Dark Dreams Ch. 12

"I can feel it Jacquie, she's going to be making her move soon," said Angela.

"How so?" asked Jacqueline

"Its rolling, dark malignant energy, the dark urges have finally taken over here and..." she gasped as her sentence was cut off by a vision. Her eyes rolled as she became locked into the seer's trance.

"Angela?" asked Jacqueline. Bodies on the floor writhing in pain around her, two dark shapes on the outside one different then the other. Using her diminished powers she threw a cloaking net to absorb some of the flow. Then the vision dissolves.

Angela is thrown back into reality as Jacqueline is over her body, Angela blinked to clear her eyes from the vision and said "She's let loose, I tried my best to shield her fledglings from that mind melting power, there was also two dark shapes on the outside of the vision. I think the man I've been seeing has a partner, the partner feels human and judging on the size of the shape I'd say his partner is a female,"

"Well we need to get in there now while she's distracted, I'll go warn Victor,"

--

"Victor, Angela had another vision. This time she saw Circe letting the core of her powers loose, we need to send the assassins in now before she can dominate her new family,"

"Yes of course, that's one of the times that an execution is warranted. There's a reason that specific power is outlawed from use," said Victor.

***

"Karen we need to go in now, it looks like she's killing them but she wouldn't do that. Let's go in while she's distracted," said Julius.

"Ok, so this cross will work?" asked Karen.

"Yeah it will lets go,"

--

'Julius thinks he can sneak up on me like that? Nice try its not going to work,' thought Circe as she re-directed some of the surge to Julius.

"Paul go and deal with the human,"

He stood up almost mechanically as he walked towards the door.

--

"Julius!" cried Karen as he dropped the ground grabbing his head.

"I'll be ok, I just need to adjust to this, the bitch thinks she can disable me so easily," Julius ground out.

Paul crashed outside and immediately Karen knew that he was being controlled from the way he was moving.

"Use the cross..." groaned Julius as he tried to get to his feet.

Karen screamed and ducked as Paul swiped at her. She grabbed the bag and reached inside pulling out the silvery cross. It flared brilliantly in her fingers, Paul gasped and looked away as the bright light burned his eyes.

Julius struggled to his feet using the wall as a support while shielding his eyes against the brightness. He quickly disabled Paul and pushed him against the wall.

"Keep the cross out Karen we need to get inside, hopefully it will stun Circe enough for me to get a shot at her," said Julius.

--

Circe felt her connection to Paul weaken as Julius disabled him. Pulling back a little more from everybody else she poured the extra power into him.

--

Julius cried out in pian as he staggered and fell as the renewed waves of agony washed through him. "Give me your hand Karen," he groaned as he struggled with the weight of the pain.

Karen grasped his hand and tried to help him up but felt a strange pull on her senses, she started to feel dizzy as the drawing pull strengthened.

Julius pushed himself up from the ground and said

"Special ability Karen, you've got my mark so I can draw strength from you,"

"Warn me next time, I'm dizzy right now,"

Pushing forward they walked through the open front door.

--

Circe cursed violently as she felt Julius continuing to resist her power. She pulled back further and forced the energy into him, hearing his cry of pain she smiled viciously. Foolishly she had taken away too much energy as Marcus began to be able to fight back against her, soon enough they were all able to resist her power.

"Curse it I'll have to leave now," muttered Circe she drew back all her energy and thrust it out like a bomb.

The wave knocked them all out as she looked for an escape. She walked out the front and saw Karen kneeling over Julius' still form.

"One last present before I leave Julius," snarled Circe as she come up to Karen.

"Pity I don't have time to enjoy myself," Karen screamed as Circe slammed her fangs deep into her neck and tore at her.

Karen's scream punctured the inky darkness Julius was submerged in he awoke to Circe fleeing the scene with Karen gasping weakly.

"Karen! No baby," cried Julius as he cradled her.

"Don't you dare leave me," demanded Julius.

"Turn me Julius, it's the only way you can save me. I want to be with you," said Karen weakly as her lifeblood began flowing away.

