Fantasy St. George's School for Young Hunters (closed)

[Mikotsuhime]

May made a noise of agreement with Bram’s assessment, then paused and tilted his head to the side.

“Huh. I never really thought of it like that before but you guys basically are our weird uncles,” he mused. “Though I’m not going to call you uncle Bram, because that would be a little weird, no offence.”

Vlad sleeping made sense, though May kind of doubted it was true. He had a tendency to forget what sleep was when he was working on a project, and this was a particularly important project.

“I’m with Vlad on that one. I’m pretty sure most of those books in his library are, like, one of a kind.” He chewed his waffle thoughtfully, then turned back to Alex.

“Yeah, all things considered, I’m glad you’re here,” he said brightly, the morning wariness clearly starting to wear off, even if he still wasn’t quite up to normal chipper was levels. That had more to do with current events than the time of day, though. “So what’s the plan for today? Should we wait for Vlad to say he needs something, or... I don’t mind helping out with research again, a lot of those books were really interesting.”

 

[jones573]

Winona suppressed the urge to roll her eyes- She hadn’t expected he wanted her blood so he could take her to an amusement park or whatever he considered ‘fun’. But there was a difference between ‘not fun’ and ‘actively harmful’.

“You need… Energy? Because you’re old?,” she guessed, tilting her head in confusion. She had thought his unnaturally long life was a side effect of whatever ancestry Bram had alluded to, and not due to some witchcraft magic-y thing.

But… Using blood for energy was a hallmark of a much more specific type of magical being.

“So… You’re like a long-distance vampire,” she summarized. “Sure. Handy.” Her tone implied that while she didn’t overly care what he did in his free time, she had expected something better. Maybe more noble, or at least less vampire-y.




“Honestly, you’re probably several steps up on the safety/educational/responsible rankings from my actual uncle,” Alex offered. “At the very least you have culinary skills beyond toasting PopTarts, so- These are delicious, of course. Thanks,” he added, nodding towards his plate. All things considered, Alex liked his uncle Avery, but he could kind of see why his mom had insisted her younger brother stay up to date on babysitting and child safety classes.

Alex went practically white at the thought of using antique, rare books and journals to build a fort. “Why would you- Okay, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he decided. It would be better for his stress levels.

“Well, I’ve got copies of the stuff Maria thought might be most relevant on my laptop that we can start going through, even if Vlad hasn’t started pulling potential leads,” Alex suggested. Or maybe he had been sorting out sources to look at more closely, and /somebody/ had made them into a fort….

“Where’s Winona at,” he asked, a bit surprised she hadn’t at least come through the kitchen to snag another waffle or a glass of milk. “I hope she isn’t ‘hunting’ again- I mean, yeah, it’s good to be able to provide for yourself, but she does know how to use grocery stores now,” he pointed out. It was almost a little sad- Was she worried Vlad and Bram might stop feeding her or something? Or maybe he was just reading too much into it and being overly concerned as usual. She probably just liked having an excuse to be outside and enjoy the solitude and fresh air.

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad was having a hard time keeping his breathing even. He should probably try his counting trick, but that might distract Winona. Besides, she didn’t seem to understand what Jurriaan was saying he could do. There was no reason to freak her out. However, he did decide to add his two cents.

That is ancient and evil magic. The dragon slayers used to use it for dragons. They would slowly drain the dragon of their energy while killing their fellows. He should not have found dark magic.

“No,” Jurriaan said testily. “Not because I’m old.”

He had absolutely no intention of explaining why he needed or how that had come to pass.

He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply through his nose.

Winona! Do NOT make him angry!

“It’s not like a distance vampire,” Jurriaan said too evenly.

It is exactly like that, Vlad muttered. Do not repeat that.

“Well, then,” Jurriaan said. “Let’s draw out your dads, why don’t we?”

Let me break you out, Winona!




“None taken,” Bram assured May. “That would be weird.” He glanced over at Alex. “Ima take that as a complement.”

He eyed May for a minute. The kid had been acting a bit nervous. He couldn’t figure out if it was just Alex’s presence or something else was going on with him. Bram decided he’d ask when he got May alone.

“Hey,” Devon protested when everyone else seemed horrified at their creative building materials. “You can get off your high horses. They’re just books.”

“Do not speak those words in Vlad’s presence,” Bram cautioned through a mouthful of waffle. “You’ll be excommunicated. I’m pretty sure if he could save me or the books, he’d save the books.” Bram grinned. “Nah, I’m just kidding. He’d save me, but I’d never hear the end of it.”

Bram shrugged at Alex. “Like I said, not sure where he’s at. We avoided the topic yesterday. Though, if his scowls are anything to go by, he hasn’t figured it out, yet.”

When Alex asked where Winona was, Bram quickly stuffed waffle in his mouth.

After a few seconds, he answered honestly because you. Don’t. Lie. To. Family. Dammit. “Mm… I’ont know. ‘M sure she’s fine.” Bram swallowed. “Uh, maybe ask Vlad.”

He immediately winced at how that sounded.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

“They’re /expensive/ books,” May clarified, because it was true. He doubted that the monetary value was the only reason Vlad treasured them, but it was also definitely there.

He frowned a bit when Bram avoided Alex’s question with waffle, because that was a bit odd. Odd and suspicious, as was the way that he avoided giving a direct answer to things. May squinted at him, because he wasn’t sure if he was actually reading too much into anything or not.

“She was pretty freaked out by the dragons last night,” he said slowly after a few seconds. “Maybe she’s sleeping in this morning or something.”

 

[jones573]

Well, he /did/ find dark magic. So. I assume that makes him harder to kill?, Winona replied. And like, it totally sounded like vampirism. If Jurriaan was going to be touchy about the comparison, he shouldn’t be siphoning energy off of people by using their blood. But Winona supposed Vlad was right, and didn’t pick at it.

“Ehh,” Winona said noncommittally to his proposal, as if he had genuinely been interested in her thoughts on the matter. "I'm leaving," she explained again, as if he had somehow not understood that yet but he would if she just said it with very exact articulation. "I don't want to see them again."

