by Zara Novak
“You’re a vampire.” Kat said, finishing the sentence for her sister.
This time Ruth did look shocked. “You know? But how?”
“I believe you’ve been in the company of a vampire called Edmund… we had a run in with him recently. He told us that he made you.”
Ruth only looked more confused. “Wait. You know Edmund? Is he a friend of that cute rocker vampire you were stalking?”
“Ansel and Edmund friends?” Kat laughed. “Not exactly. He was trying to kill us just an hour ago.”
Both girls were lost in a hurl of confused questions and explanations that only prompted further questions.
“Kat there’s something else that you need to know.” Ruth said. “Not just about me being a vampire. It’s something worse than that. Much worse.” For the first time the girl actually seem terrified. “It’s to do with the person that brought me here. Cairo Inai… he’s not who he says he is. He’s…”
Rubago stepped forward behind Kat and they both turned to look at her. “I hate to break up this reunion sisters, but if we want a chance at restoring the balance and saving your friends, we have to act now.”
Ruth paused in her admission to Kat and looked up at Rubago. “Free me from these chains. Do something useful! You’re a witch. Use your magic! I’ll kill them all!”
“That’s the exact kind of interference I can’t allow.” Rubago said sadly. “I can remove those chains, but you must promise to-”
A door opened behind them, in it stood the scar faced vampire, along with two of his henchmen.
“Well, well, well. It looks like the witch has broken free and she’s brought a friend with her.”
“Igo you must let me stop Cairo Inai.” Rubago said. “This isn’t right.”
Igo glanced back at the two grunts behind him. “Tie her up and tie her friend her up too.”
One grunt came at Kat and gripped her tightly around the arm.
“Get off me!” Kat shouted. “Let me go!”
“Stop fighting darling.” Igo stepped forward, slicking a hand back through his greasy hair as he did so. “You must be Kat Summers… yes. I saw what you did back to Hines at the club. A human staking a vampire…”
Igo brushed a hand down Kat’s face and she pulled her head back in revulsion. “Very impressive.”
The grunts tied Kat and Rubago in tight bounds of chain.
“Now we’ve got you all tied up again witch, I think it might be best to bring you and your friends into the main room so we can keep an eye on you. We can all watch the grand finale together.”
Igo turned to Kat, a wicked smile passing over his face. “You’re just in time. We’re about to turn that nuisance boyfriend of yours into a lovely pile of ash.”
27. Ansel
Ansel and Edmund stood frozen in shock.
“Did you know about this?” Ansel said to Edmund.
“No.” Edmund stepped forward. “What’s going on here Inai? Why are you here?”
Cairo let out a laugh that sounded like a poisonous whisper. “What… did you really think we required the service of an oafish bounty hunter to take down a fledgling vampire?”
Edmund steeled his jaw. “Then why come to me at all then you bastard? If you knew Draco was coming here all along…”
“Oh on the contrary Mr. Volks. We had no idea Mr. Draco was coming here. For all your faults you are good at one thing - you can figure out where people are.”
Edmund stood frozen. “You hired me so you could follow me.”
“Yes.” Cairo smiled through a whisper. “Once we realized what direction you were headed in, an educated guess allowed us to reason that you’d be heading here.”
“But how?!” Ansel clenched his fists.
“Hurst.” Edmund said flatly. “He must have sold you out again.”
“The blind old man wasn’t much help actually.” Cairo conceded. “But we did know that he had met with Ansel Draco a few weeks previous. I had Igo tail the blind bastard, and he followed him here. This location is… known to us. Let’s put it that way. We were always going to be here today. Fortune has it that it brought you here too.”
“What do you mean?” Ansel growled. “Why were you going to be here?”
Cairo smiled. “Never mind. Just know that your time is up. You’ve been a thorn in my side for quite some time now Mr. Draco… ever since you destroyed the loyal supporters that were the Vesper coven…”
“Those loyal supporters betrayed your orders.” Ansel hissed. “You condemned me to death and instead they kept me for torture.”
