When I and Charming got back to my office, I saw one of those five masked ponies standing in assistance's room. His mask was black coloured with red patterns on it. He must be from the Blood Magic Department. Charming said they wear masks. "Grim, I assume." I spoke. "You were supposed to come half an hour later."
"Please, call me Gloaming Gale." He bowed slightly and straightened up again. "Grim is an epithet that I find rather besetting. I am aware that my coming is early and perhaps unexpected. I just hoped that we could talk more privately." His voice was reminding me of gravel rubbing each other. He was stressing his r's.
"I suppose the reason you wanted to talk more privately was that your department is reproached by others." He didn't react. "I understand. Please, let us speak in my office." I gestured him to my room. "Charming, if anyone comes to see me during our conversation tell them I am busy. They can wait if they wish." She nodded and moved behind her desk. I followed Grim and closed the door before proceeding to take a seat. "I am listening."
"The reason you exclaimed before was only a small part of the cause of my early arrival." He attracted my attention. "The real reason is that I am aware of your deception." I tensed up. That was the last thing I expected to hear. He must have noticed my stress so he tried to appease me. "No need to worry. I will not reveal it to anyone."
"Why?" I needed to know if he was planning to use this to possibly blackmail me. If that's the case he had to be dealth with.
"I simply think you could be more open minded about my department. You see, Ore was not really willing to provide the necessary ingredients for our research. As you might know, we need flesh and blood. Fresh is better but we could work with stale flesh to a some degree. However, if it is stale it needs to be close to ponykind. She only provided us with carcasses, rarely fresh too. I believe you will be more understanding about our needs." He sounded like waiting for a response.
"What made you think I would be more understanding?" I asked. He touched his mask's part that would correspond to his mouth.
"Your teeth caught my attention during your speech. You have fangs." I keep my fangs retracted to a human fang, but just their existance was enough for him. I could see where he was going with this. "You are a carnivore, are you not? An omnivore atleast?" There was no point denying anything.
"So you are saying that you need pony flesh?" He said yes without hesitation. I could see why they call him Grim. That actually gave me an idea. "Would you care about the source of it?" He shook his head.
"I will never ask." I smiled.
"Oh, you will see where they come from. What I want from you is to keep it to yourself." He took a breath to talk but I cut him of. "I know your answer will be yes. I will show you where to find them, but first I am curious about something."
"What is it?"
"I want to see your face." He chuckled.
"Are you sure? I am said that my face is quite haunting." I smiled.
"I had my fair share of haunting faces." Encountering with Clan Nosferatu for the first time was not one of my plesant memories.
"Very well." He removed his hood and his mask with his left hoof. It was quite a sight to see, really. His sclera was black and his irises were bright red. There were red veins spreading from his irises trough the sclera. There was a pale, red flame around his eyes. The veins on his face was swollen closer to the skin, adding a greenish contexture to his gray coat. His mane was looking like a constant stream of red sand falling downwards, withering away before touching the ground. His teeth were slender and sharp. His horn was still concealed under a porcelain sheath. "I told you, didn't I?" His voice made me realise I was examining him for some time. "Did you like what you see?" He asked mockingly while putting his mask on again.
"I like your mane."
"I bet you are telling that to every blood mage you meet." Great! He has a cliche sense of humour. A knock on the door interrupted our conversation.
"Charming, I told you not to-" The door swung open and before I could react a flying sword found its way to my skull. With a sickening crack, sword was buried down to my nose. The pain started to drive me unconscious. Every thing was slowly getting dark. I could hear their voices but couldn't recognize who they were. Their voices were far and inseparable.
"Nooo! That's how you do it! It's a shame. This was easier than I thought. Grim? Is that you? What's gonna happen to her? I blocked them out. I had to concentrate, I had to stay awake and fight. I was blinking constantly, trying to stay awake. "Look! He is blinking. I've heard about that. Dead can twitch for a while. Disgusting." I finally managed to get myself under control. They gasped while I slowly get up.
You could ask how can someone still remain functional after taking a blow to the brain. The thing is, vampires are dead. Our internal organs are decayed and our nerves are replaced by blood. Unless completely decapitated, head injuries are not enough to kill or even neutralize us. Control of our body is established by our vitae, blood.
I grasped the hilt of the blade with my left hand and tried to pull it out. It didn't budge, instead my neck was getting pulled up with it. "It's stuck." I said to the one in front of my desk. He had no horn ar wings. He was the only one lacking a weapon, aside from Quill and Ore who are currently holding Charming down. "You threw that right? It hurts you know? It hurts so bad that it takes great effort to stay awake." I put my right hand on my head and pressed my head down while pulling the blade out. Sword came out with a series of cracking sounds. "OH GOD! IT HURTS!" I examined the ponies in the room while going around my desk. They were all looking at me thunderstruck. There were seven intruders, two of them Ore and Quill, the others looked like security guards. Two with wings, two normal ones and one with a horn... Two of them were familiar. "Sharp Edge, is that you? And you brought your friend."
