Vivienne

Sylvie walked over to the second stand that held the old and well cared for leather armor. “Will this still work?” Sylvie took a few seconds to breathe in the scent of the ancient armor. “Now I get why it lasted so long.”  Sylvie pulled her feathered headdress free of her silky hair. “Preserved by vampire blood, though I don’t want to know how you did it.”

“I have watched others for centuries, stayed in the shadows and existed.”  Vivienne’s French accent echoed lightly in the metallic room. “I have heard those three words uttered more times than I can count, Casey.”  Vivienne gently nodded to Sylvie, “Only now do I understand the true meaning.”  Vivienne gently lifted Casey’s chin so she could see into her ward’s brown velvet eyes, “It’s bond is as strong as blood.  I assure you, Casey..I love you as well.”  Vivienne watched as Sylvie started trying to fumble with the buckles and snaps of the leather armor. “Perhaps Casey can help you with it.”  She looked at the couple. “I assume you are coming with me to save Faye?”

Sylvie shook her head and pointed to Casey. “This isn’t for me, it’s for her.”  Sylvie pulled Casey to her feet and started trying to fit the armor. “You might have a tough time breathing.”  Sylvie started undressing Casey. “Vivienne, do you want us to help?”

Days ago, Vivienne would have felt the sting of pride and her inner darkness demanding her to confront the looming battle alone.  Countless times the huntress within her had planned and executed other vampires, beaming with the idea of a successful hunt afterwards.  Gorged on the blood of humanity in that glory, knowing that she’d done it all without help.  Alone.  Closing her soulful blue eyes, Vivienne flipped through the innumerable wins once again and felt nothing. “I do not wish to be alone.”  Vivienne reopened her eyes and smiled at her friends, her heart filled with love and admiration. “I am intrigued by how a single act can change that which took thousands of lifetimes to mold.”  Vivienne started helping Sylvie, “Saving you..”  Vivienne buckled a shoulder strap to Casey’s form, “...Started this and provided the companionship I was missing. I wasn’t aware I even needed it, Thank you.”  Vivienne took a few steps away from her friends and then turned to face them. “Will you help me save Faye and resolve this?”

“I got your back, Viv.”  Casey grimaced as her breasts were smashed into the tight leather bodice. “Ugh…here I thought a mammogram was awful.”

Sylvie weaved snickered lightly, “Yes, Vivienne I will go.”  She stopped dressing Casey for a couple seconds to ensure that the darts and tiny blow gun were weaved in her opposite wristband. “I want to see where this leads.”

A simple grin spread across Vivienne’s lips, “Thank you.”  She walked over to the wall once more and picked up three metal lighters. “Casey.”  She tossed the first one to her ward, “I added these to the armory after the hotel.”  Vivienne winked and tossed another to Sylvie. “It is about time we spring that trap you mentioned, Casey.”

“There’s only the three of us, Viv.”  Casey added and giggled when Sylvie tightened the armor to her shapely thigh. “If you go any higher, I might be pulling this armor off.”  Casey winked and laughed.

Vivienne paced the floor of the armory as she thought about the situation. “When they fled through whatever magic door they employed, I counted five of them.  Not including Faye.”  Vivienne raised her eyebrow upon hearing the tiny flirt that Casey expressed. “I believe that I saw the leader of the group, and it wasn’t the male that staked my beloved.”  Vivienne pinched the bridge of her nose, “She had yellow eyes, like the inquisitors told me that our brethren have, Sylvie.”

“Curious.”  Sylvie started attaching cloth padding to Casey’s arms. “Can vampires use magic?”

Clasping her fingers together, Vivienne tapped on her lips in thought. “I have witnessed alchemy, but not magic as we have experienced this evening.  Concoctions have always been part of the world, regardless of who employed them.”  Vivienne sighed, “Alas, It would be something else that I am not privy to.”  She shrugged, “Thus proving that I do not know everything.”

“That must have hurt to say.”  Casey ran her hands down the front of her armored body. “I got the impression that you knew everything when we met.”  Casey flexed her shoulders in the attempt to get comfortable. “Next time, I want something that fits.”

Sylvie walked around Casey to make sure that the armor was fastened the best it could be. “Looks perfect.”  Her eyes shifted to the smile of a Cheshire cat and illuminated softly, “Maybe there won’t be a next time.”

“That would be boring.”  Casey stretched her arms and legs like she was doing warm-ups for swim practice. “What’s the point of being a ward if I don’t get to play around sometimes?”  Casey considered picking up one of the swords attached to the wall, “The crossbow was easy.”  She plucked one of the blades to make it echo lightly, “I don’t know how to really fight or use those.”

Rubbing her chin, Vivienne closed her eyes and turned in the direction that she felt Faye the strongest. “West.  We will need to go west of here.”  Vivienne pulled out her Iphone and opened the map feature with topography. “Farmland.”  Vivienne walked over to Casey, “Training.  That is something that you and Faye both will require once we have finished here.  Unfortunately, you will have to learn the old fashioned way.”

“Trial by fire never goes well, Vivienne.” Sylvie sighed and walked behind Casey and placed her hands gently on the young woman’s shoulders. “That is where I come in handy.”  Sylvie smiled as her eyes rotated back to full moons. “I will fill in as necessary for you both.”  Sylvie peered at Vivienne’s phone. “You mentioned farmland?”

Vivienne tucked away her phone and pulled down a pair of daggers from the walls that were wrought from cast iron. “One of the oldest and true weapons of all time.”  Vivienne wrapped the twin sheathed daggers to her ward’s waist. “Aside from the spear, these are the easiest to use.”  Snickering to herself, Vivienne reached for a small canister of pepper spray. “This is just as easy.  Let’s just hope that things aren’t so bad that you need the knives.”  Slipping Sylvie her phone, Vivienne pointed to the open landscape she’d looked up. “Faye is both my first real love and my first created vampire.  I am getting used to having her in my senses and thus it is difficult for me to estimate range.  It does feel like she is on one of those farms.”