Bleeding Hearts [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

The pale doll of the Nikolaev family rested languidly that evening on one of the black fainting couches in the main room. Lydia Anton never took the name Nikolaev, for she was not one of the purebloods. There were others in the home, too—those of other noble families, and a few others like her. The Nikolaev family had grown large and powerful, and that could be seen simply from the number of human slaves and golden adornments in the home.


Yet, quite a few would wonder how they held it together.


That day was one of those days, though Lydia didn’t seem to be at all engaged in the chaos happening only a little bit away from her. Instead, the red-haired woman was pressing her hands down on the shoulders of one of the pureblooded women and tilting her head so she had access to the neck.


Lydia preferred the taste of vampire blood to human, and took her pleasure whenever she liked. After all, the bite was something that so many humans wanted, once they’d had it—it was addictive. The blonde beneath her hummed out her delight as Lydia drank, ignorant to how much blood she was truly losing in the ecstasy that was always heightened when Lydia drank.


Of course, Lydia’s focus was split on creating that ecstasy, and causing the eruption some feet away. She knew it was dangerous to play with the emotions of other vampires, but she had stopped caring about that. It was why she heightened this woman’s pleasure, and why she wasn’t even concerned about the reaction she’d get when she finished drinking, and shoved the pureblood to the floor besides the couch. The woman just let herself collapse there, in a daze, and Lydia’s green eyes turned to the fight.


It had escalated quite a bit during her feeding, but now that her attention could focus on it….


“You let that hunter live on purpose!” Wild accusations were drawn up by the vampire to the human slave. Lydia relaxed, and watched without shame, without hiding it. People got caught up in their emotions. “You want us all to die, don’t you, Daniel?” He raged on, “Do we not take good care of you? Are you not safe in these walls and given food and protection? Answer me!”


His answer wouldn’t be good. The defiant rage was building. His answer was a lie made in spite, “Of course I let the hunter live!” Daniel shot back, “Why wouldn’t I? You drank Meredith to death!”


Oh, now that was interesting. Lydia smiled a bit. She couldn’t predict what people would say under her influence. Apparently this Daniel had a reason to be angry. ‘My, my.’


And then came the violence. The vampire grasped Daniel by the throat and held up aloft, “She was never yours to have.” Oh, that delicious jealousy! Lydia pushed it through both of them, “She was mine, and she should have known that.”


He threw Daniel across the room, and the human hit the wall. The suited vampire strode calmly across the floor to follow after him, and Daniel tried to stand.


The pureblood blinked, coming out of her daze, “Uh…what are you doing?!” She shrieked, overcome with fury as she got to her feet and ran to the vampire before he could assault Daniel any further with words or hands.


Lydia shut her green eyes. She didn’t really need to watch to know how this was going to turn out, and already she was starting to get bored. Too predictable. How could she twist them, how dement them individually to get some exciting results?


‘Make her happy. Make her happy with this, and she’ll be plagued with guilt later.’


So, Lydia twisted the woman’s heart. Her fists were soft when they came in contact with the vampire’s chest, and a laugh escaped her instead of a scream.


Lydia feigned sleep as the woman instead took control of the situation and tormented the human who wanted them all dead and confessed it, again and again. She expected to go unnoticed, since her black dress blended in so well to the fainting couch.


~***~


The Nikolaev manor was heavily guarded. It didn’t take a genius to know that, but Leon Russell finally had insight into it as one of his scouts returned, alive. He was waiting at the campsite that afternoon, a fire still burning high near him.


“Sir!”


Leon turned to look at the interruption, then rose to his feet, “Sit, Angela,” he motioned quickly to a chair, “I’ll get a medic,” he started to walk, intending to do just as he said. However, that would take him by Angela, and Angela wasn’t having it. She reached for him and caught the sleeve of his denim jacket.


He turned with the tug, “I found a way into the manor,” she said, brown eyes wide. Leon listened, didn’t struggle to leave her grasp, “There’s a way just in the abandoned subway that leads up to it. They don’t…they don’t post many guards there. It used to be…an escape…an escape route,” said the bloody woman.


Leon’s lips curved into a smile, and he took her hand in both of his. “Good work,” he said. She smiled back, and then he let go of her hands and hurried away to find Thomas, the main medic among the group.


His steps quickly brought him to the tent where the black-haired man was working, “Thomas, I need you,” he chanced a glance at the person on the metal table, decided they were stable enough, and met Thomas’s gaze with his own steely gray ones.


