Title: A Place Among the Night Name: Duvessa Quinn Email: sailorsolar_2000@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 (swearing, mild violence) Warnings: none Disclaimer: The concept of Night World is the only thing here that doesn't belong to me. Otherwise the chars and events all come from my strange little mind. Summary: Character fan fic about how Duvessa became a vampire. ********** Author's Note1: Words surrounded by ** are thoughts. Author's Note2: Worlds surrounded by ((())) are 'paths. ----------- The darkness enveloped her form, blending her with the shadows around. The night air was cool and crisp, a slight breeze stirring her hair as she adjusted her jacket. She wandered endlessly in the gloomy maze of trees, trying desperately to make out the trail she should be following. She stopped and leaned on the wide trunk of a tree, focusing on what was ahead. So little light shone through the tree's leaves, and the only sounds being those of her breathes as they came in puffs from her mouth. Thoughts ran through her mind at top speed as she began to walk once more. *It should be here somewhere. It has to be. But where?* Her thought was broken as a bright light flashed in the distance. A powerful feeling emitted from the light. She didn't know how to place it. It was happy and sad, angry and compassionate. It stayed in one form just long enough to start changing into another. The forest was deathly quiet as she made her way to the source of light. The only sounds now were the snapping and crunching of twigs and leaves beneath her feet, the only light was that which lay ahead. Aside from the trees, there was no other life, and even they seemed to be just hollow corpses of once thriving beings. No moss or grass grew anywhere, just brown and dried out leaves and branches. Her steps quickened until she was running so fast she thought her feet might not make each new step and she would dive forward into the dirt. However, the faster she ran the farther away the light became. She stopped, realizing that the light was now just a dim speck in the never-ending darkness, too far away for her to reach. Comprehension washed over her as she realized what it was doing. This was a puzzle of some sort. She only need find the solution. She searched her mind for any possible answer or clue that might help, but nothing came to her. A flashback of one of her teacher's lectures flew through her mind. He's said that she'd always managed to miss the easy problems. Maybe she was overlooking the answer because she thought that it would have to be more difficult. So, she did the simplest thing she could think of: she began to walk backwards. Sure enough, the light became brighter and nearer as she seemingly walked away from it. Soon the light was too bright for her eyes and she had to close them or risk going blind. However, the light still shone just as bright and, while she was not looking directly at it, sharp red flashes imprinted themselves in her mind. Suddenly, the light began to dim and she could just manage to open her eyes enough to see. The power she had felt from the light surrounded her, pulsing through her veins and filling her with light. Her hand reached out to touch the source ahead. Her fingers only mere inches away she stretched her arm out further. She was so close, the power inside of her growing stronger as she grew nearer. Two more inches, one more inch, and then -. Music roared in her ears and her eyes snapped open. A groan escaped her lips as she realized that it was that dream again. She'd been having it for several weeks now, and every time she woke from it she couldn't make any more sense of it than the last time she'd tried. It was, in fact, already slipping through her mind's grasp, drifting away like the morning mist that tried desperately to cling to the grass outside but was easily swept away by the breeze. The Goo Goo Dolls blasted away on her radio alarm clock and she struggled to get up if only to stop the noise. As she clicked the button, her eyes wandered to her window. She gave a tired sigh as the memories of what today brought quickly replaced those of the dream. Her parents were taking - although dragging seemed to fit the description better - her to mountains again where they would once again continue their search for the lost artifact that they had been searching on behalf of for so long. "Duvessa, hurry up! We're all waiting on you!" Her mother's voice drifted into her room from downstairs. Apparently, they had all decided to get up earlier and not tell her. Typical. *Never a weekend's rest. Always searching, never any time for fun. No wonder I don't have any friends.* Looking around her room, she grabbed the clothes that she had set out the night before from the top of her dresser. Its dark green color matched that of her bed, while her walls were a deep brown, almost blending in with the hard wood floor she'd put in herself. It was the type of thing she did when she had free time. She slid the black pants on, pulling on a pair of socks afterwards. Her shirt followed quickly, being stuck only once as she tried to pull it over her head, only to realize that she had to unzip the side before it would go. Her combat boots followed the shirt and she tied them with a double knot. Her long black hair was tied back with a scrunchie after she ran a brush through it. She grabbed her black bomber jacket and hurried to brush her teeth. She hurried down the stairs, remembering to grab her wallet and spare set of keys before hurrying out the door to meet her parents. The early LA air was misty and cold. She shoved her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. On a normal day she might have worn more clothing, but this was not a normal day, and she could not afford to be hindered down by the extra weight. Today, her parents, sister, and she were to continue their long search for the Elemental Stone. It had been lost for quite some time. As far as she knew it wasn't even really her family's. During the Salem Witch Trials, it had come into her ancestor's hands through a friend who was to be killed after being convicted. And since then it had been passed through her family to the next