The group of villagers stand scattered around the main gate to the town holding what can only be described as meat skewers for weapons as we approach. Caius, clearly irritated, rests his hands on his hips and sighs. The villagers mill around, clearly suspicious of their visitors, until Caius utters a string of sarcastic sounding words in Greek, tinged with anger, and a few step back. I shuffle closer to his side. "What are you saying?" I hiss, one of them glares at me as I whisper into Caius' ear. Caius sighs. "I said we're looking for my brother." He pauses, his tone turning bitter. "As you can probably tell, no one has responded as of yet."
I glare. "No need to be rude." Caius goes to flip me off, maybe slap me, but his ears prick up at the sound of a confident, merry sounding voice flowing from behind the crowd at the gate. "And then, well as you can probably imagine, he wasn't very happy about that!" It follows with a stream of laughter as a small gathering of people split through the crowd and appear.
A drunk group of villagers part, giggling and holding bottles of liquor and Aro, the center of attention, beams as he continues his far fetched storytelling. He locks eyes with us as Caius lets out a surprised and irritated snarl as though he can't believe Aro's antics. 'Seriously, all this time we're trying to save him and he's just dicking around in the middle of this town?' Richard sounds almost amazed, angry maybe. I feel the same. Caius just stands there, almost open mouthed, Sandee doesn't even show up.
Aro opens his outstretched arms and smiles. His companions, swaying, smile too. Some clutch tankards, sloshing with liquid, and are overly giggly. "Alex, my darling." Aro's arm wraps around my waist and encircles me. He smells off, like petrol and black smoke, and there's an undertone of vodka, perhaps. Maybe whisky. I'm not familiar with most alcohols, though I'm certain it isn't his typical wine. I hold him at arms length, by the shoulders, hands clamping down so I can get a proper look at him and stare into his glassy eyes. "Aro. Are you fucking drunk?" Caius steps, appearing at my side. "Impossible." He hisses. "He's a vampire. If anything, he'll be higher in energy than usual and even more annoying." He huffs like an embarrassed teenager.
Aro beams despite Caius' stony expression. "Not at all, my darling." He kisses my forehead. His eyes snap to the bloody patch on my shorts from the mostly healed wound in my thigh. "What happened here?" He drops to his knees, forgetting his drink in an instant and gripping my leg carefully. His fingers trace the wound and he glances up at me. "Does it hurt, mio caro?" I shrug, pulling my leg away from his grip. "It's not a big deal." Though there's the occasional twinge of pain, I don't want to give him the satisfaction. "We've been looking for you for hours, traipsing around this wasteland." I gesture to the town that is scattered around us; the villagers sway and giggle, oblivious.
"All those people back there, in pieces, bloody from that crash, we're the only survivors. And after all that, we find you drinking like a fucking sailor, swigging away like you've got no cares." I pause for breath, while he stares at me innocently, blinking in surprise. "Are you even going to tell me, who those people were, what they were doing? What they wanted with you? And if they're even alive? They could have been shadowing Caius and I and we wouldn't have known!" I shove my hands against him, he offers no resistance and falls onto his back on the ground. The villagers, despite the language barrier, come to realize this is a dispute, and gather around, one brandishing a shovel from sifting through hay.
"Back off, you dick! Stay out of this!" I sweep an arm towards the youth, who blinks and steps backwards. Caius gives a quick explanation in Greek to diffuse the energy and goes to lift Aro to his feet, hoisting him ungracefully by his arm, which Aro responds to with a beaming smile, though Caius crosses his arms sulkily the moment Aro regains his balance and leaves his side. Aro looks hurt but scans the crowd eagerly. "I don't suppose Marcus is with you?" Caius scoffs. "Do you think Marcus would be convinced to travel outside of a country for any reason?" Before Aro can respond, Caius continues. "Alex is right. We'd no idea what might have happened. You owe us explanation." He jabs a finger into Aro's chest.
Aro sighs, turns to the villagers, and lets out what I assume is a basic 'thank you' for their hospitality. They seems sad to see him go but wave merrily. Aro turns to us with a grim expression. "Let's find a tavern. We can speak there."
A/N:
Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this little update, just a quick query, since we don't get to meet one another, where are you all from? I wonder how many of my readers come from non-English speaking countries. Or if most of you are from the US?
Let me know! I'm from the UK!
Love, ManicBookworm