WELCOME

[lucille queen]

Two o clock in the morning seemed awfully late to the average man that spent his day working and his evenings at home with his family. However, it did not seem late to the adolescents out reeking havoc across the streets of London. London was so much like New York in that way – it never slept. Lucy still remembered the big apple like she had lived on the streets yesterday. Of course, comparing New York to London was like comparing black to white. They were both a shade, or a color depending on how you saw it, but other then that they had nothing in common. London was so much more different, and Lucille still felt as though she got lost in the city. She knew her way around, but it was a big city.

In her younger days, the days in New York, Lucy spent her nights much differently. Her evenings consisted of a shot of morphine to the veins, men pouring her drinks of ale. Things were different, it was a time where a young woman showed her legs and the men flocked to her. Now what mattered was how much skin was exposed – and the more, the better. Lucy would sneak away into the night with different men and wake up later from her daze in a jazz club watching women singing on the stage or the 20’s dancing flappers. More drinks were poured, more drugs were taken, and there was always, always, more sex. No, it was not the way any nineteen year old girl should have grown up. She was a class a tramp in all of the jazz clubs. It had never been what Lucille Queen wanted for herself, but she felt important and needed to men. Little did her young naïve mind know, men would always want to find their way between a woman’s legs and it didn’t matter whose.

Biting on her thumbnail, Lucille looked across the street from under the black bell shaped cloche hat on her head. It was one of the only things that Lucy had kept over the years to remind her of home. It was a sore reminder of the life she left behind – her father. How did the hat last over the years? It was beyond Lucy, other then her constant care for the black cloche hat. It frayed in certain parts, but for the most part the hat was in excellent shape for it’s age. Arms folded over a long velvet jacket, Lucy looked down at her feet in a pair of high heeled shoes before returning her gaze to a gathering of people don’t the street. Even from nearly a block away, Lucy was on the sidewalk next to an old pub and she could still see the gathering crowd around the doors of Napoleons Casino.

The casino where wealthy men would go in with their poker faces while their wives played with smiles on their faces at the glimpse of a good hand, where young people would enter with not enough cash to pay their rent and they’d leave in debt to the casino or with three times as much money needed for their rent. It was a place for people with an addiction. All it took was one game, one hand, to have them hooked – and he sold it so well. Pushing her hands into the pockets of her coat, she watched the lights of the casino that shouted at people it was a classy place for the upper class to go for a good time. Away from the casino the city seemed so dead, but near its doors it was filled with life while cars pulled in front of the big windows to let their riders in or out of the vehicles.

Next to her, the old pub was a complete change of scenery. There was a single window that was clouded with dust and grim from the hard blue collar workers of the ancient city. They would talk about women, what it would be like to go into the casino – it was a place where Lucille knew she could get an easy meal. Men where weak and couldn’t resist the Dow in the headlights look when she stumbled into the joint fluttering her eyelashes claiming to be lost. She was young, her limbs were scrawny, and in some ways she looked like a walking skeleton with golden locks of hair – but that never changed things. She was attractive, her innocence got her everything she wanted and more. However, a stumble into a place like the pub beside her would only get her hands dirty with a man who should have been home with his wife and children – not having a couple beers with the ‘guys’.

At that thought, Lucille quickly crossed the street. Her heels echoed on the street with each long stride her legs took and she kept her hands firmly in her pockets thinking about going into the casino. Every time she walked through the doors flashing the black and white poker chip with a silver crown on it’s top. It got her into the casino without question every time. She didn’t doubt a million other women carried the chips since the men in the front always seemed to exchange the same smirking glance to one another before quickly letting her in. But every time guilt sunk into the depth of whatever insides she had and stayed there the entire night. She always thought, knew, her sire wouldn’t approve. Aaro was her father figure, the older brother that kept an eye on her – the complication in her life that always made her think twice before entering the damned casino. He spent time looking out for her, and Lucy was repaying him by going behind his back and sneaking around to the place he told her not to enter.

He made it seem like a place equal to that of the pits of hell. Every time Lucy entered the casino she could see where it could be thought of that way. Sins committed in ever corner – greed at the top of the list. Attractive women that were only going to be your demise, men who dealt cards that would change your entire nights, all of them could be masked demons. And he, the one that Lucy came to see every time, was the worst of all. He was their leader, Satan in the flesh leading his ring of demons around the place. Alright so that was an awful analogy, but Lucy liked to paint the picture in her head of the deranged circus of casino employees and why Aaro despised her going to the place.

Stopping before an alley that wound around to the back of the casino, Lucy stopped her steps and leaned against a wall staring across the street. She watched the bench on the other side of the paved street, expecting it to turn into her sire. It wouldn’t, but she heard his voice in her head. He taught her so much, and he meant so much to her but she always found herself defying him. As grateful as she was, she was a big girl and wanted to make her own decisions. One way to look at it, was Lucy being a school girl possessed. She chased after Veikko Luova ever since she had laid eyes on him – the classic wanting what she couldn’t have. Or as Lucy would correct it, shouldn’t have. Sweeping a lock of her golden blonde hair over her shoulder, Lucy dug in the pocket of her coat turning the chip over in her fingers. She still contemplated whether to go inside or not, though deep down she knew she would.

[veikko luova]

At about ten o’clock p.m. Veikko unlocked his coffin and pushed the lid open without a struggle. It was a black lacquered thing with brass locks and hinges. The casket was in the latest fashion, a rectangle, more room to him; space for two sleeping bodies. The inside was lined with fine dark red silk, appropriate for all the blood he consumed and the color of the roses he liked so much. A black pillow lay at the head; you couldn’t expect this Prince of Darkness to sleep with his head against a flat plank of wood, could you? He had a memory foam piece stuck on the inside also, bed sheets and everything for Veikko. So it was a little weird to be buying a twin sized coffin, but what did it matter? No one had questioned him. Even if it looked highly suspicious. Do murderers really take that much care in their kill?

Veikko put his matching little brass key on his nightstand next to the bed where at the foot, his coffin lay. It was deep with a latch on the outside fashioned to look like it was a trunk. It didn’t lock on the outside though, but nobody dared to touch it. Who was in his room though but himself? He was a lonely creature; he didn’t bring company into his room. The only company he ever held was the nouveau rich or the naked victims that saw only his burning green eyes before they passed into the great oblivion of nothing and nowhere. There was Aaro and Lucy though. Those two who made such a cute couple of sire and child. Veikko had thought of making his own, he couldn’t though. It would most likely be out of selfishness, not the goodness of his heart or pure love. He didn’t think he was capable of pure anything anymore.

This war, his war, it was going to happen. People were choosing sides and arming up. Veikko had the biggest coven anyone had seen. Since when did thirteen vampires agree on anything? Of course, this was only the beginning. Out of his immediate “family” there was all those of his little followers. The ones who believed in him to raise them out of their graves and into the human nightlife without shame or shadows. He couldn’t stand being against Aaro, but they had always viewed this differently and that’s why they had split up back in Finland. Veikko hated those thoughts still, Aaro was painful for him to see and he didn’t want to dwell on it.

Tonight was for appearances. His casino was thriving and he had to show up and make sure all went well. It always did though. He hadn’t gotten a warrant from the police yet, that was a good sign surely. His casino made a wonderful front and a wonderful amount of money for his luxurious lifestyle. He didn’t do anything else in that mob business though. He didn’t think he could exactly handle the casino, the mob and a different kind of war all at the same time. Not to mention his own personal problems, because those were abundant. No, he would stick to being a smooth criminal without the mess of explaining why bullets wouldn’t kill. Besides, getting stuck in jail would not only ruin his life, it would leave the rest of his race where they started, in hiding. It wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in himself to know how to operate the organization; it was just too messy for his taste.

