Finding the door firmly locked, the two vampires applied their fists to it, striking the door repeatedly. One of them finally called out to those inside, “Andrei, we’ve only come for one of our own. Give us the vampire. We don’t want you. This is an internal matter. Don’t get involved.”
All persons in the store turned to Lina in search of answers. Andrei was the first to speak up, asking her, “What is this? What’s going on? Why are we protecting this vampire?”
A pair of feet touched the ground from beneath Lina’s cloak as a human shape sank to the ground. Nicoleta flung the cloak off from on top of her, exposing her unmistakably human face. She looked around at the group with wide eyes and gripped Lina for support.
“Who is this?” Ileana asked, in a voice more warm and inviting than Andrei’s. She bent down to speak with Nicoleta, who recoiled a little at the stranger, “Who are you little girl?”
“Her name’s Nicoleta,” Lina responded in a hoarse and screeching voice. She coughed to try to return her voice to its previous timbre without success, continuing, “She was a novice, until recently. Until the vampires took her. I mean, I took her for the vampires.”
“I don’t understand. Why are the vampires after you? Why are they banging on our doors right now asking for you?” Andrei asked in a quieter voice, so that he might not be overheard by the vampires outside.
“Because I stole her from them. I mean, I freed her from them. I want to take her back to the convent.”
Outside, the vampires were still pounding on the door, reciting over and over again, “Andrei, Andrei. Just give us the vampire. This is not something for you to get involved in. She is one of us. You just give her to us and we’ll go away. Remember the treaty. You cannot use her.”
“Just leave! I’m not letting you have her. This is not part of your damnable treaty. She came here of her own volition and she’ll stay as long as she wants! I won’t harm her,” Andrei finally shouted at the vampires outside, with such force and conviction that they finally gave out the pounding and walked away.
Everyone relaxed a little at the sound of the vampires departing, but Andrei just smiled to them and said, “Don’t worry. They’ll be back. And in force.”
By the time the two vampires returned to the coven, Asha had already sorted out what’d happened. She asked questions of several different vampires to reconstruct the events: Tor had been knocked out; Lina had carried a basket through the halls; the basket, now empty, was left behind in her room; she’d put on a cloak; she’d walked up through the tunnel; the guard had seen a bulge on her back; then he’d been pushed away and she’d left.
It was only necessary to speak with Dragomir to confirm what she suspected. She stepped into the barred room and summoned him to her. He limped forward through the crowd, his scarred, ugly face emerging from the shadows, and bent his good ear towards her.
“Do you know Lina?” Asha asked, “She’s a young vampire, only recently arrived. Did anyone see Lina enter the pen and take someone out?”
“A few people saw a small female vampire snatch a youngster named Nicoleta,” Dragomir replied, nodding his head, “It was odd not to see Mir do it. But we all thought she was new and Nicoleta had become food.”
Asha felt hot anger rising inside of her to hear her suspicions confirmed. She responded, though, in an attempt to remain calm in front of Dragomir. “Yes. For food. She was taken for food,” Asha said, adding emphatically, “And you make sure no one thinks otherwise.”
When the two vampires returned to tell Asha that Lina had taken refuge at Andrei’s, she was incensed. She slapped both of them across the cheek so hard they tumbled to the ground, her claws bent so that they drew four red lines across each of their cheeks.
She then commanded them, hovering over them while they lay on the floor, “Get her back. Tonight. I want her here. Take as many as you need.”
She then instructed what vampires remained present: “I want Sim detained in his room. And I want to talk with Lucian before the day is over. Make it happen.”
<-- Go to
Part 79 Go to
Part 81 -->
You can see what's been written so far collected
here.
Finding the door firmly locked, the two vampires applied their fists to it, striking the door repeatedly. One of them finally called out to those inside, “Andrei, we’ve only come for one of our own. Give us the vampire. We don’t want you. This is an internal matter. Don’t get involved.”
All persons in the store turned to Lina in search of answers. Andrei was the first to speak up, asking her, “What is this? What’s going on? Why are we protecting this vampire?”
A pair of feet touched the ground from beneath Lina’s cloak as a human shape sank to the ground. Nicoleta flung the cloak off from on top of her, exposing her unmistakably human face. She looked around at the group with wide eyes and gripped Lina for support.
“Who is this?” Ileana asked, in a voice more warm and inviting than Andrei’s. She bent down to speak with Nicoleta, who recoiled a little at the stranger, “Who are you little girl?”
“Her name’s Nicoleta,” Lina responded in a hoarse and screeching voice. She coughed to try to return her voice to its previous timbre without success, continuing, “She was a novice, until recently. Until the vampires took her. I mean, I took her for the vampires.”
“I don’t understand. Why are the vampires after you? Why are they banging on our doors right now asking for you?” Andrei asked in a quieter voice, so that he might not be overheard by the vampires outside.
“Because I stole her from them. I mean, I freed her from them. I want to take her back to the convent.”
Outside, the vampires were still pounding on the door, reciting over and over again, “Andrei, Andrei. Just give us the vampire. This is not something for you to get involved in. She is one of us. You just give her to us and we’ll go away. Remember the treaty. You cannot use her.”
“Just leave! I’m not letting you have her. This is not part of your damnable treaty. She came here of her own volition and she’ll stay as long as she wants! I won’t harm her,” Andrei finally shouted at the vampires outside, with such force and conviction that they finally gave out the pounding and walked away.
Everyone relaxed a little at the sound of the vampires departing, but Andrei just smiled to them and said, “Don’t worry. They’ll be back. And in force.”
By the time the two vampires returned to the coven, Asha had already sorted out what’d happened. She asked questions of several different vampires to reconstruct the events: Tor had been knocked out; Lina had carried a basket through the halls; the basket, now empty, was left behind in her room; she’d put on a cloak; she’d walked up through the tunnel; the guard had seen a bulge on her back; then he’d been pushed away and she’d left.
It was only necessary to speak with Dragomir to confirm what she suspected. She stepped into the barred room and summoned him to her. He limped forward through the crowd, his scarred, ugly face emerging from the shadows, and bent his good ear towards her.
“Do you know Lina?” Asha asked, “She’s a young vampire, only recently arrived. Did anyone see Lina enter the pen and take someone out?”
“A few people saw a small female vampire snatch a youngster named Nicoleta,” Dragomir replied, nodding his head, “It was odd not to see Mir do it. But we all thought she was new and Nicoleta had become food.”
Asha felt hot anger rising inside of her to hear her suspicions confirmed. She responded, though, in an attempt to remain calm in front of Dragomir. “Yes. For food. She was taken for food,” Asha said, adding emphatically, “And you make sure no one thinks otherwise.”
When the two vampires returned to tell Asha that Lina had taken refuge at Andrei’s, she was incensed. She slapped both of them across the cheek so hard they tumbled to the ground, her claws bent so that they drew four red lines across each of their cheeks.
She then commanded them, hovering over them while they lay on the floor, “Get her back. Tonight. I want her here. Take as many as you need.”
She then instructed what vampires remained present: “I want Sim detained in his room. And I want to talk with Lucian before the day is over. Make it happen.”
<-- Go to
Part 79 Go to
Part 81 -->
You can see what's been written so far collected
here.
Vampire Wares pt 80
No comments:
Post a Comment