~O~
Night had fallen over the city, turning the already dark sky to a pitch black canvas. And just like clockwork, the city's lights came on, chasing away some of the dark shadows, but not all of them. Some shadows still clung to alleyways and other crevices of the city, housing the perfect cover for monsters to hide in.
Shun and Sinclair, on the other hand, didn't need the light, though. With enhanced vision, they could see clear as day through the darkness. However, Shun wished that there was a little extra light, because for some reason that he couldn't explain, the night felt darker than normal.
Perhaps it was because of the current circumstances. Not only had hundreds of people been brutally slaughtered by Zoran's army of Blighted Vampires, but Alice was also still missing and at the mercy of any of the remaining Blights that roamed the city. Shun and Sinclair had been searching for hours, following the maze of alleys in search of Alice, and had yet to find a single sign of her.
"Maybe she turned down that alley back there," Shun muttered to himself. He hadn't been expecting to spend so much time looking for her. If anything, he figured they would have found her long before it got pitch dark. Now, because of the amount of time they had spent looking, Shun could feel his confidence in finding her starting to fade away.
Sinclair kicked aside a metal can and said, "All of these alleys are connected to one another, so we'll eventually find her." Shun didn't say anything else, even though his mind was screaming. I believe we'll find her…..I just hope we find her alive, he thought grimly to himself.
Shun and Sinclair rounded another corner of an alley, and at this point, every path they took was starting to look the same, causing the raven-haired to feel as if he were going in circles. It was a very unpleasant feeling, especially when the thought of wasting time going around and around could mean that something horrible could have already happened to Alice.
He wanted to find her, get back to the enclave, and forgot that this whole horrible day had never happened. They had already lost so much just in the span of a few hours, so losing somebody else wasn't an option. Shun glanced over at Sinclair and asked, "Have you sensed her yet?"
Shun was hoping that the Vampire Lord may have finally found Alice's scent, which would give them a sure-fire trail to follow. But much to his dismay, Sinclair shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. There's too much blood scent in the air for me to smell anything else. I'm sorry."
Shun remained silent. He wasn't angry at Sinclair, but more frustrated. And it wasn't just one thing he was frustrated at; he was frustrated at everything. Shun let out an aggravated sigh. "I just want this whole mess to be over with," he admitted.
Sinclair, as calm as always, said, "We all do, but after the things I have seen and heard today, I have a feeling we're all in for even more pain and suffering ahead, and it won't end until something is done with Zoran. Although, I can't make any promises that things will go back to normal anytime soon after that." Shun looked down at the filthy ground and muttered, "When were things ever normal?"
He figured Sinclair didn't hear his snide remark, or if he did, then he didn't show it. Shun was grateful for either, because he didn't want the Vampire Lord giving him some kind of lecture. Something then struck Shun as out of place. He strained his ears and listened to something that had never really been present in the city before; silence.
There were no sounds of car engines rumbling, emergency vehicle sirens, or night owls out having a good time. It was almost deafening, despite how much Shun adored total silence. Perhaps it was because this wasn't a normal silence, but rather the silence left in place after major loss of life.
The lack of sound made him uneasy, and at the same time, seemed to amplify any sound made, including the sound of their footsteps through the alleyway. "I don't like this silence," Shun said quietly, because he felt that if he spoke at a normal volume, his voice would be deafening.
Sinclair looked up at the night sky and said, "It is rather eerie, isn't it? I suppose it should be when one looks at the reason why it's so quiet." Shun then stopped walking. He stood there and strained his ears, trying desperately to catch the sound he thought he heard.
Sinclair turned around and asked him, "What's the matter?" Shun held up his index finger, both to indicate for the Vampire Lord to be quiet and wait. He finally said, "I thought I heard something this way. It sounded like a whimper." Sinclair looked in the direction that Shun had indicated and asked, "Do you think it might be Alice?" The raven-haired teen narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't know, but we're about to find out."
He then started in the direction of the whimper, Sinclair trailing behind. As they walked through the grimy alley, the whimpering seemed to grow louder the further in they went. Now, the sound was close enough for them to hear it clearly, and it most certainly was somebody, obviously female, whimpering.
Anxiety began to rise up within Shun. If it was Alice, what had happened to her? His pace quickened as he rounded a corner, which was where the whimpering seemed to be at its loudest, and stopped dead in his tracks. The site before him was something he was completely unprepared to see, and when he did, he felt his stomach do a quick flip. Shocked, his covered his mouth with his hand and just stared.
A moment later, Sinclair had caught up and asked, "What is-….Oh, my….." Laying there on the filthy ground, back against the brick wall, was Alice. Next to her lay the body of a young child, its throat ripped open. They both were covered in drying blood.
