7.26 – In our grasp

James’ POV

I checked my watch as I walked on the unfamiliar stone path. 7:08 am. Looks like I’m just a touch too early.

I resisted the urge to scratch my skin as the sun shone on it. The more time went by, the worser it go.

I was supposed to meet my brother at 8 o’clock at the police station, but that’s obviously going to be in a little while.

Of all the places he could have chosen, Stonebridge is a weird town. It’s got a weird arrangement of dull grey landscapes with spots of bright green foliage.

I spotted a wide arrangement of tables with large umbrellas to my right. I decided I’d wait there, until it was time to go see my brother. The umbrellas should be enough to protect me from the sun until then.

I went inside the restaurant and ordered myself a ‘free’ lunch for breakfast. The bus ride over didn’t make any stops for food.

I set the bag carrying the computer my mom gave me down on the table. When I graduated from school, I was determined to go after the witch. Yeah, I was unbelievably pissed and still grieving from Jamie’s death, but I wasn’t dumb enough to go to the address Jamie had given me just yet. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to take her on. It was better to get some insurance first, that insurance being the Weapon. The one currently in possession of my big brother’s police force.

But I didn’t want to tell mom or dad. Instead I lied and said I was going to go to university. My parents wanted to support me so they got me a computer. Isn’t it great?

“Mommy, mommy! Look, isn’t that a vampire?” A little girl screeched from across the square.

“Shush! Don’t be ridiculous honey, vampires hate the sun.” The mother scolded.

“But he doesn’t, look mom!” The girl insisted.

“Stop it! Now come on.” The mother said as she dragged her child away.

A smile formed on my lips. I was pretty much one of the dumber vampires. Not only have I noticed a rare amount of vampires roaming around, but there’s an even lesser amount roaming during the day. I didn’t quite realize how few vampires there were in the world until I came to Stonebridge. Legacy Island II is the place where the ‘Queen of vampires’ is, so its natural there are more vampires in those parts I guess.

After finishing my breakfast, I headed straight for the huge building that served simultaneously for the town hall and the police station.

I was starting to get giddy with excitement.

I only ever saw a faint picture of the weapon thanks to the Time Keeper, I’ve never actually seen this thing. I wonder what type of power it has? Why does everyone seem to want this thing so badly?

A receptionist showed me the way to the police section inside, where my brother was waiting for me.

“James!” Lance exclaimed, before pulling me into a hug. “You look well!”

‘You too.’ I signed at him. And it was true, my brother looked successful and proud. He fit the role of a good policeman well.

“I’d love to chat and have you meet my coworkers,” He said, motioning to the other police officers working behind him, “But the boss is a bit impatient about this. We still haven’t been able to get anything out of her, and he’s betting on the idea that you will.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Good. Just set your bag on the side over there and follow me.”

“I’ll be in the room with you and the others will be watching through the cameras if anything happens.” Lance warned and I started to have doubts about the safety of going into the interrogation room. But then, Lance leaned forwards and whispered: “But she’s a nice gal. Everything should go just fine.”

The warmth in his voice made me wonder about his relationship with the Weapon. Deciding I’d ask him after, I followed him into the interrogation room.

The Weapon was hunched in a corner and didn’t show any sign of having noticed our presence.

“Jane.” Lance said to catch her attention. She didn’t respond.

I gave him a questioning look.

“She doesn’t have a name so we call her Jane Doe.” Lance replied. He moved towards the girl.

As he did, I followed behind him to have a better look at her.

She had a ragged appearance, her clothes ripped, her hair greasy and unbrushed, and I even noticed her nails to be unnaturally long and pointy. She was folding her hand in a claw-like gesture and unfolding it slowly, again and again.

She reminded me of a wild creature you’d find in the woods. The question still swirled in my mind: what was it she could do?

Lance helped her up and made her sit on the chair.

I immediately noticed her eyes. Her lizard-like eyes that sent a cold shiver down my back. That wasn’t natural at all.

“You have fifteen minutes. Do your best. Here’s what we want to know.” Lance said, handing me a piece of paper with a list of questions.

‘She knows how to talk?’ I signed at him. She just doesn’t look like she does. Lance nodded and I read the first question.

A test question: What’s your name?

I sat in front of her as Lance stepped back.

I tried to not let myself be intimidated by her placid unblinking stare.

I concentrated on locating her mind, and once I’d found it, it was simple to take control. It was like walking past an already crumbled wall. I willed her to tell me her name.

She looked to side, frowning slightly, as she went into deep thought. Eventually she looked at me again, without saying a word.

Of course, if she had no name, she wouldn’t be able to say what it was.

‘She has no name.’ I signed at my brother. He nodded and motioned for me to go to the next question.

Do you have any family?

I willed her to tell me who her family was.

She thought for a few seconds, looking like she was genuinely dwelling over the question.

“Kevil.” She finally replied in a surprisingly normal voice. She enthusiastically nodded as she repeated the name.

She was seeming less like a threat and more like a child.

Lance smiled at her response. “Where is Kevil?” He asked her. She looked at him, and then looked away like she’d suddenly lost interest in his question.

