With the first early sounds of cawing birds, Leandre slowly walked down the wooden stairs. His hand gripped the rail, eyes moved over to the spot where Edwin was sitting on a chair. His usually unkempt shirt, now seemed to be at least ironed and buttoned up all the way to his neck.
The man looked defeated, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes focused on one spot on the wall. Behind him a young girl with shoulder-length black hair, tried to comb his stiff gray hair back.
"Mira- be gentle with me-" Edwin groaned as the young girl dragged the comb through his tangled hair. "You're trying to scalp me."
The girl scoffed as she once again tried running her fingers and the comb through his hair. No matter how much she tried, all the hair bounced back to their original direction.
"You wouldn't have to suffer if you brushed your hair daily-" The girl shot back.
And so she tossed the comb to the table, her slim arms crossed in frustration.
"Honestly, you look homeless. This is not the look of a man attending a funeral." Her green eyes scanned his attire with a deep scowl.
Edwin only hummed slightly. Brutal honesty or not, the girl was right. His youthful years already passed and now all that was left was a shell of his previous self. Bitter, distrustful old man with only one purpose in his life. Killing vampires.
At some point, other people's opinions mean less than the snow that melted last winter.
"Don't give me that look child. That's the best shirt I own."
"Then burn the rest," she muttered. "Try not to look like a wild man when we leave, at least. People talk enough as it is."
Leandre slowly made his way towards the bathroom, not even daring to glance over at Mira in fear of becoming her next target. She had a way of turning her attention like a hawk — swift and merciless. She would surely pull out half of his long blonde hair if he was in Edwin's place.
Once inside the darker room he took a moment to fix his appearance in the small mirror hanging on the wall. It was a simple square mirror with a barely noticeable crack in the corner.
With skilled fingers Leandre tied his hair back with a dark silk ribbon.
That was the best he could do. Living in Falkbrook for about a year now slowly grew on him. The memory of his old much richer home sometimes gave him nostalgia, but things that were in the past had to stay there. Sulking over it wouldn't change much. Besides, staying in the place where it all happened would drive him completely insane, like it did with his mother.
The young man didn't know what to expect once they made their way to the graveyard. How many people would be there? Would they even be let in? They had no connections to the Miller's family after all.
Dark clouds slowly gathered on the pale sky from the early morning, suggesting upcoming rain or even worse than that. The air was slightly colder than the previous day and harder to breathe in. Tall trees and grass bent to the wind, a faint creaking came from the trunks.
Once they arrived the cemetery gate was open, but even then it didn't look inviting. The brick wall was overgrown with moss and other weeds, some holes here and there were scattered. Row after row of old and fresh gravestones laid thick. All sizes from big, family tombs to small, children sized ones were visible from the first step inside.
Leandre couldn't take his eyes away from all the stones they passed by. His expression once determined faltered, lips parted slightly as they moved deeper into the graveyard. On the other hand Edwin didn't bat an eye as he led Leandre and Mira deeper in.
Moments later they reached the ceremony point. They weren't exactly invited to the funeral of Miller's boy. Usually only the family and a pastor was present but no one seemed particularly surprised when Edwin and his two underlings appeared on the gloomy, damp cemetery grounds. Fog hadn't lifted from the place for days on end now, to no one's surprise.
The body was already resting in the freshly dug hole. Hands and legs tightly tied with ropes. The corpse was very skinny, lips dry and eyes sunken deep into the sockets. The skin was pale with an alarming shade of purple and blue. Even though the body was discovered the previous day it looked like the boy was dead for way longer than that. A curved blade was fixed just above his neck, almost pressing to the skin.
Leandre's eyes moved to the grieving family. The mother of the boy stood close to her husband. Her eyes swollen and red from crying were staring at her late son. Soft sobs could be heard from her, ragged and weakening, as if even grief was growing too heavy. Something in her expression was unreadable. It seemed like her brain couldn't figure out if the body in the hole was actually her child. The father on the other hand kept his eyes to the ground, hat in his hand as he stood stiffly. Out of them all their youngest child, a boy not older than 10 had by far the most neutral reaction. The boy only stood there, hand holding his moms skirt as cold expressionless eyes stared into the grave. Not a single muscle on his face seemed to move.
"What's that for-?" Leandre subtly pointed at the blade secured over the neck.
"Don't they do that where you're from? It's to ensure the body stays buried. Crude but effective. If the corpse rose, the blade would sever the head."
Leandre's eyes slowly drifted back to the grave where the gravekeeper started to cover it up. The old man looked like he had seen unspeakable things in his life. Messy unkempt hair fell over his face, rough scarred hands worked the old shovel with practiced ease.
Heavy, sogged dirt filled the hole bit by bit. The body soon disappeared completely, leaving only a fresh spot of loose soil, still uneven and freshly turned.
The man glanced over at Leandre, one brown eye glinting, the other a blind, milky orb fixed motionless. He grinned, revealing yellow teeth or rather the lack of most of them.
The gravekeeper's good eye moved from Leandre to Edwin and then back again, he shook his head with a hoarse cackle and went back to digging. Once the body was under a heavy layer of earth the withered man made sure to stomp it down a good few times.
The gravekeeper licked his dry lips. "Making sure the ground is hard~ harder to dig through~." He cackled again.
What an unpleasant character. Just the mere eye contact gave Leandre a shiver running down his body. His face soured, blue eyes quickly looking away from the withered man — just in time to see Miller's wife step forward, her face pale and trembling.
"Did you see — Did you see what that thing did with my son? Tell me I — I'm not insane. Say that this is not happening — how could this be?" Her wide eyes fell from Edwin's face to the ground, her shaking hands moved up to her chest, holding on to the spot where her heart was breaking.
