apparently time doesn't heal all wounds

[Silence de Morte]

The dark skies of Alatus were heavy with summer rain. thunder rumbled in the distance and every so often the bright crack of lightning would pierce the black sky, illuminating the sleepy world below.

A lone figure rode slowly to the front steps of Vita manor. The body was slouched over in the saddle, barely strong enough to hold on to the horse's reins. Another flash of lightning broke through the shy, the figure's face visible in the bright light. It was Silence, returning home from her weekly ride, but tonight was different. Her clothing was shredded and torn, her skin ripped and blood was oozing from countless wounds on the young vampires body. Even by vampire standards she was in poor shape, barely holding on to her unlife by a thread.

She managed to hold on till she reached the front steps of the manor, but before she could manage to remove herself from the saddle, she fell, unconscious to the ground in a bloody heap.

The young woman had simply been enjoying her weekly ride through Alatus, the only thing that gave her any bit of joy since the bitter fight between herself and Aleth had started. For some reason the man had gotten it into his head that she had bedded Vanth, another vampire in the manor, but it was all a lie! She had never even thought of doing such things with Vanth, and no matter how she had begged or pleaded with him to explain nothing had gone on between the to to Aleth, Vanth never denied a thing. It had been months since Aleth had even spoken a word to her and it broke her heart. Aleth was the only thing she truly cared about and with him gone...she was slowly falling to pieces.

It had been on that ride when she had passed by the outer perimeter of the castle Magdalene. Silence had stopped for a few moments, to allow her horse to rest when she noticed a group of what appeared to be demons heading from the castle. They would never have even noticed the woman had the rain stalled a bit longer and the lightning had not flashed, for when it did it frightened her mount and caused the beast to scream in terror which alerted the monsters to her position. For fear she would take such information back to Capella, they had attacked the young woman with the intent to kill her so their secret remained hidden from the lady of the vampires.

They had left silence for dead, not knowing that she still had fight left in her. She forced herself up and made her way back to vita with the intention of alerting her mistress to the turn of events.

Now here she lay, broken and near death at the base of the steps that lead to her home....

[Maya nox Noctis]

It was her time to watch the doors. Aleth was enjoying - if such a word could be said in relation to him anymore - some alone time, finished with his shift at the front doors a few hours ago. Capella had her most trusted clan members with this seemingly simple task. Maya wore it like a badge of honor.

On this particular night, she hadn't spoken a single word to anyone. Her acquaintances were off on their own somewhere, maybe playing cards or making girl talk. It didn't matter too much to Maya, though. No, she was here, doing her job. Guarding.

However, she had a strange and familiar feeling as she did this. Something that her reaper senses felt. Someone, somewhere was dying. And it wasn't just the usual victim that needed her scythe, either. A stubborn flame was about to be snubbed, and it would be her job to decide whether it was truly time to be snubbed or not. At first, Maya worried about this, simply because she couldn't be bothered with reaping right now. She was guarding Vita Manor's doors.

But it seemed as though the fading life getting closer. Heading in the exact same direction as Vita Manor, concequently. How convenient.

Then, Maya heard a thud from right outside the doors. It was closer than she thought! Immediately, as if on command by the booming thunder in the background, she tore open the doors and materialized her staff, ready for whatever this dying soul may have brought with them. Bandits, hunters, daemons...

... It was Silence.

Thunder boomed again with a crack of lightning in the background, and Silence's mount bolted off into the distance.

"What... what the hell is this...? Silence?"

Maya approached the vampire carefully, watching the blood pour slowly from the woman's wounds. This was the woman she had tried to pry away from her best friend. This was the woman that Maya held an uncouth bitterness for. This was the woman who had done absolutely nothing wrong, to boot.

She dematerialized her scythe and knelt down.

"... Silence, can you speak?"

[Silence de Morte]

The rain and blood soaked vampire shifted a bit, her weakened frame shaking from the cold and abuse she had gone through. slowly she came too, though she was still dizzy and not quite all there. She could feel someone standing over her, a familiar presence. It was Maya's voice that cut through the dull roar of pounding rain.

"... Silence, can you speak?" The girl asked her. Silence nodded a bit. "Barely. Must...talk to...Capella" she said softly, her voice barely a whisper, the hushed tone nearly lost to the rain. Her body was so cold...was this what dying really felt like? It was frightening, to know she would leave the world and in her mind, no one would miss her....

[Maya nox Noctis]

"No, you can wait until you're in a bed with your wounds dressed. Let's get you inside," Maya said. If Silence had this much trouble with just a simple response, then spewing out important information to Capella would be bad for her.

For a moment, Maya was going to call for Aleth to help her get Silence inside, but then she remembered what she had done, and why she had done it. He didn't need this woman. He didn't need to be chasing after her and making sure she was okay and falling in love. And besides, she could do it herself.

Carefully, Maya slung Silence's arm over her shoulder, and she started her journey inside the manor and to a cozy room. She realized that Silence was quite a bit taller and heavier than she herself was, and fought for a comfortable grip.

