Chapter 6: Chapter Five : In Your View

“You are too weak to be this nosy.”

~~~

“Edelweiss!” Hazel shouted. “Follow him! We need to restrain him!”

Edelweiss wove between her legs, grumbling, “Must we?”

“I’ll buy you more caviar!” Hazel shot.

“Ooh!” Edelweiss’ murred, wings flaring in excitement. “A whole cup's worth! No! A gallon!!”

“Edelweiss!”

“Fie. We’ll continue this later, I’ll have you know.”

With a soft mutter, Hazel yanked at the fabric of Fire, the lingering heat of the day in the air. She wove a simple spell and held it down and Edelweiss. He chomped it, and with a shiver, began glowing faintly. She blinked back to the dim world, and watched as he glided out between the shards of glass, into the night. Peering out, she could see his white little body, glowing faintly against the starry sky.

As he circled, Hazel plucked off her heels, cursing softly. After doing some practice kneels and lunges (far away from the thick shards of glass), she undid the strings of her petticoats. Her white skirts fell away, leaving her in her stockings, bloomers, and the simple red silk dress.

She blinked back to her second sight, and with a flick of her wrist, commanded the air to push aside the glass shards. Then she tugged at the threads, weaving her first and most favorite spell.

“Float,” she commanded.

Then she leapt through the empty pane into the dark real world, gently tumbling in the dirt and grass, before bouncing back up to her feet. She scooped up her hat and secured it squarely on her head.

She could fly. It wasn’t as if it was much more expensive, and plenty of witches preferred it. It was just a matter of reducing her weight to zero, instead of the light dozen or so she sat at now.

But Float was one of her very first spells, an intimately familiar one she could make last even as she banished her second sight. Like most kids, She loved to climb, to tumble, to jump and fall. It was natural for any kid to try and jump as far as they could, or climb to the highest branches of a tree. And then fall from the highest branches of those trees.

She just learned very fast how to take that fall intentionally, and drift softly to the ground.

The next question then became : what did it take to jump to the top of that tree?

Hazel took a running start, across the flat fields and dirt roads. Her whole body glowed with a gentle yellow light, Fabric of the spellweave repeating and interlocking across her skin. But it wasn't quite like running. Not anymore. With each step, the muscles used to propelling the weight of a full grown woman instead pushed the weight of a small dog. One step sent her drifting forward, another sent her sailing, and another had the world whizzing by.

She followed the speck of light in the sky, Edelweiss leading her along the rim of the cliff. They crossed an area still half built, but with rows of hastily built identical houses, interspersed plants still small and growing.

A carriage cut across her path. But she was used to reacting at this speed. She placed one foot firmly on the ground, and leapt into the air.

The warm and muggy night rushed around her. The homes fell into an erratic checkerboard of black and red tile roofs. She landed with her other foot and launched again. The checkerboard shrunk, and she scanned the sky for her little lost speck of white.

Edelweiss soared up beside her, awkwardly matching her pace. “He went over the cliff into that massive reeking human hive below.”

Hazel winced. There wouldn’t be much Earth she could draw from there. While there was still Earth remaining in dead wood, it was too dispersed to be of any use to her. Did he realize that? Or was it just a coincidence?

The better question didn’t occur to her then. How did Aurelius get there so fast? She wasn’t that far behind him.

Hazel jumped down from the roof, and bounced along the street to slow her momentum. She cut between two buildings, crossed a field of gravel and scraggly weeds, ducking under the short tree she didn’t know the name of. She soon thudded against a creaking wooden railing, mere inches from the edge of a sheer drop.

She peered down into the dark web of houses. From above, it was an incomprehensible sprawling mess of wooden beams and lantern lights. The impression of staring down into the debris of a massive shipwreck graveyard was overwhelming. The buildings themselves seemed to be reclaimed from countless boats, wood bowed and peppered from the scars of salt and barnacles. Sometimes the walkways were properly and solidly built, but just as often, boards were nailed haphazardly between platforms, zigzagging back and forth, with the damp, reeking air soaking into the wood and slowly pushing out the nails. crammed in every corner was the telltale straw debris of bird nests. She could even barely see the ripple of water beyond the maze of debris. And of course, here hovering over it, the smell of human refuse was overwhelming.

