Huntress of the Fallen

"I don't think I've ever been more anxious to feel the sun on my skin," Vittoria happily sighed. "In that basement it felt like I'd never be warm again."

Bianca couldn't help staring at the golden sunlight playing over Vittoria's shimmering dark hair and highlighting the exotic olive-tint to her skin. Her breath caught at the captivating beauty being displayed by the only friend she had left in this modern world. Bianca well understood what was happening to her, had known it since her very first meeting with Vittoria when she experienced the first pangs of new love gnawing at her heart. But no matter her feelings, Bianca couldn't allow herself to become involved. Attachments were dangerous and anyone who became close to Bianca instantly became a target of vengeance for her adversaries.

Bianca couldn't allow emotion to influence her actions, Vittoria's safety was paramount over everything. Though it might break Vittoria's heart to do so, it was imperative that Bianca let Vittoria go once she'd been used long enough to help unlock a way into the Venice underground.

"What is it?" Vittoria asked once her beloved Bryana was caught staring at her.

"N-n-nothing," Bianca stammered as she awkwardly looked away.

Damn this woman, Bianca thought. I can't even think straight around her.

"I know what it is," Vittoria said with a sly smile. "I can read you easily, Bryana."

"Y-you can?" Bianca asked nervously as a pair of bright brown eyes captured her attention yet again.

"Oh my, yes. You're like an open book to me. You were just about to ask me out for coffee."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure of it. You were thinking this is far too glorious an afternoon to spend indoors and that café just around the corner has the perfect outdoor patio where we can breathe in the fresh autumnal air and bask in the warmth of the sun. Best cappuccino in the city too."

"Don't you have classes this afternoon?" Bianca wondered.

"Already second-guessing yourself?" Vittoria joked. "I just have recitations today, they can easily be cancelled. The youth of tomorrow will manage to survive one day without Professor Soriano there to guide them."

Bianca frowned in disapproval but against her better judgment she replied, "You make it difficult for me to refuse."

"My intention from the very beginning," Vittoria said with a beaming smile as she linked her arm with Bianca's and led her down the avenue. "This way, my good friend. It's not far."

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Twenty minutes later, Bianca and Vittoria sat on the gated patio of a small coffee shop overlooking the canal. A folded newspaper left behind by a previous customer sat on the table between them. When Bianca excused herself to use the toilet, Vittoria called the departmental secretary at her university to have all her afternoon sessions canceled then unfolded the paper and caught up on some news while she waited. Bianca returned just before Vittoria reached an article concerning a disturbing event from two nights before that left four people dead outside a popular nightclub. An unknown woman with athletic features and blonde hair was wanted for questioning in the horrific incident though the only survivor of the deadly encounter insisted this mysterious interloper had been the one who rescued her from a grisly demise.

Vittoria and Bianca made idle small talk while they awaited their orders but once their coffee, sparkling water, and morsels arrived they got down to business.

"How many of the dark houses have you found so far?" Vittoria asked as she munched on a buttery croissant.

"Thirteen," Bianca answered before sipping from her coffee cup with a pleased note of satisfaction at the bold flavor. "Though I've only entered three. They all featured similar doorways in the basement dungeons though the etchings on the barrier differ with each one."

"Thirteen," Vittoria repeated, dumbfounded. "It boggles the mind. What do you think lies beneath them?"

"I believe there are labyrinthine tunnels built underneath the city that bend and curve as they follow the pathways of the canals and eventually connect these dark houses together," Bianca speculated. "These passageways allow the denizens of the tunnels to traverse the city unseen through a connecting central hub."

"And who exactly is prowling these streets underneath the city?" Vittoria wondered as she popped a vinegary olive in her mouth.

"The very worst sort of people," Bianca answered and left it at that.

"Right... Well, we should start by hunting down as many of these houses as we can find and begin plotting their locations on a map of the central Venetian island. Perhaps an overarching pattern will indicate where this central hub exists and how it may be accessed."

Bianca paused from sipping at her coffee to remark, "How have I not thought of that before now? I've been so intent on finding a way beneath the city that seeking a pattern among these entrances never occurred to me."

"See, I knew there was a reason you kept me around!" Vittoria said exuberantly, her full-toothed smile dazzling in the bright sunlight.

