The Bride and Her Bloodlust

The sensation of Eva squirming about in my mind and fiddling around with my veins of Matter was just as uncomfortable and weird as I remembered it being. I was thankful that unlocking my Matter and letting it flow was far easier and faster than when she built the lock all those years ago.

As soon as Eva had finished unlocking my Matter, I leapt to my feet and stormed off, leaving Alphonse to hurriedly say goodbye to the Lady and her mate and ordering a couple of maids to take care of them before he loped after me.

I strode through the house, ignoring the fluttering in my stomach as best as I could. I was excited. My matter swirled through me, giving me strength that I hadn’t felt in such a long time. It burned my eyes and heightened my senses so my ears could pick up even the tiniest of sounds and my nose could recognise any scent. By the time I reached outside, I was slightly overwhelmed a little. I had forgotten how strong my sense became now when my Matter was active. It was amplifying the strength I already had, making me a little woozy having been starved from it for so long. But, while I was overjoyed at having my Matter back and the connection to what I truly was, I was also grim and miserable. I had it because of my Master. Because he needed me and my full strength.

I strode down the long driveway, trying to get used to the feelings of both the witch energy filling me and the tight suit that clung to my skin, with Al following me closely.

“How is it?” He asked, aware that my sense may be overrun and highly strung.

“It’s fine.” I grumbled, not wanting to admit that my head was throbbing from the crunching of gravel beneath out feet.

Al grunted and easily kept pace with me. His legs were far longer than my own. “Where shall we start our hunt?”

“Where the Master was first poisoned.” I stated firmly. “I couldn’t find anything there before but I may pick up something now.”

“It was several days ago when this happened.” Al pointed out.

“I know but it’s the only place I know where to start.” I growled. “If we find nothing then we seek another place to search for this witch.” My eyes scowled up at him. “Unless you can come with something better.”

He shrugged and didn’t respond, a quiet admittance that he couldn’t.

Getting through the city was quick. Alphonse didn’t need to slow down for me, in fact, once we started running, he struggled to keep up. He lagged behind and I often had to mentally remind myself to slow down. I wasn’t used to being so fast and I kept leaving him behind.

I dropped down into the alleyway with a light thud and stood to survey my surroundings. Instantly I found my hate and rage bubbling in my chest, boiling with such savageness I felt myself shake. I could remember what happened here clearly, how happy Lucius had been. It was the last time he had been himself. The last time he was sane and well.

Al dropped beside me and the sound of his coat scrapping against the floor as he rose grated on my ears. I heard him turn in a circle, inhaling the crisp air deeply, before he approached me.

“I can’t smell anything specific.” He said quietly.

I waved my hand at him, telling him to be quiet. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the incessant city sounds and filtering out the stench of rot and human filth. It stung my nose, so much so my eyes began to water from the horrific burning that filled my nostrils but I continued to inhale. I was determined to find something here.

It took time but I eventually detected something new. It was old but pungent and instantly recognisable. It was Matter but not my own Family’s. It smelt like someone else’s entirely.

“I’ve got the scent.” I said stiffly as I opened my arms.

“You do?” Al said, surprised that I had managed to pick it up after so long.

“I do but it’s faint and I’ve got to focus on it, so don’t rush me.” I snapped.

“Follow it as slowly as you want. We have several hours until dawn.” He gently said.

I sniffed the thick fume filled air, trying to keep track of the faint Matter trail. It was hard. There was only thin wisps of it and it kept vanishing. It was difficult to track.

Guiding Al, we followed the trial out in the city. It slithered above rooftops and along pavements, making it difficult to keep our activity hidden. It was easier to trace it on the ground at least, most humans that milled about on the streets were too drunk to care or rushing home and avoiding any contact. I often lost the trial, needing to go back and find it again. It made me increasingly frustrated, often snarling to myself whenever I couldn’t sniff it out, and snapping at Al when he so much as breathed. Al remained patient though, trailing after me and watching the shadows intensely in case we were randomly attacked.

Eventually I couldn’t find it anymore. I paced savagely up and down the road I had lost it on, ignoring Al’s curious stare as I sniffed the air earnestly like a dog.

“If you have lost it, we can go back several blocks.” He suggested.

“I haven’t.” I snarled, not wanting to admit this scent was far harder to track than I had thought. “Just give me a moment.”

Al shrugged and leaned against the brick wall that lined the graveyard behind him, a massive place held in by towering skyscrapers and apartment blocks.

