Leo and Amelia-Leo's Lab

The only movement in the lab was the flickering of the overhead lamps and the steady movement of Leo's hand. The bulbs were hardly ever changed, everyone in the lab could see in the dark, Leo wasn't quite sure why he turned them on every night. Perhaps habit. The vampire finally moved, sitting up from his desk to better see his handy work. He hadn't been drawing or painting, no, he'd been writing his findings. He rolled the chair he was sitting in over to the microscope and peered through it again, triple checking. With a tight nod, he moved on, taking the small slide from under the lens and replacing it with another. He pulled his notebook over and wrote as he looked into the microscope. The scientist had a clothespin over his nose. Quite comical actually, but he was studying blood, no need to have an accident and drink all of his research. Leo had control over himself, but after not feeding for four days, he was feeling a pull towards the small vials on his lab table. Good thing he had sent his assistant to find him a human. Perhaps he wouldn't completely kill this one. It depended on the subject of course. Leo was very particular in the choosing of his subjects. Only the best would do for him.
Speaking of, he could hear footsteps just now. He sat back from his microscope and removed the clothespin from his nose. Taking a deep breath he smelled human and his assistant Amelia. He turned as they entered, Amelia behind the young man, hands clasped in front of her. Leo's eyes had changed color, his body practically buzzing with the excitement of blood.
The young man was strong, perhaps a worker of some kind. It didn't matter much to Leo what the man was before. Now, he was a meal. Leo stood and crossed the room in a matter of seconds, latching onto the young man's neck. His teeth penetrated the thin skin, drawing blood with accuracy. He was taken quickly on a tour of the young man's life. His name was Andrew, a second generation farmer with two younger siblings. He was strong, his blood tasted healthy. He would do swimmingly for his newer experiment. Leo pulled away, wanting to leave enough blood for Andrew to live through the change.
"Put him in a cage," Leo said to Amelia as Andrew fell to the floor. Amelia bent immediately, grabbing him under the arms and dragging him across the lab. She opened and empty cage and dragged Andrew inside, leaving him on the floor. She didn't glance at him, or try to revive him. Amelia was very detached from the subjects of Leo's lab. She didn't speak to any of them, nor did she offer them sympathy or any other emotion other than stoney silence. She waited patiently by the door as Leo picked a vial and moved over to her. He handed it to her without a word and she turned to the body of Andrew. She bent down, opened his mouth and poured the blood into his mouth. She shut it and walked out of the cage, closing the door behind her.
"Time will tell if he is worthy," Leo said, taking the empty vial from Amelia. She didn't ask what had been in it. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. If she had asked, Leo would have told her it was vampire blood, altered to what he hoped was the key to becoming sun resistant. If the man survived and he was indeed immune to the sunlight, Leo would have succeeded and the vampire council would finally have what they wanted from him.
"That is all Amelia," Leo said giving her a bored look. She simply nodded and walked to the door and out of the lab.

Amelia walked back through the city, watching the lycans and deviants work. They were the reason Amelia could live like she wished too. Well, not really, she actually wished that she had never become a vampire. She wished she could have watched her children grow up, but she had missed it. Her family had been in danger. She had done what she needed too. She'd been telling herself that for years, and every year it got harder and harder to say. When she killed, it was easier.
For now, living in the vampire city and being Leo's assistant was all she needed. She looked up at the moon, sitting gingerly on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the city. She missed the sun, and the bright blue skies, but she had to admit; the moon had a certain charm. She looked back down into the water, watching her reflection. The woman stared back at her, blinking slowly. She felt her years even though she didn't look them. She had so many memories packed into her head there was room for little else. Although she did manage to keep up with Leo well enough. He had tasked her to learn every name and face of all the vampires in the city. For research purposes of course. He was very scatterbrained that man, but he really was a genius. She wondered if that young man had died yet. Lately, Leo's experiments hadn't been working as well as before. Amelia could tell he was discouraged, but he kept working.

