"I am a vampire hunter," D said, "all I need is information, if you have something the Nobility wants I am curious to find out what it is, other than that, food and board while you hire me is all I require for payment."
Katarina put the paper in his pocket, "all right fine, room and food, I get it, come on," he said heading back to his shop. As he walked he past the same group of two guys and a girl who he had earlier. Once again they spoke in whispers that Katarina could hear.
"I heard that Rose was just taken by a vampire," the girl said.
"I'm sure its Katarina's fault," one of the guys said.
Katarina growled, "it doesn't take a minute for you slack jawed losers to gossip does it? Nothing gets past you huh?"
The girl pulled out a fan and began fanning herself, "well that was uncalled for, so unlike your father, he was a gentleman."
"Maybe I would act like a gentleman if you didn't look like a whore hanging out with all these men," Katarina stated.
The girl suddenly stopped fanning herself, "well I never!"
"I don't believe you," Katarina said walking off and heading for his shop once more.
D followed quietly into the shop. It was obvious the boy wasn't very popular, at least not in the way that would flatter a person. He looked around the shop, "just curious, what do you sell here?" he asked while gestering around the room.
"Antiques, jewelry, pretty much anything valuable," Katarina said walking to a back room door. He tried to turn the knob on the door but it was stuck. He gave a sigh, "ooookay then," he said. He then turned to the side and bumped the door with his hip causing it to loosen and open.
"You can stay in here," he said gesturing to the bedroom which didn't look half as old as it was, decorated in all white with a bed and dresser.
"Antiques huh?" D said, "by any chance, did the first Katarina acquire anything strange for the shop? Something that would still be around and be of use after all these years?"
Katarina began tugging on the dresser drawer knob, trying to pull it open. He struggled but soon began to talk, "why does it matter? I don't care about what the vampires want, I just want Rose back," with that he yanked the knob off and fell to the floor.
Holding the knob he laughed, "that drawer won't be working," he then stood up, brushing himself off, "besides Rose's family will be worried, and I don't want that."
"So do you have any idea which count took her? If I remember right, there are at least 10 different ones within 20 miles of here," D said in a cool voice.
Katarina pulled out the letter, "it says a castle in the Newport's, that's a desert area with very impressive technology," he explained putting the letter back in his pocket, "so when you go do I get to come?" he asked innocently.
"No," D said, "I do not know if Rose has been bitten by Nobility, so if she was they might use her as a lever and that would be a liability. Also if you were captured and they got the information they wanted, who knows what they could do. Worst case scenario? They would find a way to walk in the day," D said while sitting down in a chair.
"You could have just said no," Katarina said in a rather annoyed tone. That long drawn out statement was a bit much just to disappoint the boy. He would have said something else but there was a knock on his door. He walked over to it and saw a tall man in a business suit.
"Yes?" Katarina questioned looking up at the tall man.
"I am Jerimi, I am here to pick up my order, which I believe was prepaid," the man stated handing Katarina a slip of paper.
Katarina read over the paper, "oh so you're the one who ordered this? Now that's a shocker," he said going behind the counter. From behind it he pulled a large box with holes poked in it. He stubbled to lift it with both hands then slammed it on the counter.
"Had you waited any longer it wouldn't be here for you, and I DO NOT give refunds," Katarina said pushing the box so Jerimi could get it. The box gave a little thrash and Jerimi took it in his arms giving a slight nod to Katarina and heading out the door.
"If I had just said no, you would've insisted on coming, now what was in the box?" D asked quickly changing the subject.
"An alligator, want one?" Katarina said whipping his hands on a napkin. It was at this time when he realized something, "what is your name? I should have been asked this, I know."
"Its D, the rest is unimportant," he said.
Katarina was just about to make a smart mouth remark to what D had just told him but was interrupted by someone knocking on his door again. He walked over to the door and saw an old man with a walking stick, "excuse me, but I have a package that I think was suppose to come to you young man," he said lifting up the package to Katarina.
On the brown box in big letters it did indeed say "To: Katarina the 4th".
"Um thank you," Katarina said taking the package and bowing a little. The old man gave a smile and made his way back to where ever he was suppose to be.
Katarina closed the door with his butt and read the package out loud and proudly, "To Katarina the 4th from Pop Pop."
"Pop pop?" D asked from his chair.
