After a moment or two of fidgeting, Siegfried nudged the door open again. He could hear Helen's voice, but couldn't quite make out what she was saying. Curiosity finally got the better of him, and he slid through the door. He paused just inside the archway, listening to the conversation.

"You must always make sure that when you go into town, you are well fed. You attacked a man, Alana, and you don't even like human blood. You must have been quite hungry."

Siegfried sniffed. Attacking humans was no problem for him. He'd been in a few scrapes in his time, before he came to the castle. In general he liked to mess with humans occasionally; they were entertaining, and you couldn't get a better meal anywhere. He wondered how a vampire as old as Alana was - he didn't know her age exactly but Helen had suggested that she was very old indeed - could be squeamish about feeding off of humans.

Siegfried sidestepped out of the archway and leaned against the wall, a few yards away from the two ladies. He watched them with narrowed eyes, arms folded across his chest. If asked, he would say he had forgotten something...even though he hadn't left anything outside. Silly Siegfried :)

Helen nodded a farewell to Alana as she disappeared into the forest. At least she was listening to Helen's advice. A well fed vampire is a happy vampire, even if they don't like being one.

She then felt a presense behind her and turned around. There, leaning against the castle was Siegfried. How long had he been there? She walked until she was a couple yard away from him and pursed her lips in slight confusion.

"Are you... eavesdropping on Alana and I, Mr. Bonne?" she asked with a smile.

"Perhaps." Siegfried shrugged. He frowned. "I was thinking...I'd prefer to get out of the library tonight. Do something else." He ran his finger down the spine of his book idly. It was an old history of the vampire legend. Sometimes it made him laugh to read about accounts of the ancient superstitions and ridiculous preventative techniques that humans used to use. Occasionally there was a grain of useful information in them, too. He'd learned a lot about vampirism from old books like these, once we managed to separate the real facts from the garbage. He had often wondered who the original vampire was. The legend about this lake was that he came from here...perhaps it was true.

"Would you care to walk with me around the lake? Perhaps find something to eat?"

Alana disappeared into the bushes. SHe smelled somthing odd. SHe just couldnt place it. She wandered further along following the scent. She heard somthing howling close by and ducked down hoping to hide. Good job Alana your in trouble again. Just what I need a stupid wolf. Hopefully it was a real one and not a werewolf.

* Josh stopped suddenly, as he smelled something strange, something subtle. Just as he was trying to place the smell, he heard the gatherers let out the finding howl, and the smell suddenly became a much more familiar one: scared vampire. He held in a derisive snort. Vampire flesh tastes so awful, and does nothing for the hunger... Nobody was in danger and he really didn't feel like a fight right now. But hey, nothing wrong with putting a scare into a wandering vamp. He started stalking slowly forward towards the vampire, letting his footsteps sound softly though he could easily be silent, and let out a low steady growl. *

Helen laughed softly. Perhaps he was eavesdropping? She was just worried that Alana would be embarrassed if someone saw her get lectured. Or maybe not. She didn't know the vampire that well.

Her eyes watched his finger travel down the spine of the book. 'How long had this man been wanting to leave that library?' she thought. Perhaps he was just waiting for the right moment to do so.

"Yes," Helen said and motioned to the box in her arms. "Allow me to put this inside." In a flash, she opened the doors of the castle and set the package on a table and then appeared outside again. She didn't like to make people waiting. And if she was going to find something to eat, she would definitely want to change later instead of dirtying another dress.

"Shall we?" Helen asked, waiting for him to lead the way.

Holly could hear a wolf in the woods somewhere so she was looking for someway to escape. A girl showed up at the lake and wasnt safe. Holly quietly moved out of the woods she could go back later but now she needed to talk to that human. Holly ran up behind the girl and wispered "Dont scream, I'm here to help." The girl was looking at the lake as if she believed the stories. "We have to go! They can see us. Please!" She said not explaining why. She knew any second that they could be here. Vampires were fast and they were outside the castle somewhere right now. "Come on" She said to the girl harshly

Alana heard a nearby growl and immediatly ran for the castle. She saw that siegfried and Helen were still there. SHe ran up to them and hid behind them screaming

"Wolf theres a wolf nearby. I heard it. Hurry get inside before he eats you."

She hurried inside to her room slamming the door and getting in her bed. SHe never did like wolves. SHe had fought werewolves several times and each time been severly injured.