James-His room inside the castle

"Come back to bed," James glanced at the naked blonde on his bed, her eyes the light blue of normal vampires. He gave her a smirk and turned from the window. Her eyes flared, seemingly unable to get enough of his body. He let her look, unashamed of his perfect body. If he didn't have things to do today, he would take her up on her offer. She was possibly the best lover he'd ever had. Obedient, sexy, and unashamed of their naughty acts.
"I'm afraid I can't," James said, his voice smooth in the gloom. He bent to get dressed as she pouted, trying to give him reasons to stay. Her final act was to tackle him while he dressed, giggling and reaching for him. He could't deny it, he wanted her again and she was oh so tempting with her pouting lips and busty figure.
"No," He said simply, pushing her away gently. Her face soured and she crossed her arms over her chest. A shame, but he couldn't control her now.
"So what is this then? Just once and we never speak again?" She asked, a slight French accent peeking through her words. James smiled, pulling a shirt over his head.
"That's the plan love," He said with a wink. The woman growled and stomped around the room, picking up her clothes and spurting curse words at him. He let them bounce off, this wasn't exactly a new scene. He'd been with plenty of females, but never more than once. With new vampires being made daily, it was easy. Especially when they figured out exactly who he was. He was a Supervamp. The most powerful creature in the city, and the most handsome. Every thing about him was sexy and appealing, making hunting almost boring. He wanted a challenge, he wanted a woman to look at him and not fall in love. He wanted the chase. He needed the chase. He looked over as the door slammed, listening to his guest curse her way down the hall. What was her name again? He shrugged, it didn't really matter, he'd never really need to see her again and if he saw her on the street, pet names would do.
He glanced at himself in the mirror, fixing a stray hair and then floated out of his room. He did indeed have things to do today. First was to see Leo, he had weekly check-ups scheduled to make sure he wasn't going to keel over and die. He hadn't so far, but Leo was thorough and a little bit insane. James's boots clicked quietly on the floor as he walked out of the castle and into the night.

Coleson Grant
Location unknown

The rain had obscured the escaped prisoners footprints, their scents were faint and the group on horseback only had the guards word that they were heading in the right direction.

"So we seem to have lost the prisoner's trail. Not a very promising start to such an auspicious career as a squad leader."

The speaker was a slim built middle-aged vampire. His face hidden underneath a hood to keep the rain out of his face, he was known as Argent. He was the oldest of the group yet he was not in charge, it was this reason that he dared speak his mind to the leader, he had taught the upstart all there was to know about their enemy, yet the council had placed this junior vampire in charge. It galled him to say the least, but there was not a lot he could do about it...not yet at least.

"You know full well that we have not lost the trail, we will find them and they will regret their decision to run."

Coleson looked up at the mounted men, he had dismounted his horse to take a closer look at the ground, something about how swift the tracks had disappeared was not sitting right with him, no matter how heavy the rain was, the whole area looked like it had been wiped clean. He ran a hand over his face in an attempt to smooth his features. Argent was picking fault with him and in a way, Coleson understood that the older vampire was jealous but there was a time and place to let emotions get in the way. He was a little surprised at how unprofessional Argent was being.

The other vampires in the group were all well trained and used to taking orders from various squad leaders, they were all death dealers, the elite soldiers for the coven, it was their responsibility to hunt down strays, either the Lycan's that threatened the glorious vampire rule, or the human cattle that the coven kept as food and pleasure slaves.
They all carried silver weapons, were trained with deadly efficiency with their uses and eager to prove just how superior the vampire race was.

"One more hour and we will have to head back and take the other path, I do not want us to be stuck out here with only a couple of hours before dawn, especially if this weather holds."

His orders were cut off before they reached the third vampire. A howl cut through the night, followed by another and then a third. Coleson turned back to his horse and grabbed the hilt of his sword, before he had time to draw the weapon however, a large form knocked into him and he felt himself falling, the mud-soaked earth along with the steep incline turned his stumble into a headlong fall. His fall became even more dangerous as Coleson's head smacked painfully hard against a large partly buried rock.
His vision began to blur and he managed to turn his head enough to see what had happened to the rest of his group. Coleson's heart, which was as undead as he was, would have skipped a beat if it could. The entire countryside was overflowing with furry forms, Lycans had taken out the group. Even the legendary Argent was nowhere to be seen.

Coleson's eyes fluttered open, it had been several weeks since he had been allowed to rest long enough to dream, looking around at the cell he was in, Coleson was still unsure if that was a good thing. He had awoken several hours after the attack, his entire team gone, there had been five piles of ash and that was all that was left of the squad. Coleson knew he would have some serious questions to face when he returned. Unfortunately he was unprepared to fully face the unjust cruelty that the coven would lay on his shoulders. Especially since there had been a witness, Argent himself told the most damning story and even had the council believing that Coleson had coerced with the Lycans.

Coleson had been beaten to the point of true death, he had almost wished they end it. He would have gladly faced true death by the end of the third day. But that was when Leo had entered his cell and made him the offer. If Colseon had known better he would have taken the quick and relatively painless death offered by the sun.

