Agnes stood in front of the church, staring at the painted windows and high walls of Saint Louis.
She sighed and crushed under her feet the half smoked cigarette she was holding.
Agnes looked at the church again and went into the church.
“Miss Agnes,” the priest said, facing the altar with his back to Agnes “you’re finally here.”
“You sent for me.” Agnes said cautiously.
“Why yes I did,” the priest said, still standing with his back to Agnes.
“What do you want?” She asked rather carefully. She looked around, all the crossses in the church were covered with purple cloth.
“Nothing much,” the priest continued.
Then he turned around to face her.
His eyes were grey and stone cold. The white cassock he was wearing contrasted with his ebony black skin.
“I just need you to do me a little favour.” The priest said smiling.
Agnes stepped back.
“And what would that favour be?” She asked, confused.
The priest took a step closer to Agnes who backed away.
“Don’t be afraid Miss Agnes,” the priest said, bringing out something from his pocket.
It was a cross.
“Look at our Lord!” The priest yelled, holding the cross in Agnes’ face.
Agnes screamed out in agony as three men ran out of their hiding places to hold her down.
“Show us your true face, you agent of Lucifer!” The priest yelled again, bringing the cross closer to Agnes’ face.
Agnes screamed again and fell to her knees.
Her eyes turned completely black and her fangs came out in full. Her nails grew into claws as she screamed in an unearthly manner.
The men immediately backed away from the vampire and scattered in different directions.
“Don’t be cowards,” the priest yelled, “hold her!”
But while he was shouting, the priest took the cross out of Agnes’ face for a moment.
Agnes seized the chance and fled as fast as her supernatural speed could take her.
“She’s gone!” The priest shouted, frustrated, “how are we supposed to rid Darfalls of these beasts if the men that are supposed to help me are busy running like children!”
“We’re sorry Father.” One of the men said, peering from behind a pew.
“Get out of there and let us find another way to get the other beasts.” The priest shouted again, he was getting more than a little angry at the men.
Kenneth and Lucy stood in the balcony of an old, abandoned building at the end off the street.
It was a deserted place, it was the only place they could kidnap a vampire without attracting attention.
As it was late in the night, their senses were heightened.
“I still can’t believe we’re doing this.” Lucy said lightly, trying to suppress her anxiety.
“We have to.” Kenneth replied gravely.
“Someone’s coming.” Lucy mouthed, her keen ears picking up the sound of footsteps down the road.
Kenneth kept perfectly still, trying to find out if the person coming was a vampire or a human.
The speed of the person’s footsteps made him conclude that the passer-by was a vampire.
Lucy spotted the lady and ducked behind the wall to avoid being spotted.
Kenneth followed her example and ducked.
The person was coming closer.
Lucy looked at Kenneth and signaled with her hands. In a flash, she went down to the road and stood in front of the oncoming vampire.
The lady retraced her steps immediately but Kenneth was already standing behind her.
“What do you want?” She asked.
“Nothing much,” Kenneth replied.
“We don’t mean to hurt you,” Lucy said, trying to calm her.
“Then what do you want?” The lady asked again.
“We need your help.” Lucy said, trying to make her look into her eyes.
“With what?” The lady asked.
She was already staring into Lucy’s eyes, she couldn’t pull her eyes away.
Lucy made sure that she didn’t break eye contact with her.
Lucy’s dark eyes glowed with a golden hue as she stared into the lady’s blue eyes which in turn, turned completely black.
She had no soul.
“Nevermind,” Lucy said, breaking eye contact with the lady, “we thought you were someone else.”
“Next time look closely before you stop people on the street!” The lady sneered and zoomed off.
“She didn’t have a soul?” Kenneth asked, disappointed.
“No.” Lucy replied.
“How did you know?” Kenneth asked again, still unsure as to how Lucy found out.
“Vampires with souls can identify those with or without souls.” Lucy explained.
“By hypnotizing them?” Kenneth asked.
“No,” Lucy replied, “by looking into their eyes.”
To explain, she looked into Kenneth’s eyes. He found himself unable to pull away from her gaze.
He noticed her eyes glow but his turned completely black.
“Your eyes turned black and not golden.” Lucy said, “it means you don’t have a soul.”
Kenneth nodded, he understood but he also realized that it would be hard to find a vampire with a soul.
Father John walked down the street with the three men who had been with him earlier in the day. He was still angry about losing Agnes but he reasoned that if they caught at least one vampire, he would be able to forget their earlier failure.
Father John wished that he had more people to help him but unfortunately, the people of Saint Louis would not be very happy to hear that their priest needed volunteers to help him hunt down vampires (which to them didn’t exist in the first place).
The men he had with him had come to him first, claiming to have seen vampires. They were the only people that would agree to such a seemingly mad mission.
“Stop.” He whispered to the men.
They all stopped dead in their tracks, the crucifixes they wore heaving with their chests.
One of the men saw a blur move past him.
Another one of the men was certain that he heard a chuckle.
The priest raised a cross.
“Whatever you are, come out!” He shouted.
The chuckling became louder and soon they saw figures jumping down from buildings and surrounding them.
“Father!” One of the men shouted, pointing to a man who had seemingly appeared from nowhere and was now standing in front of them.
“I rebuke you, Lucifer!” The priest shouted, holding up the cross.
The vampires that surrounded them cackled.
“This is going to be fun.” The vampire that stood in front of them said, baring his fangs.