(A/n: Please enjoy)
Chapter 36: Vincent Valentine
"Ike?"
Ike is currently panicking.
"Um, Ike?"
The boy rushes into his and Pip's bathroom, failing to hear his name being called a second time by the British teen. He opens the two small drawers of the sink, only to slam them shut when he doesn't find what he's searching so frantically for. He hurries back into the room going towards one of the dressers.
"Ike Broflovski!" He comes to a halt with a flinch, spinning around in Pip's direction, who's standing in between his and Ike's beds. Pip breathes a sigh of relief now that he's gotten Ike's attention. "Calm down, will you? What are you even searching for that's got you so antsy?"
Ike nips his bottom lip. "I-I can't find my library book."
Pip frowns in confusion. "Why didn't you go with Gregory to the Principal's office since you lost something too?"
Ike shifts his gaze to the floor. "I couldn't..." He's not supposed to let any vampires know of that book's existence, but now that it's missing...
"How come?" Pip inquires.
Ike wonders if it would be alright to tell him or rather would it even be a good idea to tell him. He trusts Pip, but not enough for him to keep his mouth shut when it comes to keeping a secret. But Ike is going to risk it, he seriously hopes he doesn't regret this in the future. He tenses, balling his hands into fists. "I'll tell you, but first..." He looks up into light blue eyes filled with concerning curiosity. "Promise me that you won't tell anybody."
Pip contemplates it for a second, appearing very confused now. "But-"
"Promise me."
The stern yet nervous gleam in Ike's cinnamon brown irises doesn't permit Pip to question him any further. "Okay, I promise." Ike studies his face trying to discern if he's lying or being honest. He's the latter. The moment Ike opens his mouth, the door opens. Walking in is Gregory and he looks irate. Closing the door without a word to either Ike or Pip, he heads straight to his bed and sits down on it with a heavy sigh, positioning his elbows on top of his thighs and interlocking his fingers. Setting his chin on top of his fingers, he glares across the room, the curtains of the big window holding his attention.
"Looks like things didn't go well with the Principal," Pip says to Ike in a low voice. As Pip walks over to Gregory, Ike goes to sit down on his own bed, placing himself in the middle facing Gregory while crisscrossing his legs. Pip nervously sits down next to the irritated teenager. "What did the Principal say?" Pip asks.
Gregory further creases his eyebrows. "I waited the whole fucking day just to be told that the issue will be looked into after they properly deal with the vampire hunter, plus the creator of this academy is coming over in a little while."
"The creator of this academy?" Ike repeats, on the verge of panicking all over again. He really needs to find that book.
"But...they were killed," Pip says under his breath.
But Gregory heard him since he's right next to him. He looks to him quizzically. "They were killed?"
Pip blinks, realizing his folly after a few seconds. His cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Ah, I-I was thinking about the founders of this building. F-forget what I said." He chuckles awkwardly. Ike is starting to feel glad that he didn't reveal to Pip what his library book's true identity is.
Gregory stares at Pip a moment longer, then glares back at the curtain. "Dead or whatever, my cutlass is far more important, and I want it to be found as soon as possible."
"Oh right, Ike has lost something of his as well." Ike curses Pip for switching the topic to his library book.
"I didn't lose my cutlass," Gregory corrects the other blonde in mild anger. "Someone had clearly stolen it while we were all out that night. I swear when I find the bastard who took it-"
"Gregory." A gentle hand touches his shoulder. "Please calm down." Gregory just huffs, Pip taking his hand off his shoulder. "Either someone stole Ike's book or he misplaced it," Pip suspects, looking over at Ike.
Ike knows for absolute certain that he did not misplace his book, which means..."I remember exactly where I last put it. You guys should know too since it's only ever been inside the nightstand over here." He jabs a thumb behind him at his and Pip's nightstand.
"That book must've been quite interesting for it to have been stolen as well," Gregory says sitting up straight as he separates his fingers, Ike not liking his suspecting tone. "Why didn't you come with me to the Principal's office? Even though we'd have to wait God knows how long for our stuff to be found, at least he would know."
Ike hardens his lips into a line. "I couldn't. The book isn't even supposed to be here."
Gregory nor Pip say a word for a second or two. "What do you mean?" Gregory eventually asks, curious.
"I was told by one of the librarians that the book was written by a human long ago, and that I was to keep it out of the vampires' sight. She said that vampire movies and t.v shows got their ideas from its contents."
"But did she say why it's not supposed to be here?" Gregory probes. "Is it a forbidden book?"
Ike shakes his head. "But I think I get why though. The author was a human, plus the librarian told me that they wrote myths and other nonsense while they also wrote a few truthful facts about them. It's not exactly learning material for a place filled with actual vampires."
Gregory purses his lips thoughtfully. "Hmm, I guess that makes sense," he says in understanding. "However the fact that she let you check it out doesn't."
Ike shrugs. "Well, she was skeptical about me wanting to check it out at first. I don't know why though."
"Probably because she thought you might get strange ideas from its contents."
Ike raises an eyebrow at Pip's assumption, then waves his hand dismissively. "Oh c'mon, I know better than to try and stab a vampire through the heart with a wooden stake. They'd kill me before I even tried!"
