Chapter Twenty:
They came out one after another from the trees, only a few meters apart. The first man who came out into the field paused and waited for another man to join him, letting this new man lead on – even though he looked much younger. The third man was more boy-like than the others, gracefully running up to them to keep up. I noticed that they were all of Oriental Asian decent, their pupils a strange black-red colour.
They approached our group cautiously, reminding me of those documentaries I would watch with my mother as a child, when the predators approached another group of their own kind.
Although they started off walking in a cat-like, hunter-like gait, they smoothed into a more distinguished, human-like walk when they caught sight of us.
They stopped directly in front of us. The presumed leader had long side bangs covering a side of his face; his eyebrows strangely like mine. His face was expressionless as he gazed at us.
The youngest of them stared at us curiously, eyes darting from each of our faces. He had a curl off the side of his head, not unlike Feliciano's or Lovino's. His clothes seemed to be too big for him as he was adjusting his too-long sleeves. The last man seemed the oldest of the trio, his shimmering black hair pulled into a low ponytail. He watched us with untrusting eyes.
The presumed leader stepped forwards towards Roderich.
"We thought we heard a game," he said to Roderich, his face still devoid of emotion. His voice had only the slightest accent to it – though I couldn't place where it was from. "I'm Li and these are Yao and Yong Soo," he introduced, motioning to his two comrades.
"I am Roderich. This is my family – Antonio, Ludwig, Lovino, Feliciano, Elizaveta, Arthur and Francis," Roderich introduced casually. I tried not to show the surprise I felt at being grouped in with the others.
"Do you have room for more players?" Li asked Roderich. I found his emotionless voice rather irritating; I had no idea whether he was being friendly or each and every one of us.
"Actually, we just finished," Roderich said. I saw Antonio open his mouth to argue and Lovino step on his foot. "Perhaps another time. Are you planning on staying here for long?" Roderich asked curiously.
"We're actually heading towards Scotland; we didn't think anyone would be living here," Li answered easily.
"Oh, we're the only ones living in this region. The only others we see are the occasional visitors, such as yourselves," Roderich replied casually and I was amazed at how what seemed to be an uncomfortable, tense atmosphere slowly turned into a casual comfortable one. I supposed that Ludwig must've been working his unusual gift to make sure nothing bad happened.
"Where do you hunt then?" Li asked.
Roderich blinked once at the assumption that they drank human blood before answering. "Just up here and a bit further north," he answered lightly. "We have a permanent residence nearby and there's another permanent residence like this in Greece – we're good friends with that clan," Roderich continued.
An eyebrow rose; the only form of expression on Li's face. "Permanent? How do you manage to stay here?" he asked, a bit of curiosity leaking into his voice.
"Perhaps we can talk about this in our home? I'm afraid that our story is a bit of a long one," Roderich answered smoothly, glancing at Francis quickly. I understood what Roderich was planning on doing. He wanted to bring the visitors to their home and use that opportunity for Francis to take me home, away from danger.
Yao and Yong Soo looked surprised when Roderich said 'home'. Yong Soo looked like he was about to say something, but like Lovino with Antonio, Yao stepped on his foot to silence him.
Li nodded. "That sounds good. We were hunting in London and we haven't had time to clean ourselves up," Li said, motioning to his dirtied attire, along with Yao's and Yong Soo's. A shiver when down my spine when he mentioned London and I momentarily panicked, hoping they didn't attack any of my old friends until I remembered that I had no friends in London.
"Of course," Roderich said nodding. "But please, I have to ask you to refrain from hunting in this area – we are trying to stay inconspicuous," he added.
Li nodded again. "We ate an hour ago; I don't think we'll need to be eating for a while," he answered smoothly and I felt another shiver crawl down my spine.
"Antonio, Feliciano – how about you two help Arthur and Francis get the jeep?" Roderich asked casually, turning to the two boys.
Just as the four of us were about to make our move away from the visitors, a light breeze blew past us. I blanched as my scent hit the nostrils' of the three carnivore vampires.
Yao stepped forwards, his eyes widening and nostrils flaring open. Francis pushed me behind him, a dark look growing on his face. Yao stopped and stared at Francis curiously, as did Yong Soo and Li.
"You brought a human with you?" Li asked, surprise colouring his voice. He blinked a few times as he registered the sight of me, his face still blank.
"He's with us," Roderich said calmly, staring at Yao as he stared Francis down.
"A snack, aru?" Yao asked curiously, stepping forwards again.
"Non," Francis replied, a feral growl growing from the base of his throat. I fought the urge to cower in fear; Francis sounded pretty fucking scary right about then.
"He's with us," Roderich repeated in a hard voice, a deep frown on his face.
"But he's human," Li stated, a twinge of confusion appearing on his face.
"So?" Antonio asked. I blinked twice; the perpetual smile was off Antonio's face as he stood next to his father figure, his eyes narrowing. I gulped.
Yao took a step back, still staring at me intently…hungrily.
"I suppose we are much different from each other than I originally thought," Li said calmly, trying to ease the atmosphere into a more comfortable one.
