The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Chapter 12: The Darkened Italian Night



The figure turns slowly to look at us, he smiles as he closes the book about the Elemental six, he then opens up another book, we recognise it as being about Victoria and Athenla, he smiles at us before saying “My friends, the time has come to again rejoin Victoria and Athenla, let us see what happens to them next” he smiles at us as he begins to read.



A month had passed since the battle that had cost the villagers of Asroma their lives, the leaves had turned brown and were beginning to drop from the tree’s as Athenla looked at Victoria who was asleep on the grass, they had travelled far away from the village, Athenla had decided after all to follow Victoria not having anywhere else to go.



Victoria muttered something in her sleep as Athenla went over to the small lake and took a drink of water, Victoria awoke slowly and sat up slowly rubbing her aching shoulders as she yawned softly, she looked at Athenla and said “How long have you been awake Athenla?” Athenla turned around and shrugged her shoulders before replying “I haven’t slept yet, I didn’t feel like it….whenever I sleep I see my grandfather….and my friends and neighbours burning, I can still smell the stench in my nose….of burning flesh….I can still hear their agonising screams as they were slaughtered like cattle” Victoria stood up and crossed over to her hugging her gently and stroking her hair.



Athenla cried softly and wept against Victoria, as she sniffled Victoria said tenderly “I’m sorry for causing you such grief, I should have stayed where I was, but I just couldn’t bare it, the smell of faeces and blood was overpowering, I had been kept locked up for I don’t know how long...I finally escaped and I was lucky enough to find myself in your village” Athenla looked up at Victoria and said softly “I know you didn’t mean to cause us harm Victoria….I just miss them all so much” Victoria kissed Athenla’s forehead softly and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.



Athenla pulled away from Victoria before going back over to the lake and splashing her face with water again as she stood up and turned to look at Victoria before saying “So where are we heading for Victoria?” Victoria ran a hand through her hair as she replied “Hmmm, well I think that there’s the entrance to a cave just along here, and then inside there should be a portal….where it will take us I don’t know?” Athenla nodded her head replying eagerly “Well lets get going then Vicky” Victoria smiled as they headed towards the cave.



The cave seemed the thrum with energy as Athenla and Victoria neared it, Athenla looked at Victoria saying “So, what now?” Victoria replied softly “Now we go inside and try and find this portal” Athenla nodded her head as Victoria went inside being followed by Athenla. Victoria and Athenla wandered through the cave as they heard a soft thrumming, Victoria motioned for Athenla to stop, Victoria crept slowly around the corner and saw the portal which was swirling with a violet like vortex, Athenla walked over to Victoria as Victoria took her hand and they entered the vortex.



They hung onto each other as they were thrown around inside the vortex, they were thrown out of it landing with a splash in a river, they came up gasping for air and choking as they looked around. Athenla looked at Victoria saying “OK so where are we then Vicky?” Victoria treaded water and looked around before swimming over to some steps and getting out of the river followed closely behind by Athenla before she replied “I don’t actually know….lets go and see if we can find out some information as to where we are” Athenla nodded her head as she followed Victoria as she walked towards a hotel.



She looked up at the sign outside and saw it was called the Hotel Abbazia, she headed inside followed closely behind by Athenla as she headed over to the reception desk, the receptionist looked up from her computer saying in Italian “Ciao come posso aiutilo?” Victoria looked at her before replying “Sorry I don’t speak your language” the receptionist immediately switched to a heavily accented English saying again “Hello this is the Hotel Abbazia, how may I help you?” Victoria replied softly “This might sound like a really strange question but could you tell me where we are?” the receptionist raised her eyebrow quizzically before replying “This is Venice, Italy….would you like to book a room here? It’s 218 euros for 3 days” Victoria looked around before gazing into the receptionists eyes and saying “We want your most expensive room for free” the receptionist tilted her head replying “Yes….for free” she tapped into her computer and made it look as though the two girls had paid as she handed them their room card.



Athenla and Victoria walked over to the elevator and Victoria pressed the button, the elevator dinged as the doors slid open, Athenla looked at all the buttons as Victoria pressed the top most button, the doors slid shut as it began to move upwards. The elevator came to a juddering stop as the doors slid open, Athenla and Victoria stepped out and walked over to the door Victoria slid the card downwards and the door beeped as it swung open slowly, Victoria and Athenla headed inside as Victoria shut the door.



Athenla wandered around the room and ran into the bathroom and gasped as she saw the bath and shower and shouted to Victoria “I’m gonna have a bath Vicky, I haven’t washed for what seems like ages” Victoria laid on the big double bed and yawned as she replied “OK then Athens, I’ll have one after you” Athenla stepped into the bath and sank down into the hot steamy water. Victoria closed her eyes and fell asleep as it began to rain softly, it began to beat softly against the window panes, almost rhythmic in tone as the two girls finally relaxed after what felt like months.