The scent of her blood reached his still pain dulled mind. Her rich scent began to cloud his judgement as his fangs lengthened.

"Please..." whispered Karen as her eyes began to droop.

Before Julius could think anymore his instincts took charge and he dug his fangs into her neck. Her pulse quickly weakening as she bled.

The demon inside of him growled as Karen's blood washed down his throat. While he was submerged in feeding he wasn't thinking, the demon forced him to stop as his instincts registered that he was taking too much from her.

Once he pulled back from her, his instincts didn't let go but made him follow the trail Circe left. They demanded that he kill the one that dared touch his mate.

***

"Let's go we need to stop her now before she gets to powerful. She'll control us all if her plan succeeds," said one of the assassins.

"I don't want that to happen, she's mental," said the other assassin as they walked along after ditching their transport.

There was a rustle that started to get progressively louder. They pulled out their sabres that dripped with a clear fluid. Julius charged out of the trees his eyes glowing.

"Reverent!" one of them cried as Julius lunged at them

He effortlessly dodged their savage swings and ignored the burning pain as drops of the fluid seared his skin.

He slashed at them with his knife, they fell back against his assault and tried to defend against his assault. Finally they were worn down by his relentless assault and he was sprayed by their blood as he ended them unlike Jack these assassins are much older they burst into flames and were incinerated leaving piles of black ash to be blown away by the gentle breeze.

***

"Amy are you ok?" asked Joseph as he opened his eyes the searing pain still burning through his body.

"Yeah, I'll be ok. It will pass now that she's not here anymore."

Steven groaned as he opened his eyes, "Where is that bitch?" he asked.

"I have no idea I think the other hunter came back, she must have been distracted trying to control him," said Marcus he groaned as he sat up against the wall.

"Well where is he? He could come here and kill us all, we're too weak to fight him right now," said Megan as she woke.

"We're missing Paul," said Amy.

"Yeah, he went outside I think. Either he's dead or still out there," said Marcus as he struggled to his feet. "I'll go and check outside,"

Stepping outside he winced in pain as the scent of blood made his fangs grow, following the trail he found Karen lying still on the ground. He could sense that even though she was dead that she would wake again.

"Cole! I need to you to come here quickly, there's a woman lying out here," Marcus called out.

Cole stepped outside as the bushes rustled, "Yeah?"

"Take Paul inside looks like he wasn't knocked out by Circe," said Marcus.

Julius came through the trees, his eyes still blazing but with blood all over him.

"You smell like a slaughterhouse Julius," said Marcus.

"That's all I get for saving your ass?" growled Julius as he stepped towards Karen.

"It will be alright Karen, I'm going to take care of you," said Julius as he picked her up.

"Where did Circe do her changes?" asked Julius.

"In one of the bedrooms, I'll take you there,"

***

"Things are going to be different now, I feel more myself. When Circe was around it was like there was a suggestive voice in my head controlling what I did," said Joseph.

"We knew that something was going on," said Amy. They both grunted in discomfort as their fangs started growing at the scent of blood as Julius carried Karen inside.

"Wow looks like he did all the hard stuff for us," said Megan.

"Yeah, I think we all need to feed," said Joseph.

---

"I'll be outside if you need anything Julius," said Marcus.

"Thanks, I owe you for looking out for here while I was out there," said Julius.

"No problems, I need to go and talk to everybody else. Circe is gone so they might start feeling the pain of losing the sire,"

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow," said Julius. Marcus walked out of the room as Julius placed Karen on the bed, he walked into the lounge area where everybody was still gathered.

"Is Paul still out?" asked Marcus.

"Yes it seems that way," said Cole who was watching him.

"Alright we all need to stay together, we won't fit in what they call a society. If we just lie unnoticed the others won't worry about us,"

"Sounds good Marcus none of us really want to get mixed up in that again, this wasn't our choice so lets just lay low so they forget we even existed," said Steven.

"I agree, we need to get adapted to this new life first before we even begin to even think about interacting with their society," said Joseph.

"Are we all agreed?" asked Marcus

"Yeah,"

***

"Julius?" asked Karen as she woke.

