Vivienne

Desperate to rescue Faye, Vivienne shot up through the branches of the thick pine trees and into the open moonlit sky.  She leveled off and followed the edge of the woods to each corner of the farm.  Gliding around, Vivienne matched the picture of the map from her phone to the structures below.  She mentally marked the farmhouse, pond and the huge barn.  Vivienne flew the square a couple more times, noting that the mist covered the barn from all angles rendering her initial plan useless.  Flying down to street level, Vivienne swapped to her sleek, silver fox form and sprinted the length in front.  Her black paws came to a halt when she saw the driveway and how it was clear of any mist.  Vivienne crouched and hid within the long grass and snuck her way to the little opening.  

Twisting her sharp white haired ears, Vivienne spotted a very large yellow lab trotting the length of the driveway seemingly unaware of the mist. -Hello there.-  Vivienne thought to herself. -Another alarm.-  Vivienne considered how to remove the playful dog from the situation when she heard a low croak of a frog.  Sniffing the air with her tiny black nose Vivienne silently crept to the little stream of water where she’d heard the frog.  A quick snap and Vivienne had the amphibian in her teeth.  Trotting back across to the opening of the driveway, Vivienne started to dribble the frog's blood in a tiny pool, then dragged the slimy creature’s husk to the stream. -Come on..take the bait.-  Vivienne spit the frog back in the water and waited for the dog.

When Dusty meandered his way to the edge of the driveway he sniffed the air and looked back at the barn.  Giving a little whine, Dusty found the blood trail and began to follow it.  Vivienne heard the heavy sniffs and panting from the big dog and waited until she saw Dusty’s nose and blank eyes. -I hate doing this.-  Vivienne thought to herself and recalled the countless times she’d used this particular method to remove a dog from her hunting.  Vivienne made a soft light whine and stood up from the weeds, her crystal blue eyes shining in the moonlight.  Locking her gaze to Dusty’s, Vivienne slowly started walking backwards, swishing her fluffy tail playfully. -I really hate doing this.-  She reassured herself before, playfully jumping forward and darting around Dusty, dragging her tail across his flanks.  Vivienne deftly moved from Dusty’s playful jumps and headed for the dark woodline, forcing the dog to follow.

Once the two little animals were alone in the trees, Vivienne hopped on Dusty’s back and chittered lightly in his droopy ear.  Dusty rolled on the ground and exposed his white furred tummy.  Vivienne trailed her nose across the white fur and back to his ear and forced her breath deep into the dog's ear.  Shifting to her human form, Vivienne crouched beside the docile animal. “Sleep well my new friend.”  Vivienne watched as Dusty’s eyes rolled up and the pooch took a deep breath and started to snore.

Wanting to conserve her blood reserves, Vivienne sprinted back to her friends and gave them the information she’d gleaned from the pass over. “It would appear that the mist goes to the treetops and completely surrounds the structures.”  She pointed to the entrance of the driveway. “There is a safe passage into the grounds.  There was a dog guarding the path.”

“Was?”  Casey asked.

Vivienne nodded and half frowned. “Yes, Was.  I would prefer not to get into the details of how I removed the canine from our path.  It was less than dignified.” Vivienne muttered trying to hide her light frustration.

Sylvie let out a light chuckle when she saw the look in Vivienne’s blue eyes. “Sure thing.”

Motioning for the couple to follow, Vivienne cleared the woodline and walked across the street where she’d charmed Dusty. “There.  See?  That is the only entrance that I could find.  The back part of the barn where I wanted to grab Faye, is covered with about ten feet of that mist.”

“We should be fast enough to run in and back out before we even have to take a breath.”  Casey offered and raised her eyebrow.

Shaking her long black hair, Vivienne disagreed with her ward. “I believe that would be a bad idea.  I haven’t mentioned that in the dead center of the corn is a pile of livestock.”  Vivienne wrinkled her nose. “They appeared to all be dead and oozing something, I could see the discoloration from the air.”  Vivienne turned and faced her companions, “I have to go in there, you don’t have to follow if you don’t want to.”  She placed her hand on Casey’s shoulder. “That is most definitely a trap.”

Casey nodded and swallowed hard.  “Viv, I trust you.”  Her velvety brown eyes had both confidence and fear glistening outward. “What…if…”  Casey watched as the mist seemed to clear near the wooden fence, exposing a rotting cow. “Oh…ugh..”  When the stench hit a second or so later, Casey felt her stomach tighten and she bent over dry-heaving.

The green smog hole closed when Vivienne looked in the direction Casey had been staring. “Inventive.”  Vivienne started rubbing Casey’s back. “Just take deep breaths, whatever that was is gone.”  

“A distraction.”  Sylvie mentioned and pointed at the driveway entrance.

Vivienne helped Casey stand up right, though the young ward still looked a bit dazed and sick from the encounter.  Vivienne saw Sylvie’s finger and then the tall lanky male form leaning heavily on ash white scythe with a bronze blade.  Vivienne noted that the man in question had what appeared to be yellowish fireflies hovering all around his form, along with a soft white light similar to the shine from the moon.

“What do you know, the dog did work.”  Captain Jonah tilted his head and spotted Vivienne’s sparkling blue eyes. “The Darla felt her familiar, my blue eyed friend.”  The glowing form shrugged, “I didn’t believe her, but I am more and more impressed with her abilities.”  Charles closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, making the light around him brighten.

Vivienne felt her body temperature rising and her blood heating up.  When Sylvie hit the ground in pain, Vivienne leaned down in the attempt to help her friend.

“Yes, well.”  Captain Jonah laughed and tapped his scythe again, intensifying his light. “The Darla advised me to wait until the right moment.” He walked to the two vampires and squatted. “..That wouldn't be any fun now would it?”

Casey drew her twin daggers and attempted to rush the glowing magic-user.

Charles waved his hand and slung a bright wave of flame from his hand covering the ward in living fire. “Ah, yes.  Their little fountain.”  Captain Jonah watched Casey roll drop and roll until she went down the embankment then turned his attention to the twin vampires. “You see, Death has many forms.  Some can see it as a ghost, some as even the Grim Reaper.”  He wiggled his hands like little worms. “However, that wouldn’t work against blood suckers like yourselves.”

Vivienne had experienced this feeling a few times before, when the vestiges of the sun’s rays were pushing away the friendliness of the night.  Many nights Vivienne had tested the tales of the sun in relation to her undead form.  Every time she’d tried, it caused the same exact feeling she was experiencing.  Blood seemingly boiling in her body, her muscles aching so much that she could barely walk, unable to transform into a mist, fox or raven.  Vivienne knew it took a vast amount of blood to flood her limbs enough so that she could escape into darkness and survive.  She’d confirmed for centuries that the sun was her only true demise and now it was standing right in front of her.

“My intention was to just simply burn you without hesitation, erase you like you do so many of us after your entrancing bite and orgasmic whispers.”  Jonah got within arms reach of Vivienne and grabbed her wrist. “However, that would be too easy.  I think you should experience what it is like for every cell in your body to turn slowly to dust, like we do.”

Searing flame seemed to rush into Vivienne’s arm, weaving and licking its way through muscle blood and bone.  Her blue eyes darted around and noticed the fireflies beginning to encircle her, and linking up with little tendrils of sun rays that threatened to create a net around her.  Vivienne forced blood through her limbs and it sluggishly moved to counteract the effects that the mage was currently using on her. -What is the key?-  Vivienne felt the blood rush to her mind and clear the near panic and pain so she could think clearly.  Jerking her hand free, Vivienne gripped the scythe and started to wrestle for its control.