Two & Four

You came into a long and vast hall after following the passage downward for a while.

Compared to ruins above, this place was spotless, the stone walls were clean and black, with strange machines strewn about the Cobbled floors of the vast room.

There was a table, some chairs... and a huge Deus made of smooth green stone, decorated and artificial with the many Modern implements installed into the clearly ancient structure.

Valerica sat at the table, her crimson hair tied up into a ponytail, looking over what looked like some old manuscripts and not even bothering to look up to your or Rose.

You stalked toward her, feeling the joy rise in your veins, there she was, you could do it, you could attack right now, end this forever, put your father's spirit to rest, as well as your own. Your heart thumped, and your claws extended, eyes burning, you prepared to attack, ready to tear this rotten siren into fleshy pink pulp.

"Do you have a favourite Number, Lover-boy?" Valerica spoke, still not looking away from the old papers as she jotted something down.

You paused "What?"

"Mine is Two." She said lightheartedly "Why have one, when you can have two? the first to discover, the second to enjoy... some would want more but... I am patient kinda gal..." Her eyes slid up to look at you, and a thick kind of dread ran down your spine. Valerica gestured to the free chairs "Sit." She commanded.

Her orders slammed down into your mind, colliding with the iron shield that was your will. Valerica grinned "Wow... you have gotten sooo strong, hmmm I like a man that knows how to fight back... But we have some things to talk about before you go off on your tantrum, so... I will not ask again. Sit."

the Wave doubled in strength... you fought and fought, but your body began to move on its own, shambling over to the table, drawing a chair, and sitting beside Valerica who grinned at you in a demented kind of love.

"I missed you Loverboy, I'm sorry I haven't been around but you know work... Hectic." She said patting her papers "Come on Rosie, you too, over there mind you, I don't want you too close to my Hubby."

Rose glared deeper and more spitefully than you had ever seen, but she looked between you both, and took a breath, moving to the end of the table and sitting curtly.

"Great... now where was I-" Valerica started, but you reached out, sinking your claws into the flesh of her hand.

"I am going to destroy you." You snarled.

She pouted, not an ounce of pain showing on her face. She carefully took your hand, pulling them free where her wounds quickly closed, then she gripped your hands playfully "If you wanted to hold hands then all you had to do was ask, you sexy beast." She chuckled "Right anyway, so Twos... I love Twos... they are fantastic, nothing is purer than Pair, A ripe beating Heart with two chambers, a Pair destined to be in love forever..." She gave you a little wink "Or maybe a nice pair of balls, you certainly have them, barging in here like this but it's okay, I look better without make-up anyway."

You flashed her a dark smile "I hate you. I hate you and I love your sister, she is prettier, smarter, **** than you will ever be, and when I have my way, the memory of you will be reduced to nothing."

"Pffftt hehehehe wow." Valerica chuckled, completely unfazed by your comment "You love Rosie? right... would you love her if say... she had been lying to you, from the start?"

You looked at her like she was crazy, hell she was crazy, and you turned to Rose expecting equal confidence, but in those blue eyes, or that pale face, was no confidence at all, only guilt.

"Bullshit." You growled "I don't believe anything that You have to say... Rose wouldn't lie to me."

"Oh? so she hasn't lied to you before now? hidden anything from you?" Valerica asked coyly.

You frowned... remaining quiet

Valerica clapped her hands together "Well even though I do like Twos myself, sometimes I find it necessary to double even that, so hey Four? yeah sometimes I'll go up to four, four is a fantastic number, for Knights of the High court, for example, there have always been four... well there were until I ran away, I know you don't know this but My father, is a fool for organisation, if there are only three knights then to him, there might as well be no knights at all! buuuut." She tapped in Rose's direction "He can't just pick an Upir from the bag to replace me, so He'd find the best of them, and test them, wouldn't he Rosie?"

Rose turned her eyes away, shame starting to creep on her face, You frowned deeper, what is going on?