John Smith

How simple the world was. The air smelled of pine, the nearby stream could be heard trickling down the mountain rocks, and the feel of her arms wrapped around him filled him with warmth. Happiness he had known so many times washed over him once again as he looked into her blue eyes. The world was once again forever young, and nothing could ruin it.

Crawling from his soft lambskin bed, he stood up, looking outside over the flat grasslands. The sun was peaking over the horizon, reflecting off the golden waves of wheat that looked so like the color of his wife's golden locks. Looking back, he saw her stir, staring at him with her beautiful hazel orbs. They filled his vision as he walked back to her, taking her small hand in his, the feel of her soft hands between his a comfort to him as always.

Helping her up, they walked outside together, looking over the small farm they had worked so hard to make together. The acres of grapes they worked so hard to cultivate, to make the finest wine in all of Greece. Wrapping his arms around his lovers broad shoulders, he pulled the hairy mouth to his own, pulling away to stare at the green eyes of the most handsome man he'd ever known. Their life together was so perfect.

Turning to the wind, he smelled something from off in the distance. "No," he thought, running to the back fields, "Not again. This can't be happening again!" The sounds echoed over the empty sands, the loud horns so familiar to him as the neighing of horses followed. His wife came running after, he long, straight black hair flying behind her, her brown eyes filled with terror at the sight of the fire blazing at the edge of the forest, visible from even this far.

"No!" He yelled, rushing to her, his beautiful wife, her red hair reminding him of the blaze behind him, threatening to destroy the flock of geese they had spent so many years raising deep in the amazon. Wrapping his thick arms around her dark shoulders, he held her tight, running his broad hands over her pearly white skin. "I can't... not again..."

Coming awake, he stared at the ceiling overhead. Shaking off his dreams, he rolled out of his plush sheets, reaching for a nearby diary. Opening the pages, he first checked the last message he had wrote, finding first the date. The eighteenth century, yes, that was right. The old, leather-bound diary had been his for longer than he could remember, containing all of his most intimate secrets. He did not fear another reading those secrets, no one alive could read the language he wrote them in. The written form was known only by the nobility of the civilization that founded it, a society dead for over a thousand years.

Behind him, the door opened, revealing what looked to be a young woman, no older than her early twenties, as she walked in carrying a tray of what he knew to be very black coffee. Though it could never truly compare, it was the closest thing he'd ever found to the original plant he'd found growing deep within the African jungles. He could smell the strong brew from across the room, the scent bringing to mind so many fleeting images, memories long since forgotten, ghosts from a distant past that would never completely fade.

"Thank you, Mina. You can leave it on the table." Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the young blond standing there, waiting. Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes, rubbing his still tired lids. Looking once more, he raised an eyebrow, not really surprised to see her still waiting for a command. "You can leave it on the table." Standing up, he walked over to his wardrobe, pulling open the heavy oak doors and reaching in for a robe to hide his nude form. He had never been able to sleep in clothes, though he had long forgotten where the habit had originated.

"Greek this time, master?" The young vampire was always curious, constantly asking questions about her master's strange ticks. She was well over a hundred years old, but in many ways, she was still the child she appeared to be. Always so quick to over step her bounds, just to have her curiosity satisfied. And being around one of the few beings alive old enough to actually see her as a child was only making it worse.

"Roman, actually. A dialect of it, anyway, if I'm not mistaken. And before you ask, no, I won't teach you. Ten dead languages is more than enough for anyone." Walking over to the waist-high table, he took the ancient marble cup from the solid brass tray it sat upon. The symbols on the cup depicted a battle between mighty Hercules, and the beastly hydra, while the tray shown engravings of an eastern dragon, its serpentine body flying over a calm mountain lake. Next to the tray lay the days reports, which Mina had layed down with the tray.

Once again, he rubbed his eyes, this time not from exhaustion, but because of the reports he read. For the most part, things were progressing as normal. His slave trading business was outperforming all others, dominating the field thanks to his contracts with the vampire world. The world of business was still in shock from his faked death, hundreds rushing to fill the void they believed he left, sending assassins to kill his successors, moving in on the trade partners they believed would be left looking for a new partner, and of course trying to out maneuver what they thought to be the last of his orders.

As was expected, the assassins were dying to the lycans he left to run the company; his partners were staying true to his still thriving company; and his continued orders to his company kept it as successful as it ever was. Faking his death, as it had done countless times before, had allowed him to take advantage of his enemies within the business world, moving in on the mistakes they made because they thought him gone. As always, things were going according to plan, assuring that he remained the dominant force of trade he'd been for centuries.