"Impossible..." The pony who threw the sword talked. His sound brought everyone back from their trance-like state. "Your head... How? I hit you in the head."
"It was a good hit too. See that?" I touched my upper nose. "It cut down all the way here." I heard a chuckling, later turned into a laughter.
"Oh, wonderful!" It was Grim's voice. "Such an exquisite organism. Please, let me examine you. Oh please, please!" He was walking towards me. He was carried away with enthusiasm. I had make him realise the situation before others recover enough to attack me again.
"Okay, Gr- Gloaming Gale. We can talk about that later. How about we take them down first?" He stopped, but didn't stood aside. He is thinking. That's good.
"Yes, uh, forgive my outburst. It is neither time nor place for that." I turned to the others.
"Now, you." I pointed to the one who threw the sword. "Who are you?"
"I am the chief of security, Steel Hoof." He was tensed up, ready for a potantial attack.
"Before we begin, Steel Hoof, did you tell anyone else about me or is it just the five of you." He opened his mouth to answer but one of his men cut him of with a studdering voice.
"Y-yes we told everyone. Even if you kill us everyone will know so you sho- you should-" Steel Hoof's glare shut him up, but I had my answer.
"Good." I turned my head to Charming who was on the floor, laying supine. Ore and Quill was holding her front legs pinned down. "Charming, how long are you planning to lay there? Get rid of them and lock the door. You still have some of my blood in you, right?" I threw the keys to her. She spoke up.
"Understood, but I want something in return." I was surprised, but intrigued. "You will kill them, won't you? Sharp Edge is an old friend of mine." She turned her head towards me. "Promise me you will spare him." I smiled.
"You have my word." She turned back to her hindrances. I turned back to my opponents.
Charming Star's POV
I don't know why but I knew he would keep his word. It was enough for me. I couldn't protect everyone but I could atleast protect some. It was enough. It had to be enough. I looked at the keys, they were close. "Don't even think about it!" It was Quill. His horn was glowing menacingly. I closed my eyes and felt the blood, his blood burning inside my veins, giving me strength. I swung my front legs, sending them into the air. They flew two meters away and fell on their backs. They were getting up but I was able to reach Quill before that. I landed an uppercut and a punch, close to his right ear. He fell unconscious. I started walking towards Silver Ore. She was shaking.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping that monster?" She was walking backwards. She bumped the wall.
"To save you." I headbutted her, knocking her out. I took the keys, locked the door and turned back, just in time for the massacre.
"I should thank you." Steel Hoof looked puzzled. "For giving me this sword. I was using a katana before. I am quite experienced with swords." I could hear Charming fighting. I was planning to stall them just enough for her to lock the door before I start my fight. One of them started walking towards charming, it was the unicorn. I couldn't let him interfere. "Also this is a very suitable weapon for something I wanted to try." I activated my Celerity. In the blink of an eye I was standing before the horned pony. I raised the sword. He whimpered and tried to fall back but it was too late. With a swing of my blade, his horn was seperated from his head. He fell on the ground, twitching rapidly. His eyes turned in their sockets, foam was coming out of his mouth with gagging noises. She wasn't kidding. He really died. I heard the door locked behind me. "I couldn't cut quite properly. I like the katana way better." I looked at Steel Hoof with a mocking apology in my eyes.
"I will cut you into pieces!" He screamed and charged on me. I stepped aside, caught him by his mane and lifted him up.
"You should not act without thinking." I saw a winged one making a move from above. It was Sharp Edge. I lifted Steel Hoof to use as a shield. Edge gasped but couldn't stop his attack. The sword sliced Chief's guts and spilled his intestines on the floor. I threw the Chief to the opposite wall. Something pierced my waist, passing trough my abdomens. I turned back and swung my sword again, decapitating another pony. I pulled out the sword from my waist. There were two winged ponies left, one of them was Sharp Edge. Sharp Edge was holding Steel Hoof's head in his hooves, mumbling some means of apology. The other one was throwing up on the floor. I dropped the swords on the floor and motioned Charming to come closer. "Calm her down." I pointed to the pony who is throwing up. "I will talk to Sharp Edge." She nodded and started to talk to the pony with a soothing voice. I sat beside Edge. "It didn't have to go down like this you know." He looked at me with anger. He was clenching his teeth. "You could choose to talk first, instead of throwing a sword to my head." He jumped on me, tackling me to the floor.
