A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed, this chapter is for you! ;)
dialogue – thoughts
"dialogue" – speaking
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Chapter 6:
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It had been steadily growing darker, until clouds obscured what had been showing of the afternoon sun. And over the past hour, the clouds had then shadowed, changing to an ill-omened murky grey, and blocking out any further light. Milly and Meryl had weaved their way around the darkest parts of London, daring into the darkest allies and straying from the crowds. They had watched and waited, paced up and down, ran around in circles and retraced their steps several times.
And every time, they came out empty-handed.
"Sempai, its like they all disappeared…" said Milly softly, glancing up at the darkening sky.
Meryl tried to ignore the feeling of frustration growing inside her, "That's silly, Milly, where could they have gone?? Why would they disappear??"
Choosing to stay silent, the taller woman shrugged slightly.
Meryl growled slightly, a portentous sound in the dank alley where they stood, welcoming all bloodsuckers. But it was true. Where could they go and why would they hide? Vampires were supposed to suck blood, to come upon people unawares, to slay without exceptions or mercy. They were supposed to jump up at the chance to stalk their prey through a dark alley and watch as they slowly died. And here they were, standing in the gloomy darkness, narrow buildings looming overhead, breathing in the succulence of stale, mouldy air.
So why weren't they swarming all around like usual?
Milly sighed; "Maybe they are taking a break, you know, relaxing a little…" she trailed off when she received an incredulous look from her partner.
The petite woman made sure to retort heatedly, just to vent some of her growing frustration, "Milly, I don't think vampires relax. Especially when two healthy women like us are wandering aimlessly down their allies with no one to accompany them!"
"Well…" Milly tried again, "Maybe they're afraid of the gun. I don't think vampires are stupid, sempai. They wouldn't run head first into danger."
Meryl snorted and crossed her arms, "I don't know." She said, ending the subject, and turned around to regard the alley with a look of distaste, "Lets get out of this street, though, it's giving me the creeps."
Milly nodded in agreement and they started off toward next road, stun gun (umbrella) and derringers ready.
But both women were very unaware to the eyes watching them carefully, taking in every move somewhat warily with a cautious eye. They did not notice when a dark shadow treaded across the grimy alley and followed them close behind without a sound or trace. They hadn't noticed it the whole day.
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Nicholas D. Wolfwood stood wordlessly near his front window, watching the outside from the inside with shady eyes. The curtains were drawn slightly, bathing the room in a dimness that darkened only the far corners of the space and shadowed the rest in a light grey. A cigarette was placed between his lips—smoking happily—while in his hand was a cup of steaming tea. It wasn't the greatest mix, but he didn't care.
Right now, he was worried.
Well, only slightly worried.
Only slightly worried about the Big girl and Meryl, that is.
The priest was all too aware that the two women were well enough to help themselves, to defend themselves if the time came. After all, they were involved in the most dangerous practice to come around in a long while. But he couldn't shake the feeling of worry that had plagued him ever since Meryl had told him of the half-blood vampire that she had encountered only…three nights ago?
Had it already been that long?
And without sight or sound of him since??
It was too odd for his liking.
Meryl was getting herself in deep, too deep. Milly had dropped by early last night to tell him she would be out today with the short girl, out hunting for the vampire Meryl seemed to be so intrigued with. She hadn't answered any of his other questions, such as "Why?" or "What's the point?"
What was the point? If he hadn't come after her by now, it probably meant he never would. One brush with Meryl had probably scared him away, and he didn't blame the poor soul. Well…maybe he wasn't a poor soul. More like an unfortunate.
But he had his suspicions.
He had an idea what was going on.
Meryl had never insisted on following around vampires before in the eight years she had been hunting. It was either you find it and put it out of its misery, or you leave it alone if you didn't come across it. Vampires usually weren't stupid enough to hold grudges, especially not with a character like Meryl. They probably wouldn't come after an experienced hunter if they knew what was good for them. Why did the Short girl have a sudden interest in this one?
He didn't know, exactly. He just had his suspicions.
All he needed to do was wait. Wait until someone told him what was going on in that short girl's mind. Wait until someone decided to tell him what had happened, because he was as curious as hell.
And he was worried…
And that brought him back to the start again.
Wolfwood watched as the first drop of rain fell, hitting the cobbled street before thousands of others followed. Soon, the sky was smudged grey and anything far away way was much too blurred to be seen. The towers of London were streaked black, a muddy brown. Water pelted his window mercilessly, running down in thick veins before falling to the ground, and an endless pitter-patter sounding over and over.
He removed the cigarette from his mouth to take a sip of the tea.