"Whatever you do, just try to stay awake. I'll summon Capella as soon as you're tended to."

This woman was the reason why she lost a best friend in Aleth, and that made her angrier than she had ever been. But she wasn't sure she had hoped for quite this much revenge. It made her feel... uncomfortable. Like it was her own anger that had absentmindedly wished this upon Silence. And it happened.

She quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind. Silence was irritating, and she would only do as much as she had to to get this over with.

[Silence de Morte]

The battered woman offered Maya a weak smile. "thank you...Maya" she said softly. A groan and agonized wince of pain swept over Silence's features as Maya helped her to her feet. Her entire body felt as if she had been injected with molten silver, then set on fire...yeah it was that bad, and to be moving around made it even worse, but for now she had to deal with the pain.

"I shall try. Thank you again, Maya. I appreciate your help" the vampire groaned weakly. Her throat was dry and raspy, her normally calm and soothing voice a mere cracking whisper. When they reached the room Maya had been escorting silence to, Silence's knees buckled and she began to fall to the ground, her legs too weak to continue supporting themselves.

[Maya nox Noctis]

The sincerity and overall politeness Silence was displaying irked Maya straight to the core. Perhaps this is why she had decided to so firmly dislike her. Was it wrong to hate someone who had done nothing wrong to you? Or were there truly those people in the world that you just couldn't help but not like? Was that any kind of excuse?

"Here... I know it's not very comfortable, but wait there for just a moment while I prepare the bed," the reaper said, trying her best - and hopefully succeeding - at a warm and concerned tone of voice. She let Silence rest in the corner of the room, which was actually the old room of Alumina Takeishi. There was a small pile of cushions that hadn't been placed where they were supposed to go in what were probably months, but as far as she knew, they were clean.

Maya pulled the covers of the bed back, displaying pristine white sheets that would soon be soiled with blood. She fluffed the pillows and shut the blinds, and then laid the woman down.

Then she remembered no one was guarding the doors! Maya hastily rushed to the doorway where she found one of Capella's less-than-loyal followers ambling around, and yelled to him.

"Hey! Hey you! Go fetch Mr. Beau!"

Aleth was truly the last person she wanted to bring her, but it was either he guard the doors while she tended to Silence - begrudgingly - or she went to do what she was told to do all along and he could begrudgingly tend to her.

But Silence could keep upon her vile ways and re-seduce him after Maya had gone through such measures to undo that.

Decisions, decisions. She went to draw a bowl of warm water and fresh wrappings to tend to the woman's wounds.

[Silence de Morte]

"It's fine. thank you" Silence murmured softly, a weak but warm smile on her blood stained lips. The cushions felt heavenly against her weak body and caused Silence to sink into them deeply, a faint sigh escaping her. She fluttered in and out of consciousness for the short moments Maya had left her there on the mountain of cushions, the blood loss making her dizzy and light headed.

Maya moved her once more, the look of pain returning to silence's face as her body was shifted. But it was quickly over as the young woman rested Silence's broken body on the heavenly soft mattress. Silence's eyes closed and a ragged cough escaped her lips, a small trickle of blood forming at the corner of her lips. Silence should not have been in such terrible condition, her healing powers should have helped her, but Silence had not exactly been caring for her health since the feud began. She had not fed in weeks, and her vampiric abilities were weak....She was certainly paying for it now.

[Maya nox Noctis]

Any minute now, he would be here. Aaaany minute now. She didn't know where that brooding mass would be hanging out, but one thing was for sure, and that was that he picked terrible hiding places. So with any luck, Lars would be able to find him. Well, even without luck. Just basic common sense would do well in this situation.

In that case, she was screwed. Better to hope for luck after all.

Maya unwound a roll of gauze after washing one of Silence's arms with the hot water. As she prepared to wrap several of the gashes, she noticed that many of them would only turn into scars, laid over older scars. This was not this woman's first tiff with danger, and it would probably not be her last. The reaper wasn't sure if she liked that thought or not, so, hastily, she tore the gauze from the roll and began to tend.

"I should get an apothecary in here. I'm sure a good poultice will stop the bleeding and some of the pain. You haven't fed in a good while, have you?" Maya asked. "You're bleeding like some kind of human."

Great, she thought. Aleth would come in here, see that because Silence hadn't fed in awhile she was bleeding like a human, feel bad about it, and let her feed from him. Just great. She stole a glance at her own wrist as she wrapped the gauze tightly.

Maybe she would just do it. Unless Silence had turned a new leaf and decided not to feed anymore.

[Silence de Morte]

"It's been...awhile" she said softly in regards to the feeding question. Silence watched Maya work on her wounds for a few moments before she turned her tired eyes to the ceiling before her eyes closed, the vampire sinking into a deep slumber. At least when she was asleep the pain wasn't as terrible, that was a plus to the situation. The problem was she didn't know if she would wake up. Perhaps she would pass quietly in her sleep and Maya would sever the intangible ties that held her spirit to her currently broken frame.

