Alcingeria Chapter Forty Four: Aftermath

After the vampire mafia's attack at Estaire's ball, Redmond, Don, Robert, Macalister and Stella sign up for a task force with one mission; get everyone out and destroy the mafia base!

Chapter Forty Four Aftermath:

Thursday July 1^st 1690

            “We need to get Don out of there!” I shouted.

            “How will we do that? There is at least three hundred pounds of fallen ceiling between us and Don!” Ceberus exclaimed.

            “If we all work together, we can push it out of the way.” William suggested.

Macalister rolled up the sleeves of his tuxedo, revealing his bulging muscles.

            “Let’s get Don out.” He said.

He then ran at the piece of fallen ceiling that blocked the door and began to push against it. The rest of us pushed as well. The piece of ceiling began to budge and it rolled out of the way after a few seconds.

            “It’s a good thing we have you, Macalister.” Martha said.

Macalister grinned in appreciation. Don stood in the ball room alone. When he saw that we had moved the piece of ceiling, he ran out into the hall with us.

            “Thanks, you guys.” He said, out of breath.

            “Hey, it’s what we’re here for.” Robert laughed.

While we were all happy for our little reunion, Queen Yuka was furious. She was now surrounded by guards that were elsewhere in the castle at the time of the explosions. The gunman in the ballroom must have been long gone by now.

            “I want everything we have on the mafia put to use! Every guard we can spare! Every piece of information! Every resource! We are going to bring down the mafia!” She shouted.

I noticed how she didn’t say ‘vampire mafia’ because she was in front of all her guests. Then again, the drummer didn’t say ‘vampire mafia’ either. He did a good job of hiding the fact that he was from the vampire mafia.

            “Is there any way to identify the mafia members?” A guard asked.

            “The only sort of uniform I saw was a white fedora. Each of the mafia members wore one.” Queen Yuka answered.

While Queen Yuka talked to her guards, Estaire walked over to my friends and I.

            “I noticed they took some of your friends. Are you okay?” She asked me.

            “It’s not me you should be asking.” I whispered, pointing to Don, who was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

Estaire nodded and walked over to him. She sat down and whispered in his ear. Don would nod or shake his head every few seconds. Shortly after Estaire got up and walked back to me.

            “My feeling was right. Something bad did happen.” She said numbly.

I nodded, feeling just as numb as her.

            “Listen, if there’s anything I can do to help, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here. All you need to do is ask.” Estaire offered.

I grinned. Estaire may be Queen Yuka’s daughter, but she certainly didn’t act like her mother.

            “Thanks, Estaire.” I said.

            “Any time. That’s what friends are for, right?” She asked.

I chuckled and nodded. Estaire left me and went across the hall to talk to someone. I saw Don clench his fists and stand up.

            “We need to get them back.” He said.

We all knew who he was talking about.

            “I know, but we can’t do that right now.” Robert said.

            “And why not? I saw we march over there, kill every last person between us and our friends and we take them back!” Don shouted, thrusting a fist into the air.

            “Don, be rational about this!” Robert urged.

            “We can’t march into the mafia’s base for a number of reasons. One, we don’t have a clue as to where they are. Two, we’d be outnumbered and outgunned. Three, even if we did have more people to help us, they have magic users on their side. We’d be killed.” Ceberus reasoned.

Don nodded, his fists still clenched.

            “They took our friends away from us. Doesn’t that make you mad?” Don asked, looking to everyone.

            “Yes, it makes me mad. Heck, it makes me furious! But we can’t get them back now. We can and will get them back, but not now.” Erin said.

            “I agree. We’ll get them back, but we’ll need help.” Raymond said.

            “We can ask Queen Yuka to spare some of her guards. After all, the mafia took people from her as well.” Stella suggested.

William shook his head.

            “We could do that, but we need to know where the mafia is hiding first. Once we know that, then we can get Queen Yuka’s support.” William said.

            “The queen should be sending a scouting party out fairly soon to try and track down the mafia. When they report back, we can go with the attack party that she’ll send. Then we’ll get our friends back.” Ceberus said with absolute certainty.

            “Yes. As much as I dislike Walden, we can’t leave him in the custody of the mafia.” Martha said.

Hearing Martha say that made me remember a question that I had been waiting to ask for a while.

            “Why is it that you don’t like Walden? You, Ceberus and William seem… Hostile towards him.” I asked.

Martha pursed her lips, ready to answer.

            “Walden is annoying, obsessed with his magic, cocky and he puts people in danger. Plus, he can’t make up his mind about what he wants. I’m sure you’ve heard about the debt he owes Walden.” She quickly said.

            “Yes, I’ve heard of the debt. Be that as it may, Walden is pretty funny, he’s good for more than a few jokes and he lightens the mood.” I argued.

Francella saw what was happening and stepped in.

            “Guys, you have your difference in opinion about Walden. So what? There’s no need to argue. Things are tense enough already.”

Martha and I backed off from each other.

            “You’re right, Francella.” She said.   

Ceberus cleared his throat, by the sound of it he was very agitated by this.