He had walked away from the night table by now and was at his walk in closet. He proceeded to do what the closet was made for and walked in. There were various clothes for him to wear, all fine tailored suits to fit his particular body. Nothing too tight or loose in certain areas. Everything was how it should be in there. Structured with order, peacefully coexisting within their spaces. And Veikko could choose from anything and not disturb the stillness. That’s all he wanted in life. Life with a little composition where he could just take a human out of the arrangement with no harm no foul. But they wouldn’t like that. A human life he was taking, they didn’t deserve it. Well why did he deserve this? Why had he had to live through his awful mother and dirty teenage years? What made him different? Wasn’t it just like them though, preciously humans who knew so little. They just wanted their way. They could do what they wanted, everything else was under them. They still fought amongst themselves over skin color! It was pathetic. Any one of them deserved it.

There he was working himself up again. He hadn’t touched anything in his closet, he just stared at it with bitterness and that unpleasant resentment that he always had at the human race. He composed himself though; anger would not do well tonight. It really never got him anywhere anyway. So he picked out a turquoise silk shirt, a black tie, a black suit jacket and black and white pinstriped pants. He found some shiny leather dress shoes and took some black socks out of a drawer. Taking all these things back into the main part of the bedroom he thought of the night.

He undressed from his deep azure pajamas and put on the clothes he had picked out. As always, when he was all done up he looked amazing. Not a tattoo showing, at least not very much. The cuff of his sleeve never quite hid the arm thorns he had. It was never mentioned though, most personal questions were never asked of Veikko, no one knew him well enough to be comfortable in asking him such a thing. He was elusive and untouchable. He liked that most of the time, being the brains behind everything and like a superstar. So he was known in the mortal world, already bending the rules with how much popularity he had.

He loved being on the other side though, against the grain. He always had been and wasn’t ever going to take it back or regret it. He hated seeing a person in a mold, breaking it was the best feeling, to be free. But he wasn’t totally, that’s what he was fighting for. To not have to hide his bloodlust and to not feel ashamed for what he was. It wasn’t his fault what had happened to him and Aaro. So he told himself over and over. He hadn’t chosen this. It had been drawn to him. And taken Aaro in the process. It was up to Veikko to right the wrong and free both of them. Of course Aaro had to be against him though, he was content with loosing. It drove Veikko insane.

Veikko was dressed to kill (without the pun intended). He left his bedroom and walked to the end of a long eerie hallway to reach the balcony over his great room. There were two staircases that curved down to meet in his entrance way and he took the one closest to him. His hand caressed the mahogany wood gently and elegantly as he strode down the staircase. He got to this entrance and then turned to go to his garage. Upon reaching the three car garage he opened the door to see his black and silver cars. He got in his Benz; the black car was for his murder spree. It had nice trunk space for the bodies, even if he had to get it cleaned every week for the smell.

He cruised the streets of London with his speedy lustrous little car while searching for running water. He heard it in a house further away from the dirty streets of London. He parked his car some good twenty four blocks away and sunk into the shadows. Much like flying was the feeling, but somehow this empty nausea felt wonderful for him. He knew he could fill it up, so he was pleasantly hungry. He wasn’t weightless like in the sky; he was part of the Earth, close and hollow at the same time. It was a miracle to him how he could reappear out of nothing.

So that’s what he did, flying through the shadows that if anyone had been watching them they would’ve assumed he was a sort of hallucination. Because there he was, right at the doorstep of this unsuspecting human’s house hiding beyond the porch light. He pulled out his lock pick from the inside of his suit jacket and wiggled it around in the lock of the front door. It was a little crude and he often couldn’t stand doing this, but he didn’t particularly feel like busting the damn thing off its hinges. That was just barbaric. His entrance was to be smooth and unnoticed by the victim. He loved to surprise them and cut their screams short with his strong hand over their mouths. All this would be demonstrated soon enough.

Unlike some vampires who felt remorse and guilt over killing the innocent, Veikko did not. Who was to determine someone’s fate? Veikko felt he had as much right as anyone else to disrupt and do as he pleased. Where did it say that you were not allowed to ruin someone’s life? It made him evil in the eyes of so many; he had his own justifications though. Like the famous, ‘They would’ve died sooner or later.’ He just made it sooner. And so the young teenage boy who was running water in the bathroom would just end up sooner.

Veikko could smell the blood so strongly in this one. It was almost intoxicating, like the boy had opened up his veins in preparation for him. In a way, that’s what Veikko stumbled upon. He had walked through the house quietly, parents sleeping without hearing a sound, the son in the bathroom taking a bath. Veikko had opened the bathroom door to see a boy about fourteen who was undressing from his plaid cotton pajamas to step into almost overflowing bathtub. It looked like he had this suicide all planned out and wanted to make it complex. There were the shallow cuts across his wrists that were trickling some blood, the bathtub full of water enough for him to drown in and a cd player with a Deftones cd playing quietly on the very edge of the tub.

That eerie music and very scene made Veikko full of rage and sorrow. Angry because he knew this boy, it had been him. He could tell what the boy was feeling, the pressure of his parents and blame on him. He wasn’t perfect and would never be. Sorrow because he had let it consume his feelings, too dark to escape it now, the only light he saw would be in the electricity when the cd player fell into the flood of water. Veikko wasn’t hiding, but the boy didn’t look back. The bright light of the powerful bulbs over the small mirror made Veikko glow with his snow white skin. He looked like an angel, even in a suit. An angel with a job it seemed. And when the boy sat down in the tub and sloshed the water out, Veikko pulled him out before the electric current that hit the cd player could touch him. He was that fast.

The skinny fourteen year old looked into Veikko’s eyes and smiled. He thought he was dead. Veikko held the boy close to him and stoked his dry hair. It was a short shaggy cut, dirty blonde hair that was so soft. Veikko let his hand slide over the naked flesh of the boy’s neck, so tender it was, so easy to crush. Veikko lifted the boy’s head from his chest. He let him look into his transfixing green eyes and he leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Don’t fear the reaper.” Veikko could feel the pull of the boy’s cheeks as they soared upward into peace and happiness.

Veikko bit into the neck of his victim, a small whimpering moan emitting from the boy. Veikko felt the clean blood course through him, the boy held on to Veikko’s suit jacket and then around his waist as he started to slip. Veikko held tight around the boy’s bony ribs. He fingered each one of them delicately as he sucked life into himself and shuddered slightly in pure rapture. Veikko put the boy’s arms around his clothed waist and they lowered onto the floor. He was bent over the boy, close to him though, as if they were two lovers. He felt the last fluttering quiver of the boy’s heart and it was gone. Veikko stayed close to the body, mourning his own death at that age. He felt a tear roll out of his tear duct to spot the boy’s starless eyes. He then saw the water flowing over the edge of the tub and running toward the nameless teenager on the floor. The dirty blonde hair was getting wet, it started to wave slightly. Veikko picked up the boy and left the house before his shoes were even damp.

It was an unusual thing for Veikko to do, but he quickly grabbed a blanket and a towel for the dead boy. He wrapped the towel around his waist and swaddled him in the blanket like a baby. He was taking his dead to his garden; this one had a special place. He carried the boy twenty four blocks back to his Benz without being noticed. He kept to the shadows but at the same time held a swift pace. It was eleven o’clock at night, soon to be midnight when he returned to his home.

He unlocked his car and put his loving corpse in the front passenger seat. You could say that Veikko was having a bit of a mental drama at this point. He had always been obscure, but this would worry Aaro. This would trouble him deeply, afraid that his dearest friend was teetering to the brink of insanity. And insanity could not be cured with time and Veikko would have too much of it to wreak havoc. But he didn’t think of this, what anyone would think. He was consumed with what had happened and what had to be done. The burial was going to be proper, even if he had to find a stone and etch a nameless epitaph into it himself.