No, Winona thought firmly. Jurriaan wasn't even harming her yet, barely just threatening to do so! Vlad needed to toughen up. You are NOT to interfere unless I want it. Don't make me regret asking you along.

"I'm not interested in masters' who don't use their tools correctly. Or being forced back on ones who won't use them at all," she told Jurriaan. She did glare a little bit at the 'dads' though. That was /not/ what they were.

"'Sides, they're just sitting by the phone waiting for me to call them from the airport from my burner when I land," she pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "They don't know how to do anything for themselves 'cept worry. Since you don't need them, you shouldn't risk getting them involved," she reasoned. Worrying seemed to be their main course of action, unless there was some outside factor- And then they just created chaos.




“No, she’s awake,” Alex told May, apparently not as suspicious of Bram’s unusual wording. (Really, he was just too mortified by the blatant disrespect for what could potentially be /centuries/ worth of knowledge and trying not to show it, to notice anything odd.)

“Or at least, if she is sleeping, she’s doing it somewhere else besides her bed.” Winona did occasionally take unusually located cat naps, but it was generally in proximity to others- Because she was tired and everyone else wanted to watch a movie, so she tucked herself behind the couch and then scared the crap out of Alex when she resurfaced later.

But if there weren’t other people around to keep watch, Winona was pretty particular- A room with a small enough perimeter that she could comfortably monitor, door that locked from the inside. Accessible window that didn’t expose her too much. Bed in a corner with clear sightlines to the door. Heavy flashlight that could be used as a bludgeon in case of emergencies.

“I checked her room,” Alex explained. “She isn’t there.” He’d wanted to apologize for having been so impressed by dragons that he’d missed how uncomfortable she was. "Wait," he said after a moment. "I thought you said Vlad was sleeping?" If Vlad was actually sleeping for once, it didn't seem like a great idea to wake him just to pester him about Winona.

 

[Reynarda]

Jurriaan Leeuwen eyed Winona, wondering if she were just testing his patience for funsies. He sighed and tilted his head at her.

Vlad allowed his mental exasperation to cross their link. You realize that without you “asking me along” that Bram and I would have marched down the mountain and found you, yes?

“The thing you don’t seem to understand about tools is that they don’t get to decide how they are used. If the owner—the master—decides they want to use a screwdriver on a nail, they get to. That’s their prerogative.”

He rose to his feet and whistled like he was calling an animal. Two burly men appeared in the room a second later.

What, did he rent them from Thugs R’ Us, something? Seriously, though. Where does he find these people? I asked him one time, and he was not forthcoming with an answer.

“Bind her up with silver. We’re going on a hike.”

Oh, NOW he decides to do family outings. Vlad’s snarky running commentary was the only thing keeping him from having a mental break down. They do say parents change when they get grandkids.

One of the men pulled thick silver chains from his pocket, while the other pulled out a knife. They each grabbed one of Winona’s wrists, and the one with the knife attempted to cut across her wrist.

I can set them on fire, Vlad offered hopefully.



“Oh,” Bram said, trying to sound both casual and surprised when Alex revealed that Winona was not in her room. “Then, I don’t know where she is.”

He noticed May squinting at him and smiled guiltily. “Yeah, well, didn’t Vlad tell you not to bother the dragons until he could properly introduce you?”

Accusing. Yes, perfect way to hide that he was in the wrong. Accuse someone else of being in the wrong.

“She didn’t have to come,” Devon muttered.

“Devon,” Bram scolded in honest seriousness. “We talked about this.”

Devon shrugged, but avoided Bram’s eyes. Bram relaxed for a second until Alex asked about Vlad.

“Um,” Bram said, quickly eating another bite of waffle. What had he said? Did he say Vlad was sleeping? “No, I said I hoped Vlad was sleeping. He’s probably not, with how worried sick he is—about, uh, my dad, of course.” Bram quickly stuffed nearly half a waffle in his mouth, hoping no one had noticed he never referred to his father as his “dad”. This is why he hated lying, dammit.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May’s eyes went even narrower as his suspicious squinting went into overdrive. Bram was definitely acting weird, which meant that he was probably hiding something. May figured that he had learned at least a few of his tells from interrogating him constantly about Christmas gifts, but it could also be that he was just being really obvious right now.

Setting his fork down, he put on his best Disapproving face, because he may not be on Vlad’s level but he had watched him enough to get the gist of the disapproving dad look down pat, or at least he hoped. He had a feeling he might just look constipated.

“Bram,” he asked, trying to sound serious. “Are you /hiding/ something?”

 

[jones573]

Winona seemed less than impressed by his claimed prerogative. “I don’t know what that word means,” she admitted. “But yeah, if you use the handle of the screwdriver as the hammer and it’s just drywall, that would probably work I guess.”

She frowned when his men came into the room, but stood up amiably enough and did not argue with their rough grabbing of her wrists. The knife though, that was hardly necessary- Winona jerked her knee up quickly to knock it from his grip, and slammed her heel into his instep when she brought her leg back down. She could have gone for the groin, but she didn’t want to outright attack just yet. Just establish she didn’t appreciate being taken advantage of, and she winced slightly more than she actually felt when the silver encircled her wrists. “Learn to listen,” she hissed at the man who’d shown initiative, though the message was also for Vlad.

No fire.

“Ugh. I shouldn’t even have bothered with you,” Winona muttered to herself- Maybe about Jurriaan, maybe about Vlad. “No help at all.”






Alex probably wouldn’t have found it all that suspicious, but May was clearly concerned, so Alex reevaluated. “I think there’s probably been enough hiding of things, recently,” he said, as a warning that it shouldn’t continue. and as way to guilt Bram. “And I’m sure anything you are being dodgy about is of minimal concern. Which you are about to explain regardless.”

 

[Reynarda]

Jurriaan, to be perfectly honest, was not sure which word tripped her up. Worse, she was agreeing with him that his plan to use a screwdriver as a hammer was doable. The only way he didn’t tell her that you do not use a screwdriver on nails was reminding himself that he really, really did not care about this girl. She was, as she said, a tool. A stepping stone, more like. Because he had plans, and he was preemptively dealing with people who could get in his way. And yes, of course, a little revenge was the cherry on the top.

