A Guide to Vampire Hunting: ...and other failures (Alchemy Inc. Book 1)

by Janus Alexander

  “Your girlfriend?” Amelia asked. Kolya smiled at her slightly.

  “Not exactly, but more than a friend. It was…complicated.” Kolya shook his head and set the canvas back down. “But she’s gone now.”

  “I’m sorry.” Said Amelia sincerely, incapable of not wanting to ease his pain despite how he unnerved her.

  “I understand you lost someone,” Kolya replied raising his eyebrows. “An extraordinary woman as well?”

  Amelia nodded, and he gestured to a stool like the one in the picture for her to sit down. “I suppose Kristoff told you that.” She said with narrowed eyes.

  “We’re twins, we share everything. Murdered, I understand?” Kolya spoke in careful curiosity retaking his position in front of the easel.

  “Yessss…” Hissed Amelia. “A vampire attack.”

  He gave a look like Kristoff’s, his dark eyebrow raising, radiating a kind of concern. “How did it happen?”

  “I don’t know,” She said. “One day she went out and when she returned…was returned…to us. Her throat was ripped out, and she was covered in bites.”

  Kolya’s eyes narrowed to slits. “How awful.” He spat. “Barbaric.”

  Amelia nodded, starting to warm to Kolya despite his unsettling appearance. “And your model, what happened to her?”

  His eyes flicked to the seated woman. “She too was murdered.” He replied quietly.

  “Did they find the killer?”

  Kolya pursed his lips, eyes darkening. “No, but I have my suspicions.”

  “Aren’t you going to … I don’t know…go after them? I have to bring my sister’s killer to justice…” Growled out Amelia righteously.

  Kolya glanced at her, and for a moment he seemed amused. “I have my own ways of dealing with such things.”

  “But you come from a family of hunters. How can you not seek vengeance?”

  Kolya picked up his palette and mixed some cadmium red with lemon yellow and titanium white. “We are not always defined by what our family makes us.” He said quietly and did his ever present liquid shift of negligent shoulders. “I at least try not to be. But come, take a seat.” Kolya once more gestured to the stool she’d seen in his painting.

  Amelia sat quietly but flushed at the statement. These twins seemed to feel the call to honor much less acutely than she did. One took vacations and the other just didn’t do anything at all. Amelia shifted in her seat. “Where is your clan from originally? Are you really Russian?”

  Kolya looked up from his painting and smiled the same broad white smile Kristoff did. “Oh, he didn’t tell you? We’re actually Russian aristocracy. Much more just wealthy than blooded these days - but blooded none the less.”

  Amelia paused. That explained Kristoff and he. Clan aristocracy. It was well-known the hunters of the European aristocracy had fallen into decadence and ruin. But before Amelia could start in, Kolya spoke. “And you?”

  “Well here, of course.” He looked at her questioningly. “America. We came over to New England on the first ships…”

  “Ah,” Kolya said raising the brush to add to the red flush that graced the chest of his nude’s skin. “Your people were very persecuted for the decision as I recall.”

  “We were burned at the stake as devil worshipers.”

  “Preposterous.” Kolya snorted. “Just ignorant superstition. One wonders how such paranoias come about.”

  “I know.” Sighed Amelia. “So why’d you come here? To New York?”

  “I needed a change of scenery.” He answered vaguely as he painted.

  “Am I intruding?” Amelia asked carefully.

  “No,” He said glancing over his shoulder. “Not at all. I enjoy the company. The night can be terribly long when one is alone. My canvases keep me company - but they cannot replace real human interaction.” Kolya smiled sincerely for the first time - and Amelia realized what Kristoff had meant about Kolya being charming. Because, when he tried, he was otherworldly in his good looks and graceful movements. Then to top it off, he was way too easy to talk to.

  Amelia settled deeper into the stool. “So what was it like growing up with a twin? I had a sister, but we weren’t close. We were different.”

  Kolya gestured vaguely with his paint brush. “It is just the same. We may look alike but we are not the same.”

  “You mean you are the sane one?” she joked.