Victoria fell asleep almost immediately, feeling as though she could finally relax for the first time in a long while, she snuggled down into the mattress as meanwhile in the bathroom Athenla was washing herself, getting the grime off her body as she leant back and sighed blissfully as she closed her eyes.



A few hours later both girls woke up as Athenla got out of the cold bath and wrapped a towel around herself drying herself off as she crossed into the bedroom and saw Victoria stretching as Athenla went over to her and hugged her, Victoria smiled before saying “I’m gonna go take a shower Athenla I wont be long” Athenla nodded her head as she went over to her bed and picked up her clothes and began to put them on as she looked into the mirror and brushed her hair getting all the knots and tangles out.



Victoria sang softly as she washed herself and then got out of the shower and dried herself off before heading back into the bedroom and looked at Athenla before saying “I think we need to go out shopping for some new clothes….and maybe get some food” Athenla nodded her agreement before looking puzzled “But how are we gonna buy clothes and get food when we have no money Vic?” Victoria laughed her sultry laugh before replying “You shall see my dear….you shall see” Victoria took Athenla’s hand and led her down to the main reception hall as they left the hotel to wander the streets and look at the canals as they found a clothes store called “Boutique Al Traghetto‎” they looked at each other before heading inside.



Athenla and Victoria looked at all the dresses, tops and skirts that were in the shop, Athenla ran over to a red dress and felt it, it was a silk dress with velvet lining around the bottom, a shopkeeper hurried over to them and said “Ciao le signore, come posso aiutano?” Victoria looked at the shopkeeper, he was a kindly man of about 60 years of age, his hair was white but his eyes still sparkled with life as Victoria smiled at him before replying “I’m sorry. We do not speak Italian” the old shopkeeper smiled showing missing teeth as he repeated in English stumbling over his words slightly “Hello ladies, how can I help you?” Victoria then spoke softly saying “We’re looking for some clothes, we mislaid ours when we came here somehow” the old shopkeeper smiled softly as he showed the two girls his wares.



A few hours later Athenla and Victoria exited the shop with several bags full of clothes as they headed back to their hotel, Athenla looked at Victoria saying “I feel bad for not paying for the clothes” Victoria laughed softly replying “How do you think we would have paid for them, we have no money, anyway we’ll figure out some way to pay him back, it’s not like we robbed him or anything” Athenla nodded her head as they walked into the foyer of the hotel.



As they got into their room they threw the bags onto their beds, Athenla went over to the fridge and opened it up getting two cans of coke out and handing one to Victoria who opened it up the hiss of gas escaping as she took a small sip of it as Athenla did the same. Athenla went over to her bag and turned it upside down letting all the clothes fall out as she looked through all of her clothes trying to decide what to wear first, she decided on the dress that she had first seen and went into the bathroom to change. Victoria got out a long flowing white dress and slid out of her clothes leaving her in just her underwear as she slipped on the dress and put on the white knee high stiletto boots and went to look in the full length mirror before running a comb through her hair.



Athenla came out of the bathroom and went over to Victoria and kissed her cheek softly before saying “You look gorgeous Vicky” Victoria smiled and replied “Thanks and you don’t look to bad yourself Athenla” Athenla was wearing knee high red stiletto boots as a slit ran up the right hand side of her dress up to her hip revealing her long tanned legs. Victoria turned around and looked at Athenla before saying “So shall we go and find somewhere to get some food then Athenla?” Athenla nodded her head feeling her stomach growl with hunger replying “Sounds like a good idea to me Vicky” they exited the room and headed out of the hotel and walked along the streets.



They found a restaurant called “Antico Dolo” which was situated a few steps away from Rialto Bridge, they headed inside and were shown to a table as they picked up the menu’s and began to read through them to see what they could have to eat, Victoria decided to have a glass of red wine and some spaghetti and Athenla decided to have a glass of orange juice and for her food she decided to have lasagne, the waiter came over to the table and Victoria ordered their food, the waiter hurried off.



A few minutes later the waiter came back with their drinks and smiled at the two girls as he put their glasses down and then hurried back off as both girls sipped from their drinks, Athenla looked out of the window and watched all the people walking by as she saw the gondola’s passing underneath the bridge. Victoria meanwhile was lost in her own thoughts pondering about what to do next, she knew that they couldn’t stay here for long, or they would arouse suspicion so she decided that the next day they would ’borrow’ a car and head for Rome.



About half an hour later the waiter brought over their food and they both ate ravenously as Victoria took another sip of her wine before looking at Athenla saying quietly “I think, we should leave this place tomorrow and go to the city known as Rome, I think if we stay here for to long we might arouse suspicion about how we can carry on paying for that room” Athenla nodded her head in agreement as she wiped the corner of her mouth with a serviette.



