The other one with blue hair swaying in the wind lifted his crossbow that unfolded right before her eyes and aimed right at her chest. She tore the gun that was on her thigh and squared her shoulders at her opponent. It was only a matter of who shot first.
Charlotte didn't need to think twice. Pressing the trigger, she was shocked at the force that shoved her back, the fresh pain from her shaking right hand made her brain blank for a moment, but an impenetrable fortress caught her when she was about to take the tumble. She screamed when she saw that the arrow that was meant for her was pierced into Vincent's arm.
The vigilante that was once standing fell over with blood sputtering from his mouth, his crossbow flung out to the side. Vincent whipped her around when the other vigilante came charging at them with his axe high above his head.
Vincent pushed Charlotte to the side out of the way, and she closed her eyes in terror backed up against the brick wall of a towering building when Vincent ripped the vigilante's arm off, spraying blood everywhere.
The sheer display of strength made Charlotte lose strength in her legs, and she gripped the brick that dug into her palms, trying to calm herself.
The vigilante still had some fight left in him but was no match for Vincent when he twisted the vigilante to the ground. She covered her mouth and chills ran down her spine with the gore that was spilled out before her.
The blackened streets were shiny with crimson, but too dim to make out the full shapes of pieces of skin that were ripped off. The bloodied limb lay only a few feet to her right, and she averted her eyes.
Vincent had the vigilante's remaining hand twisted behind with his knee sinking deeply into the vigilante's body and was convulsing. "Care to give me some answers?"
"It's a shame you were using a human girl for bait. I thought she was a vampire herself," The vigilante spit to the side, pain evident in his voice. "I almost had her."
Vincent leaned down into made eye contact with the dark-haired man. "Do you recognize who I am?"
"I don't care. You all deserve to die," he choked. "Do your worst. More will be coming after you."
Charlotte gagged at the intense smell of the blood-drenched streets that were wafting to her nose, and she covered her face with her arm. "Vincent, stop."
Vincent continued to push forward and dig his knee into the vigilante's back harder making him cry out in pain. "Where will they be coming from?"
The man smirked despite being in the bounded position with his stark pink eyes meeting her own. "I was only planning on finding a lowlife vampire and bringing them back for some quick cash, but I didn't realize that I was in the presence of a big shot. They are looking for her. Now it makes sense as to why she seemed to be a vampire."
"Answer me," Vincent growled.
"What was her name again? Charlotte? Charlotte Artelier?"
Vincent smashed the man's head into the ground multiple times. "Don't say her name."
Teeth fell to the stone brick street, the white a stark contrast to the dingy floor while the man stopped moving. He wasn't dead yet since Charlotte could still see him breathing, but the vigilante froze with his eyes closed.
Her hands were still planted on the gun that Vincent gave her earlier, pointing straight at the vigilante in case anything should go wrong. Her aim was not clear, especially since she missed the first shot earlier, but it was in case. She had to do her best. Charlotte tightened her grip on the base. She was not going to give in.
Vincent kept asking questions, but the vigilante proved to be unhelpful and unresponsive. He then relied upon taunting since Vincent could plainly see that he could rile up the vigilante easily.
"You were walking aimlessly down the streets on the hunt for a vampire, and you're finally getting one. Are you going to give up without a fight?"
The vigilante struggled, thrashing against Vincent's body, and Vincent leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Tell me where you all are headed. You clearly were not just aimlessly wandering down the street."
The man remained silent, his breaths coming in shakily and rattling his body he was losing an immense amount of blood. The vigilante eventually laughed when he came to terms with his fate. Vincent didn't find the same situation funny and yanked him by the collar, lifting his battered body into the air.
"This is your last chance. Tell me where they are going," Vincent seethed.
The blond hair slid to the right when he hung his head over but answered with a cocky grin. "I don't know."
Vincent squeezed the man's throat. "Any preferences on how to meet your death?"
"No," the man replied stonily. "You better hide her well."
Charlotte looked away when Vincent smashed the man's skull against the side of the building, her hands shaking when she brought them to her chest. The brutal screams turned garbled and dull until silence fell on the overly-crowded streets that seemed to hide nothing yet everything at the same time.