“There’s the little rat!” Edelweiss shouted, diving past her. She watched his descent, and caught the faintest glimpse of Aurelius’ white hair appearing and vanishing among the boards.

Fine… Hazel rewound air around her, took one last breath of the cleaner air and vaulted over the railing.

She felt like she had dropped straight into a lukewarm bath. The muggy air up above felt almost cool compared to the clinging broth between the soggy boards. She got the strong impression of breathing fish-ladended dog breath.

‘Ignore it, just ignore it,’ she thought to herself frantically.

Hazel landed on a clothesline with one foot, then hopped lower and landed on a shuddering board. Before it could snap under her, she jumped and thudded to a proper boardwalk. ‘Just like climbing a tree,’ she thought sarcastically.

She scanned the uneven street of crooked shutters and tattered cloth doors. It was dim down here, away from the moon’s light and the powered street lights. But orange light was still cast haphazardly around the boards, spilling from windows and glowing faintly from hung oil lamps. Human voices drifted around her, along with babies crying, the smell of a dozen different dinners cooked and cooking, fights, raucous laughter, and overlapping songs and instruments. Even with the boardwalk near empty, hosting slumped drunks and lumps of rags that may or may not be people, she didn’t need to see the fabric to know that Life was dense here. And despite leaping down from above, nobody cared nor were conscious enough to pay her any mind.

She looked around, and quickly spotted Aurelius on a higher level, bounding across a narrow bridge constructed of a broken and hastily nailed together ship bow.

“Aurelius!” she shouted.

Aurelius flinched, missed a step, then went tumbling. Hazel shrieked and ran forward, but it was too late.

He grabbed the board with both hands and halted his fall, just hanging there. He looked around, shifted his grip then dropped to a roof below. Screams of an occupant annoyed at ‘those damn kids!’ emanated from the structure.

“Why hello my darling little witch!” Aurelius called over the screams, performing his favorite flourishing bow. “Thank you for taking me as your first client. It was rather enlightening! Here’s your fee —“ He pulled a purse out from inside his doublet and tossed it at her feet. It burst open, heavy gold and silver coins tumbling across the boards. “—so if that's all, ta ta!”

Then he jumped to the lower walkway and dashed off, Edelweiss soaring after him.

Hazel cried out in exasperation. At least he could still talk, and was well in control of his motor functions. But then why the hell was he still running?

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Hazel quickly scooped up the coins, glancing left and right as the bundles of rags grew human faces to peer at her. Hungry. She stuffed the lot down her bodice, then peered over the edge of the railing. She double checked her spellweave, then hopped down on a cloth roof, tumbling onto a lower walkway.

Chasing after Aurelius’ back, she shouted, “What in the world are you doing?!”

Aurelius spun in place, arms spread wide, laughing, “Whatever the hell I want to do, darling!”

She tried to catch up, but in the cramped and winding paths, she found she couldn't build speed. Aurelius kept cutting around corners, darting up ladders, bounding across narrow bridges that, even at her reduced weight, Hazel was nervous to cross. More than once, occupants both animal and human screeched at them, unhappy to be disturbed so late at night.

“You want to come to this wretched place?” she shouted, panting. “Why?”

From the roof above her, Aurelius scoffed. He leaned over, hands on his waist, grinning down at Hazel. “By the gods, you’re a nosy one! I paid you, I’m sparing your life, and still you continue to pry! You did your good deed for the day, darling little witch. Now you can move on with your life. Forget I ever existed, if you wish. I don’t care.”

Hazel was trying to jump up but was too exhausted. Her spellweave had frayed as her concentration faded. She buckled over her knees and gasped for breath, tugging the fabric of her dress back over her knees — all the movement had bundled it up around her waist, exposing her bloomers.