Both girls finished their food as Victoria looked around her to make sure no-one could see either of them before she wiped the minds of the restaurant staff, she and Athenla both left heading back to their hotel to make plans for their journey to Rome the next day. As they got into their room they both collapsed onto their beds as Athenla took off her boots and threw them down beside her bed as she ran a hand through her hair and looked at Victoria before saying “So how are we getting to this Rome place then?” Victoria sat up and thought for a moment before replying “I thought that we could steal one of those car things. I’m sure they are easy to understand” Athenla nodded her head as she got up from her bed and walked into the bathroom.



As Athenla was doing this Victoria called down to reception and asked the receptionist how long it would take to get to Rome and the receptionist replied in her heavily accented English accent “It would take about 4 hour and 43 minutes to get to Rome from here” Victoria said thank you and hung up the phone as she sat back on her bed waiting for Athenla to come out of the bathroom.



As Athenla came out of the bathroom she saw that Victoria had fallen asleep on her bed fully clothed, Athenla smiled as she covered her up with the blanket before undressing to her underwear and sliding into her own bed and she fell into a deep sleep. Victoria woke up a few hours later with a start and looked around trying to figure out where she was, she then relaxed after a few moments once she realised she was in a hotel with Athenla and they were both safe, she turned on her side and looked at Athenla breathing softly her hair covering her face slightly as she slept, she then stood up and undressed to her underwear as she slid under her covers and closed her eyes falling back into a deep slumber.



The sun rose the next day high in the sky as it filtered through the window of Athenla and Victoria’s room, they both woke up slowly and suppressed yawns as they swung their legs out of their beds and slowly stood up, Athenla stretched out as Victoria looked at her before saying “I’ll go take a shower first if that’s alright Athey” Athenla nodded her head replying “Yeah sure thing Vicky go for it” Victoria headed into the bathroom and stripped herself naked as she turned on the shower and let the steam billow out from inside as she opened up the door and got into it washing her body slowly.



Whilst Victoria was in the shower Athenla picked up a menu and called for room service ordered them both breakfast, she then sat in a chair and looked around the room and saw a strange box, she went over to it and saw it had buttons so she started fiddling with them and jumped back in alarm as she started to see things in it, she studied the box and poked the glass before she sat down and watched the strange images coming from the strange box. Victoria came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel as she went over to Athenla and smiled at her saying softly “I think that’s what they call a television, I heard some people in the restaurant talking about it, I guess this is what they meant” Athenla nodded her head as she looked up Victoria and smiled before standing up saying “Right now it’s my turn for a shower I think” with that she headed into the bathroom and undressed before getting into the shower.



As Victoria dressed in a pair of red underwear and put on a pair of hip hugging jeans and slid on a black top a knock came on the hotel door, Athenla cried out “That’ll be the breakfast that I ordered Vicky” Victoria went and answered the door and took the tray of food and thanked the bell boy as she closed the door and sat the tray of food down on a table as Athenla came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel with a towel also wrapped around her hair. She grabbed a piece of toast and put some marmalade onto it and began to eat it as Victoria dug into her breakfast, after Athenla had finished eating she grabbed her clothes and headed into the bathroom and put on a pair of purple boy shorts along with a purple and black striped bra, she then slid on a pair of black ripped jeans and a white shirt.



Victoria and Athenla left the hotel as Victoria looked around, she then saw a silver BMW parked up and she looked around and went over to it and broke the glass, the car alarm wailed deafeningly as Victoria short circuited it with her power, she then slid into the drivers seat and unlocked the passenger door for Athenla who slid in beside her, Victoria rested her hand on the steering wheel and managed to start the engine as the stereo blared out playing Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life” Victoria laughed as she shifted the car into gear and sped out of Venice heading for Rome.



Athenla looked around the car and saw a few CD’s in the glove compartment, she browsed through the collection as Victoria opened up her window as they drove through the winding roads. Evanescence’s music blared out from the car as Athenla found a packet of gum and looked at it before taking one out of the packet and putting it into her mouth, she chewed it slowly and then handed one to Victoria who also chewed it.



They sped along the motorway with the music pounding out as Athenla settled down and fell into a light sleep as Victoria looked at her and smiled as she grabbed a new CD and put it in, out blared Nickelback’s ‘Rockstar’ she watched the other cars as she zoomed past them, Athenla woke up an hour later and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she turned to Victoria and said “Can we stop somewhere? I feel a bit hungry” Victoria took the chewing gum out of her mouth and threw it out of the car window as she replied “Yeah sure, we’ll find somewhere to pull in Athenla” Athenla smiled as she listened to the CD as Victoria found a service station and pulled into it.



In the service station there were people of all nationalities milling around, Victoria and Athenla headed inside and saw somewhere to get some food, they went over and got some sandwiches, Athenla ate hungrily as Victoria got two bottles of orange juice she handed one to Athenla who drank deeply as Victoria brought a map to see how far left they had to go, she looked at Athenla saying “We’re about 2 hours away from Rome, we should be there by about 11pm” Athenla nodded her head as they headed back to the car.



