Carpe Noctum

A yawn escaped the tweny-three year old vampiress as she took a stroll through the vampire territory in the evening; almost at the brink of twilight. Even though she was of that age then time had stopped on her physical appearance to that of an eighteen year old. And she wasn’t just any average vampire…. No, she was the Head Lady… one of the top heads of the vampire coven. She had to say things were quite peaceful during the past four years…. Peaceful…and dull…but she supposed the latter was better than always being on edge.

Her dual-colored eyes wandered off in the direction of the descending sun before going back to the front of her when the red ball in the sky had disappeared below the trees for the rest of the night until it became the start of another day again. As her vision took in the surroundings then a foul odor had lingered the area she was in. Letting her eyes move in the direction of the source she spotted the cave…. In all her years there she didn’t recall ever delving into there…probably because of the smell. Right now she could care less though…she was rather bored and at the moment she felt like exploring. Sighing lightly she walked herself into the cave, the sound of her boots immediately echoing the damp walls with every step she took. Hopefully something interesting would happen.

Leona didn't know how long she had been wandering around in the caves, it was easy to loose track of time when you didn't have a visual of the moon or sun if it was during the day. She came to a halt when she heard footsteps, it was impossible to smell catch any scent of who it could be, so for now she simply had to be on high alert. She moved further into the depth when a swarm of bats suddenly rushed over her head, she dug a little so she would get hit, although she doubted they would actually fly into her, after all they were quite skilled animals.

This was probably the most ridiculous she had done so far, wandering around in the caves with no purpose whatsoever, maybe she should just head back home. Suddenly a loud crunching noise sounded under her feet, she looked down as she moved back a little. Leona crouched down and looked closer at what she had stepped on, it had to be a bone from a human. She looked up and into the darkness, who knew what kind of vampires either had lived here or still did.

The bad thing about caves was that despite having a heightened sense of smell then the stench of the cavern deterred one from using said sense in the first place. She had to duck down after a bat swarm passed above her and when that loud crunch noise snapped the air then she put up her guard. As she moved carefully and slowy, she placed her hand on her thigh and moved it up thus lifting her skirt to reveal a hidden dagger; not the moon dagger that was gifted to her by Leona four Christmas’s ago. She never brought that dagger out of the manor or even her room at all. There really was no reason to anyways not to mention she’d rather not risk bringing it out in the first place. If she really did need it then she would project it to her person but for now it would remain under lock and key away from just about anyone’s eyes even her own.

Removing the weapon from its holster, she held it close to her chest in a defensive position and ready to strike at anyone or anything that decided to come at her. She decided to remain quiet and keep her presence a mystery for the mean time. As her eyes kept their sights set on the dark before her, it wasn’t long before she spotted a figure in the distance making her stop in her movements. Despite being able to see quite clearly in the darkness, whoever or whatever it was was still quite far from her gaze and thus still unable to be identified. Was he, she or it aware of her presence as well?

Leona got up on her feet, but she felt like she was being watched. She turned around and she saw a dark figure standing further away, probably the person she had heard earlier. Her hand disappeared underneath her leather coat and grabbed a hold in a dagger. "Who's there? Identify yourself," she said in a rather threatening way, mostly so who ever it was knew that she was not someone to try and pick a fight with or run around corners with. She narrowed her eyes a little in hope that would help, but in vain, the person was too far away.

Did the figure just say something just now? Artemys wondered curiously in a frustrated manner seeing as she could have sworn she heard a voice but it sounded too muffled to her ears to decipher what had been said. Something upon which has gradually been happening over the years and without anyone else’s knowledge was that the Head Lady’s hearing had been going a bit off. Not to the point of complete deafness. She could still hear pretty well most of the time but there were unpredictable times when the sense would just decide to be ‘stubborn’ and not work…only enough so that she was unable to determine a sound or what’s being said by another. There may haven been situations where she had been caught ‘spacing out’ as she wasn’t replying to what’s been said to her but she would just brush it off as just that… ‘spacing out’. She didn’t think there was need to let anyone know about this little fact. It didn’t really seem like something serious….at least in her eyes. Sometimes this ‘hard-of-hearing’ moments lasted for seconds and other times it would be hours….the latter more so occurring more recently although there was a time where it went for days... This moment just so happened to be one of those times and at a rather unfortunate timing. She wasn't really sure why this was happening to her...all she knew was that it was rather annoying.

Not really sure what had been said nor did she know what to do, she simply kept quiet and immobile. She would stick to the defensive rather than taking any offense.