Pip shrugs. "Was just saying."
Suddenly, voices from within the hallway fill the momentary silence in their room. Gregory glimpses at the alarm clock, it's time for dinner. Ike and Pip put on their shoes, and the three of them walk out into the hallway, going straight to the cafeteria. Along the way, Ike warns Gregory not to tell anyone about the book. Gregory complies.
/
While mostly everyone within the building are heading to the cafeteria for dinner, Michael and Henrietta are standing in the center of the first floor. The man is wearing a fresh new turtleneck sweater and clean black pants.
"Are you sure he said he was gonna be here soon?" Henrietta asks, a little bit doubtful.
"Oh, I made sure to confirm it," Michael says resolutely.
"If you say so," Henrietta sighs crossing her arms underneath her breasts. "We've already been standing here for ten minutes."
Michael frowns at the double doors. "Well, it's still raining outside, and he's a bit of a clean freak so he's probably-" They suddenly sense more than one presence behind the doors. Both of the doors start opening.
"How rude of you, Michael," remarks a fairly tall and pretty looking pale-skinned man as him and three others walk inside. He's carrying a white wagasa (An oil-paper umbrella) decorated with pink flower vines, it's big enough to have protected them all from the rain. "Just because I like to be and keep things clean doesn't necessarily make me a clean freak." This man is Vincent Valentine. He has long platinum-colored hair that reached all the way down to his backside with the bangs of his hair resting over his shoulders, his almond-shaped eyes are closed. He's wearing two different shades of brightly colored, extravagant Japanese clothing that clash well with each other. He lowers his parasol away from their heads so as to not get any water on them when he closes it, black smoke engulfing it then it disappears. The doors behind them close with help from the breeze outside.
"I didn't say anything was wrong with being one," Michael says mirthfully with the roll of his eyes. "That aside, you didn't say you were gonna bring them along so why are they here?" It's been over a decade since he last saw them, they've grown up well thanks to being under Vincent's care.
"Wow, uncle is even rude to us," one of them, a 16 year old girl with medium-length red hair and blue eyes, comments in mock disbelief. She's wearing a red and black short jacket, blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. Her left ear has a black diamond stud in it.
"I-I thought uncle would've been happy to see us again..." The other young vampire's dark green eyes fill up with tears. He's wearing a black sweater, ripped blue jeans, and ankle leather boots. He's embraced from the side by his other sister, she starts petting his short and dark red hair while narrowing her maroon-colored eyes at Michael. Her somewhat long ebony hair is styled into a ponytail, and is held up by a glittery light blue and pink butterfly hair tie. She's wearing a dark purple sweater, a long black skirt, and black flats though her skirt is covering her feet. Both of them are 14 years old.
Michael sighs, and Henrietta laughs at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you three upset."
"I was obviously joking unlike those two," the redhead says referring to her younger siblings.
"Don't mind him, he's still kinda in a bad mood," Henrietta tells them.
"I'm actually not."
"So you three come with me so this grumpy guy and Mr. Valentine can get down to business."
"Oh?" Playfully questions the redhead as she and her siblings amble over to Henrietta, the noirette's glare lingering on Michael until she walks past him, still holding her brother close.
"Not that kind of business, you dirty-minded girl," Henrietta ameliorates lightheartedly. She gets a laugh in response, then she transports them to her office.
Vincent raises an eyebrow at Michael. "It's uncommon for you to let someone get under your skin. You've never even gotten angry at me before."
"That's because I'm used to you annoying me," Michael deadpans.
Vincent chuckles as he slips his hands into the sleeves of his kimono wrap. "Fair enough. And the reason I brought them along was so they could see their older brothers again, it has been awhile after all." More like it's been years, but Michael understands now, plus he doesn't need to worry about things escalating between the siblings since Henrietta is with them. "Now let's walk to your office, there's much to discuss."
They approach the nearest staircase, and trek up to the second floor. "Indeed there is. For starters, what's with the lack of information on the vampire hunter?"
Vincent cocks an eyebrow again. "What do you mean 'lack of information'? I provided you with his name in the end, didn't I?"
"Valuable information," Michael rectifies. "Knowing his name was a minor detail."
The platinum-haired vampire lowers his eyebrow with a slight frown. "Yes, I know it was, but that was the only thing I could obtain at the time. I'm still uncertain of this, but I believe the reason why I was unable to attain anything fruitful was because someone was obscuring the vampire hunter's tracks."
Michael displays a clear look of perplexity on his face. "Obscuring his tracks?" "Could it have been the boss' doing?" He then wonders.
"Something like that, yes. I've tried looking into the bunch of vampires that were killed, however I found not a single trace of them. Not even a speck of their ashen remains were left behind. I even sent out a spy to help keep me updated, but the only thing I'd gotten was his name. After that, I never heard from them again," Vincent ends solemnly.
Michael is quiet as he takes in what he'd just been apprised, acquiring an apprehensive feeling. "Yeah, someone's definitely doing some background work. We're gonna have to ask Chris to find out who they are." He forces up a small grin. "But I'm kinda surprised that you've actually been taking this situation seriously, I thought you weren't thanks to the half-assed info you gave me before."
