գ 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔰 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯~ 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡'𝔰 𝔰y𝔪𝔭𝔥𝔬𝔫y
Before you read: I changed the format for the dialogue. Tell me which format you prefer in the comments. This one of the old one?
Every sense alert, Henry continued down the lifeless tunnel. The floor was wet, and the sound of his footsteps resonated. Every time he came down here, his mind's eye would see a silhouette mirrored across from him to match the echo of his steps. Yet, he stopped abruptly, the figure fading instantly into darkness. Despite being completely motionless at that instant, footsteps that weren't his own echoed ahead. Whoever it was, was walking straight toward him, the little bundle of light contracting and bursting repeatedly ,mimicking the person's heartbeat. Henry was ready to strike. However, as the person stopped in front of him, a soft rose fragrance he would be able to recognize anywhere swept over him. It was the woman whose kiss was as delicate as her bite was harsh like a rose whose petals are as silky as the thorns are sharp. The woman who had made his soul wilt. The woman who had tortured a broken heart into beating eternally. Lucinde. Each was aware of the other's presence, of the other's identity as they stood still, face to face in the darkness, listening to each other's heartbeats while trying to guess the other's reaction.
"I told you already. It's a shame you left. I saw it in your past. The potential for so many things yet to accomplish."
"Saw what? What did you see in the memories of a blind man?"
Maybe she too was remembering their last conversation. Had she found Edmond before he did? Was this silence one of triumph? Or was she waiting for him to say something?
He was startled as her delicate fingers touched his neck but he didn't draw back. Then her soft touch faded away and he watched astounded as the shining light moved past him back into darkness.
She had let him walk away although they were from opposite clans at war. Maybe had she wanted to remind him that she was his real dame, that by blood, they owed each other loyalty? Nor Edmond nor Kyan had ever been his sire or his brother.
He walked on pensively, navigating in the city's vast intestines, swallowed it seemed, by darkness itself until the odor of blood was perceptible. To his astonishment, a faint light glowed ahead. He strode cautiously toward the pulsing light of a heart. It was Edmond's, he realized. His friend, from the looks of it, had managed after all to remove the weapon lodged in his heart yet, he lay there, everything still except for his calm breathing and his heart that had already healed from its injury, beating steadily.
"Edmond?" Henry called, a hint of surprise in his voice. If he was unharmed why hadn't he exited Nox?
"I thought you would find me." Edmond stated serenely.
As Henry tried to move forward, he stepped on something metallic sending echoes traveling down the tunnel. It was surely the weapon used.
"I'm tired, Henry. But I mustn't fall asleep. Not here." Although Edmond's voice was low, almost murmured, it was amplified by the vastness of the place, in such a way you'd think they were surrounded by a crowd of listeners in the darkness, whispering to each other what had been said.
"We have to get back to the surface. Can you walk?"
"Not now. I fear I will fall asleep. Will you stay here a while longer?"
"Yes... If you wish." Henry sat down on the cold, wet floor next to his friend.
"We are very similar you and I. We both have never been part of our sires' clans. We both are outsiders to our own clan. We both have never even seen our sires."
Henry stayed silent before this observation. This was what Edmond was thinking of. Maybe the darkness reminded him of his changing. The complete loss of sight only to awaken to a totally different insight on the world.
"What will we do now?" Henry asked, subtly swerving the conversation's direction. "Lucinde has declared war on us. What if discovering the motive of this war, others decide to join against us?"
"A meeting will surely be called. It will be our last chance to argue our cause."
"And if we fail?"
"You will lead Luna to safety, where even I mustn't know of her location. Promise me. Not by duty of blood but from one friend to another."