The priest's nose immediately wrinkled in disgust, and he fought to urge to spit the liquid back out.
He had never liked tea…so why the hell had he made it?
Shaking his head, Wolfwood turned away from the window as Big Ben's echoingbong penetrated the cold stillness of the afternoon. It was four o'clock…
He hoped one of the women had had the sense enough to bring along an umbrella, at least.
--
Meryl instinctively twitched as the a drop of rain hit her nose, and she only had to wait a few more seconds before more water began to plummet from the heavens in a promise to wash away all the evil in the land. Scowling, she pulled her hood up, but only had to wait a moment before that was soaked through too. No matter how much rain fell—and there was a hell of a lot right now—there was too much evil in the land for rain to wash away.
But where had she heard that before?
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Meryl watched as Milly unfurled the umbrella. The taller woman had voted to carry it after they had had no success in finding any vampires in over three hours. This was crazy. They were out here in the pouring rain looking for a character that probably wasn't even in London anymore. She watched as her friend shook out the shelter and held it up above her head before motioning Meryl to join her.
She dove under the cover of the wide canopy and flipped back her sodden hood. She had always been like that. Remembering the smallest things that could make the biggest difference in the end.
And she was about to turn and thank her partner when the words were lost and died on her lips.
That was when she saw it.
Just a slight discolouring within the rest of the murky darkness, but nonetheless she could see it.
A shadow.
Tall and ominous. It watched them, glared at them. She could tell it detested them, the hate radiated in waves from its body, pulsing outward through the rain and darkness to penetrate her soggy cloak.
Meryl shuddered and nudged Milly hard in the ribs, a warning sign she would often use during the job.
"Sempai?" was the immediate inquiry to the warning, "What's wrong, sempai?"
Meryl turned to her friend and placed a finger to her lips. The taller woman obviously hadn't seen the vampire yet, "Shhhh! Milly, just start walking towards the main road, I'll be right behind you!" her words came out in a harsh whisper, and she knew the shadow had probably heard her anyway. Setting her teeth, she tried to shoo her friend away, hoping to make a quick getaway before this ended up turning nasty.
Giving her a concerned glance, Milly repeated, "Sempai, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to find him…" she trailed off as Meryl gave her a quick, desperate glance.
But it was quite funny, really. They had come to find a vampire but only ended up being scared off when they found one. Or more like this one found them.
It must be the rain, Meryl told herself weakly, I've never ran around looking for vampires in the pouring rain before, and I'm not about to now! Even speaking reassuringly in her mind did her no good, and as a second shadow—more visible—joined the first, she knew her instincts had been right.
Meryl watched helplessly as more shadows began to appear in the darkness around them, unaffected and unfazed by the rain slapping loudly on the stones. It was only then when Milly noticed their visitors and turned to her partner with wide eyes.
"Sempai?!" she whispered hoarsely, voice frantic, "Sempai! There are too many!"
Meryl could hardly hear Milly's strained voice over the loud sheets of water striking the cobblestones with renewed force, rendering their umbrella almost useless and quickly seeping through her cloak. The downpour sounded like hail, it was so heavy. She shook her head in dismay. She was positive that the vampires could hear Milly even when she struggled to catch the words.
"I know." She stated simply, but dolefully, hardly loud enough for her friend to hear.
If it was possible for Milly to look even more surprised, it was when Meryl admitted their soon-to-be-defeat. Setting her jaw firmly, she literally frowned down upon her partner, "Well, sempai, I don't know about you, but I'm not going down without a fight!" the tall woman adjusted the stun gun on her shoulder and took up a ready stance—all the while glaring at the bloodsucking creatures increasing in numbers every moment.
Meryl's brow creased in worry. It was hopeless, but she wasn't going to start fighting without a reason. They hadn't shown any hostility other than the simple act of surrounding them, and by now they had stopped gathering. The result was a thick ring of shadowed forms watching the two occupants of the centre of the circle.
The petite woman squared her shoulders and held an arm in front of Milly, sending her a warning look before stepping out from her shelter. Immediately, she soaked through with the harsh downpour, and she could have sworn it began bouncing off her cloak when it was so wet it could no longer hold any more water. Wiping the rain from her vision and approaching the shadow—the one that had appeared first, she felt the unease grown in her stomach once more.
Oh, great, Stryfe! What a perfect time to feel sick! She almost wanted to hit herself, Right when the bloodsucking demons show up, you feel ill. If I didn't know myself like I do, I'd swear you were scared of them!
Meryl came to a stop about five meters away, standing directly in front of the figure and trying desperately to control the weakness that suddenly seemed to plague her as the nausea came.
