𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 ⌜𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿⌟

09. 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 09. 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗢𝗪𝗘 𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘

𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗣 of the stairs, leaning against the banister as you watched the two figures enter the home. The woman, you noticed, was almost identical to you. The same, longer, h/c hair fell through her fingers as she brushed it away from her face, returning her hand to the blonde man's arm. Her e/c eyes looked around in anxiousness before they found the lights, flicking them on to reveal the poor animal who'd been caught up in Malendez's actions.

The male's face twisted with disgust as he held the girl's head to his chest, keeping her view away from the sight. He pulled her down the hall, disappearing around the corner. You quirked a brow, surprised that they hadn't noticed you standing there.

You listened to their quiet conversation and their footsteps through the halls. With how silent the house was, you were able to hear every single detail and word that was said. When you heard the woman say something about returning to the hospital, you knew that this was the girl Echo was talking about.

Looking down at the feeling of something grabbing your ankle, you watched as Malendez weakly tried to bite your flesh. Face twisting with annoyance, you slammed your foot against his face, knocking him back out swiftly. You kicked him away from you before jumping onto the ground silently, moving to bury the dog outside.

When you returned, you saw the blonde male in the main hall. He was now on his guard, seeing that the dog had been moved. He looked around, his eyes narrowing when they settled on your dark figure. However, before he could say anything, or do anything that could have possibly alerted the girl, you swiftly knocked him out with the hilt of your dagger. He fell back on the ground, the golden sparks on his hands dying out as his head rolled to the side, a gash now on his forehead.

"Caesar," She called. "We need to go. There's been another attack and more people at the hospital. Do you need help bury--"

She cut herself off as she rounded the corner, spotting the unconscious male. She exclaimed his name again and ran towards him. She hit a button on the pager on her belt before looking around, swallowing hard. Her guard raised as she stood up, clutching the switchblade in her hands.

"I know you're here you, you bastard," She called, her hands trembling. "Just come out already!"

You sighed. "Relax," You said, making her jump at the sound of your voice. Obviously, she hadn't actually anyone to reply back to her.

Dropping Malendez's unconscious body at your feet, you noticed how intently she was staring at you as you dropped your hand back to your side. Her gaze focused on the blood on your hands, making you move your arm back a little.

"Wh-Who are you?" She stuttered, holding onto the blade tighter.

"It doesn't matter," You said, noticing that your accent had become a little thicker since you were riled up. "Your friend should be fine after he wakes up. You don't have to worry about him anymore either."

You nudged the body with the tip of your boot. "Did you kill him?" The woman demanded, forming a foreign sense of confidence. "Are you responsible for all this?"

"God no," You cringed, your nose scrunching up. "What he did to that poor dog was horrid. He's the one who's been fucking your city up. He's been the one to turn half those men into vampires. He's only unconscious as well."

"Why did you do this?" She asked, shifting her weight around. You noticed her balance was off. She obviously was not skilled.

"Because I can't idiot people like him running around and killing innocent people," You snapped, making your lip snark back to expose your fangs. You quickly realized what you did as her eyes widened with fear.

"Y-You--"

"--aren't going to hurt you," You quickly said, sighing as you dropped into a crouch, resting your arms on your knees. You watched as your nails returned to normal, wiping them on your pants. "I'm not going to eat you if that's what you're scared of. I only prey on small animals, like rabbits, not humans."

"What kind of vampire doesn't eat humans?" She asked, before quickly realizing what she said.

"The kind who holds a grudge against other vampires," You replied. "You've contacted help, haven't you?"

"Y-Yeah," She muttered, watching as you stood up onto your feet. "What are you doing?"

"I apologize for this in advance," You said. "No hard feelings, Doc."

She didn't get to reply before you slammed your foot against her face, making her fall back, now unconscious as well. You sighed, looking to both of them, scratching your cheek.

"Aw, piss. I didn't really think this through..."

...

"Thank you so much, Vex," Echo sighed, watching you plop down at the table across from them.

"Yeah, yeah," You muttered, taking a piece of candy from the bowl resting on the table. "You owe me bigtime, bastard. I had to clean up after three fuckers."

"Vex, Echo,"

Both of you looked up as Caroline, a dark-haired girl whom you'd come to know, entered the room. She was frowning deeply, making both you and echo frown.

"What is it?" Echo asked.

"Mark Malendez just died on the operating table," She said.

"Vex!" Echo snapped. "I told you not to kill him!"

"I didn't!" You exclaimed, taking the sucker from your mouth. "I just knocked him out! He shouldn't have died from the injuries I gave him!"

"Because he didn't," Buck said, also entering the kitchen. "The ambulance he was in was hijacked."

"Aaron," You and Echo said in sync. Buck nodded.

"Damn," Echo said. "We need to step our game up. Aaron has to be stopped. He's going to be worse than Malendez was."

"This isn't looking good," Caroline said. "What do we do?"

"Find Aaron and kill him," You said. "It's the only way to put an end to all of this. If he keeps it up, no one will be safe. He's already killed three affiliations. He's turning innocent people and killing the people trying to harm him. A dick move, and a deadly one on his part."

"B-But you can't just kill someone, Vex," Caroline said.

"I've done it before," You said, placing the sucker back into your mouth. "And I'll do it again. It's more than enough reason to tear him to shreds."

"As much as I hate resorting to violence, Vex is right," Echo sighed. "We have no other choice but to kill Aaron. It's the only way to stop him."

"Echo!" Another voice yelled. "There's an attack happening on the harbor!"

"I'll go," You said, standing up.

"Vex--"

"I'll be done faster than any of you," You said. "Figure out a way to kill Aaron and tell me when I get back."

"I seriously owe you, friend."

"You sure as hell do, mate."

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 09. 𝗘𝗡𝗗
𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: 24 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 2021
𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗗

A/n: I changed the cover. What do you think?