The sun had long passed its zenith, and slowly but noticeable through bare sight, it hid itself behind the horizon of the world, casting an orange hue across the sky that barely held back the darkness of the night. And the more it retreated, the more the night arrived, and thus the moon glowing beautifully in the sky was starting to become the main source of light for the world.
Under the moon, cities behaved differently. Some became more lively, cheerful and noisy, a reflection of their citizens thriving in the night. And contrary to them, there were others that prepared to rest, with their residents retreating from the streets into their homes.
And if someone–someone powerful–observed all these cities that bathed in the moonlight, they would perceive small actions that permeated and spread across entire cities.
It was maybe a murmur or a whisper spreading truths intertwined with falsehoods that led others' actions. News watched that urged people to not walk in their neighborhood that night.
Even unconscious thoughts formed by those who perceived the world better than others commanded them to stay at their homes that night.
Unfortunately, there were also those that were uncaring to their surroundings. And maybe, depending on how Lady Luck smiled upon them, they wouldn't fall under major disgrace this night. If not… they would bleed, like some who already suffered this fate; bleeding in a corner away from the grace of the moon, hiding in the darkness tending to their injuries.
"Huff… Shit." Gritted a man through his teeth, his hand and clothes drenched in blood as sweat ran over his face, sometimes veiling his eyes and blurring his sight.
The man cast a glance down, his eyes falling over his hand pressing against the right side of his abdomen, blood leaking in small quantities despite his attempt to prevent the loss of blood.
"Urgh, fuck… It's not healing." He murmured, trying to find the strength to slip the words between his lips.
He was tired and injured, extremely so.
Bar the deep injury that continued to bleed profusely, the man sustained cuts over his arms and legs, some deep enough to reveal bones that were closer to the skin, others just amounted to a level where he couldn't move freely without feeling the briefest pain of the cuts slightly opening.
On his neck, there were faint marks of bite. From an outside point of view, it seemed like something that had happened weeks ago. But there was still dried blood around the marks of bite on the skin.
There were purple bruises over his legs and arms as well, not to mention bones fractured that only the hunter himself could feel and not see.
Weakly throwing his head up, Jeremy gazed at the almost disappearing in the skies, the light pollution not permitting him to have a beautiful sight from the dark and battered alley he was hiding.
Slowly, the hunter turned–more like dropped–his head to the side, his eyes resting over the individual partially responsible for his injuries.
"…" He remained silent, observing the weak breaths the other person had.
And as he continued to observe, Jeremy reached his unoccupied hand into his pocket, bringing out of it his phone, staining its screen with blood.
It was a basic phone, nothing fancy. He rarely uses it outside job related tasks. Thus, he was quick to find what he needed.
Slowly, he put the phone against his ear, the ringing sound coming from it reminding him he still had to wait for rescue.
Luckily for him, the ringing didn't last long as a voice greeted him.
"Jeremy? Are you returning?"
"Hey, Ric…" The hunter greeted his father figure, his voice showing signs of tiredness. "I… may need some help." He said, not directly answering the question.
Listening to his words, on Alaric's side, the man leaned on his desk, forgetting everything he was doing. "What happened?"
"Ah… the new wolfie here was, is-" He corrected himself. "being pursued by some vampires… They found out about her and, well, you can figure out the rest."
"Okay, okay. Let me think of something." Alaric asked, getting up from his seat. "How bad is it?"
"I didn't know there was such a large group in Columbia…" Jeremy said, some relief getting to him knowing there was someone going his way. "I killed half a dozen, incapacitated some more. By now, some of them should be returning. And don't know if there are more."
"Couldn't finish the job?" Alaric asked, leaving his office. He attempted something to humor the hunter.
"Haha… no, I couldn't. It's been some time since I couldn't finish one of them." Jeremy said, looking downwards on the most severe of his injuries. The blood wasn't leaking as much as previously, but the injury was far from closing. "They have some decently old ones among them, nearing two centuries. The rest were relatively young, a couple dozen years as vampires, nothing much beyond that."
"That's good, that's good." Alaric rushed his steps through the corridors, thinking of what he should do. "For now, keep yourself safe and hidden. And… shit, forgot you also had a werewolf with you." The headmaster said, his steps taking him to the school's main hall. "Just try to survive for now. Help is coming."
"I will try." Jeremy said, hanging up the call.
