Cypress House by Kat Reitz, kumiko & tzigane

Part Two

After seeing Wufei to his small attic room, Zechs stopped at his own room to dress and brush out his hair. He knew that he'd done a dangerous thing by leaving Noin alone so long. Who knew what she'd be like now, but he had to see her. It was the time she usually went to sleep and that always happened with him there. So, he looked into the mirror a last time, amazed that he looked so much like himself after what he'd just done with his houseboy. /But Mon Dieu! The boy was exquisite... and ahh, what have I done!/

The war went on within him even as he raised a hand to knock on the door of his wife's chambers. "Noin? May I come in, cherie?"

"Here at last, Husband...? Did that devil keep you so long?"

Zechs entered the room and smiled warmly at the woman in the bed. "No devil, mon ange. I apologize for my lateness. Are you comfortable?"

She nodded, eyeing him carefully. "Are you the devil in disguise, mon cher?"

He stared at her, a feeling of panic racing through him, but not shown on his face. Only puzzlement and concern. "Not that I know of... Whatever do you mean, Noin?"

"There has been a devil visiting you, my husband, and I like it NOT!!" she nearly shrieked, but her face was still calm, strangely. "You've had a spell placed on you, mon ange."

He walked gingerly towards the bed and sat down, not taking her hand as he usually might for fear that she would strike out at him. "Noin, please -- you're not making any sense, love. There is no spell on me, ma petite, so you have no need to worry yourself like this."

Looking around the room, he didn't see a dinner tray. /Time to change the subject if I can./ "Did you eat well at dinner?"

"Yes, mon ange, except where were YOU?"

Lies were starting to come easier to him, although he didn't feel any better about them -- just that they were necessary to prevent him from losing Wufei... and Treize. "I was speaking with Wufei at length. He is having some problems with Precious -- she's not quite completely satisfied with his work. So I was telling him what kind of boy we need here and asking if he could do the job." Zechs turned his eyes from her to look out of the window at the soft purple twilight. "He eventually agreed that he would give it his very best."

Looking back to her, he reached out and took one of her pale hands that lay on the coverlet and gave it a light squeeze.

She allowed it, but only barely. "Good. That evil child needs to be shown The Way."

Zechs frowned in confusion. "'The Way'? What way?"

"God's way of course," Noin uttered, looking at Zechs with confusion. "How can you ask such a thing, mon ange?"

Zechs looked down at his hands, clasped together on one knee. "Noin, I don't think he's in any trouble with God. In fact I don't even know what Chinese people *think* about God..." He was beginning to feel frustrated with her and stood, walking to the window and looking out onto his darkened property, wondering where the vampire was. "You need something else to entertain you, Noin. Are you up to embroidery? You used to love doing that. Or reading? I could order you some books from town." /Anything -- just stop obsessing over him... because I can't hurt you and I won't lose him... oh, dear man! It seems like an eternity right now, waiting for you.../

There was a flicker of movement outside -- pale movement. So pale and yet brilliant at once, that it could have been the moon itself, come down from the heavens.

Zechs's heart gave a leap and he had to steady himself against the window frame. /Mein Herr...?/

"Give me needles, mon ange," Noin smiled softly, distracted for the moment. "And I will embroider again -- beautiful things, for you and little Michel."

He forced himself to turn back to his wife. "That's wonderful to hear you say, cheri. I will make sure you have them tomorrow. Now, however, you should be getting some sleep, so you will have the energy you need to stitch."

"Yes, mon ange," she smiled, laying down already, prayers whispered from her lips.

"Sleep well," he whispered and turned the lamp down until the little flame had disappeared. The sound of voices drew him to the window again and the flickering of lanterns on the path toward the avenue told him that Precious and her daughters had gone to their cabins.

/All is ready for you, mein Herr. What will you do with us, I wonder.../ Feeling almost dream-like, the feeling of anticipation so strong in him that he trembled, Zechs walked to the door of the room. He took one last look at the form of his sleeping wife and then closing the door softly behind him.

He took the side stairs two at a time to get to Wufei's room. Perhaps the boy would let him lie with him while they awaited their visitor...

The light footsteps of the house's Master didn't even phase Wufei as he slept silently in the small bed, mosquito netting pulled tightly around all of it to keep out the small bugs that could so easily come in through the open window. A warm breeze shifted through the window, stirring the sweltering air in the room and cooling it off slowly from the day's heat.

Zechs pushed the slave's door open softly and waited a moment while his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. There he was, on the bed, his sweet boy, and Zechs could feel the blood rush to his cheeks thinking about what they had done that afternoon. He shrugged off his jacket and took off his boots, then crawled into the little netted bed, wriggling himself up against the warm body he found there. His arm went around Wufei's waist and he closed his eyes, wondering what it would be like to have both of them with him, his mind beginning to paint the most erotic images, causing him to writhe against the boy once in a while.

That was what finally shifted Wufei from his hours-long nap, the feel of Zechs's erection and movement against him. "Master?" he asked huskily as he opened his eyes, frowning slightly to find himself there on the brink of wakefulness.

"Go back to sleep, love," Zechs murmured in a husky voice. "We still have nearly an hour."

The somnambulant murmur he received in return was proof that Wufei had not truly been awake, anyway, for those eyes closed and steady even breaths were soon coming from the boy as he slept beside his master, snuggled close to his side despite the sultry air.

As tired as he was, the young planter couldn't sleep. He wanted the touch of the vampire so badly all of a sudden, and wanted to drink from him, that lovely liquid that made first his lips, then his loins burn. And he wanted Wufei to watch the man do it to him. Wanted them both... deep inside of him...

It was just the brush of a cool hand against Zechs's cheek, the netting moved aside; but no bugs came in.

Feeling as if he was moving in slow motion, Zechs turned his head in the direction of that soft caress. "Mein Herr...?" he breathed. "Are you really here?"

"Ja." A softly breathed reply, just as soft as that caress. The bed creaked gently as Treize perched upon the edge. "My blissful angel..."

Zechs let out a slow, ragged breath and lifted a hand to the vampire's face. "You always seem to know when I need you most... how much I want to be near you..."

"It's the same times I desire you the most," he spoke softly, leaning in to kiss Zechs's lips, gently. Then his gaze drifted to the boy. "Does he know...?"

"He knows you don't want to harm me... or him, I think. But..." Zechs let both of his hands slide into Treize's silky hair, untying the small silk ribbon that held it back so that golden-brown waves fell over the pale cheeks. "Not about us," he whispered, he lips nearly touching his visitor's. "Not what we do..."

A slow shift beside him, Wufei's limbs moving as he turned, murmuring at the sounds of those voices.

"He should watch," Treize purred softly, taking another brushing kiss, letting his teeth drift across those lips in a gentle scrape that didn't draw blood. "Awaken him."

The thought of it made Zechs stiffen, his body arching without thought up to the vampire. Keeping one hand on Treize's arm, he turned his head to Wufei and whispered his name before spreading kisses over one, smooth cheek. "Wufei, mon cheri, we have a visitor..."

"Mmmmn..." Wufei murmured, dark eyes blinking open slowly, lashes flickering upwards. "Visitor?"

"Hello, little one," came the vampire's soft voice

"Blood-sucking demon!" Wufei gasped, as if that was a name in and of itself, arms wrapping tightly about Zechs with a sudden frightened fervor.

"Don't be frightened, cheri. He is only here to give pleasure, not pain. He wants you to watch... what we do together..." Zechs found himself nearly panting as he spoke, the closeness of the two people who'd taken him over making him feel wanton and drunk with desire.

"Would you like to do that, mon petit? Would you like to watch...?"

Trembling slightly, Wufei looked at the vampire with uncertainty on his face. "Not to eat us, yes?" he asked.

"No one, child, will be eaten," Treize uttered calmly, even though the light of the night caught gleams on his fangs. "No one that doesn't want to be bitten will be bitten."

The sound of his voice felt like silk washing over Zechs, and all he could do was close his eyes and whimper softly as he held tight to Treize's sleeve.

Wufei bit his lower lip. It was obvious that his master was captivated by the creature, but... so long as it was promised no one would be eaten... Well. Not that demons kept their word, but... "All right."

"Sweet boy..." Treize mused, leaning in to brush his lips lightly atop Wufei's, before turning his head again, meeting those deep azure eyes. "You're very lucky, Monsieur."

Zechs's eyes remained closed as his free hand sought out Wufei. /Both of them here, touching them both, so close... so very, very close... Surely this kind of happiness isn't really allowed.../

"Lucky..." he murmured and then whimpered again and said, "Oh, someone kiss me... *s'il vous plait*?"

Tentatively, Wufei leaned over, still muzzy with sleep, and pressed his lips to Zechs's slowly, so sweetly, the softest of brushes as he nuzzled there.

Then Treize leaned in, lips tender and wanting as they crept along Zechs's golden-colored jaw.

A long, low whimper escaped the young planter. /Ah, Mon Dieu! They're both on me -- beautiful lips... so hard to choose.../ "Mmmmnn..." He squirmed under their touches, bucking his hips against nothing at all, just needing to follow the sweet tensing of his muscles. Reluctantly, he broke the deep kiss with Wufei and turned his head to find Treize's mouth, all the while sliding one hand up the boy's neck to tangle in his hair and doing the same for the vampire on his other side. His breath was coming faster and he couldn't think enough to speak, but his body made sure his lovers knew what they were doing to him... and how very much he wanted more...

So hesitant, Wufei rested against the bed and watched, the fingers tangling in his hair reassuring as he swallowed deeply and bit his lip, raven gaze shy.

The vampire moaned, the sound so soft as it vibrated against locked lips, while his tongue forged deep into the mouth of the beautiful man beneath him.

Sweet, soft, possessing... Zechs could only moan gently as Treize's tongue plundered his mouth, his hand tangled in ginger hair, tugging the vampire closer as the long, golden body arched up to meet him. He could feel the sharp fangs, just behind the man's lips, and he shuddered with pleasure knowing what was in store. /Funny.../ he thought in a vague, abstract way, /I'm not even afraid of it anymore... I want it now... want *him*.../

One hand kept Zechs clasped tight to him, the kiss going on and on, as if Treize was trying to suck Zechs's soul from him; while, for the first time, he began to remove his own clothing, tugging off the doe-colored vest he wore atop a black shirt.

Laying beside Zechs, Wufei watched impassively. His warm gaze lingered over pallid flesh as it was revealed, frighteningly pale beside Zechs's sun-gold and his own caramel color. His face was lightly pressed to Zechs's shoulder where he lingered, lip bitten tightly between his teeth.

The kiss finally broke and Zechs took a deep, ragged breath, throwing his head back against the pillow and moaning softly at the touch of the other man. His fingers were still buried in that lovely ginger hair and he managed to get his eyes open halfway to watch Treize undress. Strong, slender hands reached out to touch the vampire's chest and graze over the pretty nipples he found there, back arching again to press upwards against Treize's body, neck completely exposed and waiting to be claimed.

Chest and back bared, gleaming so white it was almost silver, Treize pressed closer against Zechs, nuzzling that neck. "Do you want to let me drink, Zechs...?" he purred richly, the question asked more for the boy's benefit than anyone else's.

"Yes!" came the breathy reply. "Ohhh, *please*..." Zechs could only beg for it as he felt himself harden at the mere thought of it. "Please..."

The thought that anyone could beg for such a thing seemed impossible and Wufei wanted to whisper soft questions in Zechs's ear. Instead, he simply clung to the other man, trembling as he waited to see what would happen, the vampire's presence slowly beginning to wash over him, as well, no matter how he fought it.

Gleaming fangs rubbed against the golden skin, rubbed until they pricked, drawing tiny beads of blood that a firm tongue lapped up before the teeth sunk fully in, and Treize's mouth covered where the blood welled up, drinking deeply of the heady brew.

Zechs gave a long, wanton moan, eyes closed, lips parted, and panting breaths. It was clear from his face that he was in ecstasy and the hands buried in Treize's hair pressed the man closer and closer to the tingling wounds. As the suckling went on, the Frenchman's body began to writhe softly under the vampire and soon he was bucking his hips up to meet Treize's, hot and golden and wanting.

The pale, still clothed hips bucked downwards, the sucking intensifying as Treize slid a hand down to cup Zechs's arousal, trying to give him stimulation.

There, they met a smaller hand, fingers already inside Zechs's pants. Dark eyes glanced across, clashing momentarily with brilliant sapphire blue, and Wufei moved to take his hand away slowly.

But the eyes looked away from Wufei's, closing to better savor the blood, and the hand grasped Wufei's, keeping it in place even as he guided the touch in deeper, until they both grasped Zechs's manhood.

Zechs gave a sharp cry and pushed up against the heat of their palms, hips beginning to thrust as instinct took over. Little moans and whimpers accompanied each push upward and one hand gripped the sheets beneath him as if he might tear them from the bed. And all the time he could feel the blood flowing out of him in the same, erotically pulsing rhythm...

Fascinated gaze watched carefully, the touch of ice cold fingers against his own warm skin making Wufei shiver as he helped to stroke the pulsing erection of his master. "Yes," he whispered, little breaths drawn in deeply. "Oh! Master! Yes!"

Treize pulled back from his drinking, not wanting to drain the beautiful blonde as he pulled back, watching the holes close as he lapped at them, before pricking his finger on a fang, and offering the bleeding digit to the blonde.

Zechs's mouth closed on it and he began sucking, feeling the blood burn as he swallowed it, just a thin trickle, but so very, very good. Its taste seemed to send him over the edge and he whimpered loudly as release washed over him, pushing up against Wufei's hand, and sucking on the tiny wound with each sweet pulse that ran through him.

When it ended he was panting softly, still sucking softly at Treize's finger, more for comfort and intimacy than any blood that might be had. All he knew was that he wanted them close, needed to feel them around him, not caring what they did so long as they were that close. "Treize... ah, Wufei... so beautiful... mmmm... merci beaucoup mes anges... merci..."

Sweet soft kisses pressed to his throat as if in apology for the vampire's bite, Wufei's breath warm against Zechs's cheek as he sought out his master's mouth once again and kissed him, long and delicious, tongue lightly invading that mouth before he withdrew. Cheek pressed to cheek, he looked at the vampire, a rampant and undeniable curiosity in his eyes as he whispered, "Why? Why does he like it so? And why do you do it?"

"I hunger," Treize purred softly, his own gaze blissfully hazed. "I need blood. Cattle, sheep, goats, but human blood is the very best. And it's so enjoyable because of many factors..."

Zechs's eyes were still closed, and he struggled to speak. "Mmmmnn... Turns my blood to fire... feels like someone touching me... sweet, wicked places..."

Tentative, almost afraid even in his fascination, Wufei whispered, "Will it do bad things to him? Will he be like you?"

"Only if he drinks enough of mine while I remove his," Treize murmured quietly. "Something I won't do until the time is right."

"And then he will be gone from me?" the tearful question was asked.

"Only if he wished to be," Treize mused with a smile, "Which I don't think he would."

Zechs turned his head to gaze up at Wufei, brushing dark hair out of his eyes and running a thumb over the boy's lips. "No..." he whispered. "I would never do that."

"Ah." A little sigh came from the Chinese houseboy and he relaxed finally, pleased in that moment to be precisely where he was and nowhere else.

Still holding himself above both of them, apparently without effort at all, Treize smiled. "Beautiful."

Zechs reached up and pulled Treize's head down for a long, sultry kiss, then did the same with Wufei. "Please forgive me, mein Herr," he said to Treize. "You are a visitor in my house and I've not welcomed you properly at all... We have supper waiting downstairs," he suggested softly, eyes moving between two beloved faces, "and beautiful candlelight..."

/Supper!/ Wufei's dark eyes widened as he pulled away to climb out of bed. "I will go and set things in their place, Master!" he said solemnly, moving quickly to fetch his damp clothing and slide it on over bare limbs.

Treize rolled languidly over onto Wufei's warm spot. "We'll join you shortly, Wufei," came the languid, rich purr.

"Mmmm... yes, thank you, Wufei. We'll join you..." The rest of the Frenchman's words were muffled as he buried his face against the vampire's neck, hands already moving to caress his skin, new to Zechs's touch and yet strangely, sweetly familiar...

A last almost sad glance back and then Wufei was gone, the door shut quietly behind him.

"You're both beautiful creatures," Treize uttered richly, smiling faintly as he stroked his hands over Zechs's chest. "The boy envies me, though."

"He shouldn't," the blond breathed, whimpering softly as the elegant hands found his nipples. "I want you both, so much... love you..."

"Yes, Zechs, my love... I need you, so willing to share you," he breathed, twisting those nipples gently.

Zechs gave a tiny cry and arched into that touch. When he spoke, his voice was breathy and had a strange dreaminess to it. "We've... we've done this before... haven't we...? It seems so familiar, somehow..." Languidly, he reached for the vampire, pulling him down for a long, soft kiss, unable to stop the urge press against him.

"We've done a lot of things before, my love," Treize smiled against Zechs's lips, dragging his nails lightly over those nubs before he sat back, pulling Zechs up with him. "But let us not keep your boy waiting."

"Hmmm... no, of course not," the planter breathed, feeling somewhat drunk. He slid out of Treize's arms and they headed for the door. As they walked along the gallery towards the stairs, the sultry night air wrapped around them, smelling of jasmine.

The vampire didn't breath, though -- he only sniffed occasionally, as if to honor the air he took in. And he came down the stairs wearing nothing but his pants and boots. "You have a wonderful estate, Monsieur..."

"Thank you, mein Herr. I have to agree -- it is a lovely piece of land, so near the river, and yet... secluded somehow." The planter's voice was soft and dreamy again. "Sometimes, when I've taken walks at night, it felt as if I were the only person on Earth..."

Pushing open a large cedarwood door, Zechs led his guest into the dining room, smiling at Wufei's work. Two places were set and candles glowed on the table, but Wufei was nowhere to be seen. "Please have a seat, mein Herr," Zechs murmured. "I will tell Wufei we are ready."

The next moment he disappeared through the inner door.

He walked slowly along the connecting pathway between the house and the kitchen building, drinking in the jasmine's heady scent, eyes glowing like the stars. As he opened the door to the cooking area, he called, "Wufei? Are you here?"

"It is all cold," came the almost tearful answer, Wufei's hands full as he turned, expression distinctly unhappy. A quick sniffle sounded as he continued, "And I do not know how to warm it for you!"

Zechs smiled at him, charmed beyond belief by the boy's desire to please. He walked over and took the dishes from Wufei's arms, setting each on the sideboard that stood near the cast iron stove. His arms found their way around the slender waist and he pulled the slave close, kissing him gently but thoroughly.

"You learn an amazing number of things when you're a sailor, Wufei. One of them is to cook your own food -- even if it does taste horrible." Winking, he let the boy go and squatted down on the floor, eye-to-eye with the banked fire inside the stove. His shirt was slipping off of his shoulders and as he stoked the fire with kindling from the box nearby, the flames cast a warm red glow over his skin and hair.

Opening the door to the oven, he poked aside a few pieces of old charcoal that had fallen in and then looked up at the houseboy. "Hand the dishes to me, Wufei, we'll let them warm just a bit in here before we take them to the dining room."

The pleased smile that had crept slowly over Wufei's face was almost sunshine, so bright was it, and he handed them over, kneeling down beside his Master. "They will do, just like that? They will not break? Precious would be TERRIBLY upset if they broke!"

"Don't worry," Zechs said, "the fire is not that hot. And besides --" he added with a slightly wicked grin, "these are *my* dishes, n'est-ce pas? We can do whatever we like with them."

A matching grin spread over Wufei's face and his arms crept about Zechs's neck. "Ah, monsieur, wo ai ni! Ahh..." He thought hard for a moment. "J...je vo..ous aime!"

/That Herculean effort deserves a kiss/ Zechs thought, raising his hand to pull the boy closer and capturing the tempting mouth. Pulling away reluctantly, he whispered, "Je vous aimez aussi, mon petit..."

Those words and understanding made those dark eyes practically swimming with adoration as Wufei brushed his lips across Zechs's lightly, looking at him with worship. "The plates, monsieur?" he asked finally, tilting his head to the side.

Zechs tore his eyes away from the lovely, almond-shaped eyes and tested one of the dishes with his finger. "Almost -- another minute or so." The combination of the hot, humid night air and the heat coming from the stove made them both glisten with sweat and Zechs, seeing one tiny drop along the side of Wufei's chin, leaned forward and licked it off.

"Zechs," Wufei said huskily, leaning down and capturing his lips with a sudden hunger that belied the more accustomed sweetness utterly.

Without breaking the kiss, Zechs pulled the boy down to sit on his lap before the stove. His hands slid around Wufei's hips and a long, low moan came from him, the feeling of the boy's mouth and the hunger behind it filling him with a keen desire that begged to be fulfilled. They broke gently and he covered the slave's jawlines and throat with open-mouthed kisses. /I want him... and I want him inside of me... there *is* fire there after all.../

Moving, Wufei pressed the lean line of his body close to Zechs's, legs parting and wrapping around a strong thigh. He rocked steadily against it for a moment, kisses lingering, heated, fingers searching for and finding an erection and kneading it steadily.

Strong hands squeezed the boy's arms and Zechs had to moan, the desire was so intense. "Ahhn, want you here... now... will you let me...?"

"Yes!" Wufei groaned, leaning and biting his throat where the vampire had bitten, shuddering. "Yes!"

The blond gave a soft moan as he pushed Wufei gently to the floor. Precious had been thoughtful enough as to leave out a small jar of cooking oil and Zechs reached to dip his fingers into it, covering himself before slipping one, then two fingers into the houseboy. Then, lifting Wufei's legs over his shoulders, he teased the boy's tight entrance a moment and slid in, the oil making it feel like he was water, flowing through Wufei's water, all slick heat and undulating motion. "Remember this, Wufei," he whispered into the boy's ear. "Remember this tomorrow, when you're here, working. Remember being down on the floor, with your Master inside of you..."

A vibrant moan jerked itself from Wufei's throat and he shuddered, eyes closed tightly, trembling and taut with desire and the faint edges of fear still left over from everything that had come before. "Please, Master," he cried out with a low voice. "Please!"

The tall blond knew he couldn't last. The tightness of the boy, the slippery oil inside of him, and the incredibly erotic position they found themselves in all combined to urge him forward. Long hair fell around his face as his hips moved faster and faster. "Wufei," he panted, "ahhhh, you're *mine*! Only mine!"

Frantic exclamations, soft foreign words that slurred in Zechs's ear, the sound of Wufei's moans, all combined to fill the air. The touch of his Master's belly against his erection was delicious, a wonder he'd never thought to experience, and he gasped as he stilled. Every nerve in Wufei's body sang at once, tightening until he was drawn into a trembling bow beneath the heady feel of Zechs's body. "Ahhh!!!"

With a long, breathy moan, the blond threw his head back, letting an intense release wash over him. He held Wufei's hips firmly in place and pumped seed into his boy, their coupling feeling, more than anything else, like a primitive and ancient ceremony, to be performed in front of the gods...

