Bump

39.2: DUST-UPS (part 2)

Rupert swore. Harriet covered her ears. Winkton doubled over, whimpering. All around them, the fairies flew back a foot or two. Even the workers, still lost in their fairy-dust daydreams, winced momentarily before returning to their tasks. The only person who did not react was the vampire hunter. Rupert stared. Ghosts, it seemed, were unaffected by rapidly oscillating vibrations moving through the air. Rupert supposed that stood to reason, given that ghosts were not entirely of this plane of existence. Still, it was disappointing to say the least.

Juggalug also noticed the vampire hunter's lack of reaction. His ears drooped and his scream petered out to an embarrassed warble.

Tania flicked out her brother's hand and sent Juggalug sprawling sideways, where Harriet caught him. Harriet's jaw firmed. She stepped forward, planting herself between the bolt and Rupert.

"If you want to kill him," she said, voice shaking. "You'll have to kill me first."

"Harriet!" Winkton gasped from behind the hunter. "What are you doing?"

"Yes, what are you doing?" Rupert asked her. "Don't do that!"

Tania Brightmann narrowed her brother's eyes at Harriet. She did not move the crossbow. "Why are you defending him? He is a murderer, girl. He killed me and he would have done the same to you."

"He wouldn't."

"Actually, I would have done," Rupert cut in. Harriet turned to look at him, her expression shocked. He shrugged. "I am a vampire, after all."

Harriet turned back to the towering figure of not-Gustav. "He wouldn't any more," she amended.

Tania curled her brother's lip. "Don't delude yourself. That's only because he can't. As soon as he found a cure he would have been back to his old ways before you could say 'artery'. His uncle was, after all."

"W-What?" said Rupert.

Tania turned Gustav's eyes to him. "Oh, didn't he tell you? Your Uncle Fang was desanguinised too. One of the earlier experiments, before this one-" She indicated Harriet. "-was involved. But Lord Winkton here reversed the process, on the understanding your uncle would keep his goings-on a secret from others of your kind."

Rupert reeled. "He... Wha..."

It was Harriet who turned to her father. "You had the cure this entire time?"

Winkton looked sheepish. "It's hardly sensible to learn a hex without learning how to lift it," he grumbled. "And anyway, it's not as though anyone asked me."

"I think I'm going to faint," said Rupert conversationally.

"No." Tania Brightmann had evidently tired of talking. She swatted Harriet aside, shoving her towards her father. Winkton caught her. Harriet tried to twist away, but he held her fast.

"You're not going to faint," Tania told Rupert. "You are going to die."

"Wait!"

Tania flung up her brother's hands. "For Day's sake, what now?"

What now turned out to be three figures swooping in through the factory's open doors and all diving simultaneously towards the vampire hunter. Black cloaks hid their forms and black masks obscured the lower halves of their faces. They were, inexplicably, joined by a hawk.

"Who is that?" Winkton demanded.

Rupert blinked. "I think... I think that's my family."