Bloodlines

Ridley saw through Ankh’s eyes. The man knelt next to her but Ankh snarled aggressively at him then stepped over Ridley’s body. “It’s alright. I’m a friend,” he whispered sweetly. “I want to help.” He was English. Ankh could smell he was telling the truth. She bared her teeth as a warning before stepping aside. The man wore a bowler hat that covered his eyes but they were gold! Carefully he gathered the huntress in his arms then looked to the wolf, who neared his chest. “Lead the way, friend.” Ankh brought them back to the inn, where Ennui waited.

The innkeeper-hunter was doing the books when the door opened. He glanced over his crescent glasses and raised an eyebrow. “Hm. Rough night, already,” he asked, genuinely humoured. “Definitely Clarke’s girl, this one.”

“I would certainly like a word with this Mr Clarke,” the man voiced, still holding Ridley as if she weighed nothing.

“And who would you be,” Ennui sneered suddenly angry. He stopped his book keeping to round the table to take Ridley from him. “I see the gold in your eyes! You’re an eldritch.”

“As is she,” the man countered and Ennui halted abruptly. “I felt her psionic presence; it was strong. Stronger than any I’ve ever felt.”

“Who are you?”

The man shook his head lightly. “Nobody important. I just wanted to make sure she was safe.” Ennui took in Ridley’s limp form while Ankh sniffed her face when her nose bleed returned, this time with more conviction. “I don’t like that nose bleed, one bit. I must treat it.”

“Why is her blood like that,” Ennui asked as he beckoned the man to the back room. “What sort of eldritch is this?”

The man laid her on a table then stripped off his trenchcoat. “Not a natural one. She’s been tampered.” Ankh settled in the corner, watching with a scrutinising eye. “A tampered non-ampyra is certainly news to me! So strange,” he went on while dabbing his handkerchief on her nose, “I’ve seen tampered blood but never tampered so precisely. Whoever did this was very lucky to get it right. They may have killed her otherwise.”

“You better hurry up,” Ennui persisted. “Should anyone ever know I harboured your kind here, there will be repercussions for us all.”

“It’s hard to say how long she will slumber,” the man went on, satisfied her nose had stopped bleeding. “If she does not wake up by tomorrow evening...” the man picked up the PostIt notes pile and the pen beside it to pass on his information “... you must phone me.”

Ennui studied the neon yellow note he was handed. “There’s no name on this,” he pointed out. “I don’t dare trust a man who does not trust me.”

“The less you know, the safer you are. Both of you.”

With that, the man in the bowler hat with the glowing gold eyes left. His trenchcoat slung over his arm. Ankh sat Ennui’s side and the innkeeper only shook his head. When the front door closed behind the man, Ennui turned to the grey wolf. “I trust you will keep an eye on her?” Ankh snorted then puffed up her chest dutifully. The innkeeper nodded then left his backroom. “I will check on her regularly,” he assured the wolf before closing the door.

What felt like a few minutes but was really almost twenty-four hours later, Ridley finally stirred. She found herself alone in the backroom but she knew exactly how she wound up there. She sat up from the narrow bed and felt the last of the nausea strike. In place of a wave, it was a ripple that made her rise and fall.

She groaned her grogginess before opening the door. On the other side was the silent inn. Ennui wasn’t behind the table and Ankh wasn’t within her psionic reach. Thunder rolled in the distance. The dusty place was eerily quiet.

Ridley trudged to the bar where the young woman who delivered her Cognac and pint was restocking ice. “Bonsoir, mademoiselle,” she greeted. “A drink?”

“Where’s my wolf?”

“With Ennui,” she replied. “She had business to take care of.”

“I’ll be in my room,” was all Ridley said.

She juggled her way up those wretched stairs before sloppily entering her room. After brushing her teeth, the huntress turned to her phone for the address of Mr Wu. If he knew where Earnest was, then so did Ridley. She could fix whatever was wrong with her eldritch, she could go on with her life.

Still, looking in the mirror was hard. The face that stared back was never Ridley Dominique Axel. Not for a while. Instead, it was Ryan Aimée Axel looking back. The face of the twin who died by her own hand. Ryan was hitting harder that day. She was there. Somehow, Ridley could sense the spirit or the essence or the soul or the something of her twin sister.

