Chapter I: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Vlad had moved to outside the ball room. He felt a bit out of place, being one of the only people not wearing a tux or formal wear. With a sigh, he left to the outer deck of the ship and watched the heavy seas slap against the hull of the cruiser. Taking a last sip of his scotch, he looked up at the moon and stars, a heavenly glistening mass in the sky. Before setting his shot glass on a small table by the railing, a soft voice suddenly surprised him. He turned around, only to see the most beautiful woman of his many years. She was a slender, tanned woman of about 27 years old, who wore a long red silken dress. She wore her hair straight and long, well past her shoulders, and dark brown. Her deep green eyes seemed to be as pools of tropical water.. inviting and kind.

"I am surprised to find someone out here. Why are you not dancing?" The women asked, leaning against the railing next to him with a glass of Red Wine in a hand.

"Well... I didn't see anyone worth dancing with in there." Vlad answered with a grin, not trying to hide his strong Russian accent.

"Russian, I presume.. judging by your accent?" The women asked with a smile in her own American accent.

"Yes, I am from St. Petersburg, and you are?" Vlad asked.

"From Hartford, Connecticut actually. What brings you here, Sir Petersburg?" The women asked with a playful grin before taking a casual sip of wine.

"I am... on a business trip with some associates." Vlad replied.

Vlad and the women stayed outside for a couple of hours, getting to know each other. The topic of their conversation had shifted so far from business to personal beliefs. It was an odd feeling for Vlad, to be speaking so closely with someone he had only met.. yet when he was with her, she felt like an old friend. Both seemed completely contented in being away from the others, even though the women was fit for being inside the ship dancing. After a while, Vlad made a surprised expression after a realization came unto him.

"This seems a bit odd to finally be asking this, but it seems we forgot with all this talk. May I ask you your name?" Vlad asked.

"Huh, It did seem to escape us for a while. My name is Riley Blackthorn, and yours?" She said, playfully putting out a hand for Vlad to shake.

"I am Vladamir Iranov. It is an honor to meet such an interesting lady such as yourself." Vlad said with a slight chuckle.

The two stood out by the deck viewing the sea and the constellations high above for a great while. But, Vlad slowly left Riley to herself, earning a confused look in return. Vlad disappeared into the ships quarters for ten minutes. He emerged from his holdings soon thereafter, donned in a ravishing tuxedo. His hair was done neatly, and he walked proudly back onto the deck, surprised to find Riley still there with a far off look on her face. When she turned, rather startled, she smiled to find Vlad in such clothes.

"May I have this dance?" Vlad asked, slightly opening the door to the ball room again, the other extended to Riley.

She laughed and ran to meet him, taking his hand and moving into the room with him. They danced for the remainder of the night, enjoying the music and their time together.

Salvatore flicks his speciality knife rigorously looking at it with happiness and amazement. "What a prized weapon that I had ever gotten but something is missing" as he says to himself in his room. He looks around and starts to think what weapon can improve his ability and the idea had popped in his head like a light bulb. "I wonder if I there is a way to make this". He started a sketch and drew for a hour until he completed the sketch. "Simple but very handy, shit I got to show this to Carlos". He rolls the sketch up and heads out back into the bar. Remembering the altercation with the bartender he brought his pistol just in case.

Walking into the ballroom again with disgust seeing all of the snobs who dine inside. He rushes to Carlos and unrolls the sketch and shows to him. "What you think about this, a idea I had just thought of when I did a hit on some rich drug lord who carries a machete, that was one hard bastard and the point is what do you think?"

Sketch

"I call it the Angel"

After the dance ended Irene returned to her table and sat down to finish her drink. Her leg had begun to hurt again but she ignored it as she sat down. She grabbed her glass of wine and looked at the people who had begun to dance again and smiled as she remembered the days before all this had happened, when she attended balls regularly with her parents and stayed up all night dancing. She sat there lost in her imagination about a world without monsters...

***

Alexandru walked along the deck of the vessel as it cruised through the ocean. His thoughts ran wild as he listened to the music coming from below. Then he saw a lone woman in her early twenties standing at the railing, she hadn't noticed Alexandru yet and that made her a perfect target. With lightning speed he rushed to her side and sunk his fangs into her neck and then as she collapsed he pulled her into a lifeboat where he could drink her blood away from prying eyes.