A light clapping sounded, polite and short, for a few brief second, before a lithe form graced their midst, smiling with wicked amusement. "Can I not leave the two of you alone for ten minutes...?" He knelt beside them, kissing Zechs's temple. "That was beautiful to watch."

Zechs's golden cheeks, flushed with arousal, now grew pinker from embarrassment. But he leaned into that kiss and then lifted his head to find Treize's lips. "Sorry," he murmured against their warmth, and then smiled down at Wufei. "I got rather... carried away..."

"The plates!" Wufei said suddenly from beneath him, black eyes becoming round. "Oh, no!"

"Calm down Wufei -- I don't smell anything burning..." Zechs soothed as he pulled out of the boy and put himself back together while Wufei did the same. The food was extremely hot, but didn't seem to have suffered any from their dalliance. As a trio, then, they carried the dishes over to main house and settled themselves in the dining room. "Wufei -- have you eaten dinner?"

Wufei shook his head slowly, looking at Zechs with an expression that seemed to adore him all the more for asking.

Carefully, Treize pushed his plate toward Wufei. "It's not a necessity for me -- enjoy, Wufei."

Those words earned the vampire a similar (if surprised) expression as well. "Xie xie," he whispered, glancing at Zechs to be sure that it was all right.

"Please eat, Wufei, I don't want to think about you having gone so long without food." He smiled almost indulgently at the dark-eyed boy. "This is the first time I've eaten with you, when you weren't serving."

That was something that left Wufei feeling entirely pleased with himself as he seated himself, two small pitchers of milk and buttermilk between them. "Yes," he said quietly, leaning over to pour a little of both into his glass. /And it is something I would like to do, always,/ he thought a bit sadly, fully aware of the differences in who and what they were for a painful moment.

"Is there..." Zechs was searching the table, a faint puzzled expression growing. "Is there wine out, Wufei, or am I just missing it..."

Startled expression took over and Wufei confessed, "I have forgotten it!"

Giving a slow, curling smile, Treize patted Wufei gently on the back. "You should relax, Child. But run and get it."

Zechs's smile was hesitant, almost shy. "Could you, cheri? It would be so good of you."

Scrambling up, Wufei ran to fetch the wine, coming back quickly and pouring Zechs's glass full before settling back into his own chair, picking up his fork and rolling a pea about the plate before taking a bite.

"Mmm, I seem to be a non-entity," Treize murmured amusedly, picking up the bottle to pour himself a glass.

Zechs looked stricken for a moment, standing up and walking to Treize's chair. Deftly taking the bottle from him, he said, "Please, mein Herr -- let me pour for you."

Biting his lip tightly, Wufei put his fork down. "I apologize. I didn't think... you said..."

Treize watched the glass fill up with crystalline red liquid. "It's all right, child. No harm done."

Zechs sat back down, cheeks red from the incident, and picked up his fork so that Treize would feel comfortably doing so. "Tell us, mein Herr," he ventured, "how do you pass your time here in Louisiana?"

The other man raised his wine-glass, to sip from it. "Mostly, I watch life."

Head down, Wufei continued to poke at his peas, eating a bite now and then as he remained quiet.

"Ah," the planter said taking a sip of wine. "And what would that consist of?"

"For the past few months, it's consisted of watching your little plantation grow." With every sip of wine, color was added to his lips, even though it was only a pale reddish stain. "But before I would wander through the city -- New Orleans. I have a house there, and a large reputation for being eccentric and enchanting. More women wanted me to marry their daughters than I want anything to do with, and not a one noticed that I rarely ventured out aside from during the blessed darkness of night."

"And do you court these ladies?" Zechs replied, polishing off his entree.

"Oui, Monsieur, when I am hungry," he smiled, pouring himself another glass of wine. "One must eat, and when tasty morsels are throwing themselves at your feet, who would be one to refuse?"

Zechs frowned a moment and then asked, "But... whatever do you tell their mothers -- afterwards, I mean? 'Yes your daughter was a vision in silk but unfortunately I had to kill her'?"

That gave Wufei something of a start as he picked at his supper and he looked up for the answer, as well.

"Sometimes, women run away," Treize explained. "And sometimes, they simply... wilt away from a sickness. Or, I don't kill them at all. It simple depends upon my mood at the time."

The golden face was thoughtful. "It is... a game to you, n'est-ce pas?"

"Yes." Sapphire eyes glittered. "When you reach my age, life does become a game, and mortals sometimes become toys to play with, as loathe as I am to admit it." Then his gaze touched upon Wufei, then Zechs. "Though there are lives that I would not dare to play with."

Tilting his head to the side, Wufei spoke up slowly. "And people like me?" he said. "Slaves and servants, whom no one would miss if they were gone? Do you eat them more often? I would think so. We are not important people. We do not matter, if we go missing. They set out rewards, they catch you or they don't, they beat you if you return... or they don't. Do you like the taste of it, monsieur? The fear you must find in people like me?" It sounded almost bitter; definitely upset.

"Wufei..." Zechs felt a sense of shock that left him somewhat dazed. Was this the way the boy felt about being here? About him? "I... I didn't know... had no idea... that you felt such a thing."

The boy continued rolling things around on his plate. "It is true, yes? Here is not so bad. Here is better than last place, and you are nice and... wo ai ni. But most, most are bad. Most, that is what they do, what they feel. And you, monsieur?" he said again, looking across at Treize. "Is that what it means to you? It does not mean that to him, I do not think. So you say there are lives you do not play with, but do you mean I am only safe from eaten because he loves me for now? And if he does not love me no more, then you eat me, too? Like you eat young girls?"

Treize sighed softly, watching the two of them. "Wufei, I've never killed a person who deep down, didn't want to die. Some have such a spark of life to them... that there's no question they wish to live, such as you."

Zechs had put down his fork and couldn't imagine picking it up any time soon. The boy's words were very troublesome and, at some level, they hurt dreadfully. And there was only one thing to be done about it. Staring at his napkin, the blond swallowed thickly and said, "You may have your freedom, Wufei."

Shocked expression turned to him, Wufei's mouth working momentarily before he spoke. When he did, his voice was dry, trembling slightly. "Would... I have to leave here? Leave you? If that is so, I would rather not have it... I did not mean to upset you, only...!"

"Why would you want to stay?" he asked softly looking up at the dark-eyed boy. "If you believe that what I feel for you is as fickle as you've said it might be, why on earth would you want to stay here?" Zechs looked back down at his plate. "It's not as if I would sell you to someone else who could be a monster. You would be free. Completely. To go your own way, to New Orleans, or the Spanish territories in the west, or even... back to Cathay... should you want to."

The sound of Wufei's chair scraping back on the floor sounded, face pale as almost black eyes filled slowly with tears. "I did not.. I no mean..." The sound of his voice warbled slightly as he stepped away from the table. "Do not WANT to leave!" he whispered frantically, flinging himself at Zechs's feet, arms wrapped tightly about the tall man's calves, face pressed against a knee. "Please no make me go! Please!"

The thought that Zechs might make him go or want him to go was terrible and he wept desperately. He had not meant any of those things at all, only his words were not very good, his grasp of language still shaky when he got excited, and the thought of all of those other people, held in slavery that was not so nice as his own, it upset him. The thought of being considered cattle by either of the two beautiful creatures at the table, considered nothing less than property as so many did, had overtaken him. "Please!"

Zechs put a hand to the boy's head, stroking dark hair and trying to soothe him. "Hush... hush now... I will not make you go anywhere if you wish to remain here. I only suggested it because you sounded so miserable and..." He cupped the boy's chin in his hand and tilted the damp face up to look at him. "You sounded as if you didn't believe that my feelings for you were truly real. I was only wondering why you would want to stay with such a man...?"

"People like me... cattle. Chattel, possession, nothing more to those who own them. Those who hunt them?" Black eyes darted momentarily towards the vampire and he gave a little sigh, laying his head once again on Zechs's knee. "I say, you different. Here not so bad, not like other. Do not speak well," he said mournfully. "Cannot say what mean right when feel... so much..."

The vampire watched all carefully. "I've only killed rich girls, child. Because they live privileged lives, and have lived too *much*. Servants and slaves haven't even lived."

Zechs brought the boy up into his lap. "Yes, after all, Wufei -- you are speaking very harshly towards a man you hardly know. He deserves a chance," Zechs murmured, giving Treize a soft, prolonged stare. "After all, he was in bed with us for quite awhile upstairs and hurt neither of us."

Ashamed, Wufei hid his face against Zechs's throat, remaining silent for a long moment. "Him is not man. Him is xixiejiangshi," he finally said miserably, as if that summed up the entire matter. "Him have something to do. Hell too hot for him, him claw his way back up and here him be. Wufei not understand." The more complicated it became, the more upset and unhappy he felt, the worse his words became, and he knew he was mangling it all terribly. It embarrassed him and he stopped speaking, eyes closed tightly.

Calmly, the vampire took another sip of wine. "I've never been to hell, Wufei -- I was once a boy, very much like yourself, a very long time ago."

Zechs kept his eyes on Treize, his own gaze soft and heated, as he stroked the boy's hair and back. "Yes, he was," the young master breathed, feeling himself stiffen under Wufei's warm bottom and thighs. "And so very, very beautiful, come from a people who knew nothing of beauty and grace. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him, walking through the forest with his kinfolk. And I was in hell until he came to me... then earth became paradise..."

At one level the Frenchman was stunned to be saying all of these things without ever having 'lived' them, but a deeper, more profound level, they had the aching beauty of truth to them and that was all that mattered.

The speech was startling and Wufei jumped slightly beneath Zechs's fingers. Confusion filled him and he looked up at the man, looking across at Treize and then back again. "You are monsters, together?" If Zechs was a monster, too.... He sighed deeply and relaxed in Zechs's arms. If Zechs was a monster, too, then it was all right, he supposed. He loved his master, he did, and if that was so, then he would love the blood-sucking demon, as well.

"Zechs is a reincarnation of my beloved," Treize spoke at length, as explanation. "He holds quite a few of his old memories."

The planter's cheeks reddened. He had been so caught up in it, and made a fool of himself in front of the vampire. Wrapping his arms more tightly around Wufei, he breathed into that scented hair, "No need to worry, cherie... no need to worry at all... love you so much..."

"Wo ai ni," Wufei murmured back, comforted to be in that grasp. "You promise, no hell?" he asked, looking across the table again. "Just boy? Pretty boy..." He blushed and offered the vampire a timid smile.

One that was returned, as he nodded and rose, to kneel on the other side of Zechs's chair. "I promise."

"Just as you are pretty, Wufei --so very, very pretty. Everything about you is lovely... and you make me want you so badly..." The blond broke off and stroked the boy's cheek and throat.

"I will try not to be so afraid, then," Wufei said, gaining control of himself. Curiosity was now more important than fear or misery and he reached out, fingers touching Treize's lips even as he enjoyed Zechs's fingertips on him.

Sapphire eyes flickered shut as Treize kissed those fingertips gently, before pulling them into his mouth to suckle upon. One hand slid back behind Zechs's, embracing his waist.

Zechs himself was simply enjoying watching the two of them. Both were so beautiful, in two very different ways, and to watch the changes in Wufei's pretty face as the vampire nursed delicate fingertips was so very, very arousing. He squirmed just the tiniest bit and went back to watching.

A little hiccough of a gasp sounded as Wufei's fingers touched the sharp edge of a tooth, black eyes widening to twice their size. "Sharp!" he said quickly, entranced by the feel and convexity of it -- that smooth suckling, light and very soft, and the hard honed edge of that tooth.

But it didn't draw blood, as he kept sucking lightly, tongue twining snake like around the digits before he drew back, gaze hazed with delight. "Wonderful."

Wufei's face was flushed as he laid his head beneath Zechs's chin, his own expression more than a little complacent as his fingers stroked Treize's chest, the back of Zechs's neck.

Today had been a wonderful day, he thought, with pleasure after pleasure, the promise of freedom, the sweetness of being held close... he even thought that the monster was, perhaps, not so bad after all! One thing was for certain -- he was much less scary than Mistress Noin! The thought of her sent a shudder down his spine, but his little smile did not fade, even as he closed his eyes and kissed Zechs's throat, almost purring.

Closing his eyes, Zechs let his head fall back at the touch of those lips, warm silk on damp skin. A small pleasured sound escaped him and he shifted in his chair, his erection ignored and aching between his legs. "Oh, mein Herr," he breathed. "Surely this is a dream, what you've brought us... A dream from which I never want to awaken..."

The vampire kissed the side of Zechs's shirt lightly. "I love you, Zechs. I want to make your world as good as I can, for you and Wufei..."

"You have," Zechs whispered, gazing into Treize's eyes. "Nothing seems real when you're around... it's all just a lovely fantasy... you make me hunger... for things I never knew existed..."

Sapphire eyes sparkled. "It is real, monsieur -- very real, as real as the boy is." The other hand rose to pet through Wufei's hair gently. "I'm here to feed your hungers."

Wufei's lips parted in a slow sigh, those fingers feeling wonderful against his scalp.

Zechs felt they were drifting... in some strange dream, both seductive and infernal. A little shiver passed through him and he could feel the fine cotton of his shirt graze against his nipples, now fully erect with Wufei's squirming. "Tell me, mein Herr," he breathed heavily, "do vampires still desire... do they still enjoy the pleasures of the flesh as humans do?"

"Yes," Treize purred, looking up to his blonde beloved. "Yes, we do, but it is different, the pleasures we feel, though no less than a human's."

"Why is it that when I see you, I become so... overwhelmed? Why do I want you so badly? You can't love me the way Wufei can... but... a part of me wants that just a badly as anything I've ever wanted..."

"Why can't I love you as your boy loves you?" he questioned at length. "I feel, just as humans feel."

Zechs blushed deeply and looked away from the elegant vampire. "It's just that... you don't seem to want that from me... from us..."

Sapphire eyes glittered wickedly. "I don't like to move fast -- it could frighten you or the boy. But if you are prepared..." He nuzzled Zechs side in a strange mixture of tenderness and roughness, still stroking through Wufei's hair. "I'm more than willing."

Listening to the conversation passing by him, Wufei remained still, liquid eyes on both of them steadily.

The planter turned to face the vampire, their lips brushing as he did. He stared into the beautiful eyes as if hypnotized and whispered, "Sometimes it feels as if I've been ready all my life... ready for you..." The he leaned forward barely an inch, and pressed his mouth to Treize's.

The vampire seemed to surge forward, a hand crawling up to tangle in Zechs's long hair, as he deepened the needy, wanting kiss into something that was almost more. More than just passion.

Fascination washed over Wufei's face as he watched them kiss, tongues tangling delicately between them. So pretty, to see men kissing, and he could feel his entire body tighten and tingle with the rush of it. Fingers crept up to fill with Zechs's long hair, a hand raising to lightly touch Treize's face with wonder.

A long, low moan came from the blond as his tongue warred passionately with Treize's, every part of him rising to meet the vampire and celebrate his kiss. His arm tightened around Wufei as well, wanting somehow to bring him into it but not knowing how -- whimpering in passion and frustration.

Head nestled against Zechs's throat, Wufei kissed the hollow lightly, glimmering eyes watching the other two. The sound of that whimper made him give one of his own, his hand moving to press his own erection even as he squirmed until he was more comfortable against Zechs's.

Slowly, Treize drew back, eyes glazed as his tongue darted out to lick pale lips, both his own and Zechs's. "I want you, Monsieur... I want you."

From far back in his mind, a tiny voice, nor more than a whisper, told Zechs they were in danger if they remained there. "N... not here," he managed to gasp between kisses and whimpers. "Out... out of the house... The gazebo... we should go there..."

As he spoke, there was a rumble of thunder outside.

The sound of it sent a shiver down Wufei's spine and he whispered, "Monsieur, if we go out there, we will be wet..."

"Perhaps we could retreat to your bedroom, then," Treize suggested, trying to find an even place between what the two wanted.

"No... It can't be in the house, Zechs murmured, standing up and putting Wufei's feet gently on the ground. "We have to go. *Now*. It's not yet raining and the gazebo will keep us dry." He took both of their hands and led them out the back door of the house, heading to the left past the kitchen building and onto the path toward the gazebo. Thunder trailed in their wake, accompanied now by flashes of lightning.

Thirty seconds after the back door closed, pale lamplight washed the staircase as Eugenie began her nightly survey of the house. And *this* time, she would even check that room belonging to that strange boy...

Carefully, Wufei stayed close to Zechs, legs moving quickly to keep up with the long strides the other two were taking. Each flash left him shivering, and he moved a bit closer, glancing up at the sky with dread. The spirits did *not* seem pleased at all!

But one spirit, or monster, walked beside them, as calm as he'd ever been, a sort of eager bliss seen on his features with each illuminating crash of light.

Fat, heavy drops of rain had just begun to fall when they reached the gazebo. Zechs stepped inside and silently blessed whatever slaves had decided to spend the night in it in the past, because on the floor were several large straw mats. There were matches and a lamp he kept there and now he walked over and lit it, turning it only part way so that a dim but golden glow filled the room.

It was then that the sky fell open. There was no wind to blow the rain into the gazebo, to wet them and their little straw mats, only a heavy curtain that would keep anyone from seeing them -- keep anyone from knowing that they were there.

"Master," Wufei whispered, moving closer. "Should we place out the mats?"

Treize stood against one supporting rail, arms crossed, as his gaze racked over both of them with barely concealed passion in his eyes; then he moved to start removing his shirt again.

Zechs had just turned from securing the lamp and a wave of heat passed through him at the sight of Treize undressing. "Place out... the mats?" he murmured, eyes locked on Treize's pale and powerful chest. "Whatever do you mean Wufei...?"

A single black brow rose slowly as Wufei politely pointed out, "It seems that the monster is undressing. I had assumed..." There was something of a little smile in that voice as he moved closer to Zechs. "I had assumed that you would want the mats out. And perhaps...." Fingers moved slowly up Zechs's own shirt to open a button, dark eyes rising to look at him without continuing to speak.

"Wufei wants you, too, it seems," Treize murmured, stepping closer. "You're a much desired man, monsieur..."

Zechs was finding it difficult to believe that he was there, in that secluded place, with two beautiful men who desired him every bit as much as he desired them. It seemed to heavenly to be true, and he whispered a tiny prayer that he wouldn't wake up, should he be dreaming. "Let me die and live this forever..." came the nearly silent breath. "Want you both... More than I can say..."

"Better that you should live," Wufei whispered, dropping his head to the nipple revealed by his limber fingers. "Much better by far..." The sharp nip and suck of that mouth was felt strongly, then, against Zechs's chest, tongue flattening over the little nub periodically.

Then, better still, a hand pushed Wufei over a little, but not so as to make him break contact, before another mouth fixed onto Zechs's other nipple, nipping there with razor-sharp teeth between sucklings. Treize knelt there, easily, with one hand stroking along Wufei's back, while the other worked to strip Zechs fully of his shirt.

"Ahhhhn! Mon Dieu! C'est si bon... mes anges... ahh, c'est si bon...*" Zechs's eyes had gone wide at the feeling of both of them there, suckling at him and now, as it went on and the feeling became more intense, his eyes drifted shut and all he could manage was trembling whimpers, cupping the backs of their heads and, finally, looking down at them there. So precious to him, and so terribly erotic...

Carefully, dark eyes raised, watching his master's pleasure with an innate delight even as he lapped tenderly at the little upthrust flesh. A whimper escaped him as he once again closed his mouth around that delightful heated piece to suckle, a hand moving down to caress Zechs's erection... and meeting Treize's on the way.

The vampire gave a shiver at the small hand pressed against his heavy arousal, through the cloth of his pants, groaning around the little bit of flesh in his mouth. It took all of his control to not bite down, bite it off, so he only gave in a little -- let his teeth nick it to suckle tiny droplets of blood as he pleasured the other man there, his hand still resting on Wufei's back and Zechs's side as he rocked his hips gently towards the slave-boy's hand.

Zechs had given in to feeling of it completely and had his head thrown back, eyes closed in pleasure at the intensity of the stimulation. Only one frustration remained, so he slipped his hand between his body and those of his partners and grasped his own dripping shaft.

With a little whine, Wufei's mouth moved farther down, the bared belly giving him access to delicious skin as he knelt. The faint smell of Zechs's skin, a musk peculiarly his own, slightly sweet, rose from the tangled bed of hair almost directly across from him, and he moaned softly. Carefully, still caressing the vampire, he leaned across and kissed the tip, tongue flickering out momentarily with curiosity.

The vampire gave a shiver of delight, as he moved from one sluggishly bleeding nipple to the other one, which he also pricked and began to drink little tidbits from. /Perfect, all mine.../

Tiny, ragged breaths were all the blond man could manage until he felt his knees giving out, the pleasure too intense. "Can't stand..." he panted. "Falling... too much... oh, please help me..."

Wufei couldn't help the little feeling of smugness that overtook him as his hands went to support Zechs so that he wouldn't fall, mouth never once parting from that delicious golden flesh even as he continued to suck at it.

Slowly, Treize drew his head from the golden chest, hazed but still brilliant sapphire eyes drifting lazily to look into Zechs's eyes. "You're beautiful..."

Azure eyes made heavy-lidded with pleasure stared back at him in complete adoration. "Please... let us lie down... I want you both in my arms..."

Reluctant to draw away, Wufei moved, lips beautifully carmine as he laid out the straw mats, making it possible for them to lay down as his master wanted, but the thick member didn't go untouched, as Treize dropped down to take the weeping head into his lips.

"Mon Dieu!" Zechs cried. "I... I can't..." His knees began to buckle under him, so intense was the feeling. "Treize, please..." and then things slid out of his control and he felt himself falling.

It wasn't far, really, because Wufei was still just behind him from laying out the mats. He tumbled atop the slim Chinaman, bringing an exclamation of surprise even as arms moved around him quickly to keep them from falling farther.

Treize only slid forward a little, arms tight around Zechs's waist, letting him down gently -- no need to hurt that sweet bottom Zechs carried. Slowly, Treize pulled back. "This would be better without clothing..."

Zechs sighed happily to finally be in a position where the room didn't keep spinning on him. He reached up and pulled Wufei's head down, claiming the sweet mouth in a long, passionate kiss while his other hand tugged at Treize. "Mmm, yes," he said breathlessly as he let Wufei go, "you're both wearing far too many clothes."

To make the point obvious, he toed off his long boots and then slid his hands under the waistband of his breeches, raising his hips and stripping them off effortlessly. All that remained was his soft, white shirt that had slipped off of his shoulders. Resting his head against Wufei's chest, fingers stroking one of the boy's nipples softly, he looked down the length of a lean, golden body at the vampire. "Oh, do hurry, mein Herr," he breathed, "waiting is such agony..."

Whimpering, Wufei's trembling hands moved to attempt the fastenings of his breeches only to find his fingers incapable of pulling anything loose. Sighing deeply, he simply relaxed and closed his eyes, enjoying Zechs's touch. Everything was so absolutely deliciously perfect....

A light hand touched Wufei's firm bottom, stroking before it slipped around and began to undo the fastenings for him, while his other hands untied the leather that held his own pants shut, toeing off his boots with long known skill.

