Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Choice

Valen bounded into the direction of the voices, gripping both butterfly swords side-by-side in his right hand while his left hand tucked his black ponytail under his shirt.

Louise called out behind him, her voice showing the same frustration he’d heard in his own voice whenever she decided to run off on her own.

"Dammit Valen!"

Valen didn’t pay much heed to it and kept sprinting in the screaming girl’s direction.

He arrived in an empty street where an orc and a werewolf were each struggling to hold onto a little blue-eyed human girl still by her arms.

“Dammit, don’t be difficult!” shouted the orc, so distracted by the girl that he didn’t notice Valen just down the road. “You need to-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish.

Valen closed the gap between them with the speed of a motorcycle in full-throttle. He grabbed the flabbergasted orc by the throat and reeled back his sword hands. 

Before the orc could even process what was going on, the D-shaped guards of Valen’s butterfly swords crashed into his jaw. The blow forced him to let go of the girl, along with a single tooth that flew from his bloodied gums and clattered onto the sidewalk. 

His werewolf companion also released the girl and spent a precious split second staring wide-eyed at Valen in dumbstruck surprise. Big mistake.

Capitalising on the obvious opening, Valen low kicked him in the leg with enough force to make him fall. Once he was on his knees, Valen rammed his right into his face, smashing his sensitive nose into the back of his skull and knocking him onto his back.

With no one holding her, the girl bolted away from the fight. She darted right past Valen, who was too focused on the two cultists to stop her.

The orc recovered enough from his initial shock to throw a wild punch, which Valen blocked with his left hand before smashing the butt of his butterfly swords into the side of his head.

Though he would rather avoid killing them if at all possible, Valen decided that he wasn’t going to shed any tears if he did and was willing to be liberal with the definition of ‘alive’ in their case.

The orc crumpled to the ground with eyes halfway rolled into his very likely fractured skull. The werewolf tried to pull himself up but was pinned back against the ground when Valen stomped hard on his chest, right where his lung should be.

Blood and spit flew from his open mouth. Valen quickly sheathed his swords in their scabbard on his back and pushed his left hand down the werewolf’s face until he could feel the concrete sidewalk on the back of his head.

Valen scowled, showing his fully extended fangs to the werewolf who looked at him with terrified yellow eyes peeking through the gaps in his red gloved fingers.

“W-wait!” he pleaded with Valen’s palm muffling his voice.

He probably thought Valen was about to bite him and drain his blood, but that was one line he wasn’t going to cross anytime soon.

Valen leaned down and elbowed the werewolf in his scrawny neck. A soft exhale left his lungs, taking with it his last conscious breath before his eyes fluttered close.

Beating the shit out of someone was one thing. Forcibly feeding from them was another. Killing was one thing, but to force his fangs inside them against their will was another. In his mind, it was tantamount of a sexual assault, and he would sooner starve than do something so abhorrent.

With the immediate threats dealt, Valen turned around to find the little girl running away from him, her little black shoes clicking loudly on the sidewalk with every frantic step.

The moment she turned the corner, she stopped in her tracks and scrambled to turn the other way before a furry white hand picked her up by the collar.

“There you are, you little shit!” Louise emerged from the building corner holding the girl in one hand.

Enid and Keiko followed behind her.

Keiko took one look at the two unconscious men behind Valen and let out a soft whistle. “Damn, you really are a blackbelt.”

Valen walked up to his friends while straightening his overcoat.

“They should both be out for a good while.” He shot Louise a mildly disapproving look. “You can put the poor girl down now, Lou. Gently.”

“Hang on.” Louise held up the girl to whisper in her ear, which Valen heard just fine with his vampire hearing. “Run before we tell you to and I’ll fucking punt you.”

She plopped the child down on the ground and she immediately curled up into the foetal position against a wall.

Valen exhaled through his nose. For someone almost the same height as a child, you’d think she’d be better at talking to them.

His blood red eyes turned to the child, whose face was buried in her knees. 

Valen crouched down to the girl’s level and spoke softly to her in hopes of calming her down.

“What’s your name, dearie?”

“...Lacey,” she said after a lengthy pause, though she still refused to meet his gaze.

“A lovely name.” Valen smiled in case she peeked up from her knees, making sure to keep his lips closed and his fangs retracted as he did. “Do you have a mother or father, Lacey?”