His teasing causes Vincent to pout at him. "Of course, I have to be serious about this. Our kind was being hunted down after all. Just be thankful that I managed to get something even when I'm already busy taking care of other things. The children are even more of a handful."
Michael grimaces with an amused smile. "Yeeaah, I know you wanna vent out your frustrations, but save that for the vampire hunter. Hearing you complaining about how hard your life is might get him to talk willingly without any violence."
Vincent scoffs, "Whatever. How much further until we're there? We've been walking for quite awhile now."
Michael stops walking with a blink, jabbing a thumb behind him. "We past it."
Vincent pauses mid-step, turning his whole body around with his face blank of any expression. "Remind me, why did I assign you as the Principal again?"
Michael shrugs. "You tell me."
Vincent just shakes his head. They retrace their steps until they're in front of a light brown door. Michael unlocks it, allowing Vincent to enter his office first before going in closing the door behind him. They near the bookshelf, Michael getting down on one knee to pull the red book back. He stands up and moves back once the bookshelf lets out a low groan, beginning to steadily slide to the side.
"Oh my, so an underground passageway was hidden behind the bookshelf all this time," Vincent says knowingly, astonished once the dimly lit hallway is revealed.
"So, you knew it hid something," Michael deduces as he goes down the stairs first, Vincent following him.
"I mean it was obvious thanks to the fake book on the bottom shelf."
"True, but all that's down here is a small chamber." Vincent just hums in reply, his mien unreadable.
After walking down all of the steps, they then stroll along the long corridor towards the door at the very end of it.
"So, since you weren't able to get anything out of the vampire hunter, how badly did you beat him up?"
Michael sweatdrops. "Uh, well, he's still alive, and that's all that matters." Vincent shakes his head again.
Before long, they reach the door. Michael's mint-green eyes turn red, once again closing and shielding his eyes when the cross illuminates in a blinding white light. Vincent just winces at the bright light gleaming through his eyelids. Once the brightness dies down, Michael lowers his arm and opens his eyes as their original color returns. The bare door pulls back as if being blown by a gust of wind, Michael pushing it open all of the way for them to enter.
"Oh God, it stinks," Vincent comments using a hand to cover his nose, his face contorting in disgust. It reeks of blood and seared flesh.
They approach the vampire hunter, whose wounds are in the process of recovery. A large puddle of drying blood is underneath the man's feet. Dried blood painted every inch of his white dress shirt, even along both of his arms due to whenever his head was knocked to either side from the force of Michael's punches. His badly busted up face is covered by the fringes of his hair.
"I'm getting the feeling that you pulverized him for a different reason," Vincent speculates.
"Well, you're wrong. He refused to give me any answers so naturally, I tried to beat them out of him," Michael says, lying cleanly through his teeth. He gives Chris' bruised cheek a few light smacks. "I brought a guest with me today, cooperate and you'll be let off easy this time."
Chris keeps completely still.
"Let me have a few minutes with him alone."
Michael looks back to give Vincent a curious look. "What do you have in mind?"
"Don't worry, I won't kill him seeing as how you almost did. I plan to use hypnosis to get him to talk," Vincent says.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you had that ability. Alright, do your thing. I'll be waiting in my office." Michael walks out patting Vincent's shoulder.
Once he's out of sight, Vincent's whole demeanor darkens as he lowers his hand from his nose. Chris tenses up uncomfortably. "Christopher," he utters his name in a sinisterly soft tone. "What did I tell you about not keeping your arrogance in check?"
"...I-I'm sorry, boss," Chris apologizes meekly, it was just in his nature. But he's very confused as to why this man is here all of a sudden, he's too terrified to ask him though.
"No need to cower, I'm not really mad at you. Just deeply disappointed." Closing the gap between them a bit, Vincent begins to open his eyes. "I'll overlook this mishap only once. Do not allow for anything like this to happen again in the future, understand?"
"Y-yes, sir," Chris responds immediately. He feels cold fingers gently lift his head up by the chin, his swollen eyes looking into a pair of magenta-colored ones. A very strange feeling washes over him.
"Good. Now, let's turn this development into something more entertaining."
/
Michael covers up a yawn, tired from sorting out the messy files that were once scattered all over his desk. It took him almost an hour to tidy up, and Vincent still hasn't come back yet. He stares down at six documents he placed beside each other, these were what he was given on the human students. He wonders when would be a good time to bring up their true reason for being here to Vincent. He no longer thinks it's to help them coexist with humans, there's definitely something else behind his motive, something more...mysterious.
"Just what could his reason be?" Michael wonders to himself, eying Tweek's document. His ears suddenly pick up footsteps ascending the stairs. He quickly gathers up the papers, and sticks them underneath a random pile of other files. Vincent soon reenters his office.
"So, how'd it go?" Michael asks.
Vincent locks his closed eyes with Michael's opened ones, his lips curling into a grin. "Well enough for me to get some 'valuable' answers, of course." That's just what Michael wanted to hear.
(A/n: I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)