No, the source of his troubles came from within the vampire community. Another of Leo's so-called 'super vampires' had been found dead. He had been seen eating the night before, and his body showed no signs of a struggle. The presence of a body confirmed it, he had died solely because of the experiments he had undergone at the hands of Leo. The counsel would be furious,

The man was a constant source of trouble. His experiments had lead to any number of successes, certainly, but his continued failures constantly fueled the decent his enemies on the counsel voiced. If the man did not represent so much to Uriel, personally, then he would have likely been made to stop long ago. The counsel supported his results, certainly, but many felt that the world was simply not advanced enough for his research to yield anything more than what it already had. Others claimed that what little he had accomplished was just luck, and that he was nothing more than a fool playing with forces beyond his control, tempting the fate of their species on his constant risks he took when injecting his experiments.

Uriel had taken a stance to support him. Moving his pawns, he had managed to convince or bribe everyone who had stood against him, with only the most die hard conservatives still fighting against the research. It was expensive, and required constant supervision, but the possibilities his success represented was simply too important to leave to fate. Once again, thanks to this instance, he would have to pay off his enemies, call on support form his allies, and make contracts he would spend centuries fulfilling to those few that he could convince to accept them, all to ensure their promise of favoring Leo's continued research during the vote that would certainly take place within the month.

The man was nothing but trouble, and worse, he believed he was the savior of the race, the chosen one who can do no wrong. His failures meant nothing, just the sacrifice that had to be made to reach his goals. Being in the same room with him was nearly intolerable, but for the sake of what he represented, he would suffer the annoyance. The entire situation was made worse by the fact that he had an appointment with the pompous ass that very night.

"Mina," he said, checking to be sure he was speaking English, "have the carriage brought around. I've got a lot to do today. And inform Vincent that I'll need him to prepare the guard. There's a good chance another strike will need to be prevented. It's about that time again. The moon will rise within the hour, so have him do it fast."

Genevieve - In the Lab, as always.

---

'Je suis comme un oiseau, je ne ferai que m'envoler
Je ne sais pas où est mon âme, je ne sais pas où est mon foyer...'

Softly she sang with her raspy, yet finely tuned voice; the melody carried along the dimly lit corridor, accompanying her echoing footfalls as she traipsed along the strangely patterned brickwork. Each long leg kicked up a bit in a dainty dance as she admired the favoured human items she wore: dark suede boots. There was a time when she hated to don footwear of any kind, but ever since Alpha Leo had these made for her, custom fit for her feet, only then did she begin to enjoy wearing boots. She hated the feel of walking the cold floor afterall.

A long, slender, pale and hairless hand traced the grooves between bricks in the corridor as she went now. A slight tilt of her head brought wave upon wave of flowing platinum blonde hair swishing to the right as keen ears listened to the sound of fingertips dragging upon grout. Dark lips, normally set in a pout, pulled upward in response to the sensations. Pale blue eyes, normally glistening and ever watchful, drifted close; something about the feel and sound of tracing the grooves warmed her heart... it was calming. It was comforting; out of the cage and not so lonely.

When she finally reached the end of the corridor, the blonde began smoothing out her white nightgown, hands moving from hipbones to just below the knee where the hem was already faded and beginning to fray. Neath the lone lamp she stretched up to her full five foot, ten inches and listened, nose upturned a bit as she sniffed the air. Amelie was in the 'den' and she had a new visitor.

The whining sound of a swinging cage door. The familiar cringe as metal hit metal. The utter finality of a big iron lock clicking shut.

A sigh escaped her; shoulders rising and falling just like her heart. It was her turn now. Genie pouted. Her ears would flatten and tail would lower... if only she had bigger pointy ears and a long bushy tail for this body. Another sigh.

Alpha Leo had been working hard of recent times, so hard in fact that he was not feeding properly. In these times, he would allow (or forget, she was not sure which one) Genie to wander the laboratory; 'the lair.' She knew better now not to touch anything nor bother him, for if she did it would mean an early ushering back into the cage. Still, she would walk around singing softly as she eyed the wonderous, yet equally terrifying shiny and dark items, heavily stitched and fortified gear, flashing and buzzing machines, glowing and drippy tubes and other strange apparatus and hand written notes of a mad genius.

Genie could read now, but no where near the expertise nor command of Alpha Leo. But still she would try to comprehend the hastily scrawled words upon parchment and even more parchment scattered through out the lab. The drawings and diagrams she did not fully comprehend but they were pretty... and some of them had very lovely drawings of goddesses. Apparently Genie was not the only one.

