Little Marionettes Ch 19

Chapter 19
Welcome Home

It was early morning. Victor sat at the kitchen table, his eyes staring out the window across from him. The sky was gray, hinting at the colors soon to paint across the sky with the on coming sun. He hadn't seen a sunrise in so long, yet he could still remember their magnificence. Of course, he had been learning to stay up in the day time, but the simple act was exhausting.
Sebastian could stay up for countless days and not show any signs of weariness. It had also  been a sign for how powerful he was. Victor replayed his sire's death over and over in his head, and yet as many times as he went over it he was still surprised by how easy it had been. Sebastian had always been nothing but his nightmares.
Why did he lower his guard?
It didn't matter now. Victor had put his master to rest and now gained quite a bit of power from it. Perhaps that was why the blonde found himself staying up more in the mornings. Soon he would be able to watch the sunrise in all its glory.
The stairs creaked, alerting the vampire. Glancing to his side, he watched as Ryo cautiously made his way into the kitchen, looking a little clumsy.
"Good morning." Victor didn't bother feigning friendliness. He and Ryo didn't really get along. What they did do was tolerate each other. "Feeling any better?"
"Yeah. I still can't get over that pain." Ryo subconsciously rubbed his shoulder, the spot where the silver bullet and ripped through. "Up until that point I had thought the silver thing was a myth."
"Don't expect me to take care of you again." Victor smirked. "You really need to learn how to defend yourself. You have so much power and yet you fail to use it properly."
Ryo's eyes narrowed slightly. He decided not to answer that as he began the task of making breakfast. With Carrie gone, her blood she left behind all used up to heal Alexander, the vampires had begun to hunt once more. It was either that or use Ryo's blood, and both Victor and Alexander had lost their appetites more than one time when the subject came up.
Alexander lazily made his way into the kitchen looking sleep deprived and sick, "Hey..." He mumbled the greeting before taking a seat at the table, letting his head rest on the place mat.
"What are you doing up?" Victor's disposition immediately changed when the boy walked in. He placed a hand upon Alexander's forehead. "It's not good for you to be up this early."
"I can't sleep anymore..." He muttered without lifting his heavy head, "I haven't felt this bad since I was human..."
"Is that normal...?" Ryo asked softly.
Victor shook his head and removed his hand. "It never is." He sighed a little and rested his head on his hand. "What am I going to do with you...?"
The boy sighed heavily, "Put me out of my misery...you and I both know I'll die from this sooner or later."
The two men looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. "You'll live." Victor ruffled the boy's golden mane. "Stop being so melodramatic."
"I don't want to live if I have to feel this again." Alexander lifted his head to look up at Victor, "I couldn't protect her...and I'm too weak to go after her now...I'm so ashamed of myself.  I heard him take out the gun but...my stupid pride...I thought I was invincible."
Ryo frowned and looked down at the counter, "... You don't think I feel the same way? I can't stop worrying about her. We all know she can't defend herself against people like them." He sighed heavily and went back to cooking. "Should we even try to find her?"
Victor laughed coldly, "Wow, you two... Of course we should try. I doubt they'd kill a cute girl like her right away. I'm sure there's still time."
"We have to find her.  I have to find her..." The boy stood up before wincing and sitting back down.
"We'll find her AFTER you heal up completely." Victor stated firmly.
Alexander looked like he was about to cry, "It might be too late by then."
"Do you... remember some kind of light?" Ryo asked suddenly. "I think it came from Carrie. If there's anything special about her I doubt they'll kill her."
There was a long silence before Alexander nodded, "Yeah.  Now that you mention it, I do remember a light..."
"Do you think she's similar to Vienna...?" It was a long shot, but already a pattern could be seen.
Victor crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, "Similar to Vienna... Maybe..."
There was a long moment of silence, "What?  You think Vienna can do the light thing too?"
"I don't know." Ryo shook his head. "But... there's... something about the two that feels... similar. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but..."
"Their blood has a similar taste." Victor mentioned.
"Peaches and strawberries..."
After a moment, Ryo could see a pattern, but it was a long shot, "... Fruit...?"
Alexander looked towards the ceiling, "Come to think of it, I haven't met anyone else with fruit scented blood..."
Victor nodded, "That's the connection. Never in my long life have I smelled or had the pleasure of tasting that kind of blood."
"... Rare blood..." Ryo crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "Only fruit... Light... What does it all mean?"
"Whatever it is, it sounds big." Victor laced his fingers across his stomach. "It's no wonder Vienna left."
The boy frowned, "I don't understand.  Could they be...not...human...?"
