I stood up as Larten walked slowly and calmly toward me. He stopped just short and glared down to me as I looked fearfully up at him.
"Larten, I can explain-" In one swift motion he raised his hand and brought it down—hard-across my face. I simply stood there, tears brimming, and the side of my face stinging. I didn't look at him; I was too ashamed, but he grabbed my jaw and forced me to look him straight in those golden brown eyes that were always so full of love. Now, all I saw was undeniable rage.
"You idiot!" he shouted, "You interfering, mindless fool! Do you realize what you have done?"
"I was trying to stop…" I stammered; I was so frightened I couldn't speak, "I thought you were…" He released my face and paced around angrily.
"He has escaped!" he roared, "Because of your damned meddling a murderous psychopath has waltzed off scot-free! This was my chance to stop him and you…you…" There was a moment of unsettling silence. We stood there, his back to me and my eyes were glued to my batman converse. He was probably trying to keep from killing me and I didn't dare speak. "Idiot!" he fumed, turning to face me again, "What are you doing here?" I still wouldn't dare look him in the eye, tears were falling freely down my face.
"Trying to…keep you from…killing that man," I sobbed.
"Killing him?" he raged, "You are even dumber than I thought! Do you truly have so little faith in me?" Now I was getting mad. I knew he was upset, but calling me dumb and an idiot wasn't fair. My head snapped up to face him and glared daggers, but I was still crying.
"What the hell else was I supposed to think?" I shouted back, "You would disappear at night and wouldn't tell me anything! What was I supposed to think when I heard six people were found drained of blood?" He didn't say anything, but he looked surprised. "How can I trust you if you don't tell me anything?" I cried, "Of course I'm going to be suspicious!" I collapsed onto my knees, buried my face in my hands and wept, long and hard. After a while I felt his arms close in around me and he buried his face in my hair as I clung to him.
"You are right, Layla," he sighed miserably, "and I am so sorry. I only wished to spare you the gory details. This is my fault."
"Well, I shouldn't have tracked you down," I admitted, looking up to his face. His eyes wandered to the butcher's knife that was a few feet beside me.
"You meant to kill me?" he smiled, looking back at me.
"That was my intention," I confessed, "but when it came down to it…I couldn't." He cupped the same side of my face that he had struck earlier and ran a thumb across my cheekbone.
"You are a reckless young woman, Layla Shan," he chuckled and kissed my forehead, "but knew that when I took you as my assistant. It is, also, one of the many reasons I love you." He winked at me and I felt the blood rush to my face. The previous event flashed through my head. I couldn't get that scary purple-skinned monster out of my head.
"What was that thing?" I asked, rising to my feet with my vampire.
"His name is Murlough," Larten replied, gazing out of the broken window, "He is a Vampaneze."
"What the hell is a Vampaneze?" I wondered.
"When vampires changed their ways of feeding so we did not kill whom we fed from there were some who opposed. They are the Vampaneze," he explained, turning back to me, "They believed it was a disgrace to not kill them. So they strayed from our ways to pursue their own."
"To each their own, I suppose," I shrugged. I didn't like the thought of killing humans, but I always tried to think fourth-dimensionally.
"That is my philosophy as well," he agreed, "Though, it is a problem when their actions threaten both the Vampaneze and Vampire clans' safety. Humans get suspicious when bodies are found drained of blood."
"Now I understand why he was purple," I nodded, "The extra iron intake from all the blood he drinks."
"Very good," Larten smiled, "It's not just him, though. All Vampaneze have purple skin."
"So you've had problems with the Vampaneze before?" I asked.
"Yes," he clarified, "Vampires have waged war against them centuries ago, but a treaty was created to keep them at bay and to stop the fighting."
"What was the treaty?" I wondered. Hopefully Vampires were better at treaties than humans.
"If they stopped killing freely, then we would leave them alone," he explained.
"So the Vampaneze are like the Vampires' evil twin?" I asked half-jokingly.
"Not exactly," he chuckled, "More like misguided cousins."
"I don't find murder to be 'misguided'," I challenged.
"You misunderstand me; Vampaneze kill because of their beliefs, not because they enjoy it," he explained, "a human who kills in war is not evil, is he?"
