Heart of spades

Chapter 11

The word didn't make sense. Something in his brain clicked. It was too troubling to keep the monster inside him to not surface. At this moment, his primal urges were expecting for him to tear apart the person in front of him.

"It was nice meeting you Alfred, my brothers have arrived too. I'm sure they would appreciate your greetings."

The man wasn't stupid. He grew up and worked alongside him since they were both kin. He knew exactly how his control was. The man right now, didn't resemble the person he knew. He silently put down his drink and smiled respectfully before leaving.

He momentarily closed his eyes letting the momentary peace sink in to calm the agitated monster inside him. He lost his way to the animalistic urges in him so many times. But this time, ever since he stepped into this weird club, his monster is thirsting for blood.

What is happening? The word that his alchemist compared him to, slowly made itself known into his heart. The feeling was foreign and uncomfortable. His lips twitched slightly and he sneered coldly.
- - - - -

The dim light irritated her to no ends. It made her instincts flare up everytime someone bumped into her and she wouldn't even know. She didn't know to feel thankful or dread. Because the crowd made it hard for any suspicion of the guards.

She tried to walk slow and steady, to not catch anyone's attention. She walked along the directions the vampire instructed, fascinated by the long halls that contradicted the fancy halls of the club in front.

The spider webs decorated every corner like a honor of it's time. The smell in the air was thick with dust and she almost sneezed when she stood near the bookshelf that is as twice as her size.

She looked around the room to find nothing but waste merchandise. She wondered why they would place a bookshelf out of nowhere in a place like this. Her questions were answered when she heard the voice from the chip.

"I'm guessing you found the place by the silence."

"Now, all you need to do is to figure out the secret passage. I don't exactly know what it is because I don't have access but my guess is that it could be anything related to the bookshelf. "

"Please look out for any secret traps."

She didn't know how he got his information on the detailed information, secret exits and passages. But the fact that everything he said has been true and guards didn't roam in this place as much because of tonight's "important guests."

Their presence not only disrupted the order, it also aided her in many ways possible. It was better, she repeated it to herself. She didn't know how this large bookshelf in front of her could hold a secret passage. She silently surveyed the full room for any essential elements.

She didn't dare touch anything recklessly. But she didn't have many options either. The arrangement of the books on the shelf were organised and neat. With aligned books all in one particular direction. Until, she caught a comparatively small book leaning completely opposite, contradicting the order.

Approaching to the side calmly, she took ahold of the book that was leaning against the corner of the shelf. The corner that was hid by the surface of this small book had a small square like hole.

The dust sprinkled in the air with an intensity when she patted the book. The letters on it were finally visible.

"The chronicles of the past ages"

The book was pocket sized, so she didn't waste a second to shove it inside. The only problem was about the hole that looked suspicious. She rolled her eyes and struck her hand out towards it, which just is the size to perfectly enclose her fist leaving little to no space.

She caught a rolled paper that was tied in a gentle, graceful knots with a loose thread. She was about to talk into the chip to confirm whether this is the one, but she quickly scoops it into the pockets of her long coat when she heard light footsteps.

The guards were all supposed to be at the front. The special guests didn't leave yet so, all the staff are on their toes trying to appease to the strange people. Who could take the time and explore, right at a certain time? How did they even knew the way?

She tried to stay rooted to the spot and stayed silent with a bated breath. But as each second passed by, the more frantic the footsteps became. And the direction of the footsteps sounded apparent. Almost as if they knew someone is here.

She cursed for how the shoes restricted her movement when she made a run, the other way. Her movement is tightly restricted and reasonably uncomfortable because she never wore a high branded shoes. It arguably slowed down her speed and she regretted her decision of accepting this.

The long halls which felt so intriguing before, has now gone unnoticed. She whisper-shouted unto the chip making sure whether she got the right letter. The voice of the man sounded concerned when her heavy breathing hit the chip.

The voice of the man over the chip sounded distant as she tried to reminisce about the directions he gave before.

"Try to avoid the illusionary paths, they are only meant to slow you down. "

"And to avoid them, one need to follow the true instincts of their gut. It never lies. "

She closed her eyes, trying hard to forget about the other pair of footsteps that sounded not too far away as before. She relied on her instincts to survive, more than she did so by reason. It was never a challenge for her.

So, the pursuit continued and the other presence behind her didn't back away in the slightest. It was power driven and ferocious by it's carelessness in hiding it's footsteps and momentary animalistic growls that spoke volumes about the power it held.

Her instincts flared up when she heard the footsteps become faster than ever. Almost as if it was right around the corner. Her heart was erratic with unease, beating noticeably violent with each breath she takes.

She sped up, finally arriving at the corner as she was instructed. She dared to look back to the creature that just entered the corner. The last thing she caught was the desperate black empty eyes that looked into her own with such a focus enough to carve out her features. It's teeth stood out in the desolateness, sharp enough to tear her flesh in one bite.

It's majestic laws thumped the ground urgently almost giving the illusion of falling over.

And then the portal sucked her in, pulling her away from this nightmare.