The Madness Within

Kiara panted. Her eyes bright yellow and glowing even in the light of the soon to be setting sun. Everything seemed hazy, even her own thoughts. She’d been running for miles having left her home abruptly. To where she was running to she both seemed to know and not know. But she knew one thing, and that one thought drove her like an animal to food: she needed vampire blood, and needed it now.

She grunted as she crashed through some low hanging branches, finding herself on the edge of what looked to be a sizable property. She could smell people, weres and humans just walking about. They were of no use to her. Her body hungered in ways she could not control. Everything revolved around sex and V. She needed both things and her body was having trouble prioritizing. No… sex…no V first… yes… no… sex…then V… no no no V first.. yes that first. On and on her thoughts went as she stumbled unto a clearing. Panting like a wild animal she jerked her head back and forth, seeking a house. Part of her knew… knew what she craved was in there, all she needed to do was get there.

Vincent closed out the evening's books. Mr. Quinn would be taking his young vampire out to the range again for training. They would be hungry when they returned so he called the cook and a donor. Once everything was planned out, he began tidying up. Things could never be clean around here, he mused as he straightened up the books on the shelves, moving the papers back to Mr. Quinn's desk. Things were finally settling down. The new changes, moving everything to sunset and after, had been trying at first; but now that He had the run of the house until sunset, he was able to maintain some idea of order in the house. He saw the perimeter alarm blink briefly but left that for the guards to deal with. That is, after all, what they were paid for. He moved into Quinn's office and checked the wall safe to make sure it was secure. He continued his duties, listening for the sounds of the sleeping quarters being opened.

There was noise somewhere... people shouting. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she could pick out their anger. Her eyes seemed to shake in their own sockets and things were nothing but blurs of colors and scents.

She made out blurs that were people, they had scents, and heart beats. With a speed that bordered on an aged vampire she lunged at them. They were in her way, they were delaying her from what she needed. Things snapped in her hands. Were they bones? she didn't care.

However the sweet smell of blood filled her nostrils and she took a pause. She was vaguely aware she was on top of someone, straddling their chest and choking the life out of them. Someone else must be dead near by for the blood smelled warm and fresh.

"mmmm.... you feel good" she growled in a raspy voice as whoever was beneath her struggled to push her off. Despite her size she could sit on someone like a bulldozer. The more he struggled the more turned on she got, but she was getting impatient so she snapped the person's neck and turned around to the other blurs.

Vincent heard the radio traffic and turned up the volume on his handset. Someone was attacking the guards, they were not sure who. He walked behind the bar, drawing out a revolver with UV silver rounds in it. If it was a vampire, it would be dead. If it wasn't, he just hoped the damage would put it down. He keyed the room lock-down for the sleeping quarters and turned on the UV strobes around the house. He had taken steps when Mr. Quinn was hurt to improve things. He just hoped he had done enough. He put his back to the wall behind the bar and listened to the radio, trying to make sense of what was going on out there.

It looked almost comical. She plowed through the guards like the Tasmanian devil did in cartoons. She moved like him too, a blur of limbs and growls that ended with several dead guards. She even used severed limbs to beat the other guards who were shooting at her. The bullets felt like little bonfires on her skin but she ignored them, the hunger over rode the pain.

With one last growl the blurs stopped moving and she knew she was alone. Perhaps now she could head into the house without more blurs coming to stop her. She rushed forward, trailing dirt, mud and blood in her wake.

He heard the glass breaking as someone forced their way inside. He moved to the best defense he could. He was not worried about Mr. Quinn. That door could only be opened from the inside now, and it was thicker than a safe, so he had no worries about anything but this intruder and what they might want. He hit the alert button under the bar so none of the staff would enter the room and waited, gun raised to fire at the first thing entering the room.

She breathed in. Yes... it was faint, but the blood was here and oh how her mouth watered for it. She slowly made her way inside, sniffing out anyone else. Someone else was here but they weren't making themselves known.

