Dark Kisses
The stench of death filled the air as blood seemed to ooze from the many corpses laying upon the ground. A tall, stalky man panted, leaning against his saber for much needed support. Specks of blood layed upon his skin while brown eyes looked on as flies started to swarm among the dead. He took in two deep breaths, then sighed, turning to go and find his fellow teammates, yet was topped dead in his tracks. "No!"
"Where the Hell is Riggs? We were suppose to meet up five minutes ago." The man was Matt, prime leader of strike team four, a.k.a. the Fate Twisters. His hand slid into his dark hair, sighing heavily. A small woman looked up at him. "Sir, I've seen no trace of Riggs or Hayley since we broke an hour ago." "Were they together Melissa?" "When they left, but you know Hayley..." "What bout me?" The two turned to the red head standing in the doorway, smile spread across her face. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "We almost left without you, again. Where's Riggs?" Hayley frowned. "He's not back? Strange, I'm usually the one who's late." A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and she jumped. "Riggs! Don't do tha-" she stopped and looked at him. "You look awful." Melissa smiled and touched his shoulder lightly. He looked at her and nodded. "Yeah." Riggs said softly, turning to Hayley with a grin. "But I'll be fine, sorry for scaring you." She shrugged and pulled from his grip. Matt rolled his eyes. "Ok, let's get out of here and report back to base."
"Thirteen dead from what we can gather, Riggs and Hayley have yet to turn in a written report." The members of the council groaned while the leader, Christian, laughed softly. "Riggs surprises me; Hayley doesn't." "You should have a talk with her Christian." said Ian, who's words haulted Christian's chuckeling. "She puts her team in danger and this order as well." Matt frowned. "She does not put my team in danger Sir. May I remind you she is one of our best in the feild. Hell, I'll higher her a secretary to do all the damn paper work is that's all you're worried about." "I worry about order!" snapped Ian, rising out of his seat. "I worry for the saftey of our cause, and the saftey of our lives! Hayley puts everything in jeaporday-" "Enough!" Christian's voice bommed off the walls. "We will discuss this at a later date, Matt, get Riggs and Hayley's report." He turned to Ian with a frown, "I will talk to her, but you must remember, there is no saftey here, only the grace of God."
Later that evening Christian was walking through the halls to his own chambers. All at once the hairs on the back of his neck stood and he turned slowly, coming face to face with Riggs. Yet something was different, though he had no time to debate as a knife swept across his chest. "Ah!" Riggs growled and tackled him, hitting him until, after so much pain, he was almost unable to move. Riggs lips twisted into a smile, revieling a pair of sharp, deadly fangs. "Fool, soon you will serve my Master." He lent down slowly, fangs ready to brake the flesh on Christian's throat, when suddenly he jerked back and left off a howl of pain. He turned his head and hissed as Hayley stodd behind him, saber in hand. Yet, though she was in a ready stance, he speared her to the floor. She pushed him off and had little time to grab her saber as he pulled his out as well. Metal clashed against metal while the two battled; Christian watching on. Riggs knocked the saber out of her hands and pushed her to her knees. He laughed and layed his blade on her throat, pulled back, and went for the kill. Yet, as he brought down the blade, Hayley grabbed his wrist and flipped him over by his own weight. His saber fell and slid across the floor, though he tried, he couldn't reach it. She pulled a small, silver knife from her jacket, slit his throat, then plundge it into his chest. Rigg's body relaxed, and with a final reath, said, "I love you."
Tears rolled down her cheek as Christian came next to her. He sighed mornfully and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you and Riggs-" "Forget it, all right? He was going to kill you, it had to be done." She wiped her face, smeering tears and blood. Blood started to swim across the floor and they both backed up as security ran towards them. Melissa being one among them looked at Riggs' body, then at Hayley. "Oh honey..." Hayley shrugged her off. "Look, forget it, it had to be done." Melissa sighed and nodded mutely. "I'm going to get cleaned up." Hayley said, bending down and picking up Rigg's saber. "My report will be in in the morning."
He watched the scene unfold from the saftey of the outside. Interesting, he thought to himself. "Who is she?" The guard he held by the throat gasped for air. "Hhh...Hayley Tearance." He gave one final gasp, then collasped as his neck was shattered by the grip. He looked back at the inside as people scurried to clean up the mess left by the slayer. "Maybe I'll have the pleasure to meet Miss Tearance myself one day." He chuchled softly and left in the shadows.
