Cypress House by Kat Reitz, kumiko & tzigane

Part Three

The sky was still roiling, pouring rain in harsh pelting sheets onto the soaked grey ground. And outside of the house, watching and savoring the mild panic, there was a little girl, watching it all.

But though she was little, she was older than any in the house.

"Captain!" The sound of a calling voice was enough to catch her attention had the bright white lawn of a nightgown passed her by. "Captain! You must come! You must show me where my Michel has gone!"

The girl looked up. /How silly, this woman!/ she thought with a wicked little chuckle as she began to walk, easily, towards her.

"Captain!" Noin called again, frowning. "Where can you be, Captain? I need you to show me where Michel has gone! Please come out again!"

"Madam?" Mariemeia smiled, looking up at the woman, suddenly at her side.

The sound of that tiny sweet voice surprised Noin as she turned, the white lawn of her nightgown clinging to her transparently in all the rain. "Why, hello. Who are you? Another ghost? Perhaps you can tell me where my Michel has gone?"

The woman was very much mad. /I may be able to use her.../ "Tell me who you are, first," she 'requested.'

"Noin du Marquise. Have you seen my Michel? He is lost, my poor sweet babe," she crooned, stepping lightly towards the trees. "Michel! Michel! Momma is looking for you!"

The blond man's wife... The man who her father looked so *engrossed* with. "He's gone away right now," she murmured smoothly. "I'm to keep you company, when I can, but you mustn't tell a soul."

"No one," Noin agreed blithely, "only we must find Michel."

"I'm sorry, madam, but he has gone to where we cannot follow!" Marimeia mock 'exclaimed'. "But when he comes back, weeks from now, he will be well again!"

"Oh!" The exclamation brought tears to Noin's eyes, her trembling hands rising to touch her face excitedly. "Even his sweet little head?"

/His *head*?/ Marimeia wondered to herself, still smiling sweetly. "Yes! Even that -- he will be a well boy again!"

"Oh, mon Dieu, mon Dieu! Thank you, my God!" Noin cried, dancing in the rain happily. "My Michel, my little angel, with his head again!"

"You will have to wait a few months, though," Mariemeia warned, "Because God is slow in his miracles."

Noin's smile faltered only slightly. "Ah, but so long as my Michel returns to me, I will not mind the wait!"

"Let me provide company," she offered.

"That would be lovely, indeed. Tell me, are you an angel, too?"

"Of a different sort!" she laughed softly, reaching with one cold, pale little hand to grasp Noin's. "Let us seek shelter by the house."

"Can we not go dancing down near the gazebo?" Noin asked, smiling. "It would be sheltered there, mon petit ange!"

"If you'd like," the girl acquiesced. It wasn't like *she* would be the one getting wet... "How is your husband?"

"Ah," Noin said. "Mon mari. My sweet sweet husband. He is haunted by a demon, you know," was the sad answer as they walked through the rain, Noin humming with pleasure at the walk.

"A demon?" A slow smile curled Mariemeia's lips. "What sort?"

"A terrible creature. Eugenie would not say what kind, only that he was very bad, and would take over my poor sweet husband's soul, that he could look like my Zechs or anyone that he wanted to!" Noin told her. "But you are an angel. Can you not stop this bad thing from happening?"

"I'm only a little angel," Marimeia smiled lightly. "So I'm powerless if the Demon is strong." /Does she speak of father? I think she does.../

"Yes, yes," Noin said sadly. "Ah, but you are such a sweet angel, yes? And my Michel will come back to me soon, and he can protect his Poppa." Her hands were roaming over her body, pressing lightly against rain-slicked flesh, sliding between her thighs. "Everything will be perfect again, oui..."

The little vampire walked calmly beside the woman who was ranting softly and touching herself as they walked. "Yes, Madam -- it *will* be perfect!"

"Sweet, sweet," Noin sang softly, laughing as they walked.

"Tell me about your house-hold, madam," Marimeia asked as they neared the gazebo.

"What shall I tell you?" the woman asked her cheerfully, fingers now working between her legs steadily. "There is my sweet husband, and me and the lady who cares for me. There is also," and here, her face darkened, "that wretched thieving houseboy whom I do not like at all and who should be sold. And, of course, the slaves." Those, she lumped together dismissively, as if they did not matter; the only thing gaining Wufei any distinction was the fact that she hated him.

"Is he a boy, very young, who has black hair?" Mariemeia asked. "Does your husband like him?"

"Yes!" Noin said, surprised. "Yes, he does.

/Perfection./ Now there were two things she could threaten to indirectly make her father suffer. "What about the foreign man?"

"Ahh, so you have seen the ghost of my husband's sea captain as well? Magnifique!" Noin cried, dancing about as they reached the gazebo.

Standing back from Noin, calm and quiet, the girl nodded. "He is a very *solid* ghost, is he not?"

"Ah, yes, but sometimes ghosts and angels can be as solid as they wish, yes?" Noin asked, a question for a question.

As if to demonstrate, the girl nodded, smiling wickedly as she patted Noin's arm. "Yes." No fangs showed in that smile.

"Sweet sweet angel! I am so glad you have come!" Noin laughed, dancing and dancing beneath the roof. "So glad!"

"Oh, you'll be *very* glad..."

"Noin!" came a far-off voice from the direction of the house. "Noin? Ou-est tu, cherie?*"

Surprise registered on Noin's face as she realized that the angel was gone. "Angel?"

Zechs pushed aside the last of the dripping leaves that blocked the path and came out at the edge of the clearing in which the gazebo stood. Noin was there and had obviously been out in the rain for some time. "Noin?" he called softly, afraid of what her reaction might be. "Cherie? Est-tu bien?*"

The smile that greeted him was brilliant. "Zechs, mon mari! I have been visited by an angel! Michel will be coming back, head and all!"

The pit of his stomach seemed to drop away from him as she spoke. She was getting worse - so much worse - and there didn't seem to be a thing he could do about it.

"Really, ma petite?" he said softly, taking a few more steps towards her. "You saw an angel? What did it look like?"

"So lovely and small!" she told him, hands rubbing up over her belly to cup her breasts as she swayed, beginning to dance once again. "With the brightest red hair and the prettiest blue eyes!"

Zechs looked wildly around them. /Treize's daughter! She... she talked to Noin! She could have.../ The thought of the strange child being that close to his wife, the memory of Wufei's words about Samuel, it was all too horrible. He had to get her back to the house that instant.

Crossing the distance between them, Zechs put his arms around Noin's waist and tried to pull towards the house. Both of them were dripping with rain and her thin nightgown did almost nothing to conceal her body, the rubbed up against him as he tried to lead her away: the soft breasts with their dark brown nipples, stiff with cold or arousal, Zechs couldn't tell; her belly, just slightly rounded, that led down to the dark hair between her legs. She might as well have been completely naked for all the nightgown did.

"Come, ma cherie, you're very cold... we need to get back to the house."/Before that monster comes back.../

"But I want to dance!" she protested, shivering slightly. "Let us stay and dance! Perhaps your captain will come again!"

"My Captain..." Zechs whispered hoarsely, "No - no ma petite. He won't, I am sure of it. Please, come with me..." Trying to hold on to her was nearly impossible. She was slippery and writhed in his arms. The ground was slippery, and becoming more so, and it didn't help matters any further that his hands were shaking like the leaves on the trees. /What if she comes back? When we're out here, alone? Why did she spare Noin? Oh, God -- Noin... it was so close.../ He took a few steps towards the house and slipped, bringing them both down to the muddy grass. /Mon Dieu!! Don't let her find us like this!/

His wife giggled merrily as she began to press against him, voice husky as she whispered wanton little phrases in his ear. "Zechs, Zechs, please..."

"Noin," he hissed back, "you don't know what you're saying, cherie. Now get up, won't you?" Zechs was trying not to think about the possibility that the only way to get Noin back to the house might be to give her what she was asking for.

"Do you not love me anymore?" she asked, great dark purple eyes filling with tears, making them appear bruised.

Guilt washed through the young planter. "Of course I do, Noin. I love you dearly, and I worry for your health, ma cherie. Being so long in the wind and rain cannot be good for you, n'est-ce pas? Don't you want to come back to the house with me? You can get out of this wet nightgown, perhaps have a nice warm bath and then put on some dry clothes. Will you? Will you come, Noin?" He tried to find some footing on the muddy ground, Noin's tendency to cling making it all but impossible.

"Kiss me, my Zechs," she whispered pleadingly. "Kiss me! Our Michel is coming home, with his sweet little head where it had ought to be!"

Zechs felt his stomach turn, remembering that night, the screams and the blood... There were tears streaming down his face, he knew, but the rain covered them so Noin couldn't see. "That's wonderful, Noin, truly. But just one kiss, and then we go back into the house, yes?" Leaning forward, her lips reminded him of all the times they had made love when he was trying to get her pregnant, to please her father and her family. And where had it led? Here -- the two of them sitting in the rain, he in love with two other men, and she, completely mad.

Forcing his stomach to be calm, he pressed his lips to hers, a chaste and friendly kiss.

She moaned again, pressing hotly against him. "Yes, mon ange! Yes! Into the house, my beautiful husband..."

"Yes, Noin -- try to stand will you?" He pushed her hands away for a moment so he could get to his feet and then braced himself to help her up. It was slow going after that, but eventually the back door of the house was in sight through the pouring rain. "Just a bit more, my sweet... Almost there..."

"Please, mon ange," she begged softly, swinging her feet happily. "Let us celebrate! Michel will be returning!"

"Yes of course, Noin - we *will* celebrate... when we get back to the house, n'est-ce pas?"

"Yes, yes!" she laughed. "Into the house, then!"

Zechs managed to get the back door opened and prayed no one would see them going up the stairs to the gallery. They were both dripping wet, and Noin, especially was chilled to the bone.

When they reached the gallery, Zechs took Noin to his room and closed the door. "Come, love -- get out of that wet nightgown, I'll get towels for us." He ran to the linen room just one door down from his own, and pulled several cotton towels down from a shelf, then hurried back to where Noin waited and opened the door.

Noin was completely out of her dripping wet gown, now doing her swaying dance nude, hands running slowly over her hips and delving every so often between her legs. "Oh, mon ange," she whimpered to herself, not even noticing Zechs.

It was difficult to even look at her, but Zechs crossed the room and wrapped the largest towel around her shoulders. "Please, Noin -- we must get you dried off. I don't want you falling ill, cherie." /Didn't realize she was really this far gone.../

"Ohhhh, but I am fine, Cherie!" she protested, squirming.

It was hit and miss with the towel, her constant movement making everything more difficult as he rubbed the towel over chilly, wet skin. "It's very good to see you so happy, ma petite. Did the angel you saw say anything else?"

"That she will keep me company until Michel comes back!" Still squirming, smiling and caressing herself.

/Mon Dieu! I have to tell Treize... He has to make her go away!/ Noin was dry now and Zechs tossed the towel on a nearby chair. "Where are your nightgowns, love?" he said, turning to the large wardrobe against the wall.

"Top drawer," she answered lucidly, feeling warmed in the chilled air, as her hands kept roaming, pushing her breasts up and down.

Pulling a gown out of the drawer, Zechs approached his wife. "Come, sweet one -- let's get you dressed..."

"Oh! Why should I? It's is *nice* to be as this!"

/Noin... tell me what it was that drove you over the edge... so many horrors.../

"Please, Noin..." Zechs was tiring. It seemed forever since he'd last been able to fall into bed and sleep. His muscles ached, as did his head, and his heart, his will to go on, was beginning to fade. "Noin -- you'll get chilled like that. And there is company in the house. Surely you don't want them to see you like this..."

"But there is nothing to see, mon ange!" she disagreed, even as she let him slip it on. "Oh, I do hope Michel comes back soon..."

"Yes, ma cherie. I hope that as well. "Will you be comfortable here? I have to see to the guests downstairs."

"Oh yes!" she smiled as she sat upon her bed. "I will sit and watch the rain."

"Yes -- all right, if you wish... I will check back on you. Please rest now, ma petite." And with that, he closed the door and headed back downstairs.

*Darling? Are you all right?

The wind was howling again, but the storm was starting to die. Not that it meant a damned thing -- looks were always deceiving...

The first proof he'd come across, clear and blatant, that it was Mariemeia who was there, was the corpse in the tree.

It wasn't even a corpse any longer. Instead, it was a grotesque piece of art work that had been lovingly crafted by small hands. The man with whom Wufei had left the kitchen was hanging in the tree with his stomach gashed completely open. Intestines seemed to drip from his body, wrapped tightly around his neck and suspending him in the tree like tendrils. The rain seemed to have washed the blood off the body, and it was soaking into the ground beneath Samuel, filling his nostrils.

/My dear child.../

It had been a mistake -- he'd been *needy* when he'd drank of the young french noble-woman's body, and had gladly seduced her. She'd had blue eyes, blonde hair, and he'd been so desperate... It had been a flurry of infatuation that had left him drained and her laden with child. He'd posed as being a human long enough to be married to her, see his child borne, then mysteriously 'die', leaving her with a daughter and bank account large enough to support them both.

But Mariemeia must have followed her father, years after, and now was there, haunting him again. His half-ling child.

The slaves' quarters were no far away now, and he stepped up to them, slamming open the main door. "Slaves! You master wants you inside of the house!"

That seemed to startle most of them, one finally speaking up. "Why he want us up the'e?" was the question one of the older slaves posed.

"Because something has killed Samuel and his wife," Treize murmured, looking at them all with a gaze that was softened. To live as captives... "He wants all of you someplace safe."

That sent panicked murmurs amongst them, the knowledge that something was killing slaves setting several women to shrieking and crying, and the men into nervous posturing.

"We need to go as one large group," Treize instructed, "And we need to go *now*."

That seemed to start several of them in motion; men who were obviously accustomed to leading others and had been denied the use of that natural talent due to circumstances.

"Quickly now," Treize uttered, stepping outside and holding the door open. "Stay together, and head into the house." /I'll bring up the back so that Mariemeia cannot pick any of them off./ "No-one look at the tree beside the house. Cover the children's eyes."

"It so bad, then?" one man near the back asked, picking up a little girl and placing her upon his hip. "They's othe' chillun an' women, a few, in th' qua'te's."

"Which quarters?" he requested. "I'll get them next."

"Back nea' the rive'," the man said softly. "I'll go wit' ya. Name's Elijah... lack th' prophet."

"Thank you, sir," Treize spoke with a faint smile, bowing ever so slightly as that first group began to move towards the house. "The house is the safest place to be -- all of you would have been in there earlier, but one of the two that the master set out to bring you into the house was.... Samuel."

"He's my brothe'." That announcement was given quietly. "The maste' is good 'bout keepin' family togethe'. Better'n mos'. This he'e is they chile. Ah'll make sho' she don' look. What is it tha's out the'e, suh?"