Bianca, stricken once again by the other woman's ethereal beauty, weakly replied, "I must admit you have been a... valuable resource."

"You speak of me as if I'm just another tool at your disposal," Vittoria said with mock affront. Mmm

"No, you mean so much more to me than that," Bianca said before she could stop herself. Vittoria's answering grin was infuriating but Bianca pressed on anyway. "Even more than your expertise, what I've truly valued over this last week is your companionship. I... don't have very many friends."

"Surprising given your open and ebullient personality," Vittoria joked, though she quit laughing when she noticed Bryana's hurt expression. "So now that we've planned our next course of action, let's turn our thoughts to a vastly more important subject."

"What could that possibly be?" Bianca wondered.

"You and I," Vittoria stated as her hand rested atop Bianca's.

The dry, rough, calloused skin of Bryana's hand was so unlike that of the many other women held by Vittoria. Bryana tensed at the contact but didn't remove her hand like she had the previous times.

"I don't know what you mean," Bianca said uncomfortably.

"I've seen the way you look at me, Bryana. When you think I'm not watching. It's the very same way I've been looking at you."

"Vittoria, we shouldn't..."

"Bryana, stop it! Sparks have been flying between us since the very first day you walked into my office. How can you deny something so obvious?"

Vittoria raised the back of Bianca's hand to her mouth and pressed her soft, moist lips against rough skin that nevertheless yielded to her touch. This time Bianca did yank her hand away, her gasp audible as she experienced the jolting touch of another's mouth upon her body. It had been so long...

"And now I've upset you again," Vittoria sighed.

The suddenness of Bianca's dismissal crumpled her usually cheerful demeanor and now Vittoria wanted nothing more than to be alone and cry. Vittoria hadn't cried over a girl since she was a teenager.

"I wish I knew what has made you so closed off emotionally."

"You couldn't possibly understand, Vittoria," Bianca rushed to explain. "It's nothing at all to do with you, it's me."

"Oh God, don't say that! That's the oldest brush-off line in history! It is me, isn't it?"

Vittoria's dismay was evident as her copper-hued face turned red with shame. Her lip quivered and a salty tear dripped from her left eye down her cheek.

"You don't feel the same as me!" Vittoria practically wailed. "You never have! Now I've gone and embarrassed the both of us. I can never live with this shame!"

"Vittoria..."

Bianca tried consoling her friend only to become momentarily distracted by her dead sister seated cross-legged at the table directly behind Vittoria. She wore the same red dress as before with the skirt riding up to place her fine ankles and calves on display. Mirela sat with an empty plate and coffee cup in front of her as if she'd just finished a meal. She kept covering her mouth to stifle her laughter at Bianca's fumbling entreaties of reassurance.

"It's the age gap, isn't it?" Vittoria said with her face buried in her hands. "It's because I'm almost a decade older than you! I'm all old and used up while you're still youthful and vibrant. Why couldn't I have met you ten years before when I was still young and beautiful!"

The centuries-old daughter of a Romanian nobleman couldn't help snorting with laughter at Vittoria's wildly inaccurate pronouncement which only further devastated the Italian woman. Mirela rolled her eyes and shook her head with incredulity at Bianca's lack of manners, her every action mocking her sister. Bianca seethed with anger watching Mirela's thinly veiled disdain while Vittoria experienced a full-on breakdown in front of her. She couldn't allow this stupid, unreal ghost to jeopardize her only chance with the beautiful, lovely, kind, quick-witted, and most importantly living woman sitting in front of her.

"Vittoria," Bianca whispered as she took her companion by the hand and squeezed it tightly. "Look behind you. Do you see a woman sitting at the table at the end of the patio?"

Vittoria looked up from her grieving with red-rimmed eyes and wiped her tears away. "Why?"

"Please just look," Bianca reiterated. "It's important."

Vittoria turned backward and stared straight at Mirela for a long moment. She looked back at Bianca and motioned behind her, asking, "You mean that table right over there?"

"Yes," Bianca hissed as Mirela gave her an impudent, mocking grin from over Vittoria's shoulder.