  Kolya glanced over his shoulder. “No. Just more of a pragmatist. Kristoff is…more of a dreamer, an idealist. His lens seems to capture romance of darkness. I try to fill such vacuums with beauty to combat my own disappointments with life.”

  “You sound like my father.”

  You could hear the grimace in Kolya’s voice. “Your father?”

  “He’s a creation witch. He thinks I should give up hunting to create art.”

  “Ah. A wise man…yet I cannot deny there is a place for hunting as well. Some … animals… must be put down. Before they hurt others. They cannot help that they are feral.”

  Amelia sighed. “Yeah you really sound like my dad. He says stuff like that too.”

  “Sounds like a very wise man then.”

  Amelia looked away. “Maybe. My mom disagrees.”

  “What is to disagree with?”

  Amelia waited a moment, and thought about opening up about her family, but stopped herself. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Kolya glanced back at her quizzically. Amelia, felt his question burning through her skin and it felt horrible. “Well, I should get back to work.” She said suddenly.

  Kolya tucked his brush behind his ear, and regarded her. “Too bad, I enjoyed meeting you. I hope to see you around further.”

  “Sure,” Said Amelia, already distracted by the words exchanged that last night with her father. Had she failed to listen to him, to consider his words?

  Amelia left Kolya’s studio, her mind twisted around the different ways she was hearing of how hunting should or should not be done. Was everyone sick of the hunt? She was so engrossed in her twisted up considerations she walked straight into the returning Kristoff.

  “Ooof!” Amelia stumbled back. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be out charming the masses with your money and smooth moves?” She growled, wondering all the time if she sounded as jealous as she thought she did.

  Kristoff grinned and once more ruffled her hair. If this was a new habit, Amelia wasn’t having it. “I got bored, so I thought I’d check in on you. It looks like a good thing I did,” He nodded at Kolya. “Brother. I see you have met my charming protege, just remember I’m training her so don’t distract her so.” He grinned almost naughtily and Kolya returned the wicked smile.

  “Don’t worry Kristoff, she’s safe from me, I think it’s you she’ll need to look out for. You’re always such a good friend to the ladies.”

  “Don’t scoff, I needed a diversion - you should try getting one, it’s unhealthy how you pine here all night.….I have a great idea,” Kristoff suddenly broke in. “When I don’t need Amelia, she can shadow you to learn more about the physical arts. Painting can often benefit sculpture. And considering everything, she’s perfect…” Kristoff added mysteriously. “If that’s alright with you Kolya?”

  Kolya cocked his head. “It sounds like an excellent idea to me.”

  Amelia raised her eyebrows. “Then I expect a pay raise.” She wasn’t sure if she meant it or was just trying to assert herself in a situation she was growing to feel she had little power in.

  “Done. I’ll pay you a wage… but I think you’d better quit that coffee shop. Even those as composed as I am find Kathy’s attentions cloying.”

  Amelia narrowed her eyes. “You don’t dictate my life.”

  “At 800 dollars a day, I sincerely hope I can. You are becoming a very expensive amusement.” Kristoff countered playfully. Amelia reluctantly did the math in her head. Rich people. Really 800 a day six days a week? Who was she to argue?

  Amelia took a deep breath. “I’ll put my
job on hold - but you said you’re only in the city on vacation - I will need a job afterward too.”

  Kristoff’s smile curved into a sardonic wire, “Alright, but until your services are no longer needed, you’ll answer to us.”

  Amelia shook her head. “Why do I feel like I’m signing a contract in blood here?”

  Kolya grinned. “Would that help you agree?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ll do it.”

  “Good.” Kristoff replied with a sharp smirk and a glance to Kolya - who seemed to be wearing a cat in cream smile.

  “So, how does this work?” Asked Amelia looking back and forth between the two.

  Kristoff crossed his arms and looked at Kolya. “You’re my apprentice first. However, when I am busy I’ll hand you off to Kolya.”

  “Right. But how does that work? Is this some twin psychic link? He’ll know when you’re not with me?”

  Kristoff grinned. “Something like that. It’s a trait only common to certain hunter families to be able to share thoughts.”

