Alfred panicked as he turned into another street, desperate to lose the wolves that followed behind him, effectively hunting him and Arthur, who lay limp in his arms.
The image of Yao the witch popped into his head again and again, until visiting him became Alfred's only option, however, he couldn't do it until he had lost the wolves behind him. Alfred was thankful for his powers of speed and strength; for he knew that if it was Arthur who was carrying him: they'd both be dead because Alfred was confident that Arthur wouldn't have left him.
Alfred picked up the pace and pushed himself to his limit when he heard a wolf bark from behind him, Alfred knew that he had to get rid of them, and now! As Alfred began to run deeper into New York City, he rushed to dodge cars as well as the eyes of people who walked along the streets, despite the late hour, the streets were buzzing with activity. Alfred knew that he had to use this to his advantage, because he knew that the werewolves didn't want to risk being seen, whereas Alfred could easily blend in with the crowd. However, he looked down at Arthur to see the Brit's pale bloodstained skin and clothing dash away any of his chances of hiding in a crowd. All Alfred could do is run and pray, pray that the wolves wouldn't catch up to him and pray that humans won't cause a scene.
Alfred was quickly running out of options, as the crowd became denser, however, Alfred began to notice the werewolves initiating a retreat, as they slowed down, unwilling to engage with the crowd.
He finally realised that he was experiencing what it was like to be hunted, and understood the terror and defeat in his victim's eyes when he finally chased them down and ended their lives, he was a monster, and now he monster was going to be finally hunted down like the prey. He glanced down at Arthur and craved that look he saw in Arthur's eyes, that sensual and confident glow that shook Alfred to his chilly heart.
Suddenly, Alfred couldn't hear the wolves behind him; he could no longer hear their deep growling or the thump of their large paws on the concrete. Alfred stopped running and turned around, only to see that the wolves have disappeared, either they have gone into hiding, or retreated.
"OH MY GOD!" A woman screamed at the sight of Alfred and Arthur, and the blood that stained their entire fronts.
Alfred suddenly remembered that because he had stopped running he was now visible to everyone around him and a crowd of disturbed and concerned pedestrians had made a crowd around the American vampire and his unconscious lover, who lay bleeding in his arms.
Alfred stared around the entire circle of people who stared at him like a beastly animal on display =, to be judged —they probably think that he did this to Arthur!
He hissed at anyone who tried to come closer, he searched desperately for a way out, but knew that he would have little problems making one if the need presented him. Alfred felt as though he was a tiger trapped in a corner, when he finally lost his patience with these people; he growled and flashed his fangs at anyone who came remotely close to him and Arthur, shocking them all with his animosity and terrifying teeth.
Finally, a chance presented itself in the form of an Alfred-sized gap between an old man and a young woman, instantly Alfred resumed his speed-run; disappearing from any human's sight. He took his chance and climbed up the fire escape of an apartment building, using the darkness to an advantage. Alfred laid Arthur down on the metal walkway, letting the Brit rest as Alfred gathered his thoughts and tried to develop something that slightly resembled a plan.
"Come on, Arthur, stay with me for just a little longer," Alfred cooed as he delicately brushed some of Arthur's hair off of his face, "I'll make that witch help you, no matter what the price is."
Alfred dashed around the small space of the fire escape, desperate to find some hint of a witch's scent or anything that would point him in the right direction. With irritation he looked down at Arthur and sighed: not only would Arthur remember exactly where the witch was, but he would be able to sense the witch!
Alfred fought the urge to kick the wall in and attack whoever was inside the apartment building: just to calm himself down! However, not only would Alfred be lonely doing it, but Alfred knew that he didn't have the time to be a selfish monster: he had to think about Arthur's condition, god only knew how much time the Brit had left.
Alfred knew that if he could find a familiar road, he could be able to follow his memory and return to the Chinese antique shop where they first met Yao. Alfred did not care about how much it would cost: he knew that Yao could help bring Arthur back.
"Alfred…" a weak voice murmured, catching Alfred's attention, Alfred immediately dropped to his knees before Arthur, relieved to see the Brit staring up at him, despite his eyes revealing no colour, to Alfred, Arthur looked like a cracked procaine doll, stained with vibrant red blood.
"It's going to be ok, Arthur, I'm here…" Alfred cooed as he took Arthur's chilled hand into his own. "We're going to find the witch, and he will help you!"
Without a second to spare, Alfred rolled up his sleeve and placed his bare wrist before Arthur's mouth, "Here, you need something to drink."
Alfred smiled hopefully when he saw Arthurs bloodstained lips curve into a smile, before his eyes closed again and his head tilted to the side, returning to his deep sleep.
"Arthur, don't do this to me! I need you!"
Alfred hopelessly rubbed his wrist into Arthur's lips, trying his best to get to the unconscious vampire's fangs.
It took Alfred a couple of minutes before Alfred finally gave up. He knew that he had to get moving again, and as he rose to his feet with Arthur in his arms, he made a decision of which direction to go, and how to get there.