She didn’t answer, but shook her head in her knees.

“Where are you staying right now, Lacey?” Valen asked, repeating her name in hopes of easing her worried mind.

“...Dawn Square,” she said after a lengthy pause. “In the Dragon’s Tail.”

“I knew it,” Louise mumbled under her breath.

Enid and Keiko both rolled their eyes. Valen just ignored her and continued talking to Lacey.

“Do you want to go back-”

The human girl suddenly looked up at him with terror in her greyish blue eyes.

“NO!” Her breaths grew fast and short. “A-anything but that!”

Valen could hear her heart pounding in her scrawny chest from the adrenaline pumping through her. She clasped her shaking little hands together as sweat started forming on her pale brow. Signs of a panic attack.

Whatever she saw at Dawn Square, it must’ve been horrible enough to inflict some major psychological scars.

“Hey, it’s alright, it’s alright,” said Valen. “Just breathe, okay?”

Lacey buried her face back in her knees. Her shaking grew more violent and her heartbeat started to rise at an alarming rate.

Valen wanted to calm her down and was ready to try his best, though he knew he had little chance of being successful. 

When he calmed Nigel down back at Louise’s flat, he was helped by the fact that they were both vampires. It gave them a common ground to stand on. A shared ancestral suffering that bound them by blood even if they’d never met each other before. Because of that, he was able to connect with him fairly easily.

With Lacey, they shared no such common ground. Not their race, age, or even sex. He was a stranger in every possible way. Their only connection lay in the Primordial Church-a topic that would most likely only accelerate her panic attack.

Luckily for both of them, Keiko was there too.

“Hey Lacey.” The kitsune detective kneeled beside Lacey with her legs folded neatly underneath her and her bushy fox tail draped over her lap. “We’re here to help you, okay? Don’t mind the cranky werewolf lady.”

“Hmph.” Louise crossed her arms and walked off. “I’ll go drive the car here. You lot can handle this.”

Valen kept quiet while Keiko spoke to Lacey, trusting that her police training at least taught her how to properly deal with children under stress.

“We’re not going to hurt you, Lacey.” she said in a voice like warm silk. “We just want to help, okay? But only if you want our help.”

Lacey finally poked her head up from her knees to look at Keiko, but it was only when her eyes drifted to the bushy fox tail that she seemed to calm down. Her breathing became steadier and Valen could even hear her heartbeat stabilising before slowing down.

Keiko noticed it too and smiled.

“Would you like to touch my tail, Lacey?” she asked, holding her tail towards the frightened girl.

Lacey hesitated for a moment before curiosity got the better of her and she started stroking her tiny fingers through the fuzzy orange fur of Keiko’s tail.

“It’s so soft!” she exclaimed. “Like silk.”

Keiko grinned and proudly puffed up her ample chest.

“Well, I do take quite good care of it,” she said. “It’s my third greatest asset.”

Lacey tilted her head.

“What’s your first and second?”

Keiko opened her mouth but stopped right before she could honestly answer with her arse and tits.

“Uuuh.” Keiko scrambled for an answer in her mind. “My ears!”

The answer seemed to confuse Lacey even more. “Your…ears?”

A little embarrassed but willing to swallow her pride for the child’s sake, Keiko allowed her furry black fox ears to pop up from the top of her head.

Lacey’s eyes immediately lit up. 

Enid, who was standing beside Keiko, took a step back in surprise.

“You had those all this time?” She turned to Valen. “Did you know?”

“I only found out recently too,” Valen admitted.

“All kitsune are born with these,” said Keiko. “We just learn how to hide it so people take us seriously.”

“Can I touch them?!” asked Lacey with stars in her eyes.

“Sure thing!” Keiko bowed her head towards her. “Just don’t pinch or pull, okay?”

Lacey gave Keiko’s right ear a few gingerly strokes before she started rubbing them down against her scalp like one would a cat.

Meanwhile, Enid stared at Keiko’s head, specifically the black hair covering the spot where human ears should be.

“Do you have normal ears too?” she asked. “Or do you only have those fox ears?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Keiko offhandedly.

Lacey raised her head to look at Enid. The smile melted away from her face the moment she saw her and she abruptly hugged Keiko, burying her face into the knitted waistcoat that covered her buxom chest.