He drove along the streets back to his home where the lifeless corpse lolled its head to one side or the other at turns. It was safely kept in the seatbelt though, it even looked peaceful. It was what Veikko wanted for him. Peace. To everyone. No one understood that. Why couldn’t they look past the moral human rights and into the bigger picture? Humans were such hypocrites.

They reached the house and Veikko parked the car. He took the body out with the blanket and towel and brought it up to his room. All its waste and fluids had been taken care of in the bathroom before hand. Now it lay down on the unused bed, clean and without the things that had been covering him before. The only imperfect thing about the boy was the scars on his wrists. He was too scared to kill himself. He wanted to but he couldn’t deliberately slice himself up into nothingness. The cd player could fall, the shock would kill him, not himself. Veikko had been his dashing dark savior.

Veikko left the boy on the comfortable plush four poster to disappear into the darkness of the basement. He walked to the corner of the unfinished basement and pulled out a maple coffin that he had had at one point. Gold locks and hinges this one had, his tastes had changed dramatically. But it would do for the slender boy upstairs. He lugged it out of the basement and into the backyard where he kept his garden of roses and willow trees. He found a spot away from some of his other victims and where a sweet earthly smell was overpowering. He put the coffin a few feet away and went into the garden shed for a shovel. The six foot hole was an easy thing to do. Veikko had tried to concentrate on that and not Aaro and himself in their boyhood. That had been lost. He was going to bury it now, that was his idea.

Returning to the room he saw the boy on the bed, unmoved and untouched. Had he expected something to happen? He had never intended on changing the boy. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t force something like eternal hell onto one who had suffered so much already. Veikko knew that the boy would’ve loved him though. The promise of being with him and being cared for and pampered, it would’ve overwhelmed him into saying yes with a greedy and pleading tongue. Could Veikko have done it then? He didn’t think he could. Not even with begging. He wouldn’t have been alone anymore.

Now he had to bury it. Bury his own death. He took the boy into his arms, clean he was. He smelled so good, even if the bath hadn’t actually gone that far. Even though he was just a dead carcass in a vampire’s arms. Sorrow was washed all over him, it made him smell sweet. Just like the roses that Veikko so loved. He was carrying the body of the naked boy in his arms as one might with a bride. So lovingly he placed him into the coffin. Pure with the sense of reality to him with the scars on his wrists and the fresh wounds that would scab over. Veikko kissed his lips; the heat was ever seeping away. It was perfect.


He closed the lid and didn’t say a word. It was a sad silent goodbye. He lowered the coffin into the ground without a bump. He then lifted himself out of the hole; it was a painful thing for him to do. He wanted to remain underground, that’s where he should’ve been anyway. This life had only brought him bitter memories and death. But he reminded himself why he was still around; he was trying to help his race. Be the bigger person and not take out his revenge on his own kind, the only ones who might glimpse an understanding about him.

---

He buried the coffin, and by now it was one in the morning. He remembered his casino and thought of changing. The dirt was brushed off; no lasting stains that he could see. He had to pick up and carry on with his life. And that’s what he did. Straightening himself out he went back to his garage to take the silver Maserati for looks. He loved the speed no doubt, but did he need it? He stopped himself from thinking about that sort of thing, it only left him sour.
He flew around in his car and pulled up to his huge casino. He took his own marked parking spot and walked right into the front doors. He was always one for a grand entrance. He loved all eyes on him. Everyone fascinated by his luminous white skin and dazzling green eyes. His impeccable taste and his suave way of going around the casino to see if people were having a good time. Always a little flirtatious with the ladies and charming with the men. Everyone was impressed. They didn’t see his family roots and his timeless pain. He would flash a smile with those fangs of his, such large incisors that had dentists interested. No one would believe he was a real living vampire. If you could call the state of being in which he was stuck, ‘living’.

Four an hour he made appearances at tables, often pulling back to the cards. He liked to see everyone trying to beat each other based on luck. But they could always mess it up with a bad play. Wit had something to do with it. Veikko pondered if he would be very good at it. He hoped he would be, how would this war go if his poker tactics were dreadful? He didn’t think long on it though. He could feel some part of Aaro around. It wasn’t very strong though, maybe he was further away. Love overcame Veikko though and he excused himself to go outside to look for Aaro maybe down a few blocks from the casino. They had a pull to each other, even if Aaro couldn’t stand Veikko sometimes and Veikko felt hopeless around Aaro. Their friendship bonded them like brothers. They loved each other like brothers and cared for one another.

The feeling of Aaro was apparent but there was no sign of him. Veikko prided himself on picking up his best friend but he couldn’t see him. He turned to his left where it was pulling him the most. He saw a sweep of long blonde hair. It was part of Aaro right there. His vampire child with a look of contest on her face. He grinned widely. This part of Aaro he adored and was secretly jealous of. He made his way over to little Lucy Queen and thought of her smooth cold skin against his hand and it made him close his fist lightly, finger tips playing over his palm.

”Little Lucy, why are you here?” he asked as he grew closer to her supernatural body. She was so young, a great era she came from. He was almost envious of that sometimes too. He was now only a feet away from her, he would talk her into coming into the casino and he would take her hand. But it was more sneaking to be had, even in his own hotel. Because no one could know of the spy she was. It was difficult. They would go into the back and he would tell her to have a good time. He would watch her from far away sometimes dreaming of her and sometimes of the war.

[lucille queen]

Holding herself in a stiff and proper stand, Lucille raised her eyes to the sky. There was never much of a night sky in London. There was a man made smoke constantly whirling around the city, not to mention the constant lights that were turned on at the corner of every street, inside every other home, every other apartment – it was beautiful, Lucy supposed, in it’s own way. She had always adored the city life, but the city could never fill the void of the night sky. Obviously in some parts of the city the view was clearer then some parts. Then again, why was she complaining about not being able to see the night sky? Lucy reminded herself she saw it every night and just wrung her hands together looking at her feet.

Slowly, Lucy let the weight of her tall and lanky body fall backwards. She hit the wall with a light thud and stayed leaning against it, sabotaging her pin straight posture. Inside the pocket of her long coat, Lucy returned her hand to her pocket and brought out the mentioned poker chip. She looked at it under the dim light with her large pondering blue eyes. She turned it over and felt the ridges between her fingers. The chip had seemed to put her in a daze of curiosity – what would her punishment be for disobeying her sire’s trust? What a stupid question, she would get a slap on the wrist – threatened, warned, the usual. He looked out for her, Lucy knew he wasn’t going to bury her alive any time soon. Or at least, she liked to think that.

Pausing with the chip between her fingers, Lucy swiped her long blonde hair over her shoulder before pocketing the poker chip. Keeping her eyes locked across the street, Lucy pushed her hands into her pockets following the poker chip and pushed herself off the wall to regain her straight posture. Under the bell of her hat she raised a slender brow curiously at the presence the felt. She didn’t have to turn to see the face. She knew all to well. He was everything any woman would find exciting – dark, mysterious, handsome, dangerous, everything that would make a young girl’s heart race. The only thing she was missing was the racing heart.

Her small mouth formed into a hint of a smile and Lucy raised her chin not willing to turn around when she heard the sultry voice approaching behind her. Pretending to take in a long inhale of fresh air, Lucy kinked one shoulder up as to signal an unsaid ‘I don’t know’. Why was she there? Quickly in a teenage impulse, Lucy wondered if she wasn’t wanted there. Her brows drew together and her mind began racing with thoughts until she waved them from her mind. In her mind, Lucy had better be welcomed wherever the hell she wanted. Especially in front of this man who spoke the sweetest words treating her like she was something important – fishing her for more information. Lucille wasn’t stupid, just ignorant and naïve infatuated with the man behind her.

