Current...Past...Sin...Alexander...Forum...Notes...Survey...D-land

Repayment For Help
2003-12-14 - 3:45 p.m.

I walked quickly through the city. It had been so many years since I had set foot in my old quarter, and yet I still remembered how to find my way home.

The house had a large iron fence surrounding it from public access, which was locked at the gate. Father had been so proud to be the first family on the block to have it installed.

I used to sneak out of the house frequently when I was younger, so I knew how to climb over the spikes on the fence. Being a vampire just made it easier though. I looked down the rue on both sides before I leapt over the seven foot high fence and landed lightly on the other side.

The house itself was darkened. I slipped through the front yard, which was overgrown, and reached the porch. It creaked as I lightly stepped to the door. This alarmed me.

My knock was hollow and unanswered. I broke through the locks and entered the foreboding mansion. It was dirty and empty. Even so, a wave of nostalgia rushed over me. It was still the perfect home.

How odd, I thought to myself as I wandered about the house. I made a complete circuit of the house, even stopping longer in my old bedroom. I found nothing. No furniture, no papers, no signs of what happened.

I stood in the study, defeated. I turned to leave when I smelled it: the faint scent of blood. I instantly searched the room with my eyes, smelling deeply. Then I remembered the hidden room between the study and the kitchen. I reached the wall and pressed the hidden button in the corner. The door slid across slowly and shakily.

I was kicked quite forcefully in the stomach. As I recoiled from the sudden shock, a young man of about thirteen ran from the hidden space towards the door. I overtook him easily, grabbing him by the back of the neck. I threw him across the room, and he hit the wall so forcefully that he broke it. He limped to the floor.

"Who are you?" I asked angrily. I was furious at the brat for kicking me.

He looked up and spat at me. I avoided it. Sweeping across the floor, I lifted the boy up into the air, nearly strangling him.

"Who are you?" I asked again in a hushed voice. "Do not make me ask again!" I tightened my hold.

"Raoul," he wheezed.

I dropped him. "What are you doing in my home?" I asked, less angrily this time.

"Your home? No one lives here, but me. This place is mine," he responded defensively.

"I used to live here, boy. And so did my family. Do you know where they went?" I asked, crouching on the floor to be eye-level with him.

He thought for a moment. "You mean the LeNoirs? They abandoned this place years ago."

"Where did they go?"

"Out to the country somewhere. South of Paris, probably. I don't know for certain. This place was abandoned before I was born. I only heard stories."

"What kinds of stories?" I was actually intrigued to hear what the neighbors had said about my family.

"After that one son ran away and the daughter was killed, the family could not stand the shame. They moved out of the city. Or so I heard."

I stood up and walked to the window that faced the backyard. His words hurt me slightly. Shame? But of couse. Memories of fencing out in the back came to me as I stood at the window. "You said south of the city?"

"Yeah."

"I am sorry if I hurt you, boy. I just do not like being kicked." I looked back at him.

"Right, yeah, sorry about that. I thought I would be safe in here. There are some bad guys after me, you know. Got to keep alive nowadays."

"Bad men, you said? Who are they?"

"I stole some bread from some other thieves. They want me to repay what I have taken. It's not like I can, so I have been hiding here."

"I understand. Well, you helped me, so I will help you. Take me to these men."

The boy's face lit up. "You mean it? I gave you barely anything."

"You gave me enough. Besides, I am a man of my word. Take me to them."

The boy led me out of the front door eagerly. While he was small enough to slip through a set of bent bars in the fence, I had to jump it once again. He was amazed.

"I told you, I used to live here." I smiled.

Raoul led me back to the middle of the city. I was proud at how boldly he entered the lair of these thieves, which was hidden near the cemetery. It reeked of blood and piss, which was heightened in me by my senses. Four men sat around a table on the floor in a barely lit cellar.

"Look what we have here, boys. A regular street rat," commented one of the men, noticing Raoul as he stepped into the circle of light.

I remained hidden in the darkness, however.

"Come to repay your debt, Raoul?" asked a second man.

"No," Raoul replied hotly.

"What did you say?" asked the first man, angered and shocked.

"You heard me."

The thoughts of the men were bleary to me as they were to themselves, but from what I could gather, they were worth killing. I had already fed for the evening, but I had to help my new found friend.

"Come on, boys. Let's show this little brat who's boss around these parts."

I quickly pulled Raoul into the darkness with me as the men stood up from the table.

"Where did he go?" questioned one man.

"Over there!" pointed out another.

I whispered into Raoul's ear, "Leave here and wait outside, but do not return."

He nodded his head against me, and he slid out the darkened opening.

I moved around the walls of the room admist the shadows. I blew out the single candle as I came to it.

"What was that?"

"What happened?"

"Where's the light?"

A scream was muffled by my hand, as I used the other to slit his throat with my nails. I drank enough of the first man from the slit to render him dead in a few moments.

"Did you hear that?"

"Michel? Where did you go?"

A second cry shot out across the room. I laid this one out on the floor next to the first man. He was even tastier than the first.

"Thomas, what the hell is going on here?"

"Ru...."

I took the third man before he could really warn the fourth. But I was too full to drink from him. His blood spilled all over the floor, making it slick.

I nearly slid as I approached the fourth man, who was reaching for the door. I was surprised that he did not even make a noise.

As I glanced through the dark room at the four corpses laid out neatly on the floor, I remembered the pattern from our feasts before I left Paris for good. Jay, Ella and I would each slit the throat of our victims after draining them to avoid vampyric suspicion, then we would lay them out, ready for their funerals. I crossed the arms of each of the men and smiled. I could still be a ruthless killer. It felt quite fulfilling actually.

I searched the room and took all that I could find to give to Raoul. As I reached the street, he ran up to me. I was covered in blood, but he seemed not to notice in the darkened rue. I gave him the food and money I had scavaged.

"You're the best, monsieur," he exclaimed.

"Now we are even. But you must promise to use that money to better yourself."

He nodded.

"I am just visiting Paris, but before I leave I will see you again. Work for yourself before I return to you, alright?"

"I will, monsieur. And thank you." Raoul ran down the rue and out of sight.

I was pleased with myself as I figured out the way back to the hotel. It was so early into the coming morning now that Sindor must have been worried sick.

I quickened my pace. The blood on me prevented me from going through the building, so I ascended to our room from the balconies below.

Sindor was surprised at my entrance from the balcony and my bloody appearance.

Alexander