I dropped to my knees and closed my eyes. Once again I focused on the scents that wafted up my nose. I sniffed and inhaled, trying to pick up that illusive old scent I hated. But it was no good. It had gone.

“It should be here.” My eyes, glowering with hate, snapped up to Al’s calm expression. I growled in frustration. “The scent should be fresher here so why has it gone?”

He shrugged and dug his hands deep into his coat pockets. “I’m not sure. Witches have always been difficult to track for any immortal. Their scent tricky and weak and Matter is often undetectable in the air. You can smell Matter on a person but not in the air around them.”

My eyes narrowed and I frowned at his logic. The only reason I could smell it was because I could recognise Matter and had Matter myself. But then I saw something shimmer beside his dusty blond covered head. I narrowed my eyes further, this time out of curiosity than frustration and annoyance. Again something shined, like light over water.

I shot up onto my feet and darted to the wall, shoving him out of the way sharply. I peered at the wall where I had seen the shimmering mark and pressed my palms firmly against the cold stone. I instantly felt something hum against my skin. It tingled and crackled, making it feel like something was vibrating beneath the brick. Very rapidly, the shimmering mark was showing itself as clear as day.

“What is that? A Matter ward?” Al breathed behind me.

I nodded slowly. “It’s to hide things from immortals. This one is scent specific.” I muttered.

“Then why does it work on you?”

“I’m a vampire, remember?” I reminded him snidely. “I may be able to detect things through wards but it won’t be clear, it will be fuzzy and screwed up. But I can still see things.”

I stepped back and drew one of my witch-pistols from the holsters on my hip. I had left the blade behind but no my pistols. I needed theses.

I filled the clip rapidly and let off one shot. An invisible bullet struck the ward and it shattered easily like glass. Almost at once, the scent was back. But thicker than before. It exploded up my nose, making me dizzy for a brief moment and the stench overwhelmed me.

“She’s in there.” I growled as Al touched my shoulder.

“You’re sure?”

“Her scent is everywhere and she used that ward to mask it.” I waved his hand away and clambered over the massive grey stone wall and landed lightly inside.

The original city graveyard was a vast place with gnarled trees, sleeping plants and hundreds of graves littered everywhere. Old stone tombs and catacombs lined the walls with crows cawing on their rooftops.

The scent was swirling about here thickly. The witch often came here, I was certain.

“I think there is more than one. The Family scent is the same but there is too much of it to belong to one witch.” I told Al as he landed beside me.

“Then let’s see if we can find anything.” He said excitedly as he strode off deeper into the graveyard.

I was cautious and didn’t let him stray far from me. I was scared the witch was going to pop out of the shadows and stab him with the same maddening poison. I didn’t want to lose Al to this liquidised parasite too.

But the more we looked, the less we found. The graves were untouched, the tombs sealed tightly and the footprints we found could’ve been created by anyone. The scent was so thick I couldn’t pinpoint a specific place the witch would’ve been and I couldn’t see any more wards. It suffocated me and burned my eyes. Disappointingly and frustratingly, we found nothing and dawn was coming soon.

“Have you seen anything?” Alphonse asked me.

I scowled at the darkness, trying to detect anything, but my senses were jumbled. “No. Everything is too strong and the scent is everywhere. I can’t pinpoint anything.” I said with annoyance.

“This place is important.” Alphonse said darkly with frustration as he approached me quickly. “It may simply be a meeting place and nothing more but the witch comes here often.”

I nodded, confirming his words. “I am sure of that.”

“We’ll need to watch this graveyard from now on.”

I scratched my nose and scowled at the earth. “If our scents are here, she and her sisters may leave. This place will be abandoned.”

Al swore sharply, annoyed that we had found something but nothing at the same time. “Well at least we’ve discovered that there is probably more than one.” He said heavily. “We’ll come back once your sense aren’t so sharp and see if we can find anything again.”

I agreed grudgingly, slightly annoyed that while I was able to hunt down witches, I wasn’t used to the sensitivity or controlling my Matter very well. Everything was just so intense that it was jarring my eyes, nose and ears. I had to get a grip on it and once I had, I could be of more use.

“Then let’s go. Hopefully we won’t have left too much of our scents lying around.” Al said.

I shrugged my shoulders doubtfully but followed him quietly we trailed back to where we had come in. I glanced over my shoulder, giving them place one final sweep, but my nose still could only smell that damned witch.

While we hadn’t found anything helpful, I was certain that the witch wasn’t alone. She had sisters with her, something that put me on edge. If they were as strong as the witch, this hunt for answers and vengeance was going to be very dangerous.