With the impatience of a 2 yr old she rushed into the next room, vaguely aware there was another person in there before she lunged.

He could hear someone coming quickly down the hallways, as if searching for something....or someone. Vincent saw the shadow before the person entered. He fired as they entered the room, aiming for where he guessed the chest would be and hoped his shot was accurate. As fast as the intruder and mowed through the guards, he would not stand much of a chance once they knew where he was.

Something hit her...hard and for the first time she stumbled back. Whatever hit her, got her shoulder and it burned to the high heavens. She growled, low and angry like a caged animal. The sound had been loud but it told her exactly where the person was. Blurs were darker in this room but she rushed the sound first, crashing into something dark in her way. Vaguely she dismissed it as furniture and barreled through it, destroyed what was in her way in the process.

Vincent grinned as he heard the shot hit home, but then realized it had not stopped this attacker. In the low light it was hard to make out, but he thought he knew this attacker. He ducked down to hide but the bar shattered into pieces. He fired again, aiming at the center of the creature, trying to at least delay this force of destruction. He had doubts about seeing sunrise but knew that Mr. Quinn was safe, and that at least gave him some peace to hold to as he stared into the eyes of fate.

Something hit her in the stomach hard and she fell back. A wolf like whimper escaped her and for a moment the pain came full front into her mind. GAH! whatever that had been hurt like hell. She was bleeding and she knew it, however the pain let to anger and the anger numbed her.

With a feral growl she lurched forward, this time grabbing a hold of the offending object that kept hurting her. With strength that would give any vampire a run for their money she bent the revolver enough that it wouldn't shoot right before she tossed it aside.

She stalked over to the blur that was the person. Coherent speech was a tad hard at this point but she forced herself to speak. Her voice was growly, very animalistic, almost demonic. "Where....where is the V?"

Vincent was aghast as he watched the attacker bend his revolver like it was nothing more than a toy. He felt his face flush with fear when he heard the words...

"Where....where is the V?"

Vincent stared into the face for a moment, then stammered...

"Its....its..in the office...the safe on the south wall."

He blinked, not believing his eyes.

"Miss Griffen? But how? They said..."

She looked around. This room was clearly not the office and that fact angered her more. She punched the man square in the jaw then began to wail on him. Punch after punch she purged the anger of this room not being an office before rationale kicked in that she could just WALK to the office.

With a growl she got off the figure and lumbered away, her blood leaving a nasty trail in her wake. She punched and broke things on her way to the office until she made it there. Then she tore up everything on the walls until she found this safe, but of course it was locked.

With a roar she punched and pulled at the safe, making her knuckles bleed but also incredibly making a dent in the metal.

Vincent could barely move. He managed over several minutes to get his phone out and keyed the dial-tone for Mr. Quinn's cell. He did not know if he would make it to speak in person. As he spoke into the phone, he could hear the telltale gurgling in his voice. He knew he did not have long. He whispered into the phone.

"Sir.....Kiara not dead....attacked home....seeking V...I'm sorry sir....I tried"

As he sent the message, he felt his strength wane and his eyes slowly lowered, his body resting on the floor as his blood seeped from his wounds.

Over and over she punched the god damned safe until finally, with a sickening sound of twisting metal she opened it. Like the ravenous beast she was she found the vials of V and drank them all. For a second she stood there before she slowly slid to the ground. Sanity began to fill her being, her eyes no longer glowing, her breathing not labored, her wounds healing.

"Damn...where..." she began as she looked around. The room was somewhat familiar to her, but it was such a mess now that it was hard to pin point where she was. It wasn't until her eyes fell unto a painting she recognized from when she'd once been in Quinn's office that...

"Shit!" she cursed, looking around like a trapped animal, knowing probably cameras were recording everything. Her hands, her whole body was covered in dirt and blood and as she stumbled out of the room, trying to get away she saw the body of Vincent and she covered her mouth. She thought he was dead, her own thundering heart beat drowning any other sound.

