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Seventeen: Susan's House
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The world was a pristine crystalline white, completely blanketed both visually and audibly by a cover of snow. The sky was darker than ever, the white roads lit by the ornate though dim streetlamps that adorned the sidewalks every few dozen metres.
By the time Annie and I got outside, the street was completely devoid of life. No people, no cars, not even a stray cat scavenging through the bins.
And definitely no tiny Australian.
The air was silent. Heavy.
It was anticipating… something.
Shivering, Annie pressed herself against me, hugging herself against the cold as she looked around.
"How are we supposed to follow her?" She asked softly, her breath clouding in the freezing air. I didn't answer, frowning as I thought.
Then a thought hit me, something I remembered from my early childhood days when Darren and I would play hide and seek – or our version of it, Monsters – out in the snow.
I glanced down.
In the snow, lightly printed, was a set of footprints, heading off towards the left.
Smiling, I pointed to the ground.
"We follow her prints," I said happily, then turned to walk away. Annie grabbed my arm, tugging me back.
"Wait," she said. I turned around, arching an eyebrow questioningly. She smiled apologetically, then pointed to the ground. "There's another set here."
Pulling a face, I followed her finger to find that she was right – there was another set of footprints, leading in the opposite direction of the first lot. I scowled at them, then kneeled down to inspect them. Finally, I shook my head, standing back up.
"No, it's the other set."
"How do you know?"
I pointed.
"There's paw prints next to these ones, like dog prints. Perri doesn't have a dog."
"The dog could have followed her," she pointed out. I was stumped for a second. Then I shook my head again.
"No. This person had huge feet. See?"
"…Oh yeah…"
The footprints led us down the street, in a direction that we knew would eventually lead towards the older, dirtier part of town. Over the time I had been travelling, through all the many towns I'd been through, there was always an old part of town, the part of town that was run-down and in disrepair, where murders and rapes went unchecked and random kids peeped out of alleyways to offer you random items, none of them legal. And, in my experience, that part of town is where the vamps always hide out.
It was so damned predictable. So, so mainstream, so cliché. I can't begin to describe all the books and comics and movies I've seen that are set in this part of town, but I have to admit, Hollywood got it right. For once.
We followed the footprints for quite some time, going deeper and deeper into the bad side of town, but not once did we see a person. I guess it was just too cold for even the most drugged-out dealer to be out trying to sell his wares. I didn't blame them. It was freezing point for magma outside, and I wasn't exaggerating – I mean, this is me we're talking about. I hated the cold. I wouldn't exaggerate.
The cold must have affected my concentration, because I didn't even notice Perri's prints disappear until Annie grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
"Huh?" I asked dumbly.
"The prints have gone."
I blinked, and looked down. Sure enough, the small, steady boot prints we had been following had ended, with only my larger set going on a few steps further.
I frowned, confused.
"Where could she have gone…?"
I thought. How could someone just disappear like that, almost in mid-step? It was impossible! Unless… unless.
I slapped my forehead. Of course! It was so simple. One of Perri's Golden Rules of Hunting, even –
Always. Look. Up.
I looked up.
A metal staircase ran alongside the building we had been walking next to, running all the way to the roof.
With a smile, I pointed.
"She went up."
Annie scowled at the staircase, crossing her arms.
"Of course. How logical. She went up, didn't she? Just peachy." She growled.
I blinked, confused.
"What's wrong, Annie? Do you have a problem with heights or something?"
She glared at me so suddenly and so fiercely that I took a step back, afraid of her ferocity.
"No, Steve, of course I don't," she said sarcastically. "It's just that when I was younger, two lovely boys I knew used to love dangling me upside down from the library window – four storeys up! Of course I don't have a problem with heights!"
I winced, grinning sheepishly.
"Hey, I'd forgotten all about that. That was fun, wasn't it?"
Her glare was my answer. I smiled, and shrugged.
"Fine. Suit yourself. You'd better wait for me back at the hotel then," I said, jumping up onto the metal staircase with a loud clang. I placed my foot onto the first step lightly, then glanced back down at Annie. She was still glaring at me. "You know, that's a bad handicap to have in this line of work. I've lost count of the amount of roof chases I've participated in."
"You've… chased someone on a roof?"
"Not just a roof – a whole town of rooves!"