He watched with mild boredom as Winona fought back against his goons. She did knock the knife from his hand and injure him, but they got the silver around her wrists. He would have preferred to make sure her wrists were slit, but he doubted she would be able to escape too easily.

“Take her to the vehicle. Make sure someone sees you.”

That had better not be directed at me, young lady, Vlad said testily as he pulled on his hiking boots. I went against my better judgement. I—

Vlad cut himself off because what he had been thinking had not been very kind. He was angry at himself, not her.

I know you think that you can handle everything on your own, Winona, but you can’t. I know you think those people “trained” you for every eventuality, but they didn’t, and you’re still only a person. You’re not an army, you’re not a weapon. You’re a person and you screw up and you get hurt. Worse, other people get hurt because of your screwups.

I would know, wouldn’t I? How many times have people died because I screwed up? Well, let’s see. There were my parents. Did you know that was my fault? My goddaughter, also my fault. Her parents’ death, actually, is arguably my fault. That’s about five people. That’s a lot for one person.

Vlad shoved his arms into his coat.

You know what? If you want to run off and be on your own when this is all said and done, then you do that. I’ll probably be dead, anyway, so what do I care?



Bram was panicking. May was staring him down with what Bram assumed was his best impersonation of Vlad’s glare of disapproval. It fell far short because Vlad was the resident peevish vampire and May was the resident cold caterpillar. But now Devon was giving him a confused and suspicious look.

And then Alex straight-up guilt-tripped him like a cold-hearted snake.

“Okay, okay,” Bram groaned, setting his fork down. “It’s—”

Somewhere upstairs a door slammed. Then another. And another, another, another. Bram looked up as the castle groaned above them.

An angry bear stomped down the stairs. The door to the kitchen banged back on its hinges and Vlad stormed in like the tempest in Shakespeare’s play.

“Vlad?”

The vampire stalked over to the refrigerator, jerked it open, and pulled out one of the blood bags. To Bram’s shock, he sucked the entirety of the bag’s contents in one go. Then, he smashed it on the counter like a beer can and slammed the refrigerator.

“What the hell?” Bram said.

“I’m going out,” Vlad announced gruffly.

“The hell you’re not,” Bram said, standing up.

“You can’t stop me,” Vlad retorted, marching back towards the door.

“You’re making me do this!”

“You sound like your father!” Vlad yelled from the stairs.

“Vladimir Drakonii, you get your ass back here this minute,” Bram commanded, pointing at the spot right in front of him.

There was a pause in the stomping up the stairs as Vlad tried to figure out how to wiggle out of the command. But Bram had been specific. The stomping returned, but the footsteps grew nearer. Vlad reappeared, storming back into the kitchen and stopping right in front of Bram’s finger. Bram glared at him like Devon had never seen him glare before, and Vlad returned it.

“What the bloody hell are you doing?”

Vlad didn’t say anything. Just glared at him. But Bram could see the pain etched into his companion’s eyes. Without a word, he dragged the vampire into a hug. When Vlad turned from an angry wall into an upset vampire, Bram sighed.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Vlad said something muffled in his native tongue.

“He can’t beat us when we work together. We’ll get her back, okay?”

Bram turned and smiled awkwardly at the trio at the table. “Uh, so I think Win’s in trouble.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May was privately quite pleased with himself at first, that his needling and Alex’s guilt tripping had made Bram crack so quickly. But then Vlad was storming into the room, and he was genuinely truly upset, and May suddenly felt very bad for being proud in the first place.

This seemed a lot more serious than what he had originally envisioned, which was something along the lines of ‘Bram fed Winona too many cookies and made her sick’ or something along those lines, because that had definitely happened around Christmas time, or something equally harmless. But ‘we’ll get her back’ and Vlad’s clear upset immediately gave May pause.

“Did Win get kidnaped?” He asked in complete alarm, looking from Bram to Vlad to Alex to Devon because he didn’t know who could actually give him answers or what kind of answers he could actually expect. “How?! I thought your castle and grounds were, like, magically protected and that nobody could find us in here.”

 

[jones573]

Winona climbed into the car with minimal complaint, taking note of her new surroundings- windows weren’t tinted and were probably /not/ shatter-proof, door locks would obviously be engaged but the child locks weren’t, she hadn’t caught the year of the model but it seemed recent enough that she could count on complete airbag coverage- but otherwise too preoccupied with Vlad to carry on a conversation with the Rent-A-Thugs.

You are such a drama… Butt stinker-- Leech!

She knew far better insults, even some that would have conveyed the ‘overly dramatic asshole of a vampiric nature’ sentiment, but she was too angry to come up with them, her frustration bleeding into her message without her control.

I could screw up just /fine/ if you didn’t come running anytime someone else might get a little hurt, she snarled. He had like- A complex, or whatever. He had to be the only one allowed to experience pain or some shit.

You-! You have other responsibilities, the whole point is that you /don’t/ be dead, you stupid-

He was such a goddamn child, he wasn’t even thinking about Devon or Scarlet or Bram-

Fine! I’ll leave, she decided. If I’m not in any danger then you don’t have to come ‘rescue’ me.

She had still been hoping to bait Jurriaan into trying to get into her mind, and to actually observe what he was doing with the blood, and find out if he was controlling his henchpeople through money or more nefarious means but /no/, what was really important here was that Winona not get a single short hair on her head harmed because then Vladimir would throw a tantrum and endanger himself and the future of everyone who was relying on him to be alive over the next couple years- so.

I’ve got Maria’s feather, but that’s a last resort- Does he have any magic tying me to this location?

She didn’t actually want to get teleported to Maria, because she was pretty sure Maria would be all sorts of angry with her, and unlike Vlad, had very little interest in even pretending to be sympathetic or understanding. And if Jurriaan did have some sort of spell on the car to keep her in it- Well, Winona didn’t want to waste time on something that might do nothing, or could just land her in the ocean or whatever.