"I can see you're point, but I don't think it's the same thing," I admitted.
"However, it falls on similarly murky lines," he countered.
"If you don't believe they are evil, then why were you about to kill Murlough?" I shot back. His eyebrows rose in confusion.
"I did not say I was going to kill him," the vampire said suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.
"I know you, Larten," I smiled, "You looked like a man on a mission." He shook his head with the corners of his mouth tugging up slightly.
"Well, you are correct on this account, but it was not because he is evil," Larten explained, "Murlough is not ordinary; he has been consumed in madness. He kills to feed his lust."
"And the Vampaneze are okay with this?" I asked dubiously.
"A mad Vampaneze is ejected from the ranks and as long as he stays away from his clan he will be neither hindered nor harmed," he explained, "Mad Vampaneze do not normally last long because they make silly mistakes that get them killed, but Murlough is craftier than most. You know the old myth that vampires do not enter a home unless invited?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "but it seemed too stupid to believe."
"I agree," the vampire concurred, "however, most myths have their roots. Vampaneze never kill a human in their home. They catch their prey outside, kill and feed, then hide the bodies or disguise the wounds to make the death seem accidental. Mad Vampaneze tend to forget these basics, but Murlough did not. That is how I knew he would not kill the man inside his home."
"How did you know he was going to kill this man at all?" I wondered. I didn't see any reason how the fat man would be a target.
"Vampaneze mark their victims ahead of time," he clarified. He led me by the hand to the fat man, still unconscious on the floor, and pointed to his face. "See those three small scratches on the man's cheek?" Larten asked. I looked closely and, sure enough, there were three small scratches on the man's plump cheek. "That is how I knew this man was Murlough's next target," he explained.
"Will you be able to find him again?" I asked.
"Murlough is not an idiot," he said, shaking his head, "He will not come back to this city."
"Then shouldn't you trail him to the next?" I asked, confused now. It made no sense to only go after him and give up when he left.
"That is not my responsibility," he said simply.
"Then why get involved in the first place?" I wondered.
"Because this was the city in which I was born," Larten smiled, "I lived here as a human. Even though everyone I knew is long since passed, I feel connect to this place. I still consider it my home."
"So now what?" I asked, "We go back to the Cirque?"
"Yes," Larten nodded, "And we should leave now, the human will be starting to wake up soon." I nodded in agreement and started to leave with my hand intertwined with his.
"I am curious as to what theories you came up with for the reason to my leaving," my vampire inquired.
"Well, one was that you were cheating on me…" I replied; embarrassed.
"Layla Shan, I could never go to another woman again," he said; stopping and caressing my cheek, "they would be boring in comparison to you." I couldn't believe that Larten Crepsley actually made a joke! I laughed until tears formed and my sides hurt.
"Don't blame me," I said when I calmed down, "It was Evra's theory." Then, realization struck me: I forgot about Evra! "Damn," I cursed, "I completely forgot about him."
"The snake boy knew about this, too?" Larten laughed, "You little rascals…" I trace back my footsteps to wear I left my friend, but he wasn't there. I figured he heard the commotion and hid.
"Evra!" I called, "It's okay! Larten wasn't the killer; it was-" I was cut off by a loud crunch under my foot. I looked down to see a small walkie-talkie; smashed to pieces on the concrete floor and my heart dropped to my stomach. Further on, there were foot prints on the ground; Evra's small ones and someone else's large ones. They were intertwined with each other as if dancing, but the small ones disappeared as the larger ones moved on down the corridor.
"Is that Evra's?" Larten asked; coming up beside me. I couldn't speak so I simply nodded.
"This is not good," he muttered; looking down the empty hallway, "That is Murlough's scent."
"D-do you think he took Evra?" I asked, weakly.
"If that is the case…" my vampire hung his head sadly, "then Evra is dead." In sheer panic I raced down the dark hallway until stopped by strong arms that held me close. I couldn't hear what was being said by me or the slurring words in my ear. The hallway around me was so still that the only noise was the sound of my sobbing muffled by Larten's chest. There was a thickness in the air around us as if even the shadows on the walls and floor were mourning my friend…my brother.