A Crumbling Society

Part 2-23

As I followed after her the air changed and it felt like I had taken the longest nap in the world, or both of them since I've lived in two different ones. The red filter flowed back into view as the lighting flashed above in the sky. I was back in Valtera and standing alone in what looked like a run-down yard, even for the death theme here. A gate was half bent downward looking like it was going to fall, and the walkway was overgrown with dead grass, which is possible apparently. It looked like it sat on property separate from the mainland as if it were an estate or private island. There was no time to check out the rest of it when a bang came from inside. My hands rose in the air before I dropped them remembering I had no magic. I called out for Dusk but got no reply, when I called again there was still no answer, but the noises continued. The hero in me made me go investigate so I walked up the steps and pushed the door open. "Hello", I asked, and my voice carried well enough whatever it was had to have heard me this time. A house that's almost barren would definitely allow sound to travel better, and this time I got a reply. "It's me! I'm just changing, my clothes ripped off when I mutated so I came to dig for something". Relief flowed through me recognizing Dusk's voice as her humanoid vampire self this time. She told me she'll be down in a minute, and I told her that was fine. Checking the room better there was absolutely no furniture to sit on while I waited so I stood. Propping myself against a wall was the next best thing and then fiddled with my thumbs until she was ready. A couple of minutes and then she bobbed down the steps, black boots that reached up to before her knees came down first. They were tied all the way up and then black pants started where the boots ended, there were a few holes at her lower thighs. She was also wearing a black T-shirt with a white design printed on it, it was hard to figure out what it was exactly. Somehow, she managed to find another jean jacket and was fixing it as she reached the last step. "Is the only theme here death and rock and roll?", I asked her. Grinning from my question she said no before asking if I was ready. I enticed the idea of staying here for a bit to rest and I got shot down on the account of having to get me to Vampire Psycho immediately. Arguing didn't really help my case but I at least tried, I feel like that place helped me feel rested, but the constant go tired me out. Walking out of the door I asked her what we were supposed to do from here and if the guild was even close at all. "Remember, only vampires know the way, so trust me, and we have to get you to the guild, now. We can't prolong this anymore", she said with haste.

We went up a hill and then back down it, coming to a beach that was spewing lava right in front of us. Where there were supposed to be waves were rushes of molten rock rising and falling back and forth. It took maybe thirty minutes to reach on foot, and she kept speeding up forcing me to put extra work in my walk. Dusk turned to me, allowing me to catch my breath, "I need you to do something, but you might hate me for it". Looking sideways for a second and then back at her, "what is it exactly?". She looked down, then at me but let her head drop again, "I need you to have one taste of my blood". "Your blood? Why?", I let out in confusion. How random I thought, why was she asking me this all of a sudden. Thinking about it was hard, there were so many questions going through my mind, but she interjected through my thoughts. "It would only be a little bit and it would help you see the pathway to the Guildhall", she tried convincing. Honestly it sounded weird, but I didn't think I had much of a choice so agreeing to it was all I could do. "Umm, okay I guess" I told her, then Dusk's arm came out and she placed her fingernail against it. The nail sharpened itself to allow her to make a single slice. Blood began rising from the cut and pooled at one side causing a single drop to sit in place waiting to fall. Nudging at me to start I grabbed underneath; this was definitely on my list of things I never thought I'd do. I didn't want to do this, but her urgency told me to get over it to get it over with. Quickly placing my mouth around the cut, I engulfed the bit of blood that settled on the surface. Pulling away and tasting it around for a few seconds, then dissipating through my taste buds, "more iron content than I thought", I told her. "Yeah, yeah", she said while rolling her eyes and then returning them to meet mine. I feel she was waiting for me to comment on the whole blood thing. It took a minute, maybe to pass through my body but soon umber colored brick appeared. Faded mostly at first, then increasingly visible as I could see it travel in an upward formation. Steps lined a pathway that indeed did lead to the guildhall, and it connected in different directions as well. Some of the path etched itself left and right, downward, and diagonal, I looked at Dusk and told her I now respected her for offering the blood. "Thanks", I also let out, she mentioned it was no big deal and told me to "c'mon".