Lucy turned her head watching Veikko out of the corner of her eye, not turning to face him fully before saying quietly, “I was in the neighborhood.” Dropping the chip from her fingertips and pulling her hands from her pockets, Lucy reached up to the top of her head. Even in front of Veikko, who knew most of her tricks, she proceeded to play off her innocence. Pushing her hat off her head and holding in her hands, she fingers a piece of hair before moving it away from her eyes. She could feel the man’s shadow standing over her when he finally stopped approaching her. She turned her head again, this time her body following and turning fully to face him.

With high heels strapped around her ankles and her long legs standing her up to a full height of five foot nine, not including the shoes, Lucy was close to being the height of Veikko Luova. With or without the shoes, it didn’t much matter as Lucy was taller then the average young woman walking down the street. She raised her large, wide, alien like eyes to meet Veikko’s face turned the corners of her lips up into a smile. “Am I not welcome in your casino Mr. Luova?”, Lucy asked as if she asked why she was not welcome to have a piece of cake. It came out so innocently, with a different meaning – with Lucy just being Lucy trying to fool the world she was just an innocent nineteen year old girl.

[veikko luova]

Maybe he would savor the night outside with her this time. They were illuminated by an orange golden glow of the streetlight nearby. Inside he would have to avoid her, watch her at an expanse and wish she could come back to his house and spend the morning there. He started to wonder himself if he was falling for her, for her tricks. She was just as sneaky as he was, did she really want anything from him besides the suave company and money? Of course Aaro probably provided her with all that he could and in a comfortable and reserved manner. Veikko could give her a little more freedom from the good-natured foe. To do what she wanted, like visiting Veikko in this forbidden sort of place. He liked seeing that sort of freedom in her, it’s what he wanted to invoke in all of his kind. Freedom to do as they pleased, not as they had been doing centuries ago in hiding.

She asked him if she wasn’t supposed to come into his casino. He gave her a smirk and came closer to her leaning against the wall she was closest too. He liked when she addressed him formally, as “Mr. Luova” but he wondered what it would sound like if she finally ever said his first name. Her voice was just at that most appealing pitch to him, something he could listen to for hours talking about nothing. He kept his mind at the present though, not in those dreams of seeing her leaned over his fine dinning table drinking blood in a wine glass, a perfectly normal thing with no human corpse in sight though. His little illusions were so simply prefect in his mind, why couldn’t things just work that way? He could make it happen if enough people believed in him.

He looked into those dark open eyes and saw them together. He was so stuck on her that it was always driving him mad. He didn’t want her to see that in him though. He was keeping himself calm and collected. Nothing to get excited over. She wasn’t the one. No one was ‘the one’ for him. Because even if his revolution took place he would never be sure who loved him for him and who loved him for the title or the money. His smirk was gleaming over his features, his fangs clearly shown off in their perfect pearl whiteness. He thought of biting her neck, but what a dirty place to do such a thing. It was completely unappetizing.

”Of course you are, but don’t make trouble for yourself. I can always take you back home to Aaro if you want,” he said with a sour note on Aaro’s name. That man always had him twisting in the wind. He couldn’t ever think straight, too much love and too much hate. But something had to overpower the other or wouldn’t he just feel nothing? Veikko’s feelings were a dreadfully wonderful mess when it came to that stupid Valpas leader. Leave him for a woman, hate him for your life, abandon his heart again, see what sort of best friend that is. Anger boiled up in Veikko thinking about Aaro. He wanted to take his mind off it and he did by examining the outfit that Lucy was wearing. He tried to picture what she might be hiding under the long coat.

He made a conscious decision to keep this night strictly about Lucy, even if that included thoughts he shouldn’t be having in her presence. She might be able to feel his emotions, but the reason behind them would always be a mystery. He had no idea who to possibly open up to anyone. And to someone so close to Aaro? That was an absurd idea. She was a spy for him, she could be something of a rotten little double agent, he could never have Aaro know what he felt about their whole situation. At least not the part that wanted to see him again. Oh! But there he was thinking about the bastard anyway. He turned his eyes away from Lucy and into the muggy sky. He tried to make out a star. It was useless.

[lucille queen]

Lucille’s features transformed into a look of amusement after Veikko spoke. She rolled her eyes upward and twisted her fingers in the fabric of her hat, “Take me back to Aaro?” She repeated what Veikko said in a question and turned her face down pondering it for a minute. Was it really that smart for Veikko to bring her to Aaro? Was it smart for Lucy to allow it? Of course not. She wasn’t a damned fool. She didn’t need him to take her anywhere. She needed to just be there, in front of Veikko. It was all she wanted which was why she had come to the casino. She wanted to see him, not Aaro. She could have stayed home if she wanted to spend to with Aaro. But she didn’t, wasn’t that much clear?

“We both know you taking me anywhere isn’t the smartest thing to do.”, Lucy said, saying exactly what she had been thinking. An airy laugh escaped from her small mouth and Lucy lifted her chin curiously. Part of Lucy hated Veikko for his rebellion. If he hadn’t felt so strongly about it maybe he could take her back to Aaro then. Maybe she’d understand things better. She could go to him whenever she wanted and demand his full attention instead of it being spent on the women in his casino. Of course the things Lucy wanted meant the revolution needed to happen and their kind shouldn’t be afraid of coming out of the shadows for fear of exposure.

She watched him watching her. Lucy looked at Veikko’s handsome features and his own attire – dressed to kill, as always. By no means was Lucille Queen an aged vampire that knew all the tricks. She still learned, of course is was Aaro that was her teacher, but she wasn’t completely new to the game. She could sense feelings, but she didn’t understand how to fully decipher them. So as Veikko stood in front of her, watching her, Lucille tried to figure the mysterious man out. This man that was not a man at all, was better left a mystery. Lucy didn’t care what Aaro or any other damned person had to say about him. He deserved to be left as a mystery, why try to figure something out that was so beautiful left alone? Because he was a threat.

He turned his head trying to spot out a star, or so Lucy guessed. She moved closer to the figure that clouded every perception of the ‘young’ woman’s mind. She looked over his shoulder and kept just enough distance between her and Veikko so they weren’t touching. If she had the hot passionate breath and raging hormones of an alive and kicking human maybe the moment would have been more intimate but she felt nothing near Veikko but the cool breeze that blew through the streets of London. There was no body heat radiating from either of them. Lucy just stood close to him before parting her lips to speak.

“You’re the only one making the trouble, Veikko.”, Lucy continued to look directly over his shoulder. She didn’t turn her face to his neck, but kept her eyes on the exit sign of the back entrance to the casino, the dumpster a few yards away. It was funny how just moments before she spoke like an innocent child, and so quickly the innocence in her light and airy voice disappeared. A smirk spread over her features and Lucy moved back far enough to grasp onto the chin of the man in front of her and turn his face, his attention, back to her.

[veikko luova]

He watched her as she questioned his remark. Wasn’t he smart enough to know that if she wanted to be with her sire that she would be with him. If he wasn’t out killing some dumb animal. Those bitter thoughts turned to ash though, he was actually flattered that she was here to see him. He knew it wasn’t to gamble or take the opportunity to dress up and seduce men. Things didn’t work like that anymore. Possessions and petty human wants were tossed out the window. They were too easy to fulfill and everyone wanted something more. When you were a vampire and almost everything was limitless all you wanted was to be happy. To share it with someone. At least, it was that way with Veikko. He just wanted to be happy with someone. Apparently Aaro had thrown that out the window and- he would’ve sighed angrily about his bad habit, thinking about Aaro again after he told himself not to, but he didn’t want to make anything he did too questionable.