After changing out of her clothes into something fresh, Ridley briefly combed out her hair. It was then that she felt Ankh return. The huntress turned to her closet for her weapons. For some reason she decided on a whip. Apart from that, she had her trusty karambit and her retractable staff.

When she went downstairs, Ankh was munching on the last of what looked like a deer leg. Freshly severed. “Fifi made you breakfast,” Ennui stated from his usual seat behind the front desk. He was reading a newspaper and didn’t look away from it when he spoke to Ridley. “Fifi!”

The young woman came out with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. “I can pour some blood, if that’s what you prefer,” she stated.

“Fifi,” Ennui roared. “Watch your worlds!” She looked down ruefully. “Be careful, little Axel,” he warned. “The French do not do well to blackbloods. Ampyras and non-ampyra are not like everywhere else. Consequences are harsh here.”

Ankh looked up at them with blood around her snout. “Still you act like a Monteirian,” Ridley asked.

“Bloodism is choice. Judging someone because the colour of their blood is no different to judging someone because of the colour of their skin. You must be able to live with your choice. Choose wisely.”

“A glass of blood to-go, please, Ms Fifi,” Ridley deflected.

The woman nodded then retreated into the kitchen as the front door swung open. “Ennui,” the man bellowed. “We’re back again!”

“Your rooms are already waiting,” Ennui replied with a grin. He began typing on his computer while Fifi returned with a guzzler filled with blood. “You just missed the storm too!” Wordlessly Ridley and Ankh made for the door. “Enjoy your evening, Axel,” Ennui added.

She closed the door behind her, deeply wondering Ennui’s words. Did she make the right choice? Did she have to stab her sister in the neck? Ankh rolled her grey eyes then nudged her head into Ridley’s side to snuff the thought. “Don’t think like that,” the wolf jeered.

The huntress took a sip of her lukewarm blood while she followed Google Maps to Jean Médecin Street. The streetlights were illuminating the way but Ridley’s thoughts were darkening the journey. Ankh couldn’t do anything, now that Riley put her guard back up. When her mind was exposed enough, Ankh’s voice seeped in. Strange that Mako couldn’t do that. Horses and wolves were on the same wavelength of intelligence.

The sound the beach soon vanished and the roads started tilting up, marking the inland incline. The buildings lining the streets were gorgeous! They were either bright colours or had quaint little box gardens to decorate them. They were either black with emptiness or quiet with few people inside.

The thick clouds above let out flickers of lightning while soft rain began to patter onto the ground. It quickly picked up and turned into an angry blizzard of water. The thunder was deafening and the lightning was blinding to anyone outside. Ridley and Ankh were picking up the pace to find cover.

Along Jean Médecin, was the McDonald’s that was also quite quiet. Further up the street was the private investigator’s office. Ankh sniffed the front doors then snarled warningly. Ridley also felt something unnerving about the place. She pulled out her bow and tied on its bow string. She drew a flying blade from her quiver.

She let herself in and left her guzzler on the desk. The reception was mute with nothing less than the upright fan making noise. There wasn’t a receptionist which they both found suspicious. Stealthily Ridley rounded the table to investigate the front desk. She made a sign to Ankh to watch the hallway.

There was nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was neat and none of the documents had anything unusual about them. Ridley knelt beside Ankh and dug in her vest for the spyscope Sayeed kept there. Apart from a magnifier, the spyscope also had a thermogram.

Ridley notched the flying blade and started to stealthily step through the hallway with her eye looking through the spyscope. The thunder and heavy rain help drown out their footsteps. Ankh sniffed ahead of her silently. The hallway branched out into offices, a kitchen and up a staircase. Ankh flicked her tail to stop Ridley then went up the stairs.

The huntress continued down the hall, scanning the kitchen and the offices she passed. The lightning illuminated some parts when it struck but the place was mostly dark. There was nothing on the first floor. She returned to the foot of the stairs then carefully went up. She wasn’t on the second step when Ankh started howling. Ridley hurried to the source of the howling only to find Mr Wu pinned under the grey wolf.

“Renee,” he asked in surprise but then Ridley lowered her bow and he gasped. “Oh no.”

“You’re going to tell me everything you know about Earnest,” Ridley stated and thunder roared behind her. “If you try to lie...” Ankh bared her blood-stained teeth and let out a blood-tainted breath. “... let’s just say she’s got quite a persuasive bite.”

“All I know is that he is here in Nice,” Mr Wu began. “There’s goldblood looking for him. They want to take over the world. They...”

