Fangs | mlm

Chapter 26 - The turn of events

William had taken Griffin's body, Trevor most of the crates, and Eleonora the rest, the bag hitting her hip as she strode; she'd won rock paper scissors with Trevor, thus being able to choose the least demanding task. On their way, they had to lift their feet high every time they took a step. They kept complaining about the process.

Soon they found the best location; an open area where no trees grew. They chose a spot and cleared the snow there, before putting the crates atop each other to form a kind of bed frame. And after covering the wooden skeleton with the sheet, they laid Griffin on it. A short break from work happened. Then they had to pour the liquor on the body as the penultimate step.

The last step was to set the body on fire. So William took Eleonora's lighter, which she'd always carried with her to light the bomb wicks, and brought it closer to Griffin's chest until it caught fire, the flame quickly getting through the clothes and beginning to devour the flesh. At that moment, they had the last chance to look at his face. They didn't remember when his skin had begun to turn purple, assuring them further that he couldn't come back to life. It was the end. His eyes had shut forever.

Silent, they watched the body burn, although Trevor and she had to look away every now and then not to vomit from the odour. And despite Eleonora's having a lacking perception of who he was, it didn't prevent her from shedding a few tears.

After a few minutes they were about to start heading back to the van when they heard a crunch of snow nearby. They looked up immediately, tossing their hair back. Their brows furrowed as their eyes scanned the area.

"We have company," William announced.

The crunches were becoming more clear and louder. Soon they saw four silhouettes approaching them. Now everyone was tense. William clenched his hands into fists at their sight, his nails sinking into the flesh. He couldn't help grunting. Trevor considered taking his hand, but William's aura then was so distant.

"Shouldn't we run away instead of staring at them?" Trevor suggested quietly, peeking over his shoulder.

"No. Wait." William put a hand on his back.

Meanwhile, four people stopped on the other side of Griffin's burning death-bed. Two of them were grinning, sparks flashing in their eyes.

The woman Trevor recognised from the kidnapping was first to speak. "Long time no see, William."

"Miranda," he muttered.

"In the flesh," she said, lifting a hand to her chest. She then looked between Eleonora and Trevor, noticing the confusion on their faces. But her gaze stopped on Eleonora. "Oh, who's that?"

"Don't tell her. She doesn't have to know," William snapped.

"Where are your gentlemanly manners, William?" Her thin eyebrow rose. "Luckily, I'm not like you. Let me introduce the person neither Trevor nor the other one has seen."

"This is Ashe. She's non-binary, and uses she, they pronouns. So not a woman." They were a slim person, about Jackson's height, and brown-skinned. She had a blonde pixie cut and green eyeshadow with glitter on her eyelids, looking quite unlike other vampires. She seemed nicer, somehow, though maybe it wasn't true, as Trevor didn't know them.

"And you already know Jackson and Houston." Jackson was standing on her right, between her and Ashe. He didn't change at all, maybe his clothes were different, but he didn't look like someone who'd been cut into pieces. Trevor thought vampires must have had a remarkable ability to regenerate. And Houston looked similar too. Trevor could take a closer look at his scar stretching across his face; it wasn't well-healed, thus looking like a rose-coloured mountain, as if washed in the late-afternoon sunshine. The same blade that had made it must have blinded him on his right eye, as it was glasslike.