Leona started to get a bit unnerved by it all, why wouldn't who ever it was not say anything. Then she thought that she could go into the person's mind instead, but was forced back by a massive wall. She moved her hand up to her head. It clearly was one who could shut her out, it couldn't be the Head Lady as she would have identified herself, so it had to be someone else. It couldn't be her brother either as he would have done the same. This time she pulled out her dagger as she moved somewhat closer in hope that she could see who it was. "You better identify yourself or I will assume you're hostile," she said out loud, her voice echoing.

Artemys was starting to get a little frustrated as well. She had again heard the muffled sounds…louder than before but she still wasn’t able to know what the person was saying. The only things she could pick up was that the voice was that of a woman and the word ‘hostile’. Now what could the person mean by that? Perhaps the woman thought the Head Lady was hostile….otherwise she had no idea seeing as she didn’t get the whole sentence. Still she didn’t want to take any chances and preferred staying silent even going ahead to pull her scarf up to cover half of her face a little. When the figure started moving forward a little, Artemys gripped the handle of her dagger tighter and stiffened a little as she started to move backwards and away. Was it foolish of her to run away or to charge head on, she had no clue. There was the thought of just going ahead and saying who she was but what if the person was hostile? Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice she was backing up into a pile of bones which she had shortly tripped backwards over making her fall flat on her back as she let out a grunt from the surprise fall.

Leona was really starting to get annoyed, who was this person and as the dark figure started to back away, Leona simply walked a little faster, when the figure fell backwards over a pile of bones, Leona moved into a run and shortly after she was sitting on top of the person and the dagger against....Artemys' throat. Leona had to look twice before she jumped off the Head Lady. "Artemys!?! Why on earth didn't you identify yourself?" she asked and reached out a hand so the vampiress could be helped up. Well that would have been perfect if she had tried to kill the Head Lady of all people.

Artemys let out another grunt when the person suddenly sat on top of her and held a dagger over her throat. Her eyes widened a little when she realized it was Leona that was the mystery person and at that moment she became more relaxed. Her hearing was still off but seeing as the Head Bellator was in close range then she was able to hear what she was saying….although barely. She allowed her friend to help her up and when she got back into a standing position she started to brush off the dirt off her clothes. "Sorry… I did not hear you…" She simply said as she continued brushing herself. She doubted that would get Leona off the subject of why she didn't say who she was but it was worth a try. Artemys wouldn’t say herself and the Head Bellator became strangers over the four years. In fact she had just visited her home just a couple days ago. She was basically in and out of Chateau Noil more so because of Lenard and Sophia and Louis but of course she would take the time to see Leona and Leo as well…basically about the whole family or at least those she was on close terms with. After she was finished then she turned to look at the older vampiress with a small smile. "I am surprised to find you here of all places… Out looking for more trouble?" She asked quite casually as if the last 5 minutes had never happened.

Leona raised an eyebrow when she heard Artemys say that she hadn't heard her, well that was impossible, especially since Artemys was a vampire. "Just checking the place out," Leona said quickly. "And was impossible to not hear me, what's going on? Are you okay?" she asked and looked concerned at the Head Lady. Leona still had a hard time understanding what Artemys saw in her brother, but they seemed happy and Lenard had turned more serious in a way, well he had let low on the gambling and on the human blood, so the relationship was perhaps not so bad at all.

Artemys sighed lightly as Leona predictably brought out her concern. "I am fine..." She bluntly said as she slipped the dagger back into it's holster before looking back to the Head Bellator with a nonchalant expression. "My hearing's just been a bit off lately is all... It's not often but sometimes I cannot hear very well... Like right now in fact. It comes back though." The Lady shrugged off as if it was nothing serious. She left out the bit on how long these deaf moments would last not really wanting to delve into too much detail unless asked to. Without realizing it, her hand had unconsciously dug itself below her scarf and gripped around the heart necklace that Lenard had given her some Christmases ago; a habit if you could call it that. It was something she treasured dearly and never took off since she first locked it around her neck.

Leona looked concerned at the Head Lady. "That's not something that should happen to a vampire unless......," Leona started but stopped before she finished the sentence. "Does Lenny know about this?" she asked, she doubted though, he would have mentioned it surely if it was, at least she thought he would. "Maybe you should start learning sign language," she said and did some hand movements, she didn't know much, but she knew a little bit. "You have to be careful, especially in situations like these. I could have killed you," Leona said, the mere thought was horrible, for one thing she would have Lenard on her back and secondly she was good as dead herself, no one eliminated the Head Lady, not even the Head Bellator, especially not when it was a Head Lady like Artemys.

