Vampires in London
By: Hiita Akutoki
"And if you look to the right, you can see Big Ben. That's by far our biggest tourist attraction." I sighed, muttering something about the guide being a prep in high school.
"Something wrong?" Cori poked my side.
"No, nothing." I looked out the side of the cable car.
"And this is the infamous Fleet Street, where the "Sweeney Todd" movie was based and filmed at." God was that voice annoying…wait…Fleet street…This was our stop. I looked to Cori, who nodded. We checked to see that all the tourists and the annoying as hell guide were looking the other way, then jumped off the side.
Cori landed the right way. I wished I had. Back when we had practiced, I had never calculated in cobblestones. Due to my error, my ankle twisted completely the wrong way.
"Goddammit!" I jerked my leg and foot up, hopped about on one leg for a moment, then lost my balance and fell on my ass. I grumbled sourly as Cori laughed.
"Hey, you okay?" Someone's hands hooked under my arms and hoisted me up.
"Yeah. Thanks…" I brushed myself off and placed a small amount of weight on my left ankle. Pain flared up my leg.
"Looks like you messed it up pretty bad. More than likely it's sprained." He squatted down to look at it, pointing one finger parallel to my ankle as he spoke again, running his finger upwards. "It's very swollen, and you pulled a muscle. Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" He smiled and stood back up, towering above me by six inches or so.
"Try not to be so clumsy next time." Cori commented. I whined a little in pain.
"Do you need a ride to the hospital? It's not that far away." My new friend asked. I looked to Cori.
"You go ahead L.K. I'll go check out the shop." I smiled at her.
"Thanks. I'll catch you later." I waved as she tossed both of our knapsacks over her shoulder and walked away.
"You be careful." She called over her shoulder as she walked away.
"So… how did you plan to get me there?" I wobbled a little on my feet and grabbed his shoulder for balance. He smiled back and laid a hand on the small of my back to help balance me.
"Carry you, of course." His smile widened and I turned pink. He was kinda cute…
"You don't have a car? Any kind of motor vehicle?"
"Nope. I'm way too poor to afford one." He crouched down on the ground. "Hop on." I hesitated for a moment, but got on.
"Be careful of your ankle." He adjusted me and stood. I yelped and my arms wrapped tighter around his neck. I hadn't had a piggyback ride since I was a kid. All he did was laugh and take off running down the streets. My stomach rattled about in my ribcage (not literally…).
"Too rough of a ride…" I choked out, then risked releasing one hand to cover my mouth. He slowed a little, coming to a stop after a short moment.
"Taxi!" He called into the quiet street. Almost like it was waiting, an apparition appeared. Oh, wait…it was simply a carriage, drawn by two large black horses. It came to a silent stop and the horses snorted, the only sound to break the spell of quietness.
"I thought you said you were too poor for something like this." I questioned as he helped me into the soft velvet seat. I scooted over to let him in.
"I have friends in higher places who owe me favors." He grinned, then turned to the driver and said, "To the hospital." The stallions nodded and trotted down the empty street. It seemed so much more silent and kinda creepy now that the trolley was gone.
"How old are you?" I asked out of the blue. I didn't like silence very much.
"Seventeen, soon enough. My birthday's coming up." He replied.
"I see…" I fell into silence.
"What about your friend? How old is she?" His pale face flourished with colour.
"You like her don't you?" I gently elbowed him in the side and smiled. "Anyway, her name is Cordelia, but she goes by Cori. She's gonna be seventeen in a week and a half."
"How long have you two known each other?" His curiosity was still flowing.
"At the most……five years. We met at a bookstore. Nearly got into a fist fight over the only copy of _____ volume six." I grinned as I recalled it. "She would've won. She has more muscle, but I'm faster."
"Wow! You two must know everything about each other!" He was shocked.
"Not really. We hang out and talk manga, but other than that…we know nothing of the other. And I also know that she LOVES playing pranks on innocent people. Mainly me."
"I see…so…do you know what kind of flowers she likes?"
"Roses are her favorite ones. Not the normal colors though, such as red or pink or white. Abnormal colors, like these." I held up a dark blue rose. "Keep it." He took it and smelled it, then smiled.
"Your friend is strange, yet at the same time she attracts me…Where can I find any strangely colored roses?"
"I think I saw some in a nearby alley near the shop."
"I'll check when we head back…"
"Hey, I never caught your name." I turned to look at him. His face flushed with color again.
"Haven…" He muttered.
"What a nice name. I think Cori would like you."
"Really?!" He turned to me, his eyes wide with shock. I couldn't help but grin.