"What do you want?" she asked over the pounding rain that had reduced her hair to stringy curls matting her face, creating pathways for streaming water to slip down her cheeks and fall into her eyes. She raised her hand up to clear her vision once again and spat water from her mouth.
The figure stayed silent for a moment before stepping quietly out from the shadows, letting the rain pelt its tall form. It seemed unfazed by the deluge.
Meryl stayed silent, watching the shadow warily as it revealed its true height to her. She blinked through the chilly shower, staring up at the vampire.
Could it be…?
Meryl assessed the shadowed form through the darkness and rain. It was the same height as that half-blood, the same build.
Could it be him…? She wondered warily, Is this the half-blooded vampire?
All her thoughts were banished as she caught a gleam of blue under the hood of the shadow, flashing blue in dim light. They were eyes. Cold, blue eyes. An abrupt choking sound escaped her throat as her eyes widened, and she took a staggering step backwards, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process.
Those eyes!
Meryl's only thought was to get away as quickly as possible, to run from those cold eyes. Unaware to the rain pounding her, Meryl squeezed her eyes shut and continued to back away, hoping and wishing that icy gaze would go away.
But it was not to be, and the shadow wasn't done there. It flew forward quickly—almost seeming to float—before knocking the petite woman off her feet and onto the wet, cold, hard cobblestones coated in a thin layer of soggy grime. A cold, hard laugh escaped its throat.
She landed painfully on her side and immediately gasped, curling up slightly as the shadow approached her. The rain continued to shower almost painfully upon her, and she could feel her body begin to numb. She shuddered, but did not move from her spot on the cold ground.
Meryl heard the brief words of "stupid spider," before a loud, outraged voice yelled from behind her, piercing though the pounding rain. The small woman recognized her partner's voice immediately.
"Hey, you bully!" Milly was heard clearly over the rain, "Leave Meryl alone!" the tall woman had dropped the "sempai" again.
And no more than a second after the call, a loud shot was fired, and Meryl knew Milly's stun gun had been fired at the shadow hovering over her. Mentally thanking her friend for her good instincts, Meryl glanced up through the rain, shielding her face with a stiff arm.
You could believe that she was dismayed when the vampire sidestepped quickly. The shot hit the ring behind him, and the shadowed form seemed to slither away to the sideline. Milly scowled slightly and shot three more times, each directed at the vampire, and each time he managed to avoid them.
Taking her chance, Meryl stumbled up, backing hastily away from the blue-eyed vampire even as it backed off from the stun gun that aimed at it once again. She was breathing heavily the whole time, feeling both sick and weak. Rain ran down her face and into her mouth, leaving a gritty taste that was quite unpleasant, but one that she didn't seem to notice.
I need to get away! She thought frantically, all the while only slightly aware of the throbbing on the back of her neck.
She backed hastily into the centre of the circle, toward Milly—who was frantically trying to get her gun back together to take another shot. The rain continued to pound down upon them all, making everything slippery and chilling them to the bone. It obscured her vision, stinging her eyes so badly that she almost didn't see when the whole circle shifted as one, closing swiftly in on the two.
She was numb.
Coming back to her senses after her painful encounter, she looked up just in time to see a vampire hurtling itself at her. Yelling out a quick warning, Meryl did the only thing that came to her mind, and snatched the discarded umbrella from the ground where it had been dropped. Beside her, Milly aimed her stun gun steadily at the group that seemed to be throwing themselves at her, indifferent to the danger that waited with a gun mounted on her shoulder. Both women struck out bravely at the same time, trying to defend themselves from the mob.
Meryl sent the umbrella into one of the revealed shadows, and pushed it off to the side before efficiently smacking the next vampire over the head with twice the force.
"Milly!" she called out to her partner, "Milly, follow me!" Meryl glanced over at the tall woman before swiping out with the umbrella.
Milly nodded, and Meryl ploughed through the mass with Milly close behind.
Unnoticed to all went the silent observer, a mere shadow like the others, but not one with cruel intentions. He watched silently, not taking his eyes from the group before him. He was no participant in the violent scene before him.
The two women broke through the distorted ring at the same time and broke into a run down the remaining length of the alley. Meryl's legs were numb with the cold rain continuously pounding down upon her, and Milly was in no better shape with her stun gun perched heavily on her aching shoulder.
Glancing behind them, Meryl saw the throng of bloodsuckers had finally realized the partners had escaped and were now close behind, black shadows gaining swiftly.
They wouldn't last long with the vampires' speed against them.
Frowning, Meryl fell in beside the taller woman, "Milly, we have to lose them, they're too fast! We won't last long like this!" she swiped the rain from her eyes.