Vittoria stared at the table for another moment then turned back to Bryana with an expression of deep concern. All despair at being spurned by Bryana was forgotten as Vittoria considered her friend's troubled mental state. Mom

"There's no one there, Bryana," Vittoria whispered.

"You're telling me there is no woman sitting there right now?" Bianca demanded again.

Vittoria shook her head emphatically and peered at Bianca with both confusion and curiosity showing in her kind eyes.

Bianca sighed with relief and slumped back against her chair. She glanced at Mirela's table and confirmed there was indeed no one sitting there. Eventually a server stopped by to collect the used cups and plates left behind by the last customer. The vision of Bianca's dead sister had been entirely of her own mind's creation. For some reason this fact comforted Bianca rather than disturbing her.

"Are you alright, Bryana?" Vittoria asked apprehensively.

"I'm fine," Bianca replied. "I... just thought I saw someone I once knew."

"...I see."

Emboldened by the knowledge that Mirela was truly gone and no reason existed to continue being haunted by the memory of her dead sister, Bianca took Vittoria by the hand and kissed it just as Vittoria had done earlier.

"I've been awfully rude to you," Bianca apologized. "I'm truly regretful for that. I shouldn't treat someone I care about so callously."

The Italian beauty looked deep into Bianca's eyes, dazzling the other woman with absurdly long eyelashes that highlighted her depthless brown pupils. Bianca could stare into those beautiful eyes all day long and remain content.

"The truth is, I'm afraid," Bianca admitted. "I'm frightened of your beauty, your genius, and of your strong but kind spirit. Most of all I'm scared of loving someone again. I've been hurt terribly, Vittoria."

"Loving someone?" Vittoria asked earnestly. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

Vittoria gently stroked her fingers up and down Bianca's hand, making the other woman shiver again at the intimate, innocent contact. The effect Vittoria had on her when employing only the simplest touches was extraordinary.

"I very well might be," Bianca said. "Oh, I don't know, Vittoria. My feelings for you are so confusing."

"Is this the first time you've been attracted to another woman?" Vittoria wondered.

Bianca shook her head.

"Have you been in love with a woman before? Did she love you back?"

"Yes and yes. But she's gone now and never coming back."

"Ah."

"You must know the age difference doesn't concern me in the slightest," Bianca said with a sly smile that contained hidden knowledge. "Besides, I'm older than I look. Although..."

"Yes?"

"Well..." Bianca wasn't quite sure how to complete the thought. "Though I refused to admit it, I became completely smitten with you at our very first visit. You were my secret obsession. Without really knowing what I was asking for, I made inquiries with some of your colleagues and, um, well..."

"Oh, I can only imagine the things they told you about me," Vittoria said with a dismal, stormy look on her face.

"All your colleague's remarks regarding your academic and professional life were exceedingly complimentary. But during the course of my interviews I spoke with more than a handful of your former lovers. I believe one told me verbatim, 'Vittoria Soriano scarcely finishes lifting up one lady's skirt before she's off chasing the next."

"So is that how you think of me?" Vittoria said flatly. "As some sex-crazed trollop who just loves pussy instead of cock?"

"What would your pupil Mary have to say on the matter?" Bianca wondered. "I heard rumors you've slept with students too."

Bianca had never seen Vittoria's face so red, an impressive feat considering her darker skin tone.

"Yes, Mary and I used to sleep together," Vittoria confessed. "I love women, especially those younger ones who've only just blossomed into maturity and womanhood. But I've always kept my romances professional and never once exploited or demanded favors of those in my charge. Whatever you believe of me, know that I am not that at least."

"I would never think that of you," Bianca said emphatically. "Though your past behavior does give me pause and make me wonder whether your fascination with me would fade as soon as you had won me. I've not committed myself to another for a long time. If I took the risk of opening my heart again I doubt I could handle your rejection."

"Bryana, I've never felt for anyone the way I feel about you," Vittoria said. "You're the first thing I think about when I awake in the morning and the last I think of before crawling into bed. I've never been so excited to go to work! Every moment spent in your presence is something to be cherished.

I've never been in love before, Bryana. Sure, I've felt more fondness for certain lovers than I did for others but nothing so dramatic as knowing that if you denied me I would waste away into nothing. You are the most trustworthy, honest, kindhearted, strong, proud, beautiful, brave woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I... I think I'm in love with you, Bryana Pearson."

