Lorelei blinked as she made her way to the building she had been washed up against a few days ago. In the daylight, the building looked anything but imposing. It just looked old, abandoned and somewhat shoddy. A perfect place for spiders and cockroaches and whatnot to reside. She looked down doubtfully at the little card she held faithfully in her hand, as though it would ward off all evil.
Was this really the place that Trish had told her to come to? The card said it was. She looked up at the building again and swallowed hard. It had such a ramshackle quality, but it was not this that scared her. It was the feeling of something strange, something unknown.
She looked up at the building again as night fell and as the neon lights came on. It seemed as though it was brand new; all the letters were present and lit and from what she had seen the other day, the picture of the woman posing had been changed to a man aiming a gun. She looked around nervously and smiled as she saw the bike. It appeared as though Dante had quickly replaced it with a silver Harley. She blinked.
Dante Sparda…The name sounded familiar to her. She had heard someone other than Trish mention the name but she couldn't remember who and why and in what sort of context the name had popped up. Whatever it was, Lorelei knew of only one thing. The name Sparda whispered of mysteries and of things little known.
Finding nothing else that could possibly stall her, she forced herself to walk up to the door. She timidly knocked on it and waited. There was no answer. She turned to go but then remembered the dragon and frowned. How many more cities would be flooded because of her? If she didn't ask this Dante for help, then many lives would be lost.
She turned back and this time rang the doorbell, somewhat surprised there was one on such a building. She gasped in surprise as the door was suddenly whipped back. Aquamarine eyes glared at her. She stepped back and tried to see past the silver-haired man that had appeared before her, trying to see whether Trish was behind him.
'I'm an atheist!' The man suddenly proclaimed loudly. Lorelei blinked.
'Really?'
'Yeah so take your pamphlets and leaflets and piss off!' She blinked in bewilderment as the door slammed shut in her face. She glared in annoyance and knocked again, this time standing her ground as the door opened again.
'I have no pamphlets! Or didn't you see that?' The eyes narrowed and he prepared to slam the door again. Lorelei quickly stepped in the way of the door and took a deep breath. 'Hell's Angels.' The man paused and then let the door swing fully open, revealing himself.
The first thing Lorelei noticed was the guns. She swallowed hard.
'I seek the man they call Dante Sparda.' She was ashamed to admit that her voice was shaking with fear as she whispered this. The blue eyes narrowed and he stepped back, letting her inside. He shut the door behind her and leant against it casually, folding his arms. Lorelei couldn't take his eyes away from his guns.
'C-c-c-could you t-tell me where I c-could fi-find him?' She stuttered. She lowered her eyes as the man gave vent to a laugh.
'You're lookin' at him, doll.' She wrinkled her nose. "Doll" was not one of her preferred nic-names. But if this man would help her, she'd let it slip this once.
'So, what's the problem, babe?' Lorelei frowned at him and then found herself frowning at the matter in hand. Her story sounded crazy. How could she possibly word this? She decided she'd just go for it and hope for the best.
'I saw a dragon. It rose out from the sea. There was a man there and he was playing a flute. The dragon was listening to him, he was controlling it.' She paused for breath. Dante frowned, his eyes suspicious, unsure. 'There were boats at sea, and it destroyed them and drowned all those men. They were innocent! Then it attacked me by launching a tidal wave. It washed me away and it flooded the entire city centre. The power of it was so strong that it washed me all the way over here, and it made me land against your bike, which I'm really sorry about by the way. If it could drown a city in one go, then I think it should be stopped before it can do anything else.' She stopped and watched him expectantly, hopefully, knowing full well her story seemed ludicrous. Hell, it sounded unbelievable to her own ears, and she knew for a doubt that what she saw was true. Dante quirked his eyebrows, but the rest of his face looked impassive, veering on the edge of boredom.
'Let me get this straight. You saw a dragon.'
'I did.'
'That came from the sea.'
'I did.'
'Do you really expect a professional to fall for a prank? Come on, you could at least make it believable.'
'It's not a prank! It's the truth!'
'Yeah…okay…whatever…' Boredom. Definitely boredom. Lorelei stamped her foot down in frustration and blushed realizing how childish that seemed.
'I gave the password didn't I?' Dante frowned at her.
'A dragon. From the sea. Dragons are creatures of fire.'
'This one isn't! Please! You've got to help me!' Dante opened the door.
'I ain't got to do nothing, babe.' Lorelei glared at him.
'Don't call me babe!' She snapped. 'I gave the password! If I hadn't, I'd understand why you don't trust me, but as the very first thing I did was give the password you should trust me at least!'
'Babe, I-'
'Don't call me babe! What do I look like, a pig?!'
'Do you really want me to answer that? Most women are flattered when I call them babe.' He was smirking arrogantly. Lorelei glared again. How to wipe his smile from his face without provoking him into drawing his guns?
'I'm not a woman!' There that should do it! But wait…why was Dante looking confused? Oh shit. 'No…I mean…I am a woman but not your usual type of woman.' Dante continued to stare at her with that same sceptical look.
'So what are you then?'
'What I meant to say was that I'm not the kind of woman who'd be flattered by stupid nic-names like Doll, Babe and stuff like that.' Dante folded his arms.
'You could have saved yourself some grace by just saying in that whiny voice of yours, "I'm not most women!" or something idiotic like that.' Lorelei glowered at him. 'Your glaring's good. Keep working on it and perhaps you'll freeze water.'
'Shut up.'
'If you're trying to get me to help you you're not doing a good job of it.'
'I gave the password.'
'But there are no such things as dragons.' Lorelei and Dante turned as thy heard a new voice.
'Just like how there isn't meant to be such things as Vampires, angels, demons, sirens…' Lorelei smiled gratefully at Trish, relieved. 'She does have the password Dante. And that entitles her case to be investigated.'