"No, they're definitely human." Victor pushed away that idea immediately. "But there's something else about them."
Ryo bit his tongue down when Victor mentioned Vienna's disappearance. That bothered him more than he'd like to admit. This whole mystery was getting to him.
"Maybe the people who Vienna is running from are the same people who took Carrie." Alexander suggested, "If that's the case then maybe Vienna was in the right to leave."
"Yeah, I don't blame her." Victor nodded in agreement. "We should've figured this out sooner. Then maybe we could've protected Carrie."
It was taking all of Ryo's strength to hold his temper down. Vienna leaving was still a very sore subject for him. If only she had stayed, then he could've protected her, proving that he wasn't weak. Not around her.
"Vienna's safe so we don't have to worry about her, right?  Let's focus on getting Carrie out of enemy clutches." The young vampire nodded.
But Vienna could still be in some kind of danger... Ryo sighed heavily.
"Yeah, that's a good idea- What's the matter with you?" Victor turned his attention on the slumped form of the half demon.
"... You talk about Vienna leaving so casually." Ryo muttered.
"How else should I talk about it? I'm glad she left. Besides, I talked to her awhile back. Said she was fine."
"You talked to her? Why didn't you mention this before?!"
"Because I knew you'd overreact like you are now." Victor pointed out.
Ryo's eye twitched, but he swallowed his words.
Alexander's brow furrowed, "Let's get off the subject of Vienna PLEASE.  Carrie's the one who's in danger."
"Right..." Ryo nodded his understanding. He knew Vienna was safe, but he didn't want to accept that. He wanted her to be safer with him, but, I'm just being selfish.
"Good call." Victor whispered to the child. "So! What do we know of her kidnappers?"
"... I recognized the guy that died." Ryo managed to calm down. "Greg. Carrie's ex. He sounded surprised to see her here."
"If he didn't originally plan on coming for Carrie they must not have known she could do the light thing before she actually did it.  I recognized the other guy from Beaudine.  I think he was a professor or something."
"Really?" Victor looked pleasantly surprised. "A professor and the second in command? Could be that there's more of them working under Derian. Maybe he's involved too?"
Ryo's eyes narrowed. He had been within their grasps before. If Carrie was there, then she'd probably be locked up in a cell, victim to their wishes. She didn't deserve that. "Derian's involved."
Alexander growled, "Which means Derian's got a huge hand in this."
"I know Reide's involved, too. I don't know about the others, but I've been in their head quarters before."
"Then you know where they are?" Victor pushed.
Ryo stopped and thought for a moment, suddenly realizing, "Actually... I don't... I was so focused on getting Vienna out of that place that I didn't memorize my surroundings."
Victor scowled, "You're serious."
The boy sighed and put his head back down on the place mat, "Great."
Ryo turned off the stove, frowning at his breakfast. He didn't feel like eating anymore. "Sorry..."
"Because of you and your one track mind we have to start from scratch. Could be days or weeks before we find Carrie." Victor rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"I wish..." Alexander began quietly, his anger growing, "I wish Vienna never existed."
"Why do you say that?" Victor suddenly grew curious.
"Because we wouldn't be here right now and Carrie would be safe."
"She would've been found sooner or later." Ryo said with a little growl.
"You lost your right to contribute to this conversation when you said you couldn't remember the kidnappers location due to "Vienna"." Alexander hissed.
Ryo snapped. He turned around and slammed his fist on the counter top, making a nice indent on the hard surface.
"Temper, temper." Victor raised a brow. "Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere."
"I'm not fighting." The boy frowned, "It just...why does it always have to be about her?!"
"Well... if Carrie was in Vienna's place I'm sure you'd ask why it's always about Carrie." Victor mentioned. "Still, the point remains that Vienna's safe and Carrie's not. Are we all in agreement that Carrie's safety is first on the list this time around?"
Ryo's fist uncurled and he turned away from the two, "Fine."
Alexander nodded slowly to Victor, "Good.  Let's face it.  Vienna's gone for good.  No sense worrying over a ghost.  Now, Carrie."
"Vienna isn't gone for good!" Ryo snapped. "She's still important."
"To you." Victor smiled. He knew what would happen next.
The half demon looked over his shoulder at the older blonde, his eyes holding a dangerous, red hue, "She's not important to you anymore?"
Victor leaned over the table a little, as if challenging those words, "Unlike you, I know who to get worked up about at the appropriate time."
"Victor's moved on.  You should too."
"Victor's moved on, yet I know for a fact he'll squeeze himself back onto Vienna's side when she gets back." Ryo's arms once more crossed over his chest.