She was unaware that Maya had called for Aleth...Part of her desperately wanted to see the man, but another part of her didn't want the man to see her like this...She was weak and broken, a mess of torn flesh and fabric.

[Maya nox Noctis]

"Well in that case, would you uh... uhh, well... would you like to um..."

Maya stared intensely at her wrist as she mumbled. Of course she didn't want to let Silence feed from her. That was ridiculous. Maya hated letting other people feed from her. What little bit of blood she had left was hers and hers alone! But if this would save her some trouble...

"Um, well if you think it'd be a good idea, uh you can um... wait are you asleep?" Silence's eyes had fallen heavily, and the woman didn't stir. "Crap."

At the very least, this presented her with an opportunity to quickly finish tending to Silence's wounds without 'ouches' and other noises of protest. And if she needed to be a little less than gentle to get it done, she could! She had told the vampire to stay awake, though. It was very possible that if she fell asleep, she would lose grasp of the physical realms and never wake up again.

Maybe I should just... predict this... aaaaand get it over with.

She most certainly could and there wouldn't be any questions. Well, she was sure that Desiree and Sarka wouldn't be very pleased, but it was a very convenient way to get rid of Silence once and for all. It'd take a large amount of her energy to sever someone's ties with life, or in this case unlife, before they were ready, but maybe it would be worth it.

Are you crazy?! No! What the hell are you thinking!? Capella did not take you under her wing for this kind of thinking!

Maya finished wrapping the last wound, and sat down by the bedside waiting for Aleth and twiddling her thumbs. The shame on her face was too much to hide.

[Silence de Morte]

Silence stirred a bit, but remained under the heavy blanket of forced slumber. Her breathing was nearly unnoticeable, her chest barely moving as she lay there. Shuddering coughs escaped her lips, but again, the pain was more bearable as she slept.

[Aleth.]

Lars was a nervous man all on his own. Yelling from tiny little Maya was the cherry on top. For almost ten minutes, Aleth struggled to figure out just what the man was trying to say, as the reaper had brought out some of the worst stuttering he had ever heard in anyone, let alone Lars. Something had happened while Maya was on duty by the front doors and now no one was at the front doors. That 'something' had involved Silence.

"So what does Maya want me to do? Go take over her spot by the doors, or head over to the room she has Silence in?"

Of course, he already figured he knew the answer. Of course he would have to go face his fears and talk to the woman. Naturally.

"M-Maya wishes for you to go to her, in the r-room," Lars said, clearing his throat. Of course.

"Alright, then you take over the doors for a second. Someone knocks, you answer it. Easy as pie." And then Aleth took off down the hall, heading to what used to be Alumina's room, before she had vanished from Alatus Nox.

When Aleth heard Silence had slept with Vanth, it was the end-all be-all. There was a part of him that thought perhaps it wasn't true, perhaps their relationship had been in some way sabotaged, but who would want to do that? Who in the world would care enough about his harmless romantic endeavors to ruin them? Obviously, that was a ridiculous idea. So she must have bedded Vanth after all. The other man didn't deny it. And if nothing had happened, why wouldn't he try to deny it? Nothing made any sense.

Soon, he reached the bedroom, and there he saw Maya sitting idly by Silence's bedside, twiddling her thumbs. Silence was heavily bandaged and unconscious.

"You had to bandage her? How could she be bleeding so badly?" he asked warily, approaching the bedside.

[Silence de Morte]

Silence stirred only a little, Aleth's voice cutting through the fog of unconsciousness that she had been forced in to. It had to be a dream, her subconscious was taunting with the man she loved.

[Maya nox Noctis]

Maya stole a glance at Silence's stirring figure on the bed before staring back at Aleth. There was an ocean of dread pooled up in her, and she knew that her face said exactly as much. Hopefully Aleth would assume the dread was just genuine worry for the well-being of Silence. It wasn't, of course.

"She's all yours. I have to get back to work. You know how Capella is."

She stood and brushed off imaginary dirt from her gray dress. This was it, and she knew it. She might as well say goodbye to her best friend all over again. Him falling for the injured vampire was inevitable, especially when she was as vulnerable as she was. Aleth had a thing for saving injured ladies. All that work for nothing...

She didn't even bother to clean up the mess she had made tending to Silence. Maya sighed deeply and left. Desiree and Sarka were likely to be disappointed with her. Well, or not. Who knew?

[Silence de Morte]

Silence woke a bit after Maya left, a severely pained groan escaping her cracked lips. Her eyes fluttered open, though she couldn't make out much, only pale globs of color and light. But there was something different in the air.... A different presence had entered the room...Silence sniffed the air a bit, her eyes opening as wide as they could in surprise (which in her current state wasn't very wide).

"Al..Aleth" she whispered. She couldn't believe he was there. Could it be...Had he finally chosen to believe her? all she could do was hope as she forced herself to shift on the mattress, wanting to make sure aleth was truly in the room and it wasn't just her dying mind playing tricks on her.