The Bloody Masquerade

I roamed almost mindlessly in the grocery store that existed a block away from my battered home. I had found the butter and was now rummaging around to see if there was anything else going cheap that I either needed or was interested in. After I grabbed hold of some sweets and other things I was sure Eugene would appreciate, I grabbed some milk and headed for the exit. It didn’t cost much however it did cost more than I would’ve liked. As soon as I had handed the money over to the expressionless accountant, I threw the food into a plastic bag and walked out into the quite, almost utterly empty car park.

I stood in the centre of it as I breathed in the warm air before I glanced up at the sky. It was murky this night and the clouds almost blotted out every shining star however the moon, which was near its peak, was eerily visible. It was the sort of moon used in werewolf horror films. The moon was my clock as such. It wasn’t long before that time of the month came again. As I stared at the obscured moon, I touched my canines with the tip of my tongue out of habit. The remained normal in size however I could tell they had changed ever so slightly. They had become sharper.

I sighed heavily and rubbed my face roughly before shifting my weight from one foot to the other and turning to head back home. I took a few steps forward before something caught my eye.

I came to a sudden stop and gazed back at the flickering lampposts. At first nothing out of the ordinary could be seen until I used the pathetic amount of Matter held within my body to boost up my sight. Suddenly the world became lighter, as if bathed in a pale blue light, however there was nothing by the road bar a couple laughing and walking in the opposite direction. I glared for a moment before letting the Matter retreat and turned and walked straight into a wall.

A pair of hands shot out and grabbed my shoulders to steady me when I stumbled back roughly. I looked up sharply and blinked a few times when I saw a very familiar face. Youthful with gentle bright eyes shielded behind a pair of glasses, it was the face of a man I knew well. And the face of a man I was not expecting to see so soon.

Alexis smiled at me with his normal broad grin. “Augusta.” He said in a tone that more than implied I had been missed.

For a moment I just stared, unable to get my brain into gear. Alexis was here, in front of me, just like Eugene had promised. He hadn’t aged much. The only difference was he had some sort of goatee going on his chin and his dark blond hair had become far more of a mess than it had been before. The moment of disbelief and joy at seeing my old ally was short lived however when annoyance settled in. I smiled at him, a fake one that I always used to mask my anger or irritation, and reached up slowly to his face. For a moment, a soft expression filled Alexis’s face until my fingers reached his ear and pinched hard. In the usual way of reprimanding him, I pulled his ear, causing him to cry out and wince.

“What have I told you about sneaking up on me, Alexis?” I said calmly, still smiling sweetly.

“Yes, forgot about that.” He said with his hand held in front of his face in an apologetic gesture while his mouth was twisted in a mixture between a smile and a grimace.

I grunted and let his ear go, which he appeared thankful for. Letting my eyes glance over at the lone dying lamppost once more, I stepped around Alexis and began to head back home. Without a word as he rubbed his sore ear, he followed dutifully.

“I told you I didn’t want to see you again, so why are you here?” I asked him.

“You’ve been screaming for me for the last couple of days. I couldn’t ignore a woman in distress now could I?” He said in his defence.

“I am not in distress.” I scoffed.

“Then why have you been calling for me?”

I hesitated and turned to him sharply, scratching the tip of my nose without holding his gaze. He smiled knowingly and shook a finger at me.

“I know that look Augusta. You’re not wanting to admit you need me again, aren’t you?”

I bit my lower lip hard then flung my head back as I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. “Okay, yes, I need you again.” I admitted then turned my gaze onto the floor when something along the lines of pure pleasure filled Alexis’s face.

I glanced up however when his hand ruffled my thick hair. “Well done for opening up so quickly.” He said.

“My pride comes last to the need of others.” I mumbled to myself and pulled his hand off my head.

His eyebrows rose suddenly and followed close to my side when I spun around and began the walk home which had been stopped so many times before.

“Who needs my help then?”

“I do, partly anyway. Someone else needs you though.”

“That only leads back to my question, Augusta.”

I raised a finger to my lips, ignoring that his eyes seemed to darken when they lingered there. “Not here.”

Alexis only nodded and followed silently, leaving me to my thoughts.