"You made me kill him!" He was screaming with grief. He raised his hoof, I threw him to the wall and got up. He used his wings to avoid crashing, then dived towards me. "I will kill you!" I grasped his head in mid-flight and pulled him, making him go faster. He hit the other wall and fell on the ground. He was still trying to get up. I stepped on him, pinned him down. He was screaming frantically, trying to push my foot up. He stopped after a few tries and started glaring at me. "Kill me! Finish what you have started."
"I promised Charming that I will not kill you." He looked at her. "I will keep my word, you are making it difficult though."
"If you don't kill me now I will tell everyone about you." He was breathing heavily. I chuckled. That seemed to make him more angry. He tried to get up again. "Fight me you monster!"
"No, you will not tell anyone about me. Because that would mean the death of them." He looked hesitated for a second. "This is why your friend Charming is helping me. It is true that I am a monster and the worst thing that could happen to a monster is exposure. I do not find joy in killing, but if it comes to that I don't count bodies." His muscles loosened under my foot.
"Why would I care about them?" His voice was in defeat. I lifted my foot. He sat up, leaned his back to the wall.
"I don't know, but it seem you do." I started walking towards Steel Hoof's body. "Now if you would excuse me, I have to feed. I am quite battered." I sat down and grasped Chief's body, burying my fangs to his throat. I looked at Edge, he was shaking. He puched the floor and started running towards me. Charming intercepted him, held him back.
"Let me go!" He punched her. "Let me! Go!" Again, but Charming didn't budge.
"Please, stop Sharpy. Please, for me." She hugged him. Edge let out a scream, bursting into tears. Other guard was just sitting, looking at the ground with empty eyes. I finished drinking him but it was hardly enough with all that blood he lost from that wound, so I turned to the unicorn's body. Grim's voice stopped me.
"Pardon me, but uh... I was serious about examining you, if you don't mind of course." He added quickly. "We will provide anything necessary for your comfort and make it painless. With your durability, it will not be lethal either." He looked at me waiting for an answer. Aside from him compeletely ignoring the scene, he also had the courage to ask me if he could cut me open. He is truly a dangerous ally. It is best to keep him at bay.
"I will consider, but I don't think it is a good time for that." I waved my hand, towards the bodies. "I have to clean this mess before head researcher's arrival and I still have to deal with a lot of problem if I want to have this place permanently."
"I understand. No need to rush anything." He looked around. "I can deal with this mess, including the blood stains, but of course after you are done with your feeding." I faked a smile.
"Thank you, take these bodies as ingredients for you research. You will find more in the place that they conduct an experiment to extract things from alternate dimentions." He thought for a second.
"Interdimensional Matter Tranmission Laboratory." He exclaimed. "Thank you." He bowed. "You are already a great help to our research."
"I will need some favours though." He looked at me.
"Whatever you need."
"I want you to take these two aswell." I pointed towards Ore and Quill. "But do not experiment on them, just keep them out of sight. I might have other plans for them." He nodded. "And I need someone to guard me while I sleep. You see, I sleep during the day and I am extremely vulnerable during that period. It is a death-like state which I can not easily wake up from. I will sleep in the Matter Transmission Laboratory and I trust you would not conduct experiments on me while I sleep." He was genuinely shocked by the idea.
"I would never do such thing without your consent." Good to know. "I will send you one of my ponies and put runes on your door. Anything else?"
"That's it. Now if you would excuse me." I got down on my knees and lift the unicorn up. After I am done I turned to Grim. "How are you going to clean this up?" He chuckled.
"Magic." He reached for the porcelain sheath that conceals his horn and took it off. There was no hard shell on the horn. It was completely white flesh. I could see the capillaries. They started pulsing and shining with a red light. All the blood on the floor, walls and my clothes floated towards his horn and got sucked into it. His horn's white flesh became red. He turned to me. "It seemed like we are alike, hmm? But I don't feed on it, I am just carrying it." He looked at the scenery. "I will teleport everything out to our laboratories. I know you want Sharp Edge here but should I take her with me aswell?" He was talking about the other winged pony. I shook my head.
"I will try to make use of her aswell."
"Very well then, goodbye for now." His horn pulsed again and he was gone with a flash of light along with the bodies. I turned my attention to other ponies. Sharp Edge was still crying in Charmings arms. Charming had no sign of emotion on her face. Her left eye was swelling and her lips were bleeding. Other pony was still looking on the ground. She was probably in shock. I had less than twenty minutes to sort this out. This is going to be a nuisance.