She looked around and found a ladder. Aurelius watched her as she began to climb.

“Sparing my life?” Hazel shouted weakly. “What the hell does that mean?!”

Aurelius rolled his eyes, his whole head and neck rolling with it. “Of course you’d latch onto that bit… obviously, with that damn leash gone, I’m going to find some wretch to feed on! And here I was. Being nice. Letting you live. And this is the thanks I get?”

Halfway up the ladder, Hazel stared up at him. “Excuse me… feed? Feed on what??”

Aurelius sighed and buried his face in one hand. “No. You can’t possibly be this dense…” He peered down at her through his fingers. “No. No, she’s serious. By all the gods above and below...” He raised his voice. “I thought it was bloody well obvious! You saw my Fabric! Black as night, wreathed in an aura of undeath. I knew then and there I had to kill you. I knew you could see exactly what I was.”

“What?” Hazel cried. “What are you?”

He scoffed. “By the bastard above…” He leaned over and shouted. “I’m a bloody vampire, idiot!”

Hazel hung off the rungs of the ladder, staring up at him, the overtired gears in her head slowly turning.

“Oh… ohhhhhh,” Hazel muttered. Then she craned her neck up and shouted, “How the hell was I supposed to guess that?!”

“It’s damned well obvious!” Aurelius shouted. “Gods!”

“Vampires are not exactly a common occurrence!” Hazel shouted back, resuming her climb up the ladder. “You're the first I've ever met!”

“Did not my parlor of undeath tip you off? The fangs?” He flashed a playful grin, motioning to his face. “You didn’t notice my lack of shadow or reflection? Gods above and below, darling, you dipped your fingers, into my mind, and you still didn’t guess?!”

Hazel panted a little and shouted, “I AM VERY TIRED RIGHT NOW.”

“Performing brain surgery while exhausted? Should I be glad my mind isn't leaking out my ears?” He mimed slapping the side of his head as if to shake water from his ears.

Hazel didn’t have a retort to that. She collapsed at the top of the ladder, panting. The roof was unusually flat, like it had been torn from a former deck. Now it was used as something between storage and seating, chairs, and debris collecting between barrels and boxes.

“Well there you have it. Curiosity sated?” Aurelius said, grin still mischievous and hands still on his hips. He flicked his wrist in a shooing motion. “Now, go home darling little witch. I’m sitting on a century’s worth of unholy thirst, and tonight I’m going to drink until I burst.”

Hazel walked towards him. He didn’t run. He didn’t even seem winded. Just cocked his head and watched her, his eyes sparkling with good humor.

“So I save you…” Hazel said, breathing ragged. “And you're just going to just go murder people?”

He tutted and stroked her face, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Aw. Don't be like that. I’ve been murdering people for decades. It’s just this time, I’ll be doing it for myself. It’s beautiful, really, if you look at it in the right light.”

Hazel stared at him. Was this mirthful man the same as the one who did her makeup? Who danced with her, playfully flirting? Was this the person who screamed and swore in his own head, begging for death, and weeping for a lover lost? What was the act? What was the truth?

“I tried to spare you,” he insisted. “You’re the one sticking your nose into my business. Now, let’s just go our own ways, and…”

He tried to step away. Hazel gripped his wrists. His playful grin faded as he gave her a level gaze. Hazel returned his stare, still panting and gulping for breath.

“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t let you.”

Soft yet firm, he said, “I’m grateful. Really, truly grateful. But—“ He twisted his wrists out of her weak grip, dug his nails into her wrists, then yanked her close. He hissed into her ear, “— You cannot take this from me. Tonight. At long last. I. will. feed.”

“Why???” she cried.

“Why?” Aurelius shot back, tone mocking. “She asks the vampire why he desires blood?? By the gods, you really are an idiot.”

