A game of faith [DELETED CHARACTER]

[vincent]

It was a rather boren day no issues and no hassle. Even though he had been here for two years now which seemed to have gone so fast things just never changed in his eyes. It was a bright day out which allowed him time to be away from the gang and not to deal with the idiots who forced him into it. The sun shined high above and barely any clouds where out. It was perfect.

Walking around for a while he grew bored of the trails and no real destination and decided to go visit the school. Even though it was mainly empty now he often went their to deal with some things. And it was not like to many here every tried to stop him. The guards had giving up long ago when it proved pointless to try.

After some time he reached the building and opened a door and walked in. With a soft sigh he looked around and wandered for a bit looking for a place to chill out for a while. It did not take long till he found the old gym. It was empty almost now but still had a few things left. Walking over to one of the old punching bags he softly hit it and watched as sand poured out to the ground. Sighing he added more force behind the next punch sending the bag across the room and into the wall at the other end.

Rolling his eyes he walked over to a wall and sat down. Nothing seemed to be fun these days to him, fighting training it all was so pointless here even when he fought others it normally was not a task he found worth his time and always ended to fast. Pulling a pack of smokes from his pocket and a lighter he sighed and lit one up taking a small puff of it as he shut his eyes and exhaled paying no attention to anything arround him.

He saw no reason to worry while in this place since it belonged to his clan and was where most where sleeping as it was. The place was their base in a sense. So being here even though he was in one of the top rooms where no one came seemed the best places to be, with out worry.

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

People often thought that Yuliya was dumb because she didn't talk much and acted strangely, but the reality was that she soaked up information like a sponge and she thirsted for knowledge. For most of her life her parents had taken her out of school because they were ashamed of her and so she stayed in her room and read all day, all sorts of books. From fiction to memoirs to histories to biographies, she loved it all. She loved reading about the connections between peoples and things, how the empires of the Aztecs weren't all that different from the empires of the Spanish, how Gatsby and Captain Ahab had more in common than some would think, how a quail could have the same impact on someone's life as a dog...

That was why she had snuck out of the camp, leaving Amri still sleeping. He wouldn't want her to come here, but she wanted to look for books. Most days here were uneventful and Amri often left to get food and she desperately wanted a book to read. There was no place more likely to have books than the old schoolhouse, at least she assumed, but she had gotten to the camp long after it had been a functioning school. She may have actually enjoyed the place if it had been a school. She remembered one of the few people who had ever been kind to her, a poetry teacher, who said he didn't think she was crazy.

Her footsteps were light on the ground as she walked on tiptoe through the doors of the gym, but she didn't know it was the gym, and she was followed by Ember, the fox she had befriended. She hadn't wanted to bring him into danger but he refused to let her go by herself. She glanced around the room once when she saw someone across the way...a person. A soft squeak came through her as she ducked behind a big crate of what might have been basketballs. Had they seen her? Hopefully not...she crouched next to Ember and wished he would run away.

[vincent]

He had been resting for a while, his eyes remained shut and he thought about the days when he was not in this place, when he still had fun and was able to do the things he loved. He regreted the mistake he had made though the fact was he enjoyed fighting far to much to ever stop and this place was not going to change that.

His attention was caught by something move and a soft squeek like sound, almost like that of some one being startled. Openeing his eyes they gleemed the dark red color and he looked around. He spotted what had made the noice quickly and was wondering why some one not of the gang would even bother coming here. Especially one who was so easily scared.

Standing up he slowly made his way over towards her making sure to seem like he had not seen her yet, and acted as though he was going for the door. Yawning slightly as he did so to help the act. Though right as he reached the door he stopped and looked down at her. And tilted his head slightly. And offered her a hand to help her stand up.

Unlike most of the gang members in this place he was not for killing with out reason and never believed in hitting a girl either. It was the way he was raised that added to these gestures. Looking at her he was able to tell she was scared and her pet that was with her ment she was able to befriend animals easily.

Smiling he spoke softly as he waited on her to take his hand to stand up "You should not be here... Its not a safe place to be for some one so small and scared like yourself. Why are you here any way?" He made sure to keep his voice low and calm to prove he was not going to yell or try and hurt her.

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Sometimes Yuliya wondered if she should give up on hoping for things for good, because whenever she did, the exact opposite seemed to happen. She had hoped he wouldn't see her, or that he had at least would not come over, but that is what happened and she practically vibrated with her. Her brother had taught her how to punch and kick, how to go for the eyes, throat, and crotch, how to jump on someone's back and strangle them if they were bigger, but very rarely did she have the courage to put those practices into use. The most she was usually able to muster was to ask a fly to buzz around them or ask a spider to crawl up their pants and distract them, but that put them at rick and she didn't want that.

