Curiosity

[Jen]

Ana nodded at Bartholomew before turning to Kraven with a smile.

“Lead on.”

She slipped through the doorway into the hallways of Kraven’s mansion and didn’t bother to cast a look around. She could smell the humans and their different breeds. She could even smell the breeding humans. She tapped Kraven’s shoulder and pointed to a maid standing near the staircase leading up to the upper floors.

“She’s pregnant. Probably by a darker skinned male by the smell of it.” Kraven liked to be notified of these things as they occurred, or when Ana decided to let him know. As they began to descend into the bowels of Kraven’s estate, Ana stopped on what she assumed to be a landing between the third and fourth floor.

“I smell Blythe.” Then she tilted her head at an obscure angle and doubled back up the stairs, pushing through two attendant guards and leaving Kraven behind. “I smell a strange human male. He is not familiar to me and he doesn’t seem to be from here.”

Ana walked through the doors to the third cell block and wandered down the hall until she got to where this man was that Kraven had caught earlier in the day. She turned to face the cell, far enough away from it not to be touched by the man, but close enough to see his features.

Ana was an impressive creature by any set of standards. Her eyes were a pretty blue, her hair a curtain of silky blonde, and her features immaculate. There was a horrible air of danger and darkness around her, an aura of death that most humans evaded. Even some of Kraven’s elites were still shady about being around her. She was the progenitor of a race, if not its complete creator. She had a Goddess to thank for her centuries old gifts after all.

“And who do we have here?” Ana spoke, her eyes and figure practically aglow with excitement.


Blythe squeezed her body close to the bars of her cell and looked up. She could she the edges of Anabel’s skirts and could smell her scent as strongly as ever. It brought her back, and she felt panic and the desire to please the one creature that meant the world to her.

Except she had stabbed her.

Except…now she was being tortured at her request.

Except, now Anabel was something to be feared and loathed for a whole new reason.

Blythe scooted to a far corner of her cell and sat in the dark murky depths. She knew Ana would be able to see her, but none of the humans could. From there she could still see everyone’s feet that would pass by on the level above hers. For now, she bided her time, waiting for the inevitable end.

[Sage]

Kraven stopped for a moment as Anabel walked out, confident that her path to the sixth basement floor was clear. He did not look directly at Bartholomew as he spoke. He was powerful, and many feared him as equally as they did the Heads of Family, but Kraven knew the truth. Were he to ever need to face off against Anabel or Bartholomew, his chances were not great. Especially against the Ancient Werewolf over whom he held no advantage such as photokinesis with vampires, aside from his array of silver weaponry, which was no more dangerous to Bartholomew as his fangs were to Kraven.

" You are welcome to stay and see Rakhaev once the Mistress has gone to bed but, for obvious reasons, I would prefer that you were gone come dusk tomorrow. "

Kraven gave him a simple bow, and exited the room. It didn't matter that Van Buren could transform at any time, the fact was, tomorrow night he would be unable to stop himself from transforming. And Kraven was not willing to deal with a werewolf on the full moon unless he could securely imprison it deep in the bowels of his stronghold. And he would never ask the First to voluntarily submit himself to that.

Before he could catch up to Ana, she had already turned and headed back toward the cell block. It was not Rakhaev that worried him, his cell was completely blacked out on the lowest block, and Anabel had agreed not to attempt and visit him alone. But the boy he had captured the morning previous. He had accompanied another, one capable of flinging blazing fire at Kraven, and had done some considerable damage before being subdued. Kraven had run into difficulties mentally interrogating the boy, and was not sure what he was capable of, if anything.

A look of fear, and also curiosity washed over him as he snatched a sturdy and drawn crossbow from a nearby pillar and chased after his Mistress, speaking quickly in her ear as she closed in on the boy.

" Yesterday, he was with the boy whom I was forced to kill. Edicius' older brother, and a pyrokinetic. He did not put up a fight, but he's resistant to my brand of mental stimulation, and so I cannot be sure of his capabilities. Please be careful, Anabel. "

His mental connection with her was instantly reopened, so that he could quickly communicate should he foresee possible danger. As he did so, his gaze met the boy who sat huddled in the corner of the room. A shock blasted through Kraven's nervous system as he surveyed the child's condition. The child's expression had not changed, and he was still without fear of his surroundings, or either of the two incredibly powerful beings in front of him. But as he took them in, his eyes gave away a small portion of emotion, undecipherable by Kraven...and the child shed a tear.

More striking, however, was his hair. It had grown nearly a foot or more in less than twenty-four hours. Kraven shifted his head to the side, unable to form the words to express what was bothering him, but thanks to his ability, she would know. The boy mirrored his action, almost at the exact same time, before turning to look at Anabel, with a warmth beginning to come over his icy persona.

" Is he always so hostile to people he's...never met... "

There was an odd sadness in his tone, as he mentioned Kraven never having met him before recently. And as his mental guard was let down in these brief instants, flashes of a raging storm in the night would flash in their heads, while Kraven continually attempted to probe his mind.