"Yes," Roderich agreed, his voice still cool.
"Regardless, we accept your invitation. And of course, we will not hurt the human boy – we promised not to hunt in this area, after all," Li said. Yao shot him an incredulous look from behind and Yong Soo looked confused.
Roderich stared at Li for a few moments before glancing towards Francis questioningly. Francis shook his head ever so slightly, still staring Yao down with anger in his eyes.
"Very well," Roderich said finally. "Elizaveta, Ludwig, Lovino?" he asked, motioning them to follow him. The three of them stood with Roderich, successfully blocking me from view before leading the others away. Feliciano was at my side at an instant, grabbing onto my right hand with his own, letting Francis take my other. Antonio was behind us, a slight frown still on his face.
The four of us walked in silence. I struggled to keep up with their speed, which, even though at a human pace, was still too fast for me.
The moment we got into the forest and were covered by trees Feliciano let go of my hand, letting Francis grab me and swing me onto his shoulder, running towards the jeep. The other two followed closely. I concentrated on not feeling nauseous, images of what just happened in my eyes.
We reached the Jeep in what seemed like seconds. Francis didn't stop running as Feliciano ran ahead to open the backseat door. He threw me in, making me momentarily lose my breath.
"Strap him in," Francis ordered to Antonio, who had climbed in with me. He busied himself with strapping me down while Feliciano joined Francis in the front seat. I could hear Francis say something, but it was too fast for me to hear and was most definitely not English. I supposed that by the tone of his voice he was stringing together a large amount of profanities.
He drove off, much faster than he ever had. Trees and houses flew past and it wasn't until I saw my house fly by that Francis was taking me out of the city.
"Where are we going?" I asked shakily. No one answered, all of them focused on the road.
I decided to try again.
"Where are we going?" there was more anger in my voice as I realized I was leaving Albert alone without even a goodbye. "Fucking dammit Francis, where are you taking me?" I yelled, punching the seat angrily with a fist.
"Away from here – far away," Francis finally answered. "I don't know where, though."
"Spain's really nice this time of the year," Antonio mused cheerfully, totally not reading the tense atmosphere at all.
"Spain? I can't go to Spain – I need to talk to my father, Francis! You promised you'd take me home early!" I yelled, panicking. What if that Yao guy went to my father in search of me?
"Calm down," Francis said irritably.
"I won't calm down!" I yelled. "If I don't get home on time Albert's going to fucking call the higher authorities and get a search done on your family! It'll ruin everything!"
"It's alright, we can start over somewhere else – it's happened before," Francis answered in a hard voice.
"Over my dead body it will!" I yelled and saw him flinch. Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say at this moment. "I need to get back!"
"Ve~ pull over, fratello," Feliciano said softly for the first time. Francis gave him an incredulous look. "Francis please," Feliciano begged. "We need to reason."
"You don't get it Feli – that guy is a tracker!" Francis exclaimed loudly, anger dripping in his voice. I saw Antonio freeze in shock at the word, and wondered what it meant. "The moment he smelt Arthur's blood he was after him – I can't keep him in this town while Yao is here!"
"Pull over," Feliciano said – and suddenly all the child-like innocence his voice normally had disappeared. His voice was serious and calm and really scared the shit out of me [and Antonio too].
"I can't send him home," Francis said through gritted teeth, "Yao'll find him sooner or later thanks to his scent."
"But he'll find my dad there!" I yelled. "I don't want my father to die!"
"Listen to him, fratello," Feliciano begged.
"Take him back," Antonio finally said, joining the conversation. Francis gave him a death-glare.
"No!" he howled, still not slowing down the Jeep.
"Listen to me Franny – Yao's not strong enough for all 5 of us – we can take him down!" Antonio said confidently. If it were any other situation than the one we were in right then and there, I would've laughed at the nickname Antonio gave Francis.
"He's unshakable during a hunt. We'll have to kill him," Francis protested.
Antonio looked confused. "So?" he asked and I suddenly felt the urge to inch away from him.
"And the young one too; they're mates. And if this turns into a fight we'll have to fight off the leader too," Francis added.
"We can do it!" Antonio said enthusiastically.
"And there's another option!" Feliciano added, just as enthusiastically.
"THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION!" Francis yelled, almost permanently damaging my ears. Antonio and I stared at him in horror. Feliciano didn't even flinch, staring at Francis with his innocent puppy-dog eyes. They stared each other down.
"Does anyone want to hear my plan?" I asked curiously into the silence.
"Non," Francis said rudely, still glaring at Feliciano. Feliciano made a face.
"Yes!" he said, turning to me.
"You take me back," I began, glaring at Francis as he began to shake his head, "and I tell dad that I want to move back to London. I pack my shit up, wait til that Yao guy is watching then run off. He'll leave Albert alone and follow us and Albert won't send the higher authorities after your family and then you can take me to Spain or whatever the fuck you're thinking of taking me," I concluded.
The three brothers exchanged a look.
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Antonio remarked and I felt significantly insulted.
"We shouldn't leave his padre unprotected like that," Feliciano begged.
