Alcingeria

Chapter Twelve: The Scorpions' Path Forward

Chapter Twelve The Scorpions' Path Forward:

Wednesday June 23rd 1690

Macalister sighed. Don put a hand on his tall, broad shoulder and joined him in mourning.

"There goes our money."

I patted him on the shoulder.

"Everything will be fine! We saved these two clowns," I jerked my head towards the other two. "In the end, it's not the money that matters. There will be another job, there won't be another of these two."

"Who says there's no honor among thieves, eh?" Don laughed.

We all shared in a lighthearted laugh. The future was uncertain, but at least the four of us made it out alive. However barely.

"I'm just happy the madness is over." Sighed Macalister.

Don shifted nervously on the spot. There was something wrong.

"The madness isn't over," he said. "Far from it."

Macalister cocked his head and looked to Don in confusion.

"Don, what are you talking about? Are you feeling thirsty again?"

"The madness is only beginning. We just learned that vampires are real, and you're saying that the madness is over?"

We took a moment to adjust as we were brought back to reality. He was right. things were different now, and they would never be the same.

"Don's right, and we can't tell anyone about what happened here today." Robert said, looking at each and every one of us. "We already have enough to worry about. More vampires might be sent after us at any time, and we don't need to increase that chance because we can't keep our mouths shut."

Don had taken several deep breaths, and he looked like he was calming down. Still, his eyes were untamed and revealed he was still terrified.

"We'll need to keep our eyes out, and watch our backs." He told us. "Especially at night."

"I hear you," I agreed. "We just have to be careful, that's all. We're already careful. We'll be fine. Right?"

Don started laughing a little. He took a nervous deep breath and looked around the house.

"We've been through a lot together. We've nearly died a few times, but we've had a pretty clean run, considering."

Robert nodded, laughing with him.

"You're right there, Don."

"Of all the things we've been through, and ever will be through," he chuckled, "I would never have guessed that this would be the one that nearly kills us."

We all laughed heartily, glad to be alive. I thought back to all of the things we'd done. We'd robbed houses, stores, carriages, you name it. We've shot people and been shot at, faced off against palace guards that had triple our numbers, and I had no doubt that we'd continue to have adventures like that until the day we died. I never would have thought that it would be a vampire that almost brought us to the grave.

"We've come through some tight spots in our days, boys," Robert told us, "but this takes the cake for sure."

We briefly reflected on our adventures, then paused. What would we do now?

"What now?" I asked eventually. "Where do we go from here?"

"Follow the plan, go to Yutsa?" Don suggested. "We still robbed Jonathan Haywood. We should wait out the heat somewhere until it dies down."