***
Since Edmond's disappearance, Luna couldn't help staring at his empty seat in the university classroom as though he were still there, as invisible and silent as a Time Whisperer. The past week, she had been in a reflective state. Thinking about nothing in particular, staring out of the window in her free time. Thick stormy clouds stifled the city. Trees were thinning, their colorful autumn leaves were carried away in the winter-announcing wind. The air was humid, the sidewalks were wet and slippery. It had become a habit for Luna to put her soaking shoes to dry near the apartment's small and only radiator. Every evening she curled up in her bedsheets, vainly trying to heat her frozen extremities, her nose buried in Marie Curie's fur as the little cat snoozed peacefully on her pillow. She would think about that day in the café with Lucinde and every evening, she would hate herself a little more for not feeling any remorse. She had done it. She had killed two people. And that was it. However, last evening was different. At first she lay immobile as usual, listening attentively to the sound of the raging rain outside and then silently, as the night's gloom settled in her room, she began to sob convulsively beneath the covers as if her encaged emotions had managed to finally bubble to the surface. She wrapped her arms around Marie Curie, startling the sleeping cat who stiffened uncomfortably under the oppressive hug.
This evening Luna stopped on her way home to buy newspapers. At each time, she kept expecting to see a title which read something to the effect: 'Medical Miracle: 80-year-old man survives 50km/h car crash' or 'Woman gets her arm torn off by metro'. Instead the headline read 'Elon Musk buys Twitter' You've got to be kidding me...There was also no mention whatsoever to the couple that had died because of her. Arthur told her it had been all handled and covered up but there must have been some kind of evidence left behind somewhere no?
Nevertheless, she held on to the newspaper as she entered the metro. Marie-Élise had proposed more than once to accompany her home. She had refused. Honestly, the idea of Marie-Élise breathing down her neck was just as unsettling as Osiris smiling at her in the metro. She sat near the train's window. Her sleeve was pulled up and pressed against the window, she leant her ear against it. Despite the deafening screeching sound of the train on the rails, she thought she could make out the muffled sound of a melody streaming on the other side. She knew this was her mind yet she closed her eyes, letting her body sway along with the train's abrupt turns, along with her mind's symphony.
When she stepped off the train onto the platform, it seemed to Luna that the visions of people that brushed past her were softer than usual. The remains of the melody still floated in her mind and the visions only played in the background. Once she reached her apartment though, the melody had completely faded and she was faced with the silence of the empty room. The first thing she did was add the day's newspaper to the stack piled up in her desk's drawer. However, at her great frustration, the drawer was so full of old newspapers that it refused to close. Luna yanked at them. They spilled out on the desk and floor. She snorted sceptically as she reread all the idle headlines. Why was she even bothering to keep these? The oldest went back to October 4th, the day she was proven that vampires existed, the most recent being the one from today—November 8th. They were her vain attempt at trying to stay in contact with the world of humans. Irritated at their banality, she began tearing pages, starting with a big cover portraying a perfect movie-star face displaying a too-perfect-to-be-real smile. Yet, something caught her eye in the tiny corner of a page. The title read: 'Incendie à la Bibliothèque Mazarine' (Fire in the Mazarine Library). At the bottom of the article, the journalist promised "la bibliothèque rouvrira ses portes au public lundi" . So, the library was due to reopen last Monday. How could a library accidentally catch on fire? Luna wondered suspiciously. It wasn't as if the librarian was taking secret cooking classes in the Staff-Area... Then, Luna's eyes widened in vivid understanding. The message from Flamel's house began to take on a different meaning.
Could it be possible that it referred to a library? Writers may die however their thoughts stayed behind them, inked into words on paper, waiting to be read. What if, someone had found out what Luna was searching for and decided to destroy the next clue? What if someone knew the next clue resided somewhere in the Mazarine Library?
***
A/N
Really don't know how I got this but I assume it's because you're reading my story! So thank you for making it this far I really appreciate it!!
Ps: The episode about hearing music actually happened to me while I was on the plane 😂 well sorta... I had Let it go in my head before boarding and then when we took off it really sounded like James Bay was in the plane with me 😅 did anything similar ever happen to you?
Let it go by James Bay 😜
Word count: 1554