Stll covered in blood Hayley sat on her knees in the middle of her quarters. Fresh tears streamed her face as she raised Riggs' saber, lifting it to he rneck. "He fell by my sword, it's only fitting I fall by his." She pressed the sharpness into her throat, then sighed, lowering it. She couldn't kill herself, they were short on slayers as it was. She went to her computer and typed in her log:
August 7th, 2005
Why life likes to test me I know not why. It seems to take pleasure in my pain. Riggs died today by my own hands. My guess he had been turned at today's raid and was sent to kill Christian. I couldn't have let him do it, it had to be done.
She paused and stared a long time at the screen, then continued:
He is in enternal peace now, maybe soon I can join him.
The saftey lock on her door clicked open and she turned to see her intruder. Matt looked in and sighed. "I'm sorry." "You and the entire base." He walked close to her. "You should get cleaned up, the council wants to speak with you." "Christian seen it all, he can give a report." she said softly. "Yes, but we need to speak with you about other things." She looked at him, eyes red as the blood on her body. "Please, please Matt, tell them to wait for the morning." He saw how worn she looked and sighed, then grinned. "Sure, you get some rest." She nodded. "Thank you"
Gentle hands smoothed her face, wiping her tears away. Cold lips pressed against hers as well as he cheek and neck. She whimpered, "I'm sorry Riggs, I'm so sorry, I love you." He shushed in her ear. "It's all right my love, you did the right thing." "Then why does it feel so wrong?" He smiled and kissed her forhead. "Would you have rather seen me as a vampire for all eternity?" She shook her head as he took her into his arms in a strong embrace. "Then you did the right thing."
Hayley's body shot out of bed, gasping. Beads of sweat covered her body and she shivered. She buried her face in her hands and cried.
Four a.m. Hayley layed in bed, looking at the ceiling, tired from the day before events. She sighed heavily and sat up, sliding a hand into her fire red hair. Riggs loved her red hair, he always said it reflected the fire inside her. She bit her lip suddenly at the remembrance of her lover, forcing back tears from stinging her eyes. If it was one thing she was taught was to never regret, never cry, and never ever leave yourself vunerable to the enemy. But, at the present moment, regret and tears were all she had. She stood and stripped out of her bloody clothes and went to the wash room. While she let the tub fill with water she selected a CD from her collection. Funny, she thought, these things are as rare as 8-tracks now, who would have thought? She shrugged and placed a CD she had bought when she was in college, Breakdown by Melissa Etheridge. She slid her body into the steamy water and layed back, listening to the music. Into the Dark, that was Riggs favorite song for her. She trembled, remembering his hands on her shoulders, fingers rubbing her neck. "You're tense, relax." She smiled at the distance voice. "Can't, have a meeting with the council in a few hours. "What for?" She sighed and placed her hand on her shoulder where the invisible touch was. "Mandatory questioning, I'm guessing for having to slay you." It was them the invisible touch left and she sighed, then froze upon hearing her door open. She pulled the vission wall infront of her and watched the blury figure step into the bathroom, blue hair and all. "Don't you know the meaning of the word privacy?" She groaned and slid back into the water. The figure chuckled heartly and sat on the toilet. "Not when it has to deal with you. How you feeling?" "Great, just fucking great, never better." "Sorry for asking." he said, hurt in his voice. She sighed, "Sorry Jeff." The blurry figure shrugged, "Forget it, look, Matt sent me to tell you that the council wants to meet with you as soon as you're ready, we expected you up at this time." She nodded, "Wait in my room, I'll be out in ten minutes."
