….. Dr Richardson's House …..
The fluorescent bulbs shone brightly, lighting the white painted walls of the hallways and stairways up to the corridors.
Dr Richardson gazed at the lioness' portrait by the door before letting out a sigh.
Knock! Knock!!
Dr Richardson knocked the door. "Christa, are you there?"
No response.
She had been like this since the day before. She locked herself in her room and didn't come out. And this got her father worried.
She didn't come out for breakfast, lunch the same and now dinner had just passed and she didn't show up again.
So unusual.
"Christa, whatever is bothering you, tell me, and we'll sort this out," Dr Richardson breathed and propped his head against the door as he whispered. "I know, I went too far about that report file that you stole at my office, okay. I'm sorry."
He waited. Four minutes passed. Still no response.
Dr Richardson leaned off the door and palmed his face.
Then he took his hand bag from the floor.
"I'm going to work now, an emergency came up and my presence is needed. Your dinner is in a thermos in the kitchen. You can have your meal."
With that, the middle aged man strode down the stairs and outta the house.
A loud rev permeated the air as his car zoomed off.
Then a figure under dark cloak that mixed with the darkness of the night leaned off a wall, adjacent to Dr Richardson's house.
A device was in the figures grip. The red blink on it got more and more rapid as the figure neared the building.
.
.
Meanwhile, in her room, with the door bolted up, Christa sat. A silhouette being the only evidence someone is in the room.
Her arms hugged her knees tightly as she
edged against the corner of her room.
The light bulb in her room was off and the night darkness reigned in it.
As she heard her father's steps receding, she lifted her face.
The sound of a car zooming away reached her.
Then silence. A whimper escaped her lips as she hid her face again.
She dragged herself to the study table beside her queen sized bed.
Flick!
Light streamed from the lamp and her face was revealed. It was pale. Her hair was dishevelled. But she cared less.
Her gaze were on the book on the table as she grabbed her pen and began scribbling some scattered words across the white sheet.
A rattle outside her room door made her stop. Her gaze turned back.
She grabbed her lamp and walked to the door with hesitant and agitated steps.
Her hand fidgeted the door knob. Her breathing uneven.
The rattling went on.
She turned the knob and opened the door slightly. The lights that welcomed her disappointed the lamp in her grip.
Perhaps she had thought darkness were beyond the door just as it's in her room.
She flung the lamp back into her room and it landed on her bed skidding two times before halting at the middle.
She came out fully from her room and walked to the edge of the banisters, gazing below the corridor.
Nothing. Just a house well lit and well furnished with multiple frames that depicted a happy family and progress of the members, on the walls. The frames told nothing of the story of how broken the family is now, just the progress and the past happiness.
Her mother isn't living with them. She left when she's just five. And ever since then, she's been left alone with her always working father. Even though she has no problem with her father's job as a doctor, she still feels in need of attention sometimes.
She found out something that shook her heart. She's been engrossed with finding out the thing since her birth, but now that she's found out, she feels overwhelmed.
She needs someone to talk to, someone to tell things that no one could believe, but now her father has left, for the hospital to work.
She could remember how her mother would spend hours with her in her room talking and telling her stories. And she was a lot more free with her mom than her dad. If she's here now, things might be easier for her.
As she looked around the white walls, she found nothing that could soothe her mind and soul. Only those that reminded her of how damned she is.
She made to go back into her room when a bursting sound erupted.
She turned. Behold it's the light bulbs in the dining room. Darkness was all she could see there now.
The bulbs are burnt, that was what a normal human would have thought.
But not her. Not after what she saw last night.
They might have thought she didn't see a thing but she did.
Kylian might have thought she's drunk and couldn't have seen a thing but she did.
Her chest banged against her ribs.
As she stared at the darkness, she saw death. She saw doom. She saw…..
Another burst. The darkness gained more territory.
Her chest rose and fell visibly, her eyes dilated as seconds passed.
Another burst. She can't take it anymore.
She can't take it anym-
Another burst. The darkness has reached a few feets from her.
Her face contorted as her lips opened wide. "Haaaaaaaaaaa!"
Another burst and the darkness coated her entirely.
Then a pair of eyes came into her sight. Its crimson glow litted a portion of the corridor.
It's, it's, it's identical to the ones she saw at the bar yesternight. She recognised.
It's one of the beast.
She made to scream but a crude hand clasped her mouth.
She struggled but her strength was like an ant's compared to the unseen person's.
Her two hands gripped the hand on her mouth and she struggled. Something sharp pierced her hand as she grip the fingernails and she took it off. Claws.
Her muffled scream followed.
A growl in the silence made her cry against the large hand muffling her mouth.
She's deep into shit. No way out.
Her struggles and muffled scream was all that lasted for the next ten seconds.
But then a mighty growl erupted and a loud bang followed. Christa felt the large hand holding her mouth leave her and she collapsed on her butts.
Bang!
A sound like something crashing into something emanated in the dark and she whimpered.
She wept as she crawled as fast as she can into her room and bolted up the door.
The continuous bangs from outside the door reached her easily.
She cried the more as she hugged her knees and hid beside her bed. Her body shaking with each bang that resounded from the downstairs.
