CHAPTER XXIX

87th Street, Roosevelt.

Warren parks on the side of the road, close to an abandoned building, "This is the place," he says, trying his best to hold in his anger for the smashed window.

Marcel rubs his hand against his hair, "You are quite the suspicious man, aren't you?", Marcel's blue eyes assess the young man like a jaguar stalking its prey.

"Who are you?" Warrens asks, "Shut up. We aren't here for chit-chat" Gabriel says, sounding like the guardian of two troublesome kids.

They step out of the black Honda civic and walk towards the building.

The streets are dark and void of any living creature.

A cold breeze blows briefly, kissing behind Gabriel's ears like a lover while his mind is focused on the annihilation of the Assassin sisters.

Gabriel hears no heartbeat, no footsteps but he perceives the smell of blood and the rotten smell of carcass creating a vivid atmosphere of death.

They enter the building, "What is that fucking smell?" Warren complains as he raises a hand over his nose.

"Corpses," Marcel says and Warren immediately brings out a gun from his jacket.

"The place looks empty," the detective says, "If it was, I would have killed you already.

Be careful, they are hiding in the shadows" Gabriel says.

The moody sphinx walks forward, trying to make his way to the staircase when out of the darkness of the building, a brick is thrown his way.

Gabriel dodges and a vampire rushes out of the dark bearing its fangs.

The sphinx is not amused; this act only fans the flames of his boiling temper.

He delivers a karate chop to the vampire's throat and he snaps its neck and lets the unconscious body fall to the ground.

Marcel walks close to the unconscious vampire and examines it.

"This is a newborn," he says, "They are turning people to vampires?" Warren asks.

"Yes. I'm surprised that they can even pull it off" "The Assassin sisters are almost 700years old, they know a thing or two about creating vampires" Gabriel says, giving them a hint of caution.

"Can you hear that?" Marcel asks Gabriel, "What is that?" Warren asks, "They are coming, a lot of them" Gabriel says.

The footsteps are light but the closer they get the louder they are heard.

Warren's heart beats fast knowing he is probably the only mortal in the vicinity.

He pulls out a second gun filled with silver bullets.

Yes, he came prepared but his preparations were for creatures worse than newborn vampires.

He thought he would have to face off against the twins but his ammo will have to be used to survive this.

Vampires begin to appear from the dark, running towards the men, hissing and snarling as they try to get a piece of them.

Warren sees Gabriel and Marcel skillfully dodge attacks and easily kill the vampires before them while he swallows his saliva.

He feels a cold hand on his shoulder and without a second thought he uses his elbow to hit the vampire's face and he shoots him twice.

A bullet to the chest and another to the head and the pale-looking creature turns to ash.

Clouds.

Rachael wakes up from her nap feeling uncomfortable like a grim reaper is hovering above her head, stalking and waiting for her to die.

The sitting room is empty.

She finds the bathroom and goes in to ease herself.

She cleans up and washes her face.

Her heavy-looking eyes open as the cold water touches her face and she looks into the mirror.

She feels weak as she looks at her reflection.

She remembers the attack on the roof.

If Elma had not shown up when she did, maybe I wouldn't be alive right now. I have to be strong.

She returns to the sitting room which is still quiet.

She notices a glass door at the end of the sitting room, it leads to a balcony; she opens it and goes to the balcony.

The stars shine bright in the sky illuminating the night, she looks down from the balcony to the streets and she remembers the first time she and John came to the club.

She remembers seeing two hoodlums nibbling at a woman's neck.

Now, she realizes they may have just been vampires sucking the woman's blood like human-sized mosquitoes.

So many things happen in this world and only a few people know about them, the majority won't even believe it.

She would never have believed vampires existed until she met the twins, "Rachael?" she hears his voice.

She has wondered if it was the same voice but she always pushed the thought away after coming into the supernatural plane.

The voice that she thought was as smooth as flowing water and sweet as cotton candy.

It must be him she thinks, but she never had the chance to find out and he never says anything about it.

"Miss McQueen," Samuel calls out to Rachael again and she turns to look at him.

The look in her eyes catches him off guard.

Her eyes carry an element of curiosity and awe as she sizes him up.

He wonders if she can see him; if she can see what he really is.

Samuel wonders if this beautiful girl can see the monster that hides underneath the fancy clothes and the gentleman attitude he puts up.

No, she probably can't. If she could, she would never come close to him. Not a monster like him.

She can tell he is trying to put some distance between them from the way he talks, he switches from an informal tone to a formal one.

"You are awake," he says.

Clearly.

He looks at her small frame and hates the fact that being in his world puts her at risk.

Even though he wants to protect her, he wonders; for how long will he be able to keep her safe?

He doesn't even know if he is going to survive when the time comes to end it all.

"Where is everyone?" Rachael asks as Samuel walks to the bar, he pours himself bourbon which seems to be his favorite drink.

"Elma is downstairs partying and Gabriel is outside trying to kill something. Care for some?" he asks and she accepts.

He carries a glass for her and walks to the balcony.

He hands her a glass and pours her a drink and for a brief moment he catches her staring at him, "Thanks," she says.

She takes a sip and he sees the remnants of the liquor wet her lip and he swallows his saliva, "What are you doing out here, Miss McQueen?" he says, sounding disconnected with his own words.

"I wanted to get some air. Hey, there is something I've been meaning to ask" "What is it?", "Where you there, the day my father died?".

Samuel is surprised, he didn't expect this question. That day he altered her memories, so how is it she knows?

Rachael looks into his eyes and she can see that he is struggling to answer, but why?

It could have been Gabriel who saved her but every cell in her body is screaming that it is him, Samuel, and yet she can clearly see that he is struggling to answer the question.

Why? What is he afraid of? Why is he hiding?