6 January 2013
"Not again." Alexi swore and gestured rudely to the driver in front of her, then honked her horn three times in anger. The bitch cut me off! She'd had to slam her brakes hard missing the red Ford Fiesta by mere millimetres. "Not today bitch." Alexi honked for a fourth time, "Move it." But the driver seemed intent on pissing her off. Of all the days in the world, why did it have to be this one? She sighed heavily as she applied her handbrake and unbuckled her seat belt. Today was NOT a day to piss her off. Alexi had a bad temper on most days, her bad attitude got her in to trouble more often than she could remember. And unfortunately someone would be on the receiving end in about thirty seconds.
Scrutinising the small red car as she approached it on the driver's side, something made her pause momentarily. That special something that only came in dangerous packages. Alexi swore again and tapped on the window. Hold it together, keep calm, hold your shit together girl. The window slid down automatically revealing long blonde hair and bright green eyes.
"Shit. What do you want?" Why the hell hadn't she recognised the car? Alexi could have saved herself a lot of trouble. She cursed herself for her stupidity, but she was bound to make mistakes today, she was too tired to concentrate.
"Well that wasn't very nice Alexi." Replied the driver.
"Monique, I'm not in the mood today. You could've called." Alexi tried to keep her temper under control. Monique was a witch with a temper as bad as Alexi's. The situation could only go two ways. Alexi would either be jinxed or cursed. Neither appealed to her, so for now she had to play nice.
"I have called. In fact I've been calling you ALL day."
"Well then you should have left a message."
"I've left you three." Her green eyes darkened. Playing nice wasn't working, and Alexi was too tired to care.
"All right. Forget it. What do you want?" She stared pointedly at Monique not batting an eyelid.
"My brother was taken. They Marked his bookshop. I need your help."
Oh boy. The last thing Alexi wanted was a tag-a-long as annoying as Monique. She didn't mind looking for her brother but she'd rather do it on her own.
"When was the last time you saw Etienne?" She tried to seem casual about the question, but if his shop had been Marked, it could only mean one thing. Death.
"Last night around nine, I left him at the shop. He was working on something important and wanted to remain there. I shouldn't have left him." Monique's hands gripped the steering wheel hard, her hands were white from lack of blood circulation, but Alexi decided against pointing it out now.
"Go home and I'll call you." Alexi turned to walk back to her car.
"Wait a minute," Monique stuck her head out of the window, "I'm coming with you."
"No you're not, and that's final." She clambered back in the car slamming the door for effect, released the handbrake and drove off without her seatbelt in place. She steered automatically through the early dawn, winding down the quiet streets of London. Etienne, what the hell have you gotten yourself into? Alexi couldn't fathom how someone as intelligent and calm as Etienne could attract the wrong attention. What could the Vampires want with a mere human; well apart from food. They loved to collect pretty and beautiful objects, including people, she'd witnessed just that today. Perhaps they had a similar interest in him too. For Etienne was truly the most beautiful, cultured and intelligent person she had ever met.
Alexi harboured the most sickening and obsessive crush she'd ever experienced towards a man. Etienne was perfect. At first she didn't like him. She remembered thinking that a man that pretty, must be conceited and arrogant, in no possible way could he be interested in anyone other than himself. He must have women throwing themselves at him every day. It never occurred to Alexi that he could be charming, yet humble and very shy. The sheer innocence the shyness brought out in him was too much to resist. And as far as Alexi was concerned, no one needed to know how she felt toward him. Especially NOT Monique. Alexi could never live it down, Monique would use any given opportunity to use it against her. Monique, now she was another story. But one she had to put aside for now, as she parked neatly outside the dark book store.
Even in the dim dawning light, the shop had an eerie quality about it. Alexi noticed the dark Mark, floating around like large particles visible to the naked eye, veiling it from the view of passing humans. Any wandering Norms would simply pass by repelled by the bad energy emanating from the building. She reached into the back seat of the car and grabbed her Katana, then climbed out of her car. This has been such a long day. Her body ached as she made her way to the front door.