Thomas didn’t look so certain, but listened as Leon explained, “Angela made it back from the Nikolaev manor alive, and got information.”


Thomas’s eyes widened. “Er, I’ll go find my assistant for this one,” he decided then that Angela was the more important individual to see taken care of, and walked away from Leon calling out for his assistant.


Leon smiled, pleased that he was understood. ‘Soon.’ The Nikolaev held this area in an iron grip. Leon intended to destroy them, and free this territory from the reign of vampires. When the Nikolaev family fell, it would show vampires that they weren’t as all powerful as they thought.


The rebel turned around and started to trek back to where he left Angela and wondering if he should clean himself up a bit. After all, dirt-covered jeans couldn’t be the most sanitary thing to wear around the injured. ‘Soon.’ He let out a sigh. So much medical equipment was hoarded by vampires.

 

[Polaris.]

Victor Nikolaev

The room was dark, cold, and airy. It was a mixture of a study room and a bedroom. In the corner was a black rocking chair, which was occupied by rather brooding man. Across from him was a woman whose hair so black, it could probably blend into the night. The moonlight shone on their pale skin and they stared at each other quietly.

“Mariah,” Victor’s seductive voice crossed the room towards the dhampir who was sitting on his bed. She was probably the only one he trusted and they both knew it was because she didn’t have any powers to control him. Victor motioned her to come closer, his flirty nature made her roll her eyes. However, like most females, no one refused Victor’s commands. She walked over and sat on his lap, her neck bare for the expected feeding. Without further warnings, he sank his fangs into the nape of her neck and drank hungrily. She let out a gasp in response, the pleasurable feeling swirling inside her stomach. It was a sensitive process for vampires and Victor was the only few who liked doing it in private. After he was done, he licked the puncture marks and she returned to her previous spot on his bed.

“You have trust issues,” Mariah randomly pointed out the obvious, breaking the hanging silence between them.

Usually anyone would have been killed and possibly tortured for insulting him but Mariah was different. They grew up together since they were young and the Nikolaev family was powerful enough to have dhampir servants. She was his confidante but definitely not the woman he love…or loved. Was it even love?

“You’re confused,” she said, realizing his eyes were distant again. “You can’t forget her but your problems are holding you back.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Victor ran both of his hands through his raven black hair. His dark brown eyes closed shut and he was too frustrated with himself. “I need another girl tonight. Bring me the ripest one,” his face still remained stoic, a façade he mastered since little.

“No, we’re out of red-heads,” Mariah replied defiantly, a smirk graced her face. Everyone knew that since the strained between Victor and Lydia, he has been rather sadistic towards humans with red hair. He wouldn’t just drink them to death but he would sometimes claw them or snap their head in a fit of anger. No one would mention a single word because not many had the guts to face Victor.

“You’re right. I should bed you next,” he said playfully, quickly standing up and sped to her side. He pushed her down, his arms wrapped around her waist. The motion caused both of them to laugh and Victor hugged her closer to his side.

“I miss her, Mariah. I miss her laugh, I miss her touch," he whispered missing the warmth near his side. But he wasn't going to admit it to that scheming snake. For all he knew, his feelings were a part of her game. Before Mariah could gather up a reply, a screech filled the entire manor and both of them rushed down to see the problem. They stood there watching the entire scene as Victor noticed a doll-like figure blending into the couch.

"Well, well, look what we have here," he placed his elbows on top of the couch for support, his head facing towards Lydia. "It's my little snake and her toys," he said intrigued by the situation. He knew he should have probably left and avoided her but something made him stay. It was like a moth being attracted to the fire. And he knew the ending to this encounter was not going to be good.


Colette Stone

Colette sighed at the rate of decline for her group. Everything was disorganized ever since the death of the group leader by the hands of a noble vampire. She tried to hold everything together but slowly things were becoming overwhelming and out of control. The result was printed on the paper she held tightly within her grasp.

'5 dead and 3 wounded.'

The vice-leader stepped up to his new role and appointed another strategist. She knew her past arguments with the vice-leader caused him to sidelined her. Colette knew she should have fought harder. They needed to scout more before sending their squad off but her voice was suppressed. Their common enemy were the vampires and now they were slowly turning against each other. Frustrated with the turn of events, Colette crumbled the sheet of paper into a ball and tossed it across her computer room. When the frustration was gone, all she was left with was anger. She was angry that her friends lost their lives. She was angry that she wasn't forceful enough to implant her strategy. She was angry that she could only hopelessly sit here. Her anger turned into screeches of irritation and finally she was left with nothing but angry tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

Getting up, Colette kicked the trash can out of her way and went to where the injured were being tended to. "How are they?" she asked Walter, the only medic she appreciated in her group.