She looked confusedly at the hand he offered her. People did not do that. People generally liked to shove her over and call her crazy and weird. She didn't really like touching people. The only person who ever touched her was her brother. She looked down quickly and instead just stood up out of her own accord, knowing there was no point in trying to be hidden any longer.

“Want me to bite his ankles?” the adolescent fox offered enthusiastically. Oh protective Ember, but she couldn't let him do that. He might get kicked. So she gave him the very slightest of headshakes.

She wasn't sure if she should speak to the person or just run away. Amri would want her to run away. Actually, Amri wouldn't want her here in the first place and if he were here he'd send her running and then take care of the person. But he wasn't here, and the longing for books was strong in Yuliya's heart, and he hadn't tried to hurt her yet...”I...I am looking for books,” she said softly, with her head still facing the ground. Maybe he would just take it for what it was and leave her alone and she could keep looking for books, that would be wonderful. Or maybe he knew where some books were...

[vincent]

Vince could tell she was nervouse and not overly fond of others, so he lowered his hand and stepped back slightly to give her room. He was never big into bothering others, Unless he had reason. And even though he was supposed to keep people from being here he really saw no harm in her being around. It was not like she was here to cause havok.

Her answer was simple and he blinked a few times. It was strange to see some one who read here, most people that was the last thing on their minds. Must of them simply where blood thirsty. Looking down at her he smiles softly. And speaks once more.

"Here follow me.. I think their are a few left in the old history room." -He offered a soft smile and headed out of the room. His eyes scanning the dark halls as he moved through them. If one of the vampires awoke and saw her it would be a blood feast.

Luckily it seemed most where still sleeping so he was able to move with out any issues and get her to the room. Once they arrived he walked over to a locked cabinate and took the lock in his hand and crushed it with ease before openeing its doors. Inside rested a few books that where stored inside.

He had known about them since he was the one who locked them in the little place. Why he was not sure, but figured some day he would figure out how to read them, and plus he often enjoyed just looking at the pictures since they reminded him of what life was like beyond this place.

"Not sure if any of them are any good... But feel free to take them."

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Should she follow him? She probably shouldn't, it could very well be a trap. Amri told her he had to hurt people to get food sometimes and people might try to get to him by hurting her and so she shouldn't trust anyone. Especially not here. This was where the vampires were...it made her sick to her stomach and she felt very faint whenever she was around vampires. She knew it was because she was an animal elemental and elementals were weak to the opposite of their element. Animals were life, and vampires were death. Generally, she didn't have to worry about it. The supernatural she was closest to in her camp was werewolves and her powers worked on them as long as they were in their wolf form. But here she felt a fear that was different from her usual fear.

But the lure of books was too much, so she followed him on quick, quiet footsteps, gazing warily around herself as Ember trotted at her side until they reached the room where he opened the cabinet to reveal the books. She couldn't stop a grin coming to her face as she rushed forward to run her fingers over the spines and read their titles excitedly. History books were some of her favorite books, so she couldn't believe her luck. At that point, she would've been happy with algebra textbooks. “Queen Ranavalona the First!” she exclaimed, pulling the book out and looking at the back. She'd come across the name once in another book and she'd always been itching to find out more. “Oh! And Indian Ocean trade of the fifteenth century!” She pulled that one out too and she felt like a kid in a candy store.

[vincent]

As she read the titles of the book like a small child finding a buried treasure he smiled slightly for the first time in a while. at least a smile that was real, It was not often some one here could truly smile about being happy. Well unless you where a vamp who had just killed. The thought made his ow stomach churn.

Walking over to the door his eyes scanned the halls makig sure no one was coming, the last thing he needed was to have to keep her from being a meal. He had herd of her before and knew who her brother was, Even though they where almost similar he never really spoke to him, it was just something he did not bother to do.

Several minutes later the sound of steps caught his attention, Looking to the right he spotted one of the other day watchers as he liked to call them walking around. Turning around he walked back to the room and spoke in a soft tone. Loud enough for her to hear him but no one else.

"We need to get you out of here soon.. Dont think you wish to be a meal little one, nor do I wish so. "

Looking back out the door he noticed the male was getting closer with a sigh he walked back over to the small girl and lifted her up, making it seem like she was as light as a feather. Walking over to a large door he places his hand against it and pushes, making it fall from the hindges with a loud bang. And from their he moved forwards quickly.