It didn't take Shun long to put all of the puzzle pieces together in his head, but he was so taken aback that he was unable to put it all into words. Instead, Sinclair beat him to it. "Bloodlust," the Vampire Lord said, his voice completely lacking emotion.
Shun knew this more than likely the first time Sinclair had seen something like this, but he felt that there still should have been a bit more surprise in the Vampire's voice. Cautiously, Shun started to walk towards Alice. "Careful, Shun. She's dangerous right now, so watch yourself," Sinclair said from behind.
The raven-haired teen knelt down in front of Alice and said calmly, "Alice? Alice, it's me." He slowly reached out to move one of her blood-matted curls of hair out of her face, but when he did so, she drew back and hissed like some kind of feral animal. "Blood," she growled, "Blood."
Her eyes were glazed over, and the whites of them were tinted red like the blood that stained her skin and clothes. Shun pulled his hand back and said, "Here, take my blood. I promise you it won't make you sick like that boy's did." He pulled his shirt collar down some, exposing his neck.
From behind, Sinclair said, "Shun, be careful. She could drain all of your blood before you even realize it. It wouldn't be the first time I've watched a Vampire in full-on Bloodlust drink somebody dry." Shun glanced over his shoulder at the Vampire Lord and said, "Well, if you feel that she's taking too much, just speak up or pull her off." Sinclair nodded.
Shun turned back around and said to Alice, "Go on, take my blood. You need it." That was all it took. Before he could even blink, Alice jumped and plunged her fangs into his neck. Shun gasped out from both surprise and from the initial pain that followed having one's blood consumed. There was nothing gentle about the amount of blood that Alice was taking.
She was taking it in like a starving animal, never once coming up for air. It didn't take long for Shun to start feeling lightheaded. He tried to say something to Sinclair, but the cloudiness that had formed in his brain made it impossible to form words. Instead, Shun placed his hands on Alice's shoulders in an attempt to push her off, but he didn't have the energy to fight against the strength brought on by her Bloodlust.
The edges of his vision started to blur, and thankfully, Sinclair intervened in the knick of time. The Vampire Lord pulled Alice off, which didn't seem to please her very much. She drew her bloody lips back and bared her fangs with a hiss. However, right after that, the glazed look in her eyes started to fade, returning them to their usual chocolate brown color. Confused, Alice started to look at her surroundings.
"She's starting to come back to her senses," Sinclair stated. Alice looked down at her hands and arms, which were covered in blood, both dry and fresh. Her eyes then fell onto the corpse of the dead boy beside her. They grew wide with horror as she realized what had happened.
"Alice," Shun said gently, his voice slurred slightly from the blood loss, "it's alright. There's nothing you could have done. None of this is your fault." She kept looking back and forth from Shun and the dead boy. "I-I did this. I k-kill him," Alice said, her voice trembling.
She then clamped her hands over her mouth and tears started to streak down her face. Her fingers and hands trembled as she brought them up to the sides of her head and laced her thin fingers through her messy hair. Alice then let out an earsplitting scream. Shun flinched back at the suddenness of her shriek. "Alice, relax! You couldn't help what happened! You didn't do this!" he said to her above her screams, but it was like words falling on deaf ears.
Shun then felt as Sinclair placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him aside. The Vampire Lord then knelt down in front of Alice, took her chin in his hands, and forced her to meet his gaze. His golden eyes flashed for a moment, and then Alice's screams ceased, and her body went limp. She fell forward and Sinclair caught her in his arms. Shun hurried over and knelt beside them.
"I had to," Sinclair said simply, "She was in shock. It would have been cruel to let her continue to suffer while trying to talk her into a state of calm." Shun nodded and said, "I understand. Thank you." He then looked back down at Alice. Her mind was shutdown thanks to Sinclair, but her face seemed to still hold a slight expression of pain.
She might have been given some momentary ease from reality, but Shun could still see that she was suffering, even while unconscious. He reached out and brushed a bloody curl out of the way like he tried to do earlier and she flinched under his touch, just as a natural reaction.
Sinclair cleared his throat and said, "We better be getting out of here. Any Blighted Vampires nearby could possibly pick up on the scent of all this blood, so it's not safe to stay here. I'll carry her back to the enclave while you regain some of your strength, okay?" Shun nodded.
He was grateful Sinclair offered to carry Alice. Not only was Shun exhausted beyond comprehension, but he also feared that if he carried Alice while in such a fatigued state, he might drop her, and if he dropped her, he feared she might shattered even further right before his very eyes.
Ugh, school tomorrow. I'm sooooooo ready to graduate and go off to college in the fall. Although, the only thing I regret is that I won't have as much time to upload chapters or stories, so I might have to throw in the towel. I'm going to try and keep at it, though. Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, so read and please leave a review on the way out. ~Copperpelt~