Chapter X
The next day, before dusk fell, Ariel went to the block of apartments while I stayed home, in order to follow Mr. Crepsley.
The vampire woke up as soon as I sat down to eat the meal that Ariel had prepared before leaving. He smelled the air and smirked, like he usually does when she makes food.
"Where is Ariel?" He asked, diving into the food.
"Shopping." I replied, amazing myself at how quickly I came up with a good answer. Ariel always goes shopping.
"I see."
Mr. Crepsley left as soon as he was done eating, and I left immediately after him. But that night, Mr. Crepsley did the same thing he had the night before. And he did it again, the night after that.
It was on the night of December twenty-second when I had a bad feeling. Ariel said she had the same feeling, too.
We were sitting on the roof where we usually waited- Ariel and I. I had told her I was gonna rest my eyes- they were tired after the long hours of concentration, but I fell asleep next to her.
My arm was being shaken so hard that I was sure it was close to falling off when I jolted awake. Ariel was the one with her hand around my wrist, trying to wake me up.
"Huh what?!"
"Look! Mr. Crepsleys going in!"
I looked around in confusion for a moment until Ariel pointed to a window on the slaughterhouse, which Mr. Crepsley was wrestling open. My heart began to beat quickly, and in a brief moment we had hurried over to the open window, Ariel shoving me in.
"Look," Ariel whispered faintly, pointing at the floor. The tiles were covered in dust, in which you could clearly see Mr. Crepsley's footprints. We followed them for awhile, down a corridor and a flight of stairs, careful not to make any noise. Suddenly, Ariel put her arm out in front of me, which caused me to come to an abrupt stop.
I gave her a confused look, and she pointed to a familiar red cape. I could see the vampire's body tucked behind a pile of boxes, waiting silently, and I could hear footsteps that grew closer by the second.
The plump man walked in through a door, looking down at a clipboard in his hand, while whistling. He paused, lifted one of the papers on the clipboard so that he could read the paper under that one, and then allowed the lifted paper to drop. He then continued to a large, automated door, and pressed a button on the wall besides it. With a sharp, grinding noise, it gradually opened. He hung the clipboard on a hook on the wall, then entered. The door closed at the same slow pace it had came up.
Mr. Crepsley darted over to the door and slid underneath while it was closing.
"Go go go!" Ariel whispered. I did the same as Mr. Crepsley had, and Ariel followed- the door barely touching her face.
The room was freezing cold, and dead animals hung on silver hooks all over the ceiling. The stench of blood filled my nose, making me sick.
"I think I'm gonna puke.." Ariel grimaced.
"Don't even think about it!" I snapped, which made her chuckle quietly.
While we quietly trailed the room full of animal carcases, I trembled at the feel of rust against my skin, from the knife hiding underneath my shirt. I had found it the other night, at the back of the slaughterhouse, and planned on using it to kill Mr. Crepsley, if I had to. I decided on not telling Ariel about it, she would probably hate me and believe that I wanted to kill Mr. Crepsley. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to use it.
The plump man stopped to examine one of the dead animals that hung from the ceiling, then gave it a slap with his gloved hand. The carcass slowly rocked back and fourth while the silver hook on which it was hanging from made an eerie creaking noise that made a shiver run down my spine. He than took a few more steps, which Mr. Crepsley shadowed, but then paused. Something on the ground must have caught his attention, because he bent over to study it. Ariel grabbed my arm, pulling me back, probably afraid that the fat man would see our feet- But I pulled away when Mr. Crepsley began to close in on his victim.
I swore under my breath and raced forward, pretty sure that Ariel wasn't following. If Mr. Crepsley wasn't so concentrated on the human, he would have heard me. I was sure that the vampire was planning on killing the fat man now, so I withdrew my rusty knife, and waited until Mr. Crepsley made a move. I could see Ariel's wide eyes and awe struck gaze in the slight reflection of the blade.
After the few minutes that seemed like hours, the man finally stood, which caused Mr. Crepsley's body to tense. I heard him hiss as well, so I raised my knife. The fat man must've heard it, too, because he looked up- wrong way, idiot!- That's when Mr. Crepsley lunged. I was unprepared, even though I had been anticipating the move. If I had only leaped the exact moment Mr. Crepsley had, then I would've been able to slash his throat like I had planned. The split second that I hesitated for messed me up, though. When I leaped, I gave a loud screech- partly because I wanted to scare the vampire out of his attack, partly because I was horrified by what I was doing.
Mr. Crepsley's body whipped around, eyes widened in shock. He crashed awkwardly into the fat man so that they both collapsed. I jumped onto Mr. Crepsley and struck with my knife, not caring where it went. The rusty blade thrust into the flesh of his left arm, causing the vampire to roar in pain. He attempted to shove me off him, but I pushed him down. He was in a difficult position, his extra weight and strength no use to him. I drew my arm far back, clutching the handle of my knife, ready to deal the deadly strike.
When I pulled my arm back, it connected with someone who must have somehow dropped from above, and prevented me from making the lethal strike. The stranger shrieked when my arm struck him, and had rolled away. It took me by surprise, so I forgot the vampire for a moment, and looked over my shoulder. I couldn't really see who the mysterious person was- besides the fact that he was a man- until he got up. His appearance frightened me: The creature was a tall, thin, young man with wide shoulders. He was wearing a white suit that was flawlessly clean, besides the smudges of dust and blood that he just picked up from the floor. In complete contrast to his white suit were skin, hair, eyes, lips, and nails.
His skin was an intense violet, and the rest were all a crimson color, as if drenched in blood. His ruby lips pulled back over his sharp, snarling teeth, in a sneer. What intimidated me the most, however, was the madness that pervaded his unnatural red eyes. This man, I knew, was pure evil. And he looked at me with an intent to kill.
From behind, I could hear Mr. Crepsley cursing, and scrambling to his feet. But I couldn't move. I was frozen stiff. The next thing I know, the mad man standing in front of me had a sharp, glimmering dagger in his hand. One second he's laughing, and the next he's coming at me!
I couldn't run or move at all. But right before he drove his knife into my flesh, something or someone threw me out of the way. I slid into a wall.
Ariel was standing in front of me- her eyes more red and frightening than the mysterious creature's. I tried to call her name, but the words wouldn't form in my throat. My mouth was too dry. Looking into those eyes (I could've sworn they were about to brim over with blood) Made me think that wasn't the Ariel I knew. But it was- she had just saved my life!
The smile was wiped right off of the man's face. His eyes widened in shock, and his mouth opened in awe. "Red eyes.." I think I heard him say, quietly.
Ariel charged at the creature at a speed no normal human could reach, but the creature did the same to her. With his extra weight, he sent Ariel flying into Mr. Crepsley, who had just got up. He fell back down, and began to get back onto his feet. Ariel immediately went back at the mysterious man, but he lashed out at her in a panic. With luck, he hit her right on the side of the cheek, which caused her to collapse.
The creature mounted a carcass and made his way up to the ceiling, (which I now noticed was made of windows) shrieking the whole way up like a mad man, then broke the glass and disappeared into the night.