They arrived in Rome just after 11pm, they sped through the streets, the coliseum rose high up in the distance as Victoria slowed down and stopped outside a hotel called “Hotel Morgana” Victoria parked outside as she and Athenla headed inside to get a room. The hotel receptionist looked up at the two girls and said “Yes how may we at the Hotel Morgana serve you both today?” Victoria smiled as she leant forward nearer to the receptionist as she said softly “We’d like to book a room for the next few days please” the receptionist typed on her computer replying “We have a room available and for the two of you it will be 84 euros each” Victoria smiled as she adjusted the woman’s mind before she was handed the key to the room, the receptionist looked at Victoria saying “We hope that you have a pleasant stay” Victoria nodded at Athenla as they walked up to their room.



Victoria opened the door to the room and headed inside, Athenla followed in and looked around her in awe as she sat on her bed and took off her shoes, Victoria looked over at her and smiled as she headed into the bathroom to undress so they could both get some sleep as Athenla slid out of her clothes and got under the covers falling instantly asleep as Victoria came out of the bathroom and slid into her own bed and fell fast asleep.



Outside in the bustling city of Rome, a dark brownish red shadow darted through the alleyways, as over head Weeping Angels looked down at all the tasty mortals that they could capture and send elsewhere for their master, one of them saw a young man of about 20 years of age and of Spanish descent blinked for a merest second and disappeared in the blink of an eye and found himself back during the Spanish Civil War, the Angel looked around for another victim as people gathered around the Trevi Fountain making wishes into it.



Thunder began to rumble as lightening cracked waking Athenla with a start from her sleep as she looked around and she slid out of bed slowly and walked over to the window to see the rain beating heavily against the window as the lightening cracked and the thunder rumbled deeply over head as Victoria awoke from her sleep heading over to Athenla and standing beside her. Athenla sighed softly as she trembled slightly still not used to the thunder and lightening that was apparent in this world never having had it happen in the world that she had come from,



Watching the two girls from a building was a Weeping Angel, it spread it’s wings and hurtled down towards the hotel window as Victoria saw it and grabbed Athenla’s arm and pulled her out of the way as glass shattered all around as Victoria jumped up and ran out of the hotel room with Athenla as Athenla cried out “What the hell was that Victoria?” Victoria didn’t blink as she looked at Athenla saying hurriedly “They are called Weeping Angel’s, they can transport people to different places” the Weeping Angel roared as it crashed out of the hotel room door.



At the end of the hallway as the Weeping Angel was crashing into the walls chasing after the two girls a portal was beginning to open at the other end, Athenla looked at Victoria who shrugged muttering “I’m not opening it” as she was speaking two people appeared from the portal, a male and a female, the female clapped her hands sending a blast of water at the Weeping Angel who shrieked in agony as it got thrown back by the force, the male drew his bow and got an arrow ready sending it flying towards the Angel who tried to dodge it but the arrow impaled itself in the Angels shoulder as Athenla and Victoria reached the two people the female spoke saying “We must get out of here, this place isn’t safe, come with us if you want to live” Athenla looked at Victoria who nodded her head as they both jumped into the portal followed by Sapphire and Kai.



Athenla and Victoria found themselves standing on a beach as Sapphire and Kai appeared behind them, Darius was sitting in a circle with Crystal, Ti-Gera and Gabriel as they discussed plans for the next mission that they would be doing, Darius looked up as he saw Athenla and Victoria and headed over to them, power flowing out from him. Victoria stood protectively in front of Athenla saying slowly “Where are we? Who are you?” Darius nodded his head as he replied into her head “I am Prince Darius, last survivor of the Vampire Princes, as for where we are, we are staying at the residence of Master Alvah, the land we are in is called Xesea” Athenla waded down into the sea and had a paddle as Crystal got up and went over to join her as Darius continued “You are quite safe here, we are forming a little group of sorts, to combat the Weeping Angels and destroy the renegade Vampire prince Xander who killed the rest of the Princes and almost succeeded in murdering me, but he failed” Victoria nodded her head as she looked around realising that she and Athenla were still in their underwear, she blushed slightly as Darius chuckled softly saying “Do not worry we shall make sure you receive some clothes….go with Sapphire and she will show you the range of clothes that we have” Victoria nodded her head as she called Athenla over and they headed with Sapphire towards the house.



Crystal walked over to Darius and said softly “There’s something about that girl, she seems strange” Darius nodded his head slowly saying “Aye, she I think has been kept prisoner in Xander’s dungeon. I searched her mind as I was talking to her and saw a dungeon and it certainly looks like Xander’s it had his stench in it” Crystal sat on the sand as she looked out at the horizon.