“Tell me something you didn’t tell Renee.”

“All I know is what I found for her,” he countered with evident terror. “That’s it, I swear!”

“Ankh?” The wolf growled lowly then nodded without looking at Ridley. “My sister is dead because of you and Renee; I had to kill them both,” Ridley started and Mr Wu swallowed hard. “I don’t live by the hunter’s credo; I live by my own. ‘When you hunt, don’t think about what you’re ending but what you’re allowing to go on’. You have ten seconds to convince me why I should let you ‘go on’.”

Mr Wu swallowed again as sweat dripped down his forehead. “I have a son. A son I want to watch-”

Ankh growled angrily. “You’re lying.” Ridley fired the blade into his shoulder. He let out a roar of agony. She notched another flying blade. “I wish you could understand how much I want to kill you just for being associated with that Devil’s bitch.”

“You know he didn’t do anything,” Ankh stated. Slowly she got off the man and faced her master. “He was just as scared of Renee as the rest of them.” Her voice was its usual distorted self but the tenderness in it diminished the monstrous sound. “Stand down. Please, Ridley.”

The huntress teared up, feeling her sister’s reach faded and yet it was stronger than ever. Tears streamed down her face. The man on the floor’s heartbeat was racing at his pending doom. She growled inhumanly ferociously then lowered her bow. “A wolf just saved your life,” she sneerd then left.

Ankh snarled at the man before leaving after Ridley. The huntress ran down the stairs in tears then caved on the side of the street. She wrapped her arms around herself while her face was made wet by her tears and the rain.

“I’m sorry,” she roared against the thunder. “Ryan!”

The tree behind her caught fire and burned a blinding white. Ankh stepped into the rain and settled beside her. “You have nothing to be sorry about,” Ankh whispered then nestled her head into Ridley’s cheek. “Ryan made her decision.” Ridley wrapped her arms around Ankh. “I can’t imagine what it feels like to carry that weight but I do know that you don’t have to carry it alone.” Ridley buried her face into Ankh’s shoulder. “I will always be here for you. Do you hear me? Always.”

Ridley nodded with a juicy snort then glanced over Ankh’s shoulders and saw Ryan pull up her collar as she trudged through the rain. “Ryan?” Ankh flares her ears while Ridley watched her vanish around the corner. “Ryan,” she called then took off charging after the apparition.

“Ridley, no,” Ankh warned, charging after her.

“Ryan,” Ridley called then grabbed the figure by the shoulders to spin around. Only to find an unassuming woman in her place.

“Puis-je vous aider?”

“Je suis désolé, madame,” Ridley replied as more tears filled her eye. “I thought you were someone else,” she admitted while stammering backwards.

The woman went on her way, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t followed. Ankh stood nearby while Ridley sat down against the wall to sob to herself. Ankh sighed then trotted over to sit next to her. Ridley arched her knees and wrapped her arms around them.

“What have I done?”

Ankh licked her cheek reassuringly then shifted closer to her for warmth. A few cars drove passed on the adjacent street but one stopped abruptly before reversing to the two hunters’ perch on the corner. A young man got out and disbelief was on his face. Ankh straightened up when he approached them and the shock registered on her face.

“Ryan?”

Ridley ignored her and kept her eyes closed while sobbing to herself. “Ridley,” the young man called. Slowly the huntress opened her eyes, only to see a face that resembled too much like Renee’s. “Ohmygod!” He knelt before her then cupped both her cheeks in his hands. “You’re freezing,” he had to yell over the storm.

She could see and hear him but she couldn’t register him. The shock of seeing his face and the cold switched her off. She could feel his gloved hands tuck underneath her and she saw him cradle her back to his vehicle. She could sense Ankh close by and she also felt the cold vanish. Replaced by compressed car air from the radiator and closed windows.

Ankh shook off her soaking fur before jumping into the back seat. “Ridley,” she called but Ridley heard nothing. “I’m here.”

In the front seat, she huddled her legs closer to herself to keep warm but that did nothing because of how drenched she was. Her eyes darted to the driver beside her and bile rose in her throat but she couldn’t make her rage physical or verbal.

He looked over at her, confirming it wasn’t an illusion. The gentleman was without a doubt Tomás du Luq. Her half-brother. He drove off to the one place in Nice she desired not to go. Chateaux du Luq.

