Welcome to another installment of A Vampire’s Vengeance! When last we spent time with our resident vampires, they were escorting humans across an abandoned metropolis. Their course, however, was disrupted by the appearance of two wayward Beings dragging around a human. You can catch up with Part XXX here. What happens now? It seems Edgar has a plan. Let’s see what he gets himself and Isabelle into →
Edgar led Isabelle around a building, on the other side of which they expected to find the Beings and the human. The vampires, together with Ceres, had flocked to where Ceres had seen them, and they followed for a spell to determine their trajectory. Then they split up; Ceres returned to draw the humans away, while Isabelle and Edgar tracked the Beings. The original plan was for Isabelle and Edgar to draw the beings away from the humans, but Edgar had other things in mind.
Isabelle and Edgar kept close to the walls and behind large piles of refuse littering the streets to keep from being seen, should they happen upon the Beings sooner than expected. Twilight was fading; Ceres had pointed out how extremely odd it was to see Beings about during the late hour. With a bit of luck, Edgar hoped to overtake them as night fell.
The two vampires approached a corner of the building, Isabelle was crouched low and Edgar leaned over her as they both peered around it, careful to remain as obscured as possible. The dwindling light had already receded from the side of the building where they hid, obscuring their presence further. However, without having a clear understanding of the Beings' abilities, Edgar wanted to reduce the risk of getting caught. They watched and waited, and were soon rewarded: the Beings crossed the street on the other side of the building. They moved slow, but maintained their course. When the Beings had crossed and were out of sight, Edgar slipped away from the wall and beckoned Isabelle to cross the street with him.
"Uno mas," said Edgar in low, sub-human tones. One more. He referred to the buildings.
"¿Uno mas y que?" One more and then what? Isabelle had no idea what Edgar was planning, though she expected they would yell at the Beings and then run like hell.
"You'll see."
Isabelle wondered if she should be concerned by Edgar's response. He didn't seem the reckless type, had so far been adamant about being prepared and keeping a low profile, but something about this whole situation seemed off, despite her knowing him for a grand total of less than 72 hours. With a sigh, she stood up and followed him.
They rushed past the next building and again stacked themselves to peer around the corner. They surveyed the street and the sidewalks for some time, but no Beings were to be seen. Concerned the Beings may have changed direction, Edgar began to crawl around the corner. He froze when the Beings came into view.
Continued after the break
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The Beings and the human they carried between them came around the corner on the other side of the building and paused in the middle of the street, close to where Isabelle and Edgar were perched. From their vantage and at this proximity, it was a wonder these creatures could ever be mistaken for humans. Humanoid, indeed, as they were bipedal, with two arms and a single head, but as Edgar had noted before, their limbs were far too long. They were lean and lanky to the extreme, and completely identical to one another. They wore skin-tight suits and odd-shaped helmets, leaving little to the imagination. Edgar briefly wondered what they might taste like.
Watching the Beings, to Isabelle and Edgar, it appeared they just stood there, not saying anything at all. Their body language indicated great anxiety and discomfort, as they looked up and around and shuffled their feet while remaining in place. What were they afraid of, Edgar wondered? Throughout all of this, they appeared silent. Despite their preternatural hearing, Isabelle and Edgar heard nothing from the Beings. Then one of the Beings prodded the human in the ribs with a metal pole, causing the human to cry out.
"I told you, I don't fucking KNOW," he said.
The human hung limp between the two Beings; they each held him up under the arms with one hand. The Being who prodded him did so again; the two vampires watched the human writhe before responding.
"I only know that we were supposed to come this way," he said. Then he spat at the feet of the Being who prodded him, prompting another dig into his ribs. "Aacchhh." After a fit of coughing, he said, "She never gave us specifics."
Edgar watched the Beings closely during these interactions, then surveyed the area. The street in front of them was small--two lanes with no shoulder--so there was short space in which to move when they were ready to. This would work to their advantage if they were quick enough.
Still, Edgar recognized the major gamble he planned to make. He was counting on these two being isolated from the rest; any help they demanded would be long to arrive--long enough for Isabelle and Edgar to be gone. He was also counting on being faster, or stronger--preferably both--than the beings. Two major gambles, which, by his logic, there was no better way to find out how the dice landed than by causing a ruckus.
"What are we supposed to do?" Isabelle used those low, sub-human tones to speak.
"This."
Without another word, Edgar grabbed Isabelle from under the arm and tossed her into the middle of the street.
Oh shit, we did NOT see that coming. Okay, yes we did, actually. It was in the blueprints. Still, quite the shocker! Is it not? What will happen with Isabelle? What’s Edgar’s long game? Does he actually have a plan, or are we watching some fucked up improvisation? Only one way to find out! Come back next week!
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