sprinkling some powder from a pouch on their fallen sister's body and the wood beneath her. One of them lit a match and tossed it onto the pile. The powder immediately caught and the whole pile burned with a white flame. 409's body was reduced to ash in a couple of minutes. With the funeral rites finished the three remaining members left. 410 called in to 406 to inform her of 409's death.
410 wished it would start raining, but it didn't.

Talon nodded, "Yes.....something of the sort.......I'm.....I'm afraid of what I was as a human....."

Katia kept her eyes on Talon's...she wanted to move...but she was afraid to...she knew that her insides were still repairing itself. "And how do you feel about your vampire life?" She asked.

******

Valentina picked up Slyph from the ground, just as her female 'servant' and driver arrived in the alleyway. Valentina looked at the pair. "We're fine." She told them, then looked down at Slyph. "I'm going to take you to my house. You'll be safe there. I only ask you to do one thing...do not leave the house, until I find your mother. Okay?"

Talon sighed, "I don't feel bad about this......I just feel bad about my human life.....from what these memories are telling me......I was a vampire hunter......"

Katia sat up in the bed, wincing softly as she did so. "Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that." Katia spoke, as she looked at Talon. "Some purebloods have worked with vampire hunters in the past. In truth, when the counsel was first formed, they turned to humans to help 'rein in' troublesome vampires."

Sylph clung tighter to the woman as she was lifted from the ground. She nodded when the woman said that she'd be staying at her home. "Is it a big house? Sylph doesn't want to be stuck inside a small house." Her words weren't mean, just curious in the way a child's were. Valentina took her to a car and the two sat inside. Sylph sat in her lap and let her body relax. She yawned then, having expelled a lot of energy in her temper tantrum across the city. "Sylph is sleepy." She said rubbing at one eye. A thought came to her and she mumbled the words out. "You can be Sylph's mother so you don't have to look for one.[/i]"
"..."
Sylph closed her eyes and fell asleep.

**********************

410 led her two sisters through town following 404's trail of destruction. This was comprised of overturned street lights, cars with unexplained dents, walls missing chunks, broken windows and other simple things like that. She followed it expertly, seeing the movement of 404 in the acts of violence. When she thought about her mission she didn't like it. 404, like her team, was a sister. All of them were batch one of the 400 series. She sighed. Orders were orders though.
"Leader, is something bothering you?" 407 asked curiously.
"Is it 409?" 408 asked, 410 could hear the tears in her voice.
"No. It's just 404. That's all."
The other two looked at one another and the group kept on moving.

The counsel were all assembled.
Some were sat in chairs, talking quietly with each other. Some were on their phones, talking to scouts and spies.
All was immaterial. The coup was now.

"I would require the attention of the counsel," Herdeus - a thin, aged, relatively nonthreatening-looking council member - proclaimed. As was usual whenever Hurdeus asked for attention, he was ignored for the most part.
A far more respected council member spoke up.
"I concur. There is much we must discuss. Especially with the matter of the team we authorized." Many looked over at Cervengeance. He was a fierce, scarred and cunning council member. Rumors abounded he had been at the Battle of Thermopylae, when the 300 Spartans had faced down the Persian hordes. One vampire who had seen himself as noble and essential in the eyes of the council had once made a joke about "this being Sparta" within earshot of Cervengeance.
The vampire's entire family and bloodline had been dismembered and every trace of them systematically purged from the face of the earth.
Herdeus on the other hand, was on the council as the "young-blood." He had been placed on the council as the youngest pure-blood, and that meant that everyone thought of him as a child - an injustice that still rankled.
They were arrogant, certain of their power. Today, thought Herdeus, that would all change.

The council took their seats.
"Firstly, our team was disabled, presumed dead. This rogue group must be dealt with. Promptly."
They looked around at Herdeus.
"Send out another team." Herdeus bristled, as always made to do the dirty work.
Cervengeance raised a hand.
"Fellow councilmen. I must raise an issue you may have heard from Herdeus."
There were derisive laughs from around the table, and Herdeus was physically shaking from rage and embarrassment.
"Yes, yes... this "frivolity" he insists we donate to. I assure you, Cervengeance, we have no intent of buying into such a foolish dream. He speaks of fantasy, delusion, and indeed I motion to have him removed from the council."
Cervengeance spoke before anyone else could.