The silence of the alley returned, just usually disturbed by the sound from far away streets.
Bzz…
Shit. Jeremy muttered internally, the hair on his neck standing up slightly. They are approaching. He thought, a primordial feeling–a sensation coming from his soul–urged him to move.
Standing up through some hard mustered strength, Jeremy approached the person laying on the concrete near him. And despite the many injuries and one hand occupied trying to stop one of them from worsening, he picked up the person from the floor, putting her on his shoulder.
Gotta find a place fast. I have just a few hours before the full moon. With these words in mind, Jeremy moved. His steps not making a single sound, his figure disappearing in the shadows formed between the buildings of the city.
[Line Break]
"We have no one nearby." Alaric said through his teeth, staring at the only other individual with him in the library.
Dorian, trying to think of an answer for their problem, walked from one side to the other. "And to make matters worse, the full moon is approaching." He said, halting in his steps. The librarian looked over his wrist, eyes landing on his digital watch. "Two hours."
The time remaining until the moon reached its zenith brought a sour taste to Alaric. He knew what that meant: He had to get help to Jeremy in under two hours.
"We can't send any of our students." Alaric said, his mind going over the possibilities he had available. "The only ones who could reach there in time to help would be the vampires, but on a day of full moon… the chances are low, but I don't wanna risk them." He shook his head, discarding the building idea. "Last thing I need now is the news of a student of mine torn apart by some stray werewolf."
"And we may discard the wolves and witches as well." Dorian crossed his arms, breathing deeply as ideas ran through his mind as his sight rested on the floor.
There was a beat of silence between the two men before Dorian decided to break it.
"Hope?" He asked, lifting up his eyes at Alaric.
"No." Alaric shook his head. "She might be as fast as a vampire when in wolf form, but she doesn't have the stamina to run 400 miles non-stop."
"Then we don't have any options available." Dorian stated, dropping his arms.
"Wrong, we have one." Alaric said, pushing the air through his nostrils. "But it is more of a bet, honestly."
Right immediately listening to his boss and friend's words, Dorian widened his eyes. He knew who the headmaster talked about. "You can't be serious." He dropped his arms. "It's what, his third day in the school? And you want to send him out to help Jeremy escorting out a werewolf in a city with vampires?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Alaric promptly asked back.
"… No." Dorian shook his head. "But don't you think asking him something like that is a bit too much?" He put out his thoughts.
Alaric gritted his teeth, knowing his friend was right about that. However… "He is probably the only option we have now. This might be an overbearing favor to ask, but we have at least to ask." Briefly, the headmaster's eyes were aimlessly, looking at specifically nowhere before focus returned to his eyes. "You weren't there during the spar. Physically, he could easily overcome Jeremy. And all of that without breaking a single drop of sweat. Even if he faces a few vampires somewhat old, he can run from them." Alaric breathed deeply. "We will ask him if he can do that, if he can reach Columbia in time." Before Alaric even finished speaking, he was already putting one foot in front of the other, walking away from the library.
"And if he can't?" Dorian asked, following the headmaster.
There was a pause of silence before Alaric thought of answering. "We choose the option leading to smaller bloodshed."
"Okay…" Dorian said, knowing what Alaric possibly meant with these words. "I understood." He said more resolutely, not trying much to change the headmaster's head.
So, as they walked, Dorian prayed they would ask from the young man, he would be able to accomplish. For the sake of a life.
"I thought Columbia was a neutral ground." Dorian said when they got out of the library and headed towards the main hall, shifting their topic of conversation.
"It should be." Alaric nodded.
"Then why did Jeremy find a group of vampires there?"
"Still thinking about it." Alaric said, furrowing his brow. "One thing is a werewolf or a witch popping up there, a vampire is another story. And if we are talking about a group of them… There is a chance they are just some wandering group. Arrived here from Europe through the ports, it is a possibility." The headmaster's expression clouded. "It can also be someone expanding. And we had the luck or not of Jeremy stumbling upon them."
Dorian subtly nodded, sharing the same thought. "Any ideas?"
"Sincerely, not." Alaric offered a grim smile to respond. "It can be anyone along the east coast. Probably the only one among them we can cut out of the picture is Hope's brother."
"No one suspicious from the west?"
"Hardly." Alaric immediately denied. "From what I heard of Roman, the fight in L.A. is just getting worse by the day. They certainly can't spare anyone to send to the other side of the country." He snorted in thought. "And the others are just quiet, keeping to themselves as always."