"You're both such luscious creatures of Beauty," Treize drawled, as he stepped gracefully out of the pants that had fallen to his ankles, nothing more than shining white skin to be seen as he knelt beside the two. "Let me pleasure you, Monsieur..."

Zechs arched his back in pleasure and pushed back a little, loving the feel of Wufei's erection against his back. "Ah, mein Herr..." he breathed. Then, looking up at Wufei with a dreamy expression he added, "And my sweet little man... I want you both *so* much... need you both... love you *both*..." As his breath came a little more heavily he writhed with anticipated pleasure. "Please, please... ahhhh, *kiss me*, Wufei... and oh, Treize... my love..."

Soft lips came down and met Zechs's, dark hair swinging forward to hide his golden face, tickling at his jaw as Wufei kissed him from what was almost upside down, Wufei behind him just so. It was difficult and fun and the shift and motion of lip not quite meeting lip left him with a little sigh of pleasure that seemed to unfurl and expand infinitely deep in his belly even as he managed to squirm and slide slightly loose from the pants that Treize had, thankfully, undone for him.

Watching intently the little bundle of passion the two made, Treize stroked a hand languidly over his cock, savoring the pleasure; his other hand moved to mirror it on Zechs. "Would you be so kind as to let me taste your seed again? It is, Zechs, as addictive as blood."

"Mmm, oh yes! Please, Treize. I don't want to miss either one of you!" He pulled Wufei over him again, claiming the warm, sweet mouth with his own. At the same time he arched up against Treize's cool hand, reaching down to stroke the vampire as well. It was all such erotic perfection, and the three of them made a perfect group. Nothing could be better -- could it?

It could, somewhat, for Wufei parted long enough to strip himself bare and then came back, heated skin pressed to Zechs's, a complete contrast to the chill of Treize's as he kissed the blond with perfect slow strokes of tongue and mouth. "Laoshi..." he breathed, shivering, fingers caressing that face. "Oh, my Master. Wo ai ni..."

Treize slid down, shifting so as not to lose the feel of Zechs's hand on his erection, as he moved to that he could pull the head of Zechs's heavy erection between his colorless lips. The contrast of marble against Zechs's natural golden coloring was exquisite as he lowered his head onto it.

The young planter felt as though Wufei were opening his very soul with his kisses and he moaned softly, the only way he could tell his lovely boy not to stop. He gave soft squeezes to the rose-dark nipples and then arched up into the cool recess of the vampire's mouth. His other hand gave a tight squeeze to the long shaft in his hand and a delicious feeling of completeness washed over him, They were all connected in the most intimate ways possible.

Little thrusts pressed Wufei's erection tightly against Zechs as he whined softly into the other man's mouth, each delicate pinch leaving him an aching, writhing creature of pure pleasure. He never once stopped the delicious kissing that he so loved, only continued, eyes half-shut with the wonder of it, trembling deliciously with want.

While Treize pleasured the blond with his tongue, the urge to drink deeply came again; stirred on by the frantic movements of Wufei, the scent of mortality in the air. His teeth dropped, just a little, enough to prick skin and let him taste blood as he sucked deeply at Zechs's erection.

Zechs gave a sharp cry, born of pain and a dark and eerie pleasure. /Ah, mon Dieu... to be sucked... *there*... oh Treize you *sweet* and terrifying man!/

"Wufei... je t'aime... Wufei et Treize... mes anges... ahhhh..."

Sweet words, rolling over Treize's ears as he teased his tongue against Zechs's slit, where semen would soon gush from, still suckling to gain the sweet blood from those nicks. Just a little, but it let him feel the ragged throb of Zechs's pulse, hard and needing.

Through his own whimpers, Zechs could hear strange whispers, soft cries that seemed to come from someplace far away. He strained to hear what they said, but the more he listened, the more meaningless it became. Then the soft throbbing took over and before he knew what was happening he was overwhelmed by an intensely powerful release, crying out with each wave that crashed over him. stroking Treize in time with his own passion.

Slowly, oh, so slowly!, Wufei's eyes opened and he watched, half-dazed, as his master arched, thrashed beneath the depth of pleasure that seemed to have overtaken him entirely. His own body rubbed slowly against Zechs's side, his hands stroking that warm flesh wonderfully even as he sighed and kissed Zechs yet again, almost purring with the wonder of it.

The heady mixture of blood and semen flooded his mouth, and Treize swallowed, languidly, sated by the flavor as he let Zechs softened member slip from his lips, then laid his head against the blond's warm thigh. "Gorgeous."

The strange and intimate touch of the vampire made Zechs moan softly as silky brown hair fell against the tender skin of his inner thigh. "What of your release, monsieur... and yours, Wufei? Tell me what you want and... ah, I swear I'll give it to you."

Shyly, Wufei continued to kiss Zechs's lips and said nothing, his hands stroking blissfully down that body as he nestled close, eyes half-closed. He was in awe --awe of his master, awe of the vampire, awe of the pleasure. It was too much and too delicious and he thought, somehow, that he would die if it became any better.

"Would you let me enter you, Zechs?" Treize purred richly, the air expelled with his words gusting warmly over Zechs's soft member. Languidly, he moved a hand to cup Wufei's bottom.

"Mmmm... that would be paradise, sweet man... oh yes... yes..." His voice trailed off in pleasure as he began slowly to nuzzle Wufei's neck.

A low whine was the result, Wufei practically melting between them. "Please..."

Treize shifted carefully, regretting the loss of Zechs's touch on him. "How much preparation do you require?" he asked, rich voice husky as he moved with ghostly grace to press against Zechs's back.

"Take me as I am," the young Frenchman said, voice hoarse with desire. He was trailing light kisses and small nips along the caramel-colored skin of his former slave, savoring every creamy inch. Now he pressed backwards, inviting impalement and the strange painful pleasure he knew would come.

The pre-cum that wept from the head of his throbbing erection was pinkish, and he rubbed that at Zechs's entrance before starting to press in, slim hands grasping Zechs's shoulders.

"Ah... Zechs... Vasari... My love."

Zechs had been staring up at Wufei with half-lidded eyes when the vampire entered him. Nothing that he'd known before, in the brief explorations he'd allowed with his beloved captain had prepared him for the length and the fullness of this man. "Mon Dieu!," he cried out, eyes widening at Wufei, and then small tears ran down his cheeks as his body adjusted and the pain faded into an intense but subtle pleasure, like none he'd ever known.

Soft sweet lips tasted those salty trails, kissing them away as Wufei watched Zechs, gaze warm and wanton. "You see, why I fear, why I am afraid of hurt," he whispered slowly, kissing the tall blond's mouth with the taste of tears still upon his lips. "It is very good when good, yes?"

Luke-warm lips pressed tenderly at Zechs's neck. "I'll hold still for you, beloved. Tell me when you are ready."

The blond man sighed and felt his body relax further, causing Treize to slip farther into him. "Ah, such heaven... to be with both of you this way... oh, *now* Treize... do it *now*..." As he said it he leaned forward and begged another kiss from the lovely boy in front of him.

Those soft kisses pressed again and again to Zechs's lips as Wufei pressed against him, chest to chest, a thigh rubbing at the juncture where Zechs's erection was coming to life once again. Hands cupped his face, fingers tracing gently over features and through long strands of hair. "Ahh... wo ai ni, je... t'a...dore."

"How much... can you stand, my love?" Treize asked softly, kissing at Zechs's neck as he made a slow stroke within the blonde's tight clasp.

"Everything you can give me, mon cher... I want it all..." He said this through small, soft whimpers at Wufei's touches. They were so light, so tender, and the man behind him promised pleasure in the extreme, given he could tolerate it. The feeling was one of complete delirium.

Arms crept about his neck, holding him tightly as Wufei kissed him again, fingers pressed to the cool flesh of the vampire behind him. "Master..."

At the back of Zechs's neck there was a familiar prick of teeth as Treize began to rock steadily, fastening his mouth onto the skin there to suckle lightly as he thrust.

And then, carefully, he began to weave a feeling to convey to his lover -- not words spoken, but just an over-whelming blanket of need and want.

/Ah, strange indeed,/ Zechs thought, /How we seem to speak to each other, without words... was this what we had... so long ago... oh, I loved you, didn't I...? And I love you still.../

Again, with the piercing of his skin, came the strange whispers, soft cries, and voices that seemed to be on the edge of perception. Zechs wanted so badly to understand them, but comprehension eluded his grasp and he gave it up, sinking into a fevered bliss -- drawn into kisses from one direction, and guided from the other to a strangely erotic joining, twice penetrated, with sharp teeth and a long, thick shaft.

And the young blond man could only moan.

Wonderful noise to the Vampire's ears, as he brought his free-hand around Zechs's body to his front, to grasp his erection and Wufei's in a loose grasp, stroking them together. /Let us all be linked, my love.../

Zechs could feel the desire building, wanton and blistering, until it threatened to overwhelm him. /No... no surely... my heart can't take all this... I'll die from this much pleasure if.../ But his thoughts were cut short as the urge press came over him -- both backwards on to Treize, and forwards against Wufei. Pulling Treize with him, he wrapped his arms around Wufei so that they were all three close together, warm and safe -- completely self-contained...

"Ah, mes anges... I cannot wait... I... ahhhn!" The sweetest, most intense release he'd ever known began to sweep over him, pulling him higher and then leaving him to drop breathlessly to earth again.

The warm sticky seed spilled between Wufei's thighs left him sighing recklessly, tiny dollops of kisses thieving away part of what little breath Zechs managed to gain. Words of love spilled, softly sussurating in that whimpered wash of language his master did not know. /Love you... ah, yes.../

A few more deep sucks of blood, that heady draught, and Treize came inside of Zechs's warm clench, spilling pinkish fluid, as cool as the rest of his body, into his blond lover. "Heavens..."

Zechs barely managed to tear his mouth from Wufei's before giving a startled cry at the cool fluid flowing into him. For a moment he turned his face toward Treize's chest, feeling color flood his cheeks and not quite understanding why. Then, panting softly, he murmured, "Only our lovely little boy left, Treize... how shall we give him his pleasure...?"

Flustered, Wufei pressed his face against Zechs's shoulder, a hand rising to touch the nipple so close to him.

As he gently withdrew his member -- which didn't feel much softer than it had before -- Treize whispered to the boy, "How would you like your pleasure, Wufei?"

Ebony eyes wandered back and forth between them, uncertain and almost shy before he spoke. "Would you touch me?" he said slowly, looking away. "Touch me everywhere... touch me in all places... please..."

"Mmmm... yes my sweet boy," Zechs murmured as he moved behind the boy, essentially presenting him to the vampire. "I will take the back, mein Herr, and you may take the front, n'est-ce pas Wufei?"

Wufei nodded slowly, breathlessly, closing his eyes as his heart became a trip-hammer in his ears.

Faced with a raging erection and sweetly parted lips, Treize could only savor the sight. "Beautiful..." A shift downwards, and he was able to puff air across the head of Wufei's erection. "Such a sweet boy."

"Mmmm... my little beauty," Zechs purred softly, his lips barely touching Wufei's ear. He pressed himself with exquisite slowness against the boy's body, pressing slender legs apart with gentle presses of his thighs. As his shaft rubbed against the small, tight bottom, he could feel himself harden yet again and the thought of pressing into the boy brought a low hum of pleasure to him. But that could wait... for now he focused on caressing every inch of skin he could see, running long, warm fingers down Wufei's neck to his shoulders... his back, and slowly his touches worked their way down even further...

Sighs leaked from within him as he shifted between the man and the vampire, tilting his head back against his adored master's body. He arched and shifted between them, their touches a glory, his blood a frantic throbbing beat that echoed wildly in the stiff erection between his legs, sounded in the little moans and cries he gave with every touch.

Teasing at the boy's erection for long enough, Treize shifted back up once more, to fasten his mouth onto on firm little nipple, while his hand danced down to tug at the boy's stiffness.

As he did, Zechs's wandering hands caressed the tight globes of Wufei's bottom, squeezing them gently, very slowly spreading them apart with his fingers, while he trailed open-mouthed kisses down the houseboy's neck. "Mmmm, je t'aime mon petit... tu est si beau... Tu as volé mon coeur...*"

"Shi..." Wufei whimpered, quietly affirmative. "Shi, shi..."

Lightly, Treize nicked the nipple he sucked on, drawing a thin bead of blood. /So luscious... like a feast of flesh spread out before me.../

"Ah!!" Wufei cried, shuddering at that sharp pleasureful pain.

Zechs rested his head against Wufei's dark hair. A warmth washed over him as he watched the vampire suckling and he reached an arm around the boy, tangling his fingers in Treize's hair and pressing his head to Wufei's nipple. It was almost as if he could feel that suckling tongue through the boy's body and he gasped, softly, rocking a very hard erection against the creamy cleft of Wufei's buttocks.

Mouth falling open in a loud mon, Wufei rocked himself back, cradled between warmth and the most delicious cool he could have ever imagined feeling. "Monsieur," he whimpered breathlessly, feeling his heated cock clasped between the vampire's cold thighs. "Master... PLEASE!"

Those suckling lips drew forth more blood, while both hands, luke-warm at best, wrapped themselves around Wufei's erection, their touch spreading everywhere.

Zechs watched it all in a dreamy silence, gradually running his hand through his own seed that had collected on his belly and smoothing it over his aching shaft. He took a little more on his fingers and gently spread Wufei's cheeks apart, slickening the hot little entrance he found between them before sliding first one, then two fingers slowly into the dark-haired boy.

"AHHH!" The cry rang out to the rafters of the gazebo, echoing back slightly from the trees so nearby. Wufei clenched tightly around those fingers, deliciously sore from the day's other glorious activities, head tossed back against Zechs as he shifted minutely, shuddering. It felt so good and made him want to scream. He was still slightly oil-wet, and that made it even better, for he rocked on those fingers wildly, thrusting into the cool hands that touched him, a mindless creature of pure pleasure by then.

To know that the mindlessness was being enforced by *both* himself and Zechs was heady, to know the blond man was as wonderful to the senses as he was... Pulling back from Wufei's nipple, the tang of blood still on his lips, he gazed up Wufei's clean visage. "You're so beautiful, child..."

"Oh, you *are,*" the Frenchman echoed. He pulled his fingers out gently and positioned himself at Wufei's trembling entrance. "You belong with us now, my love," he whispered at one delicate ear and pushed into Wufei in a long, smooth thrust. "All ours to love and enjoy... to give you more pleasure than you can stand..."

Wufei cried out at that penetration, trembling between them from their touch and their words. "Please," he whimpered, shoving back against Zechs. "Please, master... blood-drinker... Ah!"

'Blood-drinker' was a better name than 'monster', and it pleased Treize greatly to be called the lesser of two insults. One hand slid back between Wufei's legs, a finger rubbing where Wufei and Zechs were joined. "Nothing but pleasure here."

Behind Wufei, Zechs groaned softly at the feeling of Treize's finger. Then he opened his eyes and stared dreamily at Treize, taking in the beautifully handsome face, the pale, sculptured body, and the pleasured expression on his face. One of his hands slid down to hold Wufei's hip steady, allowing him to quicken his pace and harden his thrusts. The other hand strayed up to Treize's hair, a thumb trailing down his cheek to brush cool lips. "Look at him, Wufei," he whispered, eyes still on Treize. "Beauty beyond this world... wouldn't you say...?"

Beneath the onslaught of thrust and withdrawal, fast, heavy, delicious, Wufei was beyond looking just then. Every touch seemed magnified impossibly, every caress a world's worth of intense pleasure, and he was swallowed whole by it, hands pressed to the cool chest before him as he cried out in short panting moans.

"Sweet boy..." Treize leaned up to take those lips in his, to swallow whole those out-cries. They reverberated in his chest as he pressed closer to Wufei, still stroking the boy's organ.

Zechs let his hands drop to the boy's hips and gave up thinking of anything but thrusting. Wufei was so tight, so warm, and his little sounds so rewarding...

Long, golden strands fell over the planter's face as his thrusts became longer, deeper, and now he could only moan at each stroke, the pleasure was so intense.

A ragged groan burst from Wufei, and another, and another. With yet one more deep stroke, the touch of cool fingers upon his cock, he spilled his seed in a wash of pearlescent fluid, all in those cool hands and upon the vampire's body, shuddering between the two.

Pulling back from Wufei's mouth with lips that were now tinged pink with friction, Treize smiled wickedly. "You enjoyed it immensely," he purred.

Out of the other two's immediate attention, Zechs whimpered, almost silently, and then felt a shudder run through him as he filled the boy, a soft gasp at each wave of pleasure. "Sacre bleu!" he said softly.

Panting, Wufei lay between them, eyes remaining closed, body still at last and mind lost in sweetly peaceful fields of pure pleasure.

A cool hand gently squeezed Zechs's buttock, caressing. "Pleasured yet, my love?"

"Yes," Zechs murmured softly. "Yes I am."

Just then, there was the sound of footsteps, sloshing down a path near them. Then a voice came out of the darkness. "Seigneur! Où êtes-vous? Seigneur!"

"Zut alors!" Zechs cursed softly. "That's Guy. Wait here, please, I'll talk to him." He stood a little unsteadily, threw on his breeches and shirt and left the gazebo.

That left Wufei alone with the demon, and he wasn't very sure how he felt about that at all. "Well, demon. It is you and me," he whispered

"How very true," Treize agreed softly, trying to keep himself from being heard by his beloved's man-servant. "Be silent, just now..."

That quiet reprimand brought Wufei to silence and he closed his eyes, a little frown-line marking the space between his brows to match the one that grew upon his face.

"We do not want Zechs to be found out," he whispered before settling down to lay very silently.

Outside, the rain was still falling heavily, although the thunderstorm seemed to have passed. Zechs could hear Guy off to his right and called to him through the darkness. "Guy? Je suis ici! Près du gazebo!"

There was a sound of bushes being walked through and then a small, bobbing light came into view. Seeing it, Zechs stepped further away from the gazebo.

"Seigneur!" The older man called out, plodding closer, lantern swinging. "Why are you out here, Master?"

"I needed air -- the house was becoming oppressive. The rain felt good when it was lighter, but when it got heavy I decided to stay in here," he said nodding vaguely to the gazebo. "Now, why are *you* out I must ask?"

"Eugenie has disappeared!" Guy exclaimed. "She's gone missing!"

"Eugenie? Ah, mon Dieu!" Zechs ran a hand over his face, surreptitiously splashing the cool water on himself, trying to think clearly. "Is someone with Lady Noin?"

"Not right now, sir," Guy uttered, obviously taking the conversation to catch his breath again. "She still sleeps, though."

"Someone should be with her if she wakes," the planter murmured. "Guy, I'd like you to return to the house and watch over her, please. I will continue the search for Eugenie. Go now, quickly please."

"Of course, sir," Guy uttered, turning away as quickly as he could manage. "I'll keep watch over her for you."

Zechs watched as the light disappeared then turned and headed up the gazebo stairs. He called softly to his companions. "Mes anges -- Noin's maid has disappeared. I must look for her, but I bid you stay and enjoy the shelter, for the rain is still very hard." The was a slight pause and then, softer, "Je nous aime..." Then he disappeared into the rain.

Treize chuckled so very slightly as he watched Zechs disappear into that rain. "Child, *you* stay here -- for I will be more able to find her than any of them would be." Already he moved to pull his pants back on, covering pale flesh.

Slowly, Wufei shifted, pulling his own clothes to him as he sat up. "I am afraid of Eugenie," he said solemnly, mouth trembling slightly. "She frightens me. I do not want to find her."

"Then remain here," Treize soothed. "And you will not see her."

"But what if she comes here?" Wufei asked, frowning. "I should not like to be alone with her. She does not like me."

"I'll sense her before that happens," Treize assured.

"But you will be GONE!" Wufei exclaimed, shivering as he pulled on his shirt. /And I am AFRAID to go to the house by myself!/

"Wait here, and I will be back shortly."

And then he was gone.

"[Wait here, the blood-sucker says,]" Wufei announced to himself sullenly in Mandarin, scowling. "[The blood-drinker doesn't think, but then, who could hurt a hurt demon from hell!]" So saying, he finished dressing and curled up sleepily to wait.

*I love you... You're so beautiful...You've stolen my heart.

The pounding of the rain woke Noin from a frightening dream. She had been on a boat -- the one they had taken to come to America from France. She was watching Zechs who was standing on the bow of the ship, admiring him, as she always did. The next second she had felt her stomach lurch and the boat dipped down into the trough of a huge wave. The last thing she remembered seeing was the crest of that monster engulf her husband...

"Zechs!!" She woke with a start and looked wildly around the room. Zechs wasn't there, but perhaps he was in his own rooms. Without thinking, she got up and ran to his chambers, but they were empty. Padding further down the gallery, she knocked at Eugenie's room, but again, there was no one there. "St. Genevieve, and the Lady Mary, protect me," she murmured weakly, listening for any sound from the floor below, but none was forthcoming.

"Zechs!" she whispered to herself, "I have to find Zechs!" Not bothering to get dressed, she started down the stairs and out the back door, into a world she had shunned for over a year, the dripping swampland to the side and back of the house; a swampland turning treacherous with torrential rain.

Noin walked slowly, with a somewhat eerie calm, down the pathway that led away from the right side of the house, away from the gazebo. "Mon cher!" she called lightly, not seeming to care about the rain at all. She was so wet that her filmy nightgown was clinging to her body, revealing every curve, the dark mound of her pubis, and the stiff nipples hardening from the slight chill of the rain. She smiled down at them in a dreamy way, bringing her hands up to brush fingers over the sensitive nubs and then squeezing them and sighing. Pulling loose the ribbon that closed her gown, she moved the cloth aside and held her breasts up, as if offering them to the rain. As heavy drops found each nipple, Noin sighed and squirmed in a strange ecstasy. She spent several minutes doing this, before walking further along the path, leaving her breasts out to catch the caressing raindrops. "Zechs? Mon cher? Oh, come quickly, Zechs," she called, voice heavy with arousal. "I need you..."

"You should be inside your house, Madame," came an unfamiliar voice from behind her.

Slowly the Mistress of Cypress House turned and saw a pale face hanging in the air behind her. It didn't occur to her to be frightened. After all -- it was only a ghost. "Ahh, l'homme fantastique, n'est-ce pas? But who could it be... so dashing... "I know!" she clapped her hands together in delight. "The master of this land before my husband, yes?! The noble sea captain he told me about! Imagine, the ghost of a *captain*... You must have talked to my little boy, Michel! Oh, tell me about Michel! Where is he? And where is his beautiful father?"

/Let the woman think what she will.../ "Michel is in the skies, Madam, enjoying himself like any child should. Your husband looks for the lost servant."

"Servant?" she replied absently. "My husband is looking for..." Her face hardened suddenly and she narrowed her eyes. "That *boy* you mean? That boy ran out in the storm so that my beloved would try to find him? Horrible slut! He'll get them both killed!" Her eyes flashed with anger and then, after a few moments, faded to being calm, if somewhat confused. "Will you come dance with me in the rain, mon capitain? Zechs will be so pleased to see you, but hostesses always dance with the guest of honor." She made a small curtsy, ran her hands over her breasts then held one of them out for Treize to kiss.

