The bright, early evening sun shone high in the sky. Light glared down and glinted off the edges of the glasses of a tall, silver haired man that stood completely in black.

Abel Nightroad gave a deep sigh, and slumped onto the bench outside of the train station of Aosta, a quaint little town located in the northern most part of Italy. He tilted his head back and pushed his glasses farther up the slope of his nose with the tip of his index finger. His stomach gave a deep gurgling sound that made a few locals that were passing by turn their heads.

"Oh, the sound of misery and pain that so plagues me. The life of a priest is no life to live. I haven't eaten in days."

A smack sounded in the air. A young girl, not yet in her twenties, sat to the left of the starving priest. Her flaming red hair contrasted greatly with her startling blue eyes and the pure white robes she wore. She gave a little huff and cleared her throat.

"We haven't eaten in days, Father. And will you stop complaining? I'm sure we will be greeted with a freshly prepared meal once we get to the church."

Abel tenderly touched the growing bump on his head.

"Yes, that is if we ever get there. Our escort is late…. And must you hit so hard, Miss Esther?"

Esther Blanchett gave a little sigh of her own. It was true that the escort sent by the church was already a half of an hour late, but whining and complaining, as the priest beside her was so apt to do, was not solving their dilemma. They would have traveled to the church themselves, but had been given specific orders by the bishop of the church, with extra reinforcement from Cardinal Sforza, to wait at the train station for their guide through the town.

'But it's no wonder it was so insisted we have a guide,' Esther thought. The small town was normally a peaceful place; a community of two races, vampires and humans, whom lived in harmony, and therefore should surely be seen as an inspiration for the rest of the world. But lately there had been a string of murders in Aosta. Both sides blamed the other, so civil unrest was becoming quite a problem. The murders normally took place in the dead of night, too, which the time was closely reaching. 'It is unnerving,' continued Esther in her thoughts, 'to just sit here as the sun sets, knowing what happens in this town after the final rays of light disappear from the sky.'

With the thought of impending doom fresh in her mind, Esther squirmed uncomfortably on the bench and wringed her hands anxiously. Her imagination didn't help to calm her as she pictured what the future would be like if they never made it to the church; blood strewn across the ground, Abel's body sliding off the bench, his head rolling on the ground a few feet away. Her own body, battered and bruised, because surely the killer would defile her before killing her. The images were so vivid, that Esther didn't notice that someone had approached them from behind.

"Excuse me."

Esther jumped and let out an ear piercing shriek that seemed to awaken Abel from his own reverie, and caused him to jump as well. The voice from behind them chuckled softly. The high-strung nun and the quirky priest turned to see that the voice came from a young woman behind them. She wore a simple burgundy dress, with an olive colored hooded cape thrown over her shoulders. Her eyes were a soft grey, her hair jet black, and she carried two paper grocery bags, one in either arm.

"I'm sorry I scared you. You must be Abel Nightroad and Esther Blanchett, the ones they sent from the Vatican to help us here. I apologize for being so late. I wanted to pick up some things, fresh from the store, so I could make a good meal for you two, but here I ended up making you wait."

She smiled and waited for a reply from the two that still seemed slightly astonished by her sudden presence. Abel spoke first.

"You…you are our escort?"

The woman continued to smile. "Yes. I'm sure you expected a nun or priest dressed similar to either Esther or yourself, but I'm afraid my disappointing, and rather rag-tag, homeliness is all you get," she said, her bottom lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout.

"N-no, that's not what I…um…" Abel stuttered and flushed.

"It's alright," the woman laughed and smiled again. "I know what you meant. They sent me because they thought it would be most convenient. I know the town well, plus, as I said, I was already out at the store. But we can chat more later. It's getting dark and we should be going."

Without another word, she started off, tapping down the few steps of the platform of the station, and heading through the west end of town. The streets were quiet as they traveled, with only a few people bustling here and there, hurrying to get to the safety of their homes.

"The church is located in the center of town. It should only take a few minutes to get there."

They continued on, passing a fountain on the way which spilled golden water. Esther stopped at the sight of the anomaly, transfixed by the brilliant liquid that gushed out of the spouts. Abel, recognizing that Esther had stopped, slowed himself, and turned to her.

"Esther. Is something the matter?"

"…No…it's just really beautiful is all."

"We call this fountain the 'Tears of the Setting Sun.' It's located on the west side of town because, well, the sun sets in the west. At this time of day, when the sun is disappearing behind the buildings and the mountains, the water turns golden, like the sun is crying," the woman said. "It was built by my fiancé. When he made it, he said it represented the sadness of the sun having to say farewell to the joy it brought the people." She continued on as Esther remained staring, seeming to enjoy the brief story about the radiant water. "There's another on the east side of town. They both flow at different times of the day, something to do with the pipe work, I don't quite understand it. Anyway, we call that one the 'Tears of the Rising Sun.' Happy tears, this time, because the sun gets to shine again." She spoke again, this time her voice got softer and somber. "But nowadays the sun isn't happy when it rises…. Both the fountains represent the sadness that has fallen over this town. The sun cries because it knows it will lose someone it brought joy to when it sets, and it cries again for that lost soul when it rises."

This made Esther shift her gaze to the woman. She noticed that the woman's eyes looked darker now, full of sadness and contempt as she stared at the fountain.

The woman sighed, her eyes seeming to go back to their original brightness as she pushed the pain and memories towards the back of her mind. "Let's continue on."

Again they walked, this time a heavier air floated around them.

"So," Abel started, trying to break the tension, "do we get to know the name of our lovely escort?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. How very rude. My name's Renata Noren. But, please, call me Ren."