Valerica clicked at you, "Hey, so how about this before we get into your attempt to scratch at my heels, why don't we ask Rosie, some questions? FOUR! hehe keeping with the theme... How about this, I'll help you out since I haven't quite had the chance too as she has, I will tell you what to ask, and you will ask, then we'll see what happens, Rosie isn't going to lie to you now is she? let's get started, okay?"

You snarled "No it-"

"Yes, it is." She said, forcing her will into your mind.

You nodded involuntarily and she smiled again "Good. alrighty, Question One: Rose, have you known my location this whole time, and have been keeping Charlie from it?"

You looked at your lover genuinely, as Valerica slid closer, grinning into your ear "Ask her..."

Your face twitched with grief "Rose... have you known Valerica's location this whole time, and have been keeping me from it?"

Rose's face was cold, but her eyes were pained, and her lips quivered as she spoke "Y-Yes..."

You shook your head "But... why?"

She frowned "You are not ready... I didn't want you to die for nothing, I wanted... I wanted you to forget about her, so we could move on, leave this city behind, leave your clan behind..."

Hurt sunk into your guts "Rose..."

"Question Two:" Valerica whispered to you "Back when Charlie was still a Human, just after meeting with me in the alley, were you the one that bit me, injecting me with venom?"

"Rose, when I was still human, in the alley after I met Valerica for the first time, did you feed on me and inject me with venom?" You asked, scarcely believing your own words.

Rose took in a shallow breath "Yes..."

No... no... "But that's... impossible... Valerica bit me not you... I just assumed."

"You assumed wrong, My interest in you was only proxy to Roman, I had no intention of bitting you, at least not then. Rose most likely drank your blood to steal your memories to track me, kicking off your transformation in the process." Valerica said.

All you recalled from that first bite, were red velvet gloves gripping at your face... red velvet gloves... that Rose owned. But then that meant...

"That's right Loverboy, You were sired by two Upirs, Her venom, my blood. it's probably why she attaches herself to you like a parasite. Anyway moving on... Question Three: What was your relationship with Corvus of the Gerix, and why where you allied with them?"

More and more grief crept into your chest, seeking to break your heart "Rose, Why were you with Corvus, why where you allied with the Gerix?"

She shuffled, her voice quiet as she began to shake "I allied with them because Valerica recommended it. Roman and Valerica had spent a significant amount of time together, and He was working with the Gerix. I infiltrated the group under false pretences to achieve my ultimate goal, and when I failed, I manipulated the Gerix into betraying Valerica... and By extension... betraying Roman."

Tears fell down your cheek, your body shaking with pain as Valerica touched your arm "Question Four: What is the Ultimate Goal, given to you by the Vampire King, so that you could replace Me as a Knight of the High court?"

You shook your head, unable to speak, Valerica gripped your arm painfully "Ask her. Learn the truth." She growled.

You looked Rose in her terrified eyes, your own seeping with a bland kind of sorrow "What is your ultimate goal?"

Tears of her own, began to fall down her face, her lips mumbling out the quiet response, but you heard it like it was blasted into your ears "My goal set by My father, was to dispatch Valerica the Outcasted... and to Kill... to Kill Roman Drake, who had dared to sire a child with one of Royal blood: Our older sister and the Vampire Queen, Elizabeta Dracul or... Lizzy Drake, as she was formerly known."

You know... one of the worst things about Vampirism, is that it numbs you to a lot of what you might have taken for granted as a Human... but Vampirism didn't turn off your emotions, or your feelings and so you still felt cold, and you still felt pain.

But never before had you felt colder or in more pain than now. Your chest felt like it had been run through with a steak.

Your heart was broken.

Rose stood desperately, moving over to you as you just stared off into nothing. She crouched beside you, holding you with her trembling hands "Beloved, she is trying to break you, she is afraid of what you are capable of and is trying to make you lose the will to fight... I... I broke my promise, I lied b-but... I didn't killed Roman, She did that because He wouldn't do what she wanted... and... I don't care if we are related by blood, I love you, I have never loved anyone before, and I only love you... Beloved... Charlie... say something, please say something. You have to understand you are the one that taught me how to love, I didn't care about anything before you, I was just a machine... I'm begging you say something!?"

