The Mark of Caine

The trauma of becoming a vampire triggered a derangement in Selene, causing her to react to the stress and fear with irrationality. Unable to logically come to terms with her new state, Selene turned violent and angry, allowing the beast to take control. She regarded her family and past with intense hatred, wanting desperately to free herself from her mortal persona. Her irrationality caused her to sever the ties with violence and cruelty.

Shortly after her embrace, Selene returned to her former home. While her youngest son, Simon, slept, Selene demented him (a power that unleashed a madness), convincing him that his family were demons that needed to be destroyed. The young boy slaughtered his sisters and father before Selene descended on Simon and fed on him until his death. It was only after Simon died that Selene realized her actions and gained control. She ran from her crime, unable to cope with the guilt and remorse. Instead, Selene shut away her emotions and tried to excuse her behavior by claiming it was her vampiric nature.

During the massacre, Eve watched from a hiding place. This massacre caused the young woman to descend into insanity.

When she woke to the news of her crime, Selene realized that Grandmother's design had worked. She was a monster and she was a murderer.

Nott slammed back against the light pole, blood gushing from her nose as she attempted to regain her composure. The metal had bent around her, pressing her back closer to the ground. Nott wiped at her face, trying to keep the taste of her own vitae out of her mouth. The looming figure of her ex-lover approached steadily, his fists raised, ready to deal her another blow.

“Did I strike a nerve?” Nott grinned, rolling out of the way as he darted towards her. “Oh I forgot, my brat is off limits!”

Milton growled at her, scrambling to regain the upper hand. Nott stood quickly, grabbing a nearby mailbox, ripping it from its position then hurling it at Milton. The blonde vampire hardly had time to move as her weapon made contact, throwing him several feet back.

It had been such a nice evening too. Sure, Phoenix was rapidly descending into anarchy; rioters were roaming the streets, breaking into several stores to collect what they believed they needed, while gangs of vampires preyed on any that crossed their path. The masquerade was long dead. There was only fire and terror filling the city as the monsters came out to play. Soon, Phoenix would be nothing but ash and the strongest would claim control of the city. At the present moment, it would be the most vicious and brutal vampire, the only one capable of taking on the random groups of neonates, thinking they were so fierce because they could rip a mortal’s head. In Nott’s opinion, that was so amateur.

Normally, she would stick around to watch the carnage, but her most pressing concern was Diana. She had not seen her sister since Eve had been “seemingly cured.” Now with Hell raging on about her, Nott feared that her sister would become a victim. Marlow was dead, there was little question about that anymore. His absence for more than a month confirmed Nott’s fears, but it was the empty apartment, still full of his possessions that had been the most damning evidence. With his death, there was only one person that was left that mattered to her.

“I don’t have time for this!” Nott snarled at Milton, spotting her metal bat wedged between a storm drain and the curb. She ducked his coming blows, rolling out of his reach as she grabbed her weapon. “I have to get to my sister!” She swung hard, the bat colliding with his stomach, causing him to double over for a minute.

“You and me still got to settle this!” Milton glared at her, grabbing hold of the bat’s tip. “You didn’t think it would be over so easily, did you?”

“With Eve getting mind raped into believing she is healed? Of course not!” Nott yanked her bat free of his hold, swinging it down over his head. “I just assumed you had more sense to look after her first and THEN come after me! But you were always impetuous. Impetuous and stupid!”

Milton howled at her, taking hold of the broken street lamp and tearing it free. “You really think that I would sit by and not see my baby receive justice for what you did to her? What you did to her family!” He whirled around, catching Nott in the back with the pole. She cried out as she was flown into a nearby building. Bricks tumbled about her, freed by her indentation.

“You’re a sick fuck, you know?” Nott sneered, stumbling to get to her feet as he swung the pole again. The light bulb caught on the wall, bursting into a shower of glass and wire. “I mean…it’s like you forget the games we would play together, when I was your baby.”

Milton hurled the pole at her again, but Nott was ready. She jumped over his blow, bringing down the bat on his arm. A bone snapped, causing him to release his weapon as he fell backwards. “We were nothing!” He winced, pulling himself to his feet.

“Is that what you tell yourself so that you can sleep with my daughter?” Nott laughed, kicking his face. “We FUCKED, Milton! Often and roughly! I can still remember your cock inside of me! Moving in me!”

“Shut up!” He snarled, kicking her feet out from under her. “You’re a monster, a demon!”

“And you’re a pervert, what’s new?”

Milton pulled free a stake, racing towards Nott to drive it home. Bringing up her knee, she knocked him in the chest, causing him to fly back into a window. “Enough of this shit!” She sneered at him. “You want to kill me? Fine, bring it on! But not today! Not here!” An explosion sounded from down the street, reminding her of the urgency to find Diana. “I have to find my sister and keep her safe! You do the same for Eve!”

He cursed under his breath, pulling free several glass shards. “What makes you think I will let you go?” He tossed a large piece at her, nicking her across the cheek.

Nott winced, falling to her knees, “Cause you don’t want Eve to be caught by those neonates! What do you think they will do to batshit crazy ghoul?”

Milton stopped in his tracks, obviously not considering the consequences.

“You’ll track me down, like you always do. But not today!” Nott said again, seeing the weakness in his resolve.

Milton shifted, glancing down the street before turning back to Nott. He pointed his stake at her. “This ain’t over between you and me. One way or another, it will be settled.” He darted off then, racing back towards wherever he stuck Eve.

Nott chuckled, touching her broken nose lightly. “Yeah, I am counting on it.”

I sometimes fucking hate you, Marlow. You had to go meet with those mobsters, breaking the number 1 rule, trust no one. God, fuck you! You left me no word! Nothing of what you were doing! I had to find out on my own that you were gone! Fucking considerate of you! Now what do you leave behind? Bitterness and fucking loneliness! I can't even accept the kindness of another guy. Why? Because you were such a fucking asshole! You think this hole in my heart is easy to fill? You left it empty and shriveled! Nothing is fucking good enough because of you. Just fuck you!

I miss you...

I fucking miss you, so fucking much