Chapter thriteen

 “Are you sure you saw him kill the other vampire?” Maria asked her in stunned amazement, unsure she could even believe what she had just heard.
 Alison nodded her head, the mug of hot cocoa shaking slightly in her hands as she recalled the events of the night.  “Yeah, he killed him.  Snapped his neck and then tore him in two to make sure the job was done.  Just like that.  The young one hadn‘t even made a move towards him.  It didn‘t get the chance.  Raise, catch, kill, that was about it.”  Looking up at Maria, she said, “Why would he do that?  Why kill one so young?  The thing would have been no threat to him.  Hell, I saw it.  It didn‘t even have half a chance against him.  I think I would have had a better chance in a fight, so why him?  Why the other vampire?”
 Maria chewed at her lower lip, not liking this new development.  No, she didn‘t think she liked it one, little bit.  “I’m not sure.  It’s not a common thing for the ancient ones to kill the younger ones.  They don’t have anything to fear, as you said, so it would have been a rather pointless act for him to do so.  I’m not sure what this means now,” she uttered, slowly sinking into a chair near her friend, looking off into the distance and trying desperately to make some sense of this.
 “What do you mean?” she asked, sitting up in the comfortable chair she had claimed almost the very instant she had come home from the confusing encounter with Marius Neros.
 Maria turned to her, putting her full attention on the young woman she had been trying these past three years to train for a hard, and probably very short, life of a slayer of vampires.  She could see the worry and concern in Alison’s eyes, and wasn’t sure if she could comfort her properly or not.  She wasn’t cut out for this sort of thing.  She was a fighter, all thought of any maternal instinct in her had died out a long time ago, when Mastuf had come to her to tell her of her destiny all those long years ago.  “As far as I know, there is no good reason why an ancient would kill one of its own kind without being challenged.  It’s not like them at all.  I can only guess, since he both left you be and killed this other vampire, that perhaps he was doing it to…protect you.”
 Alison could not hold back the laughter that erupted from her chest in great bellows.  “Protect me?” she finally gasped out once the laughing fit had started to die down a bit.  “What, do you mean he was trying to be my knight in shining armor or something like that?  What was he trying to protect me from, anyway?  It’s not like I couldn’t handle myself against one so young.  If I was in any danger, it was from him, not the other one.”
 Maria nodded.  “I know, but perhaps he was simply trying to show you he was on your side.  On the other hand, perhaps he is simply playing mind games with you, trying to knock us both off balance with his actions, and then sweeping in for the kill once our guard is down.”
 Alison drained the last of her cocoa, and put the mug down on the table.  “Well, he’s not going to catch me off guard.  I’d trust a vampire as far as a normal person could throw one.  I’m not placing any faith in this creature at all, and the first chance I get, I’m running him through with a very big, sharp stake,” she said with more vehemence than the occasion warranted, and she wondered where that had come from.
 Apparently, Maria was thinking the same thing.  “You must not become obsessed over destroying this creature.  Your obsessions can become your undoing, and you cannot afford to loss your head over this matter.  You must stay calm and collected when dealing with your enemies.  That is a sure way to lead to your own destruction if you do not.”
 Alison gave her a scathing look.  “I’ve read Moby Dick, you know.  I know enough about obsessions and destruction.”
 “Well, I certainly hope you gained something from your leisurely hobbies.  I know my words do not always get through that thick head of yours.”
 Alison got up, and moved to give her mentor and best friend a hug to show there were no hard feelings between them.  “You know that’s not true.  I do listen to everything you say.  I just don’t do everything you say.”
 Maria’s expression softened.  Hugging her pupil back, she said, “I know, but your life would be so much easier if you did.”  
 Alison pulled away, her expression serious for the time being.  “How come the cross seemed to do nothing to him.  I thought religious symbols were supposed to repel his kind, or at least weaken them.  Is that not true, or is it not true of the ancient ones, and if that’s so, why did you not tell me about it?”
 Maria sighed, feeling the weight of that bad decision on her shoulders.  “The cross works on those that were born after the coming of Christ.  Those that are more than two thousand years old, are seldom affected by it, for they worshipped different gods, and therefore, are not afraid of any but the ones they were raised to fear.  Younger vampires than Neros would fear Christ because they were raised to, but those older do not even usually acknowledge the existence of Christianity until they are forced to.  They think it is nothing but another passing fad.”
 Alison stared at her in disbelief, her jaw dropping as she listened.  “Two thousand years?  How old is this Marius guy?”
 Maria shrugged.  “I have reason to believe that if you had perhaps pulled out a stature of Jupiter, he might have been more affected by that.”
 Alison moved back to her chair, dropping into it.  “Over two thousand years,” she uttered, not even being able to conceive that sort of time.  “What would it be like to live for that long?”
 Maria felt a shiver run down her spine at her friend’s words.  “It would be better for you to think of what the price for that long a life is.  He has been hunting the world for almost as long as he has existed.  He was human for only a short amount of that time, and most likely most of his humanity died away from him a long, long time ago.  He is a beast, a killer, and you must never, ever forget that, no matter what he says.”
 She looked up at the darker woman, her eyes dark and intense with her emotions.  “I know that.  I was just thinking out loud, that was all.  You don’t have to get all huffy with me.  I do know what I’m up against here.”
 Maria’s tension eased, but only slightly.  “I am sorry.  I know you are a good slayer, and would not let this beast sway you, but they can be tricky.  Remember, he is over two thousand years old, and most likely, also very intelligent.  The ancient ones are not the animals the younger ones are.  They are thinkers, plotters, and you must never let your guard down around them for even a moment.  Never.”
 Alison nodded, remembering how he had made her feel as he had held her tight against him.  It had been a long time since any man had made her feel that way, and the fact that she had reacted to a dead one showed how stagnant her current romance life was.  “I know.  I know.  Keep my eyes out for this one, right.”
 Maria nodded enthusiastically.  “Yes.”

 Marius stormed about the tiny attic he had claimed for himself while he was in this part of his territory, cursing loudly and lashing out with his claws at anything within reach.  Boxes and walls exploded under the force of his anger.  Why had he done it?  Why had he not killed her?  He had had her in his grasp, and yet he had failed to end her life.  Instead, he had lashed out at the nearest member of his kind to come along, tearing an innocent bystander in half, just because he had not been able to bring himself to harm this slayer.  What was so different about her?  What had compelled him not to take her life when he had been so close, so very, very close.  He had been able to smell the scent of her fresh blood, feel the beating of her living heart.  He had been inches from sinking his teeth into her, and yet at the very last moment, he had pulled back, unable to finish the job he had meant to start this night.  Now, she was still alive, and he was more confused by his feelings than ever.  Was he truly so lonely now that part of him, a deep, dark part he had known nothing about, wanted human companionship, even that of a slayer?  What had happened to him, he wondered.  What had happened to that blood thirsty man who had destroyed a whole village to make sure his companion in eternity had had a place to call home?  Where was that killer now?  Hiding, deep within his soul, refusing to come out to the light to do what should be done, what must be done?
 Marius snarled once again, slashing into a box of old wrapping paper and small, breakable knick-knacks that went tumbling and shattering against the floor before he found a place to sleep the daylight hours away, hoping the oblivion of unconsciousness would somehow ease this anguish he now found himself in.