Chapter 8: Interlude

Shadow raced back to the safe house, biting down as much as possible on the two, gaping holes in his mouth. In his bestial fit of rage, he had manage to wrench out not just his fangs, but a couple of teeth on either side, as well. He may have even broken off a bit of bone in his face. It was definitely not a comfortable situation, as his snout felt like it had been smashed in with a hammer, and his mouth had not yet stopped bleeding. Regardless, it didn't take him long to reach the location, and he was instantly aware of Blair's location. He met the cat at a fourth-story windowsill, the feline hunched over and still, his hands clasped together tightly.

"What's gotten into you?" The hedgehog asked, more curious than truly concerned. When he received no response, he simply pulled the cat back by a shoulder, and became aware of a few facts. The first was that vampires did not produce tears and could not cry; the second was that, despite this fact, Blair had, at some time, been able to pull off the feat; third was that he was, in fact, holding something in the small space between his gripped hands. The pale kitten stared listlessly at nothing in particular, and his eyes were bloodshot, the effect sickeningly darkened by his half-clotted blood.

His hands were dusted, and a small amount of ash slipped from his palms. Shadow backed away from the mournful cat, wondering just who it was he could possibly have been crying over. It was then that the smell of smoke picked up in his nose, and it was very strong. Someone had burned in the safe house. Lenore did mention that some people killed themselves by dragging away curtains, and he figured that something similar had happened with someone the young cat knew.

"I killed his girlfriend," Lenore stated plainly, leaning into the room from an open door.

"She was not my girlfriend!" the white cat hissed, spinning around to face the bucket hat. "She was just-"

"He's being a real baby about it."

"I'm not being a baby! You're killing everybody!"

"Not everybody," She corrected, the same aggravating nonchalance on her voice. "Just new ones. It's not my fault you can't take care of your friends."

She turned to Shadow with a flair. Her face didn't need to be seen for anyone to take note of her pompous attitude.

"This isn't the first time, you know. He's even helped the last few times we had to control the family," she stated with a matter-of-fact tone. "He's just being silly because his girlfr- Shut up, Blair- because his girlfriend had to die, too. If it was anyone else, he wouldn't have cared at all."

Her hat tilted back as she lifted her head and stared down her nose at the feline mourner. For the first time, Shadow caught a glimpse of just what was under the head piece; two glowing embers of a gaze peered out from under the canvas, causing the hog to flinch and look away before he could stop himself.

"Now look at him, clutching a lump of ash and being dramatic-"

"You killed his friend!" Shadow snapped, a snarl under his voice. Blood slopped to the ground from under his snout, and he quickly shut his mouth. "You're a little hellion!... Who put you in charge of controlling anyone?"

"My fangs put me in charge of controlling everyone!" The girl screeched, her large teeth flashing. "I'm the root of everything! I started this family: me, me, ME! Not you, you fangless little leech! How dare you!"

She finally stepped into the room. For having the form of a small child, she sure could make herself seem threatening. Shadow took that note and his previous observation into consideration, but held his ground as the girl approached.

"Who put you in charge of questioning me? I know when there's too many of us! I may have to kill someone or two, but I'll do it with a smile on my face, because I'm the boss and I know what to do! This family has gotten too large, and whether or not it's the city or me that does it, some of us have got to go, and it starts with every last parasite that someone drags into this building, from now on, until I decide otherwise!"

A bit of silence fell onto the three vampires. Blair finally released the clump of ashes from his hand, looking over his shoulder and into the the room with a burning glare that almost rivaled Lenore's.

"I guess I should thank you and your warm little friends for getting rid of those two idiots for me. That's two down: could have been three if you hadn't messed up... again."

"How did you see-"

"My eyes see a lot," She spat, cutting off his obvious question. She bowed her head, her hands gripping the brim of her hat, and removed the headpiece. Her face finally revealed for him to see, a chill ran down Shadow's spine and his fur stood on end. Her colorless, feline features were perfectly innocent, like a porcelain doll's, but her sickening glare erased any ounce of comfort afforded by the rest of her facade. Both eyes beamed with the twin infernos that seemed to be caught within her pupils, and a sickening glow ebbed from the fiery saucers. It's as if the girl had Hell entrapped in her innocent gaze, and Shadow found himself caught as well, unable to break contact.

"I'm were the family is. I see everything the family sees. I know when someone's born, and I know when they die once more. It's great... it pays to be the boss," a smile crept onto her face as she spoke, but the expression became blank for a moment. Her smile-gone-sneer returned as the first thunderclap of a storm boomed overhead, and she replaced her black bucket hat, concealing a disgusted look on her face and releasing Shadow from her inhibiting stare.

"Someone is not playing by the rules," she growled, walking past her recovering, black liege and pushing past Blair. She didn't hesitate in jumping down from the window.

It was only in the brief moment when the two became side-by-side that Shadow noticed their similarity; if it hadn't been for a few years growth on his part, Blair and Lenore could have passed as twins.

Another long silence fell over the two as the rain began to poor. Blair held his hands out, allowing the weather to wash away the rest of the dust that had settled on his paws. Shadow didn't know which was more awkward: him being shown up by a child, or the teenage cat's unsettling silence. The hedgehog shook his head as if to deny both scenarios, and he walked over to the other vampire.

"Let's go get something to eat," He began, trying to move as far away from the day's events as he possibly could. When he received no response, the dark hero continued on. "I can't bite anyone."

"Your fangs will grow back," Blair finally mumbled, shifting and shrinking into a piebald crow. Shadow joined him on the windowsill, both undead birds' feathers ruffling in the gusty storm.

"I'm sorry about your friend," the red-eyed bird cackled. Quiet followed the frank statement, until his company stretched his wings backward.

"It's the only reason we ever bring anyone back," The smaller bird garbled. "When they're important to us, in one way or another."

Shadow cast an odd glance at him, before taking off into the rain.


Author's Commentary

If the name of the chapter doesn't tell, this is one of the few chapters that breaks the day-night cycle for one reason or another. Some information was released this chapter that reflects on some things from previous ones- in fact, there are enough context clues in these past eight passages for you to solve a very invisible mystery that's only been hinted at so far. ^^;; You may even get ahead of me and catch an important and shocking fact.

The hints are very small, but they're there! ^.~

I'd like to add that this is a sort-of end to Part I of Sunset. In truth, the story was going to be broken into three parts, Sunset, Twilight, and Dusk, but after checking my notes (oh yes, I have notes), I realized that the middle installment was wa-ha-ay too short to be made into a chapter-story of its own... So, yay! I have one story to my name, and you don't have to set new Story Alerts! Ba-ZING!

While on subject, I'd like to thank you all for your support, be it through reviews, favorites, story alerts, author alerts, or simply keeping up with this tale! ^^ Thanks to my anonymous readers as well; I hope you join this sprawling community officially, someday!

That being said, I hope you enjoy the next part of Sunset! ^.~ See you next time, and stay out of alleys!