Katarina smiled, "yeah, pop pop," he said opening the package. Katarina's eyes lit up at what he saw in the box, "all right! He did it!" He pulled out a rather large wooden mallet and read the note tied on the end of the handle, "all fixed."
Katarina ripped the note off and tossed it in the nearest trash can. After placing the mallet behind the counter, Katarina went to the door and flipped the "Open" sign to the side that said "Closed."
"Okay, what do you want for dinner?" he asked sitting in a metal rocking chair with one foot in the seat and the other on the floor rocking him gently.
"Anything's fine," D said, "so tell me, do you have any idea what these vampires are after?"
"I don't know, maybe they want this lovely crystal vase," Katarina said picking up the vase sarcastically. He then tossed it over his shoulder listening to it shatter, "nope, I have no idea."
With that said he stood up and went into another room/kitchen, to see what he had to eat closing the door behind him.
D sighed, "well this is troubling. Since we don't know what they want, they don't know how they would treat their hostage," D said as the door slammed shut.
Katarina look through the shelves and decided that he didn't feel like cooking so he started working on a sandwich.
As he went to cut the bread he found that the knife was dull. He sharpened it and to test it out he threw it at the wood door. It stuck within it standing straight on its own.
"Maybe that isn't the best way to vent," he mumbled to himself pulling out the knife.
"You're right about that," D called through the door.
"Oh shut up, it's not like I hit you," Katarina called, still pulling the knife from the door.
"Hey I'm just saying it isn't healthy to vent like that," D said in an amused voice as he heard the knife being pulled out the door.
"Only to those on the other end of the blade," Katarina said walking in with the sandwich and placing it down on a table, "there ya go, you said anything so I made a sandwich!" he added proudly.
"Not really," D said while eating his sandwich, "had I been so inclined I could have caught the knife when you threw it."
"I'm sure cowboy," Katarina said flicking D's hat as he walked past him.
Katarina went to the front of the shop and saw a group of people in the distance. He headed for the crowd and hid behind a tree watching them.
"Rose is gone!" her mother exclaimed.
"That's right, taken by vampires," the girl from earlier told her.
"Just what do we do?" her mother cried.
"I say we toss Katarina out of the picture," another woman shouted.
"Yeah," a guy said.
"But he's just a child," Rose's mother said.
"He's the reason your child is gone lady!" a guy yelled and was suddenly on the ground with Katarina behind him and his right fist up.
"Shut up," Katarina said and turned to Rose's mother, "hey, I'll get her back," he gave a smile and stuck up his thumb, "kay?"
Rose's mother gave a slight gasp, she was about to say something but Katarina ran off.
"That idiot," D muttered roughly from where he was standing behind a tree. He had followed Katarina, he knew his type, hot headed and acting before they thought, such a dangerous thing. He hopped onto his horse and rode a distance after Katarina.
Katarina ran into his shop and got a bag of things, dropping the mallet in as well before leaving out the shop and out the gates of the small village. With a cherry sucker hanging in his mouth, he made his way to the open fields that would lead to god knows where.
He soon came to a fork in the road, putting his index finger to his lips he wondered which way to go. He ignored the fact that D was following him without his permission as he went down the left path.
Half way down it he came to the end with a sign reading "dead end" but a continuous path beyond it.
"Oh, just as I thought," Katarina muttered in an amused tone, he then threw his arms into a shrug, "oh well, at least I can go back."
The surrounding bushes began to rustle and Katarina turned to walk back to the fork and three mutants appeared from behind the bushes where they hid.
Katarina looked over his shoulder and smirked, "ah, just as I thought," he repeated softly.
"Moron," D cursed under his breath as he watched Katarina's predicament. He considered saving him but decided he would let Katarina get out of his own mess and only help if he proved to need it. D climbed into a nearby tree to get a better view of the impending fight.
Katarina kicked one mutant away without turning who was getting to close for his liking. When the mutant's actions proved to be to slow for comfort Katarina turned around with his hands on his head, "ah, so you are just a puppet, but who is controlling the strings?" he asked aloud.
"Good question," D muttered from his perch in the tree. Looking around he noticed a man on top of a nearby hill.
"Who's this?" D asked as he jumped from the tree and ran towards the man on the hill.
"Bout time he made himself useful," Katarina sighed. He pulled the mallet out of his bag and tossed it at the mutants, hitting each in the head and causing them to fall out. The mallet rounded and returned to Katarina and he caught it, placing it back in his bag.