Annie gulped. Then, closing her eyes, she jumped up with me, and grabbed onto my arm, holding it tight.
"Okay, I'm coming up with you. If you fall, though, I'll never talk to you again."
"Aww, no snuggles for me ever again?"
"Definitely no snuggles ever again."
By the time we had reached the top, I convinced Annie to open her eyes. She kept them open, but continued to hold on to my arm, her hands shaking violently – despite that, I had to admire her. I remembered she had a terrible fear of heights – thanks to Darren and myself – but here she was, fighting against it. It took a strong will to fight against something you were terrified of.
It was lucky that she had her eyes open, though, because she was the one that noticed the small silhouette kneeling on the roof about a dozen buildings in front of us, a dark brooding shadow against the glare of the moon above.
As silently as we could, we made our way towards the shadow that could only be Perri. Naturally, we made enough noise to wake up the neighbourhood – I slipped on a loose tile at one point, making Annie shriek in terror and quickly yank me back. I barely restrained myself from laughing – she saw the humour on my face, though, and slapped me hard.
Perri didn't move when we finally reached her, carefully sliding in on either side of her. She was sitting on a ledge of an old hotel, all wood and slanted rooves, the windows boarded up and the walls covered in graffiti. From her spot, she had the perfect view of another house – also old and boarded up, large and three storeys high with a gabled roof and what was once a picket fence blocking it away from the rest of the dark street.
It looked like it was straight from a horror film. Predictably. Why couldn't it have been a nice, one-storey family home in the middle of the day, with a nice mowed lawn and little trimmed poppy flowers? Oh wait, that's right. Wouldn't have gone in with the 'vampire/killing/death' themes so common in this damned story.
"I should've known," she said softly after a few moments. "I should've tried reverse psychology or something."
"We would've come anyway," Annie pointed out. Perri pulled a face.
"Of course. Bloody kids. Always hated them."
"Well, you love us and we love you, Perri, so get used to it."
"Meh."
"Shouldn't it be 'Bah, humbug'?"
"Shut up."
"Nope. So what's the low-down?"
"Don't go corny American cop movie on me."
"Fine then, what's the sitch?"
"…I don't even want to know what that's from."
"Disney's Kim Po-"
"Shut up right there."
"Yes mum."
"…Perri, explain please," I finally said, shivering against the cold. She glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.
"Why so brusque?"
I turned my head slightly so that I could glare at her.
"I'm sitting here, perched on the edge of the roof, freezing my -" insert obscenity here "- ass off just for you. I think that's reason enough to be 'brusque'."
"Again with the 'forking'. Anyway, it was your choice to be here – I said I didn't want you, remember? So no complaining."
"Just tell us."
"What do you think? Staking the house out. Watching for activity. So far I've seen no activity outside, but there has been movement on the inside of the house, visible through the boards. Naturally, I plan to find a weak spot, infiltrate the house, and kill all I can sink my axes into."
"Now that's a plan," I said dryly.
"Hey, you said yourself this was suicidal. Might as well make it a rampage. What did they call it in Kill Bill? Oh yes. A 'roaring rampage of revenge'. How poetic."
"Perri…" Annie said softly. Perri grunted.
"I don't like the tone of your voice so far."
"If we're going to go in and risk our lives with you, you might as well tell us why."
Perri was silent, her eyes never leaving the old, quiet house on the other side of the street. It was some time before she finally answered.
"The man I want to kill is in there. The thing that gave me this scar. The thing that ruined my life."
"And why do you want to kill him, dammit?"
"Didn't you hear what I said before?! Revenge!" Perri hissed, her fists clenching. "He killed something of mine, I kill him. Simple, right? Right. If you're coming with me, shut up and follow."
And with that, she grabbed the edge of the ledge and flipped straight off.
"Perri" Annie and I hissed at the same time, scrambling forward and peering over the edge. She was standing on an even smaller ledge that was once used as a window garden, glaring up at us.
"I'm not committing suicide yet, idiots. I've still got a bastard to kill, remember?"
Then she looked down and began her descent. Next to me, Annie scowled.
"Great. Now we go down."
"And down we shall go," I told her. "I'll go first then catch you."
Biting her lip, she nodded.
"Just don't slip, okay?"
"Okay."
