Two weeks had passed since the midnight ball and Elaina walked beside Alex on the bustling streets of the shopping district. The hustle and bustle had reduced compared to the days before the midnight ball but the difference could only be noticed by people who frequented the place.
Elaina carried a small bag in her right hand that contained a mask. Apparently, Mr. Leighton had intentionally left his mask with her mother so she could come visit him at his store but she had forgotten about it until today.
Her thoughts went back to the day her father was home and had revealed some information to her.
Her questions were answered but there was no memory of it. She could visualize her father answering her questions but there were no words and strangely she wasn't curious because the answers were already known to her. It was a strange feeling that she couldn't explain.
"We're here," Alexander's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. They were already in front of the boutique.
Through the glass walls, they saw Mr. Leighton attending to a customer and the other customers inside.
Alexander pushed the door open and she entered with him trailing behind her.
Mr. Leighton, after finishing with his customer turned around and when he saw Elaina, his eyes brightened and immediately shot behind her but Alex was all he saw and his eyes dulled.
"You didn't bring your mother," he was disappointed.
"No, she couldn't come. Good day Mr. Leighton," Elaina greeted. She still found it odd, the way the man fawned over their mother.
"She couldn't come or she didn't want to come?" he asked, "Come with me," he led them to the back of the boutique where there were fewer people.
"I think the answer should be obvious," she chuckled.
"You are right. She must have been too busy to come," he convinced himself and Elaina could see what her mother meant by 'he couldn't take a negative answer'.
"So, what brings you here?"
"I was told to return this," she gave him the bag and when he saw what was in it, his smile fell.
"She was supposed to bring this herself," he muttered.
"After making me wait for two weeks, she didn't even return this herself. Your mother is a cruel woman," she stated. He had a pained expression on his face and Elaina would have felt bad for him but he ought to have taken a hint by now.
"Well, I will just have to find other ways to get her here," the pained expression was replaced by a jovial one in no time.
His eyes moved to the boy who stood behind Elaina without a word. His presence was almost ignorable.
"Your brother doesn't like to talk much, does he?" he nudged.
"Yes," she chuckled and turned to him, "He doesn't talk unless it is needed,"
"I see," he looked at the boy whose gaze was uninterested. Gray eyes, huh?
"So, are you interested in buying anything?" he changed the topic.
"No, we just came to return that," she declined.
"That's alright," he answered and led them to the entrance of the boutique. "Say hi to Mya for me," he opened the door.
"I will. Goodbye, Mr. Leighton."
°°°
"Mr. Leighton is a decent man," Elaina said to Alex. Aside from him chasing after a married woman, he was easy to talk to.
"He isn't normal," he replied.
"Normal? As in he isn't human?"
"Yes, he doesn't smell like a human but he doesn't smell like a night creature either," He had noticed the first time saw the man and today confirmed his suspicions. The man had no scent.
"What is he then?"
"I don't know," he had a small frown on his face when he said it.
He rarely bothered about another person and he wouldn't be if the man hadn't shown an interest in his mother. An abnormal man showing an interest in a special creature, what were the chances?
Elaina stared at her brother who had a frown on his face, "Don't worry too much about it," she told him. Thinking about him won't change a thing.
Her eyes moved ahead of her where she saw two men. They looked normal but her senses told her something else. Her eyes followed them as they walked past her and for a brief moment, darkness flashed around them and disappeared.
It was so fast that it felt like a hallucination, she turned to look at them and found them staring at her. Her eyes widened and she snapped her head back to the front.
"That was weird," she placed her hand on her heart.
"What was?" Alex asked.
"Just now, I saw those men staring at me," she told him and he turned to check the men who were staring at her but when they noticed him, they quickly looked away.
His eyes narrowed slightly, they were werewolves. He placed his arm around Elaina's shoulder,
"Did you see them?" she asked him.
"Yes,"
"They gave off a weird vibe," Elaina didn't know why she was bothered by some strangers but seeing them gave her an ominous feeling, like something bad was going to happen.
"That's because they aren't human," he revealed.
"I see," That was why they gave her bad vibes. It was the peak of the afternoon so that meant they were werewolves.
***
"Goodnight, Alex," Elaina yawned. She pushed the door to her room open and dragged herself to her bed where she laid on her back with a loud thump. Aside from going to Mr. Leighton's boutique the day had been uneventful.
She remembered the two men and got chills. The way she had found them staring was creepy. It felt like they were checking her out to fit their requirements.
No, what was she even thinking, it could have been a coincidence. With that, her eyes closed and she drifted off into a deep sleep.
***
A loud sound of breaking glass echoed through the house and Elaina's eyes snapped open. She sat up quickly, giving herself a small headache.
Had it been another time, she wouldn't have heard or even bothered to check knowing it was probably Alex or her mother, but today, she had a bad feeling.
Pushing her glasses up her nose, Elaina opened the door to her room quietly and stepped out into the hallway.
She thought of waking Alex but decided not to, just in case it was nothing. Tiptoeing through the hallway, she picked up a vase and went down the stairs as quietly as she could.
Her eyes widened and she froze when the last stair creaked as she put her weight on it. After a few seconds passed, she continued.
It was just a tiny light at the edge of the sitting room that was switched on, it was dim but enough for her to see.
She tiptoed to the kitchen till she stood in front of the doorframe and what she saw made her heart stop. Her eyes widened and the vase dropped from her hands, bouncing off her foot and hitting the door frame but she didn't feel any pain.
She had always known about the night creatures but never had she come face to face with one openly so she had viewed them lightly.
Only their figures were visible but right before her very eyes was her mother struggling against a vampire who had his head buried in her neck. He held her close to him as he drank from her while she scratched and hit the vampire but it all proved useless as she lost all strength and her hands slowly fell limp.
A tear fell from her eye and she took a step forward, "Mum," she tried to call out but Alexander covered her mouth from behind and pulled her away just before the vampire noticed her.
Alexander scanned the sitting room and his ears were on alert as he listened for any other sound in the home. The vampire didn't bother about them implying that this was a planned attack and outside was no safer than inside. He could easily take care of one vampire but Elaina was here, things could go wrong if more came in. Luckily, the vampire seemed to be taking his time so the guest room was the safest place to hide.
Another tear fell from Elaina's eyes and she tried to speak but Alex pressed his hand on her mouth to keep her from making a sound. He gave her a stern look that told her to be quiet, a look she had never seen before. It scared her even more than the vampire.
Alexander took her hand in his and whispered 'Run silently' and he earned a small nod from her. Her tears flowed down her face as they ran to the guest room, taking the route away from the kitchen and closer to the front door so they wouldn't have their backs to the kitchen.
When they got to the middle of the sitting room, Alexander heard a swish and his eyes moved to the vampire in front of the kitchen with a gun in his hand and then to the silver bullet heading for Elaina.
He stopped in his tracks and pushed her away in the nick of time to avoid the bullet which left a dent when it hit the wall. He had miscalculated, he didn't expect the vampire to be armed. He heard another swish but his reaction came late.
The bullet hit him right in the temple splattering his blood on the wall and his body fell lifeless to the ground.
Elaina felt her world stop as she stared at Alex's unmoving body with blood pooling around his head. She took a step back, then another, she lost her footing and fell to the ground.
"Sorry, I'm not into men," the vampire snickered and licked the remnants of blood on his lips.