[Evil Tink]

Serus sighed deeply as the Raksasha vampire fled. She didn't know how long it would last though. She slowly became more worried. How many of the Raksasha's are still alive? Are they rebuilding? How powerful is Layla now? She had never met another vampire that could match her strength.

She lifted her wrist again, her finger gently tracing along the design, "I probably should've just cut this section of skin and let it heal..to remove the brand..." With a sigh, she let her left wrist lay on her forehead, tattoo up. "I can't believe she almost succeeded..."

She closed her eyes as she continued to talk to herself, "If she's capable of telekinesis now, who knows what else she can do. And now Seth's involved? Not to mention, Felix is now a vampire, so he'll be a target as well. What a fucking mess.."

[Bovice]

Seth looked at Felix and noticed that the gray was gone from his hair and that it was turning red. "Hey Felix how old are you?" Seth asked as he noticed that the wrinkles were vanishing from his face.
"Well sir I am 50 years old. Why?" He stated confused.
"I think you can age you self because you are getting younger by the second." Seth said with envy.
"Is that good sir?" Felix asked worried.
"I think its a great thing Felix, there's no need to worry." Seth said smiling.

Felix smiled back at Seth. They reached the door and Seth was ready to knock. "Hey Felix, would you like to be my apprentice? I'll be able to help you tune your powers, and you will no longer be the butler." Seth said nervously and with a smile.
"Sure sir, I think this will be fun." Felix said with a nod. Seth smiled and knocked on the door. "Serus?" Seth said sweetly. He opened the door. They walked in and saw Serus laying on the bed. "Are you ok Serus?" Seth asked sweetly.

[Evil Tink]

Serus looked over at Seth and Felix and winked, "Looking good Felix." She let out a sigh and sat up, holding the covers up to keep her body covered...seeing as she was no longer in the torn dress. "Yeah, I'll be fine in a few days. There's extensive damage to my legs so I won't be able to walk for awhile."

She smiled weakly, then closed her eyes and leaned on the headboard, looking at her wrist again, then showed Seth the mark, "Do recognize this mark Seth? I don't expect you to...but I'm curious..."

[Bovice]

Seth let go of Felix and wobbled over and sat down gently on the bed and grabbed Serus' wrist. "It looks familiar, but I'm not sure." Seth said with a sigh. "Hey Felix come over here I want you to help me." Seth asked nicely.
"Sir?" He questioned as he walked closer to Seth and Serus.
"I want you to grab her other hand and concentrate. I am going to do the same thing we are gonna help heal Serus' legs." Seth said while nodding over towards Serus' arm.

Felix walked over to Serus' arm and grabbed it and concentrated.

They sat there for a few minutes. "Ok Felix that should be good. How do your legs feel Serus?" Seth said and asked tenderly.

[Evil Tink]

"Not any better, but don't worry about it." She took her wrist back, "You tried at least, right? I wouldn't expect you to know what to do, not to mention, you're pretty weak from the fight. Felix still needs to have his first blood meal in order to really harness any of his powers." She paused, placing a finger to her chin, "Perhaps you should do that now Felix. He needs fresh blood Seth, so you should go with him. Go I'll be fine."

She gave them both a smile, reaching over to the nightstand where more bandages lay, "Besides, I need to replace my bandages. The bleeding should have stopped by now, or at least for the most part."

[Bovice]

"Ok." Felix said as he went towards the door.

"Ok Serus." Seth said with a smile. He grabbed Serus' hand and gave it a sweet tender kiss. He looked to the corner of the room where he saw a cane. He got up and limped over to the cane a grabbed it. "This will help me walk." He said with a chuckle. "Well lets go on our way Felix, I know a great place to go." Seth said nodding to the door. As they left the room Seth turned and gave a cute smile to Serus.

"This is kind of cool. I Don't know why I didn't ask to be turned earlier." Felix thought to himself. "Where are we going sir." Felix asked Seth when they got to the stairs.

"We are going to a place that Serus showed me before I fought Cecil." Seth said as he thought of Serus. "I hope Serus gets better soon. I'd like to pick up where we left off on the roof before we were ambushed."

"Ok sir." Felix said as he started down the stairs. "I wonder what blood tastes like." Felix thought to himself.

Seth started down the stairs. "The only rule to this place is that you cannot kill the person you drink from." Seth said trying not to fall down the stairs. "I wonder if we could bring a human back for Serus." He thought to himself.