  “O-K riiiiight…”

  “Now that you’re my protege I will expect you to turn your schedule around. A good hunter works best at night, without witnesses. Your daylight life is why you sleep during your reconnaissance.”

  “What did you say?”

  “You sleep during the time you usually do reconnaissance on that dratted building. I’ve already discussed this with you. I’ve seen you up on the roof asleep.” Kristoff laughed.

  Amelia colored. “I’m not really asleep…”

  Kristoff quirked his lips. “Lie. I’ve found you whether you know it or not. Let go of your daylight existence. From now on, expect to sleep from 5am-6pm and be awake during the opposite hours. We will work on my project and yours during the night hours - when hunting is best. But when I am not available to guide you, you will report to Kolya. He will be your guide to the arts… and perhaps to the opposite camp’s philosophy on hunting. Understand?”

  Amelia nodded.

  “Hmm. Do you have a cell phone?” Kristoff asked.

  “No…I don’t need one.”

  “Now you do. Tomorrow we will fix that. You answer to both of us unless our orders diverge - then I come first.” Kristoff whirled back to Amelia. “I seem to remember you owe me some sketches for my commission….”

  “I’ll show you tomorrow…” stuttered Amelia.

  “If you have time to flirt with Kolya, you most certainly must have completed something…”

  Amelia blushed and led Kristoff to the vellum she had filled, the charcoal dust still settling. “Here,” she said gruffly.

  In the sheets before him Kristoff eyed Amelia’s work. Sketches and sketches, the figures pulling together and apart, some conjoined in at the base, the bodies blended - but the figures varying in definition. In one it was obvious two beings of opposite sex kissed. In another the two figures seemed implied and twining at the lips even as they twinned from the hips into one. In the final the bodies were rising from an amorphous smooth base to curve into two androgynous forms joined by arms and lips but still separate at the same time. The push and pull was dynamic and electric. It was this one to which Kristoff gravitated.

  “This one.” he said tapping the page with vehemence. “But I want you to capture the feminine and masculine still in the push and pull - the opposites attracting to join.”

  Amelia blushed. “You’re saying you want more sex?”

  Kristoff’s eyes gleamed with a mischievous light, “I didn’t say that. But if that is how you interpret my words you can work from that.”

  Amelia looked away, aware of the sexual undertones he was asking for and murmured. “I’ll work on it.”

  “Good.” Responded Kristoff with a grin. “Now, it’s three in the morning. I think it is time you went to sleep. You must resign from the coffee shop this morning and need to be awake in an hour or so to do so. Be back here at 6:30 pm sharp.”

  Tired, Amelia nodded and put her sketches away. Kristoff walked her to the front of the warehouse. “Get on with you.” He said giving her a playful shove and he shut the door.

  *

  “So what do you think of her?” Kristoff asked Kolya with a quirk of the eye. “Not at all what you expected is she?”

  Kolya glanced over at him and dabbed the paint contemplatively on his canvas. “I did not have any particular expectations except that she was terribly young and terribly inexperienced.”

  “I’ve decided to train her.”

  Kolya looked up from the canvas. “Is that wise?”

  Kristoff hopped onto the stool and shrugged. “She needs it. If she insists on continuing this vendetta…”

  “Shouldn’t you simply convince her to give it up?”

  Kristoff shook his head. “Impossible. Mona’s death changed her, until she is able to find some sort of peace, she’ll continue endangering her life, night after night. It’s best to at least give her the ability to run away successfully - to hold her own until help comes.”

  “And will you be that help?” Kolya asked pointedly. “You leave overseas at any minute, your job requires it.”

  “There will be someone else, she’s a Dagda - some one will eventually come to her rescue.”

  Kolya turned back to his canvas. “I doubt it. Mona was her mother’s favorite and look what happened to her. How much effort do you think they’ll expend on the runt of the litter?” Kristoff turned away and looked at the nude sitting on the very same stool on which he sat. Kolya set his palate down. “I think it would be better if we were to simply encourage her to return to her art. She’s rather good - wasted on that backwards family of puritans.”