He shoved her away and started running. But a gust of wind washed over him and he stopped to maintain his balance. He looked languidly back at Hazel, her hands flung in his direction.

“Let me do one good deed!” She begged, hiccuping. Her words came out in a tumult, “For once, let me save one goddamn life! If you must feed, then feed on me and be done with it! At least only I would have to suffer for my mistake!”

“Lady Webb, no!” Edelweiss cried.

Edelweiss dove from his perch high in the boards, fangs diving for Aurelius’ throat. But Aurelius caught the dragon mid leap. He grabbed the dragon by his long neck, lifted the lid off an errant water barrel, and slammed the dragon inside with a dull splash.

“Edelweiss!” Hazel cried.

Aurelius strode for her with inhuman speed. Eyes forward, face blank.

He grabbed her shoulder first, nails digging into bare skin. Long fingers scratched the side of Hazel’s face and dug into her scalp, yanking her head sideways with a fistful of hair. Her bare neck was fully exposed.

She caught the look in his eyes and a cold feeling prickled down her skin. A cat with prey in its paws knows no rage, no hate, no bloodlust. It knows only placid inevitability as its fangs dig for the throat.

His head knocked aside her chin, his white hair in her face. The warmth of her skin was pierced by cold fangs. She yelped, but the sharp pain was already receding to a mere hard pinch. She felt oddly light headed and warm, vision swimming.

Aurelius’ back arched as he gulped in her ear, and an odd pulling sensation pounded down her neck, through her arm, her chest.

Aurelius stepped into her, breast against breast, his leg between hers, thigh pressing close. He shuddered, a warm breath washing down her back. Then he gulped again, and the curious, pounding pull echoed down her body again. The world seemed to fade away at the edges as he gulped, and gulped, and gulped. Each swallow he pressed closer, dug deeper, until they collapsed, falling the wobbling boardwalk below.

She barely even felt the fall. Her whole body was numb and tingling, the warmth she felt slowly fading to cold beyond any she’d ever experienced. All while Aurelius’ body grew warmer and warmer, radiant. In a bizarre way… it was comforting. As if she was being held in an embrace.

She blinked, and her vision swam with impossible colors. The white fabric of her Life had all but faded, the other colors fraying into threads, unfurling off in waves around Aurelius. And she saw his own Fabric, once dominated by black and green, swell with a glorious red Fire.

Her eyes widened. She had never seen something so beautiful.

The Fabric of Life was often so bright, it was impossible to trace the patterns across the flesh of a person. It would be akin to trying to find a pattern on the surface of the sun. But his dim Fabric came alight with swirling red patterns. It radiated out from his stomach like spreading wings, twisting down each limb and spinning in tight spirals around every muscle. Two thick lines shot up his neck, popping apart into curling branches that followed his jaw and cheeks, his pale hair exploding with flickering red light.

She laughed weakly. Though she couldn't see his face, she could see his mind. Fiery passion danced and spun among his curls, joyous Air popping and blossoming like fireworks across his forehead.

She could barely feel her limbs. The pulling sensation had ceased, and yet the vampire kept rooting at her neck, gulps more frequent, yet shallow and frantic, as if he still desired to drink more. And how could she blame him?

She had given the lifeless being the gift of life.

Hazel lifted her arm. It moved like it was asleep. She awkwardly let it fall across Aurelius’ back, patting the cloth of his shirt that she couldn’t feel.

She said, “Glad I could make you happy.”

She barely could whisper the words, her lungs, her throat barely moving. Maybe it was just the dizziness and delirium. But witnessing her actions, her body, truly making another person happy?

Well. She had little else to live for now.

With a jerk, Aurelius finally lifted from her neck. She could feel his warm breath wash down her chest. Her vision was fading but in another blink, she got one last look at his inhumanly pretty face. No longer a sickly marble pale, it was flush with blood, skin splotchy and almost alive. Her blood was smeared around his lips, dribbling down in thick lines off his sharp chin.

Hazel chuckled before the world faded fully to black.