The Fangclaw Inheritance: The Eye of Half Blood

IV

IV

            Kingston Street was surprisingly busy. The murder occurred in a small alleyway of Kingston, where a young woman, around the age of fourteen, was sucked dry of her blood. Her pale face and glassy eyes stared at the sky, still and lifeless. A tan-skinned man wearing a frock coat and top hat stood up and looked at his brothers, the two of them wearing merely a frock coat. Their brown eyes gazed at each other, wondrous on what to do now. To wait for the Rowlanders was out of the question. They knew what killed her, and they needed to do something about it. However, to the Queen, to find the killer and to abandon the crime scene would bring shame to the monarch. To their relief, a carriage stopped by the alleyway, and Annabella and her allies stormed into the crime scene.

                  The man and his brothers were bewildered to find a young girl, a chef, a maid, and what it seemed like a butler investigating what had happened. This was considered contempt to the law and the punishment was apprehension. Before they did anything, Annabella raised her hand, and they knew right away who she was. She seemed to recognize them as well. They removed their frock coats, and immediately she realized they were the brothers from her past.

                As usual, the oldest’s hair was the same as it always was, fixed and medium-size. The other brothers’ hair was longer and ponytailed, and each carried a rapier of their own. The eldest recognized Annabella immediately. He was surprised she’d grown to become a lovely woman, but judging from her rapier, she had realized her destiny and was willing to assist with the murder. Despite the approval for her assistance, he was still mesmerized by her beauty. The other brothers had to find a way to make their eldest return to reality; they slapped his check altogether, the pain being temporary. The eldest coughed, kept his composure, and said, “Well, well, Annabella Fangclaw. You grew up to be a beautiful woman.”

                “Same to you, too, Santigo,” Annabella hissed.

                “You still hate me for abandoning you when we returned to Noldon?”

                “How could I not? I never knew of your whereabouts until twenty five years later.”

                “And yet you never grew older. Didn’t you find it strange that you didn’t age one bit these past century? You know why?”

                “Yeah, I know why, and it took nothing more than my butler to tell me.”

                Serastios felt he was dragged in a heated conversation between two people he didn’t know very well. He pretended he didn’t hear anything, when he felt an immensely heated aura from the dark alleyway. Beyond, he could see a cloaked figure feeding on another’s blood. The human croaked feebly as the fangs continued to seep her energy from her body. Naturally, he tried to charge at Vampire, until a strong blue flame exploded from the sky.

                Annabella ran beside Serastios, catching the hooded Vampire contuing to feed on its prey; this sickened her. He could handle a beheading or a severing of a limb, but to feed on the blood of a human is where it crossed the line. She could feel the malice of the demonic creature, as its red eyes beamed at her and lunged at her. Serastios, drawing his broadsword, swung it at its mouth. The Vampire caught it with its bare teeth, the other flame-like figure leaping from one building after another.

                “Damn it!” Annabella bellowed. “Charlotte, let’s give chase to that infernal beast. King, you assist Serastios slaying that Vampire!”

                Annabella and Charlotte ran through the streets of Kingston until they reached River Tudor where ahead was the Parliament of Justice and the Tower of Josiah. Thankfully for Annabella her Vampire speed allowed her to catch up to the unbelievable endurance of the supernatural being. It brought her to question of what it was. The Journal of Cain explained every living being, but never before had it explained a flying cloud of flames raining down blue fire on the street. She turned to Charlotte.