“Whoa there, sweetie!” Keiko gently rubbed Lacey’s back. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

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Both Keiko and Valen shot a perplexed glance at Enid, who could only offer a shrug in response.

Valen wondered what it was about Enid that scared Lacey so much but decided that wasn’t important right now. For all he knew, she probably just had a bad experience with redheads.

The loud beep of a car horn made them all shudder to attention.

Louise had pulled the car over on the street. Her windows were rolled down and she had one furry white arm hanging off the side.

“You guys done talking?” she asked, the impatience clear in her voice.

Valen silently cursed inside his head before turning back to Lacey.

“We’re not going to force you to come with us, Lacey,” he told her. “But I know a place in the Dragon’s Head where you’ll be safe from the Church. If you want us to, we can drive you there. It’ll take a while for us to get there, but I promise you that you’ll be taken care of when we do.”

Lacey’s eyes darted to Enid. She gulped upon making eye contact and immediately looked away.

Sensing her hesitation, Keiko spoke up.

“Miss Strawberry Top over there can sit in the front,” she said. “You can sit in the back with me and big brother Valen here.”

“Hmph.” Enid turned around and walked towards the car. “I’ll be waiting there then.”

With her gone, Lacey looked up at Valen and spoke with a shaky breath.

“You’re not angry at me?”

“No, dearie. I know it’s not your fault. You just wanted to do what the Unborn God wanted, but now you have the chance to do what you want.” Valen held out his hand to her, the same hand that had a hole in its glove where she’d stabbed him. “So, do you want to come with me?”

Lacey’s eyes darted between Valen’s face and hands. Her small hand slowly reached for his, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she grabbed it and held on tight.

“Okay,” she whispered as Valen gently pulled her up to her feet. “Okay…I trust you.”

“I’m glad that you do.” Valen smiled at her again with closed lips.

This time, she was able to see it and averted her eyes from him, though the rosy hue on her face suggested that it was for a different reason than before.

Valen got in first, followed by Lacey, who got sandwiched between him and Keiko.

“Finally.” Louise pulled her gear stick into drive. “Where to next?”

“Do you know where Silverlake University is?” asked Valen. “It’s nearby.”

“Yeah, I had to deliver pizza to frat houses there a few times,” said Louise. “Once kicked a drunk guy who got handsy in the dick. Good times.”

Lacey blinked in her seat.

“What’s a d-”

“Seatbelts, dearie!” said Valen before she could finish her question.

“Oh, yes, that’s very important!” Keiko quickly added before pulling down the seatbelt and buckling it for her. “You never know what might happen with Louise behind the wheel.”

“Oy, what’s that supposed to mean?!” said Louise, sounding genuinely offended. “I’ll have you know, I scored perfectly on my driver’s test on the first try!”

Enid raised an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you backflip off a motorcycle to throw it at a guy?”

“Motorcycles are different!” Louise protested, completely missing the point. “They’re supposed to be dangerous! That’s the entire bloody appeal!”

“Wait, hang on,” said Keiko. “What’s that about backflipping off a motorcycle?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Valen, subtly tilting his head in Lacey’s direction. “It’s a story for another time.”

“Ah.” Keiko nodded. “Right.”

Louise drove them back through Reveller’s Row but didn’t stay there long. Minutes later they drove past a small gate that served as one of only seven official ways to get in or out of the Nocturnal District’s dark dome.

It was still night outside, but it probably wouldn’t stay that way for the entire several hours ride to Dragon’s Head.

Valen checked his phone for weather reports, hoping that it’d be rainy or at least cloudy out that day.

“I might have to get in the trunk if the sun rises,” he said.

“Shouldn’t you be fine in sunlight now?” asked Louise. “You’ve fed recently so sunlight shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“I know that,” said Valen. “But there’s no harm in playing it safe, you know?”

“No harm except being trapped in a claustrophobe’s nightmare,” said Enid dryly. “But if you want another sip to make sure you don’t burn up, just tell me.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Valen. “Really.”

Lacey placed her little hand over his as if trying to comfort him. “Vampires are scared of sunlight because of Thressa, right?”

“That’s right, dearie.” Valen wasn’t sure why she brought it up, but he wasn’t going to pass on an opportunity to educate the next generation on vampire culture. “Thressa thought that vampires were evil, so she cursed us to burn in the holy light of her sun. We’re only immune to it as long as we have blood from a non-vampire inside us.”