Alexandru licked the blood off off from around his mouth and kept and eye on his new foe. His senses told him it was a Vampire and a strong one at that.

''Well, look who's the hero! Who is she?'' he sneered ''Your soon to be bride? Or just another mortal for you to feast on?''

He charged Ion with his claws outstretched, he lashed out with supernatural speed at his torso while trying to avoid the blade at the same time.

Alexandru grunted with pain as the blade entered him, he pulled himself back and drew his rapier.

''I always knew there was a reason why I kept this for so long.'' he said as he parried another blow from Ion's weapon

With a quick thrust he struck at Ion's unguarded arm only to be parried but he struck out again, this time with a horizontal slash that caught Ion in the chest.

''I'm going to enjoy draining you of your strength once I kill you, Broken Tooth.''

(OCC: My bad)

EDIT POSTING



Salvatore sits on the bar stool and watches the musicians. "This is really annoying I just want to get out of this boat". He keeps watching the snobs who talk on about their personnel lives. He keeps drinking the whiskey and gives the bartender cash and apologies for the fight.

Irene was brought back to reality by the blinding pain throughout her body, all she wanted to do was lie there but she knew that would not be good. She forced herself into a sitting position and looked around, she felt the pain increase as she stood up and began to walk. Her eyesight was blurry and she could barely see the two dark figures that were fighting ahead. She stumbled and fell with her arms outstretched, that last thing she saw was the deck of the ship.

The pain in his leg caused Alexandru to stumble backwards, but he regained his balance very quickly. He leaped towards Ion and knocked him back into the wall, then he readied his rapier to behead him.

''I hope you enjoy your last few moments fool.'' he snarled

As he said those words the floor beneath him which happened to be a window cracked and they both fell through into the ballroom.

Suddenly a great shattering sound was heard and instantly the screams of people could be heard as two men fell into the middle of the ballroom. The musicians stopped the waltzing (whether that was good or not, Carlos was unsure of) and most of the people immediately stopped dancing and started to panic.

Carlos ran through the crowd to see who fell and spotted Ion about to pierce another man in the chest with his blade. Dammit, Carlos thought angrily. This is going to cost the Dark Symphony a lot. Carlos walked up to the two men fighting with a deadly looking expression on his face.

"Ion, grab whoever the hell that man is out to the deck with me," Carlos said with a slightly frustrated voice. "Don't kill him yet. We need to talk."

Carlos turned to the others with a fake smile.

"I apologize to everyone for this mild interruption," he said to them in a loud voice. "I will pay for the damages myself. Please, continue the dancing and carry on. This is nothing any of you want to be included in."

Carlos followed the two Vampires out the door and they stood on the deck, Ion holding onto the other Vampire.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked Ion angrily. "Who is this man? We were supposed to go across the sea without any difficulties!"

Alexandru was conscious when he was dragged out onto the deck and saw Ion and another man before him

"What the hell is going on? Who is this man?'' the man said '' We were supposed to go across the sea without any difficulties!"

"This piece of trash was sucking the blood from Irene." Ion replied

''Excuse me, but this 'piece of trash' would like to say something,'' Alexandru said ''Goodbye!''

With those words he kicked both of them in the gut and then jumped over the side of the ship, the last thing Ion and Carlos saw was a flock of bats flying away into the night sky.

Carlos doubled over because of the blow to the stomach, but recovered quickly to catch the man, though he was too late. The man, who was revealed to Carlos as a true Vampire, turned into bats and flew off into the darkness. Carlos cursed and turned to Ion.

"We need to get Nicu to track that man down," he said to him. "I will have NO one contending with the Dark Symphony."

Carlos leaned against the railing and looked out at the crescent moon. Suddenly his eyes opened wide. He turned back around to Ion.

"Ion," he said worriedly. "Where is Irene?"