"Aren't you supposed to be hunting these things down? Please… you need to get rid of that — that thing. How are we supposed to live — knowing it's somewhere here."
Edwin's hand gently rested on her shoulder in reassurance.
"What happened to your child is a tragedy, I share your grief and I promise to do my best to find the thing that took him from you." His words seemed to have the expected reaction. The woman nodded her head as more tears and sobs escaped.
Her husband on the other hand didn't seem as easy to calm down. The man approached in an aggressive manner. His hand grabbing his wife's elbow to lead her away.
"Leave the man alone, Judith. His promises are worth as much as the mud I walk on" the old man spat at the ground before dragging his wife away. Their young son followed after them but his cold eyes were glancing over at the uninvited guests.
Edwin looked at them with understanding, his eyes seemed almost soft as if he didn't hold a grudge and actually accepted the insults thrown at him. Leandre observed them quietly. The change in Edwin's approach seemed almost unnatural to him. From a bitter and grumpy man to a caring and compassionate person.
Finally, the family was out of view and just like that Edwin's soft stare returned to the usual calculated and piercing gaze.
Leandre knew only a few things about Edwin, one of them being his late wife, brutally taken from this world. That was something everyone knew around here. People whispered and silently judged the older man. How could someone who couldn't save his wife save anyone else? That was their usual topic of discussion.
Edwin never addressed that. He rather turn his head away and pretend he didn't hear them whisper.
"Why did we really come here?" The question was accusatory but it didn't seem to bother Edwin in the slightest.
"I had to see for myself." His stare went back to the grave. The old gravekeeper stood there, watching them shamelessly.
"There were multiple bite marks… could have been more than one vampire." His rough hand brushed through his hair as he continued.
"And that's the second reason" He subtly pointed to one of the older looking graves. An unkept tomb with various plants slowly growing over it stood nearby. One plant in particular stood out from the rest. Flower like with a nice purple shade on the petals.
"Gravevine Vesper?" Mira pointed out. It was a rare plant, seen only at graveyards and churchyards.
Edwin nodded slightly, his eyes following the gravekeeper who seemed to be observing them insolently.
"Very poisonous to humans, animals… and vampires." He explained.
"So… are we taking it or are you here to just admire?" Mira raised an eyebrow.
Mira's hand was already reaching when Edwin grabbed her forearm—any slower, and she'd have plucked it then and there.
"We can't pluck it while he's watching. One of us will have to get it later."
"And why is that? What's he gonna do about it?" Mira argued, her voice raising slightly.
"He takes his role as a gravekeeper very seriously. Better to not anger him."
Both Leandre and Mira exchanged a look. "Why not look for some near the church?" Leandre suggested.
Edwin stilled suddenly, his jaw clenching. "I'd rather take the risk with a gravekeeper."
Both Leandre and Mira stared at him with disbelief. Was that man serious? What possibly could make a man like Edwin rather steal weeds from a graveyard than just simply asking a priest for some? A man deeply rooted in faith surely would allow them to take the flower?
The young girl gave him a suspicious look, his words made no sense to her.
"What? Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?"
"You did something, didn't you?" Mira accused, green eyes scanning Edwin's face, looking for any sign of confirmation.
"Me? It's the damn priest! You tell him one time to stop nagging at you for not attending church and he bans you from even approaching near the gate"
Leandre shook his head in disbelief, a hand went up to cover his mouth quickly as he snorted.
Mira raised an eyebrow. "That's it? I find it hard to believe this is the only reason."
"I might have spat out that his holy water is good for nothing… It's not my fault he took it so personally."
Mira's jaw went slack, eyes unblinking as she stared at the man. No. He can't be serious right now.
"You are a helpless man, helpless I say. Can't go a day without burning bridges."
Edwin waved his hand dismissively. "The priest was no help, just wasting my damn time"
Mira and Leandre looked at each other as Edwin kept on spatting out insults at the pastor, the old man's voice growing sharper with each word.
"Edwin — we should get going." That snapped Edwin back to the present situation. They were the only ones left at the cemetery… not counting the old gravekeeper who seemed to be busy doing whatever he was doing, though he clearly was watching them, waiting to see if they would leave.
His good eye glances between them and the ground as he's pacing from one spot to another. Lips moving in a quiet mutter, making it difficult to guess what he's saying.
"Right. Best we get moving." Edwin turned, his boots crunching against the gravel as he headed for the exit, muttering something under his breath as if trying to shake off the unease.
Mira and Leandre followed, their footsteps quickening as the gravekeeper's stare burned holes in their back.
The fog parted reluctantly around their legs. Old rusty gates creaked as they swung open and then slowly swung back into place with a drawn-out groan.
Wet slaps of shoes echoed between them making the silence a little bit more bearable.
Edwin walked ahead, each step landing with a wet sound of mud clinging to his shoes. Leandre followed a few paces behind, his eyes squinting, trying to sharpen his vision through the fog. Mira brought up the rear. She huffed in annoyance as her foot sank into a deep patch of mud, nearly pulling her boot from her foot.
Edwin cleaned his throat, catching the attention of the two. "When the night sets in you will go back to the cemetery to get the flower, Leandre."
The younger man raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you do it? —"
"At my age, I can't run fast enough." The sentence left Edvin's lips like it was the most casual thing to say but for Leandre it was a chilling threat.
Leandre's blood ran cold and the sudden feeling of unease swallowed him whole.
"What is that supposed to mean? — Edwin!" Edwins dry chuckle only increased the sinking feeling in Leandre's stomach.
"You wanted to go on a hunt, then face the difficulties that come with it."