"By the tree, Elijah, or what is it that's out there hunting?" They were coming up upon it again -- Samuel's body strewn into those branches. It was hard to not breath deeply, to not let his fangs drop because of the smell of blood.

"Don' look, chile," Elijah cautioned softly, careful to look straight ahead and be sure that the others kept their faces turned away from the sight. He could not help but look, paling beneath his skin, face going rigid. "Wha's out the'e, suh? What did that t' mah brothe'?"

"Something that should not exist," Treize uttered, picking up his step just slightly. "Something that will have to be dealt with."

"Then Ah'll help wit' anythin' ya need," Elijah said softly, hand cupping the little girl's head as they moved on.

"Thank you, sir," Treize uttered, as he called ahead through the rain, "Go into the house, and wait in your master's study." Then, quieter, "Give the girl to someone you trust, then show me where the other slaves are."

"Yes, suh," was the quiet response as they all moved into the house.

Zechs was coming down the stairs as the group came in. "I am sorry to take you all out of your homes," he said, "please -- come into my study and I will try to explain..."

Several were tearful with fright, children clasped in their arms and crying, and Wufei came out of the music room to stand in the doorway. "Master?" he asked softly. "You want Precious and I to come with the others, or stay here? She is still weeping..."

"I believe she'll feel better," Zechs said softly, "if she can be around her other children. Find the other two girls and bring her out to meet them. Then bring the back to my study to be with the others." He started down the passageway, directing the slaves to follow him.

Wufei watched them go for a moment, gnawing on his lower lip before he walked into the dining room. He paused outside the door to the loggia for only a moment before he screwed up the courage to run across the wet stones and into the kitchen. "Hello!"

Two very frightened faces peered out of the fruit-drying closet, eyes wide with fear. The girls relaxed a little when the saw Wufei and the taller one said softly, "Where's Mama?"

A sigh of relief spilled from him. "In the house. Come with me, now, we will fetch her, and we will go join the other slaves. Herr Khushrenada is bringing everyone inside."

The younger one looked ready to cry. "But... but he's... Mama said he was *evil!* Are you evil, too now, Wufei?"

"No, no," Wufei said softly, shaking his head. Just knowing there were only three of them was making him a nervous wreck! Words tumbled out quickly, assuring them, "Him is not evil. Him is nice, nice man. Is little girl, evil, and we have go in house before she come, do evil us."

They looked more terrified than ever but they came forward and followed him to the kitchen door.

"Is only short trip," Wufei cajoled. "We hurry across, okay?"

The girls nodded silently and, still looking terrified, walked out behind the Chinese boy into the loggia that led to the house.

It was a frightening thing, going outside yet again. Both girls were close to him, and that was good, though he was still afraid until they managed to slip into the house. "We will go get your mother now, yes?"

The older girl nodded solemnly, while the younger asked Wufei, "Is th' Maste' gonna be mad at us fo' bein' in th' house lack this?"

Wufei shook his head as they went to the music room, hurrying. "No, no, he wants everyone here to protect them."

"I sure hope mama's all right," the older girls said tremulously. "She's real strong but... soun's lack things are just bad aroun' here..."

"You heard, in the kitchen," Wufei said. "About your sister? Her husband?" The quiet sound of Precious's weeping could be heard just inside that room. "Fetch your mother. We must go to the study, with the others, so that the Master can tell us..."

The girls went off down the hall and the sobbing grew louder briefly as they entered the music room. Soon it quieted, however, and the three made their way back to the study.

Zechs met up with Wufei just outside the study door. He carried several blankets and one pillow. "There you are," the blond said with great relief. "It's good to know you're back and safe. Unfortunately one of the old slaves is very ill, so I brought her a few things to make her comfortable." "Good," Wufei said softly as he took the things from Zechs. "We will have to tell them something. I do not know what, or what to say, do you?"

The planter sighed and looked into the room, now fairly full. "No, I don't know either. But I'll talk to them anyway..." He walked into the study and stepped aside for Wufei, pointing out the ill slave who needed the blankets and pillow. Then he addressed his slaves.

"Thank you all for coming here in such an orderly fashion. If you are still missing family members be aware that another group is coming in and should be here any time now." He bent his head, and fought back the lump in his throat. "I am terribly sorry to have to tell you of the deaths of Taira and Samuel. It seems they were attacked by someone outside of the house and... and..." His words faltered. What could he tell them of Mariemeia? He knew so little himself and besides, anything near the truth would make them all panic. /Mon Dieu... tell me what to say.../

The study door opened -- Treize, with Elijah, six women and five little children. "This is everyone," Treize murmured as he gestured them into the room, closing the door behind him. "Is there anyone left missing?" he asked the slaves directly. "It's imperative that you tell me, because there is a dangerous killer out there who preys upon those who do not travel in large enough groups."

Everyone was looking around the room anxiously, including Zechs. "I believe," he said quietly to Treize, "that everyone is accounted for."

"A small blessing," Treize whispered back, moving to sit down -- the pale man looked drained, limbs moving only jerkily as he sat, seeming to fold in on himself a little. "I believe it would be best for this plantation to adopt a 'daylight' way of getting things done. Between dusk and dawn, it would be in their best interests to remain either in the kitchen building, or the house. Their quarters are too isolated to be safe at the moment."

Elijah settled in beside Precious and her daughters, patting the older woman on the back. "Suh, wha's out the'e?"

"There is no concise way to explain what it is," Treize uttered as he languidly rested his chin in his hand. "Only that it saw fit to feed from those of you it caught unawares when the storm first rolled in."

"It is a monster, Elijah," came the murmur from Wufei. "A terrible terrible creature..."

"Wufei, please," Zechs said, "we don't know that. For all we know it could be just someone from New Orleans -- someone escaped from jail there, perhaps, or a castoff from a pirate vessel. Lord knows there are enough of those in the city." Azure eyes were pleading as the blond looked at his young lover. "The important thing to remember," he said, turning to look at the slaves, "is to remain calm and take care that we follow Herr Khushrenada's suggestions." Turning back to Wufei, he smiled softly. "So that's what we'll do, n'est-ce pas?"

Wufei bit his lip, looking down at the floor and remaining quiet, only nodding in agreement. /But it is, Zechs,/ he thought. /It is, and I know it and they know it... how could someone human do such a thing as has been done?/ And it frightened him, truly, Herr Khushrenada's daughter or not....

"Yes," Treize agreed with Zechs, eyes drifting around languidly. "Zechs, they'll need a place to sleep at night."

"Yes, I've already thought of that." Zechs looked over the people in his care, wondering what would become of them if he went away with Treize. "I'll divide you into three groups. One group will sleep here in the study, another in the Music Room, and the last in the parlour. Until we know exactly what the threat is, you'll be safer in the house. For now, please remain here and when the sleeping arrangements are worked out, I'll come and tell you. We'll also arrange for some food to be brought in."

Zechs walked to the door, pulling Treize and Wufei with him.

"We need to get the ladies back to their homes," he said quietly once they were out in the hall. They obviously can't stay where they are, and it'll be safer altogether if they're no longer on the plantation. We just need to determine what is the safest way to do that." His accent was getting thick again, and he ran a hand through his hair, rubbing tired eyes as he did.

"I shall deal with the women," Treize volunteered tiredly, starting towards the room they were in. "Where is their coachman?"

"I'll help you find him," Zechs murmured, and then took hold of the vampire's arm. "But first..." He stared at Treize, noting the face that was even paler than usual, and the movements that were on the edge of losing their grace. "Come to the dining room... and drink of me."

"I will come, too?" Wufei asked tentatively, shivering slightly.

Treize gave a soft smile at the both of them. "Thank you, both of you," he smiled softly. "Now would be best."

Zechs took a hold of their hands and led them across the house to the dining room. He shut the doors and pulled the drapes across the windows, leaving the room in a cool, dim light, the sound of the rain beating against the window panes. Then he walked to where Treize stood, graceful fingers pulling aside the collar of his damp cotton of his shirt to expose a stretch of golden skin. "I'm yours..." he whispered in that strangely confident voice. "All yours..."

It was only a slight change, and a sudden implacability of the accent. "Yes, my beloved," he purred, breathing in deeply as he nuzzled against Zechs's firm throat. He could smell the vein, just below the surface. "You're so wonderful, to nourish me so..." The fangs were bared, scraping lightly, teasingly against Zechs's flesh before he sunk them in.

Black eyes widened impossibly, and Wufei stepped forward, peering at the sight. It sent a distinct shiver though him, and not an unpleasant one at all, to see that tongue pressed against flesh, teeth scraping delicately close.

As the skin was broken a soft cry came from the blond man. He closed his eyes, breath becoming ragged, a trembling hand reaching up to cup the back of Treize's head, to press him closer. "Treize..." he whispered, hips pressing against the vampire's lean body. "My beautiful child..."

The eyes pressed into silvery-blonde hair let loose a few watery red tears as his arms tightened around Zechs's waist. That voice, those words took him back years and years, through all the wasted time they'd spent apart. /My dearest one.../ Gentle pressure, a light suckling as he let the familiar flavor reach his senses.

Lovely, dark whisperings, aching with need and saturated in blood, surrounded Zechs as Treize drank from him. But it was Vasari who heard them this time, and Vasari understood their meaning: the connection completed between Treize's heart and his own, the sweet, fevered cries from every time they'd come to each other with desire in their eyes, and given themselves up to it.

The blond man let himself drift, each movement of Treize's lips on him making him harder and harder. So different in this very human body -- different, and so exquisitely erotic that his body went limp and all he felt was the press of his erection against Treize's hip, and all he could do was moan.

Suckling that reached down into the depths of Zechs's soul and found Vasari waiting there, moving in that lovely rhythm, pushing the blond man's hips forward. Little whimpers escaped him with each sweet press.

His hands stroked along Zechs's back, gifting touches in a way that his mouth could not, not then. Cool hands cupped Zechs' buttocks, pulling his hips hard against Treize's pelvis as he ground back, giving a distinctly sexually moan against Zechs's warm, salty neck. /Heaven... ah, my love, *this* is heaven!/

Before Vasari's death, they would make love, drinking of each other at the same time, sharing their essences with each other -- to let someone drink of you was the greatest gift you could give another vampire. Treize only wished that Zechs was no longer human, so he could take that gift.

The moans Treize had pulled from Zechs changed as they ground together, turning to desperate little whimpers. There was simply nothing to compare with the twin throbs of cock and blood, but together they drove him over the edge and he was falling -- far, far down, hearing his own, rhythmic sounds of ecstasy as if they came from far away, and feeling his own seed warm and wet on his breeches.

Slowly, Treize broke from Zechs's neck, lapping at the blood spilled. "Thank you, my beloved."

"I want you to be strong," Zechs whispered, feeling anything but strong himself. But being in his arms again, looking into those eyes that took his breath away still... it was all worth it for that. Still feeling weak, he gripped the vampire's arms and claimed a kiss from warm and bloodstained lips.

Zechs tasted of his own blood for a few moments, before Treize bit down on his own lip, offering the liquid that welled there. "Drink, beloved." /How badly I wish to make you as I am.../

A hungry whimper escaped Zechs and he wrapped his arms around the vampire's neck, suckling at the wound and making soft, pleasured sounds as the coppery liquid filled him. Nothing had ever tasted so good.

It was nearly as good as having Vasari bite into his neck and drink of him... but as it was, it was one of the most pleasurable things he'd felt in years. A gentle moan floated up from the vampire as he shifted nearer.

Zechs was lost... lost in blood and ecstasy, head filled with all the things they had said to one another, and other whispered voices as well, voices long dead that spoke from uneasy graves. From far away there was also the tiny sounds put out by people who had given up on life, and who were yearning for death. All of it sounded so strange and foreign and yet... so disturbingly familiar...

"My beloved," Treize whispered as he withdrew from the kiss -- his wound sealed nearly instantly. /Any more blood and he would begin to succumb too far./ Cool fingers stroked the side of Zechs' golden face. "I've missed you."

"Hmm... and I you, Treize." Zechs whispered. "Giving to you was always such a deep pleasure..."

"Master?" Wufei whispered, somewhere between awe and a healthy fear. "Are you all right? You look not so well..."

Vasari pulled back from Treize's embrace and it was only Zechs would looked out the azure eyes. "Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. Just a little weak..." He smiled at the smaller man.

"My beloved," Treize whispered softly, pressing a kiss to Zechs's cheek, still holding him near, but not as near as before. "Thank you, again, for letting me feed from you."

The sound of a chair scraping close by marked Wufei shifting one so that the blond man could sit; he looked as if it was all he could do to stand, and that wasn't good at all!

Before he took the offered chair, Zechs looked back at Treize. "Is... Is something wrong, Treize? Wasn't it enough?"

"No, Vasari," Treize answered, unthinking of what he'd called Zechs, "I've fed enough for the moment." He wanted so badly to make Zechs a vampire, make him safe, and Wufei safe, too... "I'm simply worried."

"There is much to worry about," Wufei agreed solemnly. "Daughter, she crazy. She monster..."

"Wufei - please... he knows what the difficulties are..." /And he's feeling responsible for it, for some reason... and who is Vasari?/

"Very much so, little one," Treize uttered as he leaned back against the table, looking at Wufei. "None of us are monsters -- my daughter is simply insane."

"She IS monster," Wufei said unhappily, head tilting down. "Even though I sound stupid, I am not. I am *NOT*! No sane creature do what she has done. No *sane* person do what she has done. You no monster; but not guaranteed she not. Sane, insane, difference is what makes monster. Is different degree, yes. I not so stupid I not see. Trained see, Imperial Guard. *KNOW*."

/Imperial Guard...? I'll have to ask him about that sometime.../ "I wasn't saying you were stupid, Wufei... only that Herr Khushrenada can deal with this much better than we simply because he knows more about her."

/Though I wish I didn't,/ Treize mused bitterly, looking at the both of them; he'd lied when he'd told Zechs he'd eaten enough. He simply hadn't want to drain the man he held so dear... "Come here, little one."

Stepping forward, Wufei gnawed his lower lip. "I did not mean to snap. Only... only frustrated. Upset, angry, *scared*..."

Treize knelt until he was on Wufei's level. "Come here."

It was only another step, but it was a hard one. Black eyes fell upon Zechs's pale face for a moment, seeking security, before he looked back at Treize again.

He found it in the form of a tired smile. "It's all right," the blond said softly.

Treize was still there, kneeling and waiting for Wufei to take that last step. "I apologize for underestimating my hunger."

With a slow sigh, Wufei stepped forward into those waiting hands.

Those hands moved slowly -- one grasping his waist, the other his shoulder, pulling him close. "Please relax, Wufei."

/That's like saying 'excuse me while I allow this ghost to eat your insides out, Wufei,'/ he contemplated to himself as he closed his eyes, head turning tentatively towards Zechs just before the lashes touched his cheeks.