Treize bowed in return, a languid flourish to the movement, but didn't kiss her breast. "It would be as wrong for me to kiss your chest, Madam, as it would be to do the same to your husband." /And that wrong is far more enjoyable than this one would be./

Noin laughed softly and twirled once in the rain. "But you're a ghost, monsieur! That wouldn't be the same. Besides, you wouldn't do that my husband, now would you?" her eyes twinkled, but something behind them had stirred and was beginning to awaken.

"Such a thing would be crude and unmanly," he assured. "But ghosts, we cannot dance."

"Such a shame... well then," Noin said, the glint in her eyes growing stronger. "Take me to Michel then. Take me to where he is and I'll forgive you for not dancing with me..." Again a series of little light steps which she ended by looking over at the vampire with a strange, demented expression. "Take me to Michel..." she whispered.

"I cannot take you to your son, Madame -- you still live and breathe. And it is not yet your time to stop those chores," he murmured evenly.

Noin's dancing slowed to a stop and she held a hand to her head for a moment. "No..." she murmured, "No... that's not the problem. The problem is that my husband hides him, n'est-ce pas? He put him at first in the doll room and that was good because I could find him whenever I needed to..."

Her face took on a vaguely anxious expression and she ran her hands over her breasts again, looking as if she was using them for comfort. "But he's taken him somewhere else now -- somewhere out here..." There was sudden rise in her voice that spoke of panic. "I have to find him, monsieur! I have to find my darling Michel! If I don't, his head will come off! Do you hear me? His head! His precious little head!"

Noin's face took on a stricken look and she cradled her arms as if she held a baby in them. "It was so unfair of them to take away his head... and... and they tried to sew it up into me, but I tore the stitches out and took his head out and kissed it. So unfair... so very unfair..."

That struck him just then, a solution to it all. "Madam, he is free just now -- up in the heavens, with God."

"With God...?" she asked, falling into confusion. "But... but I will get him back, n'est-ce pas? It's his feeding time soon," she said, looking down at her breast and then raising her hands to cup them. "I have what he needs... everything my Zechs needs, right here..." She gave no outward sign that she had changed the name of the one she intended to feed.

"Go back into the house, Madam," Treize murmured with well-concealed disgust, "and go to sleep -- when you awaken, your child will have returned to you. The angels will bring him back."

"Oh, that's very good then..." Noin wore a strange smile as she curtsied to
the strange ghost and turned to go back toward the house.

The gazebo wasn't so far away, and he re-entered it silently, quietly befuddled.

There, he found Wufei, curled in the center upon the straw mats and shivering in the now-cool damp air. The boy had fallen asleep there as he waited, and was huddled beneath one of the mats to try and warm himself slightly.

Gentle arms lifted him, holding him close to a body that was luke-warm at best, but it was one that absorbed in Wufei's heat, radiating it back to him. "Poor little thing..."

A slow sigh broke parted lips and Wufei nuzzled closer, almost purring so low and steady was the little sound of pleasure he made at becoming deliciously warm once again. It was a change, and that brought him to wakefulness as he dragged open heavy eyelids and looked up. "Ahh, it is you. You did come back, and she did not get me, so I must forgive you for leaving me where she could," he explained as if speaking to himself.

"Zechs has found her, and I was forced to see that the mistress of the house returned to the house," he murmured quietly, leaning his back against the edge of one of the gazebo seats. "I'd thought her mad before, but now I am assured it is so."

"She is terribly frightening," Wufei agreed, a bit nervous to be so close to the vampire but enjoying the warmth it helped him to produce very much. "She chased me once and scared me badly."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he murmured. "She thinks me to be the ghost of the captain whose land this was."

"She is not just right," was the reply, Wufei's nose wrinkling before he closed his eyes sleepily again. "She is not good enough for him."

"Not good enough for him, at all," he murmured. "We will await his return here." /And if it looks like morning will come first, I will put you in your room./

With a little sigh, Wufei went back to sleep, head resting carefully against Treize's chest.

Treize would simply have to wait.

Zechs had walked to the edge of the pond that lay at the heart of his property. His eyes had grown so used to the darkness that even with the heavy cloud cover he could make out Michel's tiny crypt. The rain was streaming over his eyes, but it looked as if there were a figure near the small structure. /Could that be her? But if it is, what would she be doing all the way out here?/

Trying to shield his eyes from the rain, Zechs began making his way, slowly, across the water-soaked ground towards the figure.

"Pardonnez-moi!" he called, still some distance from the huddled shape. "What are you doing there?"

For a moment, the hunched body remained so, neither shifting nor moving until a quick flash of lightning revealed that it was a woman, wet hair straggling down her back and across her face.

Eugenie.

She was wretched-looking and Zechs moved quickly as he could over the swampy ground, coming to kneel beside her and trying to look up into her face. "Eugenie? What is wrong? Why are you out here on such a night?"

"Demon!" she hissed, standing straight, clutching the wooden cross hung around her neck tightly. "You do not fool me, monsieur! I can *see* you for the demon that you will become!"

Zechs backed away from her, warily, "What are you talking about? I came out here to find you. Your absence from the house was noted and you *should* be near your mistress, should she need you. What are you doing here?" The last he said in a much more forceful tone, noting her scratched and soiled hands.

Sullen gaze looked back at him, her eyes serious. "You know what I mean, monsieur. She knows; your wife. We are aware that you consort with demons, that they sometimes look like you. You must fight, monsieur. You must resist!"

/Damn you, woman! I will not have everything I've ever hoped for taken away
by *you*!/

Zechs moved towards her, hoping he looked properly menacing. "You've been out in the rain too long, Eugenie. You're starting to speak nonsense. There is nothing I have to 'resist', mademoiselle, other than servants who try to infect others with their superstitious ways. And I will *not* tolerate you spreading rumors about the people who visit me."

The planter had never before actually *wanted* to kill anyone. He had killed men while in the Navy, but only because he was ordered to. This was different. The woman seemed like a threat, and the very idea of her getting at Treize or especially Wufei was flatly unacceptable. Without a doubt he knew at that moment -- he would kill to protect either one of them, and the thought made him feel slightly sick.

"Yes," she whispered, eyes gleaming with fear as she stepped back, still clutching her cross. "The demons have a hold on you! Monsieur, for the sake of your wife, you must fight!"

Resisting the urge to reach out and strangle the woman, Zechs instead remembered Treize's style, and did his best to copy it. He crossed his arms and stared at her, taking another step forward. "How do you know, Eugenie? How do you know the demons have a hold on me, as you put it...?"

"I am no fool, monsieur," she said in a low voice, watching him carefully. "The mark of the beast is upon you; upon your throat, bruised as it is. You cannot deny it."

He took another step towards her, nearly within arm's reach, and narrowed his eyes a bit. "Foolish woman. You don't know a thing about that of which you speak. You look for omens and mysteries everywhere, but they elude you, so you have to bring them here, to my plantation!" Taking a deep breath, Zechs thought for a moment and then smiled. "I can show you who made these marks, mademoiselle. Perhaps you would like a set of them, too..."

Her faded blue eyes flew open even wider, the rain dripping down the back of her dress as she shuddered. "Monsieur, surely you would not..." Those words somehow belied her earlier statements, her belief in him and his demons, sounding as if she now believed him a decent human being. "You cannot! For I have the protection of the Lord, my God, upon my side!"

"I don't think God has anything to do with this." His voice was strange, weary -- the voice of someone who has given up the fight and given in to the power that came for him. He felt himself suddenly detached, in a odd sort of way, from his body and their conversation.

"You don't understand it at all, don't know what's behind it. And all your superstitions won't help you." He had walked a few step closer and now took her chin in his hand. "How much is your immortal soul worth to you, mademoiselle? What would it take for you to give it up...?"

She gasped, mouth partially open as she stared at him with a mingled fear and lust that was impossible to deny. "My God," Eugenie whimpered, the water seeping down her cheeks more than rain. "My God! Save me!"

Zechs gripped the back of her head, angry that she insisted on carrying on like she was. "He won't hear you, mademoiselle," he growled softly. "He won't hear you because He's not *here!*" He was staring into her eyes now, not knowing why he was speaking, almost as if it was someone else using his voice...

"You stupid people, crying out for God at every little shadow. If you would take the time to look into those shadows you wouldn't *believe* what you would find. Mystery, ecstasy, it's all there. But your kind lose their heads and attack... and you never see the wonder of it... because you're too afraid and you strike out at it in blind ignorance."

She trembled wildly in his grasp, whimpering with the fright he brought on her, the sudden wash of sheer eroticism that left her thighs wet with the most delicious of wet juices. "Please!" she gasped in fear, weeping terribly. "Please!"

For the moment, the young planter was gone. The gentle young man who was patient and long-suffering had given way to someone much more forceful. "WHy do you deny yourself what you know you want?" Zechs asked her, his voice low and persuasive. "It makes no sense to be miserable until you die, and then expect to be happy. Isn't it more of a crime to ignore, even destroy, the beauty and pleasure that can be had here on earth? Why are you so adamantly opposed to bliss?"

"You speak with forked tongue!" she whispered frightenedly. "I see now why the mistress says you walk with demons, why she claims that the demons pretend to be you! There have never been any pretending demons, only you, monsieur, you, so wicked! You have driven her to the madness, you have sacrificed that dear woman's soul to Satan! It is you!" Eugenie cried, trying desperately to pull away.

"I believe you to be the wicked one, mademoiselle," Zechs murmured, keeping a hand on her face. "Your bitterness and your hatred are wicked to the core. You hate and fear everything that you don't understand and you turn other's minds away from the beauty before them. You, not I, are the demon here." He stared at her intensely, the warmth of his hand sliding down to her neck.

Little whimpers, soft breaths of fear and wantonness, escaped her as she shuddered. "Monsieur.... Demon..."

"Foolish woman," Zechs whispered, his hand moving on her throat. "I wish you no harm," he said, his voice low and soft, "so why is it you wish to harm me? What is it you fear so much?"

That caress, so light, so very dangerous, was more than she could bear. She wilted in his hands, fainting from the depths of terror that swam through her, falling with his hand still at her throat.

"Let's get you back, shall we? I have companions to see to." Lifting her up, Zechs began walking back towards the house, noting with some dismay that the earth around the small tomb had been disturbed and that the servant woman had dirt under her fingernails...

It was obvious, in that moment, what the woman had been trying to do; to dig up little Michel and see if his body really lay within that tomb.

The mistress's madness was obviously making that of the servant even worse than it must have been in the beginning.

/I'll have to speak with her in the morning. Perhaps Noin will accept a different servant. This one seems... dangerous? But why would that be? She can't do anything to us.../

Regardless of his confident thoughts, the matter worried him all the way back to the house.

Coming out of the dripping swampland, he could see Guy waiting for him anxiously on the porch. "Seigneur! C'est si terrible! Elle n'est pas ici!*"

Precious came out of the house, her face tightly drawn, and took Eugenie from Zechs's arms. The young planter look at Guy with a stricken expression. Not here? Noin is not here? Is anyone out looking for her?"

"One of the cook's sons, seigneur. Oh, I *am* worried! What shall we do?"

"I'll have to go back out and look for her," the blond man answered, fear
and weariness fighting for domination in his voice.

"I am here, mon mari!" came the singing voice from the bushes. "I have been on a tour and have met the ghost of your capitain!"

She was a frowzy mess, rain-damp, lavender eyes glimmering in the light from the porch. Her gown was undone, breasts offered to the night and the biting creatures that swarmed about in it, every line of her body clear beneath the soft white lawn in its wetness.

"Noin!" Zechs stepped towards her and, without thinking, touched a hand to her face. "You frightened me, cherie. Why have you been out in this terrible weather?"

"But I have told you!" she said sweetly. "I have gone walking, and to see what I could see. I saw mon capitain, and wanted him to dance with me, but he said ghosts did not dance and that Michel will be returned to me." For a moment, her face faltered terribly. "Michel will be returned to me, yes? The ghost, he said so..."

There was no understanding her, so Zechs wrapped his arms around her slim waist. "Yes, cherie... yes, of course that will happen. Don't you worry now. Come to bed."

"Bonne nuit, Guy!" Noin said cheerfully, moving closer to Zechs and shivering.

He led her upstairs and into her bedroom where he took down two towels from a cupboard and laid them on the bed. "I'm sorry, ma cherie, but Eugenie cannot be here at the moment, so I will help you into your nightdress. Can you get it off by yourself?

"Mon mari..." Noin's voice was husky, raw with need as she slipped loose the remaining ribbons upon her nightgown, allowing the sopping wet material to fall to the floor in a puddle about her feet as she stepped out of it and closer to him. "Je vous veux, mon mari...." With those words, she pressed herself against him, those dusky eyes rising and meeting his even as she leaned up to press a kiss against his throat, over the bruise Treize had left. "Je vous veux...**"

Zechs's eyes widened, a flood of emotions filling him, part horror, part arousal. The memories of the months before Noin became pregnant came back to him in a great rush, how good it had been when he's resigned himself to forsake the company of a man, and she had, miraculously, decided that sex was something good. It had been good, as good as it could have ever been with them, though not to the dizzying heights that his new lovers brought him.

And yes, what of them? His body was responding to Noin, but would it be a betrayal if he laid with her now? So confusing... not knowing what to do... or how to stop his hands from moving down her back and tracing curves he had all but forgotten. "Ahh, Noin..."

Fingers moved slowly across his belly and between his thighs, cupping the erection that she found there as she almost purred. "Ahh, mon mari, make me remember... let me remember, the wonderful way you make me feel..."

/It's not fair that she's acting this way... this is a Noin that doesn't exist anymore... just like this because of the storm, just confused... I shouldn't... I really shouldn't.../

"You need to be dried, ma cher epouse***..." Detaching himself gently from her, Zechs took a towel from the bed and began to pat her dry, beginning with her dark hair and moving to her shoulders and breasts. Cupping the soft, rounded globes with the towel, he was overcome with a desire to touch and kiss them, so he bent his head to cool, rain-damp skin, kissing each breast before bringing one taut nipple to his mouth.

A sigh parted her lips as her fingers came up to tangle in the damp strands of his hair, sand-colored from the rain that had wet it. "Ah, yes, my beautiful lover," she breathed, moving closer to him. The feel of his hands and lips on her drove her into the most delicious memories of prior sins. "Yes..."

The temptation was too great, the memories too strong, so he dropped to his knees in front of her, rubbing the towel down the length of her back as he did and then letting it drop as his hands caressed her back and he pressed his mouth to her soft belly. His erection ached between his legs and memories of their couplings flooded his mind as he kissed and licked his way down her, coming to rest when he felt the soft, dark curls between her legs.

"Oui... s'il vous plaît, mon amoureux doux!****" Noin breathed, cupping his head now in her hands and encouraging him closer to the damp triangle to which he was already so close. "Kiss me... kiss me there..."

The scent of her was intoxicating, dragging him back in time, when she was healthy and, if only briefly, eager for him. He stood suddenly, sweeping her into his arms and laying her the bed. Hungry kisses down her neck and throat made him feel drunk as he slid between her legs, pressing her wide open spreading the tender lips apart, giving her a long lick, from the bottom of her entrance up to a sweetly throbbing nub of flesh. Then he rubbed it gently with his tongue and moaned into her.

The sound was echoed with her own vibrant cry, ecstasy sweeping from the core of her to the very tip of every limb, every finger, every toe. Beneath him, she writhed, slim white thighs shifting to wrap over his shoulders as she shuddered with the exquisite pleasure of it, sobbing as his hand crept up, fingers brushing against wet swollen flesh.

One long finger pressed at her trembling entrance, the Zechs pushed gently and it slid in, her wetness making it easy to penetrate her, easy to push in a second finger. The sight of her lying there, impaled and eager for it, made his breath come faster as he worked her, fingers sliding in and out, a damp, moist sound every time he drove into that heat.

"Ahhh... Noin!" he whispered. "I want you... want to be inside you... oh, may I, cherie? May I?"

"Yes," she breathed, rocking against that penetration and moaning wildly. "Yes, my beautiful Zechs! YES!"

He lifted himself to his knees, pushing her legs farther apart and nuzzling at the silky skin of her breasts again. Then, moving up to take a long, passionate kiss, he let his shaft brush against her warm, swollen labia and nudged at her with it. As his kisses trailed down the line of her jaw to a pale, silken throat, he pushed in, moaning softly at the hot, wet feel of her. /Mon Dieu, she's so ready.../

She wrapped around him like soaking wet satin, enfolding him and clasping him close, deep and tight inside of her. Even the slightest movement brought a tremor deep inside of her, as if her entire body was so utterly joyous to be filled with him again that she could not hold back the wicked gratification that threatened to overwhelm her even as he entered her fully, pressed to the depths of her. "Ahhh!"

"Mmmnnn... Ah, Noin..." he moaned against the skin of her neck, licking the tiny drops of perspiration that trailed down it. Withdrawing almost fully, he gave another long, slow thrust until he was buried to the hilt and moving inside of her, his mind far back in time, a time when everything made sense to a degree.

Groaning, he lifted her legs, holding them at the backs of her knees and spreading her as wide as she would go. He stared raptly at the tender place they were joined, nearly hypnotized by the sight of his own shaft, plundering her, making her hotter and wetter, surely, than she'd ever been. But he couldn't look long. The feeling was too intense and he had to shut his eyes against that deliciously obscene sight. The thrusts continued, though, for he'd become a creature of instinct by then, knowing only the urge to penetrate, and *that* he did thoroughly.

The scream she gave seemed almost out of nowhere, even as she tightened around him. "NOOOOOOO!!!! Demon!!! DEMON!!!!"

Zechs froze and the sound, eyes flying open, looking down at his wife in alarm. /It couldn't last. You knew it couldn't really be true. Just a trick, a dream -- she wasn't really here until now.../

Pulling out of her abruptly, he leaned over her, tracing her face with his fingers. "Noin?" he said, voice a bit frantic. "Ma cherie? I'm sorry! I... I thought you wanted... Please forgive me!"

"Démon," she sobbed hysterically. "Demon who looks like my sweet husband! Oh, God, my God, forgive me, forgive me for this sin, forgive me for what I have done!" Her fit of weeping was desperate, heartbroken as she shuddered upon the bed, sticky wet all the way to her knees.

Zechs backed off the bed, straightening wet clothes around him and grabbing the towel from the floor. "Noin, ma petite," he soothed, wiping at her thighs, "please calm yourself. "You said that you wanted --ah, cherie, I am so sorry!" /What was I thinking? There wasn't a chance in hell she'd be healed... but she sounded so... zut alors!!)

"Demon," she continued to whisper, "demon, demon, I have consorted with a demon, my God, my God, what must I do for forgiveness? My sweet Lord, what must I do?" The wild gleam in her eyes grew and grew as she looked at him, weeping endlessly. "My God, my sweet Lord..."

From further down the gallery, Zechs could hear the sound of running footsteps as he slid onto the floor on his knees and held a hand out across the sheets toward his wife. "Noin!" he whispered, tears coming unbidden, "please -- it's me, I'm not a demon, cherie! I'm your husband! Please, please Noin, you *have* to know who I am!"

Just then Eugenie, clad only in a nightgown, rushed into the room without knocking. "What have you done to her, you beast!" she screamed at Zechs.

He looked over at the servant and felt both angry and frantic. "It's none of your concern," he hissed. Then, forcing his voice to a more moderate tone, "But my wife is very upset and I seem to be making her more so." He stood, looking down at Noin, cowering and sobbing on the bed. "See to it that she is calmed and find a nightgown for her." Head down, he brushed past Eugenie and stood in the doorway. "Tell her she is safe. I will not come to her until she wants me to do so, but if she does I will come immediately."

* Sir! It is terrible! She is missing!
** I want you, my husband -- I want you.
*** Wife
**** "Yes... please, my sweet lover!"

Feeling an impending sense of dread, he walked out of the room, leaving the two women alone, down the gallery and the stairs, and out into the gentle rain -- all that was left from the storm.

The rain was turning to a fine mist and the first gray light of dawn was making itself known, off in the direction of the great lake to the east. Zechs had been walking, almost dazed, for about an hour when he happened upon the small plot of land next to the pond, where the tiny tomb stood. It was a replica of an adult's tomb, but in miniature. It had been standing by the pond when they had arrived at the estate, but nothing had been in it and Zechs never did find out why it had been built. But it was there the night that he had brought Michel's body -- almost as if it were meant all along to hold his one and only child. So he had put the small body, wrapped in a soft blanket Noin had made in happier times, into the tomb and sealed it with the mud from the pond.

It had made a remarkably strong seal, but now, as the young planter bent to look at it, he saw the earth had obviously been scratched away somewhat. The tomb hadn't been violated, but it was apparent now that Eugenie had been trying very hard to do just that. Try as he might, Zechs couldn't imagine a reason she would want to do such a thing, so he sat down on the damp ground in front of the tiny structure and rested first his hands and then his head on it.

"Michel," he whispered. "It's papa. Are you being a good boy? Do the angels sing you to sleep at night?" Azure eyes filled with tears at the memory of that horrible night -- of Noin's screams and of the terrible silence from the child she tried to deliver.

Looking up at the hazy morning sky, he continued. "I think of you, mon petit. Many times a day. And I wonder if you have forgiven your papa and mama for not seeing you safely into our arms." Looking down, several large tears spilled down his cheeks and he had to struggle to go on. "Here's the thing, you see. Your mama, she felt so sad about what happened that she... got lost in the sadness... and she never came out. She's still in there, lost and wandering, and I can't reach her. Everything I do makes it worse, somehow."

He peered at the small mud door that sealed the tomb. "But you should know that she loved you more than anything. She kept screaming at the midwife to save you instead of her... and I wept for you both."

Weary to the bone, the blond man rested his head again on the little tomb and closed his eyes with a sigh. "Forgive me, mon enfant."

"Zechs...." A rough whisper, a hand settled on the blonde man's shoulder. "I assumed you would be found here, with time."

Without moving, the planter winced, screwing his closed eyes shut and trying in vain to beat back tears. /One betrayal acknowledged -- another still to come. How could I have done it to them? Trying to hide in my old life again. Trying to believe that Noin was back to the way she used to be. How can I even face him now.../

"Treize," he said hoarsely. "My deepest apologies for not having returned to you in a timely manner."

"It is all right; the boy was exhausted, and time matters not to me." Gentle lips brushed his temple. "I know you had things to attend to within your house. Your wife... she is completely mad. Babbling about her child losing his head."

Zechs covered his face with his hands and shook his head. "That wasn't madness," he said, his voice almost strangled. "That was the most lucid she's been in a long time. He... he did lose his head..."

That obviously confused Treize, as both hands settled gently on Zechs's shoulders. "I'm sorry to hear that, Zechs. How...?"

Turning his head away from Treize's gaze, but not moving from the soothing touch of his hand, Zechs began softly. "He was too big for her, something the midwife later said was my fault. He was... coming out... and his head was too big for her. She was bleeding to death and the midwife wasn't sure what to do. But even she knew a dying woman when she saw one. The only thing she could think of to do was... cut off the baby's head -- so that she could remove... it from Noin and get the bleeding to stop. So she did... and handed it to me to hold while she delivered... the rest..."