It would be best if she could just run for it. She’d have to get the other end of the chain from the goon, but even with her wrists bound and hurting, it wasn’t like her legs wouldn’t work. She really wished she had some actual grenades. In the future, she was going to reconsider their risk to utility ratio.







“Umm,” Alex said. He was pretty surprised to see Vlad drinking blood like a frat guy chugging weak beer at pre-game party, but he was even more shocked to see Bram exercise his control over Vlad like that. He was pretty sure /not/ using that control was like, rule number one of their friendship, the sort of thing Bram would only ever pull out as an absolute last resort to stop Vlad from getting himself killed.

Oh god this was probably really bad.

He grabbed May’s hand as an attempt at reassurance- For himself or for May, he wasn’t really sure.

Okay, first things first- May was right.

“If there’s been a security breach, we should deal with that first,” Alex decided. There was no point in rescuing Winona if there was nowhere safe to bring her back to.

“Magical, or physical? Or both,” he asked, trying to decide how he could be most useful.

“The Lupo family has guns, right? I’m better with a rifle than a pistol anyways,” he reasoned, recalling some of the hunting equipment he’d seen around the castle. He and Rue and her brothers could each take a tower and fire onto anyone approaching- It wasn’t the same as shooting at someone up close.

“Devon? Have you noticed any of Vlad’s family magic responding to you,” he asked. They could wake up Scarlet, and she and Devon could take up magical defenses for one half the territory, and Vlad could take the other and-

"Should we call anyone- My aunt, Von Batts? Do the townspeople need to be warned?"

 

[Reynarda]

Jurriaan Leeuwen drove. Mostly because he didn’t trust anyone else to, but also because he knew the way. As he drove, he glanced in the rearview mirror. Winona, sandwiched between his two assistants, was making an angry face. Like she was arguing with someone. Someone who was probably in total freak-out mode.

Perfect.



Vlad had withdrawn his thoughts from Winona because he was just could not deal logically with this right now. He hadn’t withdrawn his mind—he was upset, not abandoning her. She would still feel his presence, just not hear his thoughts.

You’re sitting in a vampire trap, he said after a pause, reconnecting his thoughts for a brief second.

Vlad leaned against Bram, repeating the same thing over and over again in the old vampire language.

“Easy, easy.” Bram said gently. “You can’t do this, but we can, okay? We’re not losing anyone else.”

“Who are we not losing?” Scarlet asked with a yawn as she entered the kitchen. “Vlady, why’s the castle having a nervous breakdown?”

“Vlad? You wanna tell us what’s going on?”

“I promised,” Vlad muttered. He hadn’t tried to escape Bram’s hug, so Bram hadn’t let go.

“Scarlet, get some chamomile tea, please.” Bram sighed, guiding Vlad into a chair. “Okay. Let me tell you what I’ve deduced.”

Vlad didn't correct him that it was induction, not deduction, which worried Bram. "So. Winona’s run off to what? Assassinate my father?”

Vlad shrugged.

“Yeah. And she’s gotten her butt captured, and Vlad knows, because he’s connected to her somehow. Am I close?”

Vlad accepted the chamomile tea from Scarlet, who then draped her arms around his shoulders. “You’re a genius, Sherlock.”

“At least Win had the presence of mind to get you in on this.” Bram eyed Vlad. He was surprised Vlad had gone along with it, but now was not the time to question that. “No security breach, Vlad?”

Rue came running in, followed by her surprisingly nimble great-great grandmother. “Do you hear the wolves—oh.”

Esme set her hands on her hips and eyed the resident vampire, who was perched on the chair with his knees drawn up, cradling his tea cup. “That big library and you didn’t read the book I gave you on anxiety.”

“Jurriaan Leeuwen has one of my children, Esme.”

“And what good is freaking out doing—” Esme glanced at the group at the table. “—her? You are Vladimir Drakonii in his seat of power—act like it.”

Vlad sighed. “The defenses are still up—or are they?”

“What?” Devon asked, as Vlad suddenly got a thoughtful look on his face.

“I don’t like that look,” Bram said. “What are you thinking?”

“If we lowered the defenses, how likely is your father to march up to my front gates?”

Bram eyed Vlad. “He’ll know it’s a trap.”

Vlad shook his head. “When he had me, my father was so worried the defenses failed just briefly. But I’m more of a worrier than he was.”

Bram considered. “Don’t the defenses remain even when you’re dead?”

“There are hundreds of reasons your father could supply as to why not.”

Bram shrugged. True enough. “Can you even remove centuries of magic wards?”

“Not remove it. I’ll just pull it back to the castle. It would take time, but I could do it.”

Bram nodded. “Let’s give it a go. Alex, how are you with a marksman riffle? Vlad’s got his old M1 from World War II in the library. He just cleaned it, so it should be good to go. No calling people. No time.” And no Maria. He didn’t need more than one overanalyzing vampire to deal with. “Rue, crossbow. Scarlet, magic.”

Scarlet saluted.

“Esme, is Luka here?”

The old woman nodded.

“He’s with Alex. May, you’re on magic duty. He’s going to have quite a few goons proficient in slayer magic. I want them dead, you guys, got that? Blow them up, shoot their heads off, I don’t care. Dead. We can’t have them screwing up Vlad’s magic.”

“What about me?” Devon asked.

“You’re with me. We’re going to give reasoning with him a try just for the sake of my conscience.”

“And I’ll let my family know to batten down the hatches,” Esme said. “If my mobile is any indication, they already know.”

Vlad nodded. Winona, we’re going to get you out. The plan is to draw Jurriaan to the castle and deal with him here. Do you see anyone besides those two or has he touched a mobile phone at all?



Jurriaan pulled off the road and stopped. The goons crossed out the vampire trap on the seat—the rental place was going to be ticked if that chalk didn’t come out—and dragged/pushed Winona out.

Jurriaan smiled cheerfully. “There’s a nice little clearing just over here that we’re all set up for your little family to die in.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

“She’s /what/?” May asked, his voice a few pitches higher than normal. Why would Winona do that? Why would she go out on her own and put herself in danger like that? Did she not trust the rest of them? Logically he knew that this was just what she was trained to do, and that she hadn’t meant it as a personal offence at all, but it still hurt a little bit.