"But that's besides the point, isn't it?" Victor decided against starting lighting Ryo's fuse. After all, each second was pivotal. "Why don't we use this energy on something useful? Like, say, rescuing a poor girl from death?"
"Good idea!" Alexander exclaimed exhaustedly.
Ryo managed to calm down slightly, "... Fine..." He could not, in good conscience, let Carrie suffer. He would save the fighting for later.
"Alright then." Victor sat back down. "Let's start with helping Ryo remember where this hideout is."
Ryo's shoulders slumped, "... I... really don't remember. I'll try."

A few hours passed. Victor was feeling drained, since he wasn't used to staying up with the sun. They had drawn the curtains for both himself and Alexander. The boy refused to go back to bed until this plan was set into motion.
In the end, everyone was frustrated with each other. Everyone had their own ideas and how the plan should be executed. Alexander wanted to storm in, Victor wanted to sneak in, and Ryo merely wanted to remember where the headquarters were to begin with.
They even talked about confronting Derian about it, but decided against it since his bodyguard was stronger then all of them put together. Besides that, they didn't want to cause a commotion until after Carrie was with them.
"I'm out of idea's." Alexander sighed.
"This is getting us nowhere." Ryo had resorted to holding his head in his hands. "There has to be something we can agree on."
"Well... Rescuing Carrie, for one." Victor leaned back in his chair. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth, "... I guess... figuring out where they're at should be our first priority BEFORE we decide on a rescue plan."
"What's this about rescuing Carrie?  Where'd she go?" Vienna set her bags down and motioned to the two people with her, "Pick any room that doesn't look like it's being used."
Alexander scowled, "Great..."
Vienna furrowed her brow, "Nice "welcome" Alexander."
"Vienna!" Ryo stood, his eyes wide with surprise.
"I thought I smelled something sweet." Victor put his cigarette away and placed his arms behind his head. "Carrie's been kidnapped by demons."
"Oh...that...sucks." Vienna raised a brow, "Well it looks like everyone's okay.  You had me worrying for nothing, Victor."
"Had I?" The vampire stood and went to her side. He opened his mouth to speak before he caught the image of Aster. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Victor shrugged it off, "Nice to see you have dependable company."
Ryo stood there, unsure what he should do. There were so many things he wanted to do, say, but he ended up freezing in place.
"Oh..." She looked back at her two companions, "Yeah, Aster's been taken very good care of me since that Wendigo.  And this is James, he's someone we picked up along the way."
"Hello." James said softly. He was intimidated by the people around him. Their mere auras weighed him down.
Victor and Aster looked at each other again before Aster slipped past the girl and towards her bedroom while carrying her bags.
"My bedroom's the last room at the end of the hall." She called up to him before smiling at James, "Don't look so scared, it's okay."
"I... uh..." James rubbed the back of his head. "I still say this was really sudden... You didn't even tell Apollo you were leaving."
She laughed, "He can find us anytime he wants."
"James, right?" Victor grabbed James and pulled him into an one arm hug. "Did you take good care of the little lady?"
"Yeah..." James tensed up.
"Good, good. Otherwise, we'd have a problem." He released him eventually.
Vienna rolled her eyes, "Stop scaring him, Victor.  Go pick a room James."
Alexander huffed before storming back down stairs into the basement.  "What's his problem?" She asked sadly.
James nodded and scurried away.
"... Ah... he's just a little sore about the whole "Carrie's gone" thing." Victor tried to explain without going into too much detail. "He's really fond of her, you know."
"Oh...right." She nodded slowly and took a seat at the kitchen table, "I hope you've been keeping the fridge stocked."
Ryo nodded slowly, his tongue still tied.
"Sure. Ryo's been taking care of that." Victor sat down beside her, suddenly putting on a more serious face. "Why'd you come back?"
"It's only temporary until I can figure out where I'm gonna go next.  The people who are looking for me found out where I was.  It wouldn't have been very smart of me if I had stayed there." She frowned and slumped in her chair.
"They found you?" Ryo leaned over the table slightly. "How?"
She shook her head, "I don't know.  But if they found out that information so easily, they can't be far behind me right now.  Which is why I've got to think fast and get out of here."
"Wish I could help, but we're living here because we have no where else." Victor shrugged. "Especially since they seem to have a death warrant out for Ryo."
"If they did they would've attacked when I was weakened." Ryo pointed out. "I don't think they care about me."
"They care about both of you because I care about you."  Vienna said earnestly, "They'll come to you to get at me."
