Emilia Vos & The Swipers' Tale

Part 4: Strangers and Taxis

A slow clap sounded to her right, making Emilia stiffen. She turned to see two red eyes glowing near the edge of the shadow.

"Now, now," a female voice playfully chided. "Do not worry. I'm not going to act like one of the stupid Petrova family and go in for blood. There is no need for either of us to gain that much attention."

Emilia narrowed her eyes. "Easier to believe if I could see you."

"True," the voice laughed. A twinkling sound that made Emilia's goosebumps heighten—she was not equipped to fight this vampire. "Esme, provide some light that won't kill us."

The light started as a swirl before it illuminated the alleyway. Emilia saw a tall female vampire with pin-straight red hair standing in a long black coat without an emblem.  Beside her, a shorter lady with curly black hair controlled the light. The lady, Emilia assumed to be Esme, continued to swirl the ball of light above their heads as a few more vampires appeared from the shadows. Emilia recognized the emblems from all the major families on the jackets of the vampires walking forward.

"Do not worry," the red-headed lady stated. "We saw how the Petrova family acted. We will handle this matter internally."

Emilia licked her lips and nodded. "Good to know."

The red-headed lady narrowed her eyes. "You are a hunter from America. Is this not outside of your jurisdiction?"

"I am not part of the Hunters Guild." Emilia watched the lady relax for a moment and then smirked. "But, I have friends who are."

"Ah." The red-headed vampire smiled. "Maybe we know the same people. I will be sure to update them on the episode tonight."

"Lovely, can I tend to my friend now?"

She shrugged. "If you can. It looks like Andrin did a number on him. We will be in touch if there are any discrepancies."

So he did lie about his name.  Classic vampire move.  Emilia thought.

Emilia smirked. "I look forward to reading the fine print when you do."

Then, in typical vampire fashion, they disappeared into the darkness without even providing a name.

Emilia waited a few moments before she picked up Darren, wait, Andrin's phone. She then walked over to her purse. Emilia dropped the phone in the purse while looking for her own. She found it a foot away from the small silver tin and her lipstick. Emilia went back to Jayden and smeared the salve on the bites she could see and a few of the cuts. She left the bang on his head alone because it stopped bleeding. Emilia bit her lip before placing the lipstick on him.

"This isn't your shade, but it works." Emilia smirked at his bloodied face.  The purple lipstick probably blended well with the emerging bruises. "I am going to need you to stand," she whispered, shaking his shoulder.

Jayden's eyes fluttered as he tried to focus on her.

"What the fuck, I don't—" he started, but she cut him off with a stern voice.

"I am going to need you to stand so that we can walk out of here and don't wipe off the lipstick. If they change their minds and come back, I can't protect you, but the concoction in the lipstick can. Now come on, I can treat you at my place, but we cannot stay here," Emilia hissed.

Jayden moved to get on his feet as Emilia supported him underneath his armpit. The two stumbled their way to the edge of the alley. Emilia stopped to pick-up a few more phones that Jayden pointed out. They got to the main road and turned to meander their way towards Regent Street, but then Jayden puked. Emilia furrowed her eyebrows, not looking forward to the concussion monitoring he'd be under.