I was surprised the Alexis had shown without me calling him without being in contact with him in any way. He had always been able to do that. Whenever I needed him, he’d be there with an expression that told me, if he was in his monstrous wolf-form, his tail was wagging. I had asked him about it long before now but he had only told me that it was because he was a werewolf. He never elaborated beyond that, no matter how much I nagged. There was also the fact he could sneak up on me. Normally my sense would pick up someone of the Old World approaching but I could never feel his approach. It annoyed me as he would often sneak up on me to just see my scared expression. I would then pull his ear as usual until he begged for mercy and for my forgiveness.

I glanced up at the man next to me and couldn’t help but smile at the perfectly blissful expression on his face. Alexis was so laid back and care free it bored on stupidity. Not that he was weak, far from it. And the stupid smile he often bore helped him get the upper hand. Enemies underestimated him thus are easily over powered. His eyes glanced down at me and his smile broadened at the soft tint in my eyes which forced me to quickly avert my gaze. No point in making him any softer than his though.

As soon as the door to the large thin building where my apartment was held, I dived for it and shoved it open then dragged Alexis all the way to the fourth floor. As soon as I was on the dingy landing, Matter flooded into my sense to heighten my hearing. Thankfully I heard nothing out of the ordinary coming from behind the last door on the landing which strongly meant Eugene was safe. It didn’t slow down the speed I was currently moving in to get to the door and unlock it. As soon as it was open, I was stepping inside and casting my gaze about the room fervently.

“I’m back!” I called loudly when I didn’t see the child in the middle of the room.

There was a sudden patter of feet and Eugene came sliding out of my bedroom in his nightclothes. For a moment he smiled brightly at me in welcome however the smile faltered then grew back tenfold when he saw Alexis standing behind me.

“Alex!” Eugene cried out loudly in joy before running up to Alexis when he stepped forward with his arms out for an embrace.

As soon as Eugene was within reach, Alexis grabbed him and lifted him high in the air then swung in a single circle. Eugene laughed happily at the old welcome then clung to his neck when Alexis held him in a tight embrace.

“You’ve gotten so big, lad.” Alexis commented.

“I know but I am still quite small.” Eugene replied while waving his hand over his head as if he was measuring himself.

“But what are you doing here? You should be in Italy with Augusta’s Family.”

“Things have changed.” I replied for him while unpacking the plastic bag.

Alexis gave me a sober look and slowly put Eugene on the floor, ruffling the boy’s hair when Eugene clung to his leg. “What’s happened?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“No. All I know is that I am placed once again as Eugene’s guard. Against what exactly is unclear but I think it has something to do with the Crone.”

“What? The Crone is now a threat?”

“I think she is. I have to wait though, that’s what she said. And I was to never obey her again or bring Eugene to any of the Families. I am on my own in this.”

“But you don’t seem to know what ‘this’ is.”

“I don’t but I will soon, when the Crone dies I guess.”

Alexis gave me a soft sympathetic expression. “She’s dying?”

“She told me so however she also told she was going to be alive. It’s all very confusing so I try not to think about it until something appears to make things a clearer.”

He sighed and rubbed his jaw, nodding his head slowly in agreement. “I don’t blame you. So you need me to cover the day shift I take it?”

“As I have no one else I can turn to, yes.” I mumbled. “That and Eugene wanted you specifically.”

A grin lit up on his face and he ruffled Eugene’s hair once again. “You wanted me back?”

Eugene grinned and held Alexis’s hand in place and swung from side to side. “Augusta did too though.”

I ignored the loving gaze I received from Alexis and turned my attention to organising some food for them both. While I rummaged around for something to cook, Eugene took hold of Alexis’s hand and dragged him over to the sofa so he could demonstrate his strengthening Matter with the small pin. I watched them out of the corner of my eye, smiling to myself.

I couldn’t deny the fact I enjoyed having some life around me. It did get lonely being on your own for so long while avoiding being around the same person for more than a week. I couldn’t afford too many ties though. It could compromise my safety in the Old World and my emotions would get in the way when I am hired to attack a family of the Old World I knew. It was why I demanded Alexis that he was never to get in contact with me again. I had already become too attached to him and Eugene by the end of the ten months of guarding five years ago. But I did enjoy seeing them again and the sound of their laughter and noise only hit home at how much I had missed them. For a moment I smiled warmly to myself until a heavy sense of sadness began to weigh on me.

I realised they would be gone by the end of this mission though. After a few months, once I have dealt with the new threat to Eugene, they would leave me. I would be alone again in a world where neither immortal nor mortal society would accept me as who and what I was.