But Vlad was already freaking out, and May freaking out was only going to upset him more, so May quickly piped down and just listened to the conversation. He was all on board with it, was totally ready to offer his own support, but then Bram asked for the one thing that he absolutely could not do.

“I can’t. I can’t kill humans,” he said, his voice a little shaky as he quickly shook his head. “Incapacitate, stop, even injure a little, yeah, fine, I can do that, but I can’t kill people. Please don’t ask me to kill people.”

It was the one rule that he was never, ever allowed to break. Even if he was only a vessel, and the source spirit was corrupted beyond repair, his magic still came from what had once been a protective deity. Using it to put an end to the lives that he was supposed to be protecting would only corrupt it further, give it more power. He didn’t know how much, but he also didn’t want to find out.

Taking a deep and shaky breath, he realized quickly that without his support through magic, he was basically useless. He couldn’t aim a gun or a crossbow or anything like that. He could set mines or something, but there was too great a chance that they would take somebody’s life. All he could do was focus on defence, and the castle already had its own defences. Still...

“I can do anything else, anything you want, but I can’t do that,” he repeated, hoping that he didn’t sound as scared as he actually was by the concept of his own helplessness.

 

[jones573]

“'The hell you looking at,” Winona scoffed at Jurriaan when she caught him checking the mirror and eyeing her. She resumed what she had been doing in lieu of arguing with Vlad- Memorizing the passing scenery, chewing on the inside of her cheek, and stewing. Vlad was right, unfortunately. The situation was not in her control, and she did not have any means to get it into her control.

“They’re your family, not mine,” Winona reminded him with some annoyance. “Or what’s left of it, I guess.”

Fine, Winona told Vlad. Should I head that direction first chance I get, or am I waiting for a signal? She probably shouldn’t try to rile up Jurriaan too badly until she knew how it would best serve- Making him pissed off at Vlad in particular seemed to be a good goal to encourage him towards the castle.

She nearly stumbled over a tree root when the goons couldn’t be bothered to watch where they were directing her, and she had to catch herself against one of their arms.

“Careful now,” she told him with a cold grin and wink so slight it may not have even happened, her lips opening just enough to reveal the sheen of blood on her teeth.

There were two water glasses out, Winona recalled, but that was just as likely to have been laziness or perhaps one of the goons. I haven’t seen him use the phone, but he could have done so earlier- Pretty sure he’s got one on him, she noted, having already assessed the various bumps in pockets and what they were likely to be.





Alex felt a great sense of relief to learn that the territory was still secure- Which was immediately washed away when Vlad decided they should /purposefully/ lower their defenses.

“Ummm,” he started, then cut himself off. Obviously this was a bad idea. They all already knew that. And the castle would still be safe.

A marksman rifle from World War II? He’d said he was more comfortable with rifles than pistols- though that wasn’t saying much- because he’d actually gone hunting on occasion with Avery. In the last decade. And not using /antiques/.

“Probably much better than I would be with magic,” Alex answered truthfully, trying to sound more confident than he felt. ‘Much better’ didn’t really mean great in this case, but he’d do what he could.

“Maria removed some of the wardings she was using to suppress my magic just last week,” he admitted. “But I think I’m more likely to hurt myself than anyone else at this point.” A rifle at least, he knew how to aim. Even if it older than he was.

He went a little pale at Bram’s further instructions, though, his hand tightening around May’s even before the older boy voiced his concern.

He’d never killed anyone before. He assumed he would, eventually, based on the fact that he was a vampire and his parents weren’t exactly in the most scrupulous professions- But he was hoping his first time maybe not be so intentional.

“You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with,” Alex decided, to hell with whatever Bram and Vlad thought about it.

 

[Reynarda]

Bram turned his eyes towards May. He wanted to point out that this was a kill-or-be-killed situation, but he softened when he saw the look in May’s eyes. “Alright, alright. I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, first off. Second, I’m not going to try. Alright, you do your best at wreaking havoc—no killing. Just havoc. Sound good? Oh, also, you’re with Alex. Like his spotter, but less spotting and more protecting, okay?”

Vlad drained the rest of his tea. “I will go draw the defenses back to us, then. Make sure Alex does not mess up my gun.” He threw a tired smile at Alex to let him know he was joking and then strode from the room, Scarlet on his heels.

Luka appeared, his hunting riffle—now outfitted with a scope—across his back, and another in his arms. He approached Alex and held it out.

“I assume you know how to use this?” he asked in perfect English. “Don’t let those two fool you—Bram has outfitted this with the latest technology. The only original part is the trigger.”

“Just because Vlad complained when I switched it out.” Bram shrugged. “He uses it every now and then. Might as well keep it in good shape.”

Luka snorted. “Scope has a laser—I would suggest you not use it. Tripod’s in this bag.” He dropped said bag on the table. “Barrel’s long for accuracy, so you’re going to want to use the tripod. Best spot is the balcony outside of Vlad’s room.”

Luka eyed Alex like he didn’t trust him before shifting the gun on his shoulder. “Don’t load it until you get there.”

“Luka,” Bram chided. “Don’t be a riffle snob. You on the west parapet?”

Luka nodded and strode out.

“Sorry, he’s a little intense,” Rue said. “I’m his spotter?”

Bram nodded, and she followed her cousin to the west wing.

“Alright,” Bram said, nodding to himself. “Let’s go then.”



In the courtyard of his castle, Vlad crouched and placed his hands on the stones. His ancestors were turning over in their graves in horror of him purposefully letting a Leeuwen on his land. He had done it with Bram obviously, but he was sure they would forgive him for that. But this? Probably not.

Wait until the castle becomes visible before you do anything. Act dismayed or something. He will not come unless he thinks he can win. Or… I am sure he has men standing around. Question his abilities against a coward vampire if he hesitates.

Jurriaan had his thugs drag Winona into a clearing in which he had drawn several traps. One for half-vampires, and one for vampires—specifically one vampire. The clearing was situated on a hill just outside the boundary of the Drakonii lands.