  “I’ve got her doing a sculpture.”

  “Of what?”

  Kristoff cleared his throat. “One of my pictures.”

  “Which one?”

  “The couple.”

  Kolya narrowed his eyes. “You like her.”

  Kristoff shrugged. “What’s not to like? She’s cute, creative, driven and devoted. So many good things in such a little quirky package.”

  “Don’t get attached.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, you know me and women…”

  “Da, I do. And you are nothing with her as you have been with others.”

  Kristoff looked off to the side uncomfortable. “Well, she’s not like the others.”

  “True. She’s from a family who would rather kill you than meet you - and is obsessed with a revenge that will inevitable get her killed. Stop getting attached.”

  “What did you expect me to do?” Kristoff snapped. “Get to know her and abandon her when we found she had no purpose in this? Leave her to seek her own demise? No, I’ll not do it.”

  “What is it the Americans say. ‘Your funeral.’”

  “Exactly,” Kristoff snapped. “Mine.” He stormed from the room then turned with a glare. “And don’t you forget it.”

  Chapter 9

  Pulling open the door to Kathy’s, Amelia was happy to see she was a few minutes early. Early enough to see to the discussion of her employment - and if it would get her fired…it would probably be worth it to just to get another job after the twins left and take the firing rather than turn them down. Kathy came out in a chipper mood, all made up again. Amelia could thank Kristoff for that as well.

  “Amelia! Good morning!”

  “Look, Kathy…”

  “OH I almost forgot! I have a DATE! OH MY GOD! He’s so CUTE and I HAVE YOU to THANK for it! Com’eer!” Kathy gave Amelia a stiff hug and waltzed around the shop like in The Sound of Music. This was not what Amelia had planned for.

  “Well…” Continued Amelia.

  “We’re going out to that fancy French restaurant on 15th!” Kathy just waltzed on.

  “Great, but…”

  Kathy seemed to finally get it. “What is it dear?”

  “I need to take a leave of absence.” Amelia rushed out.

  “But whatever for?”

  Amelia cleared her t
hroat, getting ready to beg for her life.

  “Dear Kathy, I apologize for whisking Amelia away, I promise it is with the best intentions. I just need a more permanent aide while I’m in town.” Kristoff’s voice purred out from the front door. He winked at Amelia. As grateful as she was he was interceding to make the whole thing easier, his high handed assumption that she needed him to do it for her at all was annoying. But as usual, honey worked better and Kathy immediately went into her usual besotted fawning.

  Kathy crossed to where Kristoff stood in the door and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. Kristoff grinned like a madman at Amelia as if to say ‘See, she’s wrapped around my little finger, what’s wrong with you?’ Amelia groaned.

  “Anything for you my dear,” Kathy purred. “Just as long as you two pop in to see me on occasion.” She batted her eyelashes.

  What about your oh-so-romantic date? Amelia wanted to yell.

  “Lovely,” declared Kristoff. “I will leave her to you today that you might find coverage for her tomorrow, and I’ll come to pick her up later.” Kathy nearly melted, starstruck. It probably wouldn’t have mattered what he had said - as long as he was talking to her.

  Turning to Amelia, Kristoff doffed an imaginary hat and went to leave. “I will see you this evening ladies.” And with that parting shot, he was out the door into the bustle.

  “Well I never,” sighed Kathy. “You really ought to consider being a little more friendly with him. You do know you are such a lucky thing to have his undivided attention.” There was a hint of jealousy in Kathy’s voice. Amelia stared after where Kristoff had vanished and wondered once more what his motives really were. Was the indulgent, bored royal just as he seemed - craving constant attention? Or was there something to this she was missing? Amelia shook it off. Really, what did she know of the terribly rich and unemployed?

  “Have you started the coffee yet?” she asked Kathy. Kathy just waved her hand and smiled.

  “I left that for you dear.”

  Of course.

  Kristoff was prompt to pick Amelia up at her shift’s end. He awaited her, standing in the cafe with his long camel trench and a stylish scarf, sipping a cup of coffee and charming Kathy’s customers left and right.