Antithesis

Chapter 11: Inception

The streets of Knockturn Alley were indeed something startling. Humanoid creatures waked past with long lumbering steps, pausing only to hiss loudly in his direction. One humanoid creature made a chuffing noise, before reaching into its mouth and pulling out a living blackbird. Another woman grinned in his direction, her eyes rolling around in her head before falling out of the sockets dramatically.

Adrain was almost certain that the occupants were trying to scare him. When one vampire slid against him- its stone cold skin touching his own, it inhaled deeply and made a sort of feline purring noise deep in his throat.

Adrian was ever so thankful for having Lutain so close to him.

When Lutain pulled, jerking away from Adrian’s skin towards a series of steps leading down another path, Adrian couldn’t resist. Lutain was his security; if his friend wanted to go a specific way or venture off the trail he wouldn’t argue.

Lutain wavered, wriggling in the air in a lethargic daze. His eyes had clouded and his tongue limply hung from his jaws like a dog.

“Lutain?” Adrian hushed, alarmed by the state of his friend. “ Lutain? ”

He heard it then: a melodic trilling noise. It was foreign and captivating, every instinct in his blood was pulsing and screaming ‘ wrong wrong wrong! ’

Adrian stepped further into the open against his better judgement.

The sound abruptly ended, ringing hollowly and emptily in the silence. Lutain reeled back, gaining composure whilst a creature in an archaic fountain recoiled in surprise.

She (If Adrain could trust the body shape and long hair) was young but still years older than Adrian, closer to Calum in age, but just foreign enough that Adrian wasn’t quite sure. Her skin was pale and she had dark hair, separated into long wet strands either from the fountain or biological oil. She blinked rapidly with bulbous, round eyes. She had a speckling of what looked like a sort of disease around her exposed collarbone, shimmering like scales (Adrian felt uncomfortable when he realized they most likely were scales).

“The sound,” Lutain hissed, tail thrashing in annoyance. “You stopped.”

The creature blinked, pulling back and slinking below the fountain rim hesitantly, “I regret, Sharptail.”

Adrian blinked, and took a half step backwards. The rusting iron of the fountain, alongside the dripping water looked suspiciously like blood over the edge of the rim.

“You understood him?” Adrian asked cautiously. The creature tilted her head, her ears were humanoid.

Adrian’s mind bubbled in fascination at such a magical creature.

“You do,” She pointed out, voice lilting and somehow chirping like a bird, although still guttural and awkward. “You reek dark.”

Adrian swallowed, taking a step forward once he spotted what looked like a green fin just below the surface.

“What creature?” Lutain hissed, peering up and scenting the air, “You scent of strange.”

“ You smell sour,” The woman (was it a woman) retorted, scowling at Adran. “You smell foul. Torn, ripped and shoved into something which you are not.”