The Deceased

Chapter Twenty Five - Death comes in handy.

I didn't hear a scream. What I heard was much worse. It was a gasp, a sign that she was taken by surprise or hurt in some way that left her incapable of words. It took me less than a second to force my way out the back, revealing myself in the shadows, to find no one. Valerie was not here.

Neither was her friend. What I did find was a puddle of blood, running down the middle of the alleyway, the scent was still fresh. It was a familiar scent, and I know the moment it hits my nose whose it is.

Rex appears behind me, so suddenly that I cant shield him from what he see's.

"Whose is that?" He asks, "Was someone murdered here?"

The question rings in my ears. Maybe. There's too much blood for someone to survive through such an ordeal. If she has then it is a miracle. More than ever at that moment, I needed to find Valerie. "I don't know."
Then I face him. There's nothing else I could tell him to put his mind at ease, not after seeing this. All I could do was settle with the truth. "Someone was hurt, and I need to find them. Valerie was out here."

"With Jane?" He asks in a hurry. "Is... is this-"

"Rex. I will find them. I will bring them home."

The promise doesn't seem to sit as well with him as I thought. "I'm not going to sit around and do nothing. I like Jane, and she likes me, and my music. I want her to be okay."

This is her blood, I do not say. I couldn't possibly ruin him like that. I place a hand on his shoulders. "I need you to be safe. I will bring them both home."

Of course I didn't expect him to sit and do nothing, but I've made my decision already and I'm trusting him to make the right one too. For weeks now there has been an air of intensity between us, and it is because I have not been honest with him. He knows it. "I will tell you everything you need to know, but not right now."

"You say that all the time, but whatever. Just go, get Jane and then come home. Don't die, or I'll be alone." He looks down at the red patch covering the concrete once more, takes in a shaky breath and walks towards my motorbike. I need that if I'm going to find her as soon as possible.

"I'll take you home first."

He waits patiently by the handlebars, playing with the straps of the helmet, when I double think. "You take it. There's something I need to do."

Rex shrugs, a look of exhaust in his face, before swinging his leg over the seat, strapping his helmet and riding away.

Valerie was worried tonight, it was written all over her face as much as she tried to hide it that she hadn't slept. She thought vlad would hurt her, but now he has taken her, and I was foolish enough to let her wonder in an alleyway alone. If she dies, then I would be at fault, and the sun of my dark life would be gone. I need her back.

Like with every one of his victims, first Vlad empties them out. They're belongings, everything in their pockets, he ditches. Being in an alleyway near a dumpster, that's the first place I decide to look. At first I found nothing but rubbish, old broken wooden photo frames, then something shiny at the bottom of the bin; Valerie's Keys.

Her car was where she left it, parked on a footpath away from the crowd of cars. She hates noise. I can't help think, as I search behind her warm seats, inhaling sweet vanilla and camomile, that we are in many ways the same. I'd like to think that if I were human we would get along just fine, in different circumstances.

There was a journal, one I hadn't seen her carry or heard her mention before so it must be new. Then again, Valerie is difficult to read, it's not like she has told me about herself. How would I know? It felt wrong but I had to go through it. Empty, to my relief. Below her seat, a meter away from the empty journal was a pocket knife. Not much use now.

That was it. Nothing I could use to track her down. Her phone was nowhere to be seen, and Jane's belongings were as good as gone along with them. I had to resort my last option.

Jane's blood gave off a heavy aroma, and the aroma carries on out of the alleyway, as if she were dragged bleeding. Valerie's fruity perfumes scent stayed in one spot, as if she just disappeared into thin air. She wouldn't be alone. If Vlad had taken one of them he had taken the other. Follow Jane's scent, and I find them both.

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A/N- 'tis a short chapter I know, but I have plans guys! Big plans! They just come to me, when i'm in the shower or i'm at work and I need to write them down, but they are plans! And they are good. It's all coming together, and i'm getting pretty pumped so stick with it. 

-DarkContentment <3