"I will instead, my friend, make this motion. You all WILL make the summary donation to Herdeus's project, and you WILL submit to our motion."

The council looked completely stunned. A few looked at each other wondering if Cervengeance had gone completely insane. A few looked on the verge of rising from their chairs. A few snarled angrily, baring their teeth.

"This is madness! You do not run this council! I do not know what lies that child has poured into your ears, but I assure you this will not stand! You two are but few against many. Now be seated and quell this foolish babble!"

Herdeus looked over at Cervengeance. "I have told them your argument, yet they do not listen."

"Silence child! Cervengeance, we do not need some monster running around, some abomination that flies in the face of our creed - our way of life! The status quo -"

"-is under threat, and will crumble into dust while you prattle on about how superior we are," Cervengeance hissed. "Our operations are failing with increasing rapidity. More factions and events outside our control are springing into existence - if we do not consolidate, we will fall."

The council were reclining into their chairs, shaking their heads.
"We never had you pegged for a fool, Cervengeance."

Herdeus and Cervengeance slipped something into their ears and slipped on sunglasses.
"You were a fool to think we would accept refusal."

Click.

The seats of all the chairs in the room suddenly popped out a slot. All the council members looked down between their legs to see what it was.
Inside each seat was concealed a military flashbang grenade.

BANG!

The room was instantly a white haze. The council members reeled, completely deaf, blind, disoriented.
Herdeus and Cervengeance started moving, and blood started splashing around the room. Council members fell like wheat before the scythe, and their bodies were thrown against walls or dropped unceremoniously over chairs and the table, phones crushed like metal confetti.
Two of them regained their senses, and managed to stagger upright, staring around the room at the carnage.
"Who's the fools now?!" Herdeus taunted, only to receive a slap on the back of the head from Cervengeance.
"You two. We won't kill you if you come with us. MOVE!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few moments later, the dumbfounded council members were placing the bodies of their colleagues in what looked like electric chairs crossed with IVs. A few moments later - while Cerveangance broke their legs with brutally placed kicks to make sure they couldn't flee for the moment - they watched, aghast, as their colleague's bodies were squeezed like oranges, blood gushing through tubes into a single, murky floating body in a pod. A human stared, gasping helplessly.
Then. At last.
The shape started moving, then flailing, wildly slashing at it's bonds, then -
The glass shattered, and the creature hit the floor, hissing. It rose.
A boy, a teenager, not yet a man. His eyes were white, the irises like snow.
His confused, terrified, scared gaze swept the room.
Then, the council members healed their legs and ran for the exit.
The movement awoke the newly born predator in the boy. A predator that had not been born for centuries.
It moved. Bones snapped. Flesh tore. Screams died away to gurgles then nothing.
Cervengeance allowed himself a smile.
Herdeus grinned and spat on the bodies.
The human stuttered, staggering forwards.
"Matthew... oh, Matthew..."

The boy looked round at them.
"Where the hell am I?!"

Talon's hands were shaking, "I killed a vampire.....a young looking woman.....who looked exactly like you......"

"Really?!" Katia said in a somewhat surprised tone.

******

"I won't be your mother; but I will take care of you like one." Valentina said to Slyph, then looked at her female 'servant'. "You will help me." She said to her.
"Yes ma'am." The female mid-level vampire responded.

******

One of Saraphis' 'servants' walked into her room. Saraphis was laying in the unusually large bed, with no expression on her face.
"Mistress...I thought you should know...the counsel is dead."
Saraphis looked at the servant, and her eyes flashed red. "That's excellent news." She said...though she was pleased, her expression, and the tone in her voice did not reflect this.

Talon placed his hands over his eyes, "I keep seeing her, the way my knife entered her neck, the sound she made when she screamed, the wound she inflicted upon me, I remember it all, and I hate myself for it."

