Alcingeria Chapter Twelve: The Pursuit

The Scorpions chase Ignacio through his house, attempting to catch him and reach the fifty thousand dollars before he does! After a surprising turn of events, Ignacio makes an offer they can't refuse.

Chapter Twelve The Pursuit:

Wednesday June 23^rd 1690

Robert, Don, Macalister and I all clambered up the rickety wooden staircase that led up into Ignacio’s home. We quickly ascended the staircase and made it to the top. Macalister went out first because he had the stake. Robert, Don and I all followed closely behind him. The sound of Ignacio rummaging around up here had stopped and all was eerily silent. I looked around at the familiar scenery of the house that I had stayed in only a day or two ago. We had emerged from an entryway with no door. We were now at the end of a hallway that I didn’t recognize. At the other end of the hallway was a door that was ajar. Other than the dim light let in by the space between the door and the doorframe, it was almost pitch black. Macalister walked over to the door, holding the stake out in front of him so he could fight Ignacio if he ambushed him. Macalister reached out and pushed the door open. This resulted in an eerie creak sound from the door. Macalister stepped through the doorway when the door was open wide enough to permit his entry. Macalister stopped when he was just outside the door and he looked left and right quickly. I looked out over Macalister’s shoulder. I saw the room that I had woken up in. I saw the bed that I was laying in when I saw Ignacio staring at my bloodstained shirt, and I saw the chair that he had been sitting in. The chair had moved a foot or so towards the back of the room, and the bed wasn’t made.

            “Let’s find Ignacio and kill him before he does the same to us.” Whispered Macalister.

            “Aye, we’re right behind you.” I told Macalister.

Macalister walked out into the room after looking left and right one last time. Macalister walked to the center of the room. Don, Robert and I followed him and stood behind him.

            “This is the room that I woke up in after the carriage wreck.” I told everyone.

            “When you woke up, did you walk around the house and get a look at the layout of the place?” Asked Robert.

            “Not really. I know where the front door is, where the poisoned food and water is kept, and I know where the rooms are that Don and Macalister woke up in. that’s all.” I told Robert.

            “That’s a shame. We’ll need to look for Ignacio in this house when we don’t know the layout of it. Ignacio has the advantage.” Robert said.

I looked back to the door that we had come out of. It was in the far corner of the room, the opposite side of the room that the bed I woke up in was in. I also noticed two hooks above the door and that there was a tapestry cast to the ground. It was the very same brown tapestry with the orange flame insignia on it that I had noticed when I woke up here after the carriage crash. That tapestry was concealing the door to the cellar! It must have been covered up to prevent Don, Macalister or myself from finding it, because in that cellar are all of those jars of blood on the shelves. If anyone who didn’t know about vampires found that, it would raise some questions that would be difficult for Ignacio to answer.

I then heard something unusual. It was quiet and unrecognizable at first, but the sound eventually grew louder and I was able to identify it. It was the sound of heavy breathing. It was coming from Robert! I looked back to him. I saw him standing behind me about a foot away. I watched him for a few seconds. I saw multiple beads of sweat accumulate on his brow. After a few seconds more, he dropped to his knees. His hands went to his throat. His breathing intensified. A shocked expression was on his face.

            “Robert! What’s wrong?” I asked in a whisper.

Seeing as Robert was only about a foot behind me, I could speak to him without being too loud.

            “It’s my throat! It feels very… Dry! I have a raging thirst that’s like a fire in my throat!” Robert said, barley keeping his voice to a whisper.

I looked to my front to tell Macalister and Don to stop, but they already had halted.

            “Maybe you just need water? It has been a day or two since Ignacio gave us the poisoned water.” Macalister suggested.

            “I’m not thirsty just yet.” I commented.

            “Neither am I.” Macalister admitted. Confusion was in his voice.

            “I’m starting to feel the thirst as well. It’s weak as of yet, but ever since it has been noticeable, it has grown stronger.” Don said worriedly.

            “When did you first notice the thirst?” Asked Macalister.

            “I noticed it an hour or two before Ignacio came into the cellar when he heard the glass jar break.” Don said.

I thought about this for a few seconds. It only took a few seconds for me to piece together what was happening. A cold, hard pit of fear formed in my gut.

            “Dear lord! Don and Robert, you’re turning into vampires!” I exclaimed.

The words sounded foolish and insane coming out of my mouth, but I forced myself to see the evidence; the thirst must have been the thirst for blood. Both Don and Robert had been bitten by Ignacio. Robert had been bitten more often by Ignacio, so his thirst struck first. Don was only bitten once, so his thirst struck later, but was still approaching. This also explained why Macalister and I didn’t feel the thirst; because the thirst that Don and Robert felt wasn’t a thirst for water, but a thirst for blood.

            “No, no! It can’t be!” Robert exclaimed in dismay, still clutching his throat.