It was Dorian's turn to frown. "That is what worries me. They going quiet."
"I feel the same. And it just gets strange when considering that's what we wished for a few years ago." Alaric said, letting out a weak huff. "Let's just hope this is our inner demons talking and nothing else." He looked at his friend from the corner of his eyes.
Noticing it, Dorian nodded. "I hope so." He said, looking ahead.
Having walked for some time by now, the two members of the school staff had already left the library by now and were crossing the main hall. Alaric, not knowing where the one he was looking for, was heading to the staircase leading to the upper floors, where the students' rooms are. Thus the need to cross the main hall.
However, as they reached the middle of the room, Dorian halted on his steps and he held Alaric by his arm, stopping him as well.
"There he is." Dorian pointed at the end of the hall, where a young man read a book near the fireplace, resting on the comfortness of an armchair.
Seeing his student, Alaric turned on his heels and stepped forward, approaching the young man.
Their steps echoed loudly, the crackle of the fire burning not doing anything to suppress the sound of their approach.
And thus, when they got to a certain distance to him, the two adults observed as the young man slowly turned his head on their way.
"Dr. Saltzman, Mr. Williams?" John blurted out, staring at both men as they approached.
And as a perk of enhanced senses and perception, in the small distance remaining for them to cross to reach him, the young man noticed the small distinctions in them from their normal behavior.
He noticed their fists clenched, brows furrowed and quick steps to approach him.
What happened? When he noticed these changes in their postures, John narrowed his eyes slightly, with him putting down his book when they finally got close enough to him.
And as soon as Alaric approached, he dispersed all pleasantries. "We might need your help."
These few short words were the last thing the boy needed to confirm something happened. "Sure." John closed the book on his lap. "What do you need?"
"Are you capable of traveling to Columbia and returning in under two hours?"Alaric asked without fanfare, going immediately to the point.
The young man furrowed his brow when the question was referred to him, but he still responded to it as fast as he could. "Yeah." Slowly, John pushed himself off the chair, facing the two men. "Why? Why am I going to Columbia?"
Alaric sighed profoundly. "Jeremy faced some problems in Columbia and we need you to go there to fetch him. Nothing else, just pick him and another person he is with and return." He relayed the problem. "Can you do it?"
"No." John immediately denied, shaking his head. "Sincerely, right now, I am not confident in coming back without harming myself slightly in that small time. Two people added? The problem increases."
Listening to it, Alaric bit his lower lip in frustration. "Damn!" He grunted, a bit of irritation showing on his face. "We got to think of something else." He turned his head, facing Dorian.
What he didn't expect was that his friend already had thought of one.
"Already did." Dorian replied, averting his look from the headmaster to the young student. "John, do you mind spending a night outside?"
"Not at all." The boy said, blankly.
"Good." Immediately, Dorian turned to face Alaric, the headmaster doing the same. "Meet me at the front gate in a few minutes." He said, his feet were already moving. "I will come back as quickly as I can." He ran off to somewhere, leaving the two other individuals alone.
And Alaric, who listened to his friend and student's short exchange of words, silently realized what Dorian could have thought of.
Putting a hand over the young man's shoulder, the headmaster grabbed the young man's attention. "Listen to me, John." Alaric said, staring into his student's eyes. "Your task is simple, you just need to grab Jeremy and the young werewolf and take them somewhere far away from the city. Don't bother with anything else. Just run to a place where you can plant the chains, do you hear me?"
Before the young man could say anything in response, Alaric shuffled his pocket, pulling out his phone.
"Here." He pulled the young man's hand and put his phone on it. "Jeremy's location is being tracked in it. Use it to find him. The password is 15030622."
"Okay, okay…" John muttered, just accepting the device forcefully put in his hand.
Lifting his eyes off the phone at the headmaster, the young man could clearly see the worry in his eyes. "The situation must be pretty bad if you are just so blatantly handing me your phone and telling me your password."
Alaric nodded. "In the past few years Jeremy has worked for me, he has never requested help bar some needed info." Through his words, he turned his body around. "Come on, let's get out. Dorian will soon find us by the gate."
John nodded, walking a few steps behind Alaric as both crossed the main hall.
When they were half-way through the room, with the boy having already put the phone away in his pocket, he looked at the back of his headmaster and thought it was better to know everything he could before leaving. "What should I worry about in case I face the same problems Jeremy did?"
