Chapter 2
It was night again. Cleon
entered the church and looked up into the rafters, hoping to catch a glimpse of
the enigma that had decided to ,make this place her home. But she was gone. He
sighed and sat in one of the pews.
Maybe she needed to feed. He
grimaced at the thought. He truly hoped what she had said the other night was
honest. For a fleeting moment, he wished she were mortal. A pure human with a
heartbeat. Stop it! he thought. After all, he was a priest and any kind of
relation was forbidden, especially with an immortal demon.
But she's no demon, he thought.
How could she be? She renounced the right and vowed to never drink again. And
that face... He suddenly realized he hadn't seen her face. He could only guess.
But her eyes had spoken of a strange innocence. Pure and untouched, yet no
longer among the innocent. What he felt for her was strange. He didn't know
whether to fear it or embrace it. He hung his head. What was he to do?
The bright moon had just
risen. the sun had just set. Denison slipped from the dark alleyway and into the
almost barren streets. Only the drunk and homeless still roamed.
She walked down the
cobblestone street. Drunken music came from the inn she currently passed.
Barmaids and a few plastered men bellowing old fisherman songs as the other
drunkard guffawed at the entertainment. She grimaced, for she knew how the night
would end. At least one of those maids would be raped and the man would be too
drunk to remember when he goes back home to his family in the morning.
Denison sped up her pace
a little. The smell of sweat and beer was making her nauseous. And she didn't
want to be standing around when one of those men came out, drunk as could be,
and looking for fresh female meat.
She darted around a corner, out of
sire of the inn. And also very much lost. If she couldn't find her way back to
the church by sunrise, she hoped there would be a place nearby to hide for the
day.
"Excuse me,
miss?"
Denison
saw an old man in a doorway. His hair was gray and long and his eyes were hidden
behind a dirty strip of cloth. This man was nothing more than skin and bones in
rags. And blind.
"Please, miss." His voice was deep and raspy. "Could you help me? I've dropped
my cane..."
Denison saw the wooden cane a foot from her feet. She picked it up and placed it
in his hands. "There you are."
The old man grinned a toothy grin.
"Thank you. You have such a pretty voice for a night wanderer." He grabbed her
arm, pulled her closer, and whispered in her ear. "I thought they hunted
vampires in this area."
Denison's eyes widened, and she
tried to pull her arm back. "How...?"
"I know more than you think,
Denison."
She
opened her mouth to speak, but he put a bony hand over it. "Come with me." He
pulled her inside the door.
"Hey!" She stumbled behind the
quick footed geezer.
"You're crazy. That's
just a myth." Denison looked at the old man skeptically, sitting cross-legged in
front of him on an old rug.
He just chuckled. "No, it's much
more than a myth. And I think you know that, but aren't willing to admit it." He
pulled something from his pocket. A folded piece of paper. "Take this. Open it
only when you know there is no one around you do not wish to accompany
you."
"Old man, I
don't trust you."
"That's good. You should trust no one, and believe everything." He raised a
silencing hand when she opened her mouth. "No, go. Return to the church."
Denison stood, looking
down at the old man sitting cross-legged. "You're a very confusing old man."
Then she left the small hut.
To her surprise, and relief, it
wasn't hard to find the church. Just one turn, then another, and she was
there.
Cleon lightly slept on
one of the pews, having waited for Denison, unsure if she would return. He woke
and sat up when the door opened.
Denison walked in. "Man, you won't
believe what happened."
But she was cut off by the opening
of the doors. Darius stepped in, carrying a torch. "Give me
the map, Denison."
Denison looked at him oddly. "Map?
I don't have a map."
"Yes you do, Denison. I want the
map, or I'll burn this place." Darius held the torch up, ready to drop
it.
"I don't have
a map!"
"Not the
answer I was looking for." Darius dropped the torch, and quickly exited. A few
more smashed through the windows, landing on the pews and floor. The flames
quickly spread across the wood floors, pews, and rafter beams.
"Shit!" Denison backed away from
the door, flames closing in.
"Come on!" Clean yelled from the
back of the room. "Let's run!"
Denison sped in his direction, but
a rafter beam cracked, burnt through, and fell in her path. She was boxed
in.