"Karen, I'm here baby," said Julius

She looked into his eyes still glowing, the scent of blood all over his body made her new instincts wild with hunger.

Julius cried in pain but soon the pleasure took over as her fangs dug into his neck drawing out the blood he gorged himself on.

Her eyes glowed as she fed from him.

When her fangs pulled back from him he was dazed as the pleasure still circled through his system.

"Why do you look like you've had some really good sex?"

"There's a chemical the fangs release that override the pain, turning it into pleasure," said Julius.

"Interesting, so what is going to happen now?" asked Karen.

"What I had planned they don't seem to have been influenced by her yet, need to go talk to them," said Julius. "First I need a shower and clean clothes,"

"Yeah you do smell like an abattoir,"

"Thanks, that's what Marcus said,"

***

"Marcus what do I need to do, we need to have a Family head. She's not dead so how to we fix that?" asked Julius.

"I don't know, the Family head is either the main sire or the vampire that kills the head, since she created us and she's not dead that's the problem. But Joseph and Steven have also turned their wives like you did with Karen. So maybe there is a way, though you three need to do something about it though," said Marcus.

"What would that be? Circe is damned powerful she could have killed us all if she wanted to," said Julius.

"Well that's the problem there hasn't been any new families for centuries," said Marcus.

"Lets go and talk to them then, we need to figure out something Circe's enemies will still be after us," said Julius.

***

"Richard what is the status on the assassins?" asked Victor.

"They haven't reported back yet, I'm quite certain they failed," said Richard.

"Why do you think that?"

"She's very powerful, not long ago Angela said she felt a large surge in power in the area where Circe's hideout is,"

"Lets send out some scouts, we need to find out what's going on,"

***

When Julius and Marcus entered the room they found Paul and Cole against the wall while Joseph and Steven glared at them their fangs fully extended.

"Snap out of it you two," said Julius as he approached them.

They turned and snarled at him, he noticed Amy and Megan sitting behind them.

"Thank god Karen is going through the phase or you'd be like them right now," said Marcus.

"What do you mean?"

"Instinct, they think Paul and Cole are a threat to their wives. It's the whole the primal protective thing," said Marcus.

"Right, come on guys calm down nobody is going to hurt them," said Julius as he stepped forward.

Steven lunged forward and tackled Julius to the floor, Julius growled at him his fangs growing. He met his stare "That hasn't happened before," groaned Steven as Julius' challenge broke his instincts hold on his mind.

"That's because Circe has been clouding your mind, blocking those instincts," said Julius as he pushed Steven off.

"Calm down Joseph, we have some things that we need to discuss," said Julius.

He glared at him when he didn't respond.

"It's alright Joseph let it go," said Amy. He grabbed her possessively and bit her, his fangs sinking into her neck. When he released her, he finally was able to break its hold on him.

"Wow, that was different," said Joseph.

"Yeah, now that Circe is not here to mess up anything all the primal instincts are no longer suppressed. I also found out that we don't have to feed off people we can survive just fine on animal blood. It should be only a temporary solution though as I have a business contact who could possibly help us secure a supply of fresh blood. It doesn't have to be from a person," said Julius.

"Are you suggesting a blood bank?" asked Cole.

"Yeah, it would be the best thing to do and then we won't be killing anybody, we didn't chose this so we most certainly don't have to act like them," said Julius.

"We still have a situation though, Circe's former Family will still be after us. Something must be done about that," said Marcus.

"I agree, we can't have anybody after us. We do need a purpose though, Marcus and myself we have been vampire hunters for years. There is much evil here, they don't have to feed to kill but they do anyway. The instincts can be controlled," said Julius.

"You are the new head Julius, you set the laws," said Marcus.

"It can just be a matter of not knowing, I hate thought of killing anybody. But this beast that demands the feeding is very powerful, you need a very strong will to do what you want to do I only had enough strength to resist killing," said Joseph.

"You don't have to now, we can control these urges together. Circe forgot one thing that is the most important part of vampire Families and that is unity," said Julius.

"Luckily Circe left us the location of the target, we just need to come up with a way on how to approach them peacefully," said Marcus.