The thugs pushed Winona into the designated Winona-trap and stood back.

Jurriaan drew out a long knife. “Did you know that blades can be forged in dragon blood rather than fire? It makes them very strong and capable of holding powerful magics. In fact—”

He cut himself off as the forest ahead flickered like a bad TV connection. Lights flashed and died in rapid succession until suddenly, a castle appeared several miles away, nestled against a mountainside.

Jurriaan blinked. That had not been there seconds before. Eyes narrowing, he struck, grabbing the front of Winona’s shirt. “Is this some sort of trick?”

Hands off my little girl, Vlad growled in Winona’s mind. If he gets any closer with that cursed blade, I am setting him on fire.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May visibly relaxed when Bram said that he wasn’t going to make him do anything he didn’t want to do, and he squeezed Alex’s hand tightly. So he wouldn’t have to kill anyone. Good. He didn’t feel very good about Alex having to kill anyone either, but... while he didn’t seem happy about the situation, he didn’t seem horribly distraught either. May took a deep breath and nodded his head. Havoc. Havoc he could do, and protecting he could do.

“Ok, then we’ll head over there,” he announced as he tugged Alex along with him, though he paused for a second before leaving the room. “And thank you, for not pushing it.”

The tips of his ears were a bit red, and he quickly pulled Alex to Vlad’s room, which felt a bit weird because he didn’t usually go in there, and then out onto the balcony.

“I hope you know how to set that thing up, because I sure don’t,” he said in reference to the rifle, chewing on his lower lip but trying to stay positive. He rolled up his sleeve to take inventory of his bracelets; he wore them more out of habit these days than anything, but he still had a wide assortment of stones at his disposal, and it meant he didn’t have to go back to his room. Eyeing the direction of the sun and taking quick stock of directions, he pulled one bracelet off and snapped the string, placing the stones at the four axis of the balconey, before snapping another bracelet and placing those stones at the four corners.

“There, that should at least help keep any shots fired from hitting us,” he said with a little half smile. “Though I’ll make sure to protect you properly too. I don’t really know much what a spotter does, so I’m just gonna wing it.”

 

[jones573]

Winona did not particularly care about his fancy knife.

“You sharpen it only on one side, too? Like your other knife,” Winona asked with a raised eyebrow. She would have been a lot more intimated by his show with the whetstone if he’d alternated his strokes. Sure it was only for performance purposes, but was it a prop knife? Was he going to remember which side he’d already sharpened for the next time he needed to threaten someone?

“I’m in your damn trap, how is that supposed to be a ‘trick’-” she scoffed, her own hands shoving up against him to keep some distance, but her eyes widened as she looked over his shoulder.

She didn’t have to fake her shock. It was a very odd thing, to see the landscape dancing back and forth. And she’d really only seen the castle up close, Vlad’s magic hiding it when they’d approached by car and the trees hiding it when she’s wandered the territory by foot. It was actually pretty impressive.

“I thought you ‘known them for centuries’,” Winona quoted, smoothing out her expression after she knew he’d seen her surprise. “But it doesn’t look like you were expecting /that/,” she said with a smirk.

I can handle pain, she reminded Vlad peevishly, the anger in her tone more related to how he had referred to her than his needlessly repeated offer of fire. Concentrate on the magic on /your/ end. I will shut you out, if you are just going to be distracted, she warned.

She was pretty sure she could isolate any pain she felt from being conveyed to Vlad, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t let it completely derail him.






Alex nodded sincerely at everything Luka said, mostly because Rue’s cousin was very intimidating and Alex didn’t know what else to do. “Thank you,” he said politely, like Luka had just given him instructions on how to find the nearest gas station and not operate an advanced piece of weaponry.

“I can set up a group call? So we can stay in contact,” he suggested as he carefully gathered up the equipment he’d been given. He didn’t drop any of it, so. That was something. He paused as he left the kitchen, grabbing additional waffles and his water bottle.

“Umm- Bram,” he said hesitantly. “I know he’s your father, and it’s your call, obviously- But it seems like you’ve given him a lot of chances already? More than you’ve asked us to give his men, at least,” Alex pointed out. He didn’t really want to say Bram was being a bit of a hypocrite, but-

“I just think- Your conscience doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of.” Alex hurried after May before Bram could tell him how completely out of line he was.

“Hey, can you take the food,” he asked May as he caught up to him and passed the plate. “Um, yeah, I think so,” he answered as he began to set up on the balcony.

Tripod first.

“Spotter, uh- Keeps a look-out for enemies, mostly. Communicates with command, confirms ki- shots,” Alex corrected, going off his vague knowledge. “Offers defensive assistance. I think you’ll be great,” he told May with a soft smile. He really had no idea of the meaning of the stones May had just busied himself with placing, but he felt genuinely better for having them there.

Once everything was in place, Alex looked through the scope, swiveling the top of the tri-pod to determine his range. Rue might have been right about her cousin being intense, but Luka wasn’t wrong- Safety was important. You didn’t load a gun you didn’t intend to shoot. And you didn’t put your finger on the trigger until you were ready to pull it.

Alex took several deep breathes to prevent an oncoming hyperventilation. He could freak out about this later. For now, it was just like going hunting with Avery for turkeys, or deer. Except not really the same in any meaningful way. Least of all because he was expected to hit something besides a tree.

Okay, think about that later.

"Bram's wrong," Alex noted. "What he wants is for them to be unable to use slayer magic- They don't need to die to accomplish that. They just need to be unable to draw or write any symbols."

 

[Reynarda]

Jurriaan looked between Winona and the castle. Certainly, it was strange, but a that old castle did respond to its resident vampire. Of course, it was most likely a trap.

Still, even if it was a trap, what did those idiots have in their collective arsenal that could defeat him? Nothing, of course. It was two old, messed-up friends and a bunch of teenagers.

He released Winona’s collar and straightened. He pulled out a phone and rapidly shot of a test—surprising for a man of his age. “I suppose our hiking trip is not at an end. Back to the vehicle.”