Bianca cringed at hearing Vittoria describe her as honest and trustworthy when the very name she used was but one of the countless lies Bianca had already told Vittoria.

"I feel the same for you, Vitt," Bianca hurried to reply. "I knew it as soon as I stepped into your office and that feeling has only grown stronger the more time we spend together. I was lost as soon as our eyes first met."

Vittoria's mouth broke wide into a grin of delight at this first usage of the new nickname Bryana had made for her. She brought Bryana's hand to her mouth and kissed every last one of her knuckles while caressing the rough, hard calluses of Bryana's fingers and palm. This time Bianca didn't pull away, instead she gasped at every touch of Vittoria's delicate lips pursing against her skin.

"Where do we go from here then?" Bianca wondered as excited tingles raced through her being. She hadn't felt this exultant since four years ago when she last spent time in the company of Mirela.

The thought of spending the night with Bryana definitely crossed Vittoria's mind. Fantasies of kissing every naked square inch of that gorgeous, powerful, womanly body then digging her fingers into short, golden hair and tugging hard on those platinum locks while she played with what was surely the pinkest, most beautiful pussy ever were all images that captivated Vittoria's imagination.

But Vittoria vowed she would take this new relationship slow for a change and make sure she did this one right. The majority of Vittoria's conquests tumbled into her bed after their very first date. If they were a good fuck Vittoria might see them a few more times but typically she left behind a trail of broken hearts and streams of unanswered texts and voicemails in the wake of her sexual triumphs. She owed it to Bryana's fragile emotional state not to treat her heart so callously.

"We will continue working together to solve this mystery," Vittoria declared. "I'm as invested in discovering a way into this underground as you are now. In the meantime, I promise to be less dismissive and critical of your notions as long as you promise to be honest and unguarded with your feelings for me. Perhaps after tomorrow's session we can go out for coffee again? There's a nice place next to the Tolentini building that I'd like to take you."

"I would like that," Bianca replied with a grateful smile. "I agree to your terms."

"Then it's settled."

The two women sat quietly for a time drinking their coffee and green bottles of sparkling Perrier while they ate an assortment of nuts, olives, crackers, and cheese. Feeling the cool autumn breeze and watching the passage of boats and smaller gondolas drifting through the canal that ran alongside the cafe, Bianca felt at peace. For one restful moment, Bianca could forget Mirela and the dread task assigned to her with her sister's dying breath. Bianca reclined comfortably in her chair and allowed herself the joy of watching the glowing sunlight reflecting off the domes and minarets of this wondrous city and listening to the calls of gulls braying from the nearby sea and the rushing tide of ever-flowing water whispering through the canals. Of course, the greatest pleasure Bianca found was in her appreciation for the breathtaking beauty of the woman sitting beside her.

Dangerous, said the conscientious voice inside Bianca's head. Loving anyone is dangerous. Vittoria will never be safe now.

Bianca quashed her conscience and tucked it firmly to the back of her mind, allowing herself just this once to cherish one of the few good things in her life.

After a prolonged period of silence that communicated more than words between them, Vittoria broke the quiet with a regretful sigh and said, "I need to get my things from the University before heading home for the evening. I don't wish to leave you but know I should."

"I understand and respect your responsibilities, Vitt," Bianca assured her before suggesting, "Let me walk you back to work."

"Really?" Vittoria asked in a hopeful tone that made Bianca's heart swell. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Let's go."

Once Bryana settled the bill, she and Vittoria walked together through the busy streets of late-afternoon Venice to the Universitad. They strode side-by-side, their sense of closeness more than enough to satisfy their urges yet they both yearned for more. When their fingers brushed innocently together, Bryana surprised Vittoria by reaching out and clasping their palms tightly as one. As their fingers interlocked, Vittoria looked over and smiled at her new girlfriend. She caught a glimpse of an ominous, troubled expression on Bryana's face as she stared at the blood-red sun setting in the distance but Vittoria dismissed this look as a sign of reluctance to see the end of such a terrific day. Vittoria laid her head on Bryana's shoulder and nudged her ribs playfully with her elbow as they ventured hand-in-hand, onward together.

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