The doorbell jingled softly as the door opened. An old man with his head covered with thinning long grey hair looked up from his cup of steaming black coffee at the sound of the familiar bell.
A thin cigarette hung limply from the side of his lip and the smoke escaped lightly through the other side of his mouth and nostrils as he watched some people approach the counter slowly as if looking around.
The last thing he needed to end his day with was to be robbed and he was not going to make it easy for the robbers, quietly, he pulled out his licensed double barrel gun from beneath the counter and cocked it, ready to aim and shoot as the strangers approached.
"Wo! Wo! Wo!" Kane quickly raised his palms, his head tilted backwards, eyes widened in fright. "Easy there Mr. Yin...c'mon, it's just me."
Recognizing the voice, the old man lowered his gun a bit. With a swing of his head towards Evelyn and Jalil, he asked in a hoarse voice. "...And who are they?" The cigarette shook in his mouth as he spoke.
"Who? They? My friends, relax goddamnit!" Kane replied.
With a last look at Evelyn and Jalil, he returned the gun under the counter.
"Does he have a license to that gun? I mean...what's he doing with such a weapon?" Evelyn whispered to Kane.
"I use it to keep them fuckers out!" Mr. Yin replied instead, having he heard her.
"Your ears are better than your eyes, you go for the gun anytime that fucking bell jingles at dusk...do something about your short sightedness!" Kane suggested.
"Now, now...don't you mock me, boy!" He warned. "I got my glasses here." He patted the pair of glasses hanging down his chest from the cord around his neck. "...an old man just needs a break from everything." He paused as he regarded them for a while then pulled the cigarette from his lips, squeezed the flame off on the ash tray and cleared his throat. "You know it's closing time, what brings you here my friend?"
Evelyn stepped forward and nervously said, hoping not to sound hysterical. "Vam..pires!"
The old man's brows furrowed and he glanced at Kane. "You've been spreading rumours, boy!" he said in a raspy voice. "...Dangerous rumours that could cause you your life."
Kane dipped his hands in his pockets while Evelyn scanned the shop which besides long shelves of books, it was decorated with artifacts. Jalil still remained behind them, quiet and observant. "We need answers Mr. Yin." Kane said.
Mr. Yin came out from behind the counter, walked towards them and peered into Evelyn's face then he shook his head and walked away.
Just then the bell jingled and two ladies came in, he was about to react when he was stopped by Kane. "It's okay Mr. Yin, they are with us." He assured as Anna and Sharon joined them.
"Now can somebody tell us what we are all doing here in an old library across the street owned by an old China man?... what's going on, Eve?" Sharon questioned. "We were supposed to meet at the park."
"Are you also here because of Vampires?" Mr. Yin calmly asked Sharon and Anna.
The ladies' brows rose in a perplexed look. "Vampires?" Anna uttered in disbelief.
Sharon turned to Kane. "This was all your stupid idea, wasn't it? All your shitty talks about Super-naturals!"
"I beg your pardon?" Kane defended. "I'm in the dark as much as you are."
"Calm down, ladies..." Jalil replied. "There's something you need to know, we didn't just walk in here asking about vampires."
"Then spill it! Anna probed, stepping forward. "What's going on?" when she got no reply, she turned to Eve. "Eve?"
Jalil exchanged glances with Eve and began. "It's about our cadaver...We think...he might be a vampire."
"Gosh!" Sharon exclaimed in disbelief. "Eve, don't tell me you're part of this nonsense!"
Eve stuttered for what to say but couldn't come up with an explanation that would suit her best friend. Anna gave her colleagues a dissatisfying look as she scanned each face except Sharon's. "...and who cooked up this lame story about our cadaver being a vampire?"
Jalil and Kane exchange glances, when they couldn't come up with an answer. Sharon and Anna burst into laughter making Evelyn angry.
"...Girls, listen! This is not funny, I know what I saw...huh...I'm not crazy neither am I a psychic..." she said nervously as if trying to convince herself of the fact that her sanity remains perfect. "...I think Morris Stance is four hundred years old."
"Morris Stance?" Mr. Yin who had remained quiet, leaning on the counter, sipping his coffee as he listened to the foreigners talk and accuse one another while he turned out the window sign to close turned abruptly, the name mentioned catching his attention.
They all turned as he approached Eve. "Did I just hear you say Morris Stance?"
"Yes." Eve replied. "He's our cadaver...do you know him?"
"That bastard!" cursed Mr. Yin. "That murderous night crawler! Thought him a lesson, didn't I? Thought he could hurt me and get away with it!"
The students eyes widened in shock of realization that Evelyn might not be wrong after all and they had probably found the murderer of Morris Stance too.
Anna was the one who asked in disbelief. "You...mean you murdered Morris Stance?"
"Murder is an understatement! I ended the blood drilling bastard!"
"Could you guys just stop this thing of vampires...this is beginning to get out of hand." Sharon stated, confounded.
The old man ignored her and beat his left chest. "Stabbed him right here!... with the forbidden dagger carved out of ancient oak wood. The beast raped and drained my daughter of life seven years ago and since then I've been hunting him and I did catch him off guard, right at the back of the alley, draining another young life. They have an insatiable lust for blood."
Evelyn walked slowly mostly without the others noticing for they were engrossed with Mr. Yin's story. She approached a large picture frame of a young chinese girl, in her early twenties mounted high up on the wall, smiling.
She peered at it for a while reaching out slowly with her fingers to caress the young girl's smile. Immediately her fingers made contact, she fell into a trance with a gasp. She whimpered as the past images of the girl's life passed swiftly into her mind's eye, she could faintly hear her laughter, her voice when she spoke in the Chinese language, while she went clubbing with foreign friends, and then everything turned gloomy and dark.
She heard the frightening scream of the girl. Eve's heartbeat increased in tension and she whimpered the more as more of the images came to her. The others heard her whimpering.
With her eyes closed, her lower lip trembling, her forehead coated in perspiration, her chest heaving, her face lined with fear and tightened with tension, they watched in dismay, even the old man was shocked.
Evelyn let out a little frightened cry as her fingers lost contact with the picture. She staggered backwards weakly, almost losing her balance when Jalil quickly caught her in his arms, fell to a knee because of her unexpected weight and left her sitting on the floor and placing her head on his shoulder still breathing hard.
The others suddenly gathered around them. "Su Yong!" Evelyn whispered still not recovered from the effect of the trance that seemed to have stolen her strength.
"What's the meaning of this?" Mr. Yin asked, carefully regarding her as she rolled her head slowly from side to side her lips whispering what nobody could understand.
"This was almost the same thing that happened to her in the theatre." Jalil looked up at the others.
YOU ARE READING
DARK QUEST (Sample)
Vampire"I'll simply screw your friend over there." He gestured with his chin at Jennifer who was returning to the counter to place a new order. "She was practically soaking wet why rambling about the things not of interest to me. I could smell it, I can st...