You can try to make a break for it, if you want, Vlad said, ignoring Winona’s insistence that she could handle pain. The lights are not there, but surely you could find your way back. Once you got close, I could come and get you through one of the escape tunnels.

The thugs scratched out the trap and dragged Winona, again, intending to march her back to the SUV.




“That’s a great idea,” Bram said. For someone who loved and used technology, he always forgot he could use phones to keep in contact during a fight. It was probably mostly that he was used to fighting with only Vlad, not a big group of people he should keep in contact with. “Dev, take a Bluetooth headset to Vlad. He’ll need his hands free.”

“Do I get one?” Esme asked, eyeing Bram with an arched eyebrow that warned he choose his answer carefully. “You’re not going to try to leave me out of this, are you?”

“Of course not,” Bram promised.

Bram looked over at Alex when he suggested that he was giving his father too many chances, but he decided just to nod and say nothing. He couldn’t explain his need to give people chances. Some people responded well to it. He couldn’t just not try. But, to be perfectly honest, he didn’t know what he would do if his father did seem to have a change of heart.

Devon glanced out of the window a he made his way out to the courtyard. Nothing looked different. Should it look different? He found Vlad crouched in the courtyard, Scarlet sitting cross-legged next to him.

“Are the barriers still there?

“Nope,” Scarlet said cheerfully as if there was not a big fight brewing. “We pulled them back.”

“Oh. Um, Alex is setting up a group call.” Devon hesitated. “Do you know what’s going on with Win?”

Scarlet shook her head. “I hear like a buzz of energy, but I have no idea what they’re saying.”

“She runs out and does something stupid and suddenly everyone is running off to save the problem child,” Devon muttered.
“No love for the good kid, mm?”

Devon started, looking down at Vlad. The elder vampire had opened his eyes and was looking up at him.

“I, uh, I thought you were talking to Win.”

“I can hold many conversations at once. Look, Devon. Yes, besides that joyride—”

“Bram said he wasn’t going to tell you!”

“He did not,” Vlad assured him. “I am very observant, and Bram does not not know where a scrape on his truck came from. Anyway, you have not given us much trouble, and so we do not spend as much time scolding you and making sure you do not get yourself captured and tortured by the most terrifying person on this earth, and for that I thank you. I know that means we spend a lot more time with Winona, but it also means we expect more from you.” The elder vampire nodded to where Bram was pacing up on the wall. “I think Bram asked for you to stand with him against his father. Take care of him for me, will you?”

Devon squared his shoulders. “I won’t let you down.”

Vlad smiled fondly. “You never have.”

Scarlet chuckled as Devon marched off. “Love for the perfect oldest?”

“Sure, but I do not have one.”

Scarlet laughed and shoved him. “No Mother’s Day card for you.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May took the plate of food and nodded, unsure why they really needed waffles, but if Alex was still hungry in this situation then he certainly wasn’t going to bug him about it. Instead he watched the other put together the tripod and the rifle, mildly interested but mostly just needing to do something so he didn’t think too hard about this.

Win had been captured by the enemy and now, to get her back, they were bringing said enemy right up to their doors. It was the best way to lure Jurriaan out, yes, but it also made May very anxious. This was a lot higher on the ‘everyone you care about is in grave danger and could die’ scale than they usually got.

“Watch our for enemies, gotcha. Wish I had a chance to go out and set up a perimeter beforehand, that would have been useful. For now, though, at least guns can’t really hit us. Or shouldn’t be able to. If someone gets in the castle, that’s another story, but I’m pretty sure Vlad will try to stop that.” He rambled, because rambling was what May did when he was nervous. “As for stopping them from using magic, uh, I can do that! I think. We’ll have to take it on a case to case basis, though, because I am unfortunately not all powerful and I really don’t know what to expect here. I wish Win wouldn’t have run off like that. Does she not trust us? I thought she was starting to trust us, at least.”

He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice, but it didn’t really work.

 

[jones573]

Winona considered running- And not in the direction Vlad had indicated.

But she'd promised.

No, she decided. Let’s keep eyes on him for now.

It would probably be best for her to make herself scarce before Jurriaan and Vlad were close enough to see each other, but she didn’t want to lose their present advantage quite yet.

She got back into the car- There sure was a lot of driving considering this was a ‘hiking trip’.

He sent a text, she reported. Didn't seem to wait for a reply before deciding to move forward. She should have tried to take it off of him when he’d grabbed her, like she’d taken one of the guns from the henchman she’d ‘fallen’ into. But he was probably not as easily tricked.





Alex scarfed down another waffle as he set up the group call, setting his phone on speaker with the volume up so that he and May could easily talk into it if needed, but it wouldn’t pick up all their conversation.

“Okay, we should all be on this call now,” he announced. “Vlad- I don’t suppose we’d have time for May to get out into the grounds at all?”

Maybe they could get a slingshot and just toss some crystals out there that May could use? Because Alex definitely knew how to work a slingshot that well- Not.

“I trust you,” Alex told May, partially because he thought May could use the confidence boost and partially because it was true. May was creative with his magic, he knew his limits, and if this didn’t happen to be Vlad’s ancestral home, would probably be the magic-user Alex felt best about sticking close to in an unknown environment.

“Yeah,” Alex echoed sadly when May voiced Alex’s own fears. “I thought so, too- But. It’s probably not about us at all.” He hoped, anyways. “I read a bunch of psyche material when I first met her and pretty much all of it warned against trying to take on responsibility for any perceived set-backs. That shit is gonna happen and you can’t take it too personally.”

He was kind of taking it personally, though- He was Winona’s first friend, he should have been able to anticipate this, or been a person she felt comfortable talking to about it, or…

“I was too busy with my own drama to even notice anything might be going on with her,” he said with frustration.

In retrospect he could see she’d been more agitated lately, maybe since even before Christmas, but he’d just been pleased by the decrease in her volatility- But maybe instead of abrupt meltdowns and bouts of paranoia peppered throughout the days, Winona had been letting all of her unhappiness fester, until she’d come to the conclusion that she wouldn’t be happy unless she left. He should have been suspicious after New Year’s, when she’d- Well. It was easy to imagine all the things he could have missed when it was all in hindsight.

