124 Face To Face

Kian looks to the wall, trying to feel something but he just turns back to me and says "I really can't feel anything. We should investigate this more before touching it." I finally look away from the wall and see Kian watching me with concern.

I sigh and say "You're right. Let's keep an eye on it for now. Maybe it'll just... disappear." Ambrose scoffs and says "This isn't a rash! You don't just watch the damn thing and wish for it to disappear! This is in the middle of my club! I can't have a portal to hell opening up in the middle of happy hour!"

I give Ambrose a dry look and say "It's not a portal to hell." Ambrose returns the look as he points to the wall and says "How can you be so damn sure?" I look back to the wall and shrug as I say "It doesn't feel like hell. I was just there, I'd know."

Ambrose grits his teeth in frustration as I start walking back towards the door to leave. "Why are you looking at me like I'm the one who did this?" I ask with a pointed look. Ambrose points back at the wall as he raises his voice saying "Isn't it always you!? You're always at the center of this shit!"

Kian follows me to the door as he speaks up and says "It looks like you'll be busy from now on Vampire. It looks like your the center of this one... literally." Ambrose glares at Kian as I say "Look, I'll come back and check on it every day but I kinda have my hands full at the moment."

Ambrose finally looks back to me and reaches into his pocket. He pulls something out and tosses it to me. I quickly reach up and grab it as he says "That might be what you're looking for." I look down at the USB Stick with a frown and ask "What I'm looking for?"

Ambrose walks over and says "On a certain church boy." before walking past me. I tighten my hand around the USB stick and go to say 'Thanks' but the Vampire was already gone. Kian steps close and asks "Church boy?"

I tighten my hand around the USB and say "Tristan... Let's go."

After getting back home, I plug the USB into my laptop and smile when I see a single file pop up. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. I blindly reach down and answer it as I click on the file. "Hallows! I've been calling you for the past twenty minutes!" Harris says with a few curses.

The file on the computer opens up to show several grainy shots of Tristan and a few men I've never seen before. I click through the pictures as I say "I'm extremely busy, Harris. What's wrong?" Harris sighs and says "We're cleaning up this mess at the church but I still haven't found the evil rose you mentioned. Was that metaphoric or literal?"

I stop on the last picture as I say "Literal but don't worry... I know who has it." Harris tries to ask what's going on but I hang up the phone and glare at the picture. Tristan is seen in the picture, holding the flower close to his lips with an evil grin on his face.

Son of a .... Kian glares at the picture and asks "Who the hell is that?" I lean back in my chair as I say "That, is probably the mastermind behind all of this. I'm certain he's the bastard who killed my mother and the one who has my father and brother."

I click on a few other reports and smile when I see that it actually has the location. I write it down on a piece of paper and say "I think it's time to pay the bastard a visit." After getting dressed, I use my magic to fix my car and head to the location with Kian.

The closer we get, the more rural it becomes and before I know it, we're on a dirt path leading through the woods. After another ten minutes or so, I pull the car to a stop in front of an old broken-down church. The same one in the photos.

I turn the car off but don't get out. Kian looks to the church with sharp eyes before saying "This is no longer holy ground." I slightly nod as I say "That doesn't surprise me. I don't like how easy it was to find this place and how easy it was for us to pull up like this."

I lean back in my seat as I say "It's almost like they wanted us to find them and now they're welcoming us in." Kian narrows his eyes as he says "I don't like this." I sigh and say "Welcome to the club, let's go."

I open the door right as thunder rolls in the distance. I look around the outside of the abandoned church before walking up to the front doors. No point in sneaking in when they laid out a welcome mat like this.

As I walk up the wood rotted steps, Kian follows me from close behind with sharp eyes. When I reach the front doors, I see they're left slightly open so I kick them open and stand in the doorway. Church pews are mostly left untouched while others are broken or flipped.

Faint sunlight floods in through the large stained glass murals taking up an entire wall behind the podium at the very front. A lone figure can be seen leaning against the podium, slowly twisting a white rose between his fingers.

He slowly turns to look at me before saying "It's good to see you again Eris. I've been counting the days until I would get to see those beautiful eyes of yours again." Kian lets out a low growl as I say "Tristan... I'm afraid I can't say the same."

His hazel eyes dance with delight as he says "That's okay. All that matters now is that you're here."