Dragos awoke suddenly in his bed. "Grrrr I can't believe that little piss ant cut off my arm." He said as he looked at his regrowing arm. "Layla where are you?" He yelled. He got up and went looking for Layla. "Master you shouldn't be moving around you need to rest." A Raksasha member said. "I don't fucking care I've been injured worse, and you don't tell me what to do again or I'll kill your ass." Dragos said with a snarl.

[Evil Tink]

Layla sighed, looking back to Dragos, "Don't you take it out on her. She's just looking out for your well being. Either way, leave it be, Jez.' The vampire left in a huff. Layla turned around, her eyes seething with anger, "I was so close Dragos. Just one more attack and I would've had her. But noooo, your sorry ass got bested by a fledgling."

The air in the room became ice cold as her anger rose, thinking back to her battle, "I would've had her begging if I had landed my blood on that stupid brand on her wrist." She growled, the windows and mirror in the room shattering.

Serus smiled as they left then quickly unwrapped her legs. She winced, thank goodness for nerve manipulation. She would be in agonizing pain if she wasn't blocking the signals. Her legs were no longer bleeding, as she had predicted. Yet, the bones were still shifting back into place, and her skin was healing very, very slowly.

With a sigh, she wrapped them up again and tosses the old bandages int he trash can across the room. She looked at the closet, forcing a shirt and skirt from the closet to float its way over to her. She quickly buttoned up the shirt and slid the skirt on, careful of her legs. "Well, that's better at least. Although, I don't like white.." She muttered looking down at the white shirt.

[Bovice]

"Hey now how was I supposed to know that little piss ant was gonna cut off my arm?" Dragos said flustered. A Raksasha member walked up to Dragos and whispered in his ear. "Interesting, very interesting." Dragos said intrigued. "Did you know that Seth is the new leader of the long thought extinct Augustin clan." He said interested. "Weren't they empath vampires?" Dragos asked Layla.

"I wonder what that tattoo is, I hope I can ask her when we get back.Seth wondered to himself. They made it to the cafe. "Felix you can feed from any of the human's but just remember not to kill them." Seth said as he opened the door.

"Yes sir." Felix answered while looking around the cafe. "I wonder which one to pick." Felix thought.

"I'll be right back." Seth said to Felix as he walked towards the counter. "Excuse me ma'am?" he said politely.
"Yes sir?" The young lady asked with a smile.
"I was wondering if I could bring one of the humans to my house because Serus is very injured." He stated with charm.
"Of course, only because its for master Serus. Also you have to pay for the taxi back to the persons house." She said with a giggle.
"That's fine." He said.

"I wonder which human I should feed from." He pondered as he walked away from the counter. He walked up to a human. "Can I feed from you?" He asked politely.
"Sure." The man leaned his head to the side. Seth leaned in and started to feed from the man.

"Excuse me ma'am, can I feed from you?" He asked her as he walked up to her.
"Sure." She said. He leaned into and bit her neck. "Hmm it tastes like copper, but its delicious." Felix thought to himself as he drank. He felt her start to loosen up so he stopped drinking and helped her sit down. "Are you ok?" He cooed.
"Ya im fine." She said woozily. Felix walked towards the door to wait for Seth.

Seth kept drinking in tell the man almost lost consciousness. He stoped and helped the man to a chair. "Shit sir are you ok? I'm injured so I kind of lost track of what I was doing." He said confused.
"Ya...I'm...fine..." The man said breathing hard. Seth walked to the counter and put down a few hundred dollar bills. He walked up to a woman. "Excuse me? Would you be willing to come with me and let my friend feed off of you?" He asked nicely. She nodded and followed him out and to the manor.

[Evil Tink]

Serus sighed, leaning back against the headboard once more. She wondered if Seth would be okay. She hoped the Raksasha's were as drained of power as they were...or else they might get attacked. And this time, she wouldn't be able to help them. She hated the feeling that without her, they would be dead. "Mother was right...no matter where I go, I will attract the wrong crowd simply of what I am." She laughed a bit rolling her eyes.

[Bovice]

Seth, Felix and the woman arrived at the manor. Seth satrted to lead the woman up the stairs. "Felix can you call a cab for our guest please?" Seth asked somewhat demanding.

"Yes sir." Felix said as he walked into the kitchen. "I may not be the butler anymore but it still feels like I am." He thought to himself as he picked up the phone.