Oh, wasn’t that the truth. Hand and hand these devils couldn’t walk together. They couldn’t brave hell inside, the eyes of everyone, the spies that Aaro might’ve placed himself into Veikko’s casino. Lucy would’ve told him about anyone else though, so he didn’t really think other vampires on that side were inside his casino. But his own kind, their mouths couldn’t be so easily shut, he didn’t need them speculating that Lucy was a spy on Veikko’s side or the other side. Little rumors were horrible. Having her spotted out in the crowd of so many mortals would leave Veikko in the dark without his burning candle. So when she went in without his arm people thought nothing of her. Any vampires thought of her as one of them, they couldn’t see which side she was on. It must be the Luova side, right? For her to just waltz in without a care. She would never be harmed. And if he she was… they would never hear the end of it. What a disaster.

”That’s always seemed to be my problem, I can’t play nice,” Veikko said turning away from the star he was trying to find. He looked back to her who was now closer to him but looking over her shoulder. Not close enough to be touching, he thought of where he would have to move to take her hand carefully. She wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was looking past him, he turned to see what she was gazing at and all of a sudden she wasn’t looking at it anymore. She had come close to him and grabbed his chin to make him look at her. He smirked at the touch and didn’t make any quick movements. Anything that got too close to him like that would’ve received most hostility. He didn’t like to be touched. It made him feel vulnerable a little bit, like he was giving someone power to pull the wool over his eyes.

She had dazzled him with that twinkle in her voice pronouncing his first name. It was perfect the way her lips moved the sound around in her mouth and out of the gentle opening. He was falling in love with his name coming from her. His smirk was kept on his mouth; he couldn’t show her a loving smile, not anything too real. He had to keep up some sort of mask with her, remember what she was and what she could be. But he wanted to take her arm and bring her into the casino with him, what a lovely pair they would be. He couldn’t keep rehashing this in his head though, he would get absolutely nowhere with it.

”Hm?” he asked her making a small sound with his nose and a tiny vibration in his mouth. He took her hand away from his chin gently. With his fingers he felt her small wrist and empty veins. He didn’t loose eye contact with her; he just kept playing with the inside of her wrist until he moved his fingers down to hers to interlace with the well manicured digits. He could feel the tips of the glass nails as surely she could feel his against his smooth cold hand. He had always been fond of the cold; summer had no place in his heart. A vampire suited him only too well.

[lucille queen]

There was no response from the blonde to Veikko’s comment. Her lips parted into a devilish grin revealing a set of gleaming white teeth and incredibly long canines. She almost laughed, but kept it to herself and just continued to watch the man in front of her with a sort of amusement. This was what Lucille craved. She loved the present feeling of thrill coming to see Veikko. True, she was going against someone who she truly cared about to get a taste of the forbidden fruit, but that was what made it much more tasteful. It was the strength Veikko held emotionally and physically – it was something that attracted Lucy to men even before her life as a vampire. Not the type of being that was rippling with muscles, but someone that could carry their own. She liked feeling small and fragile in front of them, wanted them to break every bone in her body – a bit twisted really.

A faint smile settled over Lucy’s lips and she looked at Veikko with her hand on his chin. She half expected him to swat her hand away, but Veikko did nothing of the sort but returned his attention to her just as she had wanted. She loved being able to push her limits, Lucy was always curious to how far Veikko would allow her to go before putting her in her place. However, it would be rare he did. Why upset Lucy when she gave him so much – it was far from an intelligent thing to do on Veikko’s part and he knew it. Of course Lucy sometimes pondered Veikko’s alternative motives, but she was too infatuated with the man to think twice on it. She was, you could say, wrapped around his lifeless finger.

At the vibration from Veikko’s mouth, Lucy looked at her hand that was quickly covered when he wrapped his cold hand over hers bringing it to their side. Lucy’s eyes flicked from his fingers lacing around her own back to his eyes. Holding onto his hand loosely the subtle smile turned into a smirk once again on Lucy’s lips, “Well I was saying you were trouble, never that you couldn’t play nice.” Lucy stood close to Veikko with only their hands touching. She wanted it to last. Once someone came out beckoning Veikko away it would all be gone. Literally, it would slip right from her fingertips. The thought made Lucy’s grasp of Veikko’s hand tighten. Because they were out of view, they could be affectionate to one another.

”Come on.” , Lucy said locking her eyes with Veikko’s, ”Ditch the host role and come play.” With a wide grin returning to her features, Lucy took a step back pulling his hand with her. The more appropriate thing, more truthful thing, for Lucy to say would be for Veikko to get away from the place so they could be alone and Lucy wouldn’t have to have him stolen from her. She wanted him to herself without the nasty casino sucking him back in. It was his job, but Lucy never had much of a knack for responsibility. That much was obvious.

[veikko luova]

She inched slightly closer to Veikko to tell him that she hadn’t meant that he couldn’t play nice, just that he was trouble. He let a bigger smirk play over his perfect lips, a genuine grin poking through just a little bit. Ah, he was trouble. How would the world be if he had died some years ago when Lucy was still young? If he had been some old man when she was in her prime, their relationship would be vastly different, probably none existent. He thought for a moment about how his life would’ve been had he never bestowed this blood that carried him through the night. He didn’t like it much. Except, maybe he would’ve seen Aaro again without animosity.

He ignored that last thought and spoke to Lucy about her little comment. ”You wouldn’t be around if I wasn’t trouble,” he said pulling his fingers up inside the palm of her hand and dragging them back down. The smooth cool flesh was fantastic to him. He hated most humans, the hot sticky way they attracted dirt and germs to them. It was repulsing. A vampire was so much cleaner, finer, and more classy. Veikko felt her grip tighten after his little finger dance, he kept his smirk down; it was the only thing he seemed to have on his expression lately.

He caught that twinkle in her vast blue eyes; it was more than the cliché ocean that he saw in them. It was the sky and everywhere they didn’t have to hide. It spoke freedom too him, those icy blues. And staring at them and hearing what she said made him really want to leave the casino. He thought about it for less than a second when he felt a tug on his hand, she had taken a step away. He could feel in her that she wanted to be alone, at least some place that his attention would be all on her. It wouldn’t be a horrible thing, would it? If they were really alone, even if it was hiding. Technically in a way they would be open to everyone by being together, not behind buildings in police lamps and dark alleys.

”Oh?” he asked taking a step forward to be close to her again. Where did she plan to take them? He wondered if she really had anything in mind or if she just wanted to escape his casino. Tonight Veikko hadn’t actually announced he would be coming around, every just assumed he would drop by most nights. He wasn’t ever asked questions, people knew better than to ask him questions like that had any personal connotation to them. “Where are we going to go play Lucy?” he asked using her first name as he often did. He liked the sound of it; he loved pronouncing it and seeing her face when he addressed her.

He was going to leave his casino tonight. Really there was no harm done, no meeting he had to be at, no sort of ridiculous amount of money being delivered. Veikko often threw caution to the wind; sometimes he never had a plan and was just careless. He liked it like that most of the time. He enjoyed being his own boss. Besides, even if the preposterous notion that the business would collapse under his nose tonight were to come true, he had enough money in other various accounts that were under a few different names that he could be dependent on. He also didn’t have any problem with starting over, stealing from victims again. He always had somewhere to sleep though; his territory was all of the United Kingdom and a bit beyond.