It was just a light touch -- a kiss to his neck, then the tickle of teeth.

A little sound broke loose, half-frightened, mostly just uncertain, and a shudder danced down Wufei's spine. The pin-prick feel of being bitten was strange, poisonous, made him think of snakes, and then even that was gone, lost in the blood and the strange shuddering feel of it. /No wonder Master lets him do it... Zechs.../

It could have gone on for a blessed eternity, just as Drinking from Zechs had, but Treize drew back before he let himself be taken away by it. A warmed tongue lapped at the excess blood, closing the wound. "Was that so bad?"

Slightly dazed, still shaking, Wufei shook his head quickly. "No."

Pressing a kiss to the spot, Treize let Wufei slip from his arms. "Thank you, too, Wufei."

"Are... are you strong enough to take them home?" Zechs asked Treize quietly. "The ladies, I mean..."

The ginger-capped head nodded slowly. "Very much so, Zechs," he uttered, rising smoothly to his feet. "I'll gather them."

Standing still, looking at the two of them with strangely raptured gaze, Wufei frowned. "I will go get them," he said softly. "Is one lady still asleep, and other three in same room... right?"

Zechs turned wearily to him and smiled. "Yes, that's right -- they're all in the music room." He brushed Treize's fingertips with his own as Wufei left the room, unable to meet the vampire's eyes. "Please be careful," he whispered. "We don't know what it is she wants, but it has to be something bad for you..." Slowly he lifted his eyes to Treize. "I'm so tired of death. I saw every man, every friend I had on my ship die in front of me. I watched my Captain die by inches, every shred of dignity he had stripped away from him." He blinked as hard as he could but the tears fell anyway. "And my son... mon petit enfant... I swear I saw him look at me before the last, killing stroke of that knife. And now, all of this... the people I was supposed to care for, whose lives were in my hands..." The tears threatened to overwhelm him then and he turned away, his back to both of them. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse, and his accent thick. "So you come *back*, n'est-ce pas? You don't let l'enfant vampire attack you... she comes nowhere near you, comprends-tu?*"

"Ich leibe du," Treize spoke in a firm breath as he brushed cold lips against Zechs', fingers grasping his tightly. "I shall return unharmed."

Zechs wrapped his arms around the vampire's waist, burying his face in Treize's shoulder. "Please hurry," he whispered, "and come back to me soon."

"I will," he promised softly, holding his dear love close for a moment more before drawing away. As he walked to the door to the drawing room, he gave Zechs an assuring smile, curling and graceful, before he left.

*Do you understand?

Madame Beauchamp was still out like a light, moaning every so often from where she was half-sprawled upon the carriage seat. She'd been thrust into the carriage, the other women forced to follow. The older Madame Laval was also ill, and the two of them were slumped together within miserably.

The carriage driver had been drained off all his blood, nd they'd all seen it, so was it any wonder that they were ill?

Treize was tiring fast of hearing their moans, as he had taken the place of the carriage driver, riding the horses through the storm until he was sure they'd drop, /Get them to the nearest place, and *LEAVE* them!/

Mademoiselle Mirabeau had the unfortunate job of trying to prop up Madame Laval, whose face was even more gray than usual. She looked over at Madame Beauchamp and then anxiously at Mademoiselle Laval. "Do you... think she'll live?"

The carriage hit a large bump, jolting them all. "I... I hope so!" Miss Laval said, flustered.

"Do you... do you think that Cypress House is haunted, Miss Laval?" she asked, tentatively.

"Thoroughly," the woman whispered, looking up to where Treize couldn't be seen, but was known that he sat.

Mademoiselle Mirabeau followed the other girl's gaze and looked quickly back down at her. "So you think it's something to do... with him? With Monsieur Khushrenada? What about the houseboy? Or..." She flushed delicately and murmured, "Or Monsieur du Marquise?"

"I just... cannot tell," she murmured softly. "Perhaps... all three."

The dark-haired woman pressed her fan to her mouth, her face clouded with anxiety. She gave one last, nervous glance upwards, and then turned and stared out at the rain.

"What do you think.... where is he taking u?" Lily voiced softly.

Mademoiselle Mirabeau looked over at her. "Well -- back to Madame Laval's plantation, of course!" she said with some alarm, as if she'd never considered the possibility of being taken somewhere else. "Do you think he has somewhere else in mind? It *is* hard to tell where we're going in the rain..."

"Should we expect him to know how to get us back to the plantation?" Miss Laval asked. "And yet he drives this so very fast!"

"Should I try to get his attention?" Mademoiselle Mirabeau asked with trepidation.

"If you please..." Miss Laval murmured with trepidation.

The dark-haired girl gingerly opened the window of the carriage and leaned out, becoming drenched quickly. Trying to see through the rain, she tapped her fan against Treize's leg -- all she could see of the man.

"What?" he called out, above the patter of rain. "What do you want?"

"Excusez-moi, Monsieur, but... do you know the way to the Laval Plantation?"

"I am taking you to the Duval Plantation becuase it is closer," Treize replied back, tone sharp.

"I hope *you* know the Duvals," the now soaking-wet girl informed Lily, "because that's where we're going."

"That... is in the opposite direction of *OUR* plantation!!"

"Ah, mon Dieu!," Mademoiselle Mirabeau cried, opening her fan and holding it up to her face so that only lovely, anxiety-filled eyes could be seen. "I just hope we get there soon... and get out of this carriage."

Sitting back anxiously, Lily completely agree, to herself of course. "We'll be safe, soon..."

Not knowing what else to do, the dark-haired girl stared nervously out the window, and prayed.

Time passed, and finally the carriage pulled to a halt in front of the Duval plantation's house.

"Finally," Lily sighed, opening the carriage door to look up at the foreign man who had gotten them that far...

Only to find the reins resting in his seat, with him no-where to be seen.

"What is it?" Mademoiselle Mirabeau said warily as she stepped from the carriage and saw Lily's face pale.

"He's gone," she uttered softly. "He.... isn't anywhere to be seen!!"

Bringing her hands to her mouth, Mademoiselle Mirabeau started shaking violently. "We have to tell someone!" she said her voice barely audible and then turned and ran for the house.

Lily simply stood where she was, looking -- it didn't matter *who* they told!

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Wufei continued quickly shifting the rice in the pan. It was one of the few things that he knew how to make -- a spicy rice dish indigenous to the area of the world from which he had come -- but he knew how to make *lots* of it, and that was good at the moment.

The kitchen was utter chaos, beyond that, and there were as many men in it as women, most of them afraid to allow their women to part from them for fear of whatever was killing people, and Wufei didn't blame them. He was scared to death of the little red-haired girl of before, himself, and he kept imagining that he saw her, smiling at him from out of shadowed corners, laughing at him through the small open window that the kitchen had to let out some of the heat. It was terrible. It was beyond terrible, but people had to eat, didn't they? Yes. And so he cooked, with the help of the women who'd volunteered, hoping to make enough to feed everyone, a difficulty in a kitchen equipped to feed less than a fifth of the people it was going to have to feed.

"Little one... I've returned from errand," came Treize's smooth tenor voice, from a door that no one had heard open.

A startled sound of relief burst from Wufei, one the others surely didn't comprehend. "Thank God!" he whispered, shuddering slightly. "There are so many to feed, so much to do, and Master... he is so tired, and so..."

"Is he resting just now?" Treize asked. "I would like to be of service." /This is my fault./

"You can peel potatoes?" Wufei asked. "We have many of those. I think he is resting now, yes."

Pale lips curled for a moment. "I'll peel potatoes for you, Wufei, if it will help things."

Ducking his head, Wufei paid careful attention to his rice. "I am sorry. I should not ask you to peel potatoes, it is wrong. You are, after all, a guest, shi? You should go and find the Master, then. It is better, this way...."

"No, Wufei," Treize replied as he moved, silently, to find a knife. "I would truly like to help -- this is my fault."

"Maybe," Wufei answered after quietly giving one of the women a few instructions. "Maybe no. Probably no. More like, trouble find you wherever you go, yes?"

"I gave her life -- it *is* my fault," Treize sighed, picking up a potato in one pale, deceptively strong hand with skin the color of bone, he looked so delicate... but fierce.

Glancing around nervously, Wufei checked to make sure no one was listening. "But you not make her *crazy*," he said. "You are not the one who make... MADE that happen. No?"

"No. But it is still my fault," he murmured, quickly peeling the thing he held in his hand.

Wufei looked at him as he continued stirring the rice. "*I* think you take on too much responsibility. You *enjoy* guilt. Is bad for you. You are too strong to let such things rule you."

"I try to protect life when I can, Wufei," he murmured firmly, picking up another. "And things as this bother me. I would not lose my beloved again... or you, sweet boy."

Flustered, Wufei finished the rice and quickly separated it out into a large bowl before beginning another batch, motioning for one of the women to come and take it to the others. "I hope it will all be well," he said finally. "I worry."

"I will protect you and Zechs," he murmured, voice steady and sure. "what do you wish done with these potatoes."

"I think, boil them," Wufei said. "The lady at the kitchen knows how to make some salad of some sort with them."

He nodded, glancing around for a pot. "It has been much time since I've had to cook."

"Is all right," Wufei said. "Perhaps you find Master, make sure he is resting? Kitchen is mostly under control, now. The ladies are wonderful help, and we will feed everyone. Yes?"

"Yes." Treize smiled a bit, if slowly, and patted the back of Wufei's neck; a casual, but tender gesture, before he swept out of the room, to find Zechs.

The man in question was in the deserted parlour. He had promised Precious and her daughters to keep watch out one of the front windows but hadn't been able to stay awake past an hour. Now he was asleep, arms crossed on the window sill beneath his head, legs drawn up beside him, and a long curtain of pale gold covering his face.

Lovely. Just... lovely.

"My beloved," he whispered, taking a seamless step forward, seeming to glide across the room, silent as he knelt beside that chair, fingers resting atop Zechs' thigh. /I will protect you, keep you from my daughter's teeth.../

"Mmmm?" Zechs stirred at the touch, appearing to fight being woken, but then, slowly, opening his eyes and blinking at Treize. "Mmm? Treize? What time is it?" He looked around the room quickly. "I didn't mean to fall asleep!" he said, rising from the window, "has anything happened? I'll never forgive myself -"

"Zechs." A firm voicing of the word, as chilled fingers grasped the other man's shoulders. "They are all fine. The guests included -- they are away from here."

"Ah, tres bien*... and Wufei?" There was an urgentness to the planter's voice as he mentioned his former slave. "Where is Wufei? Is he safe?"

"Wufei is making rice in the kitchen," he assured gently. "Wufei is very safe indeed."

Zechs relaxed visibly, then looked up at Treize again. "I need your advice, Treize... when will I know when it's safe enough to let the slaves go back to their homes? They obviously can't live in the library permanently. Will she go away?"

"I don't know," Treize uttered, gaze drifting to the window. "Keep them here tonight. Return them to their homes tomorrow, and make them work in groups of *three* -- and to not stray from their groups when working."

The blond man nodded. "Yes, all right... but, Treize... the other plantation owners *will* talk. We may have even more trouble on our hands if those women are able to convince their husbands and brothers that there is deviltry in this house."

"What will they do?"

Zechs turned to look out the window again at the darkening sky, still gloomy as the light rain fell. He put his arms around himself and shivered a bit. "They could attack the slaves," he said quietly. "They're the first ones that people tend to blame for these kinds of things. There's also a strong chance that they would try to cause mischief on the grounds: destroying one of the mills or setting fire to the outbuildings.

"It's all designed to intimidate a person into leaving the area, you see? And they won't be stopped by the local law officials because they'll be able to say that they're doing it all in the name of God..."

"God doesn't exist as they see him, Zechs," Treize murmured as he slid his arms around Zechs, absorbing and radiating back heat. "I have seen the rise and fall of countless gods, seen and been hurt by those who act in the name of their 'god'. No one, Zechs, will hurt you or Wufei because of that. I will try to keep as many other of the house safe." And the slaves were higher on his 'aid' list than Noin and Eugenie.

One of Zechs's hands strayed up to stoke the strong arm around him. "How would you do that, Treize? How could you keep them safe. It seems an impossible task..."

"I am not mortal, Zechs -- do not forget that," he purred quietly. His hands moved slowly, caressing and spreading warmth. "I will do my best."

"And I will do mine," the planter replied. "Shall we see to getting everyone fed?"

"And after that, retreat to rest for the evening," Treize agreed. it would be rest for Zechs and Wufei, and another pleasurable night of watching over them for Treize.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Wufei sent the last of the ladies and her husbands across the loggia with food before beginning to settle dishes in soapy water, preparing to clean everything.

Zechs had held the door open for them, given that their hands were so full, and now he entered the kitchen. "Wufei," he said, giving the boy a tired smile. "Vonnie and her sisters have offered to wash the dishes, and her brothers are coming over with them once they all finish eating." He took a step closer. "You've done enough for today --far more than enough, truly. You need to rest."

"I would not argue with someone else washing dishes!" Wufei assured him, hurrying over to his master. "Let us go in the house. I am uncomfortable, with only two of us... There should be more."

"Yes of course," Zechs murmured and led the way across the loggia, not seeing the vampire there watching. "Eugenie is feeling a little better and has taken some food up to Noin," he told the former slave. "So we're free to go straight to my room."

A definite flush crept over Wufei's face at that. "The others, they all have bedding?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "There is someone to help them, yes? I would feel guilt, to abandon those in need..."

"You are always thinking of others, Wufei..." Zechs laid his hand softly on the boy's back. "It's something about you that I admire greatly, you know. But not to worry. There were enough straw pallets in the cellar to cover the floor of the library. Also, several of the men have arranged to take shifts -- two men at a time for two hours. I believe all will be well."

They had reached the door to the master's room, and Zechs gave a cursory glance to ensure that no one was on the gallery as he led the way inside. The room was spacious, with a bed made of dark, glossy wood, a small desk, and a large wardrobe against the far wall, next to the window. "Please," the blond said, "make yourself comfortable."

Carefully, Wufei walked in just before Zechs, smiling back at him. "I am glad to sleep with you. I would be afraid to sleep alone," he said softly. "And I know you would not do that to me. You are not like that."

"No, I wouldn't do that to you," Zechs answered, smiling back at him. "And I have some very selfish reasons for wanting you here, and not far away in your room..." He reached out a hand and his fingers ghosted over the dark-haired boy's cheek. "I would miss you so terribly..."

That brought a smile, in return, one unrestrained and sweet. "This makes me very glad," he said softly. "I do not feel so selfish, as you say, now for wanting to be here, and not in my own bed."

"Mon petit ange..." Zechs words were no more than a breath as he walked forward and slid his arms around Wufei's hips.

Without thought, Wufei's face tilted upward, hands pressing lightly to the firm muscles of Zechs's upper arms. "Will it be like before?" he whispered. "That was most marvelous, very not like anything before. I like that, I like that much, so nice," he murmured.