Seth and the young woman got to the top of the stairs. "Follow me." Seth said sternly. They got to the door and Seth knocked. "Serus its me Seth may I come in I have a gift for you." Seth said charmingly. He entered the room. "I brought you dinner." He said with a beautiful smile.

"I want to go after Seth tomorrow!" Dragos said to Layla. "I want to end his life and eat his heart." He said slamming his fist against the wall.

[Evil Tink]

Layla placed her hand on his shoulder, "We must be patient Dragos. We will recover much quicker than she will. We will attack in two days. Alright?" She sighed, looking out the window, "I will kill her next time..she won't get away."

Serus tilted her head to the side, her tone showing dismay, "Why'd you bring her here?" She did not like feeling pitied. True, Seth was only doing what needed to be done, but she did not like it being implied that she couldn't do it on her own.

With a sigh, she put on a smile, "Thank you Seth." She pointed to the girl, her smile fading to cold emotionlessness. She pointed to her, "You. Get over here." The girl hesitated, but complied, sitting next to Serus on the bed.

Serus tenderly swept the hair from her neck, her fangs piercing the flesh easily. After a few minutes, she still did not stop. The human's heart began to race in an effort to pump the thinning blood to her brain, but could not keep up with the demand. Eventually, the girl became unconscious until her heartbeat stopped. At that moment, Serus finally pulled her mouth away, licking her lips. "She was a drinker..I told the bouncer to keep those humans out. They taste horrible."

[Bovice]

"Well that was a first." He said out loud. "Felix cancel the cab." Seth thought to Felix. "I'll get someone in here to clean her up." Seth said with a half smile. "I was wondering what that mark means. If I can ask." Seth said as he pulled the dead body off the bed and setting it on the floor. Seth sat down on the edge of the bed waiting for her reply.

"Why must I cancel the cab?" He wondered to himself. "Never mind sir we don't need a cab." He said before he hung up. "Oh dear I need to look for a new butler. Wait I know the perfect person." He said as he started to dial the phone.

Dragos liked that Layla always calmed him down. "Fine Layla two days but any longer then that I will go after him." He said with a sigh. "You will kill her and I will kill him and we will rule the world." He said with a evil laugh.

[Evil Tink]

"The world? You're starting to sound like my Father. Baby steps Dragos. First, we must re-establish the Raksashas." She sat down on the bed, picking the dried blood from her claw-like nails. "Rebuilding the Coven will take a lot of work, Dragos. After we've taken over the Antinori and the Augustin covens, we should focus on that before we try anything else."

Serus shrugged, "No one will know about her. She'll just be another one of those kidnapped cases." She raised her wrist, tracing the mark. "What do you know about...witches?" After a moment of silence, she continued without his answer. "About 480 years ago, vampires were a bit more..uncivilized than they are now. Much like the humans had the Africans as their slaves, vampires had witches.

"Due to the brutality of the vampires, most of us tried to go into hiding; crafting cloaking spells and changing our appearances. Sometimes, it just wasn't enough and the vampires could still sense us. In order to make it easier on the vampires, they began branding us to make them easier to identify."

Serus pulled her watch from the nightstand, showing Seth the cover. Lightly etched into it's surface was a marking very similar to her tattoo, a few extra details and swirls here and there with an 'A' smack dab in the middle of it all. She placed her wrist next to the watch, "It was Keiara Antinori's idea to mark us. With her being the oldest known vampire, her power was nearly limitless, allowing her to pick out a witch with ease, no matter what we did."

She let out a sigh, replacing the watch on the table, "When I was five, Keiara found me while I was helping Mother tend the garden. We were pulling weeds from the tomato garden. My mother had been marked before I was born, which is why it took her awhile to finally find me." She chewed on her lip for a moment until it started to bleed, then heal.

"She grabbed onto my arm and pulled me close, lifting up my wrist for her lapdog to brand. His name was Nicolai Raksasha, the first of his clan. I remember his hand suddenly bursting into this bright red flame as he held the brander over it. I was so scared, I had no idea what they were doing, or why, my mother never told me since I was too young to understand. Next thing I know, the hot iron was pressed onto my wrist, burning the mark permanently into my flesh through scaring."

She ran her fingers over the mark, still able to feel some of the deformities in her skin from the scar, "My mother was able to close my wound before an infection could set in, but it still scared due to the vampires' magic. I was able to hide my mark fairly easily throughout the years, but I knew it wouldn't last.

