Fire Emblem (Edgar Frog Fanfic)

Chapter 17: Nuisance Newcomer

Chapter 17: 

Shifting to her opposite foot as the music hums softly in her ear, her arm extends then returns to her side and extends again, ensuring the oil fills the entire bottom of the pan. Though her best friend rarely cooks himself an actual meal, she's glad he purchased the one trailer he'd looked at that had a kitchenette. He almost went for only a fridge and a countertop, but she'd argued with him for some time before he gave in and agreed upon it only when he went alone to buy it.

A soft sound outside of the beat in her ear captures her attention and her right hand lifts so her fingertips can gently remove the earbud from her ear. It falls against her chest and she listens intently for a sound which appears again from the otherside of the main door. Instinctively Seraphina's hand darts to the holy water drenched stake on the underside of the cabinet, yanking it when she hears an exclamation from outside of the trailer. 

Her mind moves at a nearly inhuman rate as she absent-mindedly leaves the pan on the stove and races out the door, down the steps, fully prepared for a battle in the morning daylight. "You are one brave-" The speech she had begun to release from her lips in an advantage to distract the vamp so Edgar can fight back, dies on her lips at the sight before her. The all serious vampire hunter has a younger kid pinned against the weapon shed, silver stake threateningly positioned beneath his chin. "What the hedgehog is going on here?" 

Edgar releases the kid who keeps his hands raised in surrender as he walks towards Seraphina. Her eyes follow his every movement to ensure a safe distance between herself and the stranger until he utters, "It's cool man. Look, I just don't understand what's going on. Alright?" Edgar stalks close to the poor boy who can't seem to take his eyes away from the admittedly, intimidating hunter. "You said my sister was infected?" 

Seraphina's ears perk at this, surprised by the slight revelation that her best friend and this young man had previously encountered each other. Edgar rarely went out unless for necessities of a hunt or the hunt itself- so much so that Seraphina brought him his groceries. Her eyebrow raises accusingly at her best friend, realizing he had gone on a consult without her and possibly a hunt. "Your sister's become a member of the undead. A nightstalker. A bloodsucker. Nas Feratu. Your sister's a suck monkey." He raises the stake once more to emphasize his point, stepping around the non-threat to get back inside the trailer. 

Edgar's eyes flicker over to Seraphina, recognizing the expression painted across her face, but releases a soft smirk when his eyes roam down to find the old, go-to stake clutched in her hand. Ever since Alan had been stolen from them, he liked (or more than liked) to know she always had his back or whatever he needed though he would never admit it. "Dude, that's-" The young man pauses, running his hand down and over his face, capturing Seraphina's attention. His attitude began rapidly rising in agitation- something vampires often signal before attacking. "That's ridiculous man." He turns back to face the older male, clearly trying to wrap his mind around the whole situation. 

"Ridiculous? Then what are you doing here?" Edgar leans forward only slightly to face the kid, who is irritating him more and more by the second, hoping he'd choose to either stay or leave. 

Reading the situation and feeling the tension rising in the air as the two begin to stare each other down from their respective locations, Seraphina steps between them to place negotiator. The kids unfreezes from the staredown and attempts to explain his unique situation. "Look, some crazy shit happened at my place after you left." He leans just slightly into the trailer and just before Edgar briskly walks to be in his face, Seraphina's hand wraps around the kid's wrist and pulls him back the tiniest bit. 

"Define crazy shit." Edgar's eyes drift at her hand, but remains silent in his steps down the stairs and to the left of the trailer. 

"Well this chick came into my house," He begins. Seraphina's mind corrects and inputs all the parts he misses or leaves out of his narrative like 'You mean you invited her in and-'  "and she sprouted fangs and then she turned into stone and-and-and exploded." Her eyes follow Edgar's every move as he walks back out to the front of the trailer with his personal box of stakes which he'd established yesterday evening he fully intended to polish. 

His body hardens, hands pausing after he unlatches the top of the box and looks up to stare directly into this kid's eyes. "Now that's just ridiculous. Vampires don't just turn into stone and then explode." His arm raises to hold one of his most prized stakes up to exemplify his next reveal of intelligence about such creatures. "They have to be pierced through the heart with a sharp object." Her body jerks slightly when Edgar slams the stake back into the box, once again walking around the kid to avoid what she knew were his own emotions. Ever since Alan had disappeared nearly two years ago, he hadn't bothered to talk much to customers- sometimes even had them write down basic information of who needed the saving instead of talking the background information out with clients. 

"You know, I guess the antlers could have done that." At the discussion of antlers, Seraphina suddenly straightens out completely, her eyes curiously glancing at the newcomer. Out of all the clients or wannabe vampire hunters out there, she'd never heard of someone killing a vampire with antlers nor had she seen it except for David in her first vampire hunt ever. Michael had  sent David flying into the antlers in Grandpa Emerson's taxidermy room. A soft smile graces her lips at the reminiscent house that was hers, theirs, everyone's for a long time until Sam went missing and Lucy the memory of him in it made owning the building too painful. Seraphina hadn't had enough money at the time to purchase it from Lucy, but was promised she'd sell it within the Emerson family so she could have the chance to one day own it herself. She did always wonder who that person was. "I-I thought it had to be a wooden stake or something." 

Seraphina continues to examine the behavior of this curious male, though his 'something' qualified his antlers to be a vamp killer. Not to mention, Eddie had just told him it needed to be a sharp object. Any sharp object. "That's a myth." Edgar reappears with the polish in hand and a rag to begin his cleansing of recently used objects though neither Seraphina or him would admit it to anyone. Their work is secret. "Any sharp object will do. As a matter of fact, it doesn't even have to be sharp. It can be a blunt object as long as it pierces the heart." His fingers run over the items inside the silver suitcase he'd brought out before this mystery guy showed up, making sure he can see each weapon. 

"You said my sister was one of them?" The quiet brunette girl carefully slides the mini stake into her boot, lifting herself to full height after to prepare herself for the oncoming inquiry. Everyone always knows how to kill a vampire or at least deter them from attacking, but no one ever knows how they become one besides a bite which is never that often. "How would that happen?"

Seraphina ambles towards the pair, readying herself to answer when Edgar's voice delivers the knowledge, "One of two ways. Either A) she was bit. Or B) she drank the blood of the head vampire."

She interjects into the conversation to eliminate another possible question about which category his sister fell under. "Vampires don't often bite to change people unless they have a sense of revenge on their mind because bites leave traces- evidence of existence. Drinking blood does not because they disguise it as wine or alcohol in a dark colored glass or even a flask. There's no physical mark left."

"How do you know so much about vampires?" The simple inquiry that falls out of this young guy's mouth immediately causes Edgar's features to harden. He never did like to be questioned about the only thing he believed he was good at. 

With her jaw slacked, Seraphina watches the invited teen cautiously climb the three steps into the trailer. Her mind attempts to wrap around the shocking moment that had just occurred before her own eyes- Edgar Frog had invited an outsider into his trailer. Reminding herself of the predicament at hand and the fact if interrogated too much Edgar might commit assault, she too enters the trailer, closing the door behind her to get to business.