Four Fangs

006 - John 6:53-58

I had been listening to the languid, steady rhythm for the past two hours as I sat on the floor of the forsaken church, back leaning against the wooden wall of the confessional. Hleuco and I didn't bother with pretenses, neither of us willing to put forth effort to maintain even a slight conversation. As I continued to listen, waiting, the events that led us up to this less than ideal situation played on repeat in my mind. Did we win? Yeah, but it sure didn't feel like it.

I rolled the metal bottle between my hands. It was light, empty, not even a drop left. Ill-prepared, unlike me. I've been off my game ever since I left BioPsi, to put it mildly, ever since Aurora told me about her vision. She must've been lying, her power on the fritz again. I'd never do that.

The drone in the back of my mind fluttered, picking up pace. Alexis. I jumped up.

"What are you doing?"

"Just checking on her. Guard the door."

He nodded.

I entered the confessional and closed the door behind me. Alexis was sitting now, her head snapping to me, pupils wide and unfocused. This was my fault. My fingers pressed the button of the bloodletting bracelet encircling my right wrist, and I grimaced as the blade popped out and dug in.

She stood up, but didn't approach, whatever consciousnes she still retained fighting for control.

"Can you see me?" If she could, she didn't give any indication of it.

After over fifty years of neglect, the pews were rotted, the stained glass had shattered and covered the floor in red, blue, and green specks, and the baptism pool had crumbled away. Who knows how many years it had been since that stone had been wet? There was no water here, and certainly no priests. The only baptism today would be made in blood.

Since she hadn't accepted my offering, I brought myself closer, letting the juice of my veins collect in my palm. If this was a horror movie, I might be scared, the way her now-black eyes pierced through her straight black hair and contrasted against her pallid skin. But this wasn't a horror movie and even if it was, we were the monsters. All we had to fear was ourselves.

What are you, some kind of saint? How could she resist when she's in such a state? Maybe I'm not helping her, maybe I'm corrupting her instead, I thought as I forced the blood down her throat. She didn't fight me, following the river of blood to its source.

"It's okay." I soothed, cupping her head with my other hand.

I felt the hunger too, but this was nothing. I could handle this. I had endured far worse when I worked for BioPsi.

She wiped her mouth right as Hleuco barges in.

"She's awake," I announced.

"I see that."

"What... happened?" Alexis looked around. "Where are we, a church?"

"Yes, we needed to get you somewhere safe, fast, and this abandoned church happened to be nearby. As for what happened, I'm curious about that too. Sera, would you mind explaining?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. Hopefully, what I was going to say would appease him. "Before I caught up to her, the ferrymen dealt a lot of damage. If we use our power too much in a short period of time, we go berserk. Her having to regenerate so much initiated that state, which is why I tranqed her."

He crossed his arms. "And she's alright now?"

"Does she look berserk to you?"

"Not particularly. It would have been nice if you'd informed me of this earlier."

"We were pressed for time. I didn't think we'd have to use it yet."

"What would've happened if we didn't have the tranquilizers?"

"She would have attacked anyone nearby until the berserk state ran out."

"And how long would that take?"

"Ten minutes, tops."

"That's not so bad."

"It doesn't take ten minutes to kill a man."

He went silent for a moment, his bird-like mask eerie in the dim light peeking through the cracks in the ceiling. "Can you get any more of these?"

"No, so be careful with them." If only I had thought to pilfer a few more before I sent that nightmarish facility up in flames.

"Is there any way to snap out of it?" Alexis said, her eyes returning to normal, cheeks flushed.

"Just the one." Blood, the sole requirement to our continued existence.

"I'm sorry." Her voice wobbled. "I made you waste one."

"Don't apologize. I'm the one who fucked up. I shouldn't have let my guard down. If I hadn't been knocked out for a minute then this wouldn't have happened." My jaw tightened at the thought.

"So what now?" Hleuco said.

"I think we should take a week off," I said.

"I agree."

I turned to Alexis. "You free after school this week?"

"School? You're young."

Shit. Why did I say that? Something strange drew my attention: his heart beat a steady rhythm despite his apparent surprise. Maybe my slip of the tongue was for the better. "You didn't know that?"

"No — well, I had my suspicions. She is rather small."

His heart rate spiked up for just a second, something I had been trained to recognize as a marker of lying. What is he hiding? And more importantly, how should I get it out of him? "What do you know about her?"

He didn't answer immediately. "Not much. She's the Blue Moon, and she has the same crazy power that you do."

"Do you know her identity?"

"No," he said.

His heart fluttered; he was lying. This is bad. What if he had tipped the ferrymen off? What if he sets her up in the future? I'd have to let her know as soon as we left. I need to figure out if he's really a crooked cop, and if so, if he's working against us. Then make sure he never gets that chance again.

"Okay. So are you doing anything after school this week?"

"No, I'm free," she said. "Why?"

"Good, I'll pick you up then. I want to train you before we attempt to do this hero thing again. Hell, I could use some practice too."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah." I pushed my fist into my other hand. "Get ready."