The Black Envelope

Chapter 10: Persuasion

Chapter 10: Persuasion

The voice belonged to that of a figure which jumped down from the roof, long coat billowing out around it as it fell, landing as softly as the Unnoticed did. The man was very tall, taller than Gage, with a loping walk usually associated with predators. His dark hair was covered by an old, battered hat. It shadowed his eyes so Gage couldn’t see what color they were. He walked over to where Gage was standing, clutching his neck to try and stop the bleeding.

“I’m glad I just happened to be taking a midnight stroll on the rooftops tonight, aren‘t you?” The man smiled, walking closer to Gage.

“And you are?” Gage asked, swaying a little.

“That,” The man said, walking over to grab Gage’s bag and handing it to him, “is not something you need to know at this moment. Though I’m sure you’ll figure it out in time. By the way, I like your fighting style. Messenger, aren’t you?” The man still looked interested, but his face darkened as he called Gage by his title.

“Not anymore.”

The man's eyes brightened. “Oh really? By the looks of you I’d say you recently run away for… what? Emotional trauma? Betrayal? Girl?” Gage didn’t say anything.

“It’s always a girl.” The man muttered. He bent down to pull the stake out of the Unnoticed’s chest while simultaneously tying its hands and feet. As he reached up to shake his hair out of his eyes, his coat sleeve fell down, revealing an intricate tattoo on his inner wrist.

Gage sighed. “I guess I owe Mera $10.”

The Slayer looked at Gage curiously. Gage gestured to the Slayers tattoo. The Slayer swore and pulled his sleeve back down. Then he looked back up at Gage, raising one eyebrow. “You owe who money?”

“My friend Mera. We were betting on the return of the Slay-” Gage cut off as the man’s hand wrapped itself around Gage’s mouth.

“Don’t say what I am.” The Slayer hissed. “The Unnoticed already know we are coming back. We don’t need to spread it to the public, too.”

Gage peeled the Slayer’s hand off his mouth and wiped it with his other one. He then proceeded to spit a glob of blood onto the ground and feel the wet circle of Unnoticed blood on his chest. He pulled his fingers away and reeled in disgust as the wet glob of black blood dripped from his fingers.

“You should probably get that checked out.” The Slayer advised, nodding towards Gage’s neck. He rubbed the hilt of something on his thigh. On closer inspections Gage saw it was the hilt of an ivory dagger, engraved with some kind of writing. The man shifted and his coat covered the blade again.

“No, really?” Gage scoffed and looked around the abandoned alley, rubbing his neck haphazardly.

“Well I best be off.” The Slayer tipped his hat towards Gage and jumped ten feet into the air, grabbing the end of a fire escape and swinging himself up onto it.

“Hey!” Gage called. “You’re just going to leave this body here?”

“Yup.” The Slayer called back, ascending the stairs. “It’s in line of the sunlight, it’ll be okay.”

Gage watched as the Slayer vaulted himself over the edge of the roof, whistling something that sounded suspiciously like a funeral march.

“Alright then.” Gage muttered, walking back out into the alley, giving the corpse on the ground a wide berth.

He wasn’t worried about the bite. Humans had to be killed, then drained of blood to be turned. As long as Gage wasn’t dead in the first place, he was safe. The only thing he worried about now was getting to Fay’s house before passing out from blood loss.