The Watchmaker

11 - The girl

The streets of Manchester were silent for once. Even the factory workers had a day off, which rarely happened. But today was some sort of British holiday, I had never heard of it, but I was French so I didn't really care.

I enjoyed the peacefulness. The rain dripping from my ear long hair down to the shoulders of my woolen coat didn't bother me much. I had gotten used to the foul weather here, and the perk of being a vampire was the fact that I was never too cold nor too hot.

"Mr Clocksworth." A man greeted and dipped his head as I passed the crowded pub. I gave him a nod as a greeting, he apparently knew me. Maybe he even worked for me. I wouldn't know, because frankly I didn't care. As long as they did their job I let them be.

My feet kept walking down the streets, there wasn't a reason for my walk. I had no place to be, I was outdoors to walk off my worry.

Luis had traveled back to France, alone. And something told me it was a bad idea. The nobles over there hated us, and that's why we left in the first place. The brothers had made too big of a name for themselves and other vampire clans had decided to get rid of the competition.

We could have handled it. Anthony knew it too, but he was tired of it all and when the opportunity came to move, he didn't even bother to ask us.

I enjoyed it here though. The folk living here were simple people, easy to read and easy to convince. I treated them fairly and they worked hard.

I turned a corner and decided to take the long way back to our apartment. I didn't feel like spending too much time with Anthony, his sour mood told me he too was worried about his brother, but he wouldn't say. He would never show himself that weak.

As I walked down the dark space of the narrow alley I heard the slurping distinct sound of a vampire drinking from its prey. I instantly stopped in my tracks and focused my hearing towards the creature.

It was clearly one of those lesser beings, and even if I knew I could take it down without much effort, they still creeped me out.

Low sobs penetrated my eardrums and I cursed myself for being too sentimental as my feet had decided to walk towards the sound. I was prepared to meet a monster, but the alley was empty except for a blond girl lying on the ground, covered in filth and her own blood.

I peered at the body and tilted my head to the side. Should I end her suffering, or just let her die in peace? For some reason I couldn't turn away. Maybe it was because of how lonely I felt without Luis, or maybe it was because she had the same hair color as my daughter. Something made me take another step forward.

That's when I noticed the twitches of her body, the paleness of her skin and the growing fangs in her mouth. The bastard had turned her.

I sighed and took a few steps closer. I knew what I had heard, it was one of the sewer creatures, I was sure of it. So what was going to become of her?

I shook my head at my own stupidity as I bent down and lifted the weak body into my arms and walked out of the alley.

My mind was racing, I should leave her. I had no idea what she would turn into and that thought alone made me nervous. But then the frail arms moved up to rest around my neck, a feeling that was all too familiar to me, from a life that had been taken from me. And as she hid her face from the rain my fatherly instincts took over and I decided that I was going to keep her safe. At any cost.

The walk home didn't take long, and the surprised greeting I got from Lumiere was nothing compared to the furious expression of my brother in law.

"What were you thinking!" He practically yelled as I placed the female body in one of the spare rooms.