It did not take him long to get out of the place since he knew it rather well, once they where outside he set her down and looked back to make sure they where no followed. It was the last thing he needed to anger their leader by letting a person not part of the gang into their home.

"My name is Vincent, Sorry if I hurt you at all but it was better then being caught and used as a meal. "

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya simply froze when he picked her up. She didn't know what else to do, and she knew she didn't like it. It felt very much like an invasion. Her body stiffened and her eyes widened and she looked down to Ember who seemed quite at a loss; it surprised him as much as it surprised her. So she just clung to her books as if they were anchors holding her to sanity. She shouldn't freak out, he was trying to help, she shouldn't freak out. She gulped as an overwhelming amount of the color red clouded her head and swirled around her eyes. The word “Red” slipped from her mouth when she was being set down.

Her eyes quickly turned downwards as she held her books against her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Ember, glad to have her back on the ground, wove himself among her legs and glared his fox glare at the stranger. But she didn't really know what to say. He was red like her father...was that a good thing? Her father was an important man in Ukraine, he was why they were a wealthy family. He also brought books for her, but what she didn't know was he had brought books for her so she wouldn't be tempted to go anywhere but her room and the library. How did she feel about red people? She didn't know...

He said his name. Yuliya had learned that when people said their name, she was supposed to say hers...but she didn't know what to say. Which name? Her brother called her Willow. Her animal companions at home had called her Little Albatross, when her grandmother had come to town, she'd been called Zorya. No...she knew the answer, there was a right answer to this question. She choked on her own words as they came out, “I...I am...Yuliya.” She swallowed and squeezed her books slightly. Was she supposed to leave? She'd been startled too much to be able to move. She just let her bangs fall in front of her eyes and left them there instead of pushing them back.

[vincent]

After he had set down, he had remembered she said red. And the fact he did have red eyes made him realise he most likely seemed more scary then he would have thought to her. Watching as the small fox coiled around her feet he smiled softly at it and looked back towards her.

She was still holding the books tightly to her body like they where her life. Which he guessed he should not be shocked it must be hard to get ahold of things like that in this place, Luckily he was able to get just about anything he wished, whether it was from the warden, his leader or other means.

As she spoke softly and choked on her own wording he smiled at her and sat down on a old bech that rested beside the building. Looking at her he waved at her and looked around just making sure no one was around or had followed them.

"Its nice to meet you Yuliya and im sorry if I scared you, or hurt you.. I just did not want you to get caught since they would most likely find you to be a good meal.. And to be honest it is not something I overly wish to deal with its just grose."

Turning his neck a bit each way he cracked the joints to relax his muscles and shut his eyes for a moment. He had to admit it was nice to meet some one around here who was not after fights or some kind of bloodshed. This whole place seemed like a war zone now after the riots and formation of the gangs. Nothing seemed peaceful in the least any longer.

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

She agreed that she didn't want to become the meal of a vampire, vampires were one of the few things she really hated and was scared of...and the idea of being sucked dry by one of them...but Yuliya began to feel herself relax slightly, only to have the feeling replaced with nausea. Being touched, being around vampires, getting scared...it was all too much and it made her head hurt. She fell to her knees and quickly pushed the books away from herself as she knelt over and threw up what little food she'd had in her to begin with with a tremendous hurl. She hated being around vampires. She'd never thrown up before she'd come here, but she'd still been considered a sickly child because she was short and underweight and she fainted a lot and her eyes were too big for her head. The doctors said she looked like an albino bush baby.

Ember licked her cheek as if to comfort her and she smiled a very small smile but she felt very faint. She didn't eat much here. She lied to her brother about how much she ate so he would eat more since she knew he got grumpy when he was hungry, so she never had much in her to begin with. But to have it all emptied made her feel woozy and her mouth tasted gross. She looked down and wondered if she should clean it up, but figured it wouldn't make this place look any worse. So she left it and scooched to the side and pulled her books with her, the three books she had grabbed, all history books. She flipped to the first page of the one about Queen Ranavalona the First.

[vincent]

Vincent watched over her with a close eye as she fell, he almost stepped forwards to catch her but could tell she was not feeling so well at all. Watching her he decided it would be best to get her away from this place soon. That and he doubted his company was overly appealing to her.

As she moved back and grabbed the books to look through the one he smiled softly and let out a soft yawn. For now he was going to keep silent as he watched over her and made sure their was no one around to try something. It was starting to get cooler outside which only ment the day was drawing to a end in a few hours and his lovely gang would all start to awake soon.