"They won't get the chance to." Victor crossed his arms over his chest. "You can count on that."
"It's happened once." She glanced towards Ryo, "And now they know where both of you are.  Don't be prideful.  You guys are no match for them."
At that, the vampire slowly smiled and waved his hand airily, "Whatever you say, Strawberry."
"... They attacked when my guard was down. I won't be so easy in the future." Ryo said softly. "If I had just been on my guard then Carrie would still be here."
"Yes.  The poor damsel. Well.  I've had a long flight.  I'm gonna go rest." With that she stood up and headed towards the stairs.
"Guess she doesn't care about any other girl but herself." Victor said with a sniff.
"That's not it." Ryo shook his head. "I'm going to try to jog my memory." He retired to his room.
"Guess Ryo still has feelings for Vienna." Victor chuckled as though he had just stated the obvious. "Now comes the critical question. Should I take my chances or wait for certain obstacles to leave?"
Her bedroom looked the same.  No one had touched it.  She sat down on her bed and it somehow felt foreign.  
So.  It seemed they expected her to worry about that traitorous goody-two-shoes?  How laughable.  In fact, she did laugh.  This felt better, she wasn't expected to be good all the time, was she?  Vienna held her aching head, smiling a little.  Well...that tart got what was coming to her...right...? Right.  Why am I even questioning this?
She had heard him and his big mouth. Who was Victor to say that about her?  She cared about other women, she cared about her mother and her grandmother...she had no girl friends but if she did she'd care about them.  Carrie was not her friend so why should she care?
There was a knock on the door. "Vienna?" Came James' voice.
She quickly placed her usual from upon her lips, "Yeah?" She called softly.
"May I come in?"
"Sure." She stood up and went to her vanity.
The door opened and James slipped in. Quietly, he shut the door behind him and walked over to her, "Sorry if I'm bothering you. I just... wanted to talk, and all."
"It's not a bother at all." She said as she began brushing out her hair, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Those guys... are they your friends?"
Vienna nodded.
"They didn't really act like it. I got a bad feeling about that blonde guy."
She furrowed her brow, "Victor?  What kind of bad feeling?"
"I'm not sure. It's just a bad one." James shrugged and sat on the floor beside her stool, "Victor's his name? What is he?"
She looked down at him, "He's a vampire."
The blue green eyed boy was silent, deciding to ignore that fact for now. "What about you and the other one? The taller guy."
"Ryo?" She put her hair brush down and  shook her head, "What about me and him?"
"You guys have a history, right?"
"A little.  Nothing textbook worthy." She shrugged.
"Oh, good... I mean- Right! Okay!" James let out a nervous laugh.
She raised a brow at the man.
"Right, so, nothing's going on. And about you and Aster... do you like him?"
Vienna shrugged, "Yeah, but I get the feeling he's the love 'em and leave 'em type."
"So... say, for example, someone you knew was to say they liked you...? Would you... accept their offer of a date?"
She laughed a little, "That depends."
"So if it was someone who was moderately attractive and really liked you, you would say yes?"
"James." She said seriously, "Why all these questions?"
"Because I want to ask you out." He stood. "I like you, Vienna."
She blushed and stared down at him, "You...like me...?"
"Yes!! Isn't it obvious? I've liked you since we were hanging upside down in that Wendigo's den!"
She tried to take it in, "Ever since then...?  You're either really good at hiding it or I'm completely oblivious...oh...you're so normal..." She frowned.  She wanted normalcy so badly.
"Look, I understand if you don't want to. I mean... you've had your mind on a lot of other things, like running from demons and all that. I just wanted you to know my feelings, and if you accept them, great, but if you need more time or not interested... I can... back off."
She nodded slowly, "James...Maybe after all of this blows over."
"Okay! No, sure, it's cool!" He grinned. "Whew... glad I got that off my chest. I was worried I'd have some kind of competition... There's no way I can win against someone like Aster, let alone two other people."
She gave him a soft pat on the head, "No no no.  You have plenty of competition."
"What?" He stared at her blankly.
"Victor, Ryo and Aster."
"But I thought-"
"I retract that.  I don't really know." She laughed before she sighed, "I'll go on a date with you."
"Really? I mean, are you ready for one? Is it too dangerous to go out?"
"We'll stay in.  You can make me dinner and we can watch a movie." She smiled sweetly.
"I'm... not a very good cook... But I'll try!! How about tomorrow?"
She chuckled, "Yeah, I'm free then."
"Okay! I'll see you then-" James, while stumbling excitedly over his words, had opened the door only to smack his face against the edge. "Owww..." He knelt down, held his face for a moment before scurrying out, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
Wow, he's really excited. Vienna shook her head before continuing to brush her hair.

