LunarEclipse

Ch. 5 The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing—Part 1

Awkward…the entire situation could only be described as awkward. If Eclipse knew that his irritating ex-girlfriend was involved he never would have accepted the mission. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Vanessa skipped over to him and tightly wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Oh Eclipse darling! I missed you so much!” She squealed.

“I take it you two know each other?” Cecil questioned with mild interest. Eclipse pushed Vanessa away.

“We, uh…’dated’ a little while back,” he explained.

“But us meeting again like this…it must be because we were meant for each other!” Vanessa said with stars in her eyes. “I can’t wait to get back to the hotel now!”

“Hold it,” Cecil interrupted, “This isn’t a vacation. Eclipse has a job to do and it’s best if you stay out of his way, Miss Holmes.”

“Shut up, I can do whatever I damn well please and if I want Eclipse to stay with me than that is what’s going to happen.”

“I don’t get a say in this at all?” Eclipse asked, itching to get as far away from Vanessa as possible. Everyone was quiet for a moment until Cecil sighed heavily.

“Why don’t I just get another team?” she asked, “Miss Holmes can still have protection and the Vampire will be taken care of. But…” She focused her attention to Lunar and Eclipse, “You two won’t get paid.”

Eclipse nodded, that plan would work out perfectly for him. Granted, the amount of money offered for the job was huge. But he’d rather have no money than spend another minute with Vanessa. Eyeing Lunar, he hoped that he felt the same. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

“Can’t Engel serve as the girl’s bodyguard? I can handle the Vampires easily,” Lunar said, his voice low but confidant. It was quiet again. Eclipse stared pleadingly at Cecil, if she had any mercy at all she wouldn’t make him do it.

“That sounds fine,” she said.

‘Damn…’

---

“It’s about…Engel” Lunar started reluctantly.

“What about him?” Cecil inquired. Some how she knew it was going to be this.

“He’s a Vampire—“

“Yes, yes, we’re all well aware of that. Now what about it?”

“He can’t be trusted. What if he double crosses us?”

Exasperated, Cecil pinched the bridge of her nose, “We’ve monitored him closely…there is no way that’s possible. Aside from that, it’s already been three years. Don’t you think it’s time to let go of this stupid grudge?”

“Stupid…?” Lunar bit his bottom lip, “What the hell do you know?” He snapped, “It’s never happened to you, right? How would you react if some freak decided to kill the only family you ever had?”

Cecil stood up suddenly and slapped Lunar across the face, “Don’t drag me deeper into your problems by forcing me to answer that.”

Placing his hand gingerly over his cheek he spoke quietly, “I’m sorry.”  

“Look, don’t group Eclipse with the ones that killed Mireille. He’s not the type who could kill someone in cold blood…he’s too damn honest.”

“How do you know?”

“Believe me…once you get to know him you’ll understand.”

“I’m not going to get to know him.”

Cecil snorted, “You’re going to have to get along. This is your last chance, Lunar. In the last two months you’ve gone through 9 partners, brushing them all off before they even had a chance to prove themselves. If you screw this up again you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”

Shocked, Lunar looked up at her, “What do you mean?”

“If you can’t make this one work then the company will take away your license as a Hunter. Frankly you’re the best hunter that the Central headquarters has to offer. Don’t jeopardize it all because of something like this.”

Lunar stayed silent, completely defeated. He wanted to say something but the right words refused to form in his head.

“Who knows?” Cecil said, “Maybe getting close to Eclipse will help you…”

“Huh?”

---

Lunar’s cheek still stung a little, gritting his teeth in frustration he glared at Eclipse, he’d rather die than get anywhere near him. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on the mission. All he had to do was kill a couple of Vampires while Engel kept the girl out of the way. Simple enough.

It had been about an hour since they left the office. Lunar sat across Eclipse and Vanessa in her limousine. She kept clinging to Eclipse, whispering things in his ear that were no doubt inappropriate, and sending small glares Lunar’s way every couple of minutes. It wasn’t until later that the girl actually spoke to him.

“So…who are you again?” she asked, flipping bleached hair out of her eyes.

“Lunar Frost.”

“Oh…I don’t like you.”

“Yeah? Well you’re not the only one,” he folded his arms and glared out the tinted window of the vehicle.

“Wait a minute,” Eclipse said looking at Vanessa, “You don’t even know the guy…how can you say you don’t like him?”

She huffed, “He addressed me as ‘girl’ and as you know I’m not just some girl. I’m Miss Vanessa Holmes the sole heiress to my father’s fortune and should be addressed as that!”

“That’s still no reason to not like him,” Eclipse scolded.

Vanessa scowled, “What the hell? Why’re you taking his side?”

“Yeah…Why are you?” Lunar asked, cocking his head and, with an unreadable gaze, fixing his azure eyes on Eclipse. He had to admit, it was surprising to see Eclipse defending him. But it pissed him off, why didn’t he hate him like he should? Lunar was one of the top hunters in the company…didn’t it make more sense for Eclipse, a full-blooded Vampire, to detest him? Eclipse shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Well…” he started slowly, “It’s just that…you shouldn’t judge people like that…you know?”

“Oh, we’re here,” Charles interrupted. The vehicle came to a halt and Charles helped Vanessa out. By the time they got there the sun already began to set. Before they could go inside Lunar gabbed Eclipse’s wrist.

“What do you need?” Eclipse asked curiously, turning to face the smaller man. Quickly Lunar released his grip and stared blankly at his palm. What made him go and do something like that?

“Why did you do that?” Lunar asked, his bangs shielding his eyes from view.

“Do what? You have to be less cryptic, man.”

Lunar flinched and looked up. The burning glow of the setting sun gave his blue eyes a fiery glow, “Why did you feel the need to defend me back there?”

“Like I said, people shouldn’t be so judgmental. That’s all.” Was Engel mocking him?

“Dammit,” Lunar spat through clenched teeth, “Why can’t you be just like the rest of them?”

“Like the rest of who?”

Lunar ground his nails into the palms of his hands hard enough to break the skin. God, Engel was stupid! “Like everyone!” he blurted out, “Like everyone else, why don’t you hate me?” Eclipse stared at him, with wide, red eyes. Humiliated, Lunar turned his head and put his hand over his mouth, what made him say something like that? “N-never mind…forget I said anything. We need to…get to work.”

“Because I like you.”

“W-Wh…huh?”

“I don’t really get it…” Eclipse mumbled, shrugging his shoulders and sauntering inside

The inside of the building nearly knocked Lunar off his feet. The lobby was huge and lavishly decorated with black marble floors and expensive furniture around a large fireplace. In front of him was a staircase leading to the second and top floor. To his right an archway lead to the adjoining restaurant where employees were bustling about the room putting white tablecloths on the tables and straightening chairs and pictures. Lunar wasn’t expecting so many employees to actually be there. It didn’t matter unless they hung around while he was working then they probably would get in his way.

Speaking of getting in his way…Eclipse was still standing in front of him, ‘Useless…!’ Lunar stepped forward and shoved Eclipse. The Vampire stumbled, nearly losing his balance. Regaining his composure he turned and glared at Lunar.

“What the hell?!” He demanded, annoyance burning behind his red eyes.

“Don’t just stand there! You’re supposed to protect that spoiled brat. How are you going to do that when you two aren’t even in the same room?”

“I was just getting familiar with the building,” Eclipse argued. Frustrated, Lunar pulled a small stack of papers out of his jacket and shoved them in to Eclipse’s hands.

“Those are the blue prints of the building. Study those instead.”

“Fine, fine…