Unwelcome

"Find him and bring him to me." She gnarled.

"We will, but Irene, you can't-"

"I know!" Irene snapped at her sister. "You won't need to clean up a body once I'm done." She gritted her teeth. "Two more, dead!" She punched the stone wall she was leaning up against. "Two more are dead, and we are no closer to finding out the truth behind it all."

"We will find out soon enough. Irene, pull yourself together. It's unlike you to lose yourself in wrath." Her sister's warning voice didn't help her calm down, but her next words did fill her heart with fear. "Or have you forgotten what happened to mother?"

Irene drew a sharp breath. "Cruel, Ivy." Her voice was nothing more than a whimper. "I won't kill the man. But I need answers, and I don't think being a little more… forceful, is going to do much harm."

Ivy shook her head. "I don't think you are thinking straight. I'll arrange a meeting for you two, but no 'being more forceful'. I don't want a dead body in my hands." She turned and left the room.

The sudden silence caught Irene off guard. The sight of two of her people, dead and bled out on the floor in the most sacred part of Vesporum seemed to be burned into her vision. She couldn't get that sight out of her mind.

"Those damn blood suckers!" She gnarled again. Her hand bulged as she drove her nails into the rock wall. Only when she heard the subtle, but noticeable noise of the stone cracking did she notice how much strength she was exerting.

She loosened her grip on the wall. As much as she wanted to break things apart and maybe draw some blood from those vile creatures, Ivy was right. If she wasn't careful, the thief could choose to simply run away. And thieves were hard to find in the city of Vesporum. She couldn't afford to scare him away.

"Calm and collected." She whispered to herself. Her racing heart began to calm down and she slowly lowered herself onto the nearby couch. "Calm and collected." Ivy would soon get in contact with the human thief, and they would get the information and, more importantly, items they needed. Once the vial of blood was destroyed, the danger to her, Ivy and many others would pass.

Of course, the half-bloods would still be in danger, but once the core of their society was safe, they could begin protecting them. And even if they couldn't save all of them… Her lips formed a frown. They were just half-bloods, after all. They were lower among the list of her concerns.

It was long after dusk when Aoric reached the Dancing Rat's Inn. As he descended to the streets at one of the secluded, empty alleyways, the exhaustion began to set in. He had been keeping watch since that morning, and he had been feeling tense since the week before. Since that night when he met the woman clad in white.

With dropped shoulders, he pushed the old wooden door open.

The warm air of the inn blew in his face as the low murmurs slowly died out. The patrons fell into silence as about a dozen pairs of eyes focused on him. Aoric hesitated, what was going on? Alarm bells rung in his mind as he glanced at the innkeeper.

His usual, rather horrifying smile was nowhere to be seen. He still cleaned the counter with erratic motions, but this time, he wasn't nervous because of a potential new customer.

"I assume I won't be staying here tonight."

The innkeeper simply nodded. The young man sighed, then turned around to leave.

"We don't look kindly upon those who let those ruts get away." Someone said. Aoric's gaze snapped to the owner of the voice – someone sitting by the table that woman was standing on just the night before. His crooked nose and numerous scars and bruises on his face and arms indicated he wasn't a stranger to bar fights.

"Yeah!" One of his friends drunkenly exclaimed, punching the table, and almost knocking off a mug. Aoric's lips formed a thin line. "Alright." He softly said as he turned around and left. He heard curses shouted at his back as he left the Dancing Rat's Inn. The door closed, muffling the men's shouts, letting him breathe a sigh of relief. For a short moment, he wasn't sure whether he could leave before a fight broke out.

The cold wind tugging at his cloak, and his empty stomach's gurgling quickly took away all the relief he felt. "There goes a warm bed." He muttered under his breath as he pulled the hood of his cloak down and headed to the main street.

It was midnight, or perhaps a little past it he assumed. The streets were almost empty. He could count the people on the main street with the fingers of one hand. The stores were closed, their shutters shut and lights off. He glanced around, hoping to find another inn, but even if he did, he wasn't sure if he could pay for a night's stay, let alone some food.

"I should have never come here." He hissed through his clenched teeth as he slowly made his way to the alleyway he used to climb to the rooftops. If he was about to sleep outside, he'd rather do it on the rooftops rather than some narrow alleyway where anyone could get the jump on him.

He climbed on the angel statue with impaled wings, then pulled himself atop the tile roofs. He paused to glance around, where would be a good place to rest? Not anywhere near here, that was for sure. If he was about to sleep out in the open like this, he was going to find a warm chimney to lean his back against. And as luck would have it, the area around the massive cathedral was full of houses with smoking chimneys.

He picked a secluded spot and laid down on the tiled roof with his back leaning against the chimney. His cloak and the warmth spreading through his back were enough to keep him warm. His eyelids began to grow heavier as he rested his head on his arms. A few hours of sleep, he promised himself.