With the return of Vienna, along with two new companions, the current residence felt more than a little off balance. Alexander wouldn't come out of the basement unless Vienna was far away from Ryo, Aster would stay in his provided room for awhile and when he did emerge it was for nothing but to fill the already silent void with his own.
Victor kept to himself mostly, allowing only a conversation with Vienna and sometimes Alexander when he wasn't in the basement. James was a little oblivious to the tension.
He was in the kitchen, happily brewing something up for his little dinner date with Vienna.
After a while Vienna came down stairs and sat down at the kitchen table, "How's dinner going?"
"Uhmm... are you okay with spaghetti...? It's the only thing I can make." James said nervously. His hands were trembling slightly. He really didn't want to mess this up.
She smiled, "Yeah it's fine."
His brows knitted in concentration as he stared at the boiling water, wondering if the noodles were soft yet. Should I pull one out to check it? What if it's too rubbery?
Could he possibly be a worse cook than she was...?  She chuckled at the thought.
The pan beside the noodles started to hiss and spit. James started to freak out, "Ah! No! Don't do that!!" He grabbed the pan filled with sauce and held it up away from the flame.
That was it.  She burst out laughing, "I think Its done."
"Eh?" James lowered his hand and turned the flame off. "Okay... then the noodles..." He peeked in. "Are these done?"
"Yeah." She nodded, "I'll set the table." She said before getting out plates and utensils.
Once James strained the water and cleaned up, he set the noodles and the sauce in the center of the table on top of pot holders.
Vienna sat across from James and loaded her plate up.  The sauce didn't smell too appetizing but she knew he worked hard on it so she would concede it.
I hope it's okay... James fussed to himself in his head. He was worried that he put the wrong ingredients and spices in the sauce. Would the noodles taste alright? Maybe he shouldn't have put so much salt in it...
She ate everything on her plate while managing not to make any faces.
James did eat all of his food, but he couldn't help but feel sick afterwards. Ugh...! what did I put in there?
"So," She smiled over at him, "Let's go watch a movie upstairs."
"Okay!" Anything to get away from this horrid dinner.
They went up stairs to the bonus room and Vienna turned on the TV.
He sat down next to her, a stupid smile on his face, "Don't let me cook ever again. Okay?"
Vienna laughed, "I can agree to that."
They sat together, their eyes glued to the TV. It was only half way through the movie that James decided to be a little bold. He wrapped his arm around Vienna's shoulders.
Vienna blushed, not sure if she should move or not.
He scratched the tip of his nose, surprised she didn't move away. Maybe she likes me too...?
She relaxed and tried to focus on the movie not daring to look towards James.
Or maybe... I embarrassed her? He leaned back against the couch, his arm feeling loose, ready to retract whenever she needed it to. "This movie's funny." He decided to start a conversation.
"Yeah I like it." She said quietly.
"I do too. My favorite character so far is the guy's friend."
"Yeah he's so awkward it's cute."
"Yeah! My thoughts exactly! Uh... other than the cute... thing."
She laughed softly.
The movie ended and James finally pulled his arm away from her, feeling it didn't belong there. Not yet, at least. "This was fun. I kinda wish I could've taken you out to eat." He laughed. "And we still haven't had dessert yet."
"What'd you have in mind?  You're not going to make it are you?" Vienna stood up and stretched.
"Oh, no! I won't! I thought I saw some ice cream. So how about just a cone or a bowl?"
"Bowl please."
"Alright. I'll go get that. Wait here." He scurried off to the kitchen.
Vienna sat back down and took in a deep breath.  James was really trying to make this work.
He came back quickly and handed her a bowl with vanilla ice cream with no additives. Condiments?
She gave him a sweet smile, "Thanks."
"Welcome! Sorry, I couldn't find any chocolate sauce." He sat down on the couch and started eating the dessert. "Maybe... we can try making something together? Like brownies? I'm sure I'll do better with you."
"You put too much faith in my skills." She said softly.
"Better to put faith in yours than mine."
She laughed and popped a small spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.
"So! Uhm... since the date's coming to an end... did you like it?"
Vienna nodded, "Yes it was very pleasant." she replied softly.
"Would you... consider going on a second one with me?" He scooted a little towards her in anticipation.
"I...sure." She blushed and scooted away shyly.
He smiled happily, "What should we do next time? Maybe another movie?"
"Yeah, sounds great." She glanced up at him over her bowl, "This was really relaxing, thanks."