The other parts of the house, just like her room, had been thrust into darkness now.
But her room had gained some light. The lamp gave the room some.
Christa cared less. All she wants now is to be safe.
'If I knew my knowledge of the supernatural world would result to this, I would have stopped weny I had the chance.' she thought as she whimpered, curled up in the corner of her room.
Little did she know that this is not about her knowledge of the supernaturals.
The bangs from the downstairs continued. Then angry words began to seep into the room like the deep growl of a beast sounded. "Don't lay your filthy hands on her. She's just a girl. She's not to be touched by demons like you."
"Die."
BANG!
Silence.
Christa's whimper reduced. She knew that voice. But, but she can't remember where.
The door to her room creaked open and she stilled.
This damn door is locked. She locked it. She made sure it's locked. How the hell was it opened without a key?
Her soul cowered and her bones shivered. Her heart was in her mouth when a pair of red eyes appeared before her sight.
The mirror beside her reflected the lights from the lamp. She saw the face.
"Haaaaaaa!" Her scream erupted.
It can only be called a demon's by her. Rugged and hairy.
Claws flexed in the air before her and swiped downward at her head.
Her eyes clasp closed as her scream permeated the air.
However, a hand from nowhere wiped together the clawed hands of the beast. The beast wiggled but was flung across the room instead.
Bang!
The door shattered. The banisters brought the beast to a halt in a slam.
Christa opened her eyes and she saw it. A short silver hair. She saw it. Then she recognised it at once.
A pair of void black eyes stared at hers with worry brimming in it. No, this is not associated with the silver hair she knew.
Yet she appraised it, instead of freaking out.
The beast growl from the corridor emanated.
The silver haired man, or creature rather turned from her.
The beast writhed to its feet and faced the silver haired pale creature before it.
It growl and leapt.
The silver haired body flashed and in the next second, was beneath the beast's body.
Slash!
A fleshy slash sounded and a growl of agony followed. The beast landed with a loud, meaty thud. Its eyes slowly loosing the gleam of life.
The face of an angry silver haired man and a pair of void black eyes was the last thing it saw before a claw slashed at its throat, finishing it off.
Christa stared with wide eyes. She could barely breath. Her mouth opened to speak but she couldn't. Then her wide eyes rolled in as she blacked out.
Kylian sped into the room again and squatted before her.
The light from the lamp sprawl on the bed shone on his face. His eyes were still void black. And the dark tiny veins still remained.
He made to touch her but stopped. His crimson eyes gazed at his bloody claws. He stilled for a moment. Then he retreated his hands. A guilty look flashed across his face as he stood from her.
He turned to see Heald, wrapped in his beige cloak.
"What have you done?"
******************
… Heald's House ….
Kylian rinsed his bloody hands under the rushing water, into the basin. A towel sailed towards his head from behind but he caught it with a grab.
"Can you explain why you're causing all this ruckus, Kylian?" Heald grumbled.
Kylian didn't reply. He watched his reflection in the mirror.
Heald sighed. "Thanks to that yellow cloaked man, Benzo, I was able to contact the sweepers without giving off a vampire track. I compelled the lady too. So you should be safe."
"That's a relief." Kylian turned from the mirror. He grabbed the glass jug on the table beside him. It contained a crimson liquid that filled it to the brim. Blood, human blood. Heald supplied it.
With a few gulps, he swallowed the liquid and dropped the jug with a slap.
Heald watched him for a while before saying, "Your eyes is still…."
"I know. The black veins. It's causing me an excruciating pain but, it makes me feel..... powerful." Kylian appraised his arms. His pale skin is now laced all over with black creepy veins.
"Sarai, I don't know what happened to her but we need to find another witch as soon as possible. We don't know what this thing is yet," Heald said, the panic in his voice evident.
Kylian reminisced what he saw when the pain assaulted him. The red skull and the smoky bat wings.
'I'm not saying a shit of it to Heald'
He gritted. Resolve shone in his red eyes.
"No need. I'll be dieing soon. I can feel it. My doom is near," Kylian said, paused then continued as Heald stared with an incredulous look. "However, I must make sure the lady is safe before I die."
"She's fucking safe now. Save yourself first!"
"One of those bitches escaped. I need to take care of it."
"Uh?!" Heald deadpanned. "But you've done your best. If the coven finds out that you're involved in another violation of the law, the result will not be good."
"I don't care!" Kylian growled. Heald quietened with wide eyes. Kylian continued. "I'll find those bitches. I'll find every last one of them. I won't let them come back for her."
Kylian stormed out. The door bang closed behind him.
Standing by the doorsteps, a figure under yellow cloak made him stop.
Benzo, that's his name.
But Kylian didn't even give him a glance. He cares no shit.
With a snatch, he took the cloak from his body, and he didn't make any move to collect the cloak back.
As he went, he pulled out a device from his inner pocket. It blinked red.
It's the device one of those creatures held. He took from the dead body. Its blinking is slow and not rapid as it's around Christa's house.
Kylian's eyes glinted strangely as he gazed at it. Then he melted away, into the dark of the night.
*****************