He made up his mind then to go with Lucy, even if he wasn’t entirely sure what her plan was. Maybe he could come up with something on his own. He had never taken her to his house before. But maybe that wasn’t the smartest idea. She was a spy and he had to be careful that she wasn’t double backing on him. He didn’t dwell on the decision; Lucy was in charge for a little while here. Or at least he would let her take the reigns knowing he had all the power to snatch them back out of her hands.

[lucille queen]

He played with her hand. And Lucy, she looked attentively at Veikko waiting for him to speak. When it came to Mr. Luova, Lucille was nearly completely blind to all her surroundings. It was like the woman had tunnel vision and it was only Veikko in the center of her attention. Sad, pathetic – sure, but he was right. If he wasn’t trouble, Lucy wouldn’t have found the thrill in being around him. Of course that made it sound like it was the only reason she was interested in Veikko which was far from the truth. Of course she had always been one to chase after the ‘bad boy’ personalities but that didn’t matter with Veikko. Lucy was drawn to him like a moth to the flame – it was a doomed sort of relationship from when they first met each other.

Lucy’s smirk played across her lips when Veikko took a step towards her when she had tugged on his hand. She stared with raised eyes and the smirk across her delicate mouth waiting for some kind of response – though in Lucy’s mind she had already won her little game. He had taken that one step and too Lucy that was already a yes, it was just the point of the words coming from his lips. With her hand that wasn’t in Veikko’s already, she raised her hand to drag her hat onto of her straights locks of blonde hair before letting it fall to their hands. She closed her hand over the top side of Veikko’s hand pulling his arm along. The smirk disappeared from her face and she appeared like a child once again with her cheeks lifting in a playful smile.

He asked where they would play and Lucy knew he would come with her. Good, Lucy thought. She wanted him to herself, it didn’t matter where. She just wanted him to come away from the casino. Her wide blue eyes watched Veikko closely until it looked as though he made up his mind. His final choice would be to come with her or to face the pouting, annoyed, tantrum Lucy would throw. When it came to being told no, not getting what she wanted Lucy got annoyed. Sure, she was a bit on the spoiled side. But that didn’t make her a bad person. When she saw something she liked she went after it, Lucy liked to think she was determined and easily let down.

Instead of facing him, with a quick small amount of foot work Lucy had turned herself around. She linked her arm with Veikko and tilted her chin up to look at him. Where would they play? Lucy didn’t know. Although she expected him to come with her, she hadn’t really planned on it and now she was at a bit of a loss of words. What would they do? Where would they go? Lucy looked at the jaw line of the beautiful man beside her and contemplated what to say. She lightly shrugged her shoulders and decided honesty was the best policy.

“I didn’t think you’d actually abandon your post.”, Lucy said with a sly look up towards the brilliant green eyes. She looked back to their path in front of them and from side to side. There was a park near by, but how cliché it would be for two vampires to take a stroll under the cloudy London sky late at night.

[veikko luova]

Ah, so maybe this would be his decision. He smiled at her, mischievous and full of light. He hadn’t done something like this in a long time. He was never with anybody, not even those who were very loyal to him. He had never asked for a league of bloodsucking supporters or anything, just to have his friend with him. In that delirious year with Aaro he had been ripped of the all meaningful relationship he had with him. The one he cared enough about to bring him along in this dark adventure. After that Veikko was on his own. He didn’t know how to trust anyone else. He had only ever had Aaro and his sire. And how could he not trust the one who had made him what he was? He didn’t understand opening up and having a friend. All that had been ruined in his childhood; he thought he would only ever need Aaro.

Veikko looked down at Lucy who was looking up into his eyes. He watched as her head turned in front of them and he could feel in her that she was unsure of where to go, she had some idea but was uncertain. Then Veikko got a vicious thought. The one he had killed tonight, it meant too much to him, he couldn’t go to sleep thinking about the boy in his garden all night. What if he took Lucy out, took her to a human to prove her loyalty. Or beyond politics, to show her himself, a small part of his little secluded world. At least, it was secluded to her because of his own vampire child. In a way Lucy was his. Aaro just wouldn’t figure it that way.

”Don’t ever try to anticipate my moves,” he advised her. ”Why don’t I show you something then…” he said bringing their laced fingers up to his lips. He kissed her delicate hand and relished in the soft hard paper white skin. He couldn’t imagine a pink undertone to it, her as a human; did he want to know that? Would she like him as much as she did if she knew his history? Or if she had been with him as a younger boy in Finland, would she have found him as interesting? Hardly not. That was his mystery, who was Veikko Luova? He could never admit.

He smiled with a wink at her and took off running down the street. It wasn’t anything like what a mortal would consider running. It was much faster than that. Maybe not as fast as sound or light, but it was close. It was something like flying over the ground, steps so quick that they barely touched the pavement or whatever you were walking on. It was like taking off on your own momentum, exhilarating the speed a vampire had. He had taken them away from his casino and into greener pastures, literally. Veikko had stopped them in the park under a large tree near a small pond that was illuminated by similar police lights. It was a little romantic; he thought it was meaningful for her to remember this night. She had brought it upon herself really; Veikko was simply taking advantage of the situation. If he decided to desert his “duties” as manager of the casino for one night, he would do it for this.

In his small black heart he wanted to be with her under the starless sky and to show her himself. He would claim for the greater good, he would show her for persuasive purposes only. Not the truth. He was lying to himself and he didn’t even realize it anymore. He had a huge underlying desire to see Lucy suck the blood out of some clean wet human by his hand. He had it subconsciously imagined already. He wondered if he should explain this out loud or just expect her to catch on. He ended up deciding to guide her but not tell her what he was doing. She would easily pick up, Lucy was a smart girl.

”Can you hear the pulse?” he asked whispered in her soft ear. He meant the pulse around the city. The lights and the rhythm of walking and the literal pulse of the humans around them. He wanted her to be lost for a moment in it; he wanted to watch what it would be like for her. He had never had a vampire child of his own, let alone a real child. He didn’t know the joy of watching them learn and grow and go through new experiences. He wanted to teach Lucy something she wouldn’t ever learn from her sire. The taking of a human life was more than just a selfish act to sustain life. It was becoming one with everyone for a moment, like being swept up in music or a movie. But more real, something connected to the vampire’s soul. He let a small smile creep across the corners of his mouth after he uttered these words.

[lucille queen]

Lucille’s slender pair of brows raised high on her forehead when she was advised not to anticipate Veikko’s moves. He was probably right. Trying to guess what Veikko would do next was an awful move on her part. If she waited too long thinking about what he was going to do next – who the hell knows what he would pull out of his sleeve. Hell, there was a possibility that he could – no, Lucy wouldn’t even think that way. As far as she was concerned, Veikko was as wrapped around her slender finger as she was his. She liked to think he looked at her different, that he cared about her – the typical mistake of any woman. Expecting to be something special when they were nothing more then another woman, but that had always been Miss Queen’s problem.

He offered to show her something while bringing her hand to his lips. A smirk spread across the girl’s features and had she had a heart she might have felt the silly infatuation symptom of a heart skipping a beat. It was funny, Lucy often referred to if her body weren’t a dead corpse that she would feel certain things. Her supernatural mind seemed to make up for the lack of mortal life, everything always seemed to happen. She always found herself feeling things that were physically impossibly in her state.

How right he had been not to anticipate his moves, before Lucy had realized what was happening he pulled her arm to follow him in a run down the street. She obviously picked up her own feet moving at the unnatural speed they held. They stopped in a park, exactly what had been on Lucy’s mind. She was tempted to point out that he must be a mind reader – wouldn’t that be a stupid thing to say? Lucy looked up at Veikko slightly admiring him. He was one of the most handsome men that she had ever come to contact with, she was always so amazed by him. He always had her in a trance, so amazed she never wanted to look away. Of course, she always did. She wasn’t going to spend the night starring at him, though she was sure she could..