* Josh chuckled at the vampire's scream. He always did like that sound. He turned tail and sprinted off in the other direction; any prey around here would most likely already be drained by the vampires. Better to find somewhere else to hunt for the time being. *

Siegfried smiled as Helen darted inside to deposit her package. He didn't seek company often, but when he did he preferred it to be pretty company. Thoughtfully, he tucked his book into his pocket. He felt a twinge of guilt for not putting it back on its shelf, where it would be safe, but if anything befell it he could write it off as casualties of the pursuit of a lady. That thought surprised him - was he really in pursuit of Helen? It was difficult to tell at this point. He chewed on his lower lip, confused by his own thoughts, until Helen's voice brought him back to reality.

"Oh. Yes. Let's go."

Siegfried headed towards the rim of the lake. He liked to walk around the edge sometimes, when he had something on his mind. The waters of the lake were soothing to him, with their seemingly never-ending stillness. He cast a sidelong look at his fiery-haired companion. He didn't know very much about her - there were far too many in the clan now to know them all by name. Siegfried knew he had a registry buried somewhere in the piles of books in his library, but it would be far out of date by now. Curious, he voiced his thoughts.

"When did you come here, Helen? I don't pretend to know much about my fellow clan members. But...you intrigue me. Tell."

Alana decided sleep would be her best bet. She would hunt later. SHe laid in her bed and closed her eyes. She let herself fall to sleep. She didnt sleep often but sometimes when things were bad like today you just needed to rest. She willed herself to fall into a deep slumber.

Holly couldn't help but laugh when the vampire screamed. 'Werewolf.' She thought excitedley. "You go hide in the woods unless you want to die." She said to the got up and started walking to the woods when she saw the vampires walking around the pond. 'Oh God!' She wanted to scream. Holly ran to the woods hoping the wolf could hear her said "Mr. Werewolf. I need help with the vampires, like now!" She turned around hoping the wolf would come, and watched the vampires ready to kill them or try at least.

* Josh stopped suddenly, hearing a voice. *

"Mr. Werewolf. I need help with the vampires, like now!"

* Josh paused for a moment. The last thing he wanted right now was to deal with humans or vampires, or anybody really. He just wanted to run out and hunt. She sounded desperate, and it was coming from the direction of the castle... *

Damnit. I'm going to regret this.

* ...Josh turned back the way he came and ran towards the voice. He came out of the brush next to the young woman who was certainly the source of the voice. Definitely not a vampire, she smelled far too alive for that; only a very inexperienced wolf would ever confuse a vampire for a human by smell. Josh shifted into human form, a loose brown tunic and black pants forming around him (a trick most werewolves learn how to do fairly quickly after their first change). *

"Alright, I'm here. What do you need."

"There going to see her and kill her. Then there going to find me. I need help killing them." She explained quickly the vampires getting closer and closer. "I'm Holly and I'm a vampire hunter. If I die tonight, thanks for the help." She wispered. She watched the vampires again counting the seconds she was shaking. This would be her first kill or her death.

Siegfried halted suddenly. Something was wrong with the air. There was an unfamiliar scent, hovering just on the edge of his senses. The lean muscles in his back and neck tensed, gray-blue eyes flashing. "Helen, there's something wrong..." He muttered. They had been walking on the exposed ground at the edge of the lake, but up ahead there was a small cluster of trees and thicket, dense enough to conceal someone. Siegfried's ears pricked up, and his eyes, with their hawk-like precision, studied carefully each individual leaf for signs of movement.

A slight breeze blew in from the lake, and Siegfried smiled. Along with the scents of fresh water and the damp of the castle, there was a combination of human...and werewolf. A low snarl began to rise in Siegfried's chest, barely escaping through his fangs, which were locked together in tenseness and anger. "I believe we have company, and it is not very pleasant."

Alana woke suddenly as if she had had a bad dream. Vampires dont dream she told herself. She got up and moved outside to the entrance of the castle. SHe decided to go look for Siegfried and Helen. It had been a while and she was wondering what they were up to. She smelled the air following there scent. She wanted to make sure that they didnt hate her anyways. She moved quickly in the night.

The wind blew and Holly knew that the Vampires were close enough now she was cought. If they hadnt picked up her sent she was sure they picked up the werewolves. 'I'm so dead!' She thought. 'Maybe I should tell him to leave so he doesnt die too.' Her mind was screaming 'Do something' over and over and over again but what was there to do. "Mr. Werewolf, I think you should leave, I'm going to die anyway. Why risk your life too." She wispered

* Josh hands her a flint and tinder. *

"When they show up, light this. I'll handle the rest."

Holly smiled. She liked this guy he was very nice. She waited till they got a little closer and took the flint then lit the tinder. Maybe she wouldn't die right now. "Thanks your really nice, for a werewolf." She wispered again, then everything started.