As he looked over her he could tell she was not eating much which was easily noticed by her frail size and answered why she felt soo dizzy. He guessed by the way she was with the little fox she had to have some kind of ability to link with them.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a apple he had gotting from one of the guards a few hours ago. He always enjoyed fruit but it was a hard thing to get her. Standing up he walks over to her and kneels down beside her, and offers the fruit over to her.

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya was surprised by his offer of food. People didn't just give food freely around here. Amri had fought and even killed for just a few cans of food before. Why would anyone be nice to her? People weren't nice to her, because she was broken and needed to be fixed and she never did the right thing. She said strange things that she wasn't supposed to. She didn't talk like a normal person, she didn't use contractions. She knew strange facts that no one cared about. She was pale and small. She didn't know pop culture like lots of people did. She wasn't good at sports other than horseback riding and she never said anything funny or witty. People weren't nice to her.

She looked at the apple like it was an algebra equation, wondering if this was some sort of trick...but her stomach growled and her mouth tasted like acid and she longed for the taste of fresh fruit. So she grabbed it and gnawed on it like she was some starving animal. She broke off a hunk for Ember to gobble up gratefully and with that, she finished it very quickly, leaving none of the flesh left and just the seeds at the very core. She was supposed to say something but it was becoming hard to talk, talking was hard for her to do. “Thank...thank...” But she couldn't finish the statement. She just looked down as she held a book up as a sort of barrier. “Do you want to read?”

[vincent]

He was glad to see her eat, and it was kind of neet that she shared with the little fox. Before she could have even tasted it though the fruit was gone down to the seeds. He had to admit she had to be hungry, being that small she had not eat to often, which in this place was never a shock. It was hard to get what was needed around here, well for most people.

Resting against the wall of the building now he slumps down and sits on the soft ground and shuts his eyes. He was getting tired of being here, their was never a good day, even if some believed so. All the death and fighting here it simply was a waste of time. They could simply all team up and be free of this place but most prefered to just kill each other rather then do what should be done.

If he had not been basically forced to join his gang he would more then likely be like this girl as well, Alone and only wanting to be left alone, Instead he was forced to guard stupid dead people during the day. Well at least one thing good came from it he was able to get his hands on things needed.

When she spoke and asked him if he wished to read he looked over towards her and shook his head softly. "Honestly I dont know how... Never could... Sort of regret not going to school for the right reasons.. But oh well."

[YULIYA DUKHKIN']

xx

Yuliya was not good at hiding her emotions. Her face was simply a canvas for what was going inside her mind. She couldn't fake smile, she couldn't feign sadness, so she couldn't keep the surprised expression off her face when he said he couldn't read. It seemed impossible to her. Who didn't know how to read? What did he do all day? How did he learn anything? Did that mean he couldn't write either? How did he make sure he remembered his thoughts for later times? She had religiously kept a journal her whole life and couldn't imagine a life without it. It just seemed so...incredibly sad and it made her sad too since he was a nice person and people usually weren't nice to her.

“I can teach you,” she blurted out, eyes widening as she said so because she hadn't been expecting to say that. Why would she say that? She couldn't make that sort of promise, not to someone who hung around here, not when Amri always wanted her to stay at camp, not when she was terrible at talking to people and she'd never tried to teach a person anything. But she'd said it, and she couldn't take it back. Part of her really did want to teach him how to read, in return for the books and the apple, two gifts which were invaluable to her, so maybe she could offer something invaluable in return.

[vincent]

Her comment made him smile. At least she was starting to warm up slightly and come out of her shell. She was a pretty interesting person, much different then the others here. Every one else wanted blood and gore while she seemed more calm natured and liked to relax and enjoy life.

Standing up he walks slowly over towards her and sits down beside her. A gentle smile on his face, It had been so long now since he found some one here that he enjoyed being around. Even though he was in a gang he really could barely stand its members they where vampires and other beings that simply wanted to kill. Where he was more the type that enjoyed a nice fair fight and to simply relax.

"Hmm well It would help pass some time away. And maybe would keep me away from this place for a bit. So if you would not mind... Id be rather thankful for your aid in this matter..."

He hated to admit it but really he would learn just to keep himself busy and would let him be around some one he could talk with and would enjoy the idea of being their. Though Ava eventually would grow curious and most likely would try something. And his fear about all this was the chance she would be used against him to make sure he kept to his promise of keeping them safe during the day.

"Lets make this a fair deal.. You teach me how to read and when your around Ill promise to keep you safe.. I wont let any one harm you"