"Then the child was already dead?" Treize asked softly, kissing Zechs on the temple once more. "You're wonderfully tolerant of life."

The gentle touches were too much for Zechs to resist. He turned towards the vampire, eyes shining with tears. "No!" he whispered fiercely. "He *wasn't* dead! He was very much alive -- a normal, healthy child..."

The tears spilled over golden cheeks, unable to be contained, and a look of terrible grief crossed the young planter's face. "Why did it have to happen, Treize? I would have gladly died to let him live -- I'd have done anything to not have had to see him... sacrificed that way..." His voice trailed off and he buried his face in his hands again.

"Shhh," Treize murmured, pulling Zechs close. Gentle arms encircled him, warming. "In my time, the child would have lived, and your wife would have died." Cool lips kissed tenderly at Zechs's chest. "Perhaps it would have been for the better..." A soft laugh. "In my time, we would have killed the midwife for destroying the sanctity of new life."

"Noin couldn't face it," Zechs said softly. "She remembered everything, and all those horrible memories chased her into madness... and it was my fault. My fault she was here, in America, with nothing but the most barbarous medicine. My fault that she was pregnant. My fault that the baby was too big..." He shook his head again. "And now she's too far gone to ever hope of her coming back, isn't she?" He looked over into the vampire's sapphire eyes and searched for an answer.

The vampire could only nod once. "Yes, she is." That was all he could offer for him, holding him close. "Though, you couldn't know she'd be too small. You couldn't keep the baby small. Wives are there to bear children."

Zechs didn't say anything for quite some time. The he stared off over the pond at the soft glow appearing over the cypress trees. "Tell me, Treize -- why would a human seek to become a vampire?"

"Some because they want to feel eternity -- others for the power that is inherent in it," he murmured, "and still others, those like myself, who did it to be with their loved ones."

Another long pause, and then Zechs looked into the vampire's eyes. "He would have given his life for you at any moment... screamed at them as he died that he wouldn't tolerate them hurting you. They may not have heard it, but he screamed for quite a long time... Part of what he felt for you was like I feel for Michel..." The blond thought for a moment, back to Eugenie and the feelings of threat that radiated from her. "I learned something wonderful, and terrible, tonight," he said softly. "That same feeling... it's in my heart for you... and for Wufei... I would do anything to keep you two safe."

"Shhhh." Now familiar lips brushed over his, caring, wanting. "Remember that I am the one that is hard to kill. I am here to watch over you, and now the boy -- you shall both leave all this safe, when the time comes, and we will not be parted again."

Zechs closed his eyes as Treize's lips brushed his. "Treize," he said in a slightly rougher voice, "how I've missed you..."

"I've missed you, too, my love," he murmured in his own wanting tone, holding Zechs closer than before.

Treize's hair was pure silk as Zechs rans his fingers through it, one thumb smoothing an eyebrow. "More beautiful even than I remember you being," came his whisper across the vampire's lips. Then with his free hand, he reached up to pull away the damp lace at his throat. "Please, dear one," he pleaded, "Let me nourish you..."

So tempting, to be offered it again... "Third time tonight, my love," Treize whispered softly. "I'd kill you were I to do such a thing."

"Look around you, Treize. The night is over, and I want this so very much..."

Gently, Treize kissed the exposed neck. "It will kill you, my love." he scraped his teeth lightly on that skin, drawing tiny beads of blood. "And if you die, I shall have to make you as I am -- could you stand that?"

"I believe I could stand anything for you... liebling..."

"It isn't your time yet," he breathed, pulling back far enough to bring up his wrist to his own mouth, to open veins. "Drink from me, for now..."

The blood was pressed to Zechs's lips and the taste was so lovely and unusual he couldn't resist drinking. He brought shaking hands up to Treize's arm and gripped it lightly on either side of the wound and began to suckle. And as the warm liquid flowed into him the voices were back, a little clearer this time, and sounding as if he were listening to several rooms of conversation at once. From one place there came a sobbing cry and whistling sound as if wind were blowing through fir trees. From another, the soft urgent sounds of sex, two unseen figures murmuring to each other with breathy voices and brief moans. Still another brought him the laughter of a young boy and still another, angry, frightened shouting. It was all so very strange... and yet so completely familiar.

Treize drew his arm back, after a time, pulling Zechs close into his arms once more -- if he'd let the man drink more, the transformation would have started. Two rents he'd put into his skin healed over nearly at once, like a ripple spreading across a pond.

"Thank you," Zechs said quietly and leaned into the warm embrace.

"My love..." Treize sighed quietly, then rose, picking the blond man up without effort. "Someday, I'll explain all."

When they arrived at the gazebo, Zechs lowered himself to the ground and went in. In the warm, damp air of morning, just one shaft of sunlight had penetrated the vines over the wooden structure, and they had found a lovely place to alight -- on a damp but slumbering Wufei.

Zechs moved silently into the interior and for a moment could only watch, overtaken by the lovely creature before him.

Treize leaned casually against the gazebo's side, letting out a nearly silent breath of air. He'd come so close to giving in to his wants, and making Zechs as he was himself. So very close... And yet, he'd not done it. He'd wanted to let the other man keep sucking from him, to keep draining away at him until he was lost in the sensation of being in Zechs, and then he could feed from the man again, until so much blood had recycled from them that they were one again, as he and Vasari had done so very long ago.

Moving forward on bare, silent feet, Zechs sat down on the floor, beside the sleeping boy. He reached a hand out to smooth his hair and then leaned over and kissed him gently on the mouth. "Wufei? Wake up, mon cher, the dawn has come."

"Mmmm?" The sleepy sound was one of half-wakefulness, as if Wufei was talking, but not meaning it. "Bú shí...*"

"Je regret*, mon petit ange,** that's one language I haven't learned yet... but I will, for you." So saying, Zechs kissed him again, this time longer and with much more passion.

THAT was certainly worth waking up for! As their lips parted, Wufei sighed and opened his eyes slowly. "Is morning already?"

"Oui, mon cher," Zechs replied softly, cradling the boy's face. "We need to get you back to your rooms so that you can dry yourself and change clothes. And then..." The azure gaze softened and the planter's voice trembled just the slightest bit. "Then we need to discuss what you will do with your freedom."

Wufei's hair, once plastered to his face, was rapidly turning into a tangled dandelion fluff. "Precious will expect me in kitchen. I will go there, yes?" He smiled at them both. "She expects me. I will go. That is all, for now!"

"You really don't have to do that, you know," Zechs said patiently. "You're not a slave anymore."

/This is your chance, boy, to prove to him how much you love him,/ Treize mused silently, standing as if a watch-dog. /Don't fail./

"I am not stupid, either," Wufei said sleepily. "I have nowhere to go, and nothing to do, and do not want to be far from you. If you make me go, I will be lonely and sad and lost with people who think... mmmmm, who think inf...inf... who think I am not as good as they are. There is free, yes, and there is also stupid. I like free and not stupid. Yes?"

Zechs had to smile at that. "You're perfectly right, Wufei, and no one could ever call you stupid. I will try to arrange a time for us to talk about arrangements later today. For now, you need dry clothes and food. Come with us." He rose and headed for the door.

After the night before, there was no question that Treize was staying at the plantation.

Now it was only a matter of seeing what came next.

Wufei smiled at Zechs worshipfully. "I am still all wet. The fog came, and I slept through it, but I am still wet." Wufei was obviously not at his best first thing in the morning. It was a good thing that Precious rarely ever needed more from him than water-fetching.

Turning around at the door to the gazebo, the planter held out his hand to the boy. "You are wet, Wufei," he said smiling. "And you know, you are still just as beautiful as when you're dry."

That beatific smile did not fade at all as Wufei moved forward and took Zechs's hand easily.

A few steps behind them, surveying all, Treize strode. "Zechs, I believe I shall make myself scarce until later in the day."

A wave of disappointment washed over Zechs at the vampire's words. "Treize?" he said hesitantly. "You do not wish to join us at the house?"

The vampire smiled, a beatific expression on that purely colorless face. "I do wish to join you in the house -- but imagine the uproar of my being there, after last evening." His words echoed pure sincerity, and he felt the hard surge of worry for Wufei and Zechs.

A small echo of fear made it's way into Zechs's mind. Noin... what kind of state would she be in when he returned? What would she have said to Eugenie, or any of the other servants? What would he do about the maid? The world was suddenly awash in problems.

"Ah, I see. Yes, you're right, of course," the blond said softly and smiled somewhat sadly at the vampire. Then he turned back towards the house. "Come, Wufei -- let us get you dry and fed."

* No ^_^
** "I'm sorry, little angel..."

Eugenie stood on the stairs and listened intently to the sounds of the house around her. She was listening for a male voice, the demon who had taken over the young master, or perhaps the demon with the elegant manners. She heard no one, however, so she proceeded down the stairs with caution.

Once there she paused again, listening, and then moved in a soft creep to the dining room. The table was set for the master's breakfast, but no one was there. Darting across the room to the passageway beyond it, she made a quick survey of the grounds in back of the house through the door of the connecting breezeway. "Silent..." she murmured in a dark voice, "as silent as a tomb..."

As quickly as she could, not wanting to be prey to any lurking demons, she sprinted across the breezeway and then stopped to smooth her hair, stepping into the kitchen looking calm and aloof -- just the opposite of what she really felt.

She nodded to Precious and began to arrange the tray for her mistress.

"Mawnin', Miss Eugenie," Precious greeted, settling the plate full of grits, sausage, eggs and biscuits down carefully where Eugenie could fix it the way she wanted it; the servant was strange about that. "You done seen that kitchen boy? I cain't find 'im."

Eugenie looked around the large room, rather furtively, and then stepped a bit closer to Precious. "Have you noticed him acting rather strange?" she said in a low voice.

Precious looked at her with a studied gleam in her large brown eyes. "Now't you mention it," she said slowly, cautiously, not wanting to reveal too much to the woman before her.

Another furtive look and then Eugenie leaned in somewhat closer. "He needs watching that one," she intoned. "Death stalks him in the night, and a powerful evil is poised to take him over." She lifted a thin, brown eyebrow and waited to see the effect of her words on the cook.

The heavyset older woman paled beneath the rich color of her skin, eyes filling with tears. "Th' chile? Oh, dear Lor'. My sweet Lor'. An' the rest of us, too, Ah s'pec'. Th' demon's done come too fa' t' stop 'im, Miss 'genie?" she sighed. "Sholey it ain't that bad... Th'houngan..." She stopped guiltily, looking at Eugenie as if she had given herself away.

Voodoo was considered to be illegal in New Orleans and she didn't want to be caught for her beliefs and sold away from her family.

Her daughters were working at the large table at the far end of the room and now Eugenie drew Precious in the opposite direction until they stood at the door to the breezeway. "I am a God-fearing woman," she told the slave, "and I know the work of the devil when I see it, especially when it pertains to men. Up until last night..." again she looked back over her shoulder, as if she were intensely worried that someone would overhear her. "Up until last night, I would have thought that the possessions I have would be the only things required to cleanse this house of the evil that has crossed its threshold. But now, everything has changed."

She meant, of course, that the demon who had taken hold of the Master was so powerful that he could force impure thoughts into the heart of the very purest soul, of which she, herself was one. But that was obviously *not* a
thing to be brought up with anyone else, particularly a slave, so she sidestepped. "I met one of the demons outside last night."

"Oh, my dear Lor'!" Precious said again, trembling. "Whe'!?"

"Near the pond," Eugenie responded, a look of significance on her face. "It had a terrible power and --" Here she plucked a worn lace handkerchief out of her sleeve and waved it before her face as if the thought she was about to express might cause her to faint. "It had the very face and form... Of the Master!"

"A wicked loa, 'ttackin' ou' maste'!" Precious declared, biting her lower lip. Ah, this was no good! No good at all, for when it was done with the master, then where would it go next? "I'll watch out fo' th' boy," she said. "Gi'ls! One o' you go get yo' poppa! Somebody needs t'go fetch that boy, whe'eve' he is!"

It was at that moment that Wufei crept into the kitchen, pails of water slung in both hands. "I am here, Miss Precious," he said, slightly startled to see her in such a state.

Eugenie paled seeing him, but screwed up her courage enough to say, "Boy -- where were you last night?"

Ohhh, that was already a very bad question that he did not want to answer! "It was very hot in my room, before the storm. I walked out to the gazebo and fell asleep there upon the straw mats...."

She took a menacing step towards the boy. "So you were out on the grounds last night. You were not in your room." Eugenie's eyes looked huge and dark in her pallid face, almost skull-like because of her thinness.

"Tell us, boy," she said in a dark, somber voice. "Was the Master walking the swamp last night?"

Almost-black eyes looked back and forth frightenedly between the woman and Precious, as if seeking help from the large black woman. "Miss Eugenie, I was asleep in the gazebo. If he was walking in the swamp, I do not know."

"You didn' see nothin', chile?" Precious asked gently.

"No, ma'am," Wufei lied carefully, giving Eugenie that frightened glance again. "I saw nothing out of the ordinary."

"I understand that you're a heathen, boy," Eugenie said in her strange monotone, "and that one has to take allowances for that, but you just remember that God knows when people lie."

A cold shiver worked its way down his spine and he stepped back uncertainly, seeing that no help would be coming from any quarter. "I am not a heathen. My ancestors watch over me more closely than your God. You are the heathen!"

Eugenie, feeling vindicated at last, slowly raised her arm and pointed a long, thin finger at Wufei. "The demon has already had a taste of this one!" she said in a quivering voice. This is the insolence of the Devil!" She swept past Wufei and headed to the door, turning when she reached it and casting a glare at the dark-haired boy. "Despite what you say, *I* know that you have had some encounter with a demon and that you fell into weakness and sin with him. Be warned, before it becomes too late."

The urge to do something completely irreverent, poke out his tongue or make a face at her, was so very difficult to resist as he scowled. "I am not sinning with the Devil," he said staunchly. "Heathen."

"I'll have you sold for that," was Eugenie's quiet reply and then she turned and left the kitchen.

That didn't worry Wufei one bit; indeed, he just shook his head at her departing back and turned to Precious, who was now wringing her hands frantically. "It's all right," he told her quietly.

"Boy, don' talk lack that," Precious whispered, stunned. A slave who talked to *any* white person, servant or not, in the manner in which Wufei had just shown was a very bad idea! That sweet boy, he wouldn't ever ordinarily do such a thing.. "Oh, my sta's..."

"Miss Precious?" Wufei looked up to the cook, who looked near a faint, such a stricken expression graced her face.

"Come he'e, boy," she said softly, hefting herself slowly into one of the chairs in the kitchen. "Come he'e an' lemme look atcha."

"Yes, Miss Precious," he murmured, edging closer to her -- what was she going to do? Check him for bite marks?

When he did come close enough, she reached out and placed work-worn hands on him, pulling him even nearer to look into his eyes deeply, as if searching for something. "Chile," she said softly, reaching up to gently pet his head. "Ya been listenin' t'me? Ya been avoidin' that man, lack Ah tole ya? Is VERRA importan'. VERRA. You unne'stan'? Answe' me."

"Avoiding what man, Miss Precious?" he asked, meeting her gaze with one that was full of trepidation, yet... something more assured hid behind it. Assurance that the master loved him thoroughly.

She slapped him then, quick and hard. "Don' MAKE me be angry wi' ya, boy," she said sorrowfully. "Ya *know* what Ah done tole ya. Ya know ya need to keep away from th'maste', an' i's mo'e impo'tan' now than eve' befo'e. He's got a loa ridin' him, an' I don' wan' you gettin' HU'T. Unne'stan'?"

He winced at that slap, then nodded a little before he stopped himself. "But Miss Precious... He gave me my freedom!"

"Boy, don' you LIE t'me!" she said sharply. "Don' MAKE me take you ove' mah knees. You too OLE fo' lies lack that!"

"It's not a lie!" he protested. "You could ask the master himself!"

"An' he'll tell me yo' a lia', boy, or a fool fo' believin' in a lie lack that," Precious told him gently. "Now, you listen he'e to me, chile. I done tole my gi'ls this an' I di'n' eve' thank Ah'd hafta tell a boy, but jest you listen. Mens what owns you, they'll say anythin' they want, if they c'n gets ya undressed by doin' it. You hea' what Ah'm sayin' t'ya, boy? They'll say *anythin' they want*, an' when they done with ya, they'll sell ya to somebody else who'll give ya the same lies. Our maste', he's a nice man, but the'e's dange' he'e. They's a loa ridin' him; a bad spirit, a misch'vous spirit done took ove' ou' good man an' done replaced him with a lia', an' what Miss Eugenie done called a demon. You hafta unne'stan' me, chile. A'e ya listenin' to what Ah'm tellin' ya?"

His gaze fell -- was that all it was? That Zechs wasn't really Zechs anymore, and that was why...?

No -- he'd been kind to Wufei since he'd first arrived!! "Yes, Precious," he whispered, head down. "But he *means* it. I'm sure of it."

"He means what?" came a soft voice from the doorway of the kitchen. Zechs took a few steps into the room. His face was expressionless, completely masking the deathly worry he felt, for some reason, seeing Precious questioning Wufei. "Is something wrong, Precious?"

Precious's eyes jerked up, filling with something very akin to fear as she looked at Zechs, saw the expression on his face, his eyes.... Yes. Yes, there was certainly *something* riding him, demon or no! "Nothin', Maste'," she said very slowly, very quietly. "Ah's jus' tellin' th' boy they's thangs to be 'fraid of out in th' da'k an' i's best he don' go wanderin' in it no mo'e."

That wasn't a lie, really; more of an exclusion, if anything.

Taking a few more steps into the kitchen, Zechs murmured, "Yes, well -- that may be true, but Wufei seems a very responsible young man. I'm sure we have no need to worry about him." To emphasize the point, he laid his hand softly on Wufei's shoulder and gave Precious a kindly smile.

"And..." Wufei trailed off, looking up pleadingly at Zechs. /Don't let it be a lie... I love you -- please don't let it be just a lie.../ "I told her
about my freedom, Master."

"Ah -- yes, Precious," the planter said smoothly, "Wufei is no longer under my ownership. I've given him his freedom. However, at the moment he has expressed a wish to continue helping you here while we discuss what he will do next."

The black woman turned almost ashen. /Lord, I done hit that boy an' he's free!/ she thought to herself. /'less'n the demon done lyin' t'me, too. Chile, fo' yo' sake, I hope it ain't that./ "Yes, si'."

"Now I'd like to have my breakfast, please." Zechs nodded to both of them, letting his gaze linger on Wufei before turning and heading back to the dining room.

As he walked the breezeway it came to him that he hadn't asked how Noin was. It was an even greater surprise to realize that he was afraid to ask.

"Well, chile," Precious said after the master had left, looking at Wufei solemnly. "I s'pose -- jus' s'pose, mind ya -- thatcha might jes' be right. Lord, chile," she whispered. "I worry so fo' ya."

"The demon, Miss Precious, isn't in the master," Wufei uttered softly. /He's beautiful, and pale, and so kind to the Master *and* me -- not a demon at all!/ "Is the fire hot enough?"

Her hand reached out and stroked that dark hair before she pulled him close, almost tearful. "Dea' chile," she said softly. "Dea' chile. What a'e we all gonna do?" Sniffing, she pulled back and wiped her eyes with her apron before taking a deep breath. "Go on out ta th' ga'den, chile. Go on out an' pick me some o' them peas fo' suppah."

"Yes, Miss Precious!" And when he did go, it was with a lighter heart, because Zechs hadn't denied him.

Precious watched him go, hand rising to the rosary in her apron pocket. "Lord, houngan. Come soon. We need ya... desperate."

Eugenie climbed the stairs to the gallery and tapped on the door of Noin's room. "Miss Noin?" she said softly. "I have your breakfast Madame, may I come in?"

The barest of singsong replies came through the door, and she entered.

Noin sat amidst the stream of yellow sunlight spilling through the window, brush in hand, hair curling about her shoulders. "Good morning, Eugenie," she veritably warbled, violet eyes appearing bruised in that morning light, expression fragile and ready to crack again at the merest of suggestions.

Eugenie pushed through the door and gave a slight curtsey to her mistress. "I have your breakfast, madame. You really should try to eat. How are you feeling?"

"I'm not hungry, Eugenie," Noin said faintly. Her eyes were focused on nothing in particular; Eugenie, the room, it was impossible to tell. "I want to visit my Michel. Mon ange doux," she crooned, rocking back and forth gently. "Mon chéri fils..."

Setting the tray down on a small side table, Eugenie crossed to the bed, standing next to Noin and looking down on her with pity. "You really should eat something, madame," she intoned. "You must keep up your strength to ward off any other possible attacks."

It wasn't clear to the servant just how much Noin remembered from the previous night. Eugenie had come into the room as Zechs left it, and had found her mistress sobbing hysterically on the bed, in a state of undress. She gave an involuntary shudder, telling herself it was horror and nothing more.

"Has he been here this morning, madame. Your husband?"

"No, and I miss him. He used to always eat his breakfast where I could see him," Noin said sadly, eyes distant. "And always eat supper, as well, and I have not seen him since yesterday morning at all!"

/No memory of it... perhaps I should remind her. We can't have the Mistress lose her fear of the Master. If she does that, all will be lost.../

"No, no, madame," the monotone voice replied, "he was here last night. You must remember, madame. I heard you cry out and rushed here to see what was wrong and he was here... surely you remember that?"

"Non," Noin said, shaking her head quickly. "No, no. No! You must be wrong! I don't remember!"

Eugenie pressed the matter. "I saw it with my own eyes," she said, voice still sounding like the dead. "He was half dressed, standing by the bed where I am now, and you..." /How much to tell her? How much of the demon's attack to bring back to her mind? She's weak. She could break. But if she doesn't remember, and doesn't fear him, her eternal soul will be lost to him.../

"You, Madame, were on the bed. He had taken your clothing off..."

"I don't remember!" Noin sobbed, her head shaking from side to side frantically, hair swinging out around her and tangling. "I don't remember, I don't remember, I don't remember, I don't remember!"

"Your husband has been seduced by a demon, Madame Du Marquise," Eugenie said sternly. "This is not the time to fall to pieces. Now I want you to tell me what happened in this room last night. The more I know about the demon, the better the chance I have of driving it from this house! You must tell me everything, Madame -- for I fear that the forces of death and evil are reaching out to consume this house, you, and your dear little baby..."

"Michel..." The desperate sad whisper filtered from Noin as tears began to streak down her face. "The dead captain said he would be returned to me, mon ange..."

"You have seen the dead, Madame? Walking on the grounds of this plantation?"

"My husband's dead captain," Noin said sadly. "Alas, he would not dance with me, but he promised that Michel and his head would arrive by morning!"

Eugenie was wearing a strange expression. It was an odd sort of excitement, brushed with a unhealthy morbid fascination with her mistress and a touch of genuine horror. "Your baby's... *head*, Madame?"

"Yes, yes!" was the excited response. "Michel's head!"