'Since when have you started using long words?' Trish shrugged, her face emotionless.
'I suppose you could say since I discovered I am partial to extensive expression.' Dante shook his head and stalked off, grumbling about dictionaries or some such other issue. Lorelei smiled at Trish again.
'Thank you.'
'It's no problem.'
'…is he always like that?'
'Only at first so don't worry about it. You just need to know how to deal with him.'
'Yeah don't worry about it. I know that at first, Dante can be a bastard but once you get on his good side, he's a loyal friend and a friend for life.' Lorelei turned to see a man standing directly behind the two. It was strange, neither of them had heard him come in. He moved closer towards them, his feet making no noise, as soundless as a cat, in fact, he seemed to be gliding instead of walking. The grace in his movements was pronounced and Lorelei watched him fascinated.
The man laughed suddenly, a soft sound, little more than a whispered chuckle.
'Don't look at me like that, Trish. I had to do what I had to do. I gave you the money didn't I?' Lorelei blinked and looked towards Trish as she listened in with interest. Was this man an ex or something? Who had given back whatever he had owed? Or had Trish done something like a sexual favour? Certainly the clothes Trish wore weren't exactly concealing. And with the man's looks, she wouldn't have been surprised if it was something like that. The man's black hair flopped into his hazel eyes and he smiled at Trish again. Lorelei blinked. Were those…?
She jumped backwards, standing up, backing away. The vampire's eyes widened slightly, surprised. He lowered them and looked away, realizing. He had been too careless. This new surge of confidence he had felt since he'd known Trish and Dante was beginning to make him less than cautious. He sighed and remained tight-lipped. Trish noticed the change immediately and cuddled him, frowning when he turned rigid in her arms.
'Aw Reiko. She doesn't know any better.' Lorelei glanced from Reiko to Trish and then back.
'He's a vampire!' Trish smiled and nodded.
'A head vampire, actually. All vampires in the city answer to him.'
'Trish…'he murmured softly, warningly. His eyes kept lowered. What the hell had he been thinking? That he could act normal when he was anything but? Even smiling was something that was denied. What had he been thinking? How had he become so careless? The girl continued to gawp at him.
'He doesn't bite for the hell of it,' Trish continued. Why was she talking about him like some kind of dog? No…she wasn't…he was just so tense. He needed to calm down. He slowly raised his eyes and stood up.
'You have nothing to be afraid of,' he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. Lorelei stared into his eyes. They were mild, almost harmless but they reflected a lake of sadness, deep, bottomless. She nervously smiled at him.
'It just shocked me at first.'
'You're not the first to say that,' came the soft spoken reply. Blood on the walls, the floor, in the kitchen. Lorelei blinked and shuddered. Reiko continued to watch her, slow puzzlement spreading across his sharp features. His attention was quickly averted as Dante re-entered.
'Well look who's back…how did things go?' Reiko stood him, his face grim, his eyes serious.
'In some aspects good, but in others? Not as well as I first hoped.' Dante waited, expecting a proper explanation. Reiko regarded him silently but then slowly began to pace noiselessly. 'The head vampire of the next state, Augren, gave me his word that his clan would fight with us. Unfortunately, the Master wants me to form a bond between harpies and vampires. Only then will it be compulsory for every vampire to fight for us.'
'We need all the help we can get. What's so bad about trying to form this alliance?'
'The two races hate each other.'
'So the Master decides to add his problems to your burden. Get rid of the Harpy threat and you get an army.'
'Precisely.' Dante shook his head slowly. Reiko sighed heavily as he continued to pace. Dante could see out of the corner of his eyes that Lorelei was still watching Reiko's every move, like a mouse hypnotised by a snake. Though looking at Reiko he'd be more inclined to say that he was more feline then serpentine. Whatever…
'I know virtually nothing about harpies. I only know that their blood is poison for vampires. They're extremely powerful. I fought a Harpy the other day. Her mental powers outweighed my own. I need to train.' Dante looked thoughtful.
'I'll see what I can find out about harpies.' Reiko nodded gravely.
'I thank you.' Trish blinked and looked towards Lorelei, who was still watching Reiko. Reiko apparently hadn't noticed.
'I haven't introduced you two properly. You're not the only ones with problems, Reiko. Lorelei is a new client of ours. She saw a dragon the other night.' Reiko blinked softly.
'A dragon?' Trish nodded and turned to Lorelei.
'Reiko is a past client and a good friend.' Lorelei nodded.
'And a vampire,' she muttered to herself. Reiko said nothing but glanced at her, hurt. Well, what else did he expect? He berated himself, annoyed. Lorelei's body suddenly jarred and she stood up. Crying. Snow falling. Mountains…Reiko suddenly loomed in front of her, frowning.
'Are you all right?' She blinked and stared into his eyes. Tears. Crimson tears. The rain pounding, his hazel eyes glazed over in death, blood draining out onto the concrete ground.
'I'm fine.' A slow nod. He turned away from her and looked towards Dante.
'I better take my leave.' He turned and walked towards the door but turned before he went out. In his eyes, Lorelei could see faint traces of a smile. 'It was good seeing you two again. It was nice meeting you, Lore.' He left and seemed to melt into the shadows. Trish frowned and Lorelei and pushed her. Dante raised a brow.
'I think, until we learn more about this case that Lorelei had better stay here with us. In case this dragon decides to attack.' The two women nodded. Lorelei peered out through the window into the darkness but could see nothing of the mysterious man. She frowned. She didn't like him. There was something about him she didn't like. It could be the fact that he was a vampire, a being of evil, a being that fed on blood to survive. Whatever it was, she couldn't trust him.
However, she couldn't help but wonder whether her dreams had been about him. Could it be..?