            “What do we do?” Asked Macalister in a panic.

            “Robert, can you hold off the thirst?” Don asked.

Robert frowned, but after a few seconds he nodded his head.

            “I’ll do my best. However I don’t think this is a natural thirst for water. If what Kid says is true, then it’s a thirst for blood.” Robert said grimly.

            “How do you know? How can we be certain?” Asked Macalister intently.

            “Think about it! Shadow and I were both bitten by Ignacio, you can Kid were not. Shadow and I both feel a thirst, you and Kid don’t. I don’t wish to admit it, but I believe that Shadow and I are turning into vampires.” Robert said, a tear forming in his eye.

Sadness overtook me. A lump formed in my throat and I felt a tear form in my eye. It sounded completely insane, but there was solid evidence stating that it was true; Don and Robert were turning into vampires.

            I then heard footsteps coming from in front of us. I took my gaze off of Don and Robert, as did Macalister. Macalister and I looked in the direction of the footsteps. They were coming closer. Worry, anger and fear all battled for control over my mind. It had to be Ignacio, it couldn’t have been anyone else. We were in the room with the bed that I woke up in after the carriage wreck, and the footsteps were coming from behind one of the three doors near the bed. I had an idea. An idea that gave me hope. I turned to Don and Robert.

            “You two, stay here and try to resist the thirst. Macalister and I’ll go and confront Ignacio. We’ll ask him if there is a way to revert the transformation from human to vampire. We’ll do whatever it takes to get the information out of him.” I told them with anger in my voice.

Don grinned.

            “Good on you, friend! You must go quickly now, I’ll stay here with Rapier. You and Troll confront Ignacio!” Don said in a whisper.

I heard Macalister start to walk across the room. I turned to face him, and he turned back around to face me.

            “What are you waiting for? Come on.” Macalister whispered.

I nodded and silently walked over to him. Macalister went first and we walked over to the door that we heard the footsteps behind. It was the door on the right side of the three doors. Macalister held the stake out in front of him with one hand and opened the door with the other. He pushed the door open and quickly grasped the stake with both hands again. We stepped through the door. The door led into a windowless room. Candles were mounted on the walls every few feet, held up by bronze candle holders. The candles didn’t provide very much light, so it was hard to see across to the other side of the room. The room was square in shape, and the room was about thirty feet across. There were bookshelves on the walls that ran the perimeter of the room. The bookshelves were made of pine planks and they were all filled to the brim with books that were bound in leather of all colors. These colors ranged from green, red, yellow, bronze, azure, and orange. Each bookshelf was around six feet tall, and the height of the room was about ten feet. The floor of the room was made of solid brown oak boards that didn’t so much as creak under my weight. The walls were made of the same solid brown oak planks. The walls and the floor of the room seemed to join with each other seamlessly. I didn’t even see a juncture. The room was silent for a few moments more.

            “Ignacio! Show yourself at once!” Macalister called.

There was silence for a few seconds more, and then the sound of something wooden being dropped filled the air.

            “Hello, Kid and Troll of The Scorpions. Where are your other two friends? Oh yes, I know exactly where they are. They’re currently battling off the thirst for blood. Am I not correct?” I heard Ignacio’s taunting voice call from the shadows.

Ignacio was hiding somewhere in this room, we couldn’t see him yet. Macalister growled in anger.

            “You idiotic parasite! Of course they’re battling the thirst for blood! You changed them into vampires!” Macalister shouted in rage.

Ignacio made a sound signaling remembrance.

            “Yes, I do remember how I bit your friend many times. Rapier is what you call him I believe. As for your other friend, Shadow, I bit him because he wanted proof that I drink blood.” Ignacio said.

            “Is there a way to revert the transformation?” I asked Ignacio intently.

Ignacio was silent for a moment. He then spoke.

            “When a human is bitten by a vampire, they slowly transform into a vampire. The transformation time varies from person to person. By the sounds of your friends out there, they may not have very much time left as humans.” Ignacio said.

He was still somewhere in the shadows, concealing himself. I looked around, attempting to locate Ignacio. I saw only shadows.

            “That doesn’t answer my question.” I said, abandoning my attempt at locating Ignacio.

Ignacio chuckled.                           

            “Well, there is a way to revert the transformation from human to vampire. Would you care to strike a bargain?” Ignacio asked temptingly.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

Nicely done here, the suspense of cautiously searching through the house for Ignacio gives a good feel for the chapter, the new plight of the sudden race against Shadow and Rapier becoming vampires only adds to the urgency, I see no real corrections to be made and I feel even the pace is rather spot on. The way even the scenery is described here is good, it neither seems overly nor underdone to me, which is hard to do in writing. Really curious as to what cure there is that Ignacio has to bargain with, but if he really has one he kinda has them by the nose. Good work, keep writing! ^^

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you for the review! I will whip up a review for you sometime today!