CHAPTER 37: A NIGHT AT GALLOWWAY 2

 Samuel wakes up feeling more exhausted than a woman after labor. His back aches and his waist feels stiff. He grunts and sits up as he tries to recall the last thing that happened to him before he went unconscious.

"Sammy," his brother's voice rings in his ears and his body materializes at the edge of the bed.

He breathes hard, even though he is dead.

"We have to hurry up. Reapers, a reaper just came after me," Gabriel says. "Keep running for as long as you can. We both know there is no way the spirit realm is safe for you and you can't always be here," Samuel says.

"This whole mortal soul thing is really taking a toll on us," "You are the one that signed up for it and I am being dragged into it," Samuel says.

"Everything feels hard. Breathing, walking, even talking. This was not what I envisioned when you got the girl," he says, "Don't make this about Rachael," Gabriel says.

"Isn't it about her? This is all about her. If she wasn't in our lives none of this would have happened. If Frank never came to us or you just killed him we wouldn't be in this mess," Samuel complains.

"So now we are going to do the blame game? If you are so pissed about it then kill her. You are in the same building, aren't you?" "Maybe I will," "And I will haunt you till the end of time," "But at least you will be here, till the end of time," Samuel says.

"You don't have the balls," "Oh yeah?" "Yes Sammy. Yes. You know why? Because just like me you want her. You are crazy about her, I see it in your eyes.

The way you look at her, the way you hold her hand. You want her," Gabriel says.

"Yes, I do" Samuel snarls, "But she wants the man who sacrificed himself for her. Not the one that killed her father," he says and looks at his hands.

"Father and his underlings killed her. You have to forgive yourself Sammy," Gabriel says, "Easy for you to say, you redeemed yourself" "At the cost my soul," "Nonetheless, you redeemed your soul. If I wasn't so sure that you would go to hell, I wouldn't even be trying to resurrect you" Samuel says.

"Hell? What are you talking about?" Gabriel asks, "Think about it Gabe. We are cursed to protect the treasures for all eternity and suddenly you can't. You have left the bond between you and the creator exposed and you think that hateful thing will let you enter paradise?

No way.

How many of our fallen brethren have you ever heard made it to heaven, Elysium or some other form of wonderland?

It is always hell," he says.

"We don't know that because none of us has ever crossed the threshold and we can't communicate with anyone that has," Gabriel says, "The only reason I don't want to remain dead is because of you," he says.

They pause for a bit and under the brief silence Gabriel's word sinks into his brother's heart.

"Fuck you man. You are the douchebag, stop getting emotional with me," Samuel says, "Prick, I'm only emotional with you so suck it up," Gabriel says.

"You can die, I promise I will be fine," Samuel says.

"I miss you man. And I am sorry, the way I left..." "Look who is getting emotional now," "Fuck you man," "Save it for when we bury Alucard," Gabriel says and his brother agrees with a nod.

 He pulls over the brown duvet and let his legs down on the floor. He just noticed the change of clothes on him and he hisses. He can hear the girls voices downstairs but for now he rather just listen to his own thoughts.

He remembers entering the vampire's mind back at the market and tries to recall what he saw. 

Alucard has long hair but the man I saw had a shorter haircut compared to Alucard.

Someone else is after us and he doesn't want to be known.

He scratches his head and sighs, "Fuck, this shit is giving me a headache" he grunts and unbuttons his shirt. He stands up and leaves the room and with it his thoughts on the matter. He walks down the stairs with the creaking wood for company and the laughter from the dining room as a scene to look forward to.

He walks in on the girls laughing and drinking.

He smiles as the jovial energy reminds him of better days when all he had to worry about were invoices and how to bring the big names to Clouds.

The vampire by the door bows and dismisses himself at the sight of his master.

Rachael laughs hysterically and lays her head on the table, he doesn't know what they are talking about but gladness fills his heart to see them smile, all of them.

"I see you guys decided to have some fun without me," he says as he announces his presence.

"Motherfucker, you are finally awake" Amanda shouts, "Don't tell me you are drunk. You are the one always nagging me about how much I drink," he says, "Lies. I'm the good one. I'm your good conscience," she says with a funny looking face.

"Uh huh, light head" "Pussy," they insult each other.

"You look naked," Rachael says as she eyes his body through his open shirt, though her senses have become dull with the joys of a heavy drink.

"And you look very drunk," Samuel says, "No, I do not" she smiles, "Yes you do," "Come, I will prove it to you. Let's dance," "That is exactly what a very drunk woman would say," he says.

"Come," she stands up and stretches her hand to hold his, "Someone play that ancient music thingy over there," she points to the phonograph at the corner and the immortals laugh.

"God, if I knew she was this funny drunk I would have gotten her drunk every single day," Elma says as she goes to play the disc on the phonograph.

The song starts sends Samuel's mind through history as Robert Johnson's voice comes up, "Rambling On My Mind".

"Whoa, what is this?" Rachael asks with a childish voice, "It's from when they were still making magic," he says.

Rachael shakes her hips left and right with the energy of a stallion and the skills of a two years old putting Samuel in a fit of dramatic laughter, "What the hell are you doing?" "It is called dancing," she says and strikes a pose.

"I love it," he says even though her steps go off the beat.

Amanda raises the bottle and looks at it, "Are you sure this is just scotch? It's like she took something else," she says. "You are clearly the bad influence, here" Samuel says as he spins Rachael around.

Amanda pouts and raises her middle finger to him. Rachael almost slips but Samuel is quick to catch her, "I think it's time to go to bed," he says. Elma dances with a glass in her hand, paying little attention to them while Amanda hug the bottle like a teddy.

"I will take her," Amanda says, "I'm not sure I want that. Can you at least take yourself?" he says and she pouts with a playful face, "Sammy is in love," her voice drown into a whisper as Samuel lifts Rachael.

He walks through the corridors which are illuminated with dim candle lights and shadowy features moving from different corners. But of course, he isn't afraid of the dark, especially not here.

He sniffs before he stops in front of a room with a man standing at the door. The servant opens the door for him as he walks in, carrying the drunk woman while she say words that make little sense to the sphinx.

He drops her on the bed and she rolls left and right for a bit before stopping like a corpse on the bed.

Samuel puts a hand over his mouth as he tries to hold in his laughter, "Don't go," Rachael says.

"Come stay with me," her voice is low but his sharp ears will not falter when she speaks. He lies beside her and she wraps a hand around his belly. Her sudden movement sends a strange shiver through his spine and his eyes stay on her fair face.

His dark eyes take in the shape of her parted lips, her black hair lie across her cheek and the white gown expose her shoulder.

The smell of booze invades his nostrils but as a man of the strong waters it is nothing new to him. He adores her even in her uncanny state.

She pulls closer to him as if to hug him and her breath caress his nipple while her head comes under his chin.

He touches her smooth face and pushes the strands of hair away from her cheek; "I can't," he thinks and tries to slip away from her sleepy grasp. She resumes her drunken turn and somehow she gets a grip of Samuel's shirt and draws him back, breaking his balance and falling to the bed.

He spreads his hands to break his fall but he is close; his face is close to hers. Her eyelashes lie flat on her closed eyes.

In his eyes he has seen true beauty but alas temptation calls the man.

It claws at his heart with every breath he takes close to her; he clenches the sheets in his hands and move to close the distance between their lips.

"Gabriel," slips through her parted lips and like a blade to the heart, he feels his chest tighten around the pain but he smiles and lifts himself from the bed.

"Goodnight, Miss McQueen".