The Scent Of Vampires (Book 1)

Chapter 5: From the Shadows

Rafael focused his attention on the house across the street. From the looks of it, you would think the place was abandoned. The house appeared to be crumbling from neglect. He new from experience however, that appearances were often deceiving.

He had tracked Amelie's scent here which was no easy task, considering the rain that had fallen and washed much of it away. He had almost dismissed the place altogether. That's when he noticed the gargoyle perched on the roof. He found this curious, outside of cemeteries and old churches such creatures were rarely seen.

Another suiprise had been, when he watched the creature suddenly extend his wings and jump down from the roof with a loud thud. After a glance around the area, the creature turned and went inside the house.

Rafael focused his senses toward the place. He could smell the faint scent of Amelie and new the young vampire was inside. That was when he noticed the sound of different voices conversing. He also picked up four other scents . He recognized the gargoyle. He could smell the stink of moon howler, he noted with disgust. The next he couldn't quite place but was almost certain was female. She smelled of herbs and spice. A Spell Caster. He was almost certain of it. They always reeked of potions and other fowl things he had no stomach for. The third scent suddenly attacked his senses without warning. It was human and sweetly female. Yet, somehow much more potent than any other human he'd encountered. 

He felt saliva form in his mouth as his canines extended. He would have dismissed his sudden thirst if it were not for the fact that he had recently fed. He forced down his reaction to human female and focused on the task on hand. He was far to old and experienced of a vampire to give in to such temptations.

He weighed his options and decided to be patient and see what happened. Do to his amplified  hearing he could hear parts of their conversation. They seemed to be deciding what to do with the "neck biter", he rolled his eyes at the reference towards his kind. The moon howler, not surprisingly, wasn't thrilled about helping the girl. Just as well, he needed to get to Amelie without their interference. She was far to important.

Before long, three figures emerged from the house. He noted the witch and the moon howler first off. Soon his gaze was drawn to the third like a magnet. It was the human female. She was dressed in dark clothing with a hood that covered most of her face. Despite that, he noticed she had piercing grey eyes. she seemed to be taking in everything around her as they started up the street. Suddenly, the human girl stopped. She looked as if she were smelling the air then turned in his direction.

"Can you smell that? I smell a neck biter somewhere." She said to her companions.

The moon howler rolled his eyes. "That's really no surprise. Did you forget we are currently playing house guest to one?" Both girls glared at him. "Let's get going, I would really like to get back to our lives minus one particular neck biter as soon as possible." He continued, ignoring the girls annoyed looks.

The moon howler and the spell caster started arguing as they continued up the road, the spell caster apparently not happy with the moon howler's comment. The female human followed them after pausing to look behind her once more.

Rafael quickly debated on what to do next. Amelie was inside with only one other. That one other being the gargoyle, and though he was sure he could take on the winged beast, fairly certain anyway, he wasn't sure he wanted to reveal himself for the moment. There were to many peculiar things going on with this unlikely group he had stumbled on that caught his interest. However, it was his intense reaction to the human that finally made up his mind. He wasn't sure why he was so fascinated with her or why her scent drew him to her the way it did, but he decided to follow them.

***************

Rafael was careful to put enough distance between him and the trio he was following that they wouldn't catch his scent, but close enough he wouldn't lose sight of them either. he followed them for about half an hour before he realized where they were going. Currently they were headed east toward a group of old warehouses. If he was correct they were headed to the Outers Market. This he decided was a good thing. He could blend in among the throng of market goers and follow more closely with out being detected. His scent would mingle with other Super Nats including neck biters. He hated the reference but as that was the current lingo he grudgingly adopted the term.

There was a day when a vampire was just a vampire, then everything had changed. He was one of the few who hadn't wanted the transition from myth to living openly with humans. It only complicated his life. Before, he could go about as he pleased. Feed when he needed to and ago about his life inconspicuously. Humans tended to fall into two categories, one; they would hide away in their walled communities, or two; they would gather in vigilantly mobs and try and hunt down his kind. The constant run in with humans was laughable.  They always seemed so sure of themselves right up until then end. Then he would see the fear in their eyes when they realized they couldn't overpower him. There were, however, a few close calls over the years when he had let his guard down and nearly paid the price.

He mentally shrugged. There was no use dwelling on the past. He certainly was not one for regret. He didn't even know if he was capable of such sentiment.

His attention focused again on the human female. She moved with confidence and purpose. He could tell she was much stronger than the average human not to mention the heightened senses she seemed to have.  His urge to find out who she was and why he was so drawn to her was almost overpowering. Only through years of practice controlling his inner nature, did he somehow manage to restrain himself from acting recklessly.

The trio approached the warehouse where the market was located. At the massive metal door, the moon howler knocked loudly three times. The knock was answered by a large troll who demanded the password. After the troll seemed satisfied with their response he grunted and let them through. Each species of super nat had their own password which changed periodically. Only those who had certain connections would gain access to it. Whoever these people were, they knew what they were doing. Once they had disappeared inside the warehouse, he followed suit. They weren't the only ones who could gain entrance to the Outers Market.

AN:  Here's an introduction to a new character. Is he a good guy, a bad guy, or maybe a little of both? Only time will tell. :)