The shop was unlocked, always a bad sign. For the first time since she'd made her first kill, she felt a deep sense of fear. Whether it was the fact that Etienne was involved, or just because it had been a really bad day, Alexi really couldn't tell. The hairs on the nape of her neck and arms rose like a spooked cat as soon as she stepped through the door. And that's when she smelt it, the rotting stench of apples. Very fruity and sweet. Vampires had definitely been here, of that she was sure. Alexi pulled her Katana from its' sheath strapped to her shoulders, and held it blade back from her forearm in a defensive position.
The entire shop floor had been destroyed. Most of the books strewn in piles in one large heap. They were definitely looking for something, and by the looks of it, spent a couple of hours trawling through every book in search of it. Alexi scanned the darkest corners of the room first before proceeding towards the back, she moved with confidence and precision, despite the deep aching of her muscles.
The small office was in a worse shape than the shop floor, and a hell of a lot darker. Unlike Vampires, Alexi didn't have the ability to see clearly in such poor lighting. The stench of rotting apples grew stronger, resting in the back of her mouth. What a bad fucking day. Two Vampire attacks in one night. Definitely not a good sign. Ordinarily Alexi wasn't very superstitious, despite being trained by a Catholic priest, she didn't hold much hope in God. She scanned the pitch black room and caught movement from behind her. Rookie mistake.
Something launched itself from the doorway and landed with a heavy thud right on top of her; it threw her to the ground with a painful crack to the head as she hit the floor. Mercifully she still held on to her Katana. Twisting her body away just in time to witness a large claw swing down where her face had been only a second ago. Alexi kicked out with her right leg and connected with something solid, the kick was hard enough to send it crashing into the wall opposite. But it didn't remain there long, in a blink of an eye, it launched itself at her again. Alexi tried to scramble clumsily to her feet, but the Hellhound was already on top of her.
"Shit. Just what I fucking need." The horrible growling noise that emerged in reply gave her no comfort. Hellhounds were mindless beasts, half demon and half your average friendly pet; their strength and their tenacity made them a nuisance on most days. But right now, this one was lethal. In almost five seconds, it had managed to knock her sword out of her hands, and was now attempting to get past her forearms and bury its jaws in her neck.
"Not today." With one last bit of effort, ALexi pushed her knee into its' stomach and shoved hard. This time the Hellhound slid across the floor, his paws skittering as it tried to right itself. This was all the time Alexi needed to grab her sword again. "Tenacious little fucker aren't you." The hound growled in reply, it's whole body tensed and waiting for her to make a move.
But before either of them could react, a large blue flash of fire flung itself from the shop floor and hit the Hound squarely in the back. The demon screamed in pain, there was no other way to describe it, gone was the growl. It turned towards the shop floor, deciding the other party was a bigger threat. Alexi used this small distraction to sneak up behind it and with one swift swing, cut the Hounds head clean from its' body. The head landed on the wooden floor with a wet smacking sound, and rolled into one of the darkened corners.
"I thought I told you not to get involved."
"You're welcome." Replied Monique, sarcasm was her favourite tool. "He's my only family, did you think I would seriously take your advice."
"Most people never do." She sheathed her Katana and examined the tears to her leather jacket. Yet another one ruined. Her body too tired and sore to feel any real pain.
"From the looks of things, it was a good thing I showed."
"I can handle myself. I don't need to remind you I've been doing this job for over ten years now." She replied with mild irritation.
"Of course, you're the expert," the sarcasm had gone up a notch, "How silly of me to think you might need me seeing as you're so great at your job. But you're welcome anyway."
"If you HAVE to be here, make yourself useful and turn on this damn light." She almost growled that last sentence. Hold it together. At the click of Monique's fingers, the lights switched on blinding them both momentarily. The office looked a lot worse with the lights on. Papers were strewn all over the floor, broken bits of wood littered the room, from what looked like it had once been a table. The walls were painted maroon with dried blood. God there was so much of it. Etienne's blood. Of that Alexi was certain.
"What can you show me?" But Monique wasn't listening. For the first time since Alexi had the misfortune of encountering someone as annoying as this woman, Monique was actually speechless. Her green eyes glazed over with unshed tears, she blinked quickly trying to compose herself.
"Monique. We don't have much time."
Alexi • Opuss № I