The hill was steep and the car clearly took a lot of strain. It was a manual car, Ridley could tell. The storm seemed to be worse on the hill. Tomás drove into a garage and shut the door behind him. In a centuries old castle, an electric garage door was something Ridley wasn’t expecting. Somehow she got herself out of the car to watch the last of the storm vanish beyond the door.

Ankh stepped out too, shaking off the last of her rained coat. Tomás cupped Ridley’s cheek as he took her in. She was shivering, her lips were blue, her fingers were purple and her face was stark white. Her hair clung tightly to her face and back and tremble in her lip made speaking a mission.

“Are you alright to walk,” he asked worryingly with his hand steadily on her back. She leaned into him. Not quite hugging him out of misery and not quite wordlessly asking for support. Tomás obliged. “This way,” he directed then did a one-eighty to lead her and Ankh into the main building.

In the grand foyer, another young man was pacing impatiently before the grand staircase. He stopped then took a moment before turning to Tomás with the young woman who shared his face. “Oh my Lord,” he cussed. He too was English but not the man who returned Ridley to the inn. “You found her. Son of bitch, you really found her!”

“Not now,” Tomás declared. “Genevieve!” Ridley moaned then clutched tighter onto him. He patted her shoulder reassuringly as a woman in jeans and a black hoodie modelled up to him. “Get her in hot water, right now.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Carefully Genevieve peeled Ridley off Tomás and led her up the staircase with Tomás watching. Ankh loyally followed them up the gold banistered stairs. “I will be up soon,” Tomás reassured Ridley before turning to Sebastian, in front of him. “It was by pure chance I found her! I decided to come a different way home,” he began. “She was sitting in the rain. Crying.”

“Where?”

“The corner of Jean Médecin and Eighth Avenue,” Tomás replied. “I can’t believe it,” he added suddenly hysterical. His eyes were wide and his bony fingers brushed through his dark hair. “This’s incredible!”

“What about your mother? She could be out there, right now. Probably the reason the girl was crying.”

“Sebastian, you’re a dear friend but you have a knack for terrible timing,” Tomás pointed out while stripping off his jacket and scarf. “Leave my mother to me.”

“What of the Lady and the Wallflower,” Sebastian went on.

Tomás shook his head as Sebastian. “I’m going to check on my sister,” he stated. “Where are the old ladies?”

“One’s out shopping and one’s in the den of shadows. Take a guess which is which.”

Tomás scoffed while he ascended to the second floor. “The day Aimée goes shopping, is the day the day pigs learn to fly.”

Sebastian watched Tomás joyfully prance up the grand staircase and vanished on the third floor. In a bedroom as grand as the rest of the castle, Ridley was soaking in a steamy bath. Genevieve had her wet clothes in a bundle in her hands. All the weapons the huntress had on her were laid out on the bed with Ankh between the narrowly ajar bathroom door and the bedroom.

Genevieve flung the wet clothes into a basket then leisurely went into the walk-in closet to take out warmer clothes. Tomás let himself in and took in the weapons on the bed. His eyes went so wide, his eyebrows almost touched his hairline. Ankh turned to him quizzically and his lips parted.

“Good grief, are you two joining the Siege of Ceuta,” Tomás remarked and Ankh grinned at him. “Where on earth did she hide the bow?” Water sploshed in the bathroom while Genevieve turned fearfully to Tomás. “Relax, woman, she is much unlike French hunters.” Genevieve nodded her relief. “Has she said anything?”

“Not a word, my lord.”

More sploshing came from the bathroom and Tomás peered in to see Ridley drowning herself with piping hot water. Ankh stood up and snarled warningly at him. “Aren’t you a tentative one,” the Frenchman said. Ridley submerged herself under the warm water. “I don’t suppose you could explain why you were out in the rain, in the middle of the night?”

Ankh only titled her head at him. “He seems decent,” she told Ridley. “I know this isn’t what you wanted but maybe try getting to know him? Considering the hostility between ampies and nonies, he could easily have just killed you.”

Ridley blew bubbles of exasperation from under the water. She rose out of the water and combed her lengthy black hair out of her face. Genevieve fearfully tiptoed passed the grey wolf and into the bathroom with warm clothes. Ankh huffed at her and the modern servant screeched out of her skin.