[Jen]

“He is always like this when it comes to my safety.” Ana said in an offhanded tone as she stared at the boy. She cooed lightly when she saw his discomfort but she wasn’t going to approach him directly, the bars were plenty capable of keeping them apart, and Kraven was there to shield her should light become an issue.

“What brings you to my island? Why did your partner attack my second in command? Did you think that any action besides peaceful ones would land you anywhere else but here, and your partner anywhere else but dead?” Ana wasn’t intending to be cruel, per se, but she was driving the point home. This kid was in mortal danger of a very real sort.

“However, welcome to Kalmarden. However tardy the welcome might be.” Ana glanced at Kraven for a moment before looking back at the child. “I am Anabel Von Hagen, head of one of the two ruling families. What is your complaint, to so attack my people like you have?”

Ana shifted from one foot to the other and glanced over her shoulder, spying Blythe as she scooted along the wall to sit in the dark corner. Her red hair was always her giveaway. She was like a beacon in the darkness to Anabel, just as this child sitting before her now had no defense against her.

[Sage]

The boy sat with a puzzled expression on his face, as though this were the first he were hearing of any of this. Even stranger was the fact she hadn't even asked him his name, as he hadn't. He had been traveling with a boy he'd met, come across Kraven, and before he could ask anything, the boy had attacked. Kraven had dispensed with him after a rather amusing tussle. Then he'd been arrested and hauled into the house, and forgotten about after Kraven came across the scene in the laboratory.

" Well, pardon my manners then. I wasn't aware I had been anything but pleasant after having met your second in command. " The boy paused, laughing to himself for a moment as he considered his next answer. " Well, I cannot recall ever having been off of Kalmarden, though I appreciate the warm welcome. "

The boy slid off his perch, and slowly made his way over to the bars where Anabel stood with all the patience and grace of a diplomat, while Kraven eyed him as though he was trying to figure the dimensions of a box he could shove him into in an even deeper, danker corner of the dungeon. He slid his slender, pale digits through the bars, not toward Anabel, but toward Kraven whom he seemed to be admiring with an air of respect.

" You two make quite the couple, and the stories do not do you justice. My name is Adriel. I need no introductions on your parts. "

Kraven grimaced. Physical contact with a prisoner was unfounded, but the situation was looking worse and worse for Kraven, and he did not want to be rude further. Not for the boy, but for Anabel. He took the child's hand firmly in his gauntlet and shook it once, pushing it back behind the bars before withdrawing his own. Manners or not, he did not want him any closer to Anabel than he need be.

[Jen]

Ana wrinkled her nose in disinterest as she peered over the railing at Blythe. Her body was sore and tired after the night of passionate interest showed to her by Kraven. She smiled, the corners of her lips curling ever so slightly as she thought about the tryst.

“Kraven. Do try to be more civil to our children.” Ana glanced at the boy for a moment, not interested in touching him. “You may know about me, child. However, you will make sure not to associate with masochistic children that play with fire. You’re lucky that Kraven had enough sense to stay his hand and keep you alive.”

Anabel frowned lightly, the action making her face no less beautiful, possibly even more achingly human in appearance.

“I must sleep.”

If the boy could tell what she was he wouldn’t be a living child much longer. If he was smart he wouldn’t voice his opinions in her presence. He might try to blackmail Kraven, but he would fail in that too. Ana wasn’t one to be deterred. If the child showed any interest in her beyond what was normal – he might end up being a meal. If he was lucky, he might end up being the latest addition to her brood.

Ana turned from the cell and began her descent to Kraven’s room. Once there she would spend very little time in disrobing and climbing into his bed. She might sleep the sleep of the dead, but she breathed. She was just unnaturally cold to the touch and slept fairly heavy during the day.

[Sage]

Kraven breathed a sigh of relief, after having held it for several moments until he had realized that not only was Anabel not cross with him, her mindset regarding the situation verged on disinterest. His eyes grew unnaturally cold as he drew a thankful smile, though his frigid righteousness seemed to melt as he crossed over the boy's face. He seemed dejected, flattened almost by her utter disregard of his situation and Kraven's own unwillingness to deal with him for his sake, instead of to keep up appearances.

The boy slumped forward against the bars as Anabel seemed to scold him, despite his innocence. Even worse, there did not seem to even be any consideration of his release, or even an apology for his treatment. They had simply assessed him, deemed him not a threat, and were seeing fit to move on. The boy mouthed several words as though he had something to say but could not find a voice to match his thoughts. Kraven attempted to focus in on this and read him, but again there was nothing but static which seemed to get thicker the harder he tried.

As Anabel began to leave, himself and her beloved, however...he made himself audible. Barely, but enough for Kraven to hear, and in his shocked disbelief, he would instantaneously relay the utterance to his Mistress and newfound lover. Many had referred to her as a mother, of sorts. A progenitor of a species, and a matriarch among a dynasty of followers. But the tone in this was distinctive, undeniable. No one would misinterpret his meaning.

" Good night, Mother. "