Rose held her breath and stuck as close to the wall as possible until the young couple had passed. Hidden in the shadowy doorway of a closed shop, she watched as the pair passed her without seeing her. They were too involved in their embrace to notice anything out of the ordinary around them. When they had disappeared, laughing and giggling around the corner, Rose consulted her piece of paper. Of course, she knew the address of the old theatre already after having spent a few nights there whilst living rough but she wanted to check the street's name once more. In the low light, it was almost impossible to read the street signs plastered in the brick walls of crumbling buildings on the street corners. Fortunately, this area of town was mostly derelict meaning there was little chance of being spotted wandering around lost.
Not lost, Rose reminded herself. She wasn't lost. She knew exactly where the theatre was, thanks to Harkat and she knew exactly where she was because the street sign beside her told her quite clearly. She just didn't know how to connect the two. Rose cast her eyes upwards and sighed. The orange glow from street lamps prevented any stars from shining through although strangely allowed the odd airplane's flickering beam to interrupt the otherwise peaceful skies. Puddles still remained between the cobbles which lined the road and they reflected Rose's exasperated expression. She was sure the car had come this way. Instead of following Mr Tiny's car, she had obeyed the instructions on the note and had aimed to find the address but in between flits, she had caught glimpses of the vehicle straying from the road. Perhaps if she had stuck to her original plan of finding the theatre on her own instead of following the car, she wouldn't have got lost. Wait – not lost, just... led astray. Sighing, Rose decided there was little point in hiding out outside the butcher's shop so she crossed the road and turned the corner, hoping for some kind of sign post.
There, straight ahead, was the best sign she could have hoped for. The car. It was parked neatly between a dumpster and a large white van outside the back entrance to the old derelict theatre. The distinctive number plate, Des-T1ny, was clearly visible in the little light given off by the street's lamp.
"Destiny?" Scoffed Rose aloud, "Give me a break!"
"Who's there?" A voice rang out suddenly. Rose swore quietly and ducked back behind the dumpster. Hurried footsteps approached and Rose crouched as low as possible to avoid being seen.
"What now?" Came another voice further away. The footsteps stopped only a few feet away from Rose. She held her breath and listened.
"I heard something!" Said a man's voice near her, somewhat hurt.
"What again?"
"Yeah, from over here this time."
"No you didn't. You're imagining it!"
"No I'm not! It came from over here!" The man was shouting now, clearly offended. His companion merely groaned.
"Idiot!" He called. The sound of a door being slammed rang out and echoed along the empty street.
"I heard that!" Cried a voice in protest. Rose could hear the man grumbling and muttering to himself under his breath as he walked away. There was the sound of a chair being scraped along the pavement and Rose risked a peek around the dumpster to see the lookout sitting with his back to her, his chin resting in his hands, keeping watch down the opposite street. His chair was blocking the entrance to the theatre. Rose rolled her eyes. She wanted to reach Steve by attracting as little attention as possible. She inched forwards on her hands and knees taking care to do so quietly. The man was still in his chair facing away from her. She crept forward, one hand in front of the other until she was nearly in full view of the door. Suddenly the man stood up. Rose froze. If he turned his head the slightest fraction, he would see her.
"I know you're there," he said quietly. How could he have heard her? Rose assured herself she hadn't made any noise. This must be another false alarm. Even so, Rose retreated back behind the dumpster very quickly just to be safe. The man did not turn around; instead he kept his eyes glued on a spot in the distant. At the end of the street, a mist had begun to gather and swell. Amongst it, a dark shadow moved and grew. In a panic, the man kicked his chair back and hammered on the door.
"Open up, I see something!" He hissed but the door remained closed.
"Vlad! Vlad? Open up!" Again, the closed door refused to allow him entry. The Vampaneze kicked the door angrily and glanced over his shoulder at the mist. It had grown and a distinct figure emerged from it like a bat with flapping wings. The guard climbed up the drainpipe next to the entrance and shimmed out onto the building's ledge in an attempt to regain the element of surprise. Rose watched in awe, shaking her head in disbelief at the man's effort to thwart the intruder. The shape was closer now and Rose could see that the bat's wings were in fact tails of a cloak belonging to a tall, wild-haired man. When he judged the man to be near enough, the Vampaneze threw himself of the ledge and landed gracefully in front of him in position ready to attack. There was a quick swish of a blade cutting through the night's air and the Vampaneze doubled over as the stranger's knife buried itself in his stomach. His cry of pain attracted the attention of his comrades who flocked to his assistance. Rose crouched low trying not to be seen.
"Wait!" The large figure of Mr Tiny emerged from one of the open doors along the side of the building. He stood between his men with his back to Rose.
"Allow him in gentlemen. I want to see this play out." He and the others stepped back to allow the man past. As the light from the theatre hit his face, Mr Crepsley's features provoked a gasp from Rose and she covered her mouth to hide it. Fortunately, the party didn't hear her and they followed Mr Crepsley into the theatre silently.
The door closed softly with a creak and the street was once against immersed in darkness, the silence filled with the groans of the dying guard. Since there was no danger of him hurting her, Rose walked freely out from behind the dumpster over to the door. It was locked.
"Damn it!" She cursed. Her cuss attracted the attention of the injured guard and he looked up in surprise.
"Hey!" He tried to call out but the effort of his words caused him to fall back against the cold floor in pain. Rose looked at him sympathetically.