Artemys simply stared at Leona when she stopped mid-sentence. "Unless…it’s an ability doing this to me? That thought has occurred… although I can’t be too sure if it’s because of my projection or enhanced synaesthesia…Otherwise I really am just going deaf." She sighed a little disheartenedly, the tips of her fingers lightly brushing against the garnet pendant. If her heart was still beating then it would have stopped right there when Lenard was mentioned. She remained silent at first and her eyes shifted to the side before her head lightly shook indicating a ‘no’. "No one but you and I are aware…" Obviously this wasn’t going to be the case after the night was over and knowing her boyfriend then he was most definitely not going to be happy when he finds out. "Don’t say anything about this to him… I’ll go ahead and let him know next time I see him…" After all it had to come out sooner or later although she was tempted to leave out the part that his sister almost killed her because of it.

The suggestion of learning sign language was brought up when Artemys finally brought her stare back to her friend and she looked a little hesitant. Then it dawned on her just how serious she should be about this little problem after hearing Leona say she could have been killed… it hadn’t occurred to her before seeing as this was really the first time she was put in a situation where her lack of hearing could have cost her her life. "Perhaps I should then…and I apologize…I’ll try to be more careful next time…" She quietly said before looking thoughtfully out into dark of the cave past Leona. Her eyes could have sworn they saw something moving. Artemys' hearing may not be top notch at the moment but that didn't mean her sense of sight was as well.

Leona didn't like the fact of Artemys going deaf, and she could just see that Merrick woman's headline. Head Lady going deaf, unfit for her rank or something in those lines. "Well if you tell him, he won't hear it from me, but he has to know. I don't like keeping secret from my siblings, no matter who they are," Leona said. Even though Lenard seemed to have changed then she was still unsure of him, not sure if she could trust him or not. Then she heard something from further in the cave that made her turn around. She narrowed her eyes a little as if that would help her look further into the darkness. "Did you hear that?" she asked, then it was like someone was running away from them, further into the caves that was when something told Leona that it was something who didn't want to get caught and without saying or so much as looking at Artemys, Leona started to take up pursuit, only holding her dagger in her hand.

Artemys wasn’t very happy with this whole going deaf thing either. It made her feel quite useless and it made her wonder if it would affect with her being Head Lady….then again she supposed as long as she found some way to deal with it then it really shouldn’t be a problem although as of right now it was. Her head lightly nodded when Leona said that Lenard had to know although she wasn’t really looking forward to it. She had to linger a little on what the older vampiress meant by ‘no matter who they are’. Was there something more to that statement?

Her stare had returned back to the Head Bellator when she heard her ask if she heard something to which she was tempted to face-palm seeing as they just had a little talk about her going deaf. She said nothing though or rather she was unable to seeing as Leona had run off without another word. Would it be wise of her to follow after her friend? Sighing a little she was about to run after the other woman when she noticed what appeared to be lights coming from the corner of her eyes behind her.

Sometimes during her deaf moments she was able to see colored lights in substitution of sounds. Her first time seeing it was when she actually first discovered her enhanced synaesthesia ability or rather Celia did when they first met. Perhaps it was that ability that was making it hard for her to hear.

However before she could turn around to see where those lights were coming from, she felt herself being grabbed from behind and a hand had covered over her mouth to keep her from sounding anything. Looking up ahead she couldn’t see Leona anymore which made her panic slightly and if she wanted to send thoughts to the other vampiress then her perspecuity ability had to be shut down which she’d rather not do. She cursed herself for not being able to hear properly otherwise she would have known about the vampire sneaking up behind her. Before she knew it she was being dragged off to another part of the cave while Leona pursued the other figure… possibly what was planned beforehand.

Leona didn't realise at first that Artemys didn't follow her, but when she got aware of it, she thought it was pretty good that she didn't. With her hearing off, it might not be the best thing to take up pursuit after god knows what. When Leona came to a cross road of sorts she stopped, she didn't know which way the person had gone and it was impossible for her to scent the guy or woman, but when it sounded like someone had kicked to a stone to her left, she headed that way which brought her to an almost cathedral sized cave, a huge fire was located in the centre. She growled slightly, it was like who ever it was was playing games with her and she hated that, she preferred it was her who played the games and no the other way around. She moved further in, she heard giggles from the shadows, one was clearly a woman. "Why are you hiding?" Leona said out loud, but no one said anything. This time she pulled out her sword, so she had both a sword and a dagger on the ready. She could see movements in the shadows, there had to be at least three. "Are you just going to keep me waiting or what? I can always leave if that's the case," she said, but then a blinding light suddenly filled the cave and it made her scream as she was blinded, she dropped her dagger in the process, moving her hand up to shield her eyes, but when the light disappeared everything was like in a haze all she could see where blurry figures appear from the shadows, she tried to get her dagger, but she couldn't find it, so she had to pull out the other dagger she had. The three figures closed in on her.