A twisted smile came over Cairo’s face. “Oh no - I didn’t condemn you to a quick death. They were well within their means.”
“You’re a sick fuck.” Ansel twisted his feet into the floor for preparation of a fight and raised his fists. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
The sound of sliding wood filled the large round room. At the outer wall four doors opened in the wall behind Cairo, and four vampires stepped through, dressed from head to toe in black suits. Each suit bore the unmistakable metal badge with the Circle’s crimson insignia.
“This bastard again.” Edmund groaned from behind. He stepped forward to stand beside Ansel and they eyed up the men ahead of them together.
“You know these guys?” Ansel said without taking his eyes of the men.
“Just the one to the right of Cairo.” Edmund nodded at a vampire with slicked back hair, down the middle of which ran a white streak. “Scarface there… I caught him following me earlier.”
“Nice to see you again too Edmund!” Igo Kasper shouted across the room. “I’m going to enjoy killing you, traitor.”
“Traitor?” Edmund scoffed. “How am I the traitor?”
Ansel glanced at the scar faced vampire, noticing that his insignia was different, containing two circles as apposed to the solitary one circle. He reasoned he must have been above the other three men in the room, but not above Cairo.
“You were assigned to capture Mr. Ansel Draco were you not?” Igo huffed. “It seems only a few minutes ago he was the one that had you in chains.”
“It was a temporary set back.” Edmund said. “I’m still on your side.”
Ansel glanced at Edmund and took a step away from him. “What?”
Edmund’s eyes flicked to the floor. “I’m sorry Ansel, but… my hands are tied on this one. I have to give my allegiance to the Circle.”
Ansel laughed in disbelief. “You motherfucker.” He shook his head. “Get out of my sight.”
Cairo Inai eyed Edmund suspiciously as he walked over to their side of the room, turning back to face Ansel.
“It’s unorthodox.” Cairo said in a ghastly whisper. “But I’ll allow it Mr. Volks - providing you can help us bring Mr. Draco down.”
Edmund’s face had dimmed with the shame of treachery. He nodded solemnly, but said nothing.
“It seems you are rather outnumbered then Mr. Draco. We’ve all heard great things about your fighting skills, but I think even you will find yourself surprised you are no match for this room. I’ll give you one last chance to surrender willingly. If you decline I regret to inform that you will be destroyed.”
Ansel stared into the lifeless eyes of the skeleton eyed man. The words passed through him like a cold shiver, like a ghostly whisper that had nothing but malice in it’s words. He thought not of the doom that was most likely imminent, he thought not of the hate he felt for Edmund for his treachery.
He thought of Kat.
He found it absolutely absurd that he was thinking of her at a time like this. Here he was, most likely seconds from meeting his own death, and all he could think about was the girl that he had left waiting outside. He thought of her smile, and the way her hair seemed to glow when it caught the sunlight. The jubilant tinkle of her laugh echoed through his memory. He cast his mind back to the moments of passion they had shared at his hideout, and how soft her ivory skin had felt beneath his palms.
The notion
crossed his mind that he’d never see Kat again. He’d never feel the warm and spiraling sensation that rose within him whenever her eyes looked into his. Sorrow swelled within him, and then it pulled away quickly, to be replaced by a tide of something even greater.
Rage.
For him to give up now, for him to back down and let these bastards get the better of him, that would mean never seeing Kat again - and Ansel was not about to let that happen.
Ansel raised his fists, clenched them and rolled his neck on his shoulders.
“Let’s dance then mother fuckers.” He raised a finger and pointed it at Cairo Inai. “I’m going to kill you last.”
The scar faced vampire stepped forward to his master Cairo Inai. “Let me take him first sir. I will kill him gladly.”
“No.” Cairo said with a cold smile. “Let the bounty hunter prove himself.” Cairo slipped a skeletal hand into his suit jacket and pulled out a long silver stake. He threw it through the air toward Edmund, who raised a hand and caught the object without looking.
“Destroy the vampire and we’ll call it even bounty hunter.”
Edmund finally shot a look at Cairo. “We had a deal. I want my money.”