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad considered Alex’s question. “I would estimate they will reach the castle in ten minutes. Assuming Bram inherited his driving skills from his father, I can only guarantee seven. May, if you would like to run out really quickly, I can open and close the gates. If you get stuck, there is always one of the escape tunnels.”

Thank you, Winona. Sit tight. We will have you back in no time.


Bram did apparently inherit his driving skills from his father, despite the fact that he had been a teenager long before cars were invented. The two men on either side of Winona grunted as the SUV bumped over a rise and then sped down the other side. Of course, the last time Jurriaan Leeuwen had been in the Carpathians, carriages and wagons with no shock absorption whatsoever were the main mode of mountain travel. A trip up into the mountains would have taken several hours now took minutes. Especially with his driving speed. One of the goons looked like he was getting a bit carsick, but Jurriaan was paying more attention to the scenery.

There were none of the hazardous ghostly lights, but the wolves were still keeping pace as best they could—taking short cuts through the foliage when necessary. Jurriaan knew this was a trap—an attempt to draw him in. But something in him just could not pass this up. This was a last ditch effort by the townhouse gang, and he really couldn’t not destroy their pathetic attempt to continue to be thorns in his side.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May paused for a second to consider it. At the very least, in ten minutes he could ward the forest directly surrounding the front. He did not particularly like the idea of getting caught or stuck, but if he could at least form some sort of defensive line...

“Whew, ten minutes, ok. I’m probably a lot more use out there than I am here, and you’re already warded to protect you from gunfire, so...” he took a deep breath before leaning in and kissing Alex on the cheek.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it too much. None of us were prepared for this. But we’ll fix it and make it work,” he reassured him, then eyed the balconey. He considered running back into the house before deciding that that would take too long, and they were only two stories up. If he adjusted his weight a little bit....

He fiddled with one of his bracelets, took a deep breath, then leapt off the balconey.

“Ok! I’ll be back soon,” he called out to Alex as he fell - somewhat slowly - to the ground, and landed luckily without breaking anything. There, that wasn’t so hard. He flipped open his own phone and connected to the group call, wishing he had brought a headset or something as he headed into the trees. He had enough stones to at least warn him when someone got close to the building through the forest, and a few little bombs as well. Nothing deadly, just a little... disorienting. That was fine.

 

[jones573]

Winona didn’t exactly have a lot of options- At least she’d got her seat belt on, so she could at least pretend she was sitting ‘tight’ly.

I could get rid of his men, she suggested. They hadn’t even locked the doors- She could open one and shove a goon out, no weapons needed except speed and the rocky ground they’d hit.

Or force an approach on foot. Shooting the engine block was out- She wasn’t sure where it was in this model, and Vlad would likely disapprove of her starting a car on fire when she was in the car. But she could probably take out a wheel or two.

“You drive like you’re running away,” she observed. “Not towards.” Like her captor, Winona kept an eye on the scenery, mostly so that Vlad could gauge their progress.



Alex hadn’t really expected a positive answer to that- Maybe May had time to place some things immediately around the castle, but out further? He realized belatedly that he was actually /against/ such an action.

If he got /stuck/ out there? He was just supposed to rely on some ‘escape tunnel’ that he’d never seen before and hope for the best? Could Jurriaan’s men follow him into the tunnels?

“Wait, maybe-”

Alex’s heart jumped to his throat when May was suddenly climbing onto the balcony railing, and took even longer to drop than May did.

“Holy shit, warn a guy would you,” Alex said when he was able to breathe again. “You never mentioned you could /fly/.”

 

[Reynarda]

If you do that, you might anger him, Vlad cautioned against kicking the goons out. Forcing an approach on foot would buy us more time. But do not do something that will make him angry enough to kill you.

When May seemed to be risking it, Vlad slit an eye open. Not “ten” minutes! That was his maximum.

“Seven minutes,” Vlad began, but Bram interrupted him.

“What the hell?! May! Do not jump off of balconies!” he said, like he hadn’t jumped off of the exact same balcony and many others like it.

The portcullis lifted, and the gate swung inward just enough to allow May to squeeze through.

“Hurry,” Vlad cautioned. “Jurriaan does drive like Bram.”

“I actually get the impulsiveness from my mom,” Bram protested.

“And the overconfidence in your skills from your father. That and your hair is all you inherited, however.”

“Thank goodness,” Bram said. He was feeling in a chatterish mood thanks to his nervousness. He had literally not spoken to his father in over a hundred years. What was he supposed to say, “Hi, ya bastard, sorry for killing you, give me my kid back”? Should he call him “father” or his first name? Should he call him anything? Should he just take a page out of Winona’s book and do nothing but flip him off?

“You okay?” Devon asked quietly.

“Hell, no,” Bram answered honestly. “I don’t know what to say to a man I pushed off a roof.”

Devon shrugged. “He’s not been a very good father.”

Bram snorted. “Yeah, but I can’t just say whatever—not when he’s got Winona. He has a pretty violent temper.”

“You could start with ‘hello’,” Devon suggested. “And see where it goes.”

Bram squeezed his shoulder. “Yeah, I’ll give that a shot.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

May let out a nervous little giggle.

“Whoops. Sorry. Also I /wish/ I could fly. I was only like 80% sure that would work anyways,” he admitted, then winced, because that was not something he should probably openly admit to. He slipped through the gate quickly, veering off the road and into the forest. He pulled off one of his bracelets and snapped the string, dropping a few crystals here and there as he ran.

He tossed a few pieces of quartz into the trees, holding his phone up to his ear with his free hand.

“Ok, ok. /Seven/ minutes. Got it. Make sure Luka doesn’t shoot me by accident or something,” he added quickly, because he wasn’t exactly sure /how/ skilled Rue’s cousin was, and dying by friendly fire would suck a lot.

“Anyways, I’m gonna put my phone in my pocket so I can concentrate on what I’m doing, I’ll let you guys know if anything happens.”