"Oh Vincent...I'm so sorry....I'm SO sorry" she said before rushing out in a panic.

Quinn woke before Arabella as he always did. He was not yet locked into sleep by the riding and setting of the sun. He showered and laid out clothing for both of them, and looked around. Why hadn't the sun shutters opened? sunset was almost ten minutes ago. He heard Arabella's movements and turned toward her, smiling.

"Good evening, Arabella. Ready for tonight's training?"

She smiled up at him and shook her head, laughing.

"No, Jonathan, but I am ready for a shower, if we have time."

He nodded and she ran into the bathroom as he walked over to check his phone. Maybe there was a maintenance report on the shutters. He scrolled through his messages and saw one from Vincent. Fairly recent one too. Probably just telling him the shutters were malfunctioning. He'd listen to it later. Arabella finished up her shower, walking back into the bedroom before picking up a towel to dry with. He smiled at her lack of shyness, and her teasing. They had grown close, though he would not be with her. Not while there was still a chance of a future with Jessica. What had that kiss meant? It still confused him when he thought about it. He keyed in the door release as he waited for her to get dressed. He would have to talk to Vincent about the nervous guards locking them in here.

Kiara ran, ran as fast as she could, which considering her condition was pretty damn fast. What had she done? She'd killed Vincent.

That thought stopped her in her tracks. She had gone mad, having gone without V for so long. Had she not come here... not had the presence of mind to run away..she would have killed someone else... Logan...Glenn... or god forbid little Sophie.

As she turned to stare in the general direction of Quinn's house she sighed. "Sorry Vincent...but I rather you die than one of them..."

Quinn and Arabella waited as the security door opened. Vincent had gone a bit overboard but they had humored him. Once they could get out, they stepped from the sealed wing and immediately knew something was wrong. There was damage everywhere. streaks of blood, and even a few dead guards or at least pieces of them, were in the halls. Quinn stepped back into the rooms and grabbed their weapons, throwing a knife and her preferred revolver to Arabella and took his own favored blade. As they moved through the house, there was more destruction to be found. In the office, the safe had been ripped apart.

"Jonathan, what could have done this?"

"I am not sure, Ari. Maybe Vincent will have some answers for us. Did you see any sign of him?"

He watched as Arabella closed her eyes and beathed in the scents in the air. The look of panic on her face as she bolted from the room left no questions. He ran after her to find her kneeling over something. blood tears falling freely from her eyes.

"Jonathan....it's Vincent! He's.....is he?"

Quinn ran to Vincent's side, kneeling in the blood. He lowered his head to Vincent's chest and heard a thready beat.

"No...he is alive, but only barely. Arabella, I hate to ask this of you but can you..."

He stopped mid-statement as she had already bitten her wrist and was trickling her blood into Vincent's mouth. She then took her knife and slashed her hands, running them over any visible wounds. Quinn knew she could not keep this up long, she had not fed tonight. He watched as she did what she could, crying the whole time. As she pulled away, he called out to see if there was anyone left. She needed blood. Seeing that there was no other choice, he put his own wrist to her lips.

"Drink, Arabella. Drink my blood and you will be stronger for it. It will not abate the pain but it will soothe your mind for now."


As she drank from his wrist, he remember the message from Vincent. He pulled his phone out, dropping it to the floor. He put it on speaker and played the message.

~Sir.....Kiara not dead....attacked home....seeking V...I'm sorry sir....I tried~


Quinn growled as he fed his progeny. Kiara would pay for this. That he promised Vincent, no matter the outcome. He looked down to see Arabella's eyes looking into his, anger and pain filling them. He nodded as she closed the wound on his wrist. He dialed for an ambulance and held Vincent's head tenderly.

"It will keep, Arabella. We know now who it was. There will be retribution for this. I promise that. For now, Vincent is all that matters. We have done what we can, not we must wait."