"Vampires." Alaric said, responding without looking back at the boy. "Expect a group of them."
Okay, cool. "How many are we talking about?" John asked.
"The numbers are uncertain. It can be just a few, but it can increase to the double digits." Alaric answered, glancing over his shoulder at the boy. "For that reason I said your only task is to grab Jeremy and the werewolf and go to a safe place with them. Nothing else, do you hear me?"
"Yes." John nodded.
"Good." Alaric's eyes looked straight ahead again. One step forward, and the pictures of the school's graduating classes surrounded him from both sides. "You are strong, I know that. I've seen that. You can handle a vampire from what I saw. But don't try it." He emphasized again. "Your priority is safety. Try to evade any fights. And since you are taking Jeremy, chances are you won't face one. After all, if he wants, he can hide himself from vampires for some time. So you probably will find him alone when you get there."
"Hmh." John nodded. When he reached the entryway and went down a step, he left his flip-flops behind before continuing to walk ahead. "I got it. Find Jeremy, fetch him and the werewolf, then take them somewhere isolated and prevent any fight with vampires. It seems easy enough."
"Don't jinx it." Alaric said, opening the door.
Both men left the main building. They walked down the entrance, one step each before John felt his bare feet touch the pavement under him.
But the coldness of the ground he walked on was ignorable when he looked upwards and glimpsed the sparkling celestial body hanging in the sky attempting to make its presence the only admirable thing in the world.
It's beautiful. The boy momentarily thought.
…
"Here, this should be everything you might need." Dorian said, arriving at the school's front gate, where the two other men had already waited for him for more or less three minutes.
As he approached the pair, the chains in the librarian's hands clanked when they hit against one another, the sound traveling quite easily in the open night as some even rustled against the paved ground.
"Since you can't bring them in time, you will do your best to find a suitable place to chain down the werewolf." Dorian said, handing the chains to the young man.
Looking at the objects of metal dropped in his hands, John frowned inwardly. How the fuck am I gonna fly with these with me. He thought, immediately trying to think of a way the chains wouldn't bother him when he is in the air.
As the young man arranged the chains around him, Alaric raised his hand to a certain level and gave a look over his wrist. Looking at his watch, he confirmed what time it was.
"We have just a little more than one and half hours before the full moon hits." He announced, turning his head towards Dorian. "Alert everyone in the school, tell the students to go back inside if anyone is in the backyard. Gather the wolves in the hall, we'll be walking to the bunkers in 15 minutes."
"Okay." Dorian said, walking away. As fast as he arrived, he went away to accomplish his tasks.
Giving a look at his friend going back to the school, Alaric moved his head back at the young man. He observed that his student had now the chains going over his shoulders, crossing his chest and going around his back. From how the chains were positioned, they were forming an 'X' on his chest and back.
"This is going to make a lot of noise when I take flight." John muttered, listening that every minimal movement of his body made the metal hit each other. Thinking of how it would be when he was traveling in the air at speed surpassing F1 cars, he almost got a headache.
Meanwhile, Alaric, who listened to the boy's low muttered words, had his face slightly shift in mild surprise. "So, you can really fly."
"Yeah, I can." John nodded, rolling up his long sleeves.
"If it wasn't a time of emergency, I would question how you do it." Alaric said.
"When enough time is given, I will explain how it works." John said, dropping his hands. "I think I'm ready." He took a deep breath.
"Good." Alaric nodded. "Then go and save Jeremy. And if possible, try not to attract much attention. We have our ways of making those unaware of the truth of the world forget it. But if it escalates to a level, then we have no ways of undoing it."
"I will be careful." John stepped back, putting some space between him and the headmaster. Slowly, his feet detached from the ground, and his figure elevated in the air. "I will be back tomorrow. Tell Hope to not get worried."
Unconsciously, a knowing smile appeared on Alaric's face when he heard the boy. "She is the first thing you think of when in this situation, hm?"
In response, John rolled his eyes. And then, his figure blurred, disappearing from where he was as the wind pressure of his sudden surge of velocity slightly pushed away Alaric and the dust on the ground, elevating a small cloud of dust that took a few seconds to settle down.
"Hah, I will make fun of that later." Alaric said, allowing himself a moment of humor before turning around and walking back into the building. The night was far from over.
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