"We lost another one. But the other two are in the safely recovering," he replied sullenly. "They are still unconscious so we couldn't gather much information from them."

She nodded, clearly not impressed by the new strategy they were heading towards. There was no point in their game plan if everyone is already dead. "We need another leader," she said her crossed arms hugging her stomach. "At this rate, we'll lose everyone."
​

 

[Lucyfer]

Nadia Nikolaev was under the influence, her strings being finely tuned each second. Happiness was a difficult emotion to twist properly when morality tried to fight against it. Lydia had to tune the chords appropriately, and so she had released the dark-haired vampire and human from her control, which was fine.


The human was being tortured, and the vampire was standing back in shock, considering he’d never seen this behavior from Nadia before.


With her eyes closed, Lydia cut out all other distractions and focused solely on her instrument until she was done playing, until the human was shredded and Nadia was licking the blood from her fingers. Then, she let go of all those tightly wound strings.


The screech that came from Nadia caused Lydia to smile as the pulse of guilt and horror struck Nadia. There was babbling. There were justifications and then a silence as Nadia tried to understand how she could have gotten so lost, without once looking towards Lydia.


That was, until Victor found her and dared to approach. Lydia heard the steps and let her eyes open to find his pair of brown ones. She smiled, but her tone was deadened as she asked, “Do you want to play?” Woe to him if he ever said yes to that question. Lydia would deal with him far worse than she’d dealt with Nadia. As a rule, she didn’t toy with Victor, part pride, part ‘I-told-you-so’.


Victor would never be so stupid, though. “YOU!” Nadia rounded towards her then with a hiss and with anger. Lydia’s green eyes drifted towards her as the vampiress approached, and again took hold of those finely tuned emotions as she stalked forward. Twist anger, twist suspicion, turn them differently. Anger to sorrow. Suspicion…no, suspicion could stay, but she could broaden its range.


Everyone here knew what she could do. The problem was it was oh, so difficult to prove.


~***~


Leon went to gather a few others throughout the camp once he was assured that Angela would be seen to. Desiderata, Morgan, Yvonne, and Philip soon met him near the fire. Though it was day, Leon always kept a fire burning—it was easier to deal with vampires with fire, and dhampirs would fall to the flames if one ever tried to spy for the vampires.


Dhampirs were so difficult to trust, but Morgan was one. It was clear in the way he kept himself covered, and how he flinched at the fire. Yet, he’d earned Leon’s favor years ago, when he saved Leon’s life. He’d never once turned back.


Desiderata had been rescued from slavery, and stuck to Morgan’s side as the only human willing to be fed from. Yvonne had been with Leon from the start, and was many years older than him. She had seniority and the respect of many for her years. Philip was a boy, but he was a prodigy with explosives and utilizing UV. Tanning beds had been a thing once upon a time—Philip was adapting that technology.


“What’s up?” the blonde Philip asked immediately, practically bouncing on his toes. He could see the manic gleam in Leon’s gaze, and knew that was good. Desiderata also arched one black eyebrow.


“Angela has found a way into the Nikolaev manor through the abandoned subway system.” Leon answered. Yvonne sucked in a breath and Morgan’s blue eyes took on the same, manic gleam as Leon’s. “I want to investigate it further, but I think this is our in.”


“I’ll go,” Morgan immediately volunteered.


“I’m planning to go as well,” Leon noted. “Yvonne, can you hold down the fort when we go?”


“When are you going?” She sounded a touch disgruntled.


“Tomorrow, day time. It’s too late now,” there were many preparations to work on before heading out, such as figuring out who else would be coming.


Yvonne sighed, “I suppose I can, but are you sure about this?”


“Angela came back, said it wasn’t—”


“—heavily guarded,” Yvonne finished, “And where was she found by the vampires?”


Leon’s joy faltered. He hadn’t asked that. It could be she was found there, and so the area would be more heavily guarded.

 

[Polaris.]

{Victor Nikolaev}

He knew he shouldn’t have bothered. Victor should have turned a blind eye to the screeching screams and devastated sobs. His heart raced and his eyes dilated at the smell of blood. Being born as a vampire made him slightly more sensitive to blood than others but he still maintained perfect control. He smirked at Lydia’s comment but decided it was best to walk away from the girl. The infatuation would eventually end.