"Oh, yes," Zechs answered, "I promise you it will be wonderful..." He leaned down and caught Wufei's mouth in a soft, lingering kiss.

He almost trembled beneath it as he leaned up, wrapping both arms firmly about Zechs's neck as he gave a little sound of pleasure, shuddering. "Mmmm," was an encouragement for more, a decided plea.

It was heard with amazing clarity, and Zechs scooped the boy up, not breaking the kiss, and laid him gently on the bed. He climbed up on the bed himself, his body draped against Wufei's, supporting himself on his hands as he gazed down at the boy. His face was all wonder and tenderness as he leaned down again and took another long kiss.

Legs parted, Wufei wrapped them around his master's longer ones, shivering as the beautiful blond man kissed him almost into insensibility. "Master," he moaned beneath that deep, delicious kiss. "My beautiful Zechs... oh, oh... oh! Shi, shi, yes...!"

The feel of the lithe young body beneath him was intoxicating. Everything about the dark-haired boy seemed made for Zechs's pleasure, from the silk and fragrance of his hair to the warm spice of his skin and on to his mouth, heady and sweet, his to plunder. The worry, the sadness, the gnawing anxiety of the day, melted before the heat that was Wufei, and as Zechs feasted on his cheeks and jawline, his neck and throat, the tall blond moaned softly. "Ah, you are paradise, mon petit amour... heaven in my arms..."

"Yes!" Wufei whispered to him, dropping his head back even as he moved his hands tremblingly to unbutton Zechs's shirt, gaining access to smooth warm chest for his fingers, his hands stroking almost down to his master's belly as he groaned, rocking up to press himself tightly against Zechs's belly. "Oh, I want, want, want..."

Zechs's fingers ran smoothly down the front of Wufei's shirt, opening the buttons. When it was opened all the way, he pushed it off of the boy's shoulders and nuzzled at the dusky, rose-colored nipples. "Mmmm... you're a feast, little one... a feast... and I am so *very* hungry..."

A soft rustle of noise by the door, and the creak of it closing fully. "Beautiful," Treize purred, nearing the bed.

A low moan parted Wufei's lips and he shuddered slightly, opening his eyes to look at both of them. Fingers rose and gently clasped Zechs's head, tender, sweet, and he shuddered. "Oh..."

Zechs, panting softly, raised his head briefly to look at the vampire. His eyes were pleading as he whispered the lovely creature's name, begging a kiss while pressing a hardened shaft against Wufei's own erection.

"Lovely." And with the word, his *intent* carried through the air -- how he wanted to show them both how lovely they were, as he stepped close, starting to remove his own clothing.

Wufei gasped, sounding sweet in the air as he whined and writhed beneath Zechs, glad to have the opportunity to forget Mariemeia, to forget that they were in so much danger. "Oh..."

Zechs let out a small frustrated whimper at not getting the kiss he'd wanted so badly. He buried his face against Wufei's neck and kissed it fervently, rubbing softly against the boy's crotch with small, seeking movements.

"My beloved." Once he'd stripped off his clothes, body all gleaming white lines, sharp and angular, he moved close, kneeling against Zechs. Sharp blue eyes took in the tangle of limbs. "Perfect."

Looking over at them, Wufei's eyes were wide, his mouth slightly slack as he breathed through it, letting out a quiet sigh of intense appreciation. "Mmm."

Zechs's explorations continued along to Wufei's jawline. Pressing open-mouthed kisses until he reached the boy's ear. Licking the around the outside lightly, his lips first grazed and then fastened on the the delicate lobe and he suckled it, making the softest of humming noises as he did.

"Oh, yes, master. Yes," Wufei whispered, squirming closer. "That is very nice..." Even the sound of his voice had become fuzzy with passion, adoration, expressed emotion.

Hands alighted on, and stroked down Zechs's back, cool fingers slowly warming as lips pressed to the back of Zechs's neck through the mane of golden silk. "Very nice."

Clothing fell to the floor and Zechs trailed kisses down Wufei's chest and belly, stopping only when he nuzzled into the silky, black curls between the boy's legs. Sighing heavily, he brushed his lips up Wufei's hardened shaft and licked delicately at a drop of fluid on the tip.

The sound that broke loose from Wufei's chest was raw, filled with pure burning desire that echoed back from the walls as he arched against the softness of the mattress, head falling back against the pillows. His hands reached, lightly clasping Zechs's head, fingers working into that silvery blond hair as he whimpered pleadingly for more. "Zechs... Master... Nnnng!!"

There was something delicious about watching mortals make love, something so very delicate... Cool lips pressed to the back of Wufei's fingers, before Treize's trailed down, scraping his teeth lightly against the flesh of Zechs's neck. "Beloved..."

Zechs lifted his head and pressed back against Treize's chest, savoring the feeling of the vampire's cool lips on his skin. He wanted them both... wanted to be inside of Wufei, to feel Treize inside of his own body... wanted the three of them to be one, pulsing thing, inseparable, on fire...

Black eyes watched them both through slitted lashes, regret filling Wufei's belly at the removal of that mouth. He moaned and squirmed slightly to draw Zechs's attention, Treize's as well, demanding.

One of Treize's hands slid down, stroking at Wufei's side as Treize continued to nip and nuzzle. "What do you want, my love -- tell me, what you want."

"Ahhh, put me inside of him... and you inside of me... drinking..." he whispered, one hand straying to stroke Wufei's erection. "Please, Treize..." he moaned, pressing his bottom against the vampire. "Ah, please don't make me wait..."

"No more waiting, Zechs," the tenor voice rumbled in his ear as Treize spit into his palm and briefly coated the head of his shaft before positioning that hardness between the firm, soft-sinned cheeks. "After tonight, no more waiting." In one movement, he pushed -- teeth into delicate skin swathed by thick hair, cock into heated tightness.

"Ah, mon Dieu!"

There was a sharp cry from the blond as the force of Treize's shaft entering him pushed him forward into Wufei. Pain flooded him from his neck and bottom, followed swiftly by a burning, throbbing pleasure and a urge to press forward into the boy's velvet heat.

A long, low cry spilled from the slim Chinaman, his arms coming quickly to wrap about Zechs's upper arms and shoulders as he strained against the beautiful master who belong to him, so kind, so wonderful! He trembled about that entrance, shuddering as he felt the other man slide to the depths of him with a care that belied pain and only intensified the sheer pleasure of it.

The flow of blood, the pounding of pulse that matched that of the flesh that grasped him... it was all so perfect, so much his beloved's presence. To just fall into the ebb and flow of life, and never come out again...

Slow, rocking thrusts into the blond man took over as he pulled back from his drinking, gaze hazed. "Tonight, my love.... You will be as me."

Hazed, indeed. Zechs closed his eyes as Treize began the sweet rhythm, and it only took him a moment to match it with his own thrusts into Wufei. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever felt, to push backwards onto Treize's long, thick shaft, and then press forwards into the tight heat of Wufei. And Treize's words... what could they mean? Something about them sent a thrill through him, part fear, part joy, that blended perfectly with the erotic situation in which he found himself. They were all there... He had his lovely boy and his eternal lover... all there, together... Surely as they were meant to be...

Slow, steady thrusts, mind centered on pounding pulses so close to his mouth, so very tempting to drink more from... But that would come, when he would drain Zechs and Zechs would feed from him that first time, and it... would be perfect, because he loved Zechs so much. Together they could better protect Wufei, and eternity would stretch before them.

And eternity was caught inside of a warm shaft, clenching and roiling with heat, caught in the golden flesh the vampire pressed his mouth against.

For the blond, caught in the middle, plundering and being plundered, the room had turned hazy and surreal. His body sang with pleasure, going through it's erotic motions as if they were already programmed and he merely taken along for the ride. His eyes were closed, head tilted back so that the fall of cornsilk hair teased Treize's cock as it thrust in to him.

His own shaft was moving rhythmically, in and out of Wufei's heat, the feeling of tightness and smooth, wet warmth nearly more than he could stand. Soft little whimpers escaped him, tiny noises of pleasure that he was powerless to stop. He knew he was close and the thought of what he must look like between the two of them drove him nearer and nearer that blissful chasm.

It had been all that Wufei could do, for some moments, to hang onto the thread of his thoughts, to remain beneath Zechs, arms and legs tangled up in those of the blond and of the vampire. Breathlessly, he had cried out beneath them, shuddering with wonder, begging for surcease as fingers stroked between them, Zechs's back, Treize's chest. Dark eyes opened momentarily, taking in the breathtaking sight above him before they closed again and his head tilted back, blood throbbing loudly in his head as he cried out, the distinct shift and rub against his body sending him almost spiralling.

"Sweet, sweet love." Treize's voice was almost a gasp, ragged as the howling wind had been hours before, as he let his thrusts pick up in pace, pounding steadily into Zechs' tight clench. Through zechs he could feel Wufei's passions, and Zechs's, mixing together and washing atop him like a heady wave of ice-cold water. Too much to resist any longer, he bent in to Zechs, and sank his fangs deep in.

"Aaaaaahhhnnn!!!" Zechs gave a long cry, part shock at the depth of the bite, part pain that flickered fine as a shard of glass into his neck, and part in sheer ecstasy as he came, flooding Wufei, just as his own blood flooded Treize's mouth.

The sudden deep thrust that caused brought Wufei's eyes open in time to see it, the bite, and he gasped with shock, pupils dilating even as he followed Zechs over the edge, spilling between their bellies.

A sucking pressure at Zechs neck, and his heated clench was filled with cold seed, treize softening only minutely as he pulled out, and regretfully stopped drawing out Zechs's blood. "Let me make you as me, Zechs... My beloved," he panted.

The Frenchman reeled with pleasure of it -- the wantonness of being drained of one warm fluid and filled with another icy one. He was past being coherent and the only thing he could say, hung there between the two of them, was Treize's name, over and over.

Even in his haze of pleasure, it made Wufei shiver and bite his lip, uncertain as to what he thought, or what his master planned to do. "Will he change?" he whispered frightenedly, eyes going wide.

"Shh," was all Treize said, laying beside the two of them, half holding Wufei as he pulled Zechs fully against him. "My beloved."

Eyes still closed, Zechs drifted in the afterglow of the sex, loving the feel and smell of his partners, wanting them all the more. "Mmmmn... Treize... Wufei... I love you..."

"I love you, too, Zechs," came Treize's tender response. "Forever. I want to keep you safe, and I can only do it if I make you mine."

The blond turned slightly, looking up into Treize's eyes. "I want to be yours... forever..."

It was then that Wufei spoke up, tears welling, lips trembling, fear firmly in place. "I don't want you to go away... I... d..d..don't..."

"He won't be leaving you, Wufei," Treize spoke, voice soft. "You will be protected."

Zechs's eyes had closed again, the feeling of having them both there so sweet and blissful. He reached over and let a finger trail down the Chinese boy's cheek. "Won't leave you, mon petit... je t'aime toujours..."

"I am such a coward," Wufei whispered softly. "I do not want you to leave me, wo ai ni, and I fear this, but I fear what happen you go away worse."

"Nothing could make me leave you, mon cher," the planter whispered. "Not even death itself..."

Slim arms moved, wrapped tightly about Zechs's neck. "*IS* it death, then? This thing? Even though you do not need to claw your way up from hell?"

"It is a death, and it is not," Treize spoke softly to them both. "It is an assured existence in the face of danger, though."

Wufei frowned, now petting Zechs gently. "And he will not be like the little girl?" His eyes moved about the room, carefully, the slightly frightened gleam showing his sudden fear in remembering her.

"No -- he will be more like me." His arms still kept them both close, cool body lax. "The same Zechs as ever, only... slightly changed."

For a moment, Zechs listened to their conversation as if it were about someone else. It sounded so strange - intriguing, certainly, but... *odd.* What was this change they spoke of and why did Wufei sound so concerned...?

"I no want bad," Wufei whispered tearfully, burying his face in golden strands of hair. "I fear bad."

"It won't be bad."

Zechs rolled his head to the side and kissed Wufei softly on the cheek. He wasn't sure why he said it, but if came out nonetheless. "Trust him, mon petit..."

"You promise?" Wufei asked him shyly, sniffling. "You promise?"

"I do promise." Solemn words, and Treize was nothing if he wasn't honorable.

Wufei nodded, tucking his head back against Zechs once more. "Shi..."

Zechs smiled at the feel of him and reached back to wind his arm around Treize's neck. "Hmmm... mes amours..."

"Lieber," Treize purred softly, pulling one hand free from the tangle so he'd have it when he needed it later. "This may hurt for a few moments, but then... You will be as me." And then he bowed his head to Zechs's neck, fangs sinking in.

The blond man's eyes went wide with pain and a soft gasp escaped him as his body stiffened on the bed. After a moment, the azure gaze softened, and his eyes half-closed. He could feel himself stiffen, the connection between Treize drinking from him and sex too strong to ignore. His legs fell apart and lean hips pressed upwards against the air as he panted softly.

Soft sucking that got harder and harder, draining Zechs until he began to get dizzy, and Treize felt that pulse begin to fade; one sharp nail was brought up to his own neck, and he sliced, shuddering at the pain as he twisted so that Zechs's lips touched the gasp.

The blond man had closed his eyes, his entire body going limp as Treize continued to drink from him. Feeling the cool skin of the vampire's neck against his mouth he could do nothing for several moments because of the weakness that had pervaded him. "Treize...?" he whispered against the wound,his own voice sounding far away, "I think... I'm dying..."

The sucking stopped. and Treize drew back his teeth, keeping both wounds open. "Drink from me, Zechs. Drink."

"Hmmmmn..." With a great effort, Zechs tried to latch on to that bloody opening, the taste and smell of the blood now more tantalizing than ever. It was difficult at first, overcoming the growing weakness to suckle, first faintly and then with growing thirst.

And Treize kept drinking from Zechs, just lapping lazily as the hazy pleasure of being drunk from washed over him, hardening him again. "Ohh, yes... yes."

Still too weak to lift his arms, Zechs simply drank, and the blood that he suckled from Treize had become his very existence. It was warm and felt like fire spreading through him, and he felt as though he could never get enough.

Finally, he gained enough strength to arch up against Treize, sucking faster and moaning softly. A sweet and fierce arousal was growing in him but he was still not strong enough to act on it.

"Keep drinking, my beloved," Treize murmured, feeling the Change over-take the other man. it was heady, the feel of being feasted on after so many years of not feeling it. To drink and drink, but not be drunk of was an empty feeling, and now he tasted blood, as the last drips of mortal blood left Zechs, while Zechs drank of him.