"It's too dangerous," Francis muttered.
"Franny, he'll have to go through all of us – that would be hard~" Antonio said and I wondered how he could manage to stay so cheerful.
"I demand you take me home now," I growled as angrily as I could.
Francis closed his eyes momentarily and sighed. I had a mini panic attack as the Jeep continued to drive forwards.
"Please," I added hopefully.
"You're leaving tonight. I don't care if Yao doesn't see you or does see you. You tell Albert you're leaving for London and just pack the first things you can find. Get into your truck and drive off. You have exactly fifteen minutes the moment you cross the doorstep," Francis said finally.
I nodded and he did a sudden U-turn, sending me flying to the side. He was suddenly going much faster than before and I decided not to look out the windows for my own safety.
"When we get to the house, I will walk Arthur to the door if Yao isn't there already, waiting for him. Antonio, guard the outside of the house and Feli, you get the truck. I'll be inside with Arthur away from Albert's view and when Arthur gets out of the house, you two take the Jeep home and tell Roderich the plan," Francis said as he drove back towards the town.
"No! I'm with you, hermano," Antonio protested.
"I don't know how long I'll be gone," Francis said tensely.
"I'll be with you until we figure out how long we're going to be gone," Antonio replied.
"If Yao is already there, we're going to keep on driving," Francis said. I wondered vaguely how we could keep on driving without losing gas.
"We'll get there before Yao," Feliciano said confidently.
"Bon," Francis said with a curt nod, turning his attention to the road in front of us.
"What about the Jeep?" Feliciano asked curiously.
"You're driving it home."
"No I'm not," Feliciano replied. Francis swore under his breath. It hit me that we probably couldn't all fit in my truck, but didn't say anything.
"You should let me go alone," I said.
"Non," Francis growled.
"Albert's not an idiot, he'll think something is up if I leave and you're not there either. He'll think we ran off together or something," I added, blushing slightly. "And besides, that tracker guy knows you'll be with me – the way you acted probably proved that we're…together."
"You should listen to him," Antonio said, sounding just as insultingly surprised as before, "I think he has a point."
"He does!" Feliciano agreed.
"I will not do that," Francis said coldly.
"Antonio should stay too," I added. Antonio looked surprised.
"What?"
"You'll be able to get Yao better if you're here," Feliciano said, agreeing. I was pleased that someone was on my side.
"You want me to leave him alone?" Francis asked incredulously.
"Ludwig and I will take care of him!" Feliciano said enthusiastically. Francis's eye twitched.
"I can't do that," he said.
"Just stay here for a few days until Albert knows you didn't leave with me and lead Yao on a wild-goose chase. Get Yao off my trail and then come meet me and Ludwig and Feliciano can go home."
"Meet you where?" Francis asked. I was surprised he was actually considering my plan.
"London, of course."
"He'll hear where you're going," Francis protested.
"But will he really think I'm going there? He knows we're saying it loud enough for him to hear, so he'll think we're actually going somewhere else," I answered smoothly.
"He's good," Antonio said in awe.
"What if that doesn't work?"
"There are a drillion people in London; it'll take some time for him to find me," I answered confidently.
"Kirkland is probably a not very common surname. He'll find your house in no time."
"Who said anything about me going home?"
"Oh?"
"I'm old enough to live alone."
"And Ludwig and I will be with him!" Feliciano chirped from his seat.
"And what are you going to do in London? It's probably not as misty and foggy as it is here," Francis pointed out. Feliciano shrugged.
"I'll stay inside and paint," he replied.
"It sounds like a good idea!" Antonio added in cheerfully.
"Shut up, Antonio."
"If we try to attack him with Arthur still here, there's a good chance of him getting hurt – or you getting hurt trying to protect him. At least if he weren't here we'd get a better chance of getting Yao," Antonio said, a rather sadistic looking smile on his face. I began to inch further away from him.
We entered the town, almost nearing my home. I suddenly realized was I was about to do to my father and my stomach churned guiltily.
"Arthur," Francis said gently, and I noticed Feliciano and Antonio look out the window tactfully. "If you let anything happen to you, I swear I will blame you and only you. Understand?"
"Completely," I replied quietly.
"Is Ludwig able to do this?" he asked Feliciano.
"He's been doing very well so far!" Feliciano said enthusiastically. "I think he can do it! Ludwig's so big and strong and smart so he won't do anything bad because I know he'll know better than-"
"Are you able to do this?" Francis interrupted.
Feliciano stopped talking and blinked at Francis. He let out a quiet growl that left me staring at the bubbly Italian with my jaw open.
Francis chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Just keep your opinions to yourself, though," he murmured to his brother quietly.
A/N: Yeah, told ya James's coven was going to be weirdly casted. I only have a reason for Yong Soo being Victoria, though. The first person I told about my idea to write this story was my Korean friend named Victoria and she edited the first few chapters so that they were failtastic. I just put Hong Kong [Li] and China there is because I wanted it to be the Asians and because Yao is pretty beast when he's doing his awesome Kung Fu moves and stuff C:
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