* Josh didn't bother waiting for the vampires to get the first strike. With a grandiose wave of his hand, the flame leapt forward from the tinder, lighting the trees in front of them on fire. He fanned the flames with his power, keeping it roaring and spreading from tree to tree until their entire clearing was surrounded, save for one way out behind them. *

"Stay here, I'll be back with the girl!"

* He shifted into wolf form and leapt straight forward through the fire, dodging any vampires on the other side and dashing straight for the girl by the lake. *

Hopefully I can get all three of us out of here in one piece; this is not the time to fight, this is the time to run.

[[ Sorry for making you wait so long, Devilfern. :C ]]

Helen followed Siegfried to the edge of the lake and walked at his side. She was listening to the forest around her, it was pretty quiet from what she could tell, so she focused on the water of the lake instead. It was still, as usual, but critters inside of the lake caused it to wave occasionally. The silence was broken by Siegfried's voice and she quickly looked up at him, his voice somewhat startling her.

A smile crept it's way upon her lips. She was slightly surprised that he didn't know already, with his spending so much time in the library. Who knows what he has read. "It has been around three centuries," she said slowly, having to think about it first. Time truly flew for her now. Her eyes flickered to the ground for a moment. How long had Siegfried been there? She never paid much attention to the other vampires, unless she had to, but she was used to new vampires showing up or being created that she stopped trying to talk to them or even acknowledge some of them. Her memory was fuzzy as well, she just remembered seeing Siegfried and never thought too much about when he had appeared here. "What about you?" she asked.

Her good mood suddenly down hilled when she saw Siegfried's muscles tense up. She felt something was wrong before he said it. Her eyes followed his to the trees and when the smell of werewolf and human drifted to her nose, she knew that they were only together because the human was a vampire hunter. They weren't very smart at the moment, though, for trying to pick a fight with two vampires. If they were smart, they would have waited for a vampire to be alone. How foolish.

A gasp escaped from Helen's mouth as she saw the trees quickly go up in flames. She found herself backing up to the very edge of the lake, letting the hem of her dress touch the surface of the water. If she needed, she would take the hunter or the werewolf into the lake and drown them. Vampires didn't need to breath, but humans and werewolves did.

Holly jumped as the boy took the tinder from her hands. He lit the forest on fire. Holly backed up away from the trees as more and more of them cought on fire. She didn't know what to do. As she stood there the boy turned into a werewolf and ran out to get the girl by the lake. She waited for him to get back as the trees kept going up in flames. A fight hadn't started yet but one of the vampires was in the water at the edge of the lake. 'Of corse fire isn't good for vampires! It kills them!' she thought ready to take a burning stick out there if a fight started.

Smoke from the burning trees coiled towards Siegfried and Helen. Siegfried caught his breath, careful not to breathe too much of it in. Like any other animal, a vampire's senses were attuned to react to signs of their greatest enemy: fire. If he wasn't careful, the smoke would cause his body to flood with adrenaline - and Siegfried wanted to keep his body under his control.

Without thinking Siegfried caught Helen's arm, backing up like her into the shallows of the cold lake. He could see the hunter indistinctly, hovering at the edge of the burning grove. Where was the werewolf? He knew that he could take care of himself in a fight, and if Helen had lived as long as she said, she wouldn't need any protecting. The fire, however, meant danger, although it wouldn't be long before the other members of the Clan sensed it. There were certain things that you payed attention to if you were undead.

The cold water from the lake was seeping into Siegfried's boots. He up at Helen and saw the look on her face. He was more confused than anxious or afraid - who would attack two vampires in the territory of a Clan? Someone was going to get hurt, and Siegfried knew it wasn't going to be him or his companion.

((That's okay ^^ Glad to see you back!))

Alana smelled smoke and paused. She saw the smoke curling up toward the sky. She wasent sure what to do. But she knew two clan members were in trouble and she wasent going to sit back and let it happen. She knew how to get to them faster. She ran down the path calling them.

"Siegfried, Helen Where are you guys? Do you need help?" She hoped they would at least hear in there minds.

((Sorry BelleSorciere, I'm moving your character because you haven't posted in forever and the story needs you to move now.))

* Kylia had been frozen in fear at the sight of the vampires and the sudden realization of the truth behind the myth. As she saw two vampires back into the water she could only hope they were too distracted by the fire to notice her standing not 50 yards away from them. She suddenly saw a flash of black silhouetted against the flames, which became a wolf sprinting towards her at supernatural speeds. *

* Josh skidded to a halt beside the girl who was frozen in terror by the lake. *

"Come on, are you stupid!? There's vampires out here, we have to move NOW!!"

* Without waiting for a response he simply picked her up over his shoulder and ran back into the woods, hoping beyond hope that the vampires wouldn't follow him into the flames. *