FicWad

Chapter 18



Times Square was filled with lights and Broadway shows, as well as a few other "choice pleasures!" With all the people around, there had to be someone there for Aurelius. Jean-Claude went in casual clothes this time, seeing that he was not hunting, or looking to feed. Aurelius glanced around, looking chilled and relaxed. "Read their auras, their emotions," said Jean-Claude, "The one that is yours will glow bright hot."

Aurelius glanced around once or twice, trying to get a feel for this new world. Aurelius continued to glance around and said, "I don't see anyone like what you described. Should we go look somewhere else now?"

"If you want," Jean-Claude responded.

Aurelius shrugged and continued to scan the crowds, but nobody even had a sign of his tastes. "Well, there's always Central Park," said Jean-Claude, "You can find just about anything there."

Aurelius nodded, and was about to leave when he saw someone who made him salivate and he stuttered, "I...I found one."

Jean-Claude looked over to that person to see what it was he saw. His gazing led to a quiet looking person, with a finger pressed to his temple. "So annoying," he seemed to be mumbling.

Jean-Claude had seen this man around the park, and he was not sure what his issue was, but he pursued it anyway, and he said, "Does he glow like I said?"

"Y...Yeah..." Aurelius said, trying to remain controlled.

"Go talk to him, see what happens, but be discreet."

"I don't think that is a good idea," responded Aurelius, biting on his lower lip.

"Why not?" Jean-Claude asked, "He may be your preference, and you might just help him in the process."

Aurelius nodded and walked over to the man and said, "Excuse me," trying to get his attention.

The man stared at him blankly, and then continued to walk on, ignoring him. "Um, I think the elevator isn't reaching all floors in that guy," observed Jean-Claude "Are you sure that's the one?"

"Yeah..." Aurelius said getting a look of desire on his face, "You said to look for red yes? He is glowing red."

"Try again," he said, "Do something to catch his attention."

Aurelius picked up a pebble and threw it at his head. "Yo!I was talking to you!" Aurelius yelled at him.

Jean-Claude just shook his head, thinking, "Not quite what Ihad in mind."

The man walked over and said, "Yes, idiot?" but Aurelius'eye twitched, his fang poking his lip. He then lost control and tackled him, biting his neck. J-C's eyes went wide, and he dragged the both of them into and alley before anyone had seen. When he was done he seemed relatively happy and content. "Now, let's show you how to erase memories," said Jean-Claude, reaching out his hand, "You concentrate on linking minds with them and begin to tap into their memories. Find the spot where the feeding took place, and then erase it like taking a file off a hard drive."

Aurelius nodded and put his hand on the guy's forehead. "Are you linking?" asked Jean-Claude.

"I think so," he said, closing his eyes in concentration and then a glowing soft light surrounded him and the person, and said memory was erased. "Excellent," said Jean-Claude, "Welcome to our world. So, do you have anywhere to go?"

"Not in particular..." responded Aurelius, trailing off knowing that his haven was gone, and there was now no going back to what he had. However, Jean-Claude had another surprise for him. Jean-Claude smiled and said, "You have one now! Come on-you can be my guest, and tomorrow, we can get an apartment picked out for you. Do you have any belongings you need retrieved?"

Aurelius blinked, wondering why he was extending such hospitality to him, when no more than a few hours ago they were ready to kill him. "What's wrong," said Jean-Claude, "I would have thought you ecstatic for a new lease on life that you got."

"Well, yeah, but I'm curious as to why you trust me so much."

"I just don't see you as the same person as before. Fresh chances also come with fresh trust. If you have changed as I believe you have, then I have nothing to fear."

