Chapter Four
The vampire turned on his heel, his dark hair swaying with his motions.
I shouted a cry of battle and ran at him, my fists raised high.
He turned back before I had the chance to notice and swiftly blocked the punches I threw down. After the second attempt, I tried for his gut, but was denied as his right hand swung down from the last block and pushed my hand away. I wound up with my back to him.
I felt the knee in my spine and heard a solid crunch noise that made my head begin to pound. Ignoring the pain, I spun back to him, whipping both arms into his side. To my amazement, they connected and a guttural grunt was forced from his lips.
Holding his minimally aching side, the vampire glared up at me from between strands of pitch-black hair. "Unwise," he uttered.
Both hands flew at me, hitting me in the chest and knocking me backwards. I braced myself on the headstone I had landed against. As he ran towards me, I managed to kick off from the stone and into the vampire's thighs. His legs gave from beneath him, but one hand was quicker than my own eyes. One moment he had been free falling to the ground, hopefully to smash that pretty face of his against the stone step, and the next his right hand had caught the ground and pushed him up to his feet once more.
The vampire then did the most peculiar thing, and one of the last things I'd have expected of him in that moment. He grinned and laughed. He even had the audacity to clap at me a few times.
"You know, I don't particularly mind if you go tell your authorities. Just try to make sense of this scene. Here you are, alone, at night, your wife at home with your screaming child. You head for the Red Crown, the very place this young whore turns her tricks at. But, no, you claim you've heard her shouts, and you find her here, in this graveyard. Already dead? They might not believe that. And what's this about a mysterious man who you say is a vampire?" He grinned wider. "It doesn't look very good for you."
I stared in wide-eyed shock. "How do you know these things, about my wife, about myself?"
His expression blanked. "You're so easy to read, Barrett."
I let out a breath of surprise.
"I like you, Barrett. And so I don't think I will kill you just now. You may come in handy yet."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, my voice low and hiding the quiver in it.
He stepped down the stairs, watching me all the while with that grin upon his face. He stood by the prostitute and, with certain slowness, removed his gloves. They fluttered down and landed upon the dead girl, giving her some modesty before a bobby was to discover her.
"I will see you again, sir glove maker." He nodded sharply and then caught the shadows to him once more.
I ran to where he once stood, searching for any sign of him but there was none. He had vanished into mid-air it seemed.
A lump caught in my throat. What was I to do with the body? He had left it for me to handle, no doubt. It was probably his sick little way of turning the tables.
I sighed. There was nothing left for me to do than go find someone walking the beat. If they wanted to try and pin it on me after I told them the truth, I would just have to live with it.
At least locked away I'd be safe from the horrors that lurked, day or night, in the world.
The vampire turned on his heel, his dark hair swaying with his motions.
I shouted a cry of battle and ran at him, my fists raised high.
He turned back before I had the chance to notice and swiftly blocked the punches I threw down. After the second attempt, I tried for his gut, but was denied as his right hand swung down from the last block and pushed my hand away. I wound up with my back to him.
I felt the knee in my spine and heard a solid crunch noise that made my head begin to pound. Ignoring the pain, I spun back to him, whipping both arms into his side. To my amazement, they connected and a guttural grunt was forced from his lips.
Holding his minimally aching side, the vampire glared up at me from between strands of pitch-black hair. "Unwise," he uttered.
Both hands flew at me, hitting me in the chest and knocking me backwards. I braced myself on the headstone I had landed against. As he ran towards me, I managed to kick off from the stone and into the vampire's thighs. His legs gave from beneath him, but one hand was quicker than my own eyes. One moment he had been free falling to the ground, hopefully to smash that pretty face of his against the stone step, and the next his right hand had caught the ground and pushed him up to his feet once more.
The vampire then did the most peculiar thing, and one of the last things I'd have expected of him in that moment. He grinned and laughed. He even had the audacity to clap at me a few times.
"You know, I don't particularly mind if you go tell your authorities. Just try to make sense of this scene. Here you are, alone, at night, your wife at home with your screaming child. You head for the Red Crown, the very place this young whore turns her tricks at. But, no, you claim you've heard her shouts, and you find her here, in this graveyard. Already dead? They might not believe that. And what's this about a mysterious man who you say is a vampire?" He grinned wider. "It doesn't look very good for you."
I stared in wide-eyed shock. "How do you know these things, about my wife, about myself?"
His expression blanked. "You're so easy to read, Barrett."
I let out a breath of surprise.
"I like you, Barrett. And so I don't think I will kill you just now. You may come in handy yet."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, my voice low and hiding the quiver in it.
He stepped down the stairs, watching me all the while with that grin upon his face. He stood by the prostitute and, with certain slowness, removed his gloves. They fluttered down and landed upon the dead girl, giving her some modesty before a bobby was to discover her.
"I will see you again, sir glove maker." He nodded sharply and then caught the shadows to him once more.
I ran to where he once stood, searching for any sign of him but there was none. He had vanished into mid-air it seemed.
A lump caught in my throat. What was I to do with the body? He had left it for me to handle, no doubt. It was probably his sick little way of turning the tables.
I sighed. There was nothing left for me to do than go find someone walking the beat. If they wanted to try and pin it on me after I told them the truth, I would just have to live with it.
At least locked away I'd be safe from the horrors that lurked, day or night, in the world.