Moving in closer, Eugenie smiled, rather horribly, at her mistress and sat down gingerly on the bed. "What about his head, Madame?" she prompted Noin. "Tell me about that, and this dead man that you've seen."

"When my darling angel was born, he came out without his head," Noin said sadly, beginning to weep again. "His head was separate. I don't know why. But my husband, he is wonderful! He put him together again and put him in the doll and now he stays with the angels! He is one of them, in the Doll Room!"

/She's mad... she's completely mad... and yet the *demon* is real! This house is evil... all mists and dark thresholds.../

"Tell me, Mistress Noin," Eugenie replied in her eerie monotone, "how was it that your husband did that? How did he put the baby's head back on? And how did he put Michel into the doll?"

Noin looked at her helplessly and smiled. "Do you not know? My husband, mon mari commere... He is an angel himself."

Fascinated, horrified, Eugenie drew closer to Noin. "Is he, Madame? An angel has married a human woman? So then last night... why did you cry out? Surely there must be something sacred about what he was doing to you...?"

"I don't understand what you speak of," Noin said in confusion. "I don't remember anything last night..."

"Are you *sure* of that madame?" Although her voice was the dead monotone it always was, an unnaturally bright spot of pink had appeared on each cheek, and her breath, had Noin been able to notice, was coming faster than it had. "I remember hearing a noise from this room -- an odd noise, a woman, moaning I believe. I was very worried about you so I started down the gallery, and then -- you screamed, 'No!' in a voice that sounded as if a demon were violating you... an incubus, perhaps...?"

Bruise-colored eyes widened, then filled with tears, a trembling hand moving to press to her lips. For a moment, she was silent; utterly and completely silent. It was only a moment, though, and then she began to weep, and then to scream, pulling at her hair and rocking unsteadily in her bed. "No! No, no, no, no, nooooo!!!"

Eugenie took hold of her shoulders and gave her a firm shake. "Madame! YOU must tell me *everything*! Death walks the rooms of this house, Madame. I can feel it's dank presence wherever I go. It came from the swamp and it won't go until it takes a mortal soul from this house. Do you want that soul to be *you*??"

"Michel!" Noin sobbed, a trembling hand rising to touch her face. "Michel... My sweet husband... Zechs... my son..."

It was obvious to Eugenie that her mistress would be of no use in the fight against the strange pestilence that roamed the house and grounds of Cypress House Plantation. It was up to her, now and she would have to be strong enough to face the demon himself. And perhaps, just perhaps, it was time to call up the dead to find out what her next step should be...

At 10:30 that morning a large, black carriage was seen making its way down the Avenue towards the house. From the window of the carriage, Madame Laval, a small, elderly woman, peered with suspicion. She was dressed from head to toe in grey crepe and lace, even her parasol was of the same, rather morbid color, as were her hair and face. Some in the planting community had whispered behind her back that she looked like a walking corpse that had been buried for awhile.

But none of that concerned Madame Laval. She was here because of the gossip she had heard in her embroidery circle two days earlier: that some people, and even a few slaves, were saying that there were strange goings-on at the Cypress House Plantation. An odd foreigner had been seen around the grounds, the Mistress was acting more strangely than usual, and the Master... well, all *sorts* of speculation was going on about Monsieur du Marquise.

Madame Laval was intent on finding out the source of the strange whisperings going around the Plantation circle, so here she was to officially visit and investigate.

She was not alone. There were others in the carriage and now she cast a critical eye over them as they approached the house.

Her eye fell first upon the flaming red hair of Madam Beauchamp, barely hidden properly beneath the navy-blue of her hat. The woman was from Georgia, near the small town of Macon, and while she was not Madam Laval's first choice of companion, she was rather well-liked in their community due to her husband's influence on the planters around them. A giggle tripped from her lips nervously as they came closer to the house, her fan tapping open to fan frantically at her pale face, pert nose and thin lips both turning up. "Well, we're almost there!" she declared, one hand nervously creasing and unfolding the dark serge of her dress.

The woman seated diagonally from her was a young woman, a woman about town -- weedy, blonde hair, buried in a white dress that was as frothy as egg whites, Madam Laval's niece by marriage. A milky green gaze drifted out the window over the fields. "Oh, I do hope there *is* a handsome foreigner."

Making up the fourth and final member of the party was Mademoiselle Mirabeau, a dark-eyed brunette who had just arrived in Louisiana from the French West Indies. No one knew much about her other than the fact that she was beautiful, in a rather exotic way, and that she cultivated an air of mystery.

The carriage pulled up in front of the house and one of Cypress House's grooms trotted up to take the horses and help the ladies alight. Madame Laval peered up at the house, looking for any sign that something might be out of place, but she could see nothing obvious so far.

"Hopefully they have a servant," Mlle. Mirabeau said quietly. "Having to knock on doors is so common..."

It was at that moment that the door opened, framing a slim dark creature in the doorway momentarily before he stepped out to greet them. "Welcome to the House of Cypresses."

With a little giggle, Madame Beauchamp stepped quickly ahead of the other, devouring the creature. Why, he was almost as pretty as the black boy she'd so adored in Georgia, the reason that she'd had to come to this God-awful swamp-ridden state. "My DEAR," she said breathlessly, "thank you SO."

The niece, Miss Laval, sighed as she exited after Madame Beauchamp. "What a *beautiful* estate!"

As the ranking female of the group, and the one who'd not only announced the visit and her need for 'companions' but provided the carriage to get there, Madame Laval did not take well to pushy younger women interrupting her routine for calling, especially if those women were little more than strangers in the community. Using her macabre gray parasol, she prodded Mademoiselle Mirabeau aside and then proceded to Madame Beauchamp. She poked the flirtatious women in the arm several times and said in a frail but querulous voice, "*Pardonnez*, Madame! You will step aside and take your place behind me or you will stay in the carriage."

Huge blue eyes full of surprise turned upon Madame Laval as a little, "Oh!" escaped Madame Beauchamp. It took all she could do not to narrow her eyes and sigh. Lord, the little old woman was proving to be just as arrogant as old Dr. Crowley's wife, surely! "'Scuse me, sugah," she said solemnly, patting the boy's hand in what was meant to be a reassuring manner.

Watching the theatrics, it was difficult not to smile bemusedly at them. Wufei simply watched as the older woman came closer, parasol at the ready. "Yes, madame. Good afternoon. Won't all of you come inside?" he asked with the same sweet sibilant cadence so often used for visitors.

"Is your master in today, child?" the youngest woman asked. Though, she was just there to see this foreigner, and maybe snag herself a courtship, if at all possible, and the rest of the women knew it!

The smile Wufei gave her was absolutely adorable as he led them into the house, gently shutting the door behind the women before showing them into the parlour. "Monsieur Du Marquise is at the sugar mill. Would you like some tea, and some cakes?"

"Yes we would, very kind of your master to invite us in," Madame Laval said, ignoring the very idea of Wufei's existence.

"You sweet little *thang*," Madame Beauchamp declared. "Do you have cream for the tea?"

"Yes, Madame," Wufei said warily. "I will be back in a moment."

Madame Laval had seated herself on a large, ornate armchair, ready to preside over the visit, and was now looking pointedly around the room. "Well, at least the furniture is good," she sniffed. "It hardly *looks* like the mistress is bedridden, here. He doesn't..." She had taken out her fan, attached to her wrist by a small loop of fabric, and was waving it delicately in front of her. "Surely no *other* woman is living here?" she asked her companions quietly.

"Just the servants -- Herr Merquise has very efficient servants," drawled a rich voice from another door-way, accent nearly clouding over the words, though the accent was barely placable as being germanic. He was a deathly pale man, garbed in a crisp white shirt and roe-colored pants and boots, leaning casually in the door-way.

/Oh, MY, and *that* is even better than that sweet thang who went to get tea,/ Madam Beauchamp declared to herself, fanning her face almost frantically. "Well, suh, and just who are YOU?"

Mademoiselle Mirabeau was admiring the tall man as well, but much more discreetly, her eyes taking in the elegant lines of his face, his broad shoulders, and the long, lean legs in their impeccably-cut trousers.

Both she and the overly-amorous Madame Beauchamp were seen by Madame Laval -- seen and dismissed as no doubt cheap women with no sense of dignity. She made a small, dry sound by way of establishing herself in the conversation and peered at Treize. "Yes, Monsieur -- who might you be. I've met Monsieur du Marquise before and you're not him."

"Herr Treize Khushrenada," he murmured, pushing away from that door-frame with an elegant bow at the waist. "And all of you are...?"

"I'm Miss Laval!" the youngest exclaimed, near to fainting as she looked over the pale man.

And *I'm* Madame Beauchamp, from Georgia," the red-headed woman practically purred. "You have a *lovely* accent, suh!"

Stifling an urge to roll her eyes at the breathtaking rudeness of the other two, Mademoiselle Mirabeau gestured towards Madame Laval and said,demurely, "This is Madame Laval, mein Herr. She has come to call on Monsieur du Marquise."

The elderly woman inclined her head graciously at Treize then gave a small, approving smile to the younger woman. "And this," she said, "is Mademoiselle Mirabeau, recently arrived from the West Indies. And how is it that you know Monsieur du Marquise?"

"It is a pleasure to meet all four of you, ladies," Treize murmured smoothly, fixing jewel bright eyes on the eldest -- obviously the leader. "I know him from many places, Madams. Mostly from the continent, the wars, and social functions."

"How CHARMIN'," Madame Beauchamp purred, once again fanning frantically. "How VERY charmin'!"

"Have you been in America for long, mein Herr?" Mademoiselle Mirabeau asked, feeling a wave of heat herself and delicately opening her fan.

"Not long at all," he drawled, gesturing for them to all seat themselves. "Two or three years. I have only come to America because the heat is supposed to be good for me."

"Oh, poor THANG!" the red-haired woman declared, folding quickly into a seat. "Why, are you so VERY ill, then?"

"A rare disease of the skin," he uttered, with the gesture of a pale hand to an equally pale face. "I cannot stand direct sunlight for too long at a time, or cold -- so, what better place to come than America?"

Settling down on the edge of the sofa near Madame Laval, Mademoiselle Mirabeau smiled at the foreigner. "Will you be able to join us for tea, mein Herr?"

"Yes, and gladly -- I was waiting myself for Herr Marquise to arrive," he uttered, sitting in a chair that was a bit away from theirs. Long legs folded gracefully, as he settled cat-like into the seat. It was a truth that he spoke, however, his hopes for tea with Zechs were *far* different than theirs. /I'll taste of him later.../

At that moment, the sound of footsteps came quietly and quickly across the foyer and Wufei appeared once more, tea tray in hand. "Tea..." he began, jumping slightly in surprise. "Oh. Herr Khushrenada... I did not know you were coming to tea. I will fetch another cup..." Gracefully, the tray was settled down, tea-pot and four cups as well as a little pitcher of cream and a small bowl full of delicately sliced lemon atop it.

Madame Laval took out her pince-nez and peered down at the tray. She herself was highly suspicious of slaves, especially those who were of Spanish or Asian ancestry, and here was reason enough for her doubts about them: no sugar. "Sugar, boy. I'll need sugar," she said, her thin, dry voice showing at least some sign of life.

Mademoiselle Mirarbeau smiled behind her fan and murmured, "The Master is at the sugar mill. Perhaps I can go and fetch some from him..."

The older woman gave a strong look of reproof to the younger and stared back up at Wufei expectantly.

Nervously, he backed away from her. "Shi, Madame," he said in his anxiousness, moving quickly out of the room with only a single glance at the vampire.

"Come now," Madame Beauchamp said softly, frowning. She DID so like the pretty creature, and there was simply no need to frighten him. "Shall I pour the tea?"

"If you wish to, Madam," Treize murmured, looking carefully at each one. Not in the way that some had looked at him, but there was a glint in his bright eyes that was disturbing.

"So tell us, Monsieur," Madame Laval interrupted his thoughts, "have you heard the rumors that are circulating in the community about this plantation?"

"Ah? What rumors are they?" he asked, one forked eyebrow lifting casually.

"Oooo!" Madame Beauchamp almost squealed, handing the handsome foreigner a cup and ignoring Madame Laval entirely. "They're too delicious for words!"

That earned her yet another withering glance from the elderly woman, who then turned to Treize again. "Rumours of death," she said with a fair amount for foreboding. "Rumors of the child who died and won't sleep peacefully in his crypt; rumors that individuals from du Marquise's past who are long dead walk again in the swamp at night, and that..." Here she paused and looked around, partly for effect, partly to make sure the plantation owner was not walking into the room. "That the very *owner* of this plantation has consorted with a demon and may be part demon himself." The old, gray eyes were alight with a macabre pleasure, relishing each bit of speculation she had gathered.

Mademoiselle Mirabeau turned lovely dark brown eyes on Treize. "Please tell us, monsieur? Are these stories more than rumors? Many of the slaves at my plantation are afraid to travel the Avenue at night for fear of something wicked getting at them. Is there any truth to it all? What have *you* seen?"

Treize laughed then, a laugh that was part polite, part true humor. "Madames, it is true that Herr Marquise's son died while being birthed -- however, the only signs of anything here being amiss is Herr Marquise's wife. The sickness ruined her mind, it seems."

"Oh, how terrible!" Miss Laval exclaimed.

Madame Beauchamp handed the young woman a cup of tea, still ignoring Madame Laval. "Why, that *poor* thing. You know, that does happen a lot here in this place full o' SWAMPS, doesn't it seem t' YOU?"

"Swamp Fever," Madame Laval said, her voice trembling. "That's what took my Paul, twenty years ago. He was only mad for a few weeks before he shot himself." She looked meaningfully at the tall foreigner. "Couldn't take the pain anymore, you see? So in a lucid moment he took his own life..." She brought a gray handkerchief, trimmed in a similar-colored lace, to her nose and sniffed daintily. "No, swamp fever can make a person do many strange things. Has the mistress herself claimed to see anything usual?" Again she addressed the question to Treize, leaning forward a bit to catch his answer.

"Many things, it seems, though I've only seen her once," he spoke, smiling a little. "It was after dark, when it's safest for me to go out, and I was walking the grounds here -- it seems she took off from her rooms, and came outside. I chanced across her and she mistook me for the ghost of the previous owner of this land. "

"Well! My stars and garters!" Madam Beauchamp said, giving a shiver as she poured the last cup full of tea and gave it to Mademoiselle Mirarbeau. "How awful!"

In the parlor, the sound of those soft hurrying footsteps came again; but this time, they paused, and the outside door was opened.

Zechs walked into the cool dimness of his front hall and smiled softly at Wufei. Taking the boy in his arms, he pressed him back lightly against one wall and kissed him passionately before murmuring against his lips, "I see we have company... what a shame..."

"Yes," Wufei whispered, sugar and cup clutched one in each hand. "Several ladies, one of them old and scary, the others young. The... HE is in there with them!"

"Don't worry, love -- he's very good at what he does..." After one more kiss, he broke reluctantly away from Wufei and opened the door to the parlour.

"Good afternoon, madames et mademoiselles," he said bowing to them graciously. He wore a coat of deep blue with gray breeches and a vivid red waistcoat underneath. "I apologize for not being here to greet you, but I assume Herr Khushrenada has been keeping you entertained in my absence."

"Oh, wonderfully so!" Miss Laval exclaimed.

Madame Beauchamp nodded so hard that little fat red ringlets spilled from beneath her hat. "Indeed, and I see that absolutely *adorable* sweet houseboy has brought the sugar and extra cup!" she cried, taking said objects from Wufei. With one hand, she reached up and pinched his cheek with a delighted little smile before he could escape. "Aren't you just the best pretty boy?"

Without thinking twice, he retreated as quickly as humanly possible for the door.

/I should have just stayed at the mill and let the other two handle them,/ Zechs found himself thinking. /They seem to have the ladies well enthralled./ Unfortunately he was there now and couldn't politely excuse himself.

He sought out the oldest woman and crossed the room to her. Giving her a deep bow he murmured, "Madame Laval, what an honor you do me. But... why is it that you have no tea?"

A beaming smile came back at him. /Now *this* one is an aristocrat,/ she thought, /he's been raised to respect his elders./ "The lady who was pouring out neglected to give me one," she said calmly. "I don't believe you've met her." Madame Laval gestured towards Madame Beauchamp. "But we may have to forgive her bad manners -- she's from *Georgia*."

"Ah," he said softly, fetching a cup and filling it, "I'm sorry to hear that society in that state is so different from ours. You will find, Madame Beauchamp, that here in Louisiana, we take great care with our manners. I'd advise you to look to Madame Laval here, for pointers." /And stop undressing my houseboy with your eyes -- it only makes you look foolish./

"I believe you know everyone else here," Madame Laval continued, "except for Mademoiselle Mirabeau." Zechs bowed politely to the brunette. /She looks a lot like Noin... very pretty.../

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Mademoiselle," he said softly, taking a seat on the sofa beside the young woman. "Welcome to Cypress and our little community. I trust you are finding it to your liking?"

"Oh yes," she replied, edging a bit closer to him, her voice serene, "this is a lovely area and the people have all been very kind to me."

Treize found himself having to bite his tongue, and so stayed where he was, smiling a little, and casting a calm, *familiar* expression at Zechs, for a short moment in time.

Madame Beauchamp's eyes ran coolly over du Marquise for a moment, her tongue bitten. /Well, at least in Georgia we can be asinine to your face, dear boy, and you've got *that* down pat, haven't you?/ "Oh, I assure you that Georgia society is *quite* something else again, suh. You had ought to visit sometime."

"From what I know of it so far, Madame," Zechs answered calmly, "I don't think I would enjoy it." /Leaving old ladies without refreshment, and in *my* house, too! You should have served her first, poisonous woman./

He thought he recognized the feeling --jealousy. He'd seen the creature staring at Wufei, and it made every fiber of his being want to chase her off. /Funny... I didn't used to be like this.../

"Oh, come now -- society in Georgia cannot be much worse than the continent, Herr Marquise," Treize uttered, with a faint smirk curling at his lips.

Zechs could not believe his ears. Treize was making him look like a fool in front of the company! /I want to go back to the mill... I don't have the tolerance for this anymore.../

"Ah, well -- that's the continent," Zechs murmured, staring at the vampire. "Bad manners are more tolerable there because the place itself is civilized. I've found that here in the Americas manners become more important to maintain what little civilization we have."

"Oh, I would have to disagree, Mein Herr," Treize drawled, carefully choosing to call Zechs that, "Americans tend to be more round-about in their impoliteness -- the *lengths* some people will go to for their hidden rudeness is *extraordinary*. Far better to be out in the open about it, ja?"

It was then that his gaze drifted from Zechs to look significantly at the women gathered there.

A little smile drifted over Madame Beauchamps lips even as the insult drifted over her head. "PARTICULARLY women," she agreed, smiling fatuously at the lovely man beside her.

The sleepless night and the heat of the morning's work was beginning to take its toll on Zechs and he passed a hand quickly over his forehead. /Strange feeling --so dizzy, are those the voices again...?/

Still, company demanded one to be gracious regardless of fatigue or illness, so he made an effort to draw in the other women. "So, Mademoiselle Laval -- what sorts of things have you been keeping busy with lately?"

"I write a column for my local newspaper," she frothed happily. "About interesting occurrences in the social light."

"And the not-so-interesting as well," Madam Beauchamp said under her breath so that the others wouldn't hear it.

"I have to admit," Zechs said, "that work has drawn my attention to other matters lately. What have you been writing about? Anything interesting going on?" /Besides what you all think about my house and its occupants.../

"I've been covering a series of hauntings," she smiled.

"How very barbaric to do, isn't it?" Treize asked, leaning forward a little, pale face all amusement. "Prodding into the lives and ex-lives of people."

"Oh, DO tell more"! Madame Beauchamp exclaimed.

Madame Laval leaned forward. "My niece has determined that we live in the most haunted part of Louisiana... the dead are everywhere among us, here... *everywhere*..."

The niece nodded thoroughly to that, while Treize laughed. "What would the dead have with a place like this? I must say that even for women you are overly superstitious."

"Oh, not in the LEAST, suh," Madame Beuchamp assured him. "Even in Georgia, we know about ghosts. Why, where I'm from, there are several rather TERRIFYING specters, I assure you!"

Madame Laval frowned. "We are *not* talking about Georgia, Madame Beauchamp, we are talking about the dead who populate our own community... and who may threaten our own lives..."

"Why would the dead even bother those who live, hmn?" Treize asked. "Forgive me -- I am skeptical of your superstitions. There is a reasonable explanation for every event that has ever occurred."

"For most things, suh," Madame Beauchamp said, flicking her fan open to hide the aggravation the old woman was making her feel. "But for some things, there is nothing but the supernatural as explanation."

Mademoiselle Mirabeau turned to Mademoiselle Laval. "So you have found evidence of hauntings among the plantations? Are the spirits evil? The ones on Martinique were simply dreadful..." Her voice trailed off and she gave a little shiver.

Zechs moved a bit closer to her. "Now, now, Mademoiselle," he said softly, "surely those were just superstitions that the slaves held. I'm sure that if, indeed, spirits come back to haunt the living that they are not vengeful." /Beautiful... fascinating... but deadly...?/

"And those beings that are deadly usually have good reason -- being harassed and annoyed for years on end by digging humanity must be terribly tiring," Treize smiled.

Madame Beauchamp lifted both bright auburn brows even as she reached and poured the last of the tea into her own cup. "So you think the ghosts have a right to terrify the living?"

"I think that those things that are commonly mistaken as ghosts in all likelihood *do* get angry with enough time and will lash out, just as any human being would when agitated enough."

A shiver rippled through the redhead as she considered it. "What a terrible thing to think!"

Madame Mirabeau was fanning herself calmly again and inching closer to Zechs. "I'd like to think that they can't hurt the living. They have no substance, so they shouldn't really be a threat, and yet... somehow they always seem to be." She looked over at Mademoiselle Laval again. "Tell us some of the things you've heard about -- please?"

"I've heard of ghosts that can seep into the walls and make the walls move like liquid! I've heard of ghosts that set up *such* a wailing that they drive people mad..." She shivered a little. "And in our great capital city,I've heard tales of a beautiful blood-sucking ghost."

It was then that Treize broke out laughing.

"Really, suh," Madame Beauchamp said. "Surely you can't find such a thing amusing?"

"Yes," Madame Laval said suspiciously. "Why do you laugh, monsieur?" She arched a thin, grey eyebrow at him, waiting for an answer.

A few more chuckles, and he glanced over to to Zechs for a moment, then back to the ladies. "Ah, a few reasons -- I've lived in the capital myself, and I find it amusing how *willing* people are to pass common murders off on a supernatural 'reason'. And how can something that supposedly has no form drink blood?"

"Well..." the red-headed Madame paused. "Hmm. I suppose he could be doin' somethin' WITH it..."

"I saw one of those bodies -- when we came ashore in New Orleans," Mademoiselle Mirabeau said to Zechs. "It was completely white. Not a drop of blood was left in it. Quite hideous..."