Aurelius smiled a bit and said, "Well that's good to know..."his voice trailing off again, being that he was still not sure where all this would lead. "Look," said Jean-Claude, "Are you scared about retribution: that someone's going to try to get you for all this? Fear not, because you will be in the safest place you can be. The wards we set, not even the undead can break through it. If you feel nervous whenever you need to hunt, just take one of Die Kaiserenhand with you, and you will be safe. Trust me; they are six of the baddest vampires to walk the face of the earth. I could have included Chiyuki in there, but I don't think she's really interested in joining my group of elites. If only I could get Elda and Victor to join... I digress. Anyway, you can learn all about what you have become with us, and you can learn to see things in a whole new light. Humans live there too, and they are very willing to be your friend. This is the Dream we all seek, and the future that was prophesied. With Keelin to lead the undead, she could make them all like you, and you can...if you would pardon the phraseology... 'Come and join us in the sunlight.' You are a rare case. Rarely do I get any undead or full-fledged vampires that have gone rouge to turn from their ways. Sadly, I am forced to kill the greatest percentage of them. Their biggest downfall is when they think they are superior to humans and even other vampires. That normally comes back to bite them. I have found turning vampire hunters away from their hunting to be easier. However, you are special-you have to be! Stick with us, and stick with your princess-Keelin. She can guide you. Let's go home-to /your/home. Now, are there any personal belongings that you want us to fetch? Believe me, if there are those searching for you to do you harm for turning, believe me, we will get your stuff, even if we have to shoot our way through. There will be many piles of ash by the time we get done with things!"

Aurelius blinked and said, "Ah, no, nothing I'll need," he said, smiling slightly.

"Are you homeless?" said Jean-Claude, "Oh my God! Well then, Tomorrow is Saturday, and I will be having some of the humans helping me, and we will furnish a place for you. In the meantime, let me take you back and give you some crash space. Tomorrow night, when you awaken, you will not believe your eyes."

However, Jean-Claude was not yet willing to show him "the full Monty" yet. He knew his arrogance had been siphoned out of him, and it could come back by a month's time. He would want that time to have Keelin work on him, and get his mind where it needed to be, to catch up to his body. He wanted to be sure that Aurelius was truly changed.



As they walked back, Jean-Claude was quizzing his new found friend on what he liked in decor, clothes, and so forth. He even contemplated letting one of the girls take him clothes shopping the next night. He knew New York was, quite literally, the city than never slept, and there were places open 24 hours to allow him a full wardrobe. Aurelius blinked and answered the questions politely, and honestly. "Would you like the girls to help you clothes shop tomorrow night?" asked Jean-Claude.

"Uh..." Aurelius thought about being dragged around by women and shopping and clothing, and he said, his head beading with sweat, "I think Icould manage on my own,"

"Still, it's not wise for you to be on your own," responded Jean-Claude, "I'll send Karin with you at least. She can handle herself."

"If it makes you trust me more I don't care if you send awhole platoon with me," Aurelius said, grinning.

"I'm just worried about some undead trying to get retribution on you."

"Nah, I wasn't as important as I acted."

"Then, let's get you back home. Now, we all sleep in beds, so, if you are used to a coffin, I do apologize. We'll lay out a futon for you until we have your place readied. And, if you have to be up in the day, don't let it bother you. The windows are tinted to block UV, so the sun won't harm you."

"It's all good. I'm use to sleeping in whatever is available."



Later, back in his place, Yuriya was very gracious to him, and was doting over his every need. Aurelius could not believe this, and he was nearly going into a sensory overload. "R...really its fine, I'd rather be slightly more independent," he said with sweat drops on top of his head.

"Oh, it's alright," she said, "You're our guest. Guests always get the best!"

She smiled in that pretty smile that she could flash. Aurelius continued to weakly protest, as he scratched the back of his head and said, "N...no its okay...really! I'm fine..."

Yuriya turned her head confused and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and then began to smile knowingly. She then said, "Ah, Iknow what it is! You've never been treated this well before. My goodness! They must have treated you like slime, making you think you didn't deserve the good things, eh?"

"No, it's the opposite," Responded Aurelius.

Yuriya looked a touch confused again and said, "I don't understand."

"I'm used to being treated better then I deserve, so I'd rather fend for myself," was his answer, he obviously feeling like he should be being punished for his actions rather than rewarded.

"Hey, we do this because we actually care about you," said Jean-Claude, "Whatever the reasons were that you were so treated are not the reasons here. We do this for everyone, so stop beating on yourself. As Karin would say, 'welcome to the family!'"

Aurelius blinked and said, "Thank you?" still slightly confused. Jean-Claude stepped in here and said, "This is all a part of something of my own spiritual walk. I do what I can not to return hate for hate. When it is time to fight, it is not normally out of a sense of pure vengeance and hate, but out of a sense of justice and righteous indignation, and not out of pure hate and vengeance. Yet, when I fight, I am not going to play around either. However, with people who have shown they are willing to repent and change their ways, the slate is clean, and I give everyone a fair shake by treating them all the same. As far as I am concerned, your past is in the past, and I don't make judgment calls off of something that is no longer you. I am not going to treat you poorly, though you think you need to be treated that way. So, put that out of your mind-that you need to be punished-because that is not going to happen. To me you are a completely different person."