Gradually, bit by bit, Zechs could feel the strange changes the vampiric blood was working on him. It began with the sound of first his own heart beating, and then Treize's, and slowly the beats between the two became synchronized and pounded in his ears. Soft cries, horrible sobs, and pleasured whispers came through the heady stuff and flooded through him and now his arms wound around Treize's shoulders and his body rocked upwards against the vampire's in the same rhythm as his suckling.

"My beloved," Treize chanted softly, with 'Zechs' and 'Vasari' mixed in until all three became nearly one. "Yes, yes... so much to feel..." His own hips began to move, twisting against Zechs's hip as he tried to remain in control and be the steadying on in all of this.

The blood continued to flow into the tall blond and it seemed that he couldn't possibly get enough. Sucking became like sex and the urge to do it seemed overwhelming. He pressed Treize's head once again to the wound in his neck, wanting to be drunk from every bit as much as he wanted to drink, and wound long legs around his ancient lover's body, no making soft growling noises.

And somewhere in that intense exchange, the young Frenchman died and Vasari was fully reawakened.

Tired, dragging sucks on the wound on Zechs's neck was all Treize could manage, sated and drained at once, and feeling *tired* in a way he hadn't in years. But then, after he'd been made, Vasari had slept for hours and hours until he'd been worried the vampire had died on him, before he awoke. Finally he stopped, just licking. "Ohh, my beloved... You are safe again." the growling noises were so tempting, and he rocked a little against Zechs's body, exhausted. "You've drained me... feels wonderful, Zechs."

"Hmmmnnn..." Another soft growl came from the newborn creature beneath him. Strange sensations were making their way to Zechs's awareness and he was trembling with them, grabbing hold of Treize's shoulders, his entire body shivering. When he spoke, it was in Vasari's voice.

"I... I remember this... so hot... need something... something to press against. Oh, God...." Hid body gave a terrible convulsion and he cried out softly, eyes closed. "Help me!"

"Gladly." Treize's smile was gentle as he turned a little, to cast that expression at both Wufei who laid beside them, and his new vampyric companion. /So very tired.../ "How are you?"

"Is afraid," Wufei whispered tearfully. He had watched, half-fascinated, half disgusted, for long moments, the blood dripping every now and then sending shivers of pure horror down his spine. Now, face wet with tears, all he could do was lay there against the edge of the bed and watch. "Is afraid!" he said again, softly, the English failing him. "Is not Master no more, is... sense someone else. Is not like little girl?" he asked, fearful.

"It *is* your master," Treize whispered softly, unable to not tiredly smile. "His inner soul. Your inner soul, too, is different from what you show us, as was mine." One hand moved to brush Wufei's cheek. "Sweet boy -- do not be afraid. He still loves you. And that is all that matters."

A soft snuffle came in answer, but Wufei shifted closer again, tentative, fear still in him as he shivered and rubbed that cheek lightly against Treize's fingers, curling slowly to Zechs's back. "You promise," he said softly, "that he no be like girl. That good. No sure he not be different. Maybe I stupid not make you... Maybe *I'm* stupid not to have ma...made you promise he would not change." The fear was leaving him, slowly, for neither had made a blatant movement of threat towards him -- not that he had expected it -- and so he was able to get something of a hold on himself once again.

Zechs turned his head over on the pillow, now stained in places with cooling blood, and looked at Wufei for a long moment. "Every part of me was in love with you... It *is* true that I've changed and there is a certain part that is no longer... but nothing has changed to make me love you any less, or any differently." He lifted a pale hand to Wufei's cheek, stroking down the length of it with a cool finger. "If you must mourn little angel, don't mourn my love... for it lives on."

The boy burrowed close, dark body against pale skin growing paler by the moment, face hidden in the other man's shoulder. "Only, I am afraid you will no longer be you," he said tiredly, dark eyes closing slowly. "Wo ai ni. Only afraid. Coward. Worthless, honorless... I am. But..."

"Sweet boy, rest," Treize soothed, long reach still stroking Wufei's other cheek. "Fear not, and worry not -- there is nothing here but safety for all of us."

Feelings of cold and change were running through Zechs, causing him to shudder now and then, to shiver at the chill that overtook him. He wasn't tired, though, so he sat up carefully, a wave of dizziness washing over him, and looked back at his two lovers. "I want to take a walk," he murmured. "I will come back here when I'm done. You both should sleep."

Treize's sharp eyes flickered with something akin to pain for a moment. "Beloved... you are not yet strong enough again to risk going out... When Mariemeia may still be lurking. Rest with us."

"You don't have much faith in me, Treize," Zechs said plainly. "I'm not about to let a little girl do anything to me, and I'm much too restless to stay here. I've missed seeing things this way. You remember how it feels... when the gift is new..."

Wufei bit his lower lip, listening to the low-voiced argument -- if it could be called that. "But the little girl... is dangerous," he said softly. He was afraid of her, even if he supposed Zechs had no reason to be any longer... or did he?

Zechs stood, slowly. "Only to those who don't have the gift, or whose gift is not strong."

"Ah, yes," Treize agreed, to both, smiling a little. "wander, my love -- but come back. I want to sleep a night away at your side again, as we used to be... So return."

Zechs looked back at them both, a faint smile on his lips. "Yes... yes of course. I shall indeed return..." Then he opened the door and slipped soundlessly through it.

Wordlessly, Wufei curled up into a ball upon the bed, the desire to weep overwhelming. He was so tired, and he'd spent all day frightened, and now, somehow, it was even worse, for his beloved Master had gone out into the darkness, where that wicked child belonged...

"Do not worry, Wufei -- he will return," Treize murmured. To feel it again, that light bond between creator and created, was a comfort, and an assurance of Zechs's safety.

"I will miss him 'til he does, and fear for him, too," Wufei said unhappily. "Please, please, Master. Come back to us, soon..."

* Very good.

The young vampire, who used to be a man named Zechs du Marquise, looked around the foyer of his house. All was quiet. There was quiet snoring from the library, where the slaves slept, and complete silence from the rooms upstairs. Should he perhaps visit Noin? Or visit the doll room possibly, no that his dread of it had gone. He knew, at any rate that whether he ventured upstairs or not, he would end up outside. It had been a while since he had walked his grounds at night and he had a hunger to do it 0- to visit the swamp and listen for the whispers of the long dead, and to visit the grave of Michel du Marquise and pay his last respects.

"Maste'?" a girl asked sleepily; Precious's younger daughter. "You need somethin'?"

He turned towards her. She smelled delicious, but there were humans and there were humans and Zechs had owed a great deal to Precious. He wouldn't be the cause of more grief for her.

"No child," he said softly, glad he's slipped on breeches and a shirt. "I'm going to check the outside of the house, to ensure we all sleep in safety. Go back to your mama... I'm sure she's worry about you if she woke up and found you gone."

"Yes, suh," she answered, rubbing at an eye with a fist as she moved back into the parlor where she was staying with her mother, father, and sisters.

He waited while the girl went back into the library, where the rest of the slaves were sleeping, and then walked silently through the house, towards the back entrance. He nodded silently to the slave who was on watch, careful to not let the man get a good look at him. "I'm going out to check on the animals," he murmured. "Don't open this door to anyone but me."

The slave nodded and went back to his watch.

A turn of a knob, a quiet click, and he was through, out into the night air where a strange thrill went through him. /So long since I tasted the blessed night. I'm hungry... so very, very hungry... but I must be careful now. The thing we don't need is carelessness.../

The night was warm and the storm, now passed, had made the air very humid, so that Zechs felt he was wandering in a tropical jungle. A restless wind toyed with his hair as he headed down the path to the gazebo and the cypress swamp.

And there was one thing he knew for certain -- he was strong, very strong, and would grow stronger still after he fed. "Now young lady," he breathed to himself as he passed under the moss covered oaks, "it's time Uncle Vasari taught you some manners..."

And she *was* out there, lurking until she saw him, not noticing him for what he was.

For the equally powerful creature he was.

"Hello. Don't you know you shouldn't go out at night, sir?"

He stopped for a moment, saying nothing, and then turned to look at her, and smile. "I see no danger here, mademoiselle," he said softly. "do you?"

"No," she replied, "But there are some who are *blind* to danger, Monsieur."

He smiled at her. "I can assure you, mademoiselle, that my vision is very clear on that point." Taking a step closer to her, his voice took on a challenging tone. "Now I must ask you why you insist on trespassing on my land. You are not wanted here, so what reason do you have to remain?"

"Your land?!" She sounded incredulous, and trailed off into laughter.

The blond's smile didn't waver. "Tell me what amuses you so, mademoiselle."

"How can you own something you can't *defend* sir?" she asked, bright blue eyes blazing.

Another step closer. "I am afraid you may be letting outward appearances deceive you, child. I certainly *can* defend my land. I can also protect my slaves and my lovers. Make no mistake about, mademoiselle... *you* have met your match."

"In a mortal, fool?" she smiled wickedly, taking a step towards him. "You are a midnight *snack*!"

"I think you've eaten *quite* enough today," Zechs said smoothly, moving even closer. "And if you so much as *touch* another person on this plantation I will personally see to your untimely death."

"How?" she asked, brows drawn dark together. "I don't know who gave you balls, human, but you're foolish to use them."

A deep, resonant chuckle came from the blond. "Are you so blind, little girl, that you can't see another blood-drinker when he's standing before you? I'm disappointed... I thought your skills would be much more advanced than that..."

Silence.

"Oh, no," she uttered, starting to back up a little. "*You* are one, too?!"

He stalked her slowly, graceful, silent steps moving forward. "I am that one, child, who made your father into what he is. I would not suggest crossing me..."

"But you were mortal!" she protested. "You *were*!!!"

Now he was close on her and he could smell the lovely musk of blood within her body. "Now... how shall I punish you for what you did to the slaves here today..."

"NO!" she cried out, jerking herself back and then off and away, on light feet that didn't truly touch ground.

In a moment he was ahead of her, blocking the path to escape. "What -- you don't want to play the same game you played with those poor slaves? It's only fair, you know. Perhaps you'll be my first meal..."

He wouldn't of course -- thought too much of Treize to ever do such a thing. But he wouldn't turn down a taste before he chased her off. It might be enough to get him through until the next night...

"You can't eat me!" she protested, backing up; the calm had shattered at last, nothing but dust. "I'm one of your own!"

"One of my own? A creature like you who thinks nothing of human life? Who kills and kills without conscience or regret and laughs at the misery of others?" He moved towards her. "I would be ashamed to call you one of my children..."

She shivered a little, still trying to draw away. "You wouldn't hurt me...."

"No," he said, his voice low and soothing as he walked towards her, gaze locked on hers and almost *willing* her to stay still. "No, I wouldn't hurt you... but you must pay some price for all the damage you've caused... that's only fair..."

The scent of her was heady, her recent feeds causing her skin to glow, the blood suffusing through her veins... veins that he could see on that tender neck.

"Uhhnnn.... Father wouldn't allow this," she nearly hissed, trying to resist the *power* in Zechs's gaze, but unable. "You've no right -- we all have to eat..."

"But *who* we choose to drink from and *how* they die is entirely under a vampire's control. I really must say, Mariemeia, that your methods of choosing and killing are a complete disgrace to your father and to me as well..."

Zechs had reached the younger blood drinker and reached out a hand to catch her lightly in his arms. The scent that rose from her was intoxicating. He wrapped long arms around her slender form and stared into her eyes, stroking the short, reddish hair. His voice was low, almost seductive. "Besides -- you yourself said that you were one of my own, as is your father. He and I have drunk from each other countless times, so it's perfectly natural that I should take my first meal as a revived vampire from a member of my 'family', so to speak."

With that, he lowered his head and nuzzled the vein he could see through her paper white skin. "Don't you *ever* do *anything* like this again," he murmured and then, one around her waist, the other hand cradling her head, he bit through her skin and tasted the dark fount as it welled up from the wound he made. With a soft moan and a press of her to his body, he latched his mouth on a began sucking hungrily.

The little form of Mariemeia trembled as this vampire began to drink of her. She'd thought herself powerful... and been proved wrong. She'd thought nothing could touch her, stop her, not even her own father, and here she was, unable to move as her father's sire drank from her.

"No..." A softly whimpered moan, as she made a tiny struggle against it.

It wasn't quite as exciting as it was with Treize, but there were still elements of deep pleasure to it and Zechs moaned through it, feeling the warmth spread through him. He held her tighter so she couldn't struggle as he feasted. Part of him thought about Treize and how much he had loved to do this to the other man when they were both so much younger...

And there was so much they could do now, that they were together again, except... Treize had changed, far more worldly than the innocent young man and vampire he'd once been -- haunted by deaths that hadn't bothered him before.

The struggling against him stopped, and Mariemeia just whimpered softly, at odd intervals with her fingers knotted against Zechs's cool chest that felt like fire to her.

He let go of her reluctantly, eyes half-closed with sated pleasure, and looked hard into her face. "If I ever hear of you killing in the manner that you killed here today," he purred in his deepest voice, "I will hunt you down and kill *you* in a similarly gruesome manner. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes," she nearly cried, jerking away.

"Good," Zechs said giving her a knowing smile. "Now *leave* my lands and go back to whatever *cave* you crawled out of..."

No plans on doing THAT... but Mari still gave a shaky nod and drew away, trying not to run from his sight.

He turned sharply away from her and headed in closer to the swamp. Now that he had fed and didn't feel quite so desperate, he could take care of the other matter that had been troubling him. The part of the vampire that remained true to Zechs had been searching Vasari's memories and now knew that it might be possible to do one last thing for the late Michel du Marquise.

It was time to visit his son's grave.

The wet weather continued to prevail, trickling through white-blond strands of hair as rain-chilled wind whipped at his clothing. Each step was precariously made through mud and grass, past the gazebo of the previous evening's occupancy and farther, down the path that led to the small waterside crypt where Michel and his tiny head rested.

It rose out of the gloom after a few minutes' walk, a small white monument to death and ravaged dreams. Seeing it there, as he approached, Zechs thought that perhaps this was the most important part of the entire plantation. For hadn't it been Michel's death that drove Noin to pure insanity? Hadn't it plagued Zechs's dreams nearly every night since it happened? Hadn't it led to first his little crush on Wufei that grew later to passion and now love. And of course around that time the vampire had come... Oh yes, this piece of ground bore an immense significance to to everything that had gone on.

The ground squelched as he drew near, squishing out from under his boots even as lightning lit up the sky, thunder crashing accompanying the smell of cordite from somewhere nearby; a tree had been struck, perhaps, almost certainly.

He knelt down in the grass before the small crypt and put a hand out. fingertips grazing the wet stone. /Michel... are you here? You father would speak with you..."

Nothing happened for a moment as the vampire fixed his gaze on the pale marble, but then the faintest light flickered over the glassy surface of the stone. It trembled on the small pediment and then hovered over the front of the crypt, sometimes nearly invisible.

A change seemed to come over the man who knelt there. He looked up at the flickering light, hesitant, unsure of what to say.

