Blood and Rust

Walking through a back alley of his new "feeding frenzy", Balo stopped suddenly to the sounds of foot steps coming up behind him. Not eager to have an audience, he quickly began to run and dart through several side streets hoping to lose his pursuer.

After a good distance, he stopped to rest but then he heared a voice above his head. He looked up to see an old friend sitting in the tree.

"Well if it isn't Lana. Only you can make moonlight look that lovely. What brings you to my humble feeding grounds?"

"Oh, just sitting in this tree trying to learn how to fly from these birds. They're pretty good teachers." Lana said cheerfully, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I'm here to see you. What else would I be doing here?"

She jumped off the tree with an acrobatic twirl and landed neatly on her feet. "So, how's it going with being a vampire, Balo? Been attacked with a stake yet?"

"Haha. Very funny Lana. No I haven't been staked at yet. Haven't had much interaction with others lately." He began to walk down the poorly lighted street as Lana followed.

"You may or may not have noticed that most humans aren't very happy with what I have been up to." he said as he got out a bottle a red liquid and began to drink its crimson content.

"And yet you still stick around in a place like this?" Lana gestured to the wasted streets, metal on every surface visible. Well, it was called the City of Metal, after all... "I thought you had some common sense in you, man. Any other person would be packing their bags right about now and kissing their sweet ass for doing so years later. Why haven't you left yet?"

He licked the last the of the elixer from his lips. "To tell you the truth, I am starting to wonder that myself. There is nothing for me here but then again there is nothing for me out there. I have no where to go and no one to go to. I am sure you can't quite comprehend how that feels."

He stopped on the sidewalk to look in the middle of the street where tire marks and shards of glass still remained. "I guess you could say part of me doesn't want to leave." He then took out another bottle.

Lana gently wrapped her arms around Balo's waist, relaxing against his back. "I know that feeling all too well, Balo, so don't say that. My family abandoned me in my home world when I was only six, so I was left to fend for myself. I left my old home when I was fourteen when it had nothing left to offer me, and spent two years working as a mercenary just to keep myself alive. For ten years I was alone..."

"As for not wanting to leave, I might have to knock some sense into you," She lightly joked, still against him. "You never know what other places may offer you if you won't heft up some courage and leave this place. And as for going with someone...you can go with me."

Balo almost choked in surprise and had to step away from Lana. "What are you talking about? Do you know how dangerous it is to be around me? Not only are there hunters after me, but I can't control my own instincts. I can turn on you in an instant if I lost control. I highly doubt you would want a loose cannon like me running around with you.

"I still see them you know. My parents I mean. Sometimes I even feel guilty about what happened. Almost as if there was something I could have done."

"All the more reason to leave Eshta Fer." Lana insisted. She moved close to Balo again. "About the accident, there wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it. No one could, so don't start feeling guilty because it wasn't your fault."

She then moved away and giggled softly, "If I bring you along you won't turn on me; I know you too well. And don't worry Mister Loose Cannon..." She gently ran a finger down his spine. "I'll always be there to help you out and keep you in line. Trust me."

A shiver ran all through Balo's body. "Whoah!!!! You sure do don't but considering you are the one who turned me I am not surprised." He started pushing Lana away. "You better yourself too Ms. Black. Might have to tie you down." he said with a chuckle under his breath.

With a reluctant sigh he gave her his answer. "Alright fine. I'll go with you but there is still something I need to do before I leave."

"Still as sensitive as ever." Lana chuckled and crossed her arms. "And what's that?"

"I need your help to kill the bastards that caused the accident that killed my family. They committed an unforgivable crime so now it is time for their judgement." Lana notices that his fists begin to turn white from clenching so she decides that maybe it wasn't a good idea to stand so close.

"I need to restore order here and you are going to help me do it. I can use a mercenary of your skill. That is if you think you can handle the job Ms. Oh-So-Tough-Mercenary"

It may not have been the best idea, but Lana decided to embrace him in an attempt to calm him down. "Redemption...the only way to bring peace to a raging soul. I can handle the job, but...I'm not so sure about you. I'm afraid that you'll go ballistic when you see them and you might do something reckless...and end up hurting yourself. You're my only friend and family...I don't want to lose you..."