Artemys struggled against her kidnapper’s hold but to no avail was she able to break free and the only sounds coming from her were grunts or attempted growls…at least that’s what she thought seeing as her hearing was still off. It wasn’t long before she was taken to a part of the cavern that looked to be the size of a large dining room but even so then it was still pitch dark although that wasn’t in the least problematic to vampires. There was another figure –male it looked like- lingering by another entrance to the area but when he noticed her and the one bringing her in then he started approaching. The look on his face displayed anything but good intentions. He stopped shortly some feet before them and noticing his lips moving then he was probably talking to the one holding her.

Muffled sounds were all she could hear but she was able to pick up that they were looking for something…and that theory could be assumed as the other vampire started to frisk her…a gesture she really didn’t approve of as she glared intensely at him while his hands wandered about her. At times they would linger on certain areas but not for long until they stopped at her thighs were her daggers were hidden. Were they just looking for her weapons then? However before they could be seen or taken from her then there was a light filling up the cave. Artemys was able to shut her eyes closed beforehand although the vampires weren’t so lucky. She took the opportunity to kick the guy in front of her down there while the one holding her she rammed backwards into a wall hitting his head in the process.

When she was free, she hid herself in the shadows using her projection and simply watched the figures for the mean time as they recuperated and wondered where the heck she went off to. Over the years she had discovered other uses for her projection ability and shadow projection happened to be one of them. Another was sense projection which she as well decided to use. A light smirk creased her lips as she had taken her kidnapper’s sense of hearing for herself but only temporarily of course. He was panicking over why he wasn’t able to hear suddenly while the other vampire was brushing him off and ranting on how they had to find her ‘asap’. These vampires were definitely suspicious but she knew she couldn’t keep hiding for long…

Leona's vision only slowly returned to her and it was frustrating, sure she knew how to fight without her vision, but still she liked to have all her senses. Then there was that giggle again, when she felt someone behind her all of a sudden she turned around fast and slammed her hand into who ever it was, apparently there was a fourth person she hadn't counted on. "Have you gone mute?" Leona said since no one seemed to say anything, it was like they were playing with her, keeping her busy and that's where it hit her....Artemys. "ARTEMYS!!!!!" she yelled, her voice echoing, not thinking that the Head Lady just might not be able to hear her. Then a man chuckled, it had been the one she had hit apparently. "The Head Lady is not available at the moment, you may call in later," he said sarcastically. That made Leona furious and she charged the guy without really seeing him properly yet, but that only made the three others attack her as well, which only angered her even more, causing her to go ballistic and then it was important not to go anywhere near her, especially if she was armed.

Artemys was still debating on what she should do….risk more usage of her projection or just physically fight against the enemies when she heard someone calling her name –this was of course still through the hearing of her kidnapper-. Obviously it was Leona and the Head Lady wasn’t sure what to make of it whether her friend was looking for her or she had just realized she was missing. Still she didn’t want to expose herself just yet. Taking a deep breath, she had to think of something fast because her limit was just about up with both shadow and sense projection. After nodding to herself with confidence, she projected a katana to her hold and first quietly tailed after the one who dragged her there seeing as she still had his hearing. The other vampire had wandered in the other direction in the mean time.

It wasn’t too long when she decided to finally come out of the shadows and she was standing right behind the vampire. Before she could do anything else then the sense projection had come to its limit as well enabling the the man to hear her coming up from behind. As he turned around, without thinking she stared intently at him said "Stop." In a calm manner…. "Make a sound and I might just make you… bite your tongue…" She said coldly, even though she couldn’t hear what she said then she knew what words she was speaking. Another factor of her ability… figurative vocifery… quite a dangerous one as well… if she says something figuratively… then it will actually happen quite literterally… Artemys simply sighed a little and stared at the vampire as she watched him scream. While he did so she took the time to attack at him and soon enough she had his head cut off thus rendering him dead and lifeless.

But things weren’t quite finished yet. Just as she was about to go after the other vampire then he had already come up behind her just as she had beheaded his partner and in no time she was being held by the throat and up against the rough cavern walls. He looked pissed that’s for sure and when she didn’t answer him –simply because she still couldn’t hear and seeing as he had no clue of that fact she’d rather not reveal it- then he would get even more mad and would slam her back against the wall when she continued to stay silent. She simply glared darkly into his eyes… What in the world did he want? "Shut up… Put me down…Back away slowly and stay there until I say so… Make any movements and you’ll find yourself in a world of agonizing pain…" Artemys observed as the vampire did what she said and after making sure he would stay put then she leaned herself against the wall… weak….tired… blood was trickling down the back of her head and back....and if she was aware then later she would find out that she now practically couldn’t hear anything and her perspicuity was down… side effects of over-using her projection… The reason why she hadn’t killed this vampire was simply to get information out of him later…