Chương 10: Family Drama
The park was strangely empty as storm clouds started rolling over the city. But deep into the park, by a massive oak tree, we're Vanessa and Vamps, both staring each other down.
Vanessa rested her hands on her hips. "So…were you followed?" She looked back towards the direction of where Vamps came from, making sure no one was tailing her.
Vamps scoffed, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. "What do you take me for? Of course I wasn't followed!" She held up her phone, the screen showing the text Vanessa sent; "Now talk! What do you know about the attack on Ares!"
Vanessa sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Since when did you start caring about anything other than pleasing your bastard of a father?" She looked up as Vamps, seeing her snarling. Vanessa shrugged, walking over to Vamps; "Look, I'm not here to start trouble Vamps." Vanessa reached into her back pocket, pulling out a folded up sheet of paper and holding it out towards her; "I'm here to give you this."
Vamps took the paper, looking at it curiously, then at Vanessa, raising an eyebrow. Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Just read the damn thing!"
Vamps sighed, shaking her head as she unfolded the paper, noticing it was a letter. It was addressed to the head of the Crimsonwing family, Vermillion, Vanessa's father. And it's signed from… "What the hell?" Vamps almost couldn't believe what she was reading.
'Vermillion Crimsonwing,
It has come to my attention that one of Scarroth's experiments is alive, thanks to that traitorous filth, Ticoré, and is taking his vengeance out on the royal Families. I am entrusting you to the matter of taking care of the filthy creature once and for all. I trust you know what will happen if you disappoint me.
See to it that the abomination is dealt with post haste.
Draique Blackscale.'
Vamps' wings were open slightly, her hands shaking as she gripped the note tight. "This is…You're telling me…my father put out a hit on Ares?!"
Vanessa raised one of her hands to hold her arm, looking down slightly. "I'm sorry Vamps…I thought if I talked to Ares and cleared the attack on Dreg as a simple brawl, then maybe dad would have turned down the request…" Vanessa looked up at Vamps; "I desperately tried getting him to call off the hit, but he said that the other families were probably going after him as well."
Vamps clenched the note, snarling in anger. "Because of my father, I'm sure." Vamps growled, tearing the note to pieces, letting the shreds fall to the ground; "That self centered, pompous jackass!"
Vanessa moved her hand from her arm to her hip. "So what should we do?" Vanessa was doing her best to keep composed, but the fact that Draique got all of the families after Ares had her worried.
Vamps finished ripping up the note, then took a slow deep breath to try and calm down. She then brushed her hair back and took her phone out, looking at Vanessa. "Simple. We let Ares know what's going on. Hard to kill a target if he's aware, right?"
Vamps dialed up Ares' number, holding the phone up to her ear. "Hey Ares, we need to…huh? Abby? I thought you said Ares was awake?..could you pass him the phone please? It's important."
After a second or 2, Vamps' wings opened slightly, her cheek scales turning a slight red. "H-Hey Ares, I have some info on why you were attacked…huh?" She looked at Vanessa, slightly confused; "Y-Yeah she's here with me, why?" Vamps held her phone out. Turning it to speaker.
"Can you hear me, miss Vanessa Crimsonwing?" Ares' voice came through the phone.
Vanessa looked at Vamps, just as confused. "Yeah I can hear you. Did you want to tell me something?"
"Yes. I want you to pull some strings for me, and get me in contact with the Royal Families."
Vamps and Vanessa looked at each other in shock, Vanessa shaking her head to collect her thoughts. "Are you insane?! Listen! The Royal Families have put out a hit on you! You can't just-"
"I'm well aware." Ares interrupted; "Abby and I have one of the would-be assailants with us now."
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A few hours earlier at the hospital, Abby and the group walked out the front of the hospital, leading with Ares in a wheelchair, who is rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Why must they insist that I use the wheelchair?" Ares groaned; "My legs are just fine."
Abby, pushing the chair, giggled softly. "It's just guidelines, Ares. Now that we're outside, you can walk."
Ares sighed, standing up and stretching. Sadie leaned forward, her arms folded behind her back, looking up at Ares. "Are you sure you're ok?"
Ares nodded, smiling warmly. "I'm perfectly fine. The Doctor gave me the all clear, though he told me to take it easy the next few days."
Kip leaned against Ares' side, resting his hand against Ares' chest. "Well why don't I help take care of you?" He then playfully walked his fingers up Ares' chest; "I could even help you bathe~"
Thomas quickly grabbed Kip's tail and tugged it, making him 'Yip!' as he tumbled back. "Ow! Tommy! Every time with the tail!"
Ares cleared his throat, looking back towards Abby. "Actually, Miss Abby agreed to accompany me to my dorm to make sure I make it there with no trouble."
Sadie's ears twitched, giving Abby a coy smile, her tail flicking. "Oh did she now?~" She then stood back up, taking Rachel's arm; "Well then, the 4 of us should go and have some fun!"