“Rest assured the money is yours.” Cairo gave a long pause. “If you can take him down. Come along now, I’m getting rather bored. Don’t make me do this myself.”
The vampire snapped his fingers, and a brittle crack echoed through the room. Ansel locked his eyes on Edmund, who took a step forward now.
“I’m sorry it had to end this way Ansel.” Edmund said reluctantly.
“You’re not sorry.” Ansel said, rolling his eyes. “I’m just a paycheck to you. You disappoint me Volks.”
Ansel kept his eyes on Edmund, yet noticed momentarily that the scar faced Igo Kasper was whispering something into Cairo Inai’s ear. Cairo nodded and Igo retreated from the room quickly.
Next thing, Edmund had launched at Ansel, taking him off guard completely. The vampires broke into a fast and fruitless fight to the death. As they launched about the room dodging and striking at one another, Cairo and his men watched from below quietly. Edmund and Ansel exchanged a torrent of heated and hissing words as they struggled to get the upper hand against the other.
“Traitor!” Ansel hissed through gritted teeth while launching Edmund into a wall of paneled wood. Edmund pulled himself from the crater of broken wood and launched back at Ansel with a kick that sent him spinning back.
“I’m just doing my job, idiot!” Edmund came down again, sending a fist crashing up into Ansel’s jaw, making the world spin around him momentarily.
Ansel swiped a leg back, taking Edmund’s from underneath him. His eyes were on the silver stake in the vampire’s hand. Ansel jumped on top of him to seize it, but Edmund dodged, spinning Ansel over and pinning him from above. As they turned through the air and crashed onto the floor, Ansel’s shirt caught on a barb of splintered wood and tore from his chest, leaving him shirtless.
Edmund pinned Ansel from above, forcing the stake down toward his chest. Ansel held his hands against Edmund’s, trying to keep the point away from his heart.
“You’d kill me for a quick dollar,” Ansel hissed. “You’re despicable!”
Edmund’s eyes glanced over to their watching audience and then back to Ansel’s. He lowered his voice to an almost imperceptible growl and whispered. “I’m still on your side. Kick me in the direction of the grunt behind me.”
Edmund resumed their pretend power struggle, inching the point closer to Ansel’s chest.
“What?!” Ansel whispered through his teeth.
“You heard me. Kick me toward that grunt. I’m with you. Trust me.”
Ansel let out a roar and thrust a foot up into Edmund’s chest, the vampire flew backward through the air and crashed into one of the grunts waiting at the edge of the room. Ansel jumped up to his feet.
Cairo let out a loud laugh as he watched his grunt scramble to his feet in embarrassment. Edmund remained on the floor, rolling about as if he were gravely hurt. His stake lay on the wood just in front of the grunt.
“Quite the show.” Cairo said as if he were watching some wrestling match for his own entertainment. “I’ll take that as a sign of your failure however Edmund Volks. You there!” Cairo lifted a pointed finger to the grunt. “Stake him, get it over with!”
The grunt nodded, snatched the stake from off the floor, and brought the point crashing down toward Edmund’s chest.
“Edmund look out!” Ansel shouted, unable to get there in time.
Edmund’s hand shot up in the air, catching the vampire grunt around the wrist, stopping the stake just inches from his chest. The grunt shot a terrified look at Cairo.
“Don’t just stand there!” He hissed at the grunt. “Kill him!”
Edmund jumped to his feet, twisting the arm of the vampire around as he did so. The suited vampire span around in the air, letting go of the stake as he did so. Edmund snatched the piece of metal up in his hands, kicked the man against the wall and threw the point deep into his chest.
The grunt erupted into a ball of fire and ash. The stake clattered back to the floor. Edmund picked it up slowly and turned back to face Cairo Inai.
“These are the men you choose to accompany you?” Edmund huffed. “I really expected better from you Cairo.”
Cairo’s eyes trembled with rage. His voice dripped from his mouth like whispering poison. “So you are a traitor after all. Never mind… just one more idiot to remove.” Cairo lifted a hand and clicked in the direction of the two remaining grunts. “You two! Kill him!”
