"Here we go again..." Anju sighed to herself as she set Boogie on her bed and returned downstairs to greet her 'guest.' Ren would have shown the suitor into the formal parlor by now.
Kanon, who was in her mother's old room despite her protests, gave Anju a big grin and a thumbs-up as she passed by. Anju had to refrain from rolling her eyes - someone was teasing her about her 'date' way too much.
As long as this didn't last too long and interfere with the plan...
"Dump him fast." Ren muttered as they passed each other in the hall, a protective glint in his eye.
This suitor, however, was not to be easily dissuaded. He appeared to be around Glark's age (a marked improvement from previous callers) but was very persistent even after Anju answered one of his almost lewd questions with a thinly-veiled threat. It was clear that all this vampire wanted was a tie into the family that had the last pushuke.
...
"And stay out!" Ren yelled through the door at the furious vampire he'd just tossed out into the night. "Let's leave through the back door so I don't have to see his sorry ass again."
Anju nodded in agreement. She was going to have a serious talk with her mother after everything settled down.
Kanon, however...
"Wow, how did dad get the courage to stick around? No offense!"
"None taken..." but Ren's tone warned her not to bring it up. Ever again. Period.
Anju was the one to break the very charged silence. "We should go to the others, big brother."
"By bat?"
The youngest Maaka gave her big brother a look that clearly said, "Well how else are we going to do it?"
Ren nodded. "Come here, Kanon."
"Whaa?"
"I said come here."
"B-But what's going 'by bat?' I can't turn into one, and I don't think they get big enough to carry people..."
"Just don't look down."
Kanon tried to do as Anju suggested as she felt herself slowly rising off the floor, but the sickening swoop through the back door allowed her to catch a glimpse of the living carpet of inky black bats underneath her feet. Not looking down at the bright streetlights below really did keep her from completely panicking.
A round of machine-gunfire ripped through the air right where Anju had been moments before her bats veered off to safety. Ren tried to follow but the vampire hunters must've had more than one weapon ready to fire - he was forced to make a shield with the bats in order to deflect bullets away from himself and Kanon. By the smell they gave off as they hit the bat barrier, they had at least one silver component.
"Uwaah!"
"Brace yourself," Ren gritted his teeth and managed to make a halfway-decent landing behind the hotel that the vampire hunters had commandeered. "Get in the air vent, quickly. It's total chaos out there, and I don't think Silviu will be able to make it. Go!" He broke the lock on the emergency exit and Kanon slipped inside the building.
_-Embarrassment!-*'
Silviu didn't dare show his face, nor choose to emerge from the dumpster he'd plunged into during the confusion. Everything was entirely his fault. There was nothing that could prove otherwise - even Karin and Kenta wouldn't be afraid to blame him. He knew he should've asked for one of the more experienced vampires to come with them when Anju's suitor forced them to split up. Had Ren come with them, they would've been able to feed on the way without fear of messing up and be full to bursting with energy. The only reason why Karin was managing to hold off the vampire hunters on her own was because she was trying to reach Kenta.
"God...what have I done to them?" The Romanian words rolled off of his tongue as the hybrid buried his face in his hands. The same hands that had locked Vampire Hunter Karl Loft's arms to his sides as his fangs...
It was just like the first night his change had happened, except that he'd taken down a particularly horrid man instead of his best friend's foster brother! If Loft hadn't managed to smuggle more vampire hunters into the hotel without any of them knowing, he, Karin, and Kenta could've stormed the hotel and freed the elder Maakas without much resistance.
"..."
Silviu yelped as he looked up and found a very familiar, doll-like vampire staring down at him from the lip of the dumpster. The protective layer of bats surrounding her was the only thing keeping the vampire hunters from shooting her.
"Anju..." He knew she could see the blood on his face. "It's my fault - none of us felt comfortable with feeding on the way... The next thing I know is I'm feeding from Loft, and vampire hunters are pouring out of the building, and Kenta - who was hidden where he could be much closer to the hotel than Karin or I - was trying to get me away but got shot! I ran here but Karin's still-"
"Big sister's remembered that she has bats to aid her now." The tone of Anju's voice could've chilled ice cubes. "She and big brother can't keep the hunters from Kanon forever."
Taking the hint, Silviu forced himself to slide out of the dumpster and land on his feet. Anju was giving him a chance to redeem himself and he didn't plan on backing out this time. Since he couldn't control bats he picked up a broken, rusty tire iron and charged into the chaos.
_-Embarrassment!-*'
"Excuse me, mister, but can I go to the bathroom?" Elda Maaka smiled at the new guard.
"Didn't you just go about an hour ago?"
"Yes, but I have a little bladder that's been under a lot of stress..."
"Oh, fine," the man watching the elder Maakas rose from his chair and strode over to the makeshift cell, unlocking it and opening the door just enough to let Elda slip through.
That was the last thing he saw before Elda knocked him out with a wave of her hand - the vampires had heard the chaos aboveground begin and wordlessly decided to employ the plan they'd made in case their children couldn't get to them in time.
[Edited 6/8/15]