“No wonder the French ampies stay inside after dark,” Ankh chuckled. “Boo,” the wolf bellowed, jumping to her feet. Both Genevieve and Tomás ungracefully leaped away from her. While Tomás used the nearby armchair as a shield, Genevieve shut the door. “Too easy,” Ridley heard her laugh, even if the door was shut.

Genevieve swallowed hard when she realised that she sealed herself in a room with a hunter. Ridley could smell the woman’s fear. Genevieve’s golden-brown curls were tied into a bulbous ponytail that was tucked into her hoodie. Her hazel eyes were filled with fear and there was a long whimper escaping her.

She shifted uncomfortably to rest the folded clothing on the white dressing table, next to the towel rack. All the towels were white and neatly rolled; stacked into perfect pyramids. The ampyra removed a single towel and held it in front of her while also averting her eyes. Ridley combed through her soaking hair before skeptically getting out of the bath.

Ridley wrapped herself in the towel while Genevieve handed her a second for her hair. The ampyra curtsied before taking her chances with the wolf. Ridley sighed shakily before dressed. Black ripped jeans with a matching bomber jacket. Underneath, Genevieve left her a dark green woollen blouse with a matching pair of ankle boots. Too bright for Ridley.

She exited the bathroom rubbing out her wet hair only to find her brother sitting on the bed, examining her portable arsenal. Ankh was all but purring from Tomás massaging her head. The goldblood straightened up when he saw his sister while Ankh cleared her throat and retreated to her perch by the bathroom door.

Ridley dried out her hair before wrapping it in the towel, all the while avoiding Tomás’ tender eyes. He, like her, was too much like Renee. They both had her cat-shaped eyes but Ridley’s dark eyes were adorned with Clarke’s lush lashes while Tomás had Renee’s blue eyes. Ridley had Axel cheeks - narrow and undefined - but Tomás was chiselled.

He had dark brown hair that almost looked black while Ridley’s was sleek and black and straight, like Clarke’s. There was too much of Renee in Tomás’ face. The only distinction between them was Renee’s cold pale blue eyes while Tomás had softer, dark blue eyes. Along with a face like Renee, Tomás was tall and lean. Despite looking able to take a hit, the goldblood looked frail; he’d never been in anything remotely close to a bar fight.

Not just his physique was a sign of that but what he wore. As someone who could see fighters a mile away, Ridley knew Tomás was not seasoned. He was wearing a grey button up shirt, tucked into black formal trousers. Over his shirt was a charcoal sweater. His discarded trench coat and scarf gave the look of a common accountant; not a very threatening position.

An awkward air was between the siblings and Ridley couldn’t look at him. Tomás, however, breathed in his centuries younger sister tenderly. There was such excitement on his face. The grin he let out showed that. He stood up slowly, as to not frightened her. He took small steps closer to her, like she was an easily frightened bird.

The goldblood cleared his throat then awkwardly uttered, “hello.” Slowly Ridley shifted away while giving a small pout of discomfort. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said more confidently. “I am Tomás Éduoard. You are Ridley Dominique.” She looked up at him lowly. “Do you know who I am?”

Ridley exhaled lightly. “Thank you for your hospitality,” she replied, “but I’m going now.” She made for the bed to restock her portable armoury back on her person. Ankh rolled her eyes then yapped in protested.

Tomás persisted, “there is much I would like to know from you. Surely you have questions too? Not to mention you’re yet to meet our aunts.” The huntress gasped her bewilderment and paused from strapping her karambit to her thigh. Tomás dared take a closer step towards her and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Please, sister?”

Ridley flung her head back but Ankh huffed her disagreement. “Look,” Ridley began and Tomás released her shoulder, “you seem like a decent person but I don’t want any part of Renee’s family.”

“Rest assured that neither do we,” Tomás replied but he could see that Ridley wasn’t negotiating. “Will you, at least, wait out the storm?” Ridley sighed then looked over at him. Behind him, Genevieve had hung her wet clothes by the fireplace to dry. Ankh leaped to her paws and sided with the Frenchman. “We have a kitchen, if you’re hungry.”

Ankh turned to Ridley, wagging her tail eagerly. Her vest, Ridley noticed for the first time, had been removed. It was also drying by the fire but Ridley doubted Genevieve was the one brave enough to touch a hunter canine. Regardless, the wolf clearly had no intention of trudging through the storm. “Only until the storm passes,” Ridley stated firmly. Ankh nestled into her side then licked her hand eagerly. Tomás too showed his gratitude with warm smile matched with a nod.