"With total unity we can survive together, we're all new at this. We can help each other," said Julius

"Good plan, we just need to figure out what we're going to do after this. We obviously can't go back to our old lives," said Steven.

"We'll talk about it when everybody is here, Karen is still out," said Julius.

***

"What is the status on the assassins?" asked Victor

"They haven't reported in, I think somehow Circe might have gotten to them," said Richard.

"Victor, I don't think we have to worry about Circe for now. I just had another vision and the shadows I kept seeing have come into the light, he is a hunter. He has blood all over him, none of it is his," said Angela.

"So what do you propose we do Victor?" asked Richard.

"Nothing, the council will do something rash if we mess with a new Family. I can tell he's one of us isn't he?"

"Yes, he is. Now that Circe has left whatever influence she had over them is gone to. I can feel all of this primal savagery coming from him. I am going to return to my room and try to induce another vision, digging deeper should help," said Angela.

***

"Are you comfortable babe?" asked Julius as he sat on the bed.

"Yeah, my whole body feels like concrete though and my ears are throbbing but this is good as it's going to get right?" asked Karen

"Yeah, you'll start to loosen up soon, I hope Jeremy will be willing to help us. We don't need to feed from people, animals will do but it's uncomfortable," said Julius.

"What would Jeremy be able to do for us?" asked Karen.

"He's vulnerable since Circe isn't around to lay her claim to him. The state he's in will work like a magnet to other vampires in this region," said Julius.

"So if he's helping us he'd be safe?" asked Karen.

"Yeah, I'd have to track them down and kill them if they injured him. It's a vampire thing I've had to deal with it before, hurt one of the marked and you have to deal with their master," said Julius.

"This is going to take awhile to get used to, well at least everything stopped being so loud, everything sounds normal again," said Karen.

"Your ears are inflamed Karen, that's why everything sounds normal," said Julius. "I'll leave you alone now, I have other things I need to deal with. I'm stuck with being the head of this Family as it seems I'm the strongest,"

"Ok, I'll leave you to it,"

"So what are we going to be doing?" asked Joseph as Julius entered the room.

"We're going to hunt and exterminate the vicious killers, we'll need to train you in hand combat skills," said Julius.

"This will be fun, first we need to know how well you can fight on your own, but that's not for now our first priority is setting up our food source we can't keep feeding off the local cows," said Marcus.

"I'm going to talk with our contact tonight, see what he can do for us, why don't you see what they can do while I'm gone?" asked Julius Marcus grinned and said "Of course, Cole will help me there,"

***

"Thanks for meeting me Jeremy, I know this hasn't been easy for you," said Julius.

"No it hasn't what is this about Julius?"

"We need a constant food source, we were hoping you could help us," said Julius.

"We? What kind of food source?"

"My new vampire Family, we don't want to be forced into feeding off humans, it will reduce all the issues that feeding like that produces,"

"So how exactly do you want to me to help you? I just got promoted so I have more work to deal with now" asked Jeremy.

"Not if you delegate some of it, you're a junior executive now, we need something like a blood bank. For somebody with your skills that shouldn't be too hard to accomplish," said Julius.

"That could be possible, though I am only a junior I could just be ignored," said Jeremy.

"No it won't they'll listen to you, we need your help or we'll have to start feeding off people. Can't keep feeding off cattle," said Julius.

"I'll see what I can do," said Jeremy.

***

"They aren't going to be a threat to us personally," said Angela.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Victor.

"They're going to be killing off the aggressive ones," said Angela.

"That's good news, we can just let them take care of our less civilized neighbours,"

"They'll be good for us, take a load off the council enforcers," said Angela.

"Yeah, send in Jacquie please I want to talk to her,"

Epilogue

"We're in trouble now," said Joseph.

"Oh yeah, the council wants to meet with us," said Steven.

"It's ok, maybe they finally got tired of us killing their bloodthirsty minions," said Julius.

"Where's Marcus?" asked Joseph.

"With Cole and Paul, Karen just informed me of her latest vision. Everything should be safe the council just wants to meet," said Julius.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story :D This was the last chapter.