"Michel," he whispered at last, "c'est Papa, mon petit... Je suis ici,
Michel... mon enfant..."*

The light seemed to settle somewhat, hovering in front of him as he spoke softly in French. |Your mama and papa think of you everyday. We want you to be happy... but you are not happy... are you, mon petite cher... You cannot be happy here. I know now, somehow, that you need to go beyond this world. You need to say goodbye, Michel... I need to say goodbye..."

Bitter tears filled Zechs's eyes now, as the horrible images came flooding back. There had been so much blood, the sound of Noin screaming in pain, the midwife's voice -- harsh and urgent -- telling him what had to be done... asking which one to save. Azure eyes closed tight against that terrible secret, the choice he'd been forced to make between his wife and his child.

'Only one of them can live,' the midwife had said. "It should be your child, yes?"

When Zechs had hesitated the woman had demanded an answer, and he'd at last hissed a reply. "My wife... save my wife... don't let her die..."

But oh, what a terrible choice that turned out to be. He knew from the moment the words had left his lips that he would be cursed by it. Everything that followed, from the gruesome decapitation to Noin's growing madness was part of the consequences he'd brought down on them all by that choice.

Noin had never been able to understand what he'd done. She had wanted the baby so badly that her mind simply refused to accept that he was not there, with them. In watching her descend further and further, he came to the terrible realization that Noin would have been better off dead than alive without Michel. If he'd chosen the baby, at least one of those two lives might have been a happy one, but as it was...

A rumble of thunder brought his mind back to the present and somehow he knew he couldn't do what he needed to do. /Help me/ he said to himself, knowing that a new part of him could respond. /I can't do this alone... help Michel go to the angels..." He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and pleaded.

When he opened them again, he was stronger by far. Reaching out, nearly touching the faint flicker of light, he spoke gently. "You're trapped in pain and confusion... but this will end if you turn your head the other way and look back at where you came from... do you see them up there, Michel? Do you see the angels? They sent you here, and they're waiting to take you back. Part of your papa is up there to greet you... let go, little one. This life was not meant to be..."

The light was growing dimmer, the flicker less obvious, and as Zechs watched it seemed to shine suddenly, for one, small instant -- an instant that spoke to him of what his son's life could have been - and then, just as suddenly, it flickered out.

The feelings of grief he carried had not changed, but the sadness that had permeated the small crypt and the land surrounding it, was gone entirely. "Thank you," he whispered into the damp wind. "He can rest now."

Zechs rose and walked slowly back to the house, drinking in the humid air and the sound of dripping leaves. He needed his lovers, badly. He needed Wufei's warmth and the comfort only Treize could give him -- that he would not be alone, even if he grieved for eternity.

He slipped into the house unseen and headed for his bedroom.

Some time had passed, and Treize was still lounging in place, feeling happily drained of energy, feeling every so often carefully down the link between he and Zechs --sending little shivers of love towards him. Wufei was still curled tightly against him, sleeping, perhaps...?

Wufei was not sleeping, though; the proof came with a whisper. "What will happen, now?" he asked. "What will my Master do? What has he become? What is this... thing?"

"He is a vampire, Wufei -- an un-dead, like I am," he murmured quietly. "I suppose he will try to live as he has lived, Wufei -- but if that fails, you will not be left behind."

"He will not be like your daughter," Wufei said with a certain certainty, rubbing tiredly at his face. He was sweaty, and he wanted a bath, but he was not brave enough to rise and fetch the water. Even the thought of going out into the rain, chilled as it was, for a momentary rinse... well. Not with that girl vampire out there.

"No -- not at all like my daughter." A small blessing, that.... No, a huge one. "He is still the man who loved you, and the man who made me as I am, Wufei."

"Then it is not so bad," Wufei said before continuing hesitantly. "But... What this? How it works? Why are you what you are?"

"Truly, Wufei?" Treize smiled a little. "I've little idea. Some think that we were the first humans, or colonizers from... elsewhere and that we were slowly killed by the lesser beings."

That thought seemed to somehow be offensive. "*I* am no lesser being!" he said, face puckering into a frown. "Master, either. Not the same, but not *lesser*," he stressed.

"At the time, Wufei, when I was a boy as you are, humans *were* decidedly lesser beings. Much closer to animals than the humanity that exists now."

"So, you are what, then? Now? Predators?" Wufei asked. "Not human, not at all?"

"No, Human -- we are simply... of a *different* sort."

This, Wufei decided, was getting nowhere fast. "I do not want him to go away, or to do anything without me. I l..love him," he confessed in a rush, as though he had not said it much before, as though the vampire did not know. "I do. It could not be borne, if he went away with you and left me, and you say he will not, but I will die, and then there will be nothing for me but dust and dirt and the terrible quiet of the grave. I do not think I have the strength to drag myself up from hell and to be a vampire," he said with a sigh, even though he knew that was not the way it had happened.

Treize was silent for a moment, then, "We will see, Wufei. But no matter what, we will not abandon you."

"All right," Wufei whispered sleepily. "He will come back, soon?"

"Yes -- I can... feel him through shared blood." Treize kissed Wufei's temple lightly "He will return."

The shaky yawn that parted Wufei's lips was followed by an indistinguishable murmur as the boy drifted off to sleep, no longer able to keep his eyes open and wait.

"Yes, he'll come back to us when his business is finished..."

Sapphire eyes slitted open carefully as he felt Zechs's *presence* coming nearer.

"Vasari," he whispered, projecting that whisper towards his beloved's ears.

"Treize..." came the soft answer. "I need your strength. The grief is overwhelming..." Zechs opened the door to his bedroom silently, not wanting to wake Wufei, should he be asleep. A wave of relief went through him at the sight of his lover.

Treize slipped languidly from the bed, moving lightly towards Zechs; the feel of dead body against dead body was one of blossoming, burning heat, a wonderfully familiar comfort to the Vasari part of Zechs, and Treize himself. "My dear love. I felt your pain... I haven't felt you in so long."

A small moan escaped the new vampire as he wrapped long arms around Treize and buried his face in his ancient lover's hair. "My sweet child... Eternal companion to this damned soul..."

"If you are damned, then I can think of no better place to be than damned at your side, for you," Treize whispered tenderly, clutching him so close, fingers wrapping comfortably in long hair. "I love you so."

"So many memories love..." Zechs murmured against the cool skin of Treize's neck. "Here all the time, just hiding." Lips formed open mouthed kisses along that forever-smooth skin. "Forgive me for leaving you alone for so long, Treize."

"You didn't have any choice," Treize whispered, turning his own head to plant gentle kisses to Zechs's jaw. "I'm just glad, after so long... I have you again."

Zechs slowly drew back, gazing into Treize's eyes for what seemed to him an eternity, the slow turn of centuries that had lain between them falling away by the second. "My beauty," he said softly, grazing the other's cheek with his hand. "Completely unchanged by the ages..."

"Only changed inside," Treize spoke, shifting close again to nuzzle against his beloved's face and neck. "And all that did was make me need you even more. Come to bed, Zechs; let me feel you against me again..."

"Anything you wish, my love," the blond replied, allowing Treize to lead him. "Anything..."

"We'll never be parted again, Vasari -- I won't allow it," he uttered forcefully, still wrapped around his lover.

"Then we'll have to be very watchful of each other... and fate can make that difficult. How could we have known the villagers would come that morning? With so much hatred...?"

"If you die again, Zechs, I'll die, too," Treize whispered seriously. "I can't... stand to wait so long again."

Zechs ran a finger down Treize cheek. "Sweet child... it hurts me to think of you that way. So young... and so utterly alone." They laid themselves down carefully, not wanting to disturb Wufei, who desperately needed the rest. Zechs pulled Treize in close, arms coming around the other man protectively. "Tell about your life... after that morning."

"It's a ....blur," Treize sighed softly, snuggling himself close. "I did so much, killed so many until I learned how to drink without killing. I passed myself off as human, built myself a thousand reputations... Oh, god, but I missed and looked for you everywhere."

"How did the child come about?"

"Another attempt at a 'normal' life -- I was posing as a French nobleman, and had to have a wife..." he sighed softly. "I hadn't thought it would happen."

"I met her outside," the blond said quietly. "I think I convinced her to leave."

"You did?" he sounded incredulous for a moment, then Zechs could feel a wave of relief through their bond. "Thank you."

"Why does she seem to hate you so?" Zechs asked, as gently as he could.

"I left her and her mother so I could find you, Vasari." The words were spoken through cold lips against his chilled neck.

"And how was it that you found me?" his lover breathed. "I want to know."

"I..." A trembling puff of air was released against him. "I felt a tug, and followed; I saw you at a ball, and could not leave you be!"

Zechs tightened his arms around the other man. "But how did you keep track of where I was? I have no memory for those early days."

"Every once in a while, I'd feel a little... pull of some sort. And I would simply follow as best I could. There is no way to explain it -- but I felt your soul."

"How glad I am that you did, sweet child," Zechs whispered, tangling long fingers in Treize's hair and brushing the other man's lips with his own. "I could have been lost forever apart from you, but you brought me home." Brushes turned to presses and then they were kissing, Zechs holding Treize against him as if he'd never let him go. "Treize," he murmured between kisses, "oh, I *love* you..."

"I'm glad you came home to me, beloved," Treize whispered tenderly, voice almost breaking as he surged himself towards those lips. "It has been so long, so *very* long! I almost cannot believe... you still feel the same."

"Oh, the way you awakened me with those memories," Zechs murmured, "of how it felt to lay with you -- and all those years waiting for you to grow up so I could claim you as mine..." As if by instinct, Zechs lips trailed down to Treize's neck and the soft, throbbing vein hidden there. He gave it a hard, tiny lick. "And you're so right, my love. It feels exactly the same... Do you remember those long, eternal nights...?"

"How could I ever forget?" he asked in turn, hugging Zechs closer now. "Please, my love. Please, let me feel you.... you're a treat to re-savor, Vasari."

Zechs rolled Treize over just a bit, half-lying on him, one leg between his thighs. With the fingers in one hand tangled in ginger-brown hair, he gently pulled the other vampire's head back, exposing that velvet stretch of neck. Nuzzling it, he whispered, "Treize... I can hear your blood singing to me... let me savor you, my love... let me drink you in until I can feel you running through my veins..."

"Drink, my love... drink all you want of me," Treize whispered tenderly -- oh, to feel his lover's teeth sink into his neck! Such a long-missed feeling, better even than when the human Vasari had drank from him. His blood filled the other man, and he could feel himself so deeply within him... The lean neck arched, lifting itself up towards Zechs's fangs.

/Home.../

The word echoed through Zechs's mind as he pierced the cool skin and felt that sacred fount flow upward to him. Heady stuff, the taste of wine and ages and something unique to Treize himself, mixed together and offered up so tenderly. All he could do was close his mouth over the wound and drink as if he'd never get enough.

That tender peircing of skin made Treize dizzy in his delight, as a swirl of memories rose up over him, threatening to overrun him as he *remembered*. Remembered what it had been like that first time, pain and fear melting into intense pleasure and a *knowing* that he just had to be Vasari's, that they were meant for each other; Remembered the years they'd had of perfection together, before Vasari had been killed, and the the loneliness that had followed, so long without that feeling of oneness!

Sexual excitement came naturally with the sharing of blood and it took only a moment for Zechs to push Treize's knees apart and slide into the cool depths of his body, groaning softly as did so, without taking his mouth from the wound. His arms held Treize close, firmly in place, as thrusts matched the rhythm of suckles. It was all so intense -- so very, very good... /Treize... my love... my soul./

He could *feel* those thoughts, just like he could feel Zechs' sorrow earlier -- the bond of maker and childe was strong, and stronger when linked with the intangibles of love. And that made his body ache more, arms trying to clamp around the newly re-made vampire, trying to pull him deeper.

The blond moaned and gave a long, hard thrust, burying himself to the hilt in the other man's body while, at the same time, he pulled off of the tender wound he's made in Treize's neck.

In one smooth motion, he rolled both of them over so that he lay on his back, still buried in Treize, who now sat astride him. "Let me be your feast as well, sweet child," he whispered, turning his head slightly and offering up his own neck to his lover.

Sweet ecstacy, that offering, and Treize twisted just a little to latch on, letting his teeth sink in with an agonizing slowness, until the welling of hot coppery liquid hit his tongue.

Zechs's fingers tangled in Treize's hair as he pressed the other vampire's mouth harder against his neck. *This* was what he'd always loved -- the delicate symmetry, penetrating and penetrated -- and all he could do was moan Treize's name softly as the other man drank, each sip bringing greater pleasure than the next.

And it was a circle that went on until they could taste *themselves* in the other's blood, memories passing back and forth in this mutual pleasuring, while their bodies carried on the sex without their minds truly there.

The glisten of dark eyes went unnoticed, the slave boy wakened by their rolling and lovemaking remaining quiet as he watched, the tip of a thumb lightly lodged between teeth and sucked to aid in his silence.

"Treize," Zechs whispered, his hips thrusting up softly, fingers raking through golden brown hair. "My sweet, sweet child... so many years without you..."

The tangle of bloods ended with those words, giving Treize some senses back, his voice not coming; he could only convey over their shared blood his love and need for the other man. His lips pressed gently over the punctures he teeth had made, trying to extend their moment.

Zechs felt a shudder run through him and he pressed down on Treize's head and bottom, flattening the other man against him as his body mimicked an intense release. "Yours," he whispered raggedly. "Your lover... your slave and feast."

"So close, Vasari," he whispered, lifting his lips just a little to eek it out, body tightening around his lover's hardness.

A pale hand slid between them and Zechs grasped Treize's erection, squeezing softly as he pushed the other man down on his own, not yet softened. "Dear one..."

"Uhhn!" That was the touch he'd needed and wanted, the feel of cool fingers gripping at his cock -- all it took to send him, over, too, his arms tight around Zechs's chest trembling, trying to hold him closer.

Zechs's lips were on Treize's throat, his neck, and the blond trailed soft kisses along his jaw as he pressed the other man more tightly to him. "Oh, love... let me burn here in your arms for eternity..."

"Please... please Vasari, don't ever leave me again. I could not bear it, and neither could Wufei..."

"I'll fight the master of Hell itself before I ever leave you... and the little one... we've grown so very fond of him, couldn't bear to be without him now." He stroked Treize's hair and looked over at Wufei, gazing directly into those dark, shining eyes. "Care to play with us, little one?"

Shyly, Wufei nodded, looking at them with a distinct yearning. "You..." he paused. "You are still my Master?" he whispered. "Still my Zechs... yes?"

The blond vampire smiled softly and reached his other hand out to tuck stray strands of ebony hair behind Wufei's ear. "Your Zechs... I like the sound of that. And yes, I am still very much 'your Zechs,' Wufei, and I want you as much as I ever did."

sated, Treize shifted a little so the two could get closer, moving so that Zechs was between himself and Wufei, pressing himself warmly to Zechs's back. "You are so beautiful..."

