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It had seemed like the longest day of their lives, as they sat there in the sewers, waiting for the sun to set. Neither vampire had said a word, both just sitting there, eyes closed, trying to feel something, anything.

The day passed with no vampire presence being detected, and as the sun set, both vampires were on their feet, ready to leave their dark sanctuary and walk into the night. Both hoping that they were wrong, and that they would find someone up there.

As they came out of the sewers Avatar walked straight over to a rundown house, standing a little away from the other houses, all by itself in a small field. He hadn't told Thiery were they were, and Thiery hadn't asked. It hadn't really seemed important then, nor was it now.

The house looked like it had been abandoned for years, the windows hammered shut, and the garden overgrown. It was a fairly large house, once painted white, and it was not at all the kind of place he would have thought that vampires lived. For that it was too open. Placed in the middle of a field, with no trees nearby to cast shadows. No, it was not at all the kind of place where he would have pictured a group of vampires living in.

The door didn't make a sound as Avatar opened it. It had been unlocked, and from Avatar's expression, this was not a common thing. They walked into the house without a sound, Avatar making hand gestures to Thiery, that were probably either supposed to tell him to stay, or to follow, but be quiet either way. Thiery followed, staying right behind Avatar, a little worried about the elder vampire's behaviour. Avatar was tense, something Thiery had never seen before. And that worried him even more than the absence of vampires in this place.

*****

They didn't go up the stairs, nor did they search any other part of the house above ground. Avatar walked straight to the stairs heading down. The stairwell was dark, and longer than Thiery would have thought. His eyesight helped him to see where he was going, but it was narrow, and with Avatar ahead of him, he could not see where it was leading, or how long it was.

Eventually the stairs stopped, showing a small hallway ahead of them, with three doors on each side, and one at the end of the hall. Avatar walked straight down the hall, and opened the door there. Thiery looked around, wanting to see what was behind the doors, but not stupid enough not to stay right behind Avatar.

Avatar walked right through the door, hitting a light switch on the other side, and walked a little into the room, his eyes searching it. Behind him Thiery stopped in the doorway. The room was huge, at least compared to the size of the house above it. It looked like a huge dining room, with bookcases, several couches and tables, carpets and wall hangings. It reminded him of Avatar's apartment, yet this place was ten times the size of that.

As he took in the sight of the place, he saw Avatar moving through the room, looking around. Then he turned and looked at him, a smile appearing on his face at their eyes met. Thiery touched the door, pushing it shut behind him and walked towards Avatar.

After two steps he noticed that Avatar's face was changing. His smile faded, and his mouth opened, an expression of shock coming over his face. Thiery looked at him for a second, not understanding what was upsetting Avatar so much. Then he noticed that Avatar's eyes were fixed on something behind him. Slowly he turned, his eyes searching for what Avatar had seen. What he saw was nothing at all like what he had expected.

On the door the corpse of a man was hanging, pinned up there by what looked like long wooden sticks. Two held the arms, another three the rest of the body, and one the head, that looked like it had been severed from the rest of the body, and then pinned a good two inches up above the rest of it. He appeared to have been dead for at least two weeks, for the corpse had already begun to decay.

He stood there, dead in his tracks, staring at it. From behind him Avatar was moving, walking past him and over to the body, as if he was studying it, a string of curses muttered under his breath. Thiery didn't understand, yet slowly realization hit him. "He was a vampire?" he asked, as he forced himself to move a little closer.

"Yes" Avatar said, still facing the corpse, searching for something it seemed. "But who?" Thiery asked, not quite sure if he meant who had killed the vampire, of who he had been.

Running his hand over one of the wooden sticks, or stakes, as they were, Avatar pulled it out, holding it up in front of him. "Vampire Hunters" he said, as he turned towards Thiery, showing him the stake, and the rune inscriptions on its handle.

*****

She looked up from her book as she heard voices coming closer. One of them she knew, and the other she had never heard before. The one she knew belonged to Cathal, her at'hethan, her maker. The other one she didn't know, but he spoke to Cathal in a familiar tone, which indicated that they knew each other well.

Putting down her book she got to her feet, and walked out from the room and into the hallway. This place had many hallways, and even more rooms. It was located it the hills of a mountain, somewhere in Arizona. The irony of it was not lost on her, a vampire mansion in the middle of a desert.

There wasn't another house for miles, and the mansion looked rundown and abandoned, the perfect hiding place for large group of vampires that did not wish to be found. There was plenty of food, for the vampires had stayed there for almost a century, and had quite a few different types of animals they were breeding. In this place you never had to drink the same two days in a row. It was a luxury they knew they could afford, hidden away in the desert as they were.

The house itself had a cellar that lead into the mountain, and it was in there that they lived, where sunlight never came. The house had been like this when they had first arrived, but no one seemed to know what this place had been used for back then. To her, that didn't really matter. History was fun, but there were other things that were more fun, like spying on your maker while he was talking to someone else.

*****

Cathal sat in his chair, looking at the man in front of him. He had chosen this place for their conversation for a reason, one he was not about to give to anyone. The other man looked at him, waiting to be heard, knowing that you only talked to a member of the High Council if you were being spoken to. Until then, you were to keep your mouth shut.

They had talked on their way down here, about unimportant things. Cathal had wanted to know the news of the world, just as he always did. Besides that, nothing else had been said, nor would it be said, until Cathal asked for it. And for the past five minutes he had not done so. He had only sat there, looking at him, as if he was waiting for something. Then, finally, he pulled his chair a bit closer, leaned forward, and spoke.

"I sent you on a mission to find the ancient prophecies. What they said about the Leader that is to come, and the War that comes with her. That was nine years ago. Not a word have we heard from you since. We were staring to think you were dead. Then suddenly you show up. Now we hope that your years away from us were not wasted."

He looked at Cathal for a few seconds after he was done talking. Though no question had been asked, he could easily read between the lines, and find the questions within them. Cathal had been worried, but not for him. The information he had been sent to get was more important than any one vampire. The Prophecies were said to hold in them the information about vampire leaders to come. Those leaders that would bring change, those that would bring chaos, and those that would Lead them to victory.

"I found what we were looking for. And I did not. There are no complete records left of the Prophecies, only bits and pieces shattered around the world. I found quite a few, yet little sense could be made from them. Most were about things we already knew, things that have already taken place. But there was one phrase, one that are perhaps more important than anything else I could find. It could be about our leader, and it could not. I have yet to complete the analysis of that segment of the Prophecy."

He paused for a second, and reached into his jacked, taking out a little red book. Opening it up he found the right page, and gave it to Cathal. "I have translated it as best as I could. But it could still contain errors." Cathal did not seem no hear him though, too wrapped up in the few lines written on the white page in the red book.

…and out of the ashes she shall come,
to save the one who made her.
And he shall be the one to save us all.