Looking at their surroundings, Lucy felt herself being guided once again. With long legs she kept herself at the perfect pace to be on his side, Lucy imagined they looked well together – Veikko and herself. How could they not? He had the image of a man that had to be a few years older then her appearance of a teenage girl but it didn’t matter. They complimented one another, or at least Lucy liked to think so. There was nothing wrong with that was there? Alright, so there was a lot wrong with it sense Lucy shouldn’t have put herself in that position. It was dangerous for the both of them.

Amused by the mystery that Veikko was portraying by not telling her what he was going to show her she just kept her pace up with his until he whispered in her ear. She quickly looked up at Veikko with a confused expression. Of course she could hear it. Lucille wasn’t a dumb girl, she knew exactly what was going on. Starring up at Veikko, Lucy froze and kept her hand in his. Maybe this is where she realized she was going to far. Taking a human life was much more then just frowned upon in her sire’s eyes. Her sire – he was the world to her, something she couldn’t easily explain to Veikko. Something she felt she didn’t have to explain to anyone. He was, as cheesy as it may sound, her savior. What would he say? What would he do? The thought made Lucy shutter.

“I cant.”, Lucy said in a short two words. She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head quickly, “He wouldn’t approve.” Turning her head Lucy scraped her teeth over her bottom lip. She half expected to be struck, she expected the worse. A temper to erupt in Veikko she guessed. She was sure he wasn’t used to being told no – of course neither was she, but she couldn’t explain. He wouldn’t understand.

[veikko luova]

They were in the park under a canopy of a large oak tree while Veikko held onto Lucy’s hand. They looked out into the world and listened, the pulse of the world, it was a beautiful thing. And to stop some of that pulse, to make the beat different than it was, it was making music. Veikko just wanted to show Lucy her real potential to change the world and make music with him. She was afraid to disobey her master though? Had Aaro really struck that sort of fear into this girl’s heart? Of course not, it was the simple guilt that she would be wracked with because he was such a saint to her.

Come to think of it, Veikko didn’t actually know why she was so loyal to Aaro. Sure, he had turned her into the dark night with him, she must feel some connection with the male. But how could he do such a thing if he hated Veikko so much for doing it to him? And simply out of love! It was nothing more than the sore, needy loneliness that Veikko selfishly took Aaro into. He had needed him, the only one to love him and not turn on him. The whole ordeal with the weddings, well it was somewhat Veikko’s fault. He didn’t want to interfere with this new foreign affair, not to mention that he wasn’t wanted there by anyone except Aaro. He felt better alone, by himself. Then he was truly taken away from that life. He had just wanted to share the joy and experience with his best friend.

Maybe Lucy found that same listener and trustee. Had she been an outcast in her society? There were endless possibilities to think about, he wasn’t sure if now was the right time to delve into such things. He had never masked his relationship with Aaro but no one had actually looked closely enough to discover their past. He was sure that Lucy didn’t know of this, Aaro didn’t want to get personal with this war. He didn’t want to start on her and her relationship with Aaro if she were to reciprocate the same questions. Talking about Aaro made Veikko loose all focus. His emotions would suddenly rule him with an iron fist and there was no helping it. There was too much hurt and love there in the same place to make a calm conversation.

None the less, Veikko was displeased to hear her decline. Her reason being Aaro’s approval. Veikko had lied to himself multiple times that he had never needed Aaro’s approval. He didn’t know why within himself that he craved it so deeply. For that one person to look at him and accept what he was doing that would tell him he was an amazing creature and doing things the right way. That he was a glorious savior to this hidden and paranormal race. Veikko could understand subconsciously why Lucy wouldn’t dare do such a thing again Aaro, but consciously he was angry and wasn’t going to let her say ‘no’ to him.

”Big bad master is going to what, ground you?” Veikko asked knowing Aaro well enough to know that he would never do anything drastic to the girl. A lecture maybe, maybe even get a bit angry and thoroughly disappointed, but he was a good parent. He would send her to bed without supper and tell her she couldn’t come play for a few days. Nothing compared to what most vampires had to face, things like a burning or being locked in a coffin for days on end. Veikko had never experienced such things himself but he had heard of it. There was slavery within this aesthetically perfect race. Veikko couldn’t let something so small stop him. He was going to free everyone, who better than first Lucille Queen?

”Lucy,” Veikko said addressing the woman next to him, the one in which his hand was clasped. He pulled her face up to look at him; his hand traced her jaw line so her head might tilt up ever so slightly. He then kissed her cheek and moved his smooth carved lips to her powder white ear. ”He can’t hurt you… he won’t even hurt me.” Maybe that would put her at ease a little. How much would a stern talking to really dampen this girl’s spirit? She had forever and Aaro couldn’t possibly stay mad at her that long. And who said he was going to find out?

”You’re free to do as you wish,” Veikko said pulling away from her ear with a soft kiss on the soft but firm white flesh of her ear lobe. He smiled a wicked grin and stood behind her; he took his left hand from her right and placed it in her respective left hand. It made for a more comfortable position while he stood at the back of her. He rested his left cheek against the top of Lucy’s head on the right. He stood without his chest moving, no breathing was needed for his long dead lungs. Only sometimes it reappeared out of habit.

Veikko thought of when he was younger and how bizarre this moment would have been to him in that age. He had never really been this close to a woman. Sure, maybe some girl who thought she was attracted to the mystery and strangeness of him, but not for personality or comfort. It was only ever for the thrill of being close to someone who was a little scary. Veikko had only been with those women because he had had an empty void while Aaro was off with his wedding plans. A girl here or there but never a girlfriend or someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. This was a ridiculous notion. He had never had a lot of confidence even he was outspoken. Now he was entirely different. He was suave and dangerous. He knew what to do, or if he didn’t he still looked absolutely brilliant while lying about it. It was a little secret that no one would know. His secret pre-vampire life, the one shared with Aaro and the one which made him out to be a freak and nothing more than a nobody.

He looked down to Lucy’s lovely blonde hair that was soft against his cheek and he smiled again. Did she bring out the best in him or the absolute worst? He became so bold with her, so ready to show her and teach her everything. Other people were surely intimidated by his nature but he had never been so happy or himself with them. Always a little front because he was still sometimes unsure of himself. Could Lucy tell that subtle difference between his attitude with her and other company? He wondered as he looked into the hair under his cheek.

[lucille queen]

At the words that came from Veikko’s mouth about her ‘big bad master’ Lucy just let out a long sigh and turned away shrugging her shoulders. She didn’t know what Aaro would. Of course there was that part of her that knew, or at least hoped, that Aaro held an irreplaceable bond with her. She felt it with him, he was hers and she was his in some strange way. They were friends, they had shared kisses when Lucy chose to make it known she only wanted his happiness. Sure, it was almost as if she was a slave or a piece of property that belonged to him but Lucy had chosen to stay with Aaro. She had never wanted to leave him. He was irreplaceable.

At the calling of her name, the beckoning Veikko had given her; Lucy just kept her eyes averted down. Her pride was severely wounded and she felt embarrassed, to put things simply. She didn’t jump at the hand close to her throat, Lucy just turned her head with the hand that helped guide her face to look at Veikko. His fingers traced her jaw line and Lucy closer her eyes and leaned her cheek against his hand at what she assumed was his way of speaking words of comfort. Opening her eyes, Lucy looked at him and bit on the inside flesh of her bottom lip. As soon as he told her to do what she wanted, Lucy turned her head watching him move away from her. She fought herself from starting to panic that he was leaving her and let her eyes follow his moves. He let go of her hand and Lucy almost spun around but stopped when she felt him take her cold hand in his own once again. Turning her head away from watching him, Lucy looked forward starring at the city of London. Comforted once Veikko leaned his cheek against the top of her head, Lucy was assured he at least wouldn’t leave her angry.