Your eyes fell on her, cold and unfeeling, uncaring of her tears or sobbing, and you spoke: "Leave." You whispered.

Rose's face twisted "Please... Beloved, I'm sorry, you cannot fight her alone, her Blood magic it-"

"Leave me. go and do not come back. Because if you stay, I will not be able to stop myself." these words were not yours, because you were not there anymore, it was all too much, and everything that made you yourself was long gone, gone with Vlad, gone in that chamber, gone in these ruins... with four questions.

Rose rubbed away her tears as she stood on quivering legs, grasping at her chest "I... I love you... and I am sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Within the blink of an eye, Rose's form was gone. And only you and Valerica sat at the table.

Valerica lent forward "Feel free to kill me now. Go on, here." She grasped her blouse, and wrenched it open, her buttons flying on the table as she exposed her chest. "Don't miss the heart. I'm only giving you one shot."

You stared at her, shaking with the Monster's unwavering power "What is your game? you've won... I don't even care if I kill you anymore... I think I'd prefer it if you killed me. But I want you to tell me why, you owe me that." You whispered dully.

She eyed you for a moment, then smiled "Alright... I'll tell you why I have done what I have done. Then we can battle to your shattered heart's content." Valerica stood up, pacing as she placed her hands on the dark walls, strolling over to the Deus where she touched it hopefully "I... want a child." her whisper swept through you, the genuine hope in it, the pain in her voice.

"What?"

"I want a child... a daughter maybe... or a strong son... I want it more than anything in the world... Elizebeta, your mother, My sister, that fucking perfect little princess, she got what she wanted... I asked her how she did it, she told me... Upir and descendants... they can have children, it is unlikely, but possible... for most of us." she growled

You raised an eyebrow, and Valerica turned to you, her eyes welling with red, as she unbuckled her jeans... no not again, you didn't want this monster to **** you again... but that is not what she wanted, she simply peeled her jeans down slightly and exposed her pubic region.

she was shaved just as before, but just below her Navel, was deep, black scar, one that looked like it would have done an ungodly amount of damage, she made a pained and angry scowl "When I told my father what I wanted... He laughed at me, He attacked me, said that my insolence would not stand this time, that I would be punished... The wound took 28 years to close, and my body has been broken ever since I don't even have a womb anymore... He crushed my dreams, so I ran." she refused to look at her scar anymore, pulling her jeans back into place as she paced.

"I have tried everything, I have travelled the fucking world trying to find a way to make it possible, I tried Magic from every culture, cursed myself, bewitched myself, I allowed myself to be possessed, I tried medicine, human and Undead, every alchemical brew I could find I tried... I tried to manipulate the curse, tried to take others on as my own... But it was just wrong, THEY WEREN'T MINE!" She started to get really agitated, shaking her head as she pointed a claw at you, a demented smile crossing her face "I DESERVE A FAMILY, I DESERVE TO PROVE HIM WRONG, I CAN DO BETTER, I WILL DO BETTER THAN HE EVER DID, I AM NOT A MONSTER..." She took a long breath, shuffling over to you, and sitting beside you, touching your hands gently "And when... this works, and I know it will, You and I will have a family of our own, I promise, I swear."

You blinked, staring at her with nothing in your eyes "Is that why you killed my father, He didn't want to cave into your insane idea of a family?"

Valerica frowned "He found his little loophole in that pathetic little sister of yours, he promised to help me, we were so close... He cut me off... so... I cut him off, Now I have to figure out how this works myself." She snarled.

You peered at the manuscript "More magic?"

She shook her head, smiling at you darkly "Science... a little magic... but I think we've talked enough, lover-boy. Now... you have a choice, You can help me, stay with me, we'll be happy, I'll be good to you, I'll never lie to you... or you try and kill me, and we'll see just how ready for me you are."

The Chair flew out from beneath you as you flashed up to your feet, staring down at her with your glowing eyes "You will meet me out there, and we will fight fair. One on one, and You will die."

Valerica licked her lips "As you wish."