Aurelius nodded, seemingly understanding, never having experienced real love before.



Chiyuki then came in with Keelin clinging to her back, "Okay, home slice, are we leaving right now?"

"Give us a couple of days," said Jean-Claude, "I want to get him a place settled first while we make our plans for going in-what we should bring, who should go, where to go, and such. Then we can head out. However, due to the nature of things, my kids are going, and...well..."

He hesitated to continue, knowing that, what he needed to request could throw Chi into a tizzy. "And...well what?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Um, well, you now know how special your daughter is, right?"he answered, letting the question dangle, hoping she would catch the hint without having to say it. Before he could finish blinking, Chiyuki's hand was on his throat tightly, "And what exactly are you suggesting?"

This was the confrontation that he had always feared. Blade had given him problems, but she had once subdued him easily, giving him alesson in never underestimating one's opponents. He now knew that, if it ever came to it, he would have to fight for his life to subdue her. He said through gasps, "Keelin may need to come along!"

"No...It's as simple as that!" Chiyuki said, smiling too pleasantly.

Jean-Claude started to try and pry her hand off, and said, "If she has that kind of power against what we fight, she would be invaluable."

"Even so, she is barely seven years of age," Chiyuki protested "Someone of that age should never see battle!"

He began to try to regain his breath and said, "Then, what would you suggest?"

"I don't know, but I'll not have my child taken to abattlefield!" Chiyuki snuffed.

"Do you not realize what kind of control over the undead she may have," said Jean-Claude, "If she did what she did for him, (pointing to their new guest,) what else can she do? We can't lead them all here like the Pied Piper."

Jean-Claude then stopped, thought, and then said, "Of course, Keelin needs to obey her mother. I would never suggest or even think about her disobeying her mother, or even trying to do something as silly as stow away, or sneak along, or anything like that."

Chiyuki grinded her teeth irritated and hissed "You are so lucky I owe you so much!" turning around to leave. He whispered, "Oh come now!You wouldn't think she would really do any of that, do you?"

"Actually I do!" Chiyuki said, glaring angrily back at him and warned, "Go ahead, she can come...but do not give her a sword, she is not leaving my side at all!"

"Fine," he said, "I would not expect her to fight anyway. I'll let the twins hang with you, and help you keep her safe. Having something happen to her is not what I would want."

Chiyuki just stomped out of there, steam coming out of her ears.



The next night came, and Jean-Claude had all parties involved come down to the war room. At this Jean-Claude set up a computer 3-D hologram of Romania, and said, "Okay, were do we start?"

Aurelius walked forward, and pointed at a small recluse town and said, "That is the town where is supposedly lives near."

Jean-Claude zoomed the map in, and as he did, they saw the town come into more detail, and a blurry area that wouldn't focus. "What do you think is causing that," asked Jean-Claude.

"It could be a barrier of magic," Chiyuki suggested.

The twins waved their hands over the spot and concentrated."Yes, someone doesn't want to be seen, or someone's activities. We cannot penetrate it this far away."

Chiyuki blinked and nodded, "Sounds about right: no human eye would pick this up. Machines have trouble with it, and thus the blur. Ithink who ever this is; he is very strong in magic, and thus very old."

Romulus then chimed in and said, "Well, the surrounding area is all too familiar. That area that is blurred is Castle Bran."

"Wait, you mean THE Castle Dracula?" said Jean-Claude, thinking that that had all been myth.

"The very one," said Remus, "And there is more in there than meets the eye."

Jean-Claude then began to ponder the approach to the thing. "I would guess the first place to start is on the outskirt towns and villages, and slip our way in as best we can. However, I'll have to talk to Tony about making connections there. We can't exactly slip weapons past the border check."

"We could alter and erase their memories if necessary."Chiyuki suggested.

"True," said Jean-Claude, "But with security the way it has been since 9/11, we would have to be extremely cautious. Now, what kind of ordinance should we bring, and, how many of his minions could we be facing?"

"He has numerous minions, and around ten brides I believe,"stated Aurelius, "which will be a pain to kill: and killing his brides brings his wrath down upon you."