By the time we reached the ground, Perri had scrambled across to the other side of the street, and was pressed against the few planks of wood that made up the fence. She was busily peering around the corner when we slipped beside her.
"Now what?" I whispered.
"Now we make a run for the basement window."
"Why there?"
"It's the only window that isn't boarded up. Have a look for yourself."
Quietly, I shuffled around her and peered around the corner. Just on the corner of the large house, right down on the ground, was a rectangular window. My face fell.
"How the hell am I supposed to get through there?"
Perri peered at me.
"We'll figure something out."
Then she was gone, running off towards the house. Annie and I watched as she pressed herself against the wall next to the window, glanced around –then brought her hand back and broke the window. All three of us winced at the same time as the glass shattered, tinkling onto the ground on the inside of the basement.
"As if they didn't hear that…" I growled. Annie just 'hmphed' beside me, and shifted her weight.
Perri was vigorously gesturing for us to join her. I nodded. Once she knew I would follow, she turned around and slipped through the window.
"Dammit, she's already gone in."
"We'd better hurry then."
Together, we ran to the house, keeping low to the ground in case any of the vampaneze decided to glance through the cracks of the boarded-up windows. Not that it would have mattered. They would have heard us already.
When we got to the window, I skidded to my knees and peered through. In the darkness, I could just see Perri's pale face looking up at me, a crooked cat-grin on her face.
"We'd never make it as cat burglars," I said. She shrugged.
"We're hunters, not burglars. There's a very subtle difference between the two."
"What's that?"
"Hunters like to make noise when they get closer to their prey."
"…that doesn't make sense."
"It wasn't meant to. Shut up and get down here."
I sighed and did as I was told, gently placing my gloved hands on the outside of the window frame and slipping in. It was a tight squeeze, but I just managed it, landing softly onto the ground. Quickly, I turned around to help Annie down.
"Ouch!" She hissed loudly as soon as she put her hands on the frame. She pulled her right hand back – there was a long, irregular cut along the palm of her hand. She swore at it, then slipped down between Perri and me.
"You could've cleaned it out a bit, Perri!" She growled. Perri shrugged, grabbing on of her daggers and cutting off the bottom of her jumper.
"Just wrap this around it for now," she said softly, holding out the raggedy bit of black material. Annie rolled her eyes and wrapped the cloth around her shaking hand, muttering something under her breath.
Meanwhile, I searched the small basement for – well, anything at all. It was empty, except for the dust and a few lengths of chain scattered around the room, while an old-looking wooden staircase was set in the corner, leading up to a closed door. With a grin, I leaned over and picked one chain up, hefting the heavy length of metal. It made a loud clinking sound as it swung.
"Just like a bikie," I grinned, glancing back over towards the girls. Perri was smiling crookedly again.
"A bikie, eh? I was a bikie once. Much fun. Let's go."
She began up the staircase, at the same time slipping her two small axes from their spot, in the back of her jeans. I was next, still holding my chain in my left hand, my evil-looking sword in the other. Annie came last, one dagger clutched in her shaking hands.
Perri reached the door. Slowly, she looked back at us, and held up three fingers. She dropped one. Then two. As the last finger dropped, she slowly turned the doorknob.
The door creaked open.
Almost as perfectly as a soldier, Perri threw herself through the door in an army roll and straightened on her knees, her axes held before her in a defensive position. Annie and I tumbled in after her, a little less spectacularly, but you got the basic idea. We glanced around wildly, our bodies tense, ready and waiting for the vampaneze to leap out at us –
But nothing came.
"…I thought you said you saw activity inside…" Annie growled.
"I did," Perri growled back. "They're in hiding."
Movement flashed in the corner of my eye. In a flash, I whirled around to face it, my sword held before me.
The figure stepped forward, a deeper darkness in the darkness that surrounded us. As my eyes continued to adjust to the lack of light, I was able to see that this shadow was somewhat shorter than me, wearing an overlarge black hooded jumper, hands hidden away in the front pockets. I couldn't see the person's face.
"Perri," I hissed. As one, the person and Perri snapped their faces towards each other. There seemed to be a hesitation – and then the figure disappeared, fading into the darkness almost as quickly as it appeared.
"What the hell was that all about?" I growled.
"I don't know, but I didn't like it," Perri told me, pushing passed me and walking in the direction the shadow disappeared to. "Come on."