Katia moved again, grunting softly, as she turned on the bed, so that she could look Talon in the eye. "Talon," she took his hand in her own; "you can't live in regret from the life you once had. I know I don't have any right to say that, since I was born a vampire, but holding on to that regret...it will eat you alive." She said, with a concerned expression on her face. She then released Talon's hand, and leaned forward, gripping her abdomen, as she did so. "Ah...I shouldn't have moved..." she breathed.

Sylph opened her eyes and stared through the transparent material surrounding her in all directions. Between her and the synthetic glass/plastic was a greenish fluid that distorted everything she saw and tinted it a green shade. Figures moved outside her prison and she heard the faint rumblings that seemed to be words. She flailed a little in her prison once again testing the limits of her confinement. The liquid slowed her movements. She did this more as a method of making sure her situation hadn't changed. Earlier in her life she had been panicked at waking in the small tube. Now she knew that being afraid in the beginning was only a waste of energy.

One of the figures stepped close to the tube and peered in at her. "Triple, we need more." He said matter of factly. She read his lips more than heard his words. The fear started then. Heartbeat quickening, adrenaline coursing. A female vibration echoed through her liquid, a woman most likely reading off her vitals. The man seemed to nod and then stepped away.
"Please," she begged, "Please stop. I'll be good. I'll do whatever. Just stop. No more. It hurts. It. Hurts."
If they heard her or not they paid no mind. She felt the pump in her arm begin to pull at the blood in her body. Other tubes removed other things form her and a small saw cut tissue and bone samples from her body. She screamed in the small space, bubbles obscuring her vision.

*******************

Sylph sat bolt upright in the bed, she was covered in sweat and the faint but pungent odor of urine filled the room. A scream came from deep in her throat, then another. She hugged the heavy blankets to her chest and began crying. Through her tears she spoke in an undending mantra, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

*******************

Word of the Council's demise had reached the facility heads. 003 had been eavesdropping when the call had come in. Now she stealthily made her way through the passages to her sisters.
"What is so important that you had to wake us, Three?" 002 asked, exhaustion heavy in her voice. The other three nodded in agreement.
"The vampire council is dead." She answered gleefully. The others were immediately awake.
"If the council is dead then what will happen to the Sylphs?" 001 asked with concern.
"We must act. Quickly" 005 replied.
They plotted and conspired. In the end they had their plan. They gathered their sisters who would follow their lead. 006 through 010 were opposed and gathered their own gatherings creating a schism between all the clones. In the end the battle between the two factions was bloody and violent and quick, lasting a signal night in which all of the facility staff were killed, 001-005 and their followers took 000 with them and vanished into the night. The remaining Sylphs, unsure of what to do know, decided to make recovering Triple Zero their top priority, if only to return their lives back to normal.
Blissfully unaware of this, 410 and her pack mates continue their hunt for 404.

"Where am I?! Who are you people!?"
The human rushed forwards, spreading his arms.
"Matthew, it's me! It's your father!"
The boy stared at him, his snow-white eyes wide and afraid.
"Dad? What's..."

Cervengeance stepped forward.
"Let me explain. You are a vampire, and yes those do exist. You are the sole person who we were able to recover from death, after a building fire in which you died from smoke inhalation."
He indicated the other vampire councilmen. "These were those that failed to respond to the resurrection. You were very lucky."
The boy stared down at the savagely destroyed corpses on the floor, then at the gore staining his hands.
"B-b-b-but who were - they -?"
"They were the culprits of the fire, set for their financial gain. We thought you may have wanted revenge."
Matthew quite understandably was completely freaked out.
"I don't want revenge! I want my life back!"
"Well you're dead," Herdeus said smartly. "Undead to be precise. Afraid that's not an option any more."
"Herdeus be silent. Attend to other business."
Herdeus left.

Within a few hours, the official word was that the vampire council had perished after a underground sect of vampire hunters attacked the Council with high explosives. Two council members survived, and were already plotting a retaliation against those responsible.

Cervengeance sat next to the boy as he shivered.
"Come. It is time you must learn to drink blood."