The Bells Toll

Along with the bells of the cathedral, the alarm bells in his mind also began to toll. Time was running out, fast! He quickly got on with his work.

The wooden case was exactly the size the woman clad in black had shown. It had no fancy engravings, nor any inscriptions on it. What it did have was the elegant and fragile silver lock. If he wasn't careful, he could break the lock. And he was more than a little sure that neither the woman clad in black, nor the blue eyed woman would be very pleased with that.

He bent down and carefully inserted the lockpick into the silver lock. After a few seconds, that satisfying lick sounded. Aoric took a shallow breath and slowly raised the lid of the case.

Red velvet lined the sectioned off interior of the wooden case. He counted three sections. One was shaped as rectangle, filled with documents. He didn't even attempt to read them, the less he knew, the better.

The middle section was lined with more velvet, and there was a cavity in the shape of a long necked vial. To the left of the vial shaped cavity was the third section, with another cavity shaped like a short blade. A dagger, perhaps?

Aoric's shoulders dropped as he looked at the spots the two missing items were supposed to be in. Neither the blood filled vial, nor the blade was anywhere to be seen. A lump formed in his chest as he frantically glanced around the room. Where were they?

And thinking about it, the woman clad in black had told nothing about a blade. She had only mentioned the vial and the documents. Was this case not the right one? He bit his lower lip as the tolling of the cathedral bells came to an end, and silence covered the city once again.

He gritted his teeth. Two options, again. Lock the case and slip out without being noticed and ask the women whether this is what they want, or take it, and forego a second chance if they aren't pleased with what he brought.

He weighed the choices. Neither were good. Either way, there was a good chance of him needing to break in here again. "Damn it." He hissed. He wasn't going to risk it, he finally decided. He had spent his entire – admittedly short – life being as safe and as careful as possible. He wasn't going to change his ways now. Not for some woman who nearly had him killed.

He closed the lid of the wooden case and locked the elegant lock, then quickly left the room. There was no time to look anywhere else in the mansion if his instincts were to be believed. Aoric trusted them, and quickly headed to the room with the window he used to get in.

He passed over the couch leaning against the wall beneath the window, and once he was outside, he locked the window as well. He had closed all the doors he opened, locked all the locks he unlocked. There was absolutely no way the owners of the mansion could know there had been a break in. No way, he assured himself.

He climbed down from the windowsill with ease, thanks to the engravings on the walls. A quick run across the gardens and a hop over the outer wall later, he was safely on the streets of Vesporum again. With hasty steps, he headed to the closest alleyway he could find. There was no point in being seen here right now.

He used an old, broken down statue of a beautiful angel to climb onto the rooftops again. He felt a little bad for stepping on the pained face of the statue and questioned the city's choice of décor once again. It was uncanny.

His legs carried him to the inn, and he soon fell asleep, unaware of the distant screams echoing right outside the cathedral.

Irene's blood froze with the loud, ear piercing scream. She got off her seat and dashed to the large, metal doors of the cathedral. They opened with a loud creak as she pushed them open, revealing a sight she hoped she wouldn't need to see ever again.

"Another one?" Someone whispered as a crowd began to gather behind her. Their gazes focused on the lifeless bodies of a woman and a man. Their eyes were rolled back, and their faces frozen with an expression of agony.

"Everyone, please go back inside." A commanding voice sounded from behind her. The owner of the voice approached Irene and took a deep breath as the metallic smell of blood began filling the air. "They were your people," She whispered. "My condolences."

"Thank you." Irene replied with a cold voice. Dealing with that blood sucker was the last thing in her mind right now. "You," She pointed at one of the young men attending the ceremony. "Get the authorities. Now."

The young man nodded and darted off. The crowd also began to thin out as the cathedral staff convinced them to return to their seats. Irene clenched her fists, her sharp nails dug into her palms. "Damn it." Two more added to the list. How many had it been now? Four deaths, in the span of a single week.

Soon, the authorities arrived. The metal doors were closed off, and everyone inside at the time were immediately cleared of any suspicion. Irene told of the scream and the scene when she opened the doors to the officers, though she already knew they weren't going to do anything.

The blood suckers had most of them wrapped around their fingers already. Only when the questioning was over, and everyone was allowed to leave did Irene head back home. She couldn't help but glance towards the mansion of that vile woman. Had he stolen it yet? She hoped the answer was yes, because if it wasn't…

Well, she needed to vent this anger on someone.