“You don’t have to worry about it then!” said Lacey with an odd cheerfulness. “Even if you haven’t fed, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“What makes you say that, dearie?”

“Because you’re not evil!” she said as if it were obvious. “If Thressa only punishes evil vampires, then you’re definitely not one of them!”

Valen felt his heart melt. Even Keiko looked like her heart grew three sizes stronger hearing the precious girl’s naivety. 

Unfortunately for both her and Valen, things weren’t quite so simple. 

For most of the world, Thressa was a benevolent deity of life, fertility, and the blessed day. To vampires she was an immortal foe who tried to wipe out their kind with the cruel sun for no other reason than her own prejudice.

Her twin sister Dianne, Goddess of Death, Slumber, and the Sacred Night, had created vampires by resurrecting warriors from the First and Last Divine War. Disgusted by this violation of the cycle of life and death but unable to fight her twin sister directly, Thressa took her wrath out on the vampires by cursing them and, according to some, commanding her priests to hunt them down.

Up to the modern day, many vampires dedicated themselves to living long and fulfilling lives solely to spite the goddess who would have them cease to exist.

 Valen would be lying if he said he didn’t agree with the sentiment.

“I’m afraid that’s not how it works, Lacey,” he told her. “Thressa…well, I’m sure she was a good goddess for a lot of people, but not to the vampires.”

“A…good goddess?” Lacey sounded perplexed. “Aren’t all the gods good?”

“No, Lacey,” said Valen. “They have flaws just like you and me. They just tend to be less open about it.”

Louise flicked a two-fingered salute up in the air while driving.

“Seriously, fuck Gryllen,” she said, cussing out her own progenitor god. “Bloody arsehole creating so many damn werebeasts only to not care for any of them.”

“Here, here,” said Keiko. “The bestial races in Port Jade hate Gryllen just as much as the werebeasts here too.”

Of all the gods, Gryllen was without a doubt the most impulsive. Instead of creating a new race from humans, he took the beasts of the wild and moulded them into humanoid forms just to prove that he could. 

The result were intelligent werebeasts who proceeded to murder each other across the world over territory. Gryllen probably would’ve kept creating werebeasts out of every single animal on the planet had the other gods not finally stepped in and told him to slow his roll.

“We mages are pretty neutral on Leva too,” said Enid, referring to the Goddess of Magic. “Honestly for us mages, praying to her feels more like paying respects to a senior in your field.”

Lacey looked between the three of them dumbfounded. “So the gods aren’t all good?”

“Shouldn’t you already know that?” asked Louise. “I mean, you were part of the Unborn God’s cult.”

“I…” Lacey fell silent for a moment. “...I thought they were different.”

Valen grew worried, yet also curious. This was a prime opportunity to learn more about the Primordial Church from an actual member, but didn’t want to risk forcing her to relieve any unpleasant memories from her time there.

“Can you tell me why you thought that?” he asked gently. “It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, though.”

“I…I know the Unborn God is bad,” she admitted. “So I thought that if they were bad, then the other gods they hated must be good, right?”

Louise grunted. “If you knew it was an arsehole then why did you take orders from it?”

“I-I didn’t have a choice!” Lacey’s voice cracked from fear as she spoke. Her grip over Valen’s hand tightened. “I-if I didn’t prove myself then I’ll, then-”

Valen sensed her heartbeat rising again and decided to shut down the line of questioning.

“You don’t have to say anything more,” he told her gently before turning to Louise. “And you too, Louise.”

“Fine, fine.” Louise parked at a red light and leaned back on her chair. “Let’s talk about something else then.”

“Well I forgot to ask,” said Keiko, “what’s the name of this shelter we’re going to?”

“It’s called the Cosy Nook Shelter,” said Valen.

The name rang a bell in Enid’s mind. “Isn’t that the same shelter you volunteered at?”

Keiko raised an eyebrow at him. “You volunteer at a shelter?”

“Used to,” said Valen. “I had to quit because people kept getting scared of me.”

“Of course.” Louise scoffed. “Pussies.”

“Aren’t you going to tell her the other reason?” said Enid.

“What other reason?” asked Keiko.

Louise looked expectantly at him via the rearview mirror too and Valen suddenly felt a lot more nervous than he should’ve been.

“Well, you see.” He nervously cleared his throat. “I kind of dated the person running it.”

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