"Don't hurt yourself," she said as she walked over. The man had his eyes closed in agony and was breathing heavily. Rose unknotted his hands from around the blade's handle and yanked it out. The Vampaneze cried out in anguish.
"Thanks," smiled Rose as she wiped the blood off the weapon on his jacket. She pocketed it and made her way to the back of the theatre. Fortunately the door there was open. Leaving the wounded man in the middle of the road, she closed the door behind her.
Inside the dim light revealed very little of her surroundings and so Rose was forced to use her hands to guide her along the walls. Straight ahead, a locked door blocked her path but the stairs to its immediate right beckoned her up invitingly. Careful not to make any noise, Rose crept up the narrow staircase holding the knife by her side just in case. As she neared the top, she could hear voices and began to see the beginnings of light. Rose recognised the second floor's circle of seats as the rows beneath the gods that she had slept in when she had been sleeping rough here. Nothing had been changed except one thing. At the far end sat a large man with a bucket of popcorn and a pair of binoculars. He seemed to find the view through his lens extremely amusing. Rose crept along the back of the seats on her hands and knees jumping regularly at the crashes and shouts from below. It was clear there was a fight going on below.
At last Rose found herself directly behind the hidden spectator with nothing but half a dozen rows of dusty theatre chairs between them. Standing up, she witnessed the apparently hilarious scene of destruction below. Mr Crepsley landed with a thud on the floor below them. Rose gasped to see him so defenceless. He attempted to stand, bloody and bruised but fell back onto his knees. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose spotted Steve climbing over the rail into the stands to confront Mr Crepsley. As Mr Tiny lent further over the banister for a closer look, Rose ducked behind the red velvet curtain beside her and hurried down the steps. Now only the thin curtain separated her from the demon with the binoculars. She prayed he was too distracted by the unfolding events to see her trying to attract Steve's attention.
This time, Mr Crepsley managed to stand, shaking off the ceiling's plaster which had gathered on his coat. He glanced up in time to see Steve pull a dagger out of his pocket and advance with an expression of grim determination. Rose stumbled forward in shock, skipping out the last couple of stairs and narrowly avoided toppling over the rail onto the floor below by grabbing onto the curtain. It shook so much that she was surprised Mr Tiny, only inches away, hadn't noticed. Steve, however, did notice. He glanced up to see what had caused the movement and did a double take when he saw Rose's frightened expression. Her knuckles were white with the force they were gripping the rail with and her eyes were wide as her mouth framed the word "No" in silence. Steve didn't hesitate. With one hand he plunged the blade into Mr Crepsley's side and in quick succession, thrust another into his shoulder. It was all Rose could do not to scream as she watched another Vampaneze hurl the Vampire over the edge where he landed on his back on the floor, catching the rail on his way down. On the other side of the curtain, Mr Tiny lent forward in his seat eagerly.
A quick sob escaped Rose's throat as her eyes lingered on the space in the air where Mr Crepsley had vanished. The man who had thrown him jumped over the rail gracefully to follow him. Steve appeared to look back over his shoulder at Rose before he jumped but changed his mind. Within seconds, he had disappeared too. Rose ran down the flights of stairs as fast as she could. She hated that old Vampire but there was no way she was going to let him die at the hands of his enemies. Flitting down the staircase saved her enough time to round the corner just in time to see a man holding Mr Crepsley up by his shoulders hand Steve a knife.
"He's all yours lad," he said gruffly. Steve grabbed the weapon and prepared to finish the man off.
"No!" Shrieked Rose as she was shoved roughly out of the way. Steve looked up and locked eyes with her moments before he was knocked backwards by Darren. The boy had rocketed past Rose and lunged at his old best friend with a vengeance. About to run forward to assist Mr Crepsley, she was stopped by the sight of him leaping up and stabbing his arch nemesis. The room seemed to freeze with the shock of the Vampire's unexpected move. Mr Tiny leaned back with a smile of surprised satisfaction as though someone had just told him the punch line to a witty though not particularly funny joke. When the moment had passed, and the two had begun conversing like old friends rather than foes, Rose let her hand drop from her mouth to her side and glanced past them to watch Steve.
His face was a picture of disbelief as he stared at his dying mentor and Rose felt a stab of pity for him. Any rage or feelings of revenge looked as though they had evaporated from his mind as he watched the two with his mouth slightly open. Rose stepped forward; she longed to somehow comfort him and wrap her arms around his meek looking frame. Darren also looked on as the Vampaneze fell back against the floor promising an imminent war as he died. Suddenly Mr Tiny appeared from another staircases' exit. Rose shrunk back into the shadows, scared anyone would spot her.
"Marvellous!" He cried, clapping, "Magnificent really." He pointed his cane at Darren who looked up in surprise and then again at Steve, complimenting their 'performances'.
"Bravo, bravo!" Steve found his voice although it was slightly shaken.
"It's just like you said," he muttered, "We started the war." Rose glared at Mr Tiny's back accusingly. Steve's words had confirmed her accusations. He had indeed been filling his head with false promises and destinies. It was becoming apparent to Rose that she needed to reach Steve as quickly as possible and preferably behind Mr Tiny's back. If she was caught, she would not be able to rely on their friendship to coax Steve away; it was obvious he craved power over anything else. She just hoped she could reach him before it was too late.