"Perri, did it ever occur to you that the activity you saw could've been ghosts…?" Annie whispered behind me. I glanced at her, then reached my left hand out.
"Come on," I said softly. She took my hand with her right one, and together we followed Perri, never letting our guard down.
With the exception of the strange person, we didn't see a single sign of life throughout all the rooms we looked through. It was a large house, hugely in need of looking after, and yet wherever we looked, we could see no sign of anything. We did find several holes in the wooden flooring, however, especially when I fell through said holes.
We had almost completely searched the whole lower level when it happened.
We were in the largest room, which we had already searched to no success. While figuring out what to do next, something creaked loudly near us.
"…what was that?" Annie asked in a small voice.
"Isn't it obvious, little girl?" A voice asked from the darkness. It was a low, rich voice, the accent heavily German. "It was a loose wooden plank, creaking under the weight of a clumsy vampaneze."
"I recognise that voice," Perri growled, her hands tightening around the handles of her axes. "I know that damned voice."
"Of course you do, meine leibling – yet I almost did not recognise you," the voice said, this time from behind us. We whirled around, only to find more darkness.
"Come out, you coward!" Perri yelled.
"You have not grown much in the way of height," the voice continued, once again from a different spot, "but you seem to be much stronger, both physically and mentally. And meine Gott! Your hair is different too!"
"Show yourself, dammit!" She yelled.
And then suddenly, there he was, standing close behind Perri, one hand wrapping itself around her waist, the only hand holding her chin. One long-nailed thumb stroked her tattoo as he pressed his face against hers.
The vampaneze was tall and lean, though his muscles were clearly shown through the material of his shirt despite the darkness. His hair was long and pure snow white though his long, stern face was fairly young. His skin, like all vampaneze, was blotched purple, his eyes a deep, dark crimson red.
"Now this… this has also changed… Last I recall, you had three very special scars on this cheek, my little falcon…"
"Perri!" I yelled, jumping forward and hefting my sword. At the same moment, Perri yanked herself from the vamp's grip, stumbling forward.
The vampaneze's eyes flashed towards me. Then in one practised move, he stepped forward and to the side – and grabbed my throat.
It was a sensation I hadn't felt in a long time. As he lifted me up, a sneer printed over his blotched face, I felt his strong hand closing in on my throat, making my air passage tighten painfully. I gave a strangled cry, my face contorting in pain, but I didn't let go of my weapons.
"Steve!" Annie cried.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the vamp said, glancing over to Perri. "Your apprentice is feisty." And with that, he released me, tossing me several metres away as easily as if I were the proverbial rag doll. I landed on the ground, gasping for breath. Annie was at my side in moments, making sure I was okay. Seconds later, I was back on my feet, tilting my head from side to side to crack the bones in my neck, ready for action.
That was when I noticed we had more friends to play with.
They had appeared almost soundlessly – or maybe they were always there – all grinning wickedly and swinging their weapons in classic street brawler fashion. Slinking in the background, as if trying to hide behind the others, was the small black shadow we had seen before.
I did a quick count as Perri joined us, the three of us making a tight circle.
Twenty-two.
"I like our odds," I said. Perri snorted.
"I wouldn't bet on these odds even if would save the world," she hissed back. "But I'm sticking with my plan. Just remember – Marcus is mine."
"Which one's Marcus?" Annie asked. If she could have, Perri would have glared at her.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Just making sure."
"It's been… how long, Peregrine? Eight years?" Marcus was saying, stepping towards us calmly, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Eleven, actually," she growled in reply. He shrugged carelessly, waving the number away.
"Time matters not when you have hundreds of years to live."
"Too bad your life ends tonight!" Perri spat. Marcus snorted, coming to a stop before her.
"So young, yet so full of anger," he said softly, then shook his head. "A pity."
He stepped back and gave a shrill whistle. Within microseconds, they were upon us, a screeching, mauling mass of purple and red. By right, we, three simple humans, had no chance of winning against twenty-odd fully blooded vampaneze. But we were going to fight, and fight we did. We fought with everything we had.
I slashed and swung, hacked and thwacked, quickly loosing sight of the other two in the press. The vamps were so closely pressed together that it was almost impossible for them to lash out without accidentally hitting one of their allies. That was good for me, though. Everywhere I swung my sword, I struck purple flesh, and soon had a small circle of space around me, the vamps too wary to get in range of my chain and sword.