eldest in each generation. Then it disappeared in an accident, and ever since then her family had been looking for it. The car backed out of the driveway and they headed through the roads. There was little conversation in the car as everyone wondered if they were getting any closer to their goals, or simply farther away. Not a word was said after they reached the dirt road that would take them to their destination in the mountains where the search would continue. She looked over at her sister who had begun twirling her necklace between her fingers, lost in thought. The necklace consisted of a fine gold chain with a round piece of Mother of Pearl with a gilded E in the center. Being the elder, the necklace showed that she was next to inheriting the Stone. The car stopped a short while later and her parents left the car first, surveying the area. Her father turned back towards the car as he spoke to them. "Ok girls, time to get going. You know how to find it. Just-" "Yea yea dad. We remember. Just hold the necklace out and wait and see if it swings. You don't need to say it every time," her sister called out impatiently. She obviously didn't want to be here as much as anyone else would. Her father looked down his nose at her. "Either way, stay out of trouble. We haven't been around here too often and don't know what's out there. There's a river a little ways ahead, you two girls go up there and start." "Come on Duvy, it's gonna be a long day. Lets get started." She wearily climbed out of the car at her sister's call, mumbling inaudibly all the while under her breath. They walked up the steep incline of the hill looking for the river their father had mentioned. Up ahead it flowed fast and strong, splashing against the rocks with deadly power. Her sister started making her way to a row of rocks that led across the river. "Um, Aurora, I don't think that's such a good idea." "Don' worry about it. It's safe as can be. See?" She walked our a little ways as if to prove her point. "Here, hold this for me. I don't want it to fall off and get lost; mom would have a fit." The shining necklace flew towards her and she caught it easily. She watched, her gut turning over, as her sister slowly walked across the river. Her stomach began to ache and she felt sick. She knew something was going on. She couldn't place it, but it was like a feeling. There was something in the air, moving quickly towards Aurora. Before she could even get her breath for a warning, she saw her sister begin to fall. Her foot had seemed as thought it would step on the rock dead on, but it shifted oddly and missed completely. She watched in terror, rooted to the ground, as her sister fell with a shriek into the dark, speeding waters of the river. "AURORA!" Her voice rang in her ears, but not one heard her as the sounds of the river drowned out her cries. *No. No. No. No. Nononononononono.* The word repeated in her mind over and over, becoming a dominant chant, as she frantically searched for any sign of her sister. Duvessa stood there for what seemed like ages, looking for any sign of her sister. The only reply to her wait was the cry of a bird overhead. Silent, painful tears began to run down her cheeks in small currents. She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by a sharp pain in her palm. She looked down to see a trickle of blood falling into the dirt. She opened her bloodied hand to find that her nails had pressed down too hard. It was the hand that held the necklace, Aurora's necklace, her necklace now. She had begun to cry anew when a pair of screams ripped through the air. Her head jerked up and she stared in the direction of the car. A picture of her parents shot through her vision and before she knew it she was running as fast as she could back down the hill, trying desperately not to trip and fall. She skid to a stop, frozen in terror at the sight in front of her. Blood was everywhere, warm and slightly steaming in the cold air around her. Chills swept up her spine. The screams had ceased and all that remained was silence. Her heart pounded with fear as she made her way slowly to the car. A man was kneeling over something. She watched in silent terror, prayingf she wouldn't be seen,a nd shifted her weight in hopes to gain a better view of what the man was doing. A twig snapped beneath her foot. The noise was small, but it sounded like a canon in the clearing. She man's head jerked around, and he slowly stood up as he caught sight of her. She had never felt more scared in all her life. Everything about him screamed danger. His eyes were hungry and cold; stance was that of a predator's; mouth looking like it could have been carved out of marble, flawless, except for the red smear across it, dripping down his perfectly chiseled chin. She looked down at the body and was greeted by her mother's lifeless eyes staring back. She wanted to scream, to run, but was unable to do either. The man's eyes were frozen in place. Something was happening to her. He was doing something to her, something so she couldn't move. He took a step towards her, the hungry look still fierce in his eyes. An unnerving smile came to his lips. "Under normal circumstances I'd kill you." Her whole body was shaking and she felt like throwing up. He took another step towards her. "But what fun is there in that? No fun at all I'll tell you." All the while he was walking closer to her until he was inches away. She felt faint at the stench of blood on him and fought to stay standing. Before she could react there was a piercing pain in her neck. One hand gripped her hair, pulling her head back, while the other kept her neck steady. A dim thought managed to enter her mind. *He's drinking my blood. Oh God, he's drinking my blood.* It suddenly stopped, like a faucet that was turned off, but then she felt something being pressed against her mouth. It was warm and tasted like copper. Blood, but not hers. It was his. And he was making her drink it. She felt tired and dizzy and sick. Her vision dimmed and she felt heavy. And then, out of the blue, a voice that was not hers whispered through her mind. (((Welcome to the night. You're going to love it.))) And then there was nothing.