The two men launched at Edmund immediately. Ansel watched momentarily as the figures hurtled through the air. They crashed upon him and the fight began instantly, spinning around the room as their momentum carried them in all directions. Ansel knew that Edmund would have no trouble with the men alone, but together he was out matched.
He jumped up from the floor and joined the fray, dragging one of the vampires back down to earth and crushing him against the floor with his feet pinned on his chest. The vampire was no real match for Ansel, and he toyed with the man while his eyes were kept firmly on the rage that slowly formed on Cairo Inai’s face.
After a brief minute of entanglement with the grunt, Ansel forced the man back through the air and against a long piece of splintered wood that pointed out from the wall. He watched the vampire turn to red and crimson flame, then turned his eyes above to Edmund and his fight.
Edmund was against the floor, struggling as the competing vampire held a stake pointed down at his heart. Ansel jumped over, grabbed the vampire grunt by the back of the neck and hurtled him across the room and crashing into a wall.
“I owe you one.” Edmund laughed as Ansel helped him to his feet.
“Help me take care of this bastard and we’ll call it quits.” Ansel joked back and they both turned to see that Cairo Inai had disappeared from his spot at the center of the room and had walked over to help his last remaining grunt to his feet.
“Thank you sir!” The vampired quivered and rose to his feet. “I will destroy the traitors.”
“It’s quite alright boy.” Cairo said in an uncharacteristically warm voice. “You’re just one soldier of the Red Circle. You can’t be expected to face two lowly vampires by yourself can you?”
Cairo’s timbre was warm and strangely forgiving. It didn’t seem genuine at all.
Ansel watched the grunt carefully, studying his expression.
“No sir…” The grunt sounded more afraid than reassured. It was clear to Ansel that forgiving failure was not something that was all too common in the Circle. “I’ll try harder now. I’ll get them.”
Cairo’s hand slipped into his jacket and then he thrust his fist forward, burying a stake into the grunt’s chest. “No you won’t.”
The vampire looked down at his chest in shock, bursting into flame as Cairo yanked the stake back out and turned away.
“He killed his own man.” An
sel whispered out the side of his mouth to Edmund. “He’s mad.”
“He’s Cairo Inai.” Edmund said gravely. “That’s who he is.”
Cairo walked forward with no expression on his face. He stepped back onto his central platform, sighed heavily and cracked all the bones in his body.
“You probably expect you will fight me now.” Cairo said with a thin lipped smile. “I suppose sometimes one must get their hands dirty… a lot of people take one look at me and assume I’m weak. They see an old man… thin and severely malnourished. They assume I’m not able to protect myself. They try and… betray me.”
Cairo’s eyes flashed at Edmund and Ansel and he continued.
“I’m not weak at all in fact. Really quite the contrary. I’m strong. Stronger than most people anticipate.”
“Prove it then.” Edmund hissed. “Fight us. No tricks, no grunts, just you and us.”
Ansel glanced at Edmund and nodded.
“Well Mr. Volks.” Cairo eyes shimmered like black pits as he smiled. “You may want to hold off on that first…” Cairo raised a hand and snapped his fingers once more. A door opened behind him and out walked Igo Kasper. Behind him three women followed in chains.
“Ruth!” Edmund shouted as his eyes locked onto those of the girl he had saved only a few days earlier.
Ansel spotted Kat behind her. “Kat!”
Behind Kat was the last woman. The real counterpart to the mirror image they had seen only minutes earlier. Rubago, the witch.
“Help Ansel!” Kat cried out in dismay. “Get us out of here!”
Igo Kasper led the prisoners to the wall just behind Cairo.
“I’d beg for you to save me Edmund, but… I’m not that scared really.” Ruth said dryly.
“You’re an idiot.” Edmund growled. “You’re not scared because your fear response is dulled. You’re barely three days old. It doesn’t mean you’re not in danger.”
“Danger?” Cairo said in a high pitched voice. “Oh quite the opposite.”
“What is she even doing here anyway?” Edmund growled. “How did you find her?”