"Then that leaves one less," responded Romulus, "And that has already been kindled. However, as to the minions, I wouldn't worry about that. The 'numerous minions' to which you refer are the Beowulf, who have now 100% sworn their loyalty to Mina. That will only leave the brides, and any undead he can create in the time it takes for us to get there. That, the elite eight themselves could handle."

Jean-Claude added, "If they are like other undead, I would like to see how they handle automatic weapons."

Chiyuki raised an eyebrow and asked, "How long has Dracula's brides been around?"

"Okay, a lot of rounds," responded Jean-Claude.

Chiyuki giggled slightly, "The point I am getting at is, if they are even close to my age, they will be able to dodge bullets."

"Thus, we'll have to take them hand-to-hand," responded Jean-Claude, "I am fast-not like you or them-but I can compensate for that."

Chiyuki nodded and yawned slightly. Annoyed, J-C finally said, "You know, after all these years, I finally figured out why you do that...yawn, I mean. I am not trying to brag or say I am better than you in those regards. God knows you have proven otherwise over all this time. All I am saying is that I can handle them if it came to it. If I could fight Blade to astalemate, I can handle them...not easily, mind you, but I could handle them."

"I yawn to edge off my irritation with sleep," Chiyuki said,"Assuming things like that will not help your cause."

"It just makes you sound like you could care less about things," he replied, "Besides, how much sleep do you need, anyway?"

"I'm not going to comment on that Rhetorical question,"answered Chiyuki, "Its a habit, nothing more, it helps me calm down."

Jean-Claude just shrugged his shoulders and went back to business, saying, "Okay, then I guess I'll bring my heavy hitter-the AA-12 shotgun. It will be close quarters against a number of foes. That will be the best. Should I use silver or the garlic rounds?"

"Garlic has more of an impact," responded Aurelius.

"That sounds good, considering that what I plan to use can blow doors and thin walls away," he responded, "It can actually launch mini-grenades, and the high explosive effect is something nothing is going to recover from when hit. I only hope the rest of The Hand is capable with those things."

Chiyuki nodded, and stared at the roof and said randomly, "I want a Mountain Dew."

Jean-Claude ignored it as one of her perks and said, "Then, let's figure out where we need to go in, and prepare to go."

"Okay, you do that while I go get soda's for everyone," she said, leaving the planning to Jean-Claude.

Jean-Claude then turned to the newest member of the group and said, "Where do we go in?"

"There is no path of least resistance," Aurelius explained,"He is too smart for that."

"There are other ways in," said Remus, "The difficult part will be reaching them."

"Then, of course, we have to find a way around them," said Jean-Claude as Chiyuki returned with the sodas. She turned to Aurelius and said, "Do you know any higher ups? People who are in close contact with Dracula himself?"

"Not really," he said, "I just had only so much contact, and that was about it."

Jean-Claude then turned to Chiyuki and asked, "Are your friends coming?"

"No," she answered, "They would feel better looking after things here, considering."

"That would help," responded Jean-Claude, "Somebody has to keep the restaurant running."

"Besides," said Chiyuki, "We will have enough in our posse as it is. Having too much of a number won't be good in a situation like this because, first, it would be too hard to transport, and second, Dracula will make more minions to counter that. The less we have while still staying within agood decent power range will make him underestimate us, and in the end be his downfall."

Jean-Claude rubbed his chin, and he said, "Then the Hand will stay back, with exceptions. I want Karin, Kenta, and Anjou. That will be four. Romulus and Remus, what will you do?"

"We'll go set things up," said Remus, "We want to make sure we are in sync," but he also had the ulterior motive of getting the Selibri out and to safety.

"That will then have Chiyuki and the twins with Keelin," responded Jean-Claude, "What about you, Ren?"

"My daughter is involved, so I feel obligated," he responded.

"What about Ryuu?" asked Jean-Claude.

"He wouldn't miss this," answered Chiyuki.

"Good," responded Jean-Claude, "Then we gear up tonight and leave tomorrow."

Chiyuki gave a thumb's up, and yawned. Jean-Claude laughed and said, "Girl, if you were any more laid back, you would be flat on your back!"

Ren laughed and said, "Besides, that's my job!"

Chiyuki giggled as she left with him, and Jean-Claude grinned. Perhaps after this, they might finally have some peace...at least for a while.