/Surely that couldn't have been Treize's doing,/ Zechs thought as he patted her hand absently. /I'm certain he'd be much more careful with the... remains.../

"My niece has suspicions that whatever was in the City is among us now." Madame Laval was waving the business end of her parasol at the place where Zechs's hand was patting the younger woman's hand. Zechs moved his hand as if he'd been burned. The old woman continued. "They said it would be trapped there, in New Orleans, because it couldn't have crossed Lake Pontchartrain, but it appears to have done so... and brought the dead along with it." Her tone was ominous and she gave each member of the party a pointed look.

Outside the tall windows it had grown dark suddenly and there was a distant rumble of thunder.

"I do believe I feel faint," Madame Beauchamp declared, fan once again flicking open and sending a rush of air over her face and throat.

"I do hate to tell you, madams, that there is no danger of having the blood sucked from your bodies *here*," Treize uttered.

"And how would *you* know?" came Miss Laval's accusation.

Reluctantly, Zechs rose and walked to the door. "I'll get you something, madame." He caught sight of Wufei crouching outside the door. "Madame Beauchamp is feeling faint -- please ask Precious for a cold cloth and some smelling salts."

"Oh, one learns thing when one travels enough," Treize smiled, watching Zechs and Wufei from the corner of his eyes. /Bring salts, boy, and feel free to shove them up the droll woman's nose.../

"Why, I daresay someone is waiting to suck all of my blood right now!" Madame Beauchamp declared, almost hysterical at the mere thought of such a thing, the quick light patter of feet sounding as Wufei came in with a bowl of water, a cloth and the requested smelling salts.

"Put the cloth on the back of Madame's neck, Wufei, and then hand her the salts." Zechs sat back down on the sofa, much to the delight of Madame Mirabeau, and wished he were somewhere else.

Miss Laval glared at Treize. "How horrible of you! Scaring her like that!" Words which only gained her an elegant shrug.

Nervously, Wufei patted the cold cloth into place and waved the salts at her face, wanting to say something but not quite daring to do so.

"My gracious, you sweet child. Thank you so," Madame Beauchamp sighed.

The elder Laval rolled her eyes at the display and the peered suspiciously at Treize. "You, monsieur, seem to have quite a lot of confidence about these matters, especially for one who comes from foreign parts." /And not even France!/ "Yet -- your condition makes it necessary for you to walk abroad at night. You, above all it would seem, should be concerned about the rumors circulating. What if they happen to be true, and whatever this thing is finds you in the dark one night...?"

"Madam, such fears arise because there are those who *fear* the night -- my 'condition' has also kept me from fearing the night," he informed. "I myself have been accused of being such a creature."

"Ohhh, how deliciously thrilling!" Madame Beauchamp sighed, shivering and waving the smelling salts beneath her nose. "My heavens!"

"Now, Treize..." Zechs began to protest, but Mademoiselle Mirabeau interrupted him, leaning forward so far the edge of her breast grazed Zechs's arm.

"Were you *really*? How awful for you. What happened, pray tell?"

"I was walking through New Orleans and some complete *fool* tried to stake me," he uttered. "As if such a thing was expected to do anything useful."

"Ohhh, I shall faint!" Madame Beauchamp cried. "Boy, do come fan me!"

Wufei, leery of the woman, stepped around the couch and took her fan, even though he didn't want to do so, fanning her as requested.

"Treize, perhaps -" Zechs had tried again, but it was Madame Laval who interrupted this time.

"You survived something like that?" she asked the tall foreigner, arching an eyebrow in obvious disbelief of his story.

"Sheer luck -- I may look weak, but I am not," he smiled. /Gods, Zechs -- see what I'm doing for what it *is* -- I'm keeping them from drilling *you*!/

A little squeak burst from Wufei as Madame Beauchamp put a hand on Treize's arm. "You look like a fine strong man to me, suh."

He drew back from her touch, as her fingers brushed over his bared wrist, touching chilly flesh for a mere moment. "Perhaps so," he uttered.

Thunder sounded again and then the sky opened up and a torrent of rain was falling. Zechs excused himself and went to the window to check on the women's carriage. Opening the casement, he called out to the groom, huddling inside. "Take the carriage to the stables and tell the grooms to look after the horses. Then go around to the kitchen and dry yourself --it doesn't look as if you'll be leaving any time soon."

"Well, dear ladies," he said, turning back to them. "It looks as if you will be our guests until after the storm. May I offer you more tea?"

"Yes, please," Miss Laval uttered, looking at Madame Beauchamp's strange expression. "Madame? What is wrong?" /Now?/

"I don't feel very well," came the strangled sound, her bleeding wrist forgotten as she swayed upon the couch, gaze hazing over as her other hand lifted to touch her paling face. "No. I don't feel very well at all..."

"Madame?" Zechs hurried to where the stricken woman sat. He reached out and grabbed the bleeding arm, shocked to see the amount of blood there. "Wufei! Get Precious and tell her we need a wound dressing and *hurry!*"

"She mocked everything," Madame Laval muttered as she watched the houseboy leave. "Death protects its own..."

/It certainly does,/ the foreigner thought with a tiny smirk as he rose to stand beside Zechs. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," Zechs said in a bewildered voice. "One moment she was fine and the next -" He stopped suddenly and looked up at Treize. Then, leaning over so that his lips nearly touched the man's ear, he whispered, "Did you do something to her...?"

"She brushed my hand -- I did nothing other than chill her a little," came the whispered back words, turning his head so that no other could hear him. In fact, the words *felt* that they were more projected into Zechs's mind than spoken.

As the women watched, sublimely half-interested in the bleeding woman, Wufei hurried back in and knelt down, taking her wrist and looking at it. "Her charm has sliced her here," he said, pulling the bracelet loose and settling it in her lap before he began to bandage it, putting pressure on it.

"Ohhh..." Madame Beauchamp moaned, shuddering. "Oh, it hurts..."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of lightning and a crack of thunder that made them all jump. The force of the sound combined with the wind outside blew one of the casement windows open and a flurry of rain, wind, and cypress leaves blew into the parlor. Zechs looked up sharply. "I just locked that window..." he muttered and ran towards it, fighting to get it closed.

Madame Laval stood, drawing her shawl around her small frame. "Something walks this house," she intoned. "Something dead that won't lie quiet..."

"Madame!" Zechs addressed her harshly, still fighting with the window. "This is *not* the time to become melodramatic!"

"Oh, but I feel it, too!" Mademoiselle Mirabeau cried. She drew a hand to her throat, rounded breasts rising and falling as her breath grew more ragged. "There *is* something evil here..."

A soft chuckle left Treize, as he suppressed the urge to pull any number of terrifying parlor tricks. "Does the storm frighten you, madams? I see not why it would -- it is just nature's way of having fun -- watch those trees dance like dolls. It is only nature playing. No evil."

Still, Wufei was glad to be huddled on the floor as he looked up at the vampire, lip bitten tightly. "No evil, but I am afraid. Storm is getting worse..."

"Dolls, he said... the trees dancing like dolls..." Zechs heart nearly stopped at the sound of the voice. Noin was standing in the door to the parlour, her doll cradled in her arms, with a dreamy, far away expression on her face. "Perhaps all of you have come to see my sweet Michel... Isn't he adorable...?"

Miss Laval cast a confused look to her Aunt, as Treize drew back from Zechs, approaching the woman. "Madam, perhaps you should return to your rooms, where it would be more comfortable for them to visit you...?"

On the floor, Wufei gave a little whimper and abandoned dignity, crawling around behind the couch to hide.

"Noin!" Zechs breathed, and moved towards her, a look of agony on his face.

An ear-splitting shriek came out of her as he approached and she dropped the doll, the china head shattering on the floor as it hit. Noin's face went white, her hands covering her mouth, and a tiny shriek escaped her.

Zechs looked for Wufei, but the boy was too frightened to do anything so he turned to Treize. "Please... find Eugenie, or if you can't, get Precious from the kitchen... please..."

Across the room Madame Laval was staring at Noin. In her old, dry voice, she croaked, "That one is marked for death..."

Next to her, Mademoiselle Mirabeau was beginning to look very ill indeed...

No hesitation this time, Treize ran towards the kitchen to find Precious. Eugenie was not on his 'helpful' list, so he approached the black woman while he pushed loose strands of ginger-colored hair from his pale face. "Madam, the mistress has come down from her room, and just dropped her doll -- the one she thinks is her dead son -- and its head shattered. There are guests -- ladies from other plantations -- here, and they are already upset by the storm," he informed, talking fast, doing his best to keep his accent from rising up any.

"Oh, LAWD," Precious moaned, flinging off her apron and moving terribly quickly for a fat woman. "Guhls, y'all keep cookin' suppah!" she told her daughters even as she flung open the door to the house. Through the wind and the leaves of the loggia they ran and across through the dining room and foyer to the parlour, where chaos still reigned.

She could see Noin, kneeling upon the floor, keening over the loss of her doll. The master was beside her, trying to help, a woman with a bloody bandage about her wrist on the couch, another in a state of absolute hysterics, yet another getting close and one vicious old woman that Precious recognized automatically. /Lawd, lawd, we gots trouble.../

"Noin, please -- let me help..." Zechs was picking up bits of china, knowing that his wife would never leave the parlour if the doll's head lay in ruins there. /Damn -- where was Eugenie! She's supposed to be looking after Noin.../

He looked up to see Treize and the servant. "Precious -- see to Madame Beauchamp and then to Mademoiselle Mirabeau on the sofa. Mademoiselle Laval? Perhaps you and your aunt might help her?" /I can't begin to imagine what the gossip will be like now.../

"Gladly," The younger woman uttered, looking with a shudder toward Noin, then the over calm foreigner.

Strangest of all, he didn't look wet from the storm -- not at all. Not a single hair was damp, not a glisten of water on his face or clothes.

"My *god*!" she exclaimed.

Now seeing to Madame Beauchamp's wrist, that exclamation startled Precious, and startled Wufei more. He peered up over the edge, frightened, and met Precious's startled gaze. "Oh, LAWD, it jest ain't gone get no bettah!" she said in surprise, which brought a scream of fear from the redhead who mistook her words.

"I'm going to DIE!"

"Precious, take her out of here and lay her down in the music room," Zechs said, voice somewhat stern. "Put her on that long bench and stay with her."

The storm outside had grown particularly vicious and the sky was turning black with swollen rain clouds. It had the effect of casting a strange gloom over the parlour and Zechs was silently cursing the lack of light. The doll's head was missing several pieces from what he could tell and it was almost impossible to find them, given the dimness and Noin's protective crouch over the pieces.

That made it all the more surprising when a bright, flickering light bathed the floor. He was making a grab for a suddenly-visible piece of china when the voice filled the room.

"Death has come!" Eugenie stood at the door holding a large candelabrum.

"Indeed!" Miss Laval cried out, pointing at Treize. "He must be a ghost."

"Oh, shut your *mouth*," Treize snapped back, looking at Eugenie with a piercing gaze. "You should have been tending to your mistress -- she's dropped her doll."

"I'm going to DIE, I'm going to DIE!" Madame Beauchamp continued to wail, unwilling to get up off of the couch.

Taking the initiative, Wufei slipped around it and decked her. For once, Precious didn't have anything to say about THAT; the woman had needed a good slap, but she hadn't the right to give it to her. It certainly made her easier to work with...

"Wufei!" Zechs squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. /This really can't be happening, can it? / "Carry Madame Beauchamp across the hall for Precious, please. And you, Eugenie -- what do mean coming in here like that, frightening these poor ladies, and where were you when you should have been by my wife's side?"

"I was called to the sugar mill to be a witness for a death certificate. Your mill foreman, Monsieur Trepagnier, has been found dead. His body is completely drained of blood..."

Zechs could only stare at her in horror, hands clenched and bleeding as the china pieces cut into his skin. Across the room, Madame Laval, still standing, spoke again. "Death will out, monsieur... death is all around us, even in life, and it creeps closer day by day. It has surrounded and engulfed this house." She pointed a finger at the planter. "You will never escape..."

Lying back on the sofa, Mademoiselle Mirabeau began, softly, to cry.

"All of you, shut up!" came the sharp shout from the pale man who had seemed, until then, to be the embodiment of calm and rational. His voice sounded as a crack of thunder in that room, and the shocked silence from the women was refreshing. But he said nothing more, only approached Zechs to pry open those bleeding hands.

"It was not I," he whispered, not knowing if the man would believe him or
not.

Zechs didn't quite know, either, but every instinct in him told him to trust the vampire, so he did. "No..." he breathed. "No, of course not. You wouldn't..." He shook his head as if to clear it, then fell back on his military training and started giving orders. "Eugenie, I don't care what you've done or seen. Your job is to look after my wife and that is what you will do. Take her upstairs and give her the medicine I showed you and *stay with her*. I don't want you out of that room until I myself come to fetch you."

Eugenie opened her mouth as if to say something, but thought better of it and bent to where Noin sat on the floor, weeping softly. Zechs poured the pieces of china into the servants hand and then the two women were gone, Noin obeying docilely through sheer exhaustion.

"Precious," he continued, "take Madame Beauchamp to the Music Room and see that she's comfortable. Mademoiselle Laval, perhaps you could go with them and get a cool cloth for Mademoiselle Mirabeau. It's my opinion that your aunt should probably remain here as well."

A 'softened' sapphire gaze glanced over her. "I'm accustomed to it."

Zechs glanced over at the Madame Laval, bent over Mademoiselle Mirabeau. "This will get around quickly, Treize," he said in a low voice. "I worry about what might happen..." He looked up into the vivid blue eyes. "There's something so familiar about all this..."

"A set up," came the absent murmur as he looked back at worried azure. "Some*thing* has set us up once more..."

Wufei's voice came very quietly from the foyer. "The Madame is resting. Precious is with her."

Zechs turned towards him as a flash of lightning turned his hair to silver. He smiled weakly. "Wufei -- thank you so much for helping her. I'm sorry... sorry you had to go through all of this..."

Across the room, Madame Laval pretended not to be listening.

"Utterly sorry," Treize murmured very quietly. "Gods, this is simply... unbelievably ill timed."

"It is not your fault women visit, get hysterical. That is the nature of the creatures, is it not? Women hysterical." Wufei shuddered. "Also scary. It is not your fault it rains."

/Bless him, the little pragmatist.../ Zechs felt a wave of tender possessiveness go through him at the sight of the boy, the softly lyrical accent. He wanted nothing more than to take the little beauty into his arms, to flee with both of them and find a place where widows' gossip wasn't potentially lethal and dear friends weren't murdered in broad daylight. /Trepagnier... Je suis si désolé...*/

"I'm sure the women could use something warm to drink. The storm has cooled things down quite a bit. I know I could use something as well." He started to reach a hand out to his former slave, but realized it was bloody and dropped it to his side. "Perhaps you can find us all something in the kitchen -- you included..."

Carefully, Wufei raised the cloth in his hand, ignoring the presence of the women across the way, and began dabbing at that bloody hand, glancing up at the vampire. "Perhaps you should come, too. You are bleeding, monsieur. That cannot be good. Herr Khushrenada, I know little of bandages, and Precious is busy... Perhaps you could help, and I could bring tea? For hysterical ladies?"

"Such a good idea, Wufei," he murmured, shaking his head for a moment as if to clear the thoughts of how someone had been drained of blood. He turned slowly to the women in the room, looking calmly over the three left. "We shall return in a moment, with drinks and hopefully in generally better spirits," he murmured slowly, softly, before grasping Zechs's arm gently, leading him toward the exit.

As they walked towards the back of the house, Zechs couldn't help but cast a concerned look up the stairs. "Noin..." Her name was just a breath, a painful memory, before he was swept down the hall towards the loggia and the kitchen.

Feeling glad to have Treize's calm presence beside him, Zechs watched Wufei's slender frame as the boy walked ahead of them. "Angel," he called softly, "are you all right?"

For a moment as they moved between the house and the kitchen, the darkness and rain swirled so close by Wufei could swear that fingers had brushed the roundness of a cheek; but it was only a wet leaf, twisting its way past. "Wet," he said. "Be careful; the way is slippery through here."

Treize kept his hand on Zechs' arm, a gentle clasp. "I'm tempted to take you both back to Germany with me this instant," he murmured, almost to himself.

They had reached the kitchen door when a bulky figure loomed up out of the rain, a tall, broad-shouldered slave with a look of sheer terror on his face. "Mastah? You heard 'bout tha' boss?"

Zechs stopped. "Samuel? Yes... yes I've heard -"

"Deh's anothah down' theh, Mastah! Gonew th' same way! My wife... My Taira..." A spasm of grief passed over his expressive face and Samuel covered his face with his hands.

"Taira?" Zechs said in utter disbelief, remembering the young woman who'd waled in on he and Wufei in the bath. "Does... does Precious know?"

Samuel shook his head. "No, suh... I's comin' ta tell huh now..."

For a moment the world spun sickeningly and Zechs put bloody hands to his eyes. "Why?" he whispered to himself. "Dear God... why?"

Confusion marked Wufei's face as he bit his lip tightly and looked at poor Samuel, his grief-stricken horrified appearance. "Come into the kitchen," he said, rain slashing sideways and wetting them all as the storm began to worsen again. "Come inside, and we will give you something to warm you." /Come inside, because I would leave no one out today, no one alone./

Now supporting Zechs with both hands, Treize led the blond into the nicely warm kitchen after Wufei had let Samuel enter. It seemed to the vampire as if Zechs's footing was falling out from under him, and it seemed to be. /Two bodies at once, completely drained?/ That spoke of deep hunger.

"Samuel," he spoke up, addressing the poor, stricken looking man as if he gave orders of the sort all the time. "Find someone to gather *all* of the slaves into large groups -- in their quarters, the kitchen, the house, it doesn't matter. Get them all out of the storm and tell them *not* to wander off if they fear for their lives." Then he looked to Wufei, expression still softened. "Where are the bandages -- you've enough to do right now, I'll get them myself."

Turning, Wufei spoke quickly with Danula, Precious's younger daughter, soft and low, before he turned to face them again. "She will fetch them, and tea. I will go with Samuel, so he does not go alone."

"No!!" Zechs struggled to get out of Treize's grasp. "Wufei, please! I don't want you going out there! You don't understand what you're up against..." /I can't lose you... not after... oh, *not* Wufei!/

"No, Wufei -- stay here," Treize intoned, holding onto Zechs tightly. "Let the girl go with Samuel."

The slight look of reproach on Wufei's face was more for himself than for either of them. "Cannot always be coward!" he said quickly. "Wife scare me, redhead lady scare me, always be scared?"

Zechs's face crumbled into agony. "Ah, God -- Wufei, no..." He still struggled to leave the vampire's grasp, but his strength was going. "I'll lose you..."

Seeing Wufei's words... /Can't keep the little bird caged forever./ "Stay close to Samuel, then. *Very* close."

In his grief, Samuel never even noticed the strangeness of it. "Yes, suh. Thank ya, suh. Ah didn't wanna go out alone agin..."

"Let us go," Wufei said simply, and he brushed a hand against Zechs's as they moved to the door. "We will be back soon. Do not worry about things."

The door shut behind them and Zechs turned in Treize's arms, bloody hands pounding on the broad chest. "No! Treize! Why did you let them go! You *know* whatever's out there isn't human. You know it! Why...? My little angel..." The misery was complete and the only thing he could think to do was bury his face against Treize's neck and let the hot tears come.

"Shhh -- Zechs, calm down," he soothed, sitting down with Zechs still cradled against him. "He'll be fine -- no vampire could drink any more than two. And he's with Samuel. Wufei will return fine." He looked up, to Precious's daughter not too far away. "The drinks and bandages...? Thank you."

"Whoever this is can no doubt do more than drink," Zechs whispered against Treize's neck. His voice was deeper than usual, his accent less French. "You know that as well as I do..."

Eyes watching the girl leave, Treize smiled slightly to himself. "I know, beloved. But we should have faith in the little one..."

"Faith," came the quiet reply. "You put your faith in me, and where did it lead? To you being alone and unprotected. To you going through the years by yourself when I should have been at your side..."

To hear that voice, to know... ah, to just know. Sapphire eyes closed as the vampire whispered softly, "How was I to know you'd die there? I would have rather that I'd died there, than you, my love... but Wufei shall be all right. Humans are more danger to us than others of our kind have ever been. And now I am older than you, and it is my time to protect you and yours..."

"You know they're going to talk about this, don't you? And the same thing will happen. They'll get angry at us, thinking that you -- or we -- are responsible somehow. And they'll try to destroy us, just like before." The being that was part of Zechs looked out through his eyes at Treize. His beloved Treize whom he had been more than willing to die for. "I can't lose you again," he whispered fiercely. "I couldn't *take* it! Not now..."

"Vasari..." A ragged whisper, as he took a light kiss, just the comforting brush of lip against lip. There were thin lines of red dampness on the pale face --tears. "It shall not be. We will have to leave soon, you, I and the boy."

"Leave?" The voice was entirely Zechs's once again. "I... I cannot... How can I leave here? With Noin as bad as she is? M-my house, the slaves -- who would care for them? Where would we go?" Bright blue eyes held a bewildered look as the questions tumbled out, Zechs's voice hesitant and fearful.

"Leave Noin the house, Eugenie and the money," he murmured. "Give the slaves to a master as good as you are, or free them."

Zechs looked down at his torn hands, his face a mask of pain. "This was my life," he whispered. "What my family wanted me to do... what I expected of myself... is it really over?" Looking up at Treize again, he felt a horrible mix of emotions. Part of him was Vasari, the ancient creature who wanted only reunion with Treize and had little attachment to the world as it was. But the other part of him was Zechs du Marquise, the third son of a noble, expected to make his own way in the world. He had done that, and it had worked so well, for a time... Now Treize was telling him he needed to give it up and it was breaking his heart in a way.

He rested his head against Treize's. "What in God's name do I say to her?"

"That you've gone to heaven.... if it needs to be done, we can fake your and Wufei's death," he murmured. /Because you will be just as dead as I, when it is done./ "Or, if you wish so badly to stay here, I will leave. On your word."

The words were shocking in the extreme, no matter which way he looked at them, which path there was to take. So he moved silently to the sink and began to wash the blood away from his wounds.

Soon, pale hands joined the bloodied ones, aiding in the cleaning and sometimes just gently holding.

It was becoming a hellish night.

* I'm so sorry.

"Come on!" Wufei shouted over the force of the wind and rain. "We are almost there! Only a little father, yes!? ...Samuel?"

No answer came, the whistle of the wind alone, and his voice was reed-thin as he cried out again. "SAMUEL! SAMUEL, WHERE DID YOU GO!?"

"Was Samuel the big black man?" came a soft girl's voice.

At the sound of it, Wufei's heart began to pound. "Yes. That is Samuel. Where is he? Where are you? What are you doing out in all of this rain?"

"He's back there," came th girl's voice, as she neared -- it was obviously a girl, but she was dressed as a boy was, wet red hair plastered against her face. The skin was so deathly pale...

"Where?" Wufei whispered, dark eyes filling with wet horrified fascination. "Where is he?"

She smiled slowly, a wicked smile that showed off two pointed fangs. "In the tree."