Christian looked at the faces around him. "Hayley saved my life and probably everyone else. This is only a mandatory questioning, not an interagation." He looked at Iam as he said this. "We will give her proper respect and courtesy and must remember that she had to kill one of her own, so let's keep questions reguarding her and Riggs' relationship short, simple, and not too personal." The council members nodded as Jeff lead Hayley into the room. Christian smiled softly, "Don't be nervouce, all right?" She nodded meekly and stood at ease. "Now then," Matt began, "Can you describe briefly on the past events?" She took in a deep breath. "My guess is-" "We don't want your guesses." Ian sneered, yet stopped as Christian looked at him sternly. "Continue, please." "I believe that Riggs was turned at the raid yesterday, and was sent to take out Christian." "Did you witness this?" asked another member. "No, we had broke into individuals, each taking a floor of the residence." "Do you normally do this?" "When we have to cover a large area." All questions paused for a moment, then Ian spoke again. "Explain, breifly, you're relationship with Riggs." Hayley bit her lip and looked at Matt and Jeff. "We were...very close." Before Ian had time to dig deeper Christian stood and called for silence. "That should be enough. Hayley, you can leave now." She nodded and left with Matt and Jeff escorting her. Christian looked at Ian steernly. "You may leave as well." "Is that an order?" Ian asked, standing to his feet and leaning over the table. Christian nodded, "It is." Ian frowned and growled, storming from the room.
"My patience is growing thin." he said and watched the spider crawl in his hand. A pair of vampires kneeled before him. "We're doing everything we can sire, we even have an important member of the council working for you-" "Enough." he said and waved his hand. "Do what you can, I want the Legion brought to it's knees, by any means." He paused and closed his hand over the spider. "You know who to kill and who to leave alive."
"Ian is under probation." Christian said softly to his closet friend Steven, otherwise known as Sting. Steven nodded, "I can see why, sometimes I wonder whose side he's on." Christian sighed heavily and placed his hand on the window, Steven quickly catching on to his dispair. "You have to forget that Chris-" "You have no right to tell me that!" he growled, eyes glowing in anger. He slammed his fist on a table, causing a picture to fall onto the ground. He sat on his bed, a hand buried in his blonde locks. "Leave me." Steven nodded and left as Christian bent and picked up the picture. He ran his fingertips over the woman's face, then, looked at the man besdie him. He frowned and tore him away from the whole picture, ripping it into two, then looked at the slain memory. He pressed it to his face and cried, "Why, dear God, why her? Why him?"
Jeff and Matt walked through the hallway, the surgical needle still in Matt's hand. "I can't believe you did that." Jeff frowned. "Christian's orders, Jeff, she need some rest. She'll only be out for a few hours." Jeff frowned again, "Still, I don't think it was right-" he paused as Ian walked past them in a steady pace. "Wonder where he's going."
He used his security card and opened the door, slipping in quietly. Hayley layed face down on her pillow, fast asleep. He slowly walked towards her, pulling his sword from his coat. He layed the blade on her neck and smiled. "Time to die."
Steven's lips twisted in a grin as he raised his sword, then gasped as he felt the pureness of silver slide through his own body. He looked at the bloody blade sticking through his skin and turned to see Ian standing behind him. He fell to his knees, then to the floor, dead. Ian went to Hayley's sleeping body, his eyebrows frowning. "You're a lot of trouble." he said softly. She replied only with a breathy sigh in sleep. He turned to the body and pulled the blade out, wiping it clean on Steven's coat. He stood next to the bed again, eyes focused on her. Before he knew it, he had pressed his lips to her forehead., then pulled back in shock. He frowned and turned, leaving the room and coming face to face with Jeff and Matt. Jeff looked at the blood on his sword and hands and growled, pinning him to the wall. "You son of a bitch! What the Hell did you do?!" Ian gasped and pushed him away. "Only saved her life, Steven was going to kill her." "How can we trust you?" Matt asked, snatching Ian's blade from his hand. "The only blood is Steven's and watched the servailence tape you fools." Melissa rounded the corner and screamed. "Guys! Stop! He didn't do it!" The Hardy brothers looked at her. "What?" "I was watching the servailence system, he's telling the truth, Steven did try to kill her." Jeff looked at Ian, growled, and released him. "Well how did he just stumble onto it?" Matt asked. "I was going to Christian's to debate my probation when I seen him go into her room. So, being the snoop that I am, I listened because I knew you couldn't have much of a conversation with someone who was drugged. Now is you will, please give me back my sword." Matt hesitated for a moment, then handed it over. Melissa sighed, "I'll call someone to clean it up, you guys might want to move Hayley so she doesn't have to see." Jeff nodded as Matt turned back to Melissa, a grin across his face. "See you later."
