Requiem for Blood (14 page)

Olivia stepped inside the house and followed his scent to the living room. When she tried to lean in to her sister, he blocked her and turned to her with eyes filled with murderous intent.

“She was attacked.”

He had finally had the courage to put his hand to her body and tucked fingers around her ribcage with a phone in the other hand. He started dialing but just before hit the TALK button he heard Alexa's small voice. “Don't call...”

“I have to call the police; I have to get you an ambulance!”

Alexa glanced over at Olivia who had moved away from the blood that was getting to her. “Can you come here Olivia?” she asked softly.

“I cannot...”

“You won't hurt me,” she choked the words out as blood poured behind them.

“Alexa!” Troy shouted.

She smiled faintly. “Could you get the first aid kit out of the closet?”

“Your wound is still bleeding,” he argued.

“Yeah....” she turned back to Olivia, “Would you please come here?”

Olivia lowered her eyes and sighed. She pushed her back off the wall and was quickly at her sister's side. Her swift movements prompted Troy to speak up, “She's a vampire? She did this to you?” his voice was deep and tinged with anger.

Her cold fingers had warmed up when she placed them on Alexa's open cut. “This is a knife wound,” she said in a lustful voice and swallowed, “I have fangs.”

“Who would have stabbed her? Your mom?”

“A man attacked her and Alexa fended him off as well as she could. She practically took him down.”

Before Troy could respond, Alexa had spoken. “Please Troy, get the first aid kit.”

He shook his head defiantly as his hands balled into fist but still he stood up and stalked away with a pained groan. Olivia shifted around Alexa so that she was sitting on the couch beside her with access to both her arm and her ribcage. Every time she stared too long at the blood trickling down her arm, she would find her vision blur and grow hazy as they did before she drained people. She was terrified at the thought of her bloodlust taking over her so she fought as hard as she could to force it down, turning away when she could.

“You knew you were going to be attacked?” she asked, looking at the almost blank walls. She studied a small picture that sat on top of the mantle, of a little boy and a young woman.

“The thought of her actually wanting to see me...” she huffed and it sounded like something that resembled a slight chuckle but Olivia couldn't tell, “I toyed with the it but I figured she just wanted to kill me.”

“She did not.”

“Please Olivia. Know one thing about your mom...she gets other people to do her dirty work.”

“
Have you killed before?” she asked, curious.

A small smile spread across Mar's face, “Never.”

She refused to believe it and shook her head but said nothing. Troy had returned with the kit and Alexa sat upright thanking him as he opened it for her.

“Can you really heal yourself with this? Please let me call the hospital or at least a nurse to get some advice.”

“My sister's a vampire, I honestly...”

“We don't have to tell them!” he tried to reason. Alexa was resolute, slowly shaking her head as she pulled out some bandages. She pulled a small mirror out of her pocket and began cleaning the wound and bandaging it. When she was done, she sat back, tired.

Troy looked down, astonished. “How did you do that?”

“We fight and we get hurt often in the colony.”

It was Olivia who had spoken and Troy briefly turned to her. “What? Like
Battle Royale
or something?”

“I don't know what that is.”

“It's a Japanese movie he likes.”

Olivia nodded. “Well, we train so that we can hunt humans by any means necessary.”

“Well what's the point of a vampire having fangs if you're going to do that?”

“I think I can answer that.”

They had all turned their heads toward the entryway of the house. Troy leaned back to see around the wall that separated the rooms and saw that he had left the door open. In the doorway stood a woman just a few years older than him. He was at the door quickly with a confused expression on his face. “Who are you?”

“Just the girl with all the answers.”

Seven

“Do I have to run it by you again?”

Troy dropped to the floor to gather up the pieces of the first aid kit that had spilled out when it fell to the floor. The woman hadn't taken up much of his time, in fact she hadn't taken up any really since she had spoken so fast but Alexa felt every second he was away as if they were hours.

“Troy? Who is it?”

He didn't answer Alexa and instead turned back to the woman. “It's not like what you're telling me is anything surprising. No offense, but if you're the all-knowing, otherworldly creature who comes bearing sagely advice, you should work on your timing.”

Her leather pants squeaked as she stepped back, genuinely offended. “I'm not offended, I am however annoyed that of all the places that the vampire could go, she decided to come here,” she said, exasperated.

“Troy,” called Alexa.

He held his palms up as if stopping the woman, “
Don't
come in this house.”

Troy had entered the living room and saw Olivia practically huddling in the corner, her lips pulled in as she eyed her sister. He went to Alexa's side and rubbed her back, “What's wrong? Do you want to go to the hospital now?”

She shook her head and stumbled over her words. “No...I..just wanted to know who was at the door...”

“Some...” he trailed off.

Olivia had raised her head slowly, the scent of her sister's blood too intoxicating to ignore. If Alexa had seen the terror in her eyes before they went cold, Olivia's next moves wouldn't have looked so bad but all she could manage was a scream as Olivia now stood in front of her with unrecognizable eyes. She opened her mouth and long fangs showed themselves, but just before she could move in closer to Alexa, her neck snapped back and she fell to the ground. The woman threw her hair behind her shoulder as she looked down at Alexa with a smirk, “You're welcome.”

Sweat was dripping down Troy's face as he looked at the girl's body. “You killed....”

“You killed my sister!” shouted Alexa.

“She's a vampire, she was already dead,” the woman said matter-of-factly. “She'll come back any moment but I'm truly sorry for saving your life,” she put her hand to her chest, “next time your sister wants to rip into you, there won't be any heroism from me.”