Wufei, in turn, nuzzled his way up to press his face lightly against Zechs's chest, sighing with a sweet relief. "I am glad," he whispered. "Oh, I am glad..."

To be surrounded by such love and heat - that was sweet indeed, and a smile flickered over Zechs's lips. "I love you... love you both..." /And I'll fight with everything I have and everything I am to keep you both safe. No matter who stands in our way.../

The morning was growing warm, sunlight splashing in to dash the floor of the bedroom through mostly-closed louvers as the slim kitchen boy rolled over in bed. One heated bare leg pressed to the chill of another, and Wufei's eyes fluttered open slowly, a little frown marking his mouth. "Mmm?"

"*Mmm*." Treize's lightly mocking acknowledgement came, a gentle tease as he opened sapphire eyes; the dark, pained light had left that bottomless gaze in the past two weeks, the time that had passed between then and when Zechs had been returned to his prior existence as a vampire.

And as for Zechs, he was still feigning sleep, curled up in the comforter, the only thing giving away his presence a long storm of pale gold hair across his pillow.

The Chinese man stretched slowly, eyes half-opened, feeling lethargic and light-headed and sleepy as he yawned, noting the angle of the sun, the touch of sunbeams dancing on the wall. "Nnn.."

"Like watching an angel awaken," Treize murmured softly, reaching over Zechs's chill form to stroke Wufei's bared shoulder. "Or a flower spreading it's petals first thing in the morning."

A drowsy smile drifted over Wufei's face as he turned to look at the two vampires in the bed, stretching slowly and making the softest of pleased mewlings. Over the past several days, he'd grown accustomed to them... in more ways than one. "Morning, monsieur..."

"Good morning, petling," Treize uttered fondly, letting his hand drift to stroke Wufei's warm face as he settled closer against Zechs. Like touching sunlight, to lay against that skin... In the days that had passed, he'd become as protective of Wufei as he was of Zechs.

"Mmmnn," Zechs growled, registering a small protest against being disturbed.

"Master," Wufei almost purred, pressing to the other side of Zechs. "Monsieur and I are awake. It is morning. It is time for me to be up. I do not want to be up..."

There was a faint stir of fair hair, and then a deep growling voice. "Why should you be up, Wufei? You're no longer a slave. You are beholden to no clock or timekeeper. Therefore, none of us have to be up..."

"But it is good," Wufei answered, nuzzling pleasantly, "to be up and to do things. And it makes Precious less suspicious. She is not happy, and I love her. I do not want her to be unhappy... she is good to me."

"And it is good to stay abed with the two of you," Treize added, shifting closer to them both. "Lay here awhile." It had taken him time to change his 'resting' patterns to match the human world, but he still liked to luxuriate a little in the mornings, lounging in the comfortable bed.

Long arms, once golden, stretched up from the top of the comforter and gradually a face emerged, blinking at the light. "Mmm," Zechs purred, smiling slyly at Wufei. "I need my morning tonic before I'm good for anything..."

The expression that spilled over the boy's face could best be described as anticipation; perhaps once tinged with fear but now tinged moreso with pleasure as dark liquid eyes closed, head tilting back slow. "My master," was the breath upon his lips, the excitement obvious in the erection that rocked against one of Zechs's thighs slowly. "Oh..."

Treize needed to drink less, in his age, than Zechs did -- so he would let his lover feast from the other, content in knowing he could go two more weeks without even a nagging of hunger. "You're both so beautiful..."

The blond vampire was already pressing Wufei onto his back. He pushed the boy's warm legs apart and nuzzled at the sweet-smelling, caramel skin of his neck, growling softly with desire and need. "My sweet angel... let me feast on you..."

A little cry parted carmine lips as teeth tenderly parted the flesh of Wufei's throat and he rocked his steadily throbbing erection against Zechs's hip with a low whine of need. "Nnnn!"

Lost in the feeling of that warm blood, Zechs wound his arms around his former slave and suckled firmly while his body reacted to the intense stimulation by pushing forward, his shaft nudging up into Wufei's heated cleft. He could hear the whispers of Wufei's past come through the blood -- voices soft and harsh, snatches of language he couldn't understand, and cries that made his heart break.

Beautifully erotic, as it always was, intense and almost unbearable, bringing with it that steady flex of hip against hip, heated bodies pressed close! Wufei moaned raggedly and kissed Zechs's temple, hands wandering to find nipples beneath the sheets, pressing with hot cupped palms and teasing against them, a wonderful feeling that only intensified the feel of that mouth suckling steadily from him!

With a soft groan against that warm skin, Zechs pushed forward and slid into the boy's body, pumping his hips in time with his suckles. His arms pulled Wufei tight to him and he nearly hummed with pleasure.

"Yes, do him, Vasari," Treize urged onward in his rich tones. "Fuck him until he can feel your love like you feel his now..."

Head thrown back, Wufei couldn't help but cry out, feeling the shift as Treize pressed closer to them. His hands shook as he caressed Zechs's back between them, a whimpering moan torn from him as he shuddered, tightening in spasms around Zechs. "Oh!" he sobbed. "OH!"

Zechs had stopped suckling and now pressed his face to the Chinese boy's neck, moaning as he came. He was buried deep inside Wufei and wrapped his arms around the slender waist, wanting to press himself in deeper -- take over the boy's body completely. "Ah, my love... my feast..."

"Zechs," came the pleased whisper, the nuzzle against his ear. "Master... oh, please...." Wufei was lost in a storm of heat, of pleasure, dazed ecstasy, and he spent his days in a haze of it now, so exquisite! "Wo ai ni... wo ai ni!"

"Mmmmn... love you, Wufei..." Zechs murmured, trailing soft, open-mouthed kisses along the tender bruises on Wufei's neck that were fading even as he did. "Mon petit..."

Delighted soft cooing sounded as Wufei stroked his back, purring with the absolute ecstasy of Zechs, his skin, his touch, those marvelous kisses. "Yes!" he whispered deliriously. "Yes!"

Still silently watching, Treize at last broke his own reverie to move closer to them both, cool hands stroking. "That was a delight to watch, my loves."

"Won't you join us, Treize?" the blond murmured. "We've missed you..."

Whimpering, Wufei squirmed again beneath him, full of heat and lust and need. "Oh, please..."

"Missed me...? Oh, my silly loves," Treize purred quietly as he stalked through comfortable bedding towards the delicious pile of limbs. "I cannot bear a moment without you, nor you with me, it seems..."

"Not when we've spent lifetimes apart," Zechs said, leaning over to take the other vampire's mouth. Another pant and squirm drew his attention back to the boy beneath him and he thrust again, slowly, deeply, delighting in the maddening sound of wanton groans that it gained him, Wufei's back arching up off of the bed.

"Ohhh!!"

Lips had dueled with lips, teeth barely brushing teeth, and Treize pulled back with a quietly chill pant of air, smiling at Wufei. "You delightful boy... shall I touch your cock while dear Zechs fucks you?"

"He's not excited enough, I think," Zechs mused, giving another well-aimed thrust. "Wouldn't you say, Treize?"

"I think he needs my hand to add excitement," Treize laughed, planting a kiss to Zechs's cheek, laughing and tender as he let his fingers dangle over Wufei's abdomen.

That thrust, those maddening touches, dragged a wail from the slim creature as he shook his head back and forth upon white pillows wildly. "Please!" Wufei cried. "Shi, shi, *please*!!" Oh, how he wanted them, lusted for them as if he was on fire, his moonlight monsters, his xiexiejangshi!!!

"Ahhh... so good," Zechs whispered, thrusting again and again. "So hot... and *wet*..."

"Ah, ah, *AH*!!!" It was too incredibly good, his beautiful master taking him, fucking him gloriously and making him so excited that he couldn't bear it even as the older vampire began stroking him, the edge so very close, such a temptation..!

"Come, boy -- fall over as you want to," Treize coaxed, fingers touching with ancient knowledge as he kept kissing at his blonde beloved, little tastes of fine pale skin.

Zechs was determined to wait until Wufei found release, easier now because of his new vampiric strength. Treize's kisses, though, were paradise itself, and made him feel wanton, quickening his thrusts. He moaned softly, head thrown back, eyes closed. "Please... please, sweet boy..."

The wail that sounded was almost animalian in nature, the boy's back and neck arching sharply with the sound, semen splattering over his belly in a creamy wash as he clenched tight, shuddering with the force of pleasure that overtook him. It was sparks, fire, such intensity that it was unimaginable to anyone who had never felt it, had been unimaginable to *him* for so long, and now he wallowed in it, every glorious nerve-tingling second of that orgasm swelling impossibly and making it even more delicious than it had been to start, as if that even seemed possible!

Now Zechs flooded him, the fluid cool and plentiful as he moaned out his own release. It seemed to last as eternity and it made him hungry again, hungry for the rich vampiric blood of his partner, or the weaker but warmer blood of the boy beneath him.

"Treize..." he whispered, nuzzling over to his companion's neck, still buried deeply within Wufei. "Let me *please*..."

"Yes, oh yes, my beloved." Treize's rich, implacable accent washed over both of their ears, vibrant tones conveying 'yes' in so many ways to them both. Yes, it was a beautiful thing, what happened between them; yes, he wanted Zechs to feast of him; yes, he wanted the beautiful boy to feel as much pleasure as possible... A slow arch of muscled neck, bent so that more was exposed to Zechs, let the blond vampire have his way with the man who was both his Childe and his new Sire.

As teeth broke the skin, Wufei watched in fascination, the deep vermilion liquid spilling down Treize's neck before a tongue followed it up, mouth clasping over the open wounds. He still felt as though every inch of his skin was tingling with pleasure, and he sighed with a delirious sort of joy. Nothing could be better than this, could possibly be any more wonderful than laying in bed, still penetrated with softening cock and watching such a powerful and erotic display of savagery!

Zechs suckled for what seemed ages, feeling and tasting his lover in every bit of the lovely dark blood. It seemed to fill his veins and shine through his body, making everything sweet and warm. After an eternity, he pulled back, licking at the excess and nuzzling the skin where the wounds had closed. "Thank you," he husked and then looked down at Wufei. "Thank you both, my beautiful lovers."

Slowly, Treize started to lay down, bringing Zechs with him a little, an arm plastered securely around the blond's waist. "It truly, truly, Vasari, is my pleasure. Both our pleasures. There is no greater feeling in the world than the hum of making you a happy man."

Their boy smiled, a drowsy, adoring smile, and nuzzled against the vampire still above him, the vampire beside him. "Hmmmmm, happy," he agreed, gaze glistening as he sighed, closing his eyes slowly.

"Good morning, Wufei," Zechs murmured, pressing back against Treize with complete wantonness. "My loves..."

"I suggest we while away the rest of the day like this," Treize breathed in his blond lover's ear, while stroking a hand against smooth caramel skin.

Ohh, how their boy was loathe to shift so much as an inch, but...! "Should go downstairs. Precious is needing help, much..." Poor Precious, with her daughter gone, how terrible it all was!

"Hmmm... there is that," Zechs murmured. It was hard to care as much about the plantation as much as he had before becoming a vampire. The pride and protectiveness he had felt about it back then had largely died with the mortal Zechs, and now he was left struggling to keep up appearances.

"I... I suppose you should," he said in a lazy, sensuous voice. "But only for a little while. Then you must come straight back and into bed again."

Yet Treize was acutely aware of the need to maintain appearance to a degree. "Perhaps, we, too should make an appearance on the grounds," the ginger-haired vampire suggested lazily.

"And perhaps you should at least pretend to eat lunch," Wufei suggested tentatively. "I think, perhaps, they would like it better than my bringing it up, and there is Eugenie..." He shuddered. Eugenie nearly stalked him, and he was terrified of her! /Crazy woman.../

Zechs, still under the sheets, gave out a long, low growl. "The next thing you'll be saying is that I have to go and spend time with Noin... and I'm very comfortable right here..."

"No, no," Wufei assured him. "I do not want you there, you are mine... *ours*!"

"Ours," Treize confirmed, a gentle laugh as he patted Wufei's cheek. "Yes, you are very much ours, Zechs. And I can think of no reason to visit that terrible woman and her dolls ever again." And he was *very* sure that to do so would only bring the worst type of trouble to light.

The blond man appeared from beneath the sheets, blinking, pouting slightly, with long, fair hair mussed from sleep. "Oh, very *well*," he muttered. "If you two are so set on it." Rubbing his eyes, he sat up all the way and then murmured, "But I need a kiss from each of you before we go."

A sweet bus against the mouth and Wufei squirmed slightly, eyes darkening. "If I don't get up now, I won't want to," he said, shivering and wanting Zechs again.

"Then you can get up, Wufei, while I give Zechs here a proper kiss," Treize teased gently, leaning over Wufei's slender body to give Zechs a decidedly apropos kiss -- rough against his lips, slow and exploring. "Now," he breathed huskily as he pulled back, "we can get up."

"Mmm... I *am* up," Zechs breathed, smiling brilliantly at Treize. Despite the longing to tumble the man back into the soft bed, he rose and dressed as the others did, stopping lastly at his wardrobe, to open the door and look into the mirror inside as he brushed his hair. "You're not to speak to Precious of any of this -- you know that of course, Wufei?"

A bit more than slightly offended, Wufei scowled, unable to help himself as he said, "I look stupid to you? My words get confused, but I am not *stupid*..."

"As we all know." Treize's tone was all smile as he straightened the bottom of his roe-colored vest. "Ah, you must wear brighter clothes, Zechs, else you will look more dead than I do."

"Very well," the blond said, eyeing Wufei warily, "I'll wear the red jacket, shall I?" He took off the blue one that Noin had loved -- said it made his eyes catch fire -- and reached for the scarlet morning coat beside it.

"DO you think I am stupid?" Wufei pressed unhappily, biting his lower lip to keep it from trembling. How heartbroken he would be if it was so!! He didn't want Zechs to think him stupid, only good for loving and sex, and if he did... ohhh, if he did, then Wufei didn't know what he would do! Cry, most likely, because he could never, ever leave, free or not...

Zechs finished buttoning the coat and moved over to where Wufei was standing. He slid his arms around the boy and kissed the dark, silky hair. "No, I do *not* think you're stupid. I think you are *very* intelligent, probably more intelligent than I am, actually. But I also know Precious. She has the ability to get nearly anyone to tell her anything. Must be some of that voodoo she believes in."

He smiled down at the Chinese boy and kissed him lightly. "It's *her* I worry about, not *you*."

That was accepted with gratitude, the boy melting against him. "I'm glad," he whispered on a breath, leaning up to accept Zechs's kisses. "It would be unbearable if it was *me* you thought stupid.."