Rachel looked at Sadie confused. "But shouldn't we-" She then let out a slight 'oof.' as Sadie gently elbowed her side; "Uh…I mean y-yeah! Let's go to the mall!"
Kip and Thomas quickly caught on, and the 4 waved goodbye to Abby and Ares. Abby was blushing a deep red. 'Sadie I swear…why did you make such a big deal about this??'
Abby shook her head to clear her mind, moving in front of Ares, smiling at him. "So! Mind if we take the long way to the dorms? We can go to the park and enjoy a little change of scenery!"
Ares' ears twitched slightly, then raised his hand to his chin. "Hmm…That sounds rather nice." He moved his hand to his chest, bowing slightly; "Very well, Miss Abby. I shall accompany you to the park."
Abby felt her cheeks grow warm again as Ares raised his head, smirking playfully. She puffed out her cheeks, giving his shoulder a gentle punch. "Cut it out!"
Abby and Ares headed towards the Park, Abby taking Ares through a street filled with vendors, selling random trinkets and street food. Abby excitedly took Ares to a bunch of the vendors, both of them enjoying the fun and food before continuing towards the park.
Abby, still nibbling on some cotton candy on a stick, was humming as she walked next to Ares. Ares, however, was secretly looking back where they came from. There is a fairly decent crowd around them, but Ares noticed one figure in particular.
'No doubt he's following us.' Ares thought. He looked at Abby, still eating her cotton candy. "Abby." Ares kept his voice quiet enough so only she could hear, Abby looking up at him curiously; "From here on, follow me, and make sure to act normal."
Abby saw the look in Ares' eyes and knew something was wrong. She nodded, talking quietly enough so only Ares could hear. "Are we being followed?"
Ares nodded. "They've been tailing us since the food stalls." Ares noticed an Alleyway coming up on their left; "Over there. Down the alley. It's secluded enough so no one will see us."
Abby felt her heart start racing as they both walked towards the alley. She tried keeping calm, but her mind was racing. 'What do we do? What if they have a gun? What if Ares gets hurt again?'
"Abby." Ares' voice made her jump slightly, looking up at him; "When we get there, hide. I'll deal with this annoyance." He looked down, keeping his face looking forward; "I'll protect you with my life."
Abby felt her heart skip a beat hearing that. 'No one has ever said that before…' Abby thought. She could feel her cheeks growing warm again. She wanted to punch Ares' arm again, but she decided to save it for later.
As the 2 walked into the alley, Abby quickly moved to get behind a dumpster, Ares hiding just out of sight. A few seconds later, the figure tailing them jogged over to the alley, looking around. Abby could see a bit of him through rotted holes in the dumpster. The figure was tall, wearing a dark hoodie and jeans. Their tail was flicking, and from what Abby saw, it looked scaly, like a serpent's tail.
The figure walked into the alley slowly, looking around. "Huh…where'd they go?" The figure was mumbling, but Abby could tell by the base that it was a male.
Suddenly, there was a ruckus. To Abby's shock, Ares moved in and, in the blink of an eye, grabbed the stalker by the throat and had him pinned to the wall a good 2 feet off the ground. The figure didn't have time to react before Ares slammed his fist next to his head, cracking the wall of the alley.
"Make a noise, you die." Abby felt a shiver run down her spine as Ares spoke. His voice was entirely different from before; "Move so much as a single Muscle, you Die." Ares' voice was deep, with a sinister growl to it; "You do anything other than what I say, you Die." Abby looked through the holes of the dumpster, and saw Ares glaring at the figure; "If you understand, blink twice."
The serpent, who's hoodie slipped off his head, was staring in terror of Ares. He saw the look in Ares' eyes, and knew he wasn't dealing with a simple herbivore like he originally thought. As he blinked twice, his body frozen with fear, he knew what he was dealing with…a monster.
Ares glared at the serpent, slowly removing his fist from the indent he made in the wall. "First question. Blink once for no, and twice for yes. Did the Royal families hire you to follow us?" He tightened his grip around the serpent's neck; "Lie to me, and I'll snap your neck."
The serpent gasped for air, but didn't dare to try and reach for his neck. He blinked twice, Ares' grip loosening slightly to allow him to breathe.
"Second question. We're you involved with the bastard that tried to shoot me?" Ares tightened his grip again. The serpent closed his eyes tight, then opened them; "Third question, and make sure to think before you answer." Ares lowered the serpent slightly, glaring in the eyes; "Did the Royal Families send you to your death?"
The serpent's face was filled with fear, his whole body shaking as he saw the look of a predator in Ares' eyes. The serpent's eyes start to form tears as he closed his eyes tight, then opened them. Ares snarled as he slammed his fist into the serpent's abdomen, the force of the hit knocking the wind from his lungs, making the serpent black out. Ares let his neck go as he fell to the ground. "Good job, you passed."
Ares looked over at Abby, giving her the all clear. As she walked up, Ares started going through the serpent's pockets for any info. While he was doing that, Ares' phone started going off. He rolled his eyes and handed the phone to Abby. "Answer that for me, please."