Alexa had ignored her snide comment and only focused on a single word: Vampire.

“What did you say?” she asked, sitting up further in the chair. “And who—what are you?”

“I said you should be a little more grateful that I kept your sister from chomping down on you....or something like that,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Who are you?”

“Names Erika and I'm here to help you.” She held out her hand for a shake and when Alexa begrudgingly took it, she looked up the woman and saw her dark brown, almost black eyes, rounded into an almond shape. Straight black hair with strands of purple woven through ran down her back and she looked so pale, much like Olivia. Her white skin got lost in all of the black that she wore, a black satin trench coat tied at her waist and black leather pants.

“Are you a vampire?”

Erika rolled her eyes again. “Not at all. But I am a little supernatural myself. Actually, in the world of vampires and other supernatural creatures,” her voice fell into an obnoxious whisper, “I'm kind of a big deal.”

“And what is that exactly?” asked Alexa.

“Ever heard of a
kitsune
?”

They shook their head and spoke in unison, “No.”

“Great, that means I have a whole lot to tell you guys tomorrow.”

She was walking out of the living room toward the door, the clattering of her boots against the floor annoying Troy because she hadn't taken of her shoes. It was an easily forgivable thing considering the circumstance but he couldn't deny how annoying it had been, especially when he couldn't shake the feeling that she looked familiar, like someone who would understand his need for people to take off their shoes when entering his home. He stopped her before she walked out the door.

“Wait. You're just going to leave?” he asked when she turned back at him.

“Uh, yeah.”

“If you're supernatural like you say, couldn't you do something about my girlfriend. She's bleeding.”

Erika stomped back over to the living room and prodded Alexa's body without warning despite the girl's angry protests. She felt her body warming under Erika's touch and was sure she saw a faint glow between their skin. When she pulled her hand back, the blood was gone and the cut was completely healed. Troy was too busy looking at Alexa to notice the slight wooziness in Erika as she stood up. “Everything is healed. Child is still in you. Peace and balance has been restored, now if you'll excuse me,” she said as she tottered to the door.

Troy stopped her once again before she could leave. “Thank you.”

She waved her hand as she walked out the door, “Yeah, yeah.. You should call your dad soon, preferably tonight but early morning would be fine as well.”

“How do you know my dad?”

“I know of him,” she corrected and then took off.

When he closed the door and returned to the living room, he saw Alexa hauling her sister's body up and rushed over to help her. They didn't know how long she would be out and hurriedly brought her upstairs and made a pallet on the floor in the spare room for Olivia to sleep. Despite Troy's apprehension, Alexa didn't lock the door and instead shut it and hoped for the best. She knew her sister didn't want to hurt her and tried to explain to Troy the same but he was hesitant to believe it. Still, he took her knowledge as word considering she was forced to study all vampire myths as a child. She made sure the blinds were down in case she didn't wake before the sun rose.

They went back downstairs and Troy was shocked to find that the tumbler she had always drank out of was filled with blood. He shuttered at the thought of where she could have gotten it from but didn't bother to ask. He had been tortured with enough supernatural craziness for one night and wanted to just forget it but he couldn't keep his mind from wandering as Alexa took a shower and he searched the internet for
kitsune
. He didn't know the word when Erika had first said it but suddenly it had become clear to him and he realized what it was.

Troy's father, David, sat across from him, his eyes focused on the breakfast Alexa had cooked for them. She had called David long before Troy had awaken so seeing his father as soon as he came down for breakfast was a bit of a shock. He went back to the room and grabbed a shirt then slid in the chair quietly while Alexa was away in another part of the house, probably checking on her sister. He didn't know what she had said to his father while on the phone, but learned some of it as he sat there. Alexa sat in the chair next to Troy, and spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

“I'm sorry David, you must have a million questions for me,” she played with her fingers, “for calling you so early.”

“Quite the opposite.”

Alexa looked up at Troy who was speaking softly, his skin blanched of all color. He continued as he eyed his father in disbelief, “He has all the answers.”

Before she could speak, his father put down his fork and looked directly at her. “I told Troy this while you were upstairs, but it may help for you to hear it too.” He let out a sigh, preparing to speak but was interrupted by a faint scratch at the door. Troy got up from his seat, rounded the corner to the entrance and pulled the door open. He looked down with surprise at a golden fox, it's ears perked up and head cocked to the side. He bent down and ruffled the soft and tangled fur underneath it's muzzle. The fox closed its eyes and sat back on its heel, delighted by Troy's touch.

“A fox in the middle of New Hampshire?” he asked under his breath, confused.

He heard Alexa shout from behind him and both he and the fox turned their attention toward her, “Troy, that's a wild fox not a dog! He could bite!”

“It probably just lost its way...” said Troy, his boyish grin finally returning.

Alexa met his grin with eyes widened in disgust. She raised her hand and pointed behind him. His eyes followed her finger and he turned back to the fox that was no longer there. He jumped back and covered his mouth, stifling a curse as he looked at the naked girl in front of him. Her long hair was positioned tactfully in front of her. Erika's dark eyes glowed as scarlet lips spread out evenly across her face, baring pearly white teeth. “I doubt this is the first time you've seen someone naked,” she teased and leaned in, her nose pressed against his. Her eyes flickered to Alexa who remained still, repulsed at the sight of Erika. Red filled Troy's face and Erika pulled back, unable to suppress her amusement. She covered her mouth as she snickered then broke out into full blown laughter. “So nervous! You're just a child, all red at the sight of a lady!”