Ian found Christian sitting on his bed, bending over weeping. "News travels fast." Christian turned to him, eyes red from the tears. "Get out!" "Sorry fro killing your friend, but I thought you might want to keep Hayley around." Christian blinked. "Wha?" "Steven, I found him trying to kill Hayley, so, I killed him. I thought you may have been happy." "I had no idea." Christian said softly and turned back around. "What's the matter with you?" "None of your business." Ian nodded, looking at the torn picture on the bed. It held the image of Christian, a man and a woman. The woman was of extreme beauty, and the man had a striking resemblance to Christian himself. Ian sighed, he had forgotten Christian's family had been killed in the earlier wars. With a shrug, he left him alone with his grief.
Hayley woke to the image of Jeff standing over her. He smiled, "Morning Sunshine." She groaned, "Don't give me that shit, thanks for the drug by the way." He frowned, "Yeah, it was Christian's orders. Oh, let me correct myself, Evening Moonlight." She blinked and looked outside, still as black as she had seen it yesterday. "I'll have to have a talk with Christian, you guys just can't drug me when you feel like it." "Steven's dead." Melissa said from the chair on the other side of the bed. "What?" "Ian walked in as he was about to kill you, Ian killed him." "Oh my God, I don't know what to be surprised about." "What do you mean?' "Well, that Steven would turn against the Legion, or that Ian saved my life." Jeff and Melissa grinned. Matt walked in soon after, worry on his face. "Guys, we have a problem."
"Every base from Olsen to Coverdale has been destroyed, no survivors as we can tell." The people gathered in the room looked at the large computer screen as Christian went on. "As you know, Coverdale is the last base between the Dead Lands and here. From this moment on, the Legion is on red alert with the chance of a possible attack." Murmers went up from the crowd as sirens went off and lights flashed red. Hayley looked at Jeff, Matt, and Melissa. "Let's take our stations." They nodded as Hayley was left with the distant voice. "Scared?" She shivered and nodded.
Blood stained their clothes as they approached the Legion. The new recruits lined behind them, snarls on their faces. Adam chuckled and looked at Shelby next to him, then, let up a scream of primal rage. "Attack!"
"Censors are picking up disturbence." Melissa said as Matt and Christian stood behind her, looking at the radar screen. "Give me a visual." Melissa nodded at Christian and shwon the futige from outside. Christian's face went pale, "How many?" "Computer estimates over sixty." "Sir we only have thrity people based here, and only seventeen are slayers." Christian sighed at Matt's words. "Get everyone armed and ready, if we're going down, we're going down fighting." They nodded and left their posts to carry out the order. Christian knelt down and layed his head on the desk. "Please God, help us all..." His words haulted as the window crashed open, flames spreading quickly. Christian stood, taking his blade to ready himself. Through the smoke and flames he saw the tall figure step into the room. On closer inspection he saw the blond hair, the green eyes, and the mad smile flirting his lips. "Adam..." he gasped and held to the desk for support. Adam grinned and nodded. "Your fight is over brother, come, let me take you home, Shelby is waiting." The mere mention of her name almost made Christian drop his blade, but he held fast, rising to full height, pointing the blade at Adam. "You'll never take me." "Have it your way."
Before many had time to react windows and doors had been busted open and flames had spread through the base. Hayley took a stance as a vampire came right towards her. A force behind her knocked her to the ground. "What the-" She seen Ian standing above her and growled. "What are you doing?!" "Saving your like, once again." He said and pointed to the blasing beam that had fallen on the vampire and for sure would have fallen on her. "Oh, um, thanks." "Leave your thanks, let's go." He helped her up and paused, looking at her, then went on. Hayley watched him go. "What's his deal?" She had little time to debate as she followed. Ian stopped before the entrance of the control room, Hayley looking in as well. There, Christian and a blond vampire battled, swords clashing together. "We have to help-" Ian held up his hand, "No, we need to go." Though he didn't tell her, he knew that the man was Christian's brother. A scream sounded from the far hall and drew their attention. "Jeff..." Ian nodded, "Let's go."