“No, I’m quite done with you,” he replied getting back up from his slouched position over the couch. Mariah gave him a reassuring pat but before they could walk away, Victor saw Nadia approaching them with furiosity. His protective instinct caused him to lunge forward but he was swiftly held back by Mariah. With more fervor and force, the female mustered all her strength and pulled him away. They both knew that he'd regret the interference and it would eat at him later.

"Stay out of it," Mariah whispered, not liking the tension in the room.

"I'm know," he said, fist clenching though he allowed Mariah to move him backwards to witness the scene. He knew Lydia's powers are indeed scary and it's gnaws at everyone because it was almost impossible to prove.


{Colette Stone}

"I'm really sorry," Colette murmured when one of the member regained consciousness. Both of her hands gripped his tightly as she hoped he wouldn't eventually slip into a coma. They were close friends and maybe it was why this was affecting her more than their usual missions. She suspected that the vampires were able to track them down and kill most and let a few escape as a warning sign. "You'll get through this, I promise," she stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

"What did Walter say?" Raphael croaked, his voice had a hard time regaining their usual liveliness.

"That you'll be fine," she replied. "What exact happened?"

"Something is wrong," he manage to spill with much difficulty. He motioned Colette to come closer with his fingers. He was unable to get up but he didn't want anyone else to hear their conversation. When she brought her ears next to his lips, Raphael started to say the inevitable. "We have a spy in here."

"What?!" Colette whispered, her eyes widen at his words. "Are you sure?"

"Someone... tipped the Vampires...they knew our plan. They were already there...waiting for us," Raphael mumbled, feeling more exhausted every minute. He started to feel drowsy again, his eyelids were heavy and his ears blocked out Colette's voice. Soon he was back to the state she found him in.​

 

[Lucyfer]

Lydia did not stop Victor from walking away. She could have took hold of his hand, and the thought was there, but the interruption by the banshee drew Lydia’s attention.


The doll drew herself up to stand under Nadia’s accusation, and she saw Victor being pulled back by that little dhampir. There was a desire to twist the dhampir’s little heart, but Lydia shook it off. Not right then. Her attention had to be on Nadia or she’d seal her own death.


It was in these moments, and these moments alone, that the red-head felt emotion any more. Near-death. Adrenaline. It wasn’t healthy, but she’d die just to feel something. This, however, was hardly the fix she needed. Lydia was not afraid of Nadia. “Yes, Nadia?”


“You know what,” Nadia reached for her, and Lydia didn’t bother to escape. The grip on her wrist was tight, painful, but Lydia didn’t so much as flinch as the fingers sought to bruise, and nails sought to cut.


They didn’t soften as blood welled in her eyes, but the words were likely different then what she intended to say. Her mouth opened once, closed, and then she said, “Why didn’t you stop me?” It was between a sob and an accusation. The sorrow swirled in her heart, and the suspicion had turned inward. Lydia hadn’t suspected that, but now she felt the pangs of guilt and rage in the pool of emotions she could pick from and twist.


There was no more need to pluck those heartstrings, though. When Lydia released her control, they stayed, for Nadia had convinced herself that it was, truly, her own desire to torment the human to death. She had suspected it, and now she had confirmation of the monster she was. “I’m sorry,” Lydia answered, and the hand loosened its grip, “I didn’t know you wanted to be stopped.”


“You know me!” Came the shriek, and then the banshee let Lydia’s hand go and she rounded on the man who had just stood idly by. "You didn't stop me either!"


Lydia chose then to find an escape route.


~***~


“Desiderata,” Leon addressed her, “Would you check on Angela and ask her where she was caught?” Leon somehow suspected that Desiderata would have an easier time getting by the guards who were no doubt stationed there, protecting the doctor and Angela from disturbances. If not her, Morgan would.


Morgan could charm anyone. He tried not to, though. It was associated with that vampire heritage, after all.


“Sure!” Desiderata bounced on her toes and then ran off to do as directed.


Leon placed his hands on the table and sighed.


Morgan noted, “Even if it was there, give it a month,” Morgan saw how Leon’s fists clenched. Their idea of time was different, but Morgan hadn’t thought a month was long by human standards. “They’ll not have it guarded after a month. We can strike then.”


“We’ll be found before then,” rebel groups had to be nomadic.


“We can come back in a month,” Morgan said with a shrug. Leon looked up to shoot him a glare, but Morgan remained firm under it. Leon growled, but then sighed, accepting the logic of what the dhampir had to say even if it wasn't ideal.