Something about that knowledge enthralled her but scared her all the same. Yes, there were more; more like her... but where were they? And why were they not allowed to come back to 'the lair'? Was something wrong with her? Something wrong with them? Were they in the dangerous outside lost, trapped or even worse, dead? For three years she had been with Alpha Leo and he always told her--

“Bonjour, Genevieve...”

Genie jumped and covered her mouth to stifle her surprised yelp. Soon enough blue eyes reflected the calming of her heart as she laid eyes upon Amelie. If the two-leggers had a form of a goddess, then the female form before Genie would be the one.

“Bonjour, Mme. Amelie...” said Genie with a lowering of the eyes as she softened her smile and curtsied politely.

Eye contact was desired between two-leggers and a grin was not a sign of aggression, Genie had finally come to grips with. But still, when greeting either Alpha Leo or Amelie, she still lowered her eyes. And still Genie did not grin. Her version of a grin was akin to that of a true canine; her mouth opened and her tongue lolled out... but strangely enough, two-leggers saw the lolling out of a tongue as a sign of disrespect. So confusing. But still, Genie knew to curb such an expression now.

If she had a tail in this form, it would begin to wag amiably as Amelie patted Genie twice on the head. Then after a pause, a third one. Yes, this was the only type of physical contact between the two females, but it was one cherished by Genie even if the pats were not meant as modes of affection, but that of communication.

Two pats meant to be vigilant. A single pat meant Amelie had arrived or that she was leaving and Genie should adjust her behaviour accordingly.

Genie peered over her shoulder, light brown eyebrows slanting away as she fondly watched Amelie take leave. Each step the vampire took, each swing of her hip, each sway of her arm, each swish of her hair made Genie wonder that much more what it should be like to warmly nuzzle her frame affectionately against--

“Genevieve...”

The blonde jumped once again. The vampire did not turn around, but the warning tone was more than enough to make Genie's head swivel quickly away from Amelie's departing form. A smile remained etched upon her visage regardless. Genie's accent was like that of Alpha Leo, different from Amelie, yet something about the language and songs she learned from Amelie was easier to grasp and more... familiar. And she liked how Amelie pronounced Genie's name.

Genevieve. Alpha Leo said it like: “JEN-uh-veev.” Which was nice. But Amelie said it like: “Zhon-vee-EV,” which was even nicer, especially with the sound of her accent and motion of her lips.

---

Inside the quiet of the cage now, Genie pulled the door close and, through the iron bars, she manipulated the lock until it snap shut. Over to her pile of blankets she turned then took pause. Chin fell to chest; a lowering of blue eyes and head in defeat.

Genie sighed as she slowly began pulling her white gown over her head, waltzing over towards her blankets. A shiver ran down the spine of her lithe nude form before she knelt down and began folding her gown into an neat little square. A small grunt from her throat escaped as she turned and sat her little rear upon the blankets. Blue eyes traced down her long pale legs before finally resting upon her suede boots. As her eyes savoured the sight of her favoured items, both hands began to adjust the allowance of the black collar around her neck. Each adjustment made her wince as the needles jostled about, but she expertly made sure not to press too hard; with each motion she could easily inject herself with more painful 'goddess inhibitor juice,' as Alpha Leo called it.

A wistful sigh escaped her, then at long last, she yanked both boots off begrudgingly. She took one final glance at the pretty pair standing guard over her nightie. Oh, how lovely and warm they were... But soon enough she was smiling again when she took in the sight of her pale and hairless wriggling toes; for it was the last sight of this monstrous and hideous form before she became beautiful again.

Blue eyes of a different kind took in the black, white and grey sight of the newcomer lying prone in the cell across from her. A nose, much darker and much more sensitive took in the scent of its wounds, its unique signature aromatics and foul smelling substance dribbling from its mouth. No, she could not see colour when she was beautiful, but she knew that whatever it was that dribbled from its mouth was not red blood alone. This was another 'test subject.' And Genie knew she had to pretend to be a new test subject too whist she regarded and took in the progress of the new comer.

Upon her haunches she rested now, white fur gleaming from her beautiful body as she watched the prone form of the new comer begin to stir. Her most favoured item of her wolf form she could feel stir into thankful life as her hopes began to rise; perhaps this time, this new comer would be able to tell her its name?

With that thought her beloved and favoured tail began to beat in soft, swishing, furry rhythm upon the cold bricks of her cell. Hopefully this one would survive and not explode in a screaming flood of blood, bone and flesh and leave her as a lone wolf yet again.