Milly nodded in determination and adjusted the gun on her shoulder, "Sempai, we turn left at this corner, it will lead us towards the main street running through the market! If we get into the crowds, we'll have a much better chance!" the tall woman blinked the water from her eyes and urged her numbed limbs to move quicker.
Meryl pulled a derringer from her saturated cloak, almost hoping to lighten the weight on her back, "Milly, nobody will be out in the rain!" she said, and the two women rounded the corner with their pursuers not far behind. The petite woman slipped suddenly, skidding on the wet stones, sliding off to the side and losing her balance. She stumbled slightly, struggling to regain her footing before the enemy overcame her.
Looking up, she was rather shocked to see no sign of Milly.
Maybe had slipped too…?
Meryl glanced around, peering through the heavy inundation.
But her friend wasn't in sight.
The petite woman resisted the urge to backtrack as the sound of shouts neared, and she recognized them of the throng perusing her. Taking off again, Meryl kept a keen eye out for her partner and tried—unsuccessfully—to increase the speed of her numbed legs.
Hadn't she read something about this that happened in Spain? Crazy madmen running through the narrow, winding streets and chased by rabid bulls intent on spearing them with their horns??
Hah! And they have it easy, Meryl thought bitterly, risking a glance back at the vampires swarming like a wave after her.
They didn't have a massive amount of irritated—and hungry bloodsuckers on legs running after them through the freezing rain and slippery roads with no lifeline if they happened to fall and be trampled, or even worse, relieved of all the blood in their body within five minutes…
Meryl shuddered and somehow found the courage to turn back and fire her derringer at the vampires. She waited a moment, watching the shadows creep upon her like darkness after day. Seeing that her gun did not—in fact—seem to perturb them, she got the distinct feeling of utter helplessness and decided to turn and run instead of wasting any more time.
Sometimes you have the most idiotic ideas, Stryfe!
Even her mind hated her now!
Grinding her teeth, the petite woman searched around for her partner. Where the hell had she gone? Leaving her friend out to face the enemy so outnumbered??
Using the last of her conscious strength—and rapidly depleting will—Meryl forced her frozen body and strained lungs to the limit as she rounded another corner and took off down the deserted, dark, wet and completely…long and endless looking street.
She could hear the bloodsuckers behind her, even though they hadn't yet rounded the corner. Or maybe that was just her completely panicked mind playing tricks on her. Shaking her head and blinking the rain from her eyes, Meryl tried to focus on positive thoughts.
Right!
Who was she kidding?? No partner, uncountable number of vampires each wanting to kill her first, who wouldn't be scared??
And just as utter panic began to grip her, her thoughts turning positively horrid, and Meryl's progress was halted rather abruptly as she was tripped up. The air forced from her lungs as she hit the hard street, Meryl hardly gave a objection when she was grabbed rather roughly and dragged—feeling only half conscious—into an adjoining alley with a large hand clamped firmly over her mouth.
When her spinning vision restored itself, and she finally realized what was happening, she struggled violently with rapidly depleting strength. And the distinct feeling that she was going to suffocate if she didn't get enough air, air that, while breathing through your nose, just didn't supply. Meryl was dragged off into the shadows and down another street without any strain whatsoever from the person holding her, however, and was completely helpless. The hand over her mouth prevented any voiced complaint (as if she could have said anything in her condition anyway) and her protests were ignored.
But with the frantic hope that Milly was indeed alive, Meryl certainly did not want to be dragged away from her friend if she was in trouble. She wasn't about to abandon her partner to vampires. She had to find Milly. So, fed up with her rough treatment the past while, and her anger finally managing to get the better of her, Meryl bit down—hard—on her kidnappers hand.
A strangled yelp was heard from "him", and she was released quickly, the coppery taste of blood on her tongue. It made her feel even more ill, but she fought against her weakness and pulled herself from her unknown assailant.
Meryl stumbled toward the alley wall where they stood and felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She quickly shook her head to clear her mind. Then, spinning around, she managed to pull a derringer from under her cloak and shove it roughly in the face of her would-be attacker.
Though, she nearly dropped it when her angry, smoky-grey eyes met bothered, and slightly uneasy aqua green ones.
Meryl stumbled back for the second time that day, her eyes wide and face pale—partly from the cold and partly from the person before her.
"I-Its you…!" she gasped, her voice suddenly loud in her ears, loud in the passage that was shielded from the furious downpour. Her derringer loosened from her fingers and clattered to the stones of the alleyway.
Imagine the irony of it all…
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A/N: Ooh…can you guess who it is?
--Cayenne Pepper Powder