Alfred continued to run up the stairs of the fire escape, determined to reach the roof of the building; Alfred was about to do a trick that he and Arthur used to do in London to kill their boredom and track victims, but now he was going to do it to save Arthur's life.
He ran across the rooftops of the countless buildings like a nightmare, using the full moon and the lights from the city bellow as his guide, he quickly leapt between the far gaps between some of the buildings. Before he had realised, he had gone down dozens of different streets by this method, and wondered why he hadn't thought of this earlier … however… surely the wolves would use this mode of transport too, so Alfred kept an eye out for those dark figures on the other rooftops or behind him.
Alfred dashed from one apartment rooftop, before landing on the roof of the take-away shop next door, before stopping… he peered off of the roof and onto the street bellow, and hope filled Alfred's heart when he looked across the street and saw the familiar red glow of the Chinese antique shop, he made it.
"Nearly there, Arthur," Alfred whispered as he tightened his grip on Arthur.
Alfred knew that the witch was there, he had to be there, either in the small shop, or in the rooms above the shop.
Alfred jumped off of the roof and ran across the road, not letting the 'closed' sign stop him from kicking the handle of the glass entrance door, kicking the door open and leaving a terrible crack in the glass.
"YAO!" Alfred cried as he carried Arthur into the shop. "YAO!"
Alfred's sensitive hearing could hear figures bump around upstairs; the American began to grow impatient at the lack of response, and dashed into Yao's witching room, where they had first met the witch. As he heard the noises continued, Alfred searched for a place to let Arthur rest. "YAO GET DOWN HERE, NOW!"
"What do you think you're doing here!?" Yao snapped as the door at the back of the room opened, and the grumpy and tired witched marched into the red witching room, with his young apprentice in tow.
"Help us! Please!" Alfred gasped, turning around to show Yao the damage done to Arthur, the witch and his apprentice shuddered at the sight of the horrific wounds on Arthur's middle, and the splash of blood that stained nearly his entire body.
"The hunt began earlier than expected…" Yao sighed as he put his hands together, before looking to his apprentice.
"Please, help him! I don't care what it takes!" Alfred cried, "You can take all of the blood he doesn't need, you can have mine too! I'll be your personal vampiric blood bank! I don't care! Just bring him back!"
Yao and his apprentice stared at Alfred in confusion, before Yao looked to his apprentice and nodded, "Leon, set up the table and get all of my healing supplies out. Prepare for a lesson."
"THANK YOU!" Alfred sighed loudly as Leon nodded before turning away and walking to Yao's small table, before folding out the sides and tripling it in size.
"I've never seen a vampire appeal with emotion before…" Yao chuckled as he rubbed his chin, "usually I hear from the wolves: heal me or you die. Just how important is he to you?"
"He's everything…" Alfred admitted as he laid Arthur down on the table.
"This may take a while… and I don't know if it's possible…" Yao muttered as he began to inspect Arthur's wounds, "It's very hard to bring something back to life when it was dead to begin with."
"I'm not too late, am I?" Alfred shuddered, if Alfred had the ability to cry: he knew that he'd be on the floor as an absolutely sobbing mess.
"I… I don't know…" Yao sighed as Leon began to unbutton Arthur's shirt, staining his fingertips in blood, "but I will try…"
Alfred revealed his wrist to the witch, "If there is anything you need to do, do it."
Yao nodded, "those wolves will kill me for helping you."
Alfred frowned, as his curiosity got the better of him, "why are you helping us?"
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a supernatural being here? I'm just lucky those mutts are tolerable to witches!" Yao hissed, "They visit me monthly, demand that I pay them in order to keep my place in the city, do them favours! Heal them! Urhh! They're worse than the mob! As soon as I met you two, I thought you will be able to take them."
"We tried!" Alfred hissed, "You didn't warn us of just how strong they were!"
"Don't blame me for this, I warned you that they were strong, I warned you that they hunt vampires, I warned you that they were going to hunt you down!" Yao hissed as he bent over Arthur, staring at Alfred with his vibrant brown eyes.
Alfred huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, "what are you going to do now? You said so yourself, they'll kill you for helping us."
"That's where you two come in…" Yao muttered.
"What?!" Alfred asked, as Yao's eyes widened glowing with a deep purple as his hands hovered over Arthur.
"Listening Leon? There are extensive injuries, his healing factor is operating, and however, it's too slow…" Yao explained as Leon and Alfred listened intently. "If I intervene with the blood loss with a rubbing potion to slow the movement of blood, before stitching his stomach together with special string, before stitching him together and leaving a healing charm on his body… That usually works for stab wounds; it is worth giving a go for this… However… his ribs are also broken…"
Suddenly, Yao snapped out of his trance and turned his head to look at Leo.
"We've got company… Leon, set up a border protection charm around our shop. Use the protection characters I have in my desk and the chalk, write them on the footpath outside. You know how to set up a charm. It should keep the wolves at bay…"
"But, Yao!" Leon stuttered, "I don't think I—"
"Don't disobey my orders!" Yao snapped, "If I leave Arthur now, he will die. Now, do it before the wolves get too close! If they get in here, they'll kill us all!"