"Really…"
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``````````````````````````````````````````````````````Cori's P.O.V.``````````````````````````````````````````````
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"Wow. This place is really stuffy." I coughed and covered my mouth and nose with my shirt. What I found the strangest was that there hadn't been anyone on the whole entire street but me. It was more than a little creepy. "Well, all great business had to start somewhere." I said to myself as I set our knapsacks down on the dusty ground. Deciding to see what shape the place was in, I ventured deeper into the shop. Room after room was dark, dank and filled with cobwebs. It suited my mood, but that kind've stuff was bad for business. Alas, I had to clean the place up before L.K. and the new guy showed up. "I'm keeping the spiders…" I smirked to myself, knowing L.K. would die of a heart attack when she found them…
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I carried the last rotted board out and threw it onto the huge bonfire I had built for the larger chunks of trash.
"And now for the plumbing…" I turned to go back inside.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?!" ?!" A rather plump boy came waddling over to me.
"I'm cleaning out the old bakery where Sweeney had his shop. My friend and me bought it and are moving in today. We were planning to re-open Lovett's bakery. Since no one else lives on the street, I didn't think it was such a big deal."
"No one on the- Are you mad?! Look around you!" He gestured to the street. My eyes widened when I saw all the people.
"B-but there wasn't anyone there before! I double, triple and even quadruple checked!"
"'People weren't there before'" He sneered, mocking me. "Are you off your nutter?"
"No, I'm not! You must be off of yours cause when I showed up, there was NOT ANYONE here!" I yelled, pointing at the people in the street.
"Watch who you're speaking to!" He yelled back, stepping closer. I swore silently to myself and mentally told him to back the hell off.
"Sure doesn't look like I'm chatting with anyone important." I said, almost calmly, picking up a bucket of water to put out the fire. After I did, I tossed the bucket behind me, and must've "accidentally" hit him in the head. "Fire's out, fatass. You can leave now." I growled, glaring at him as I stepped closer. He stumbled backwards a step and tripped over the curb, landing on his back in the street. Two large beautiful black stallions nearly trampled him.
"Watch where the bloody hell you're going! Damn horses…" He muttered as he stood up, dusting himself off.
"Don't blame the horses for you're clumsiness," I told him, softly stroking the nose of the nearest horse. He was more beautiful than I had originally thought; his coat was silky smooth and his nose was softer than velvet. I cooed him, trying to soothe the large animal.
"We're back!" The same boy from earlier stepped off the carriage, then turned to help L.K. down. For some reason, I felt a small stab of jealousy.
"Welcome home. What's the verdict? Foot get chopped off?" I smiled lightly and offered a hi-5. I wasn't one for hugs…
"No, not this time. Doc says I have to wear a brace…" She scrunched her nose in disgust. She hated things like that. She said they made her chafe. The silver haired girl looked beyond me to the shop. "Wow! The place looks brand new!" She jogged- and limped- over to look inside a window.
"But I just-" I turned to set her right, my mouth open to tell her, and my jaw fell. The bakery did look brand new. As if nothing had ever happened to it.
"Nice job Cori. How about some roses to 'brighten up the room'?" The tall boy smiled as he brought a bouquet of lilac colored roses from behind his back, thorns and all.
"Oh, thank you!" I wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. "You're such a sweetheart." I smiled some as his face turned bright red. "Cute too…" I mumbled, making him turn even redder. I decided to leave him alone, and went to explore the bakery.
"Won't you come in?" L.K. spoke, talking to one of the boys. As we entered the bakery, a delicious smell wafted past my nose. I saw L.K. and both boys (Fatty followed L.K.) stop and smell the air.
"Wow…. you cooked too? I really owe you one Cori." L.K. smiled, licking her lips.
"No, I didn't! When I showed up to start cleaning, the place was ready to collapse. It smelled of rotting wood, dead rats and sewage." I sighed.
"How did it get all clean then?" The tall boy asked.
"That's the problem. I don't know. One minute, the place is filthy and I'm arguing with Mattew, the next, you two are back and it's spotless." I sighed again, but decided to forget it. Whoever had done it was nice enough to leave us with a free meal.
****************************************Little later*************************************************
"Wow…whoever made the meal sure knows how to cook." Haven (L.K. told me his name. When he tried, he kept stuttering.) commented as he reached for another meat pie. Mattew sat next to my saturnine friend, chatting to her. She looked really bored…
"Hey L.K., you wanna check out the rooms with me?" She gave me a "You saved me!" look, and stood.
'I owe you two now,' She mouthed, then slipped by me. I smiled as I followed her, leaving Mattew and Haven to try and fake a conversation. I hoped the two didn't turn too evil and slaughter the other…We'd have nowhere to hide the bodies…
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"Wow…" I knew my mouth was wide open, but I didn't care. The rooms were… beyond anything words could describe. I hoped our private chambers were the same. That's where we'd sleep. When we reached the top of the stairs, I was struck speechless once more. It was just like the rest of the house: too beautiful for words. But something still ate away at me. Who could've done this? Fix the shop and have dinner on the table? It's almost like…someone is…welcoming us…