            “Anyhow, I’ll go to Queen Yuka right now to ask if there’s anything we can do to… Speed this up.” He said.

            “I’ll go with you.” William volunteered.

Ceberus nodded.

            “Thanks.” He said.

He and William got up and walked off in the direction of the throne room. The queen had finished talking to the guards and was most likely there. As they both entered the hallway that led to the throne room, I turned to the others.

            “Like Ceberus said. We’ll get our friends back soon enough.” I said.

            “It’s just so unexpected! I mean, we heard about the mafia, but we didn’t expect them to attack!” Erin exclaimed.

            “I know, they must have been planning that for a while.” Raymond said.

            “By the sounds of it, they had inside help.” Francella added.

            “But where did they get the explosives?” Macalister asked.

            “Who knows? The black market, arms dealers, maybe they even made them.” Robert said.

            “Now, what do they want with magic users?” Stella asked.

            “I don’t know. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Erin said.

I ran my fingers through my brown hair and groaned.

            “The queen wants magic users, the vampire mafia wants magic users, we just don’t know why.” I said.

            “I have a feeling that when we do find out, we’ll wish we didn’t.” Don said grimly.

Just then, Ceberus and William returned from the throne room.

            “Good news. The queen said that she’ll put us on the search party. She says that we can’t waste time sending a scouting party and an attack party separately, it would risk too many lives. Instead she is sending a search party that will take up arms against the mafia once they find them. The objective is to get our people out alive. The secondary objective is to kill as many mafia members as possible.” William announced.

            “Good. When do we leave?” Don asked with urgency, standing up.

            “Easy, not all of us can go.” Ceberus said.

            “Why not?” Don asked, sounding thoroughly annoyed.

            “Because we need some people here to keep an eye on things. Robert told me of the newest shipment of magic users that the queen received. Maybe the mafia took them, maybe they didn’t. The point is that there could still be a dark magic user lurking around. We can’t let the mafia or the queen get their hands on it.” William said.

Don nodded in understanding.

            “I hate to do this, but I’ll be choosing who stays behind.” Ceberus said.

            “We both agreed to only take those of you who have experience in dangerous situations like this.” William explained.

He paused for a moment.

            “Martha, Erin, Raymond and Francella. You’ll all be staying here to monitor things.” He continued.

Before anyone could complain, Ceberus jumped in.

            “We’re only doing this for your safety.” He said.

The people whose names he called didn’t complain.

            “Stella, your ability to listen in on others’ conversations without being noticed will be invaluable. Robert, Don, Macalister and Redmond. It’s my understanding that you four have experience in things like this.” William said.

Robert nodded.

            “Yes, indeed we do.” He said.

            “With Ceberus and I the age that we are, we can’t move around or fight like we used to be able to. That’s why we’re sending you along with the search party.” William told us.

            “We won’t let you down. We’ll make sure that everyone else is brought back safely.” Don said.

            “I second that.” Stella said.

I couldn’t help but notice that Don seemed sad and angry that Tabatha was taken. Of course, who wouldn’t be? But Don seemed more affected by it than the rest of us. He also seemed more eager to rescue her and the others than the rest of us. Did he have feelings for Tabatha? She had danced with him at the ball and had even been building up their relationship for a while now. Did Don finally see it? Ceberus grinned.

            “Good. I’m glad you four joined us in the first place. Good luck.” He said.

            “When do we leave?” Don asked, all business.

            “Queen Yuka is sending the search party into Valgate at first light. She says that the appropriate protective equipment such as weapons and anything else you may need will be supplied, but bringing your own supplies was permitted.” William told him.

            “Great. We’ll be ready.” Don told him.

            “Okay, you five should rest up. You have a big day tomorrow.” Martha said, sounding like a mother.

            “Okay. Thanks Martha.” Stella said.

            “We’re going to free the others tomorrow.” Macalister said to himself with a stupid grin.

After saying our good nights, Robert, Don Macalister, Stella and I went to our rooms. Lawrence was waiting for me in my room.

            “Sir! Thank goodness you are alright! I heard the explosions. Apparently the mafia attacked!” He exclaimed.

            “Yes, they did. They took some people out of the room and took them somewhere. They kidnapped some people who are very close to me. I’m on Queen Yuka’s search party and I’m leaving at first light to hunt down the mafia.” I said.

Lawrence nodded in understanding.

            “You are very brave, sir. Just be careful. I understand that you need to go and why, but do not let your anger towards the mafia cloud your judgement.” He advised.

            “I won’t, thanks.” I said.

Lawrence backed out of my room.

            “Oh, Lawrence?” I called.

He reappeared in the doorway.

            “Can you wake me up before dawn tomorrow?” I asked.

He nodded.

            “Of course, sir.” He said.

He left the room. I layed back in my bed, crawling beneath the blankets. So many thoughts bounced around in my head. What did the mafia want? Why did they want magic users? What was their purpose? Their overall goal? Eventually I fell asleep, thinking that I’d find the answers to those questions soon enough.

 

***

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!