And then, as suddenly as things happen in all fights, I was facing Marcus, my chest heaving from exertion. The tall man was looking down at me calmly, his hands still clasped behind his back.
"Ah," he said. "The feisty apprentice."
There was a hiss of movement as the vampaneze's hand flashed past my cheek – I winced as his nails cut deep through my flesh, drawing blood.
I jumped back, raising my sword and rattling my length of chain as a warning, muscles tensed, ready for the vamp's next attack.
But he didn't attack.
Marcus was looking at his hand, almost in wonder. Then he slowly lifted it, his tongue flickering out of his mouth. And then I realised: he was tasting the blood on his hands. My blood.
"Your blood," he said softly in his German accented voice, closing his eyes as he licked his hand again. It was almost as if he enjoyed the taste. "It is so… good. So tainted. So evil."
"I'm not evil!" I yelled, and leaped forward, my sword slashing savagely across his body. He simply stepped out of the way, sending me almost sprawling into the wall.
"Oh," he said, cocking his head to the side, smiling slightly. "I believe I've struck a nerve."
"STEVE!"
My head whipped around to find a struggling Annie getting lifted into a fireman's lift and thrown over someone's shoulders – on the other side of the room, the same was happening to an unconscious Perri, blood trickling from a wound on her scalp.
"Annie!" I yelled.
A palm slammed into my chest with enough force to wind me completely and send me flying into the wall once more. I struck the plaster, making it crack under my weight, then slid to the ground, my body absolutely screaming in agony. Somehow, though, I managed to stand up, pushing myself up off the ground and swaying on my feet. The corners of my vision began to blur in an all too familiar way.
Marcus' smirking face swam before me, and he stepped forward, gripping the front of my jacket. My knees gave way, yet he still was able to support me, his face close to mine.
"I can sense something in you, Herr Feisty. A want for revenge. A want for power. I can give you these things. I can give you everything you ever wanted. But first, you have to find us. Find us," he said, and stepped back, pushing me away from him. I teetered on my feet, trying to find my balance. "Find us, Herr Feisty, and you will have everything. You have twenty-four hours. After that, there is no telling what my boys will do to the ladies."
And with that, he turned around and walked away. I collapsed to my knees, my whole head spinning. Dimly, I was aware of the small shadow in black kneel in front of me. Slowly, a small, pale white hand reached forward to touch my face. The shadow looked up. In that split second, I saw his face.
And then I collapsed completely.
While I was in the world of darkness, it wasn't a pair of blue-green eyes that kept me company.
Despite the fact that the face that held them was young, the eyes were ancient and wise, brown, round and full of a deep, terrible sadness, as if they were born with the sadness, and it was buried deep within their core. They say that eyes are a mirror of the soul – if that was so, then this soul was the epitome of pathos.
This soul was completely filled with tragedy.
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A.N Hey! I'm still in the Philippines as I post this! Mmm, yummy, Toblerones… ehehehe… My aunty gave me two large Toblerones for my birthday… XD I feel spekal.
By the way, I've written pieces of the next chapter. It's so FUN! Mwuahaha. I love that character. XD He's sho kyute. XDXD Poor Steve. He is feeling a little overwhelmed by these two…. Ehehehehehe….
Well, I was in the Philippines when I typed that. I'm home now – yayness! Hehehe! By the way, Delico – damn you. You've given me inspiration. There shall be another Daegan story. Evil person you.
Die Kikyo Die: Darren action, hmmm? Okay. There will be some. But not in this story, nor in the way you'll probably like… XD
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Next Chapter:
Nineteen: To Hell We Ride
I slid to the ground, one hand still on the wall, the other supporting me. My cheeks were wet with tears that I hadn't noticed appear, spilling down onto the ground in fat, heavy drips. My nose ran.
"Damn, damn, damn!" I groaned.
"It's not the end of the world, you know," a voice said.
I sprang to my feet, my hands going up in a defensive position.
"Who's there?" I asked, glancing around frantically.
"My name is of no concern," the voice continued. It was young, but at the same time ancient. It had the quality of a rusted bell – once loud, cheerful and musical, now rusted away to a small, dry sound, monotonous and sad. Then the person stepped into view.
It was the hooded stranger.