Abby took his phone and answered it. "Hel…Vamps? Is that you?…Um, well he is awake, but he's kinda busy?…um, ok." Abby held the phone towards Ares; "Vamps wants to talk to you. She said it's important."
Ares, finding nothing of use in the serpent's pockets, stood up and took the phone. "Vampirium…before that, is Vanessa there with you?…good. Put me on speaker." Ares knew this was his best shot at getting answers; "Can you hear me, miss Vanessa Crimsonwing?"
"Yeah I can hear you." Vanessa's voice sounded slightly confused; "Did you want to tell me something?"
"Yes. I want you to pull some strings for me, and get me in contact with the Royal Families." Ares looked at Abby, who looked shocked at the request.
"Are you insane?!" Vanessa's voice nearly cracked; "Listen! The Royal Families have put out a hit on you! You can't just-"
"I'm well aware." Ares interrupted; "Abby and I have one of the would-be assailants with us now." He glared at the unconscious figure on the ground; "A serpent, just like the previous assailant from the hospital." He then looked down the alley towards the main road; "Now quickly, think. Which of the Royal families have serpents to do their dirty work?"
Ares heard a sigh, then Vamps' voice. "As much as I hate to say, my family would fit. The serpents have been licking my fathers heels to gain his favor for years. No doubt they'd happily take an assassination contract to better themselves in his eyes."
Ares gripped the phone tighter. "So, the Blackscales are after me, but what of the other families? Are the Crimsonwings under the Blackscale's heel as well?"
"Hey!" Vanessa snarled, sounding like she snatched the phone from Vamps; "For Your information, I tried telling my father you weren't attacking the families! I even asked him to call off the hit! So don't think we-"
"So that's a 'yes' then." Ares interrupted. He took in a long deep breath; "And the other families?"
A feint ruckus from the other side of the call made Ares think Vamps must have took back the phone. "Well I doubt the Equestrians would do anything like this. The Emberwings, maybe. But they wouldn't send serpents. They'd send their own. So if a Phoenix attacks you, then that answers that."
Ares nodded. "So from that information, it seems that potentially 3 of the families are after me. In that case, would it be possible to meet with the Equestrian Royal Family to try and gain their assistance in reasoning with the other families?"
"No problem!~" A strange voice from the phone took everyone by surprise. It sounded like…a young girl?
"Uh…" Vamps' voice came through the phone; "Who was that?"
"It's Me, silly!" The little girl's voice came back; "Gumball! Don't tell me you forgot!"
"Wait…wha…H-How did you intercept this call??" Ares practically demanded an answer, completely dumbfounded at this.
"Oh, that? Hehe~ Well if you want me to tell you, you'll have to meet me and my big brother!" As Gumball mentioned this, Ares looked at Abby, completely lost for words; "You wanted to meet with the Equestrian Royal Family, right? Well, me and my big brother are the Heirs to the throne! So who better to help you out?"
"Wh-Now hold on a second!" Vamps' voice came through again; "You mean to tell me You and Starlight are willing to help? Just like that?? How do we know this isn't a setup?" Vamps' worries seemed solid, especially to Ares. For all he knew, the Equestrians could be trying to lure him into a trap.
"Duh!" Gumball's voice came back with a childish smugness to it; "Cuz we're friends! Why would I do something so mean to a friend?? Now are you gonna come and see us, or not?"
Ares looked at Abby, wondering how she was taking all this. Abby looked up at Ares, smiled, and nodded. Ares could tell Abby trusted Gumball, so he felt that he could trust her as well. "Very well, miss Gumball." Ares looked towards the entrance of the alley again; "Where should we meet you?"
"Hmmm…How about the Principal's office, say around 8 o'clock tonight?" Gumball giggled; "I'm sure Miss Phoenix won't ask any questions if I ask nicely to borrow her office for a little while~"
Ares checked his phone for the time, reading 12:37pm. "That gives us a little over 7 hours. That'll work just fine. Do you have any objections, miss Vamps and miss Vanessa?"
"None here." Vamps responded; "So we'll meet up at 8 at principal Phoenix's office. I'm sure she won't have any problems with Vanessa being there if I bring her along with me."
"Then it's settled. We'll meet you there." Ares hung up his phone, putting his phone away. He let out a sigh, looking towards Abby; "Sorry about the delay." He bowed slightly; "Now, I believe we were heading to the park?"
Abby looked at Ares, then the figure still unconscious on the ground, then back at Ares. The feeling she felt earlier was gone, and he was calm and composed as usual.
Abby had a feeling that Ares was hiding something, ever since they first met Vamps. But seeing what happened, she knew that there was something still hiding behind his calm demeanor. As she walked with him towards the main road to head to the park, she gently took his hand and leaned against him, happy to have someone like him as her friend.
As they walked out of the alley, a shadow slowly crept over the unconscious serpent. As quickly as the body is engulfed in the dark shadow, it disappears, leaving a splatter of blood and scales.
To be continued.
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