"No, Wufei -- you're really very bright." Treize was sure that Wufei was brighter than *he* had been as a boy! "And beautiful, besides..." He couldn't help but move towards the both of them, giving each a light kiss on the cheek. "I think if we do not leave soon, we never will."

Zechs led the way along the gallery and downstairs. It was going to be another swelteringly hot day, and the servants had opened all the windows along the north side of the house, coaxing breezes in, whenever they chanced to be there.

The breakfast table was set -- for two. Zechs frowned and turned to Wufei. "I'm sorry, Precious doesn't seem to be taking your freedom seriously. Run and get another setting, will you?"

"I can eat in the kitchen," Wufei told him almost sweetly, wantonly wishing for more kisses. "She will need help with things this morning, and this I will provide."

Treize sighed, shaking his head. Such a sweet, naive boy... lovely, really, and he knew that once, he'd been the same way. Once, a very long time ago. And even being turned didn't take the innocence from him. It was years of being alone, and he would make sure to spare Wufei the suffering of that. "You need, Wufei, to occasionally take advantage of the fact that you are a free man."

"That's right, you know," Zechs murmured, casting a warm glance at the boy. "You have every right to sit at this table. In fact, I insist you do. So allow *me* to get your breakfast things."

He stood up, gave the boy a discrete kiss on the top of his head, and headed out the door.

The kitchen, when he arrived, was already hot and steaming, and well it should have been. It was late in the morning and the women there had been cooking since before dawn, so that should have been no surprise. What *was* a surprise, however, was that there was a woman in the kitchen he did not recognize, speaking with Precious near the doorway.

"What kinda loa d'ya think it is?" the woman could be heard saying, as Zechs neared her -- and then she fell deathly silent.

"Bonjour," the blond man said, stepping all the way inside. "You should leave the door open, Precious -- it would be better for all of you in this heat." His eyes fixed upon the unknown woman. "May I inquire as to your guest's name?" he said to Precious.

"Th-this is Ma'am Devon, Maste'," the plump older woman replied, hands in the pockets of her apron. It made her more than a little nervous that the Master was in the kitchen at the same time as the mambo! "She's a midwife from 'cross the rive'." That, at least, wasn't a lie; while she was indeed a woman who conversed with the loa, she was also good at midwifery.

"I see," Zechs said, still staring at the woman. "And what brings her to my kitchen on the fine morning?" The words themselves were benign, but the thoughts behind them, thoughts that probed outward to gauge the woman's intentions, were powerful and suspicious.

One of Precious's daughters spoke up then, hesitantly. "Me, Maste'. Ah'm bearin'," she told him, blushing prettily, eyes down.

"Yes'sa, and we's got to make sure that she'll bear a healthy one," the woman spoke up with a calm smile. And eyes, oh, eyes that raked over his soul, searching for something.

Zechs smiled at her, some of his old manner coming to the fore. "I hope you are feeling well, then," he said to her and then turned back to Precious. "I'll need another place setting. You forgot to put one out for Wufei. Please remember that in the future."

"Yes, suh," Precious said, eyes downward. "It's been a busy mawnin'."

Zechs took the place setting offered by one of the girls and nodded his head at the women. "How is my wife, Precious?" he asked suddenly. "Is she eating well?"

"As well as can be expected, Maste'. No mo'e o' less'n usual," Precious told him. "'Bout lack she al'ays does."

He nodded, his expression resigned. "I suppose there's no hoping for anything more than that. Well, I'll let you get on with the work, yes? Oh, and we'll be in the parlour after breakfast," he said as he turned to leave. "Please don't disturb us unless you're called."

"Yes, suh," Precious replied, turning to the mambo once he was gone and waiting expectantly.

"I once saw a loa like that in a man before," the woman shuddered, the moment Zechs had left. "Beautiful white man. Pale as the moon, with long hair the colour of a doe. An' his teeth..."

"Cain't nothin' be done?" Precious asked. "Our Maste', he's a good man, o' was, 'til that demon came. An' the kitchen boy, they's dange'..."

"Demon? What kind'a demon?"

"Looks lack a man," Precious replied. "White skin, an' terr'ble blue eyes, hair like cinn'mon all groun' up..."

"Kept back in a fox-tail?" the other woman pressed, eyes widening. That gained her a slightly frightened nod, and the Mambo only moaned quietly. "That demon been in the French Quarter for nearly two years! When he lef', the killings stopped. And now he's *here*?"

"They ain't nothin' c'n be done t'*STOP* alla this?" Precious whispered. /Poor Maste'... poor boy... poor all o' us..../ "The'e was a little gi'l 'causin' trouble befo'e, done killed mah Taira an' Samuel...."

"'ffin we c'n get rid o' the demon, an' get the loa out o' ya maste', everythin' should be awright."

Precious gave a great sigh. "Anythin'. We'll do anythin'. Our Maste', he's a good man, an' thin's just ain't been right since the start with this demon he'e..."

"DEATH HAS TAKEN HIM!"

The occupants of the kitchen jumped as Eugenie swept into the building, dressed from head to toe in her usual black crepe. Her gaunt face was pale and she held a Bible to her breast, breathing heavily.

"I have seen him!" she hissed at Precious. "He passed me on my way here! Pale as Death, the shadow lies over him, and he looked at me so *wickedly*!"

"Oh, LAW, no!" Precious cried out, growing faint. "Not the Maste'! Ohhh!"

The mambo nodded sagely to that, tskin' away. "Yes, he's be'in turned jus' like that pale demon."

"The houseboy," Eugenie said, voice now a dead, droning intonation. "The houseboy will be next, if something's not done." She took a dramatic step forward and brought her hand down on the cover of her Bible with each name she mentioned. "First the houseboy, then Madame Noin, then, one by one, each slave in turn...."

"Please," the older black woman whispered tearfully. "Please. We gotta *do* somethin'." She was fond of the boy -- he had worked hard, been so sweet! -- and she didn't want to lose her family. "What c'n we *do*?"

"If we destroy the demon, your master should be freed," the Mambo uttered contemplatively. "but he's a strong Demon."

"I think we should question the houseboy," Eugenie said, staring at the two black women. "He will know what they do, where they go. He will give us the knowledge we need to rid this house of evil."

Ohh, Precious didn't like it, but... "He might come in this afte'noon. The Maste's got him, now..."

"And whe'e's this demon?" the mambo pressed. "Ah got t'see 'f it's th' same one from the Qua'te'!"

Eugenie closed her eyes as if speaking was causing her great pain. "He's in the dining room. With Monsieur du Marquise... and the houseboy. They are pretending to eat, but actually it is only the boy who consumes anything." She looked at them both meaningfully.

Heavily, Precious seated herself, fanning her face as her girls made little noises, coming to help her, gathering around her. "Law, it's so bad," she whispered. "So bad..."

"Your master ain't even eating anymore?" The other woman asked in a shocked voice, taking a step towards Eugenie. "How long that demon been here?"

"Mebbe a month," Precious said heavily. "Mebbe little longe'."

"Month's a long time," the mambo bemoaned. "Do they go out in the light of day?"

"Yes!" Eugenie hissed. "They are *that* powerful! Something needs to be done. A ceremony --something to cleanse this house of the wickedness that the demon has brought."

"We'll have to start with gris-gris," the woman said after a moment. "Start there -- build up. Lotsa small magic works as good as a large one, to start."

Eugenie's face took on a look of mild distaste. "I don't normally approve of pagan rituals," she said coldly. "But we are in such danger that anything will help. Madame Noin has already breakfasted and is sleeping, so I am going to the church, to get holy water. I will leave your... *ritual* to you."

With that, she gave them one more look of warning and then swept from the kitchen.

"Oh, Law, this ain't no good," Precious sighed, her daughters still fanning her. "Ou' poo' maste', an' that poo' boy. Jes' tell whatcha need, an' it'll be done," she told the Mambo, shaking her head slowly.

The Mambo looked over to Precious, and then uttered, "We need spices."

"Gi'ls," the cook said, and one of them hurried into the pantry. "We got all kinda thangs, well-stocked..."

The parlour at the Beau Jardin plantation was hot that afternoon. No breezes came off the river to cool the rooms of the large house, built in 1795 before the slave cruelty legislation had passed. The lives of many slaves had been lost in the building of Beau Jardin.

The mistress of the house, Madame de Morny, and her three daughters were entertaining Madame de la Villesbret, and each had a glass of soothingly cool tea. As the girls sipped daintily from their glasses, Madame de la Villesbret leaned forward to the mistress of the house and said in a rather salacious tone, "Have you heard of the happenings at Cypress House?"

"Which happenings would those be?" Madame de Morny asked, looking up at her visitor. "Those terrible rumors of poor Marquise's Wife losing her mind?"

"Poor Monsieur Marquise!" the oldest daughter tittered nervously, fluffing a strand of dishwater-blonde hair back out of her face. "He must be so lonely and sad!"

Her next youngest sister, a simpering brunette, flitted her fan and murmured, "Maybe he'll be in need of a new wife soon..." The she dissolved into giggles.

"Children," their mother scolded, mostly unsympathetic for the moment. "Tell me, what are these rumors going around?"

"They say that the House is haunted," Madame de la Villesbret whispered, fanning herself more rapidly. "And it's true! I myself have been there and seen the red-headed demon who haunts them!"

Madame de Morny gaped a bit at that news. "*You've* seen the demon? He... he walks abroad in daylight?"

"It's a *child*, a *girl* child," Madame de la Villesbret said with a delicate shudder. "That is what brought on Madame Laval's attack of the heart which has made her so ill and so very close to death!!"

"Ohhh! Ohhh, yes, we were told of that, but I've had no idea it was related to a haunting!"the oldest girl nearly shrieked.

Madame de Morny pressed her guest for more information, one pale hand to her chest. "What did the child do?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. "Did it attack Madame Laval?"

"It simply *frightened* her almost to death! It was a terrible, vicious, *smiling* thing!" the woman whispered, shuddering. "Madame Beauchamp as well is still ill!"

"Oh?" Madame de Morny leaned forward a little more. "When did this happen?"

"Two weeks ago," her guest said, fanning herself and looking at her hostess knowingly. "Everyone's talking about it. Some even say Monsieur du Marquise is..." here she halted dramatically, "*possessed.*"

"NO!" all three girls gasped at once, their eyes incredibly wide.

"Not really!!" the youngest said, shuddering. "Oh, how dreadful!"

"Dreadful!" the middle daughter echoed.

"Possessed?! How so...? Oh, that would be terrible if he was, such a fine young man..."

"They say his wife's condition is getting worse," Madame de la Villesbret continued, "and that a strange foreign man who is visiting him takes all his time from her."

Little chitter-chatter passed between the girls before the eldest nodded. "And *I've* heard positively indecent things about the house-boy!"

"Like what?" the girls' mother perked up. "I'd heard mention of foreigner, but nothing solid... They say he's as pale as snow."

"That's what I've heard," Madame des Villesbret said. "They say he walks the plantation by night -- that he never eats or sleeps. And as for that houseboy... well, let's just say that he's they type that could very easily fall into wickedness."

Another little snicker came from the gallery of girls, as if they knew *exactly* what that meant. "Wickedness!" one of them whispered, fluttering her fan before her face.

"Indeed. Monsuier du Marquise would have to be possessed to allow such to occur," their mother agreed sagely. "Is anyone going to do anything about this matter?"

The guest shook her head. "No one knows what to do. It's all just rumor and speculation right now." She eyed the girls sitting side by side on the sofa. "All it's done is make every female under forty want to visit, if you can believe that!"

"Oh, but it sounds so *romantic*," the oldest girl said with a sigh.

"And frightening!" the middle daughter agreed.

"And just incredible," the youngest finished.

"The silly women only," their mother sighed in exasperation at them. "We must send the men there to investigate, of course!"

"Oh, I'm not sure of that," murmured Madame des Villesbret, fanning herself even harder. "I mean, there are those rumors about Monsieur du Marquise... his time in New Orleans..."

One of the girls leaned forward, whispering, "*I* heard he visited with boys in *The District*."

"Girls!" A snap of voice, the the madam of the house turned to her guest once more. "Were those the rumors?"

"Well, *I* haven't heard *those* particular ones," her guest said, filing the news away for future parlour conversations. "No, the ones that have been very persistent are those about his former Captain, when he was in the French Navy. And then of course, there is this foreign gentleman..."

"Ohhhhh!!" the girls chorused together. "Tell us!"

"Indulge them and share what you have heard," their mother granted with a smile towards her guest.

A house servant came in then, to refresh the tea glasses, and the older woman looked slyly at the others. "Well, it seems that the two of them, Monsieur du Marquise and this 'Herr Khushrenada' as he calls himself, are rarely apart now. They spend all day and all evening in each other's company, except for the time when Monsieur de Marquise tends to his sugar mill. Some people say he's even let that go, just to be with this foreigner! They very rarely go out, and -" Another dramatic pause as the master gossiper looked at each face in turn, "the servants have said that they are both pale as ghosts."

Little gasps and sounds came from the girls, whispered horror and more than a little titillating suggestion concerning the two of them.

"Where did this foreign man come from?" their mother pressed, just as horrified and titillated as they were, but showing it only discreetly -- in her lean towards her guest.

"No one knows," her guest said, and then wrinkled her nose delicately and said, "obviously he's been in Germany for a time, or he wouldn't call himself 'Herr', but no one around here knows him well."

She sipped her tea and then looked thoughtful. "The only thing I know is that a he supposedly used to live in the City... and that there had been a sting of unsolved murders and disappearances there at the time." She leaned towards Madame de Morney and added, "Can you imagine...?"

"Well, Lord, if he is hiding and harboring a murderer!" Madame de Morney exclaimed in shock, "something must be done! But I cannot imagine that gentle, upright young man doing such a thing..."

"That's the problem!" Madame des Villesbret exclaimed. "He such a gentleman, no one can really believe any of the stories, yet... well, as I said. They *do* persist..."

"Perhaps we should go and visit," one of the daughters suggested. "See if the rumors are true!"

"But, if they are true, do we want to be anywhere near that plantation!" the other daughter added in with a shudder.

"Perhaps if we were in a group..." Madame des Villesbret suggested, one painted eyebrow raising. "We could go on Sunday, just a respectable visit after Mass."

"Please, Momma!" the eldest sighed. "Oh, please, may we?"

"Only if we gather a group of at least one more person," their mother submitted. "This Sunday, then...?"

"Sunday, then," Madame des Villesbret said with great satisfaction. I'm sure I can find another member for our party. We can all meet after Mass and go in my carriage."

The twitter of the girls speaking hurriedly was enough for the servant who'd brought more tea. /Ah reckon we'll hafta wa'n Precious they got visito's comin' wi' strange thoughts on they mind... Visito's who'll need to be protected, with demons lack that on the loose..."

With a sigh, the woman left them in the parlor. Yes... someone would certainly have to tell Precious...

End of Part Three

(:./kumiko/cypress3)