He nodded in my direction so I would ask the same question. I willed her to answer.

“I not know.” She replied. She heaved a huge sigh as she smiled, satisfied with her answer. That’s when I saw her fangs. Was she a vampire? What was she exactly?

She wasn’t giving us a lot of information. I looked at the next question.

Why were you running away?

These questions were boring and weren’t going to get us anywhere fast enough. I finally found the question I wanted, near the bottom of the list.

What is your power?

Yes, this is what I want to know. The excitement was building up again as I made her want to demonstrate her power.

Her eyes darted around worriedly for a few seconds before she took action.

She pushed herself off the chair and slid under table without any warning whatsoever. Surprised I jumped off my own chair and Lance moved forwards to stop her.

By then she’d grabbed my ankle with her claw-like nails and held as tight as she could as she stared up at me with her lizard eyes.

Her hold wasn’t really that strong, I should’ve been able to pull away, but the moment she grabbed my foot, my heart that was beating harshly from the shock slowed down.

My body began to sag and I got lost into her calm yellowish eyes as I felt a wave of fatigue wash over me.

I wanted to make her let go, to make her stop whatever she was doing, because with the calm relaxed fatigue came a nauseating feeling of death. As if she was sucking the life right out of me.

Lance grabbed her feet and pulled her out from under the table. Her grip on my ankle was still tight, and my drained body fell to the floor as she pulled my ankle with her. Lance made her let go and forced her to sit back on the chair, before coming to my side and extending a hand to help me.

My dazed mind was slowly becoming clearer and my heart began to beat back to a normal rhythm. I grasped my brother’s hand as he helped me up.

“Are you okay?” He asked me as I observed the creature, I admit, a bit fearfully.

But she’d retreated back into a shell like when I’d entered the interrogation room, and she was examining her feet, wiggling her toes as she did so.

The door opened and one of the police officers stuck his head in. “Boss says it’s over.”

***

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lance asked again. I nodded at him. “What did she do to you? Why would she?”

‘I asked her what her power was.’ I signed at him.

“Well? What was it?”

‘It felt like she was draining my energy.’ I replied.

“Huh…”

I remembered what I wanted to ask my brother. ‘What’s your relationship with her?’ I signed at him.

He let out a chuckle. “I’m not too sure how you figured that out, but I might as well tell you the story. You remember in highschool? There was a time where I was a little more distant than usual?”

‘When I kept asking you what was wrong, and you kept avoiding the question?’ I asked him.

“Ha, yeah that’s the time. Well now I’m going to answer your question. During my break, me and my girlfriend went to the tool shed outside, you know the one that usually has a lock on it? Well we wanted…let’s just say some time to ourselves, but boy we had a surprise in there! Turns out Kevil and Jane had decided to hide out in there and the moment I came in Kevil took a swing at me with his sword! I swear, if it wasn’t thanks to Aliska, I would’ve died then! He was aiming straight for my neck, but you see this here?” James asked as he showed me the amulet he always kept on his person. “It started to glow and right before that vampire chopped my head off, I was halfway across the room! Seems that vampire was kill ask question later, because it’s only after that he started asking who I was. When he found out I was Zyla and Simon’s son, he got a less into killing me. They stayed for a few days, but I got to see the Weapon up close. I’ve been searching for them since they left, it’s one of the main reasons why I joined the police force. Now she’s in our grasp though, I can finally figure out what’s going on with them. But draining life force? That’s a crazy power.” Lance said.

I nodded in agreement. I’d never heard of that before, and I didn’t want to experience it again.

I got up to leave, but Lance apparently had more to say.

“Don’t be in a hurry to leave town okay? The boss might allow you another try at interrogating her. Once again I’d love to introduce you to these guys, but we’ve got our hands full with the anti-supernaturals. They’ve decided to make a comeback. We’re trying to keep it under wraps for now, and hopefully we can catch them before they start a ruckus again.” Lance said. “Also, here.”

He pulled his amulet off his neck and handed it to me.

‘Why are you giving this to me?’ I signed, staring at the silver amulet that had allowed my brother to teleport from one end of a room to another.

“I’d love to keep it, but it doesn’t work for me anymore. Even though I’ve been in a lot of life-threatening situations, it never glowed again. And since you’re doing this dangerous, slightly ridiculous quest, and not telling mom, something I’m not sure I approve of but whatever, I want you to have it. If it can work for you and save you from death at least once, I think it would be worth parting with it.” He finished, giving me a kind smile. Shrugging slightly, I took it from him and slid it in my pocket.

“Take care James, I’ll contact you later.”

 

Took a while to find James’ bag! So sorry if it doesn’t look that ‘manly’.

Eh, James’ siblings keep dumping their junk on him. Raph gives him her poisoned apple. Lance gives him his amulet.

Also, this is how James grew up:

 

I don’t think he’ll ever admit it, but this is the second time he’s grown up with that hairstyle! Doesn’t that mean he likes it?

Side note: James actually did get the food for free! All ‘cause he’s a four start celebrity XD

…26 chapters later my baby is finally an adult….