"When I was 19, I crossed paths with Keiara again. Her coven, along with the Raksasha’s had become so incredibly powerful in that short span of time, no one could match them. Unfortunately for her, the Raksasha’s were a lot stronger, their elemental prowess gave them an incredible boost. When she found me, they were at war with each other and the Antinori’s were losing.

“I was asleep when she had found me again. I awoke in the middle of the night to a strange sensation in my arm, where I was branded. By that time, I had already mastered my seeing technique. I had used my familiar, a cat named Haji. When our eyes focused, I saw she was drinking my blood, quite quickly. Seconds later, everything had gone black, and then…nothing. I awoke again to something new, a warm coppery liquid flowing over my taste buds. I couldn’t recognize what it was, and it took me days to figure it out.”

She closed her eyes and continued, “The next thing I knew, there was pain..pain all over. It was so intense, the few days after it started are a complete blur to me. I was later told that it was the process of me becoming a vampire. I could hardly comprehend what was going on. Why had Keiara turned me? How did she even know it was possible? No one has ever heard of a human, yet alone a witch, being turned into a vampire.

“After that, my life was pretty much like yours. Keiara trained me to the point of such exhaustion, I would often pass out. Every day though, I could feel myself getting stronger, my psychic abilities much stronger than any other vampire…even Keiara. The war had reached its peak by then, hundreds of each clan murdered by the other…both families slowly dwindling down.

“That’s when she put her plan into action. She pulled back all her forces and told me I had a very important job to do now. She pointed me in the direction of the Raksasha army and told me to ‘have fun with it’. I was stumped at first. I had never been against so many enemies, not to mention, ones I thought to be stronger than myself. But when the first Raksasha attacked, something inside me…broke so to say. It was a big, bloody mess. Bodies and body parts scattered across miles, leading up to the Raksasha Manor.”

She yawned a bit, trying to recall the few days in time she was telling him about, “Day turned to night, night to day, and so on and so forth as I made my way through the coven. Of course, I would need nourishment every now and then. I quickly discovered that it was very helpful to drink another vampire’s blood. It was much stronger than a human’s and provided me with extra strength.

“Then I came upon Nicolai and his heir, Layla and her partner, Dragos. At the time, they were about 300 years older than me, possibly more. I never learned Layla’s age. Our fight was..epic to say t he least, but eventually, it was just me and Nicolai. That didn’t take me too long, and I returned to the Antinori Mansion with his head, throwing it in my master’s lap.” She shrugged, not that he really needed to know the downfall of the Raksasha’s, but it was part of her life; her history. She decided to wait for his reaction, her head tilted curiously to the side. “Too much?”

[Bovice]

Seth sat there listening intently. He zoned out thinking of how powerful she is when she asked him if it was to much. "No it wasn't to much." He said as he scooted closer to her and grabbed her hand. He turned her arm over to expose Serus' wrist where the mark was. He placed a tender kiss on the mark. "We all have baggage darling." He said as he gently grabbed her chin and placed a tenderly powerful kiss on her lips.

"Now that I think of it I do sound like your father." Dragos said chuckling. "We have a lot of work to do." He said as he sat down on the bed next to Layla.

[Evil Tink]

"Although, my father was an idiot to not destroy Keiara when he had the chance. Because of her, that creature, Serus was born. Either way, rest now Dragos. Tomorrow we've got a lot of preparation to do." She nodded then walked out.

Serus quickly pulled her wrist away with a slight hiss, but was quickly silenced by a kiss on the lips. She of course, cut it short to reprimand him for his actions, "Be careful. There's a spell on this mark. You were unconscious for this part, but Layla was about to use it to her advantage. With each brand, a spell was laid over it, one that only Elder vampires could use. I won't go into details, but it's very dangerous. Just keep your blood and your mouth away from it." She sighed deeply, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'm afraid to simply cut off that part of my skin, since I don't know what will happen if I do."

[Bovice]

He listened to her intently. "As long as you are safe I don't care what happens to me." He said with a sparkle in his eye. "I may have been around for only 250 years, but you are the first person Ive made a connection to." He said holding back tears. "Even when my parents were alive I didn't connect with them." He said with a tear coming from his eye. He wiped his eyes. "I should probably go." He said not wanting to leave.