Vlad had been dancing with Riley at the moment that the crash was heard. He turned quickly toward the sound and saw two vampires, obviously trying to kill each other. He looked to Riley, who clung to his arm fearfully. He found himself a bit annoyed. Some of the groups actions was less than commendable he found, and they were supposed to be the good guys helping the innocent. The only thing he found the others doing was causing a ruckus and making the other patrons lives rather difficult. He left Riley for a minute and strode toward the mess.

His appearance was obviously angry, he hadn't enjoyed a night like this for many years, and now it was practically fleeting away. No amount of apologies could make up for the disturbance that certain members had caused. He stood before the two vampires with a look of disgust.

"Why don't you take your little fight into the sea and rid the rest of the good people here of your inane stupidity." Vlad growled.

Just as he said those words however they did exactly that, taking flight into the night as transformed bats. Images from his experience back at St. Petersburg and the escape of those murderous vampires flashing through his mind. However, he subdued his blind rage and calmed down. He walked past Carlos, giving him a glance then went to Riley who still stood on the dance floor with a concerned look upon her face.

"Well... they took my advice." Vlad said with a short chuckle of dark humor.

Carlos nodded and ran towards the direction. If that Vampire's bite was deep, it could be very bad for Irene. He ran around the deck and spotted her unconscious on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Damn!" he cursed, hurrying towards her to see a bite mark on her neck. "This isn't good. I'll have to take her to the cabin immediately."

He picked her up and started to run down the deck, passing by the unconscious Ion and heading back into the main room, approaching Vlad.

"Go and find me some medical equipment," he said, panting. "There is a doctor on deck below this one that I know; he can give us all we need, as he is an associate of the Dark Symphony. Just go to the level below down the stairs and follow the signs to the medical room. I will be back in my cabin with her. This is an emergency, so be quick about it."

Carlos nodded towards Vlad, trusting that he could make it in time before the blood of the Vampire infected her blood. If the Lycan and Vampiric blood mixed, it could be fatal. Carlos hurried to his cabin and laid her down on the bed, hoping that Vlad would make it in time.

Vlad nodded briskly and then ran from the ball room. Sprinting through to the main deck, then into the first hall, he found a hatch leading down a pair of narrow stairs. Below on the next level, the creaking of the ship could be heard with every wave. As he ran down the narrow and dimly lit hallway, dotted on both sides by sliding metal doors to quarters and other various rooms, he looked carefully for a sign that would resemble one used for the infirmary.

Ahead, a white sign, luminescent in the darkness stood out with a large red cross. He ran to the door and knocked hard on the metal door. It opened finally, showing the tired and drawn face of a rather grim man.

"Who are you... what do you want at this ungodly hour?" The man asked sleepily and rather annoyed.

"My name isn't important, what is, is that there is a woman bleeding to death in the ballroom from a vampire that needs your help. She is a member in the Dark Symphony." Vlad said quickly, trying to catch his breath.

The doctors eyes opened wide in surprise. Running back into the infirmary, he grabbed an assortment of medical supplies and rushed past Vlad in a hurry. Vlad closely followed behind, hoping he got to him on time.

The doctor hurried up the stairs with Vlad, carrying some medical supplies he deemed fit for the situation. He had grabbed some first aid supplies and a medical shot that he used all the time for Vampire bites. It was developed by some renowned professor in the Dark Symphony and had been standard issue ever since.

They both ran down the hall until they came to Carlos cabin where he was waiting at the door for them. He jumped out of the way, allowing the medical doctor to run through and observe the wound.

"She has a bite mark on her neck and a few bruises from being handled by the Vampire, probably, but the bite is of main concern for now." The doctor reached back into his supplies and picked up a needle, stabbing it into a small bottle of something and sucking up the liquid. He tapped the end of the needle and stuck it into her left arm, injecting the fluid inside.

"Is she going to be alright?" Carlos asked with a hint of worry on his face.

"She should be fine," the doctor answered, cleaning the bite wound and covering it with some bandages. "The serum has never failed me once. She should wake up in a bit after being injected with it. She'll be fine."

Carlos thanked the doctor and watched as he grabbed his supplies and left to go to his quarters. Carlos sighed, wiped the perspiration off of his face, and looked at Vlad.

"You did well," he said to him. "She probably would've died if it weren't for you."

Carlos leaned back against the wall and waited for Irene to awaken...