Raising their hands Lucy forced open Veikko’s hand with her own delicate ones and moved his arm forward to wrap around her. Putting her hand over hers, Lucy stood perfectly still before reaching for his second hand and doing the same. She wanted to be embraced even if only for the moment he realized what she was doing and dropped his arms from around her small body. She leaned back against him with her arms over his and kept her gaze forward on the city of London and its pulse of automobiles, bars open late and sleeping people.

What was wrong with being curious? And it wasn’t as if Aaro had to know, right? Lucy contemplated in her mind what would be the right choice. Of course, she knew what Aaro would say was the right choice but that didn’t mean Lucy felt the same. She was curious to this different life style. She had thought about it just an hour ago on her way to meet Veikko. The bar, the man – it would have been easy. Of course that was assuming Lucy would have known what to do. She was unskilled and didn’t know the first thing about feasting on human blood. The more the she thought about it the more questions that filled her mind. How did it taste? Was it sweeter? Bitter? Was it thicker? Thinner?

Lucy let out a small ‘hmm’ before turning around to face Veikko. She tilted her face up and gave a small nod. She couldn’t help herself. Her better judgment was screaming at her to just get out of there, and that Veikko wouldn’t be mad that he would understand. Which was highly unlikely since he didn’t understand why she had said no in the first place. But Lucy was far too curious and why not take up the opportunity while it was right in front of her. She wanted to see the different side of things, the side that Aaro refused to show her. What was the worst that could happen? It wasn’t like one less human life mattered, they were killed nightly by vampires like Veikko. Lucy was trusting Veikko – whether she should or not was clouded. Then again, it usually was around the man. Besides, a large part of Lucy was terribly eager to please Veikko.

“Okay.”, Lucy said giving another light nod and taking his hands in her again.

[veikko luova]

He watched as she turned in his arms which were now gently laced around hers. He smiled happily when she nodded to him in agreement. This would be marvelous for him to watch. It had been a horrid affair when he had tried to teach Aaro to kill. He was so much stuck to his human self, his morals and way of thinking. Which was why of course Veikko wanted him around, but he thought if Aaro could share this pleasure and joy with him, it would be one more thing to bond the two together. This little adventure with Lucy would not be the catastrophe it had been with Aaro. She agreed, she wanted to do this, even if maybe it was in a small way. Even if she was still apprehensive about being a disappointing child to her parent.

”I’m going to let you in on a little secret of mine,” Veikko began looking into Lucy’s eyes. ”I don’t just pick out some homeless bum on the street, I have a method to my madness.” He looked up past her face and into the world behind her. There were people walking around near his casino but the streets weren’t horribly messy. At two ten in the morning there wouldn’t be too many people around. They were all safe in their homes from the night sky. Veikko was going to do an invasion with his pupil though, desecrate that sort of false security. He would not run into a blunder like he had earlier this night.

”Listen to the water underground. Find someone taking a shower at this hour,” he told her bringing his gaze away from the glow of police lights above the black sleek streets in front of them. Why was he telling her this? Why was he having her do it his own way? Shouldn’t she find her own footing, something she was comfortable with? He just couldn’t understand feeding on something filthy and covered in toxic perfumes and sweat. It was so much sweeter in the cold bathroom with steam clearing from the mirror and the victim dripping naked. It might’ve been construed as a sexual thing but it was purely for the cleanliness of the whole ordeal.

Now going straight to the source of the rushing water was sometimes hard to figure out because of the immense plumbing underground. If she concentrated hard enough she might find someone even a few cities away. It might prove to be a difficult task due to the late hour, but there was always someone somewhere. Coming home from a party or concert, maybe just after sex. There would be someone and they would find themselves prey to a hungry blonde vampire. If everything went perfectly it would be someone who was in their twenties and slim and by themselves. But that was just wishful thinking. Sometimes you couldn’t really be picky when you came into the game late.

Veikko was loving this right now. He loved her slender arms and her nervousness about breaking the law. Well, only a law set by Mr. Valpas anyway. Some sacred rule that he lived by. The little beast. Veikko stopped thinking about Aaro though, even the way he felt about getting Lucy to go against him. He would go past all that nonsense and bring himself in the present, into this future which he was trying to give all vampires. Lucy would be the first one and by his hand, it was romantically poetic and sometimes he was a sucker for symbolism.

Now all that was left was for Lucy to find the water’s way. They would go and she would discover what sort of monster that Aaro was trying to hide. Maybe she would be completely turned off. But how could someone be that appalled after tasting something that made your entire being have purpose? Aaro had though, he had been sickened by his act of violence. Nevermind it was for his survival. He felt there was a different route to things. It didn’t matter what Aaro thought though, the bigger issue at hand was being able to pick and choose at their own discretion. To decide and not be condemned for the life that they had. Veikko couldn’t just make this about himself. If he wanted free will soon others would follow. And that’s what he was doing, except he was taking control of the situation now so that he didn’t have anyone against him with the same free willing mind. Those slaves after Aaro though, they would have no choice. So maybe they could hide in their little underground crypts, sleep like outcasts and fiends. Pretend that they weren’t dominate over the human race that was so narrowed minded. Those who wished to be free would never have to fight again though. Veikko laughed internally thinking maybe America would’ve been a better place to start. At least they had the right idea.

[lucille queen]

No sooner had Lucy agreed to completely abandon her teaching, Veikko was already filling her mind with ‘little secrets’ or tips. He was showing her how he did things, he began talking about listening to the underground water, to find someone taking a shower. Were they going to break into some poor unknowing soul’s house? It was all so new to Lucy, not only the thought but the concept. She never had to work for her meal. It was given to her in the form of animals which Aaro had taught her. He was her sire, not Veikko and Lucy was well aware of the fact that what she was doing was more then just ‘going against her teachings’. She already felt guilty.

Quickly she pushed the guilt to the back of her mind, or more correctly – to her chest where it would eventually weight at her until she burst on a quiet night when Lucy was laying around reading a book. Things like that ate away at her easily. When she was just a younger vampire to her parent Aaro, he had waited for her to come clean on taking a picture. It had taken five years. Lucy had seen it and snatched it up hiding it in her bedroom. He knew she took it but he had waited for her to come clean, he would look at her giving her that waiting stare and ask her if she knew where the picture had gone. Like a child Lucy would shrug her shoulders and say no. She cracked, and began bawling at her sire’s feet saying she only liked to look at the picture. It had been or Aaro and a woman she barely heard him speak of. He was forgiving, as long as she apologized. But this, this was more then a silly photograph Aaro kept.

Lucy returned her eyes to Veikko and looked at him. Was he making her do this all on her own? She kept her eyes on his for a moment before turning her head. Why leave it up to her to find an unfortunate being? She had no idea what she was doing. She had dreamed about it, thought about it and what it would be like, but Lucy had never been in this position before. The more Lucy sat their clueless she began to hate it and regretted her decision. She felt ignorant, naïve, or just plain stupid. She had no experience in this field of taking a human life. Lucy said nothing but just kept her spot next to Veikko. Of course she was eager to learn, to have that new experience, but it was slightly intimidating to her.

Keeping her mouth shut, Lucy looked back at Veikko expecting him to have the answer to the question she had. Too bad, she had too many and didn’t even want to begin to ask to demeanor herself. She wanted him to offer a direction, a place – obviously she knew he wasn’t going to hold her hand through out the whole thing but as far as it how she was feeling a the moment, Lucy was dumbfounded and overwhelmed.