Oh, Wufei didn't want to look! He didn't want to look, he couldn't look, but he must! He must... Gaze darted slowly, left and then right, right, right...

Rainwater mingled with blood, Samuel's innards holding him strung merrily like a doll from the limbs of the trees. Loops and coils of insides steamed in the wet, and his eyes still blinked, it seemed to Wufei, his limbs still twitched, though it could be only the rain, only the wind.

Terror froze him, bile burning up in his throat as he shuddered, desperately and completely afraid. /We were supposed to be safe, the two of us together!/

But only if they stayed side by side, and that hadn't happened.

The wet little girl smiled slowly, a lightly wicked expression. "Tell my father that I miss him. And that I'm angry he left me with that woman, mother or not."

"S...s...s...shi," Wufei whispered. "Shi, shi, shi!"

Little auburn eye-brows drew together darkly. "Are you going to take him the message or *not*?!"

"Shi!" Wufei cried, mind scrambling desperately for the correct affirmative. "YES! YES!" Still, he was afraid of her, afraid to move...

A small little sigh left her, as she turned. "I'm going to count to ten and if you're not gone from my sight in that time, you'll join your friend in the tree. One..."

Trembling limbs shifted, slow at first, as if carved in stone, and then more quickly, impossibly quickly as Wufei began to run and slide through the rain and the mud.

And only laughter followed behind him, the light tinkling laughter of a child.

Miss Laval looked around the darkened room, listening to the eerie crack of the wind before she peered over to her aunt. "It's quiet and calm now... Now that Monsieur Marquise and the foreign man are gone."

The old woman nodded. "Interesting, isn't it? I am convinced, Lily, that those two have something to do with the strange occurrences you've been writing about. And here we are, practically captives in their house..."

"Their house," she echoed, looking around the room again. "You're right! It doesn't feel at all as if the foreigner is *just* a guest!"

Her aunt's eyes moved sharply to give her a puzzled look. "What do you mean, dear?"

"That Herr Khushrenada is more welcome than just as a *guest*," Lily uttered, looking down at the still faint woman. "I think Herr Khushrenada is one of *those* sort of men. He didn't even bat an eye at any of us."

"Lily!" The older woman was suddenly fanning her self briskly. "That's a terrible thing to say about a man without any proof!"

"Besides," came the weak voice of Mademoiselle Mirabeau from the sofa, "Monsieur du Marquise was definitely interested in me -- I can tell that kind of thing..."

"But did you see them when they left?!" Lily sputtered, gesturing at the exit. "And they kept *whispering* to each other."

"Monsieur du Marquise has a wife, ladies!" Madame Laval did not like the turn the conversation was taking. Not at all. "*Both* of you should keep that in mind." She nudged the young woman on the sofa, who looked up at her slowly.

"But Madame," Mademoiselle Mirabeaue said, "we saw that 'wife', if she can really be called that. You yourself saw how completely mad she was... she's not a fit partner for him. Perhaps he's looking for another. Although the first thing *I* would do if I were Mistress here would be to send that little Cathayan boy away."

"And *then* the foreign friend," Miss Laval uttered. "He's a pretty man, but I think *he* is the source of the evil in this house!"

"Oh, honestly, Lily! How could he be?" Madame Laval's voice became querulous. "He acts as if he's frightened of his own shadow! No, no -- that tall foreigner... entirely too suave, he was. And the way he kept finding excuses for what we've seen or heard..." She shook her old, gray head firmly.

"Yes..." Madame Mirabeau, still feeling dizzy, had tried getting up and was now lowering her head back down to a sofa cushion. "He even admitted that others had accused him of being... a demon..." She crossed herself quite prettily and frowned at the thought.

"So very ghostly looking, wasn't he?" Lily asked. "And the moment he left, and took Monsieur Marquise with him, it just stopped. I think that the man *is* a..." And then she spoke in a soft whisper, "A vampire."

The young woman on the couch closed her eyes for a brief moment and then looked up at Mademoiselle Laval, dark eyes full of concern. "You're just saying that to frighten us, aren't you? It's all right -- I don't mind really. Only --you aren't serious about something like that. Right?"

"I'm serious, Mademoiselle," Lily murmured quietly. "He went out into the rain and came back as dry as we are now."

Mademoiselle Mirabeau sat up, shaking. "That's... that's just impossible. It must have been a trick of the light. Things like that just don't *happen.*

"Oh, yes they do, Mademoiselle," Madame Laval said in her old, dry voice. The dead walk with us every hour of every day, as do the *undead*. And now there's nothing we can do..."

"Because we're trapped here -- and if that 'man' wants to drink us dry..." Miss Laval shivered.

"Don't *say* things like that!" Mademoiselle Mirabeau's poised demeanor showed a crack of anxiety and fear for one moment and then carefully slid back into place. "He didn't *look* evil, perhaps he'll just let us go."

"Foolish young woman," muttered Madame Laval. That kind of creature has no heart or soul. It knows nothing of kindness or mercy." She drew her gray crepe shawl around her frail shoulders. "There'll be no getting out for us," she nearly whispered.

Lily sighed softly. "She's right, Mademoiselle Mirabeau. But... what do you think he's done with Monsieur Marquise?"

Mademoiselle Mirabeau sat bolt upright. "Nothing, surely!" she said with enough vehemence to make the other two look at her strangely. "You saw him," she protested. "There was nothing wrong with him! He wasn't pale -- he looked perfectly fine..." Her words trailed of under the withering glance of Madame Laval.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Mademoiselle -- all but throwing yourself at him. For all we know he could be the vampire's servant. Now tell me, young woman, is *that* the sort you want fathering your children?"

The dark-haired young woman blushed deeply and said nothing.

"I believe," Miss Laval uttered, "that he is at least under the *control* of that Herr Treize -- that much is plain to the naked eye!" She looked back towards the kitchen, shaking her head, before she went.

"He must be very old, to have been out and about during the day like that."

The woman on the couch gave a long shudder. "We can't stay here," she said softly. "I... I think I'd rather... risk my chances in the storm... Than stay here...

As if to point out the foolishness of that thought, the wind suddenly gusted and the same casement window that had opened before blew open a second time with a loud bang. A torrent of leaves and water blew into the room. "Lily!" Madame Laval cried, clutching her handkerchief to her chest. "Get the window! "Don't let it come in the window!!"

Being the rather frail creature that she was, Lily was having a terrible time trying to get the casements closed against the wind so, unsteadily, Mademoiselle Mirabeau got up and walked slowly to where the other girl was struggling. They were both fighting to push the window frames back into their fittings, hair and clothing drenched with water, when Mademoiselle Mirabeau gave a sharp cry and pointed out the window towards the front lawn. "Do you see her?" she asked Lily, in a voice that was nearly a scream. "Do you see her??"

A small body, dressed as a boy but so thin that it could only have been a girl that wore the oddly still -- in that wind -- auburn locks of hair.

A pale hand raised, to wave, and suddenly, the window slammed shut. Lily screamed.

"How did that happen?" Mademoiselle Mirabeau said, her whole body trembling, voice barely audible. She was slowly backing up towards where Madame Laval sat by the sofa. "It couldn't have -- the wind... the wind was pushing it the other way... and that little girl...? Madame Laval, did you see that little girl?"

She hadn't watched where she was going and now felt the back of her leg hit the older woman's chair, her back knocking against the woman's slight frame. There was a rather sickening thud and Mademoiselle Mirabeau turned with a little shriek. She had tipped Madame Laval out of her chair and now the tiny woman lay on the floor, unmoving but with a rather hideous grin on her face.

"Oh my god! Oh god!" Lily screamed. "She's dead! She's dead!!! HEEEEELLLLLP!!!!"

The commotion from across the way had captured the attention of Precious. She had been in the music room, seeing to the woozy Madame Beauchamp (who had insisted that she stay with her, despite Precious's desire to return to the kitchen and her supper. "My LAWD!" she cried, shocked to see the two women fluttering about, the little old lady on the floor. "Miz Laval!?"

Mademoiselle Mirabeau's eyes threatened to spill over with tears and she searched Precious's face. "Is she? Is she really... dead?" Putting her hands to her ears, she closed her eyes briefly and cried, "Oh, Mademoiselle Laval *please* stop screaming!"

That only brought a modicum of sense to the woman, and she placed a hand over her mouth as if to muffle further screams.

Moving forward quickly, Precious hunkered down beside the old woman. "Lawd, she done had a 'ttack o' some so't!" Precious cried. "Po' li'l ol' thang..."

"Window..." A creaky, dry voice whispered in Precious's ear. "Watch the window..."

"Madame Laval!" Mademoiselle Mirabeau cried. "Is she alive?"

"She's alive!!" Lily exclaimed, nearly faint with joy at that realization. "Oh, you're alive!"

"Ma'am," Precious said, "jest yo' lie heah, now. I'm gonna go get me some strong guhls to help us out heah. Miss, c'n you han' me that pillah theah?"

"Yes, of course!" Mademoiselle Mirabeau brought a delicately embroidered
pillow from the sofa and handed it to the cook. "Should I do something
while you get help?" she asked tentatively.

"God, she's alive -- the window flung open -- Madem Mirabeau, did you see the child... There is evil afoot!" After that brave exclamation, she looked at her aunt. "Alive.... amazing."

"Jes' put her feet up, chile. Ah'll go t'the kitchen 'n get one o' mah guhls... 's yo friend theah TOUCHED?" she asked, indicating the ditzy Mademoiselle Laval.

The dark-haired woman looked up at Lily and then smiled feebly at Precious. "No... no of course not. It's just that... well Madame is her aunt, and we've all had a terrible fright..." She looked around as she spoke and found a delicately embroidered pillow on the sofa. Removing the older woman's shoes, she propped her feet up and then looked back at the cook. "Please don't be gone long..."

"*Please*," Lily agreed quietly, looking at her aunt -- alive! It was a miracle, after what had just happened...

The heavy-set woman shook her head and moved from the room, heading for the kitchen even through the wind and rain of the loggia.

"Hello," came a clear voice as she had almost reached the door to her doman, that of a young girl, lightly accented with French hints. "Why are you rushing so?"

Stopping with surprise, Precious glanced out over the bushes near the house, eyes finally alighting upon a tiny figure standing next to the camellia bushes only feet away. "Chile, whatcha doin' out in this rain?" she asked in surprise, frowning.

"Playing," the pale little girl smiled. "Haven't you ever played in the rain? There's so much to *do* and *eat* out here!"

"Come on in outta that rain now, 'fore ya makes yaself sick," the large woman chided, holding out a hand. "Y'all ain't s'posed to jest eat whatcha fin', chile. Ya mighta done eat somethin' bad fo' ya."

The so pale girl shook her head, nearing Precious but not accepting that hand. "I don't think so -- I think it was *very* good for me." That smile on her lips was unnaturally wicked. "Do you know there are *three* dead so far this storm?"

"Three!? Oh, chile, come in, come in. Don' stay out theah an' get huht!" Precious encouraged.

"But Miss, *I'm* the one killing them," she smiled.

"You shouldn't say things like that, chile," Precious whispered. "Come on in outta the rain. Don' go talkin' trash like that..."

Now she gave a wide-mouthed smile, flashing glimmering white teeth that bore two fangs. "They tasted *good*."

"Oh, my sweet LAWD!" came the whimpered response. "Oh, LAWD!"

Smiling and nearing precious, she went on. "Tell my father that I'm going -- for now. Tell him I'll leave -- tell Treize that. Or I'll kill your *other* children."

"My chil'ren? Whatcha done t' my babies? Ya jes' a chile..." Fear tingled down Precious's spine, tears gathering and falling. "Whatcha done t' my BABIES!?"

"I drank one," the girl smiled, stepping closer. "Go into the building, *now*. Or you'll be another toy."

"Mah baby..." Precious moaned, stumbling towards the kitchen door. "Oh, Lawd, mah BABY!"

In the kitchen, Zechs looked up from where Treize was finishing the bandaging of his hands. "Precious?" he said softly and then got up, walking to the door. As he opened it, a torrent of rain came through and then he saw the cook --nearly on her knees and reaching for the door. He made a grab for her and managed to pull her inside the kitchen as he closed the door. "Precious! Qu'est-ce que c'est??*"

"Mah BABIES!" was the sobbing cry. "Where mah BABIES!?"

Her anguished voice.... /Her daughter. They must have just told her about her daughter,/ Treize mused sadly as he packed away the bandages that had gone unused.

Zechs held onto her as best he could. "Precious... je suis desole... Taira
est mort**... mort... dead, Precious -- Taira is dead, I'm so sorry..."

"Nooo!!!" The woman cried, buckling to her knees, arms wrapping about Zechs's legs. "Nooo, not mah baby! Not mah baby! Oh, that bad bad chile! That bad CHILE!"

"Ah, no -- Precious. It wasn't Taira's fault! Someone killed her... she did nothing wrong, Precious, believe me. Taira was a good girl, she's in heaven now..." /Dear God -- how many children do you need there from this house...?/

Treize, however, was comprehending her words, though slowly. "She doesn't mean her daughter, Zechs," he uttered quietly, nearing them. "What child, Precious -- what child are you talking about?"

The woman was shaking impossibly with her sobs, and could not answer at all.

At that moment, the door burst open again, an impossibly pale Chang Wufei coming in with it in a flurry. "Xixiejiangshi!!" he gasped out, tumbling onto the floor and shuddering. "Xixiejiangshi!!"

Zechs's eyes went wide. He tried to reach for the fallen boy while still holding Precious, unable to do both. "Wufei! Est-tu blessé?? Ce qui...***" His voice trailed off as he looked to Zechs, eyes pleading for an explanation. "Who did she mean, Treize...?"

The vampire himself picked up the shaking boy, doing it gently. "I am not *sure*..." The damp warm body was brought close to his, and he began to do what he'd done the night before for the boy -- absorbed and held the boy's own heat, making him warmer. "Tell me, Wufei -- you saw it."

"A little girl," was the whisper as Wufei shuddered, arms wrapping tightly about Treize's neck. "Cruel hateful little girl. She say you her father. She say... I no remember what say!" Wufei wailed, shaking his head. "She... Samuel, he guts, he guts EVER WHERE! She say eat me no come tell father!"

"Samuel," Zechs whispered, absently stroking Precious's back. His gaze was still on Treize, watching as the vampire comforted Wufei. "Do you know of this girl, Treize?" he asked.

"Mariemeia," he murmured quietly, stroking a hand through Wufei's hair. "She's young yet --trapped that way, I'd suppose. It's my fault."

"She so scary!" Wufei sobbed. "She so scary! She hurt Samuel. He guts, they ever where. They all over place, they in tree, he guts EVER where..."

"Mon Dieu..." Zechs took a hand off of Precious's back to cross himself and then resumed soothing the cook. "Treize -- you said a name... who is this person? Why is it your fault? Je ne comprends pas*..."

"My daughter," he murmured, voice slightly hoarse as he bowed his head to place a kiss atop Wufei's head. "Mariemeia is my daughter. I last saw her years ago -- small, reddish hair... Eyes like mine."

"Yes," Wufei said shakily, listening to Precious's sobs, now. "Yes. Eyes like yours, and smiling. Terrible, terrible, she smile..."

"Your *daughter*, Treize??" Vasari's firmness came through in Zechs's voice. "Why would your *daughter* do things like these? Is she --" He stopped for a moment and looked down at Precious, still quietly sobbing in his lap. It was obvious they couldn't talk about anything with her here, regardless of what state she was in.

"We need to get her someplace where she can lie down," he murmured, adding to Treize, "and then you and I need to talk."

Blue eyes were very tired looking as he nodded, rising carefully and lifting Wufei with him. "Yes. Someplace *within* this building," he murmured quietly, loosening his grasp on Wufei a little, for the boy's own comfort.

"Let's get both of them back to the house," the planter said, voice softening at the sight of the vampire. He'd never looked like this -- so tired, drained...

"We should get the others into the house, also," Treize murmured. "Once precious and Wufei are in the house, I'll go -- alone -- and get the other slaves in, too." Best to ward off the risk by being there with the moving groups.

Precious cried out, "No! That CHILE! She's out the'e! We cain't go out!"

Arms wrapped loosely about Treize, Wufei simply shook his head, trusting in the other man.

"Understand, Madam, that she will not come near *me*," Treize murmured, running a hand gently down Wufei's back. "We'd best move now, however."

"Come, Precious," Zechs said, his voice deliberately calm. He helped the cook to her feet and started for the door, noting, ridiculously he thought, that Wufei hadn't left the vampire's arms, nor even looked up from the tight embrace they'd held since he'd come into the kitchen. He felt an unwanted but very real pang of jealousy and then tried to shake it off as he opened the door and stepped out into the loggia.

"Please, Maste'," she said softly, shaking her head. "Tell me it ain't true. Say that monstah-chile won't eat no mo' o' my chilrun..."

"Not if anything can be done about it," Treize murmured, pulling away enough to simply guide the shaken boy out, keeping him close still. "But no-one should leave the house if the sun isn't out."

"We'll get the rest of your family into the house, Precious. They'll be safe there. I'm... I'm so dreadfully sorry -- about Taira..." His voice became low, so that only Precious could hear his words. "I know it's... not the same, but I do know what it means, to some extent, to lose a child... and my heart goes out to you..." He patted her on the back and fought off a
wave of despair. His world seemed to have fallen apart today, and at the moment he had no idea about how to put it back together.

"The ladies," Wufei said suddenly, as if only now remembering any of them. "Their tea..."

"I will handle that," Treize murmured, obviously trying to shoulder as many of the problems as he could. Yes, he *would* handle them -- once he'd seen these three into the house, and gotten the other slaves in to safety...

He had every plan of taking all of those women, bodily if necessary, putting them in their carriage, and sending them *AWAY*, storm or no!

They reached the door to the house in safety and quickly got in, Zechs closing the door as fast as possible behind them. "Well," he said, trying to feel decisive, I should see to the ladies. Precious, you come with me -- we should start a fire and try to get you somewhat dry."

"I'll bring in the other slaves," Treize murmured as he turned Wufei loose at last. "Where should I bring them to, in the house?"

"My study," Zechs said, not hesitating. "On the other side of the dining room. I'm going to get Precious settled and find out about Noin." He gestured down the hall and held an arm out for Precious. "Come along now."

"My po' chile," the woman was saying again and again. "Oh, my po' dead chile..."

"I will find firewood. Surely, is some in house..." Wufei said tentatively, shuddering and stepping closer to both of them as Treize left behind them.

The three of them moved silently down the hall, save for the soft, sad sounds of grief from Precious. Zechs could have sworn he'd heard those same sounds on the night his son was born, and died, and then he realized he was remembering his own quiet sobs as he knelt in the damp earth after burying Michel. /Even between owner and slave, grief is a uniting force.../ he thought vaguely.

As he steered Precious into the music room, he bent down and spoke again close to her ear. "I want you to sit by the fire that Wufei builds, so you can dry off. I'll come and get you when the rest of your family is here."

"You are not going anywhere?" Wufei asked, suddenly panicked as he looked up at the tall blond. "Not alone?"

"I'm going to check on the ladies across the hall," he said calmly. "Then... I must go up to... Noin." He bent his head as he said her name. He was aching with worry about her and yet... Looking up at Wufei, he couldn't help but show a little bit of the longing he felt, the darkly beautiful boy having the same effect on him in this time of crisis as he had earlier when life was more peaceful. "It's all right," he said, voice almost a whisper. "I'll be back..."

Wufei shook his head, returning that gaze with one of his own. "I shall go and fetch the other girls. They should have come with us, instead of staying in the pantry. I will fetch them, and none of us will be alone. And there are the ladies..."

"You'll do nothing of the kind!" Zechs said, his accent heavy, voice more harsh than he meant it to be. He blinked a few times and then in a softer voice, said, "Treize is getting everyone who is not in the house. You must *not* go outside again alone until we know what we're dealing with. Maintenant****... I need you to stay here with the ladies while I'm upstairs with Noin."

Those lustrous black eyes only returned the look solemnly as they stood there, his voice quiet as he replied, "Yes, Master."

"Don't call me that anymore," the blond man said, eyes downcast. "I'm concerned for your safety, not ordering you as a slave." With that he turned sharply and left the room.

The quick sound of feet came behind him, Precious long dozed off in her fit of weeping and depression. Arms wrapped quickly about his waist. "No be angry," Wufei said softly, face against Zechs's back. "No be angry with me. No mean like that..."

The tall blond turned slowly, taking Wufei into his arms. "I'm not angry with you, mon ange..." he whispered. "Just worried... I want you to always be safe. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you..." His lips brushed the boy's and he couldn't resist stealing just one heady kiss.

"Be very careful," Wufei told him softly, leaning up to steal another. "She is deadly, that scary girl. She... Samuel was a strong man."

"I will be, cheri," Zechs answered him. Then, turning Wufei around he murmured, "Go back inside now -- I will return soon."

After checking on the ladies in the parlour and letting them know that a fire was being built across the hall, Zechs headed up the stairs, wanting to know that Noin was safe but dreading seeing either her or Eugenie. It was difficult walking along the gallery because, although it had a roof, it was open in every other way and the wind was coming from that same direction, throwing great gusts of rain at him as he walked.

About ten steps away from Noin's room he stopped, feeling a wave of fear pass through him. Her door was open -- wide open...

"Noin?" he called running the rest of the way. "Noin are you..." The fear grew stronger as he saw that Noin was nowhere to be seen and Eugenie lay on the floor clutching her head.

"Eugenie, what happened? Are you all right? Where's is your Mistress?"

The dour woman moaned quietly, "She hit me -- with a wooden doll!"

"Comment*****?" the planter breathed, a look of shock forming on his face. Then his voice grew stern. "Eugenie -- are you lying to me? Because if I find out you are, and that something has happened to my wife, you will sorely regret it."

"Why would I lie?" she asked, a hand clutching as the slowly forming knot at the back of her skull. "She said she'd left to find Michel..."

The color drained from Zechs's face as he stared at the servant. "To find... Why did she say this? Where did she go??" He felt like shaking the woman. Getting information from her was taking an eternity -- an eternity of time that something dreadful could be happening to Noin.

"Tell me *everything* and do it *quickly!*" he finally ordered.

"She said that Michel had ran free -- that she was going outside to speak to your captain's ghost again!" Eugenie exclaimed quietly, trying to stand from the heap she'd crumpled into.

Zechs frowned in confusion. "My captain? What are talking about Eugenie?" he said in frustration as he knelt down and wrapped her arm over his shoulder, standing slowly and walking towards the bed. "Make sense, please! Who did she mean?"

"The ghost of your dead captain! She said she spoke with him outside last time she was out..."

He laid Eugenie down on the bed and hurriedly covered her with one of Noin's blankets. "I have to find her," he muttered, moving to the door. "Everyone else is in the music room downstairs. There's a fire there, should you want company, but I recommend you lie quietly until we can have someone look at that wound." Then he turned and headed out of the room.

*What is it??
** "I'm so sorry... Taira is dead."
***"Wufei! Are you hurt?? What..."
****Now.
*****Huh?

End of Part Two

(:./kumiko/cypress2)