"I thought mercenaries had no family or friends. Whatever, it's your funeral. And about going ballistic, you can bet I will. I plan on driving this scythe right them." The two of them kept walking down the street.

"Something told me that I wasn't going to stay here forever. Maybe roaming aimlessly with you help me find a purpose for my existence." He looked into her green eyes so deeply that it was almost as if he was looking through them.

"Well, not all mercenaries are the same, Balo. I'm a prime example of that." Lana smiled as they walked through the dim street. She gazed into his silvery eyes, finding them intimidating yet quite beautiful. "Maybe your purpose is right in front of you, but you have to open your eyes in order to see it."

"If only it was that easy. When you have been living in darkness for so long even opening your eyes has no effect what you see." Balo closed his eyes and turned away from Lana. Something was wrong. Something didn't feel right. The more he thought about it the more unstable his mind became. Within a few seconds, Balo was on the floor thrashing about trying to keep control on his conscious self.

"Having a little breakdown I see."

The new yet familiar voice came from dark alley that was along the street. Lana immediately became alert and hostile while Balo remained on the metal sidewalk gasping for air. Balo looked up at the new figure standing among them.

"It's you..."

"And what the hell is a lonely bastard like you doing in a lovely little alley like this?" Lana asked as she drew her chains from her waist. Sarcasm, one of her favorite things. "Balo, you know this guy?"

((Check out the topic "Frozen Hell". I found a way to include you into the story.))

"You could say that. Lana Black, allow me to introduce you to Aelfric Fry, my half brother and the sole cause of my families early demise."

Aelfric bowed in "courtesy" while still keeping his silver eyes on Lana. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Black. I hear you make yourself a living by being quiet the mercenary. I take it Balo doesn't much about me when he is with you?"

"I guess he had a good reason not to. I wouldn't want to talk about my family's killer either, if I were him." Lana replied and helped Balo up, keeping her eyes locked on Aelfric. "Now...what do you want?"

Aelfric stood up straight. "I just came to visit my brother. No harm in that is there?" he said with a smile on his face.

Balo glared at his brother while clenching his fists. "No harm. Unless you count the fact that we have been hunting each other down for several months across this God forsaken wasteland trying to kill each other, then no harm at all." Balo's anger slowly but surely increased to dangerous levels.

"And you were going to tell me this when...?" Lana asked Balo as she prepped her chains. She turned back to his half-brother. "Before I kick the crap out of you, tell me a story. The title is...'Why did you kill your family?'"

Aelfric started "Simple really my deah. My employer decided that my brother's family was getting too curious. A couple days before the 'accident', he had me turned by one of his vampire chums. Rather nasty feeling really; the whole process. Anyways, until the day, I played along as the half brother until the day came when everything was set and there was nothing to do but watch the scene unfold before me. I rather enjoyed watch it. Balo, did you know that your mother was crying out your name all the way until she breathed her last? Thought you would like to know." Aelfric had the same sinister smile.

"I'll...kill...you..." Balo was suddenly engulfed in black fire.

"You...BASTARD!" Lana shouted as she lunged for Aelfric, swinging her chains while pulling out her silver dagger. "You don't deserve to even exist after doing something like that! Stay still and I'll make this as quick and painful as possible!"

Balo had no clue what was going on. This had never happened before. There was fire all around him and yet he didn't burn. Instead, he noticed his features were changing. His hands and feet grew claws, his fangs grew longer and sharper, his muscles began tearing and expanding, he even grew a tail. His scythe began to grow small shark-like teeth along the blade that was now black. Balo was not Balo anymore. He had become something different. Something he couldn't control. The flames began to die down.

Aelfric looked in astonishment. "And now you know why we wanted you dead."

Lana halted her momentary assault on Aelfric and looked at Balo. Just what had happened to him? Doing the thing that any good friend (and stupid person) would do, Lana moved closer to him until she was just five feet away.

"Balo...are you okay?"

Balo tried desperately to regain control but it was all in vain. His head was throbbing. The fact that he saw Lana getting closer and closer didn't help. He tried to stop her. "Don't come any closer, Lana!" Once she got close enough, he couldn't take it anymore. He gave up. Balo let out a howl that was loud and powerful enough to shake nearby buildings. His once silver eyes glowed red with fury. With incredible speed, he ran past Lana and straight for Aelfric.

"Die!!!"