Adam knocked the sword from Christian's hand and threw him against the wall. "You lose brother, stop this senseless matter and join me." "Never!" Christian yelled back, groaned and holding his right shoulder. Adam's smile finally faded and he threw his sword down, then, grabbed Christian and lifting him off the ground. "You have no choice." he growled through gritted teeth. "Like you did?" Christian managed to get out from Adam's hand clasped on his throat. This made Adam's smile return and he let go, letting Christain sink to the floor. "I got use to it." "Adam, enough." A soft voice called behind him. Adam turned and smiled. "But we were having so much fun, weren't we bro?" Christian gave no response as he gazed at the vampiress standing next to Adam. "Shelby?" She smiled sweetly and reached out her hand. "Come on Christian, it's time to go home."
Jeff craddled Matt's head in his lap as Ian and Hayley rounded the corner. He looked up at them, green eyes spouting off tears. "He's hurt! Please...help him...." Ian shifted Matt's neck to the side and frowned, seeing the two puncture holes. "He's better off dead now." "No!" Jeff screamed again, grabbing a tighter hold on Matt's form. "You're not killing my brother, there's got to be a way to-" Jeff..." Hayley sighed softly and layed her hand on his shoulder. Ian sighed, "We need to get out of here before the whole thing comes down on us." She nodded. "Come on Jeff." "I'm taking Matt." he frowned and tried to lift his brother, Hayley helping. Ian growled, "Fine, fine, let's just get out of here."
The three of them watched the remainder of the base burn into the dawn. "We can't be the only ones alive." Hayley breathed, coughing lightly from the smoke. Ian sighed as well. "We've looked, they're all either dead or captured." "Christian?" she asked, only to have him shake his head. Jeff growled then looked back at Matt, still out cold. "We're going to find to blood sucking prick who ordered this, and we're going to cut his fucking head off." Ian nodded, noticing Hayley go off by herself. While Jeff went back to Matt's side, he followed. She stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over the place once known as her home. Riggs, I need you now more then ever. She felt a hand slide onto her shoulder and she put hers there as well, only to find a real hand there. She turned and came faced to face with Ian. For once she didn't see the jackass he had always been, she seen something else, compassion. His eyes were soft and he smooth the hair from her face. His hands found her shoulders and he rubbed them. She closed her eyes, for some reason waiting for his lips to press against hers, only to find him saying. "We need to get some shelter, you look like you're about to freeze." Then, his touch was gone and so was he.
"Where's the one called Matt?" he asked Adam and another vampire known only as Test. "I was busy getting Christian." Adam replied, head still bowed. He looked at Test, "And you?" Test smiled, "No worries, he will come soon. In the meantime I did capture the other you requested, Melissa." "What about Hayley Tearance, did you retrieve her?" The two vampires looked at each other. "We were unable to find her." "Pity." came the reply. "That will be all. Adam, look at your brother. Test, you over the captured." They bowed and left as he stood, pacing to the window with a smile. "You're not dead my dear, oh no, not at all. You're on your way here aren't you? Well, I'll be waiting."
Christian's eyes opened slowly, body terribly sore with wounds. He felt the satin on his body and the arm gently draped over his chest. He turned his head slightly and seen Shelby there, smilling softly at him. "Morning sleepyhead." He smiled at first, then, remembered what had happen and shot out of the bed. Shelby reached for him, "Chrisian, you're not well, come back to bed-" "No. No, I can't, it's wrong. What's going on? What happend? The base, the crew, the-" His head started to spin and he collasped to the floor. Shelby was quickly by his side, helping him up and back to the bed. "Shhh, you need to rest, you're not well." He tried to push away from her, but, she held him down easily. Finally, he gave him and relaxed. She layed next to him and kissed the side of his head. "You need your rest Christian, you'll need it for what's to come."
"It's getting dark, we should start to find someplace to stay." The surviving group stopped on Ian's words, exhausted from the day. Jeff sat Matt down and groaned, popping his back. "There's a village near here, if they hadn't been taken over by raiders, maybe we could try there." Hayley said bending down with Jeff to check on Matt. She turned his head to the side and pressed a wet cloth against the wounds, sighing. "Jeff, he'll be turned by tomorrow evening, there's nothing we can do." "We should kill him now, it would be for the best." Jeff looked at Ian with anger, "We're not killing him, there's got to be a way to heal him." "I doubt it, come on, we need to get to that village before night falls." Before the dark sky touched the hillside the group were settled in an empty cottage. Ian stirred a low fire while Hayley helped Jeff get Matt into the one bed. "Is there any food in the cuboard?" "Yeah, a can of chicken broth, a half loaf of bread, kind of stale, and a potato." "It will have to do. Bring them here Hayley, Jeff, go see if you can find something to eat off of and some water." He nodded and went into the small kitchen. Ian pulled out a knife and peeled the potato, cutting it up into sections. He opened the can of broth and poured it into the large pot over the fire, then, added the potato. When Jeff returned he added a can of water and stirred it while passing out some pieces of bread. After all had eaten they picked out places to sleep and went to bed.
Hayley woke in the middle of the night and saw Ian sitting by the dying coals. She stood up and grabbed her blanket, then, draped it over his shoulders and sat next to him. "You're going to catch yourself a cold." she smiled uneasily. He chuckled softly, the first time she had even seen him grin. "People cold blooded as I hardly catch colds." She frowned, "What do you mean by that?" He shrugged, "Forget it." A long moment of silence passed between them, then, he sighed. "How did you get involved with the Legion anyway?" "When the wars had started, our town was one of the first destroyed. Everyone; my friends, my family, they were all killed. When the Legion came in they found me, barely alive. They took me in and here I am today." She stopped and lowered her head, "What about you?" Ian starred into the glowing coals, "My father was one of the founding members, as was Christian's father. One night a group of radiers destoyed the prime base, killing everyone inside, including my father, his father, his brother, and his fiance. Christian and I were based somewhere else when we got the news." "So you've been part of the Legion all your life?" He nodded mutley. "This is my life and forever will be until I die, which may be sooner then I expected." "You shouldn't say that, you have to have hope." He sighed and looked at her, his eyes smoldering embers of darkness. "All hope I had died with my father, now, I only live until I die." Hayley frowned suddenly and got up and went outside. Ian stood and followed, "What?!" She turned to face him, "That bullshit Ian, you can't throw your life away with such careless. What would your father think?" He gave her no answer; he only stood with his mouth open. "And now with us being the only ones left you are the leader now, no matter what. Our hope depends on you!" "Then you depend on a fool." he finally spat back. Tears filled her eyes as she turned to run. He gave pursuit and caught up with her easily, grabbing a tight hold on her. She pushed away from him, "You don't care if you live, you don't care if we live, the why not kill us all now?" With this she pulled out Riggs' saber and handed it to him, kneeling and placing the tip of the blade to her throat. "Do it, because I wont fight with someone who has no will too." His eyes grew soft as he let the saber slip from his hand. He knelt down beside her, lifting her chin with his fingers. "I will fight for you." he whispered and tilted his head, pressing his lips to hers.
A sudden feeling came to her: guilt. Quickly she pulled from Ian's warm embrace and soft lips, her lip quivering as she turned from him. "What's wrong?" He asked, worry filling every part of his body. "I can't...it's not right...Riggs..." Ian sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hayley, Riggs is dead, there isn't anything that can bring him back now." At that moment Ian felt the power of his words. Hayley turned and looked at him deeply, her eyes burning holes into his skin. "Yes, you're right Ian, Riggs is dead, thank you for reminding me." "Hayley, I-" "No, you're right. Nothing is going to bring back Riggs." She paused and lowered her head with a sigh. "And neither will tracking down this fucker and killing him. But we have to do it, and I have to do this." She raised her gaze a little and looked at the hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry. Look, I'm going to go check on the Hardys, you coming?" "No." he replied softly and looked over the cliffs. "I'll be there in a little while, go ahead without me." Hayley stood there for a moment, debating on going to him and embracing him tightly, but sighed anyway and left.
Jeff watched her come into the room with a look of sadness over her face. "You ok?" She nodded softly and sat down next to Matt, running her hand over his head. "You know by tonight he'll be one of them." Jeff nodded sadly, "I know, but you don't understand, I can't...I can't kill my own brother." "I understand Jeff, I do." He looked at her, the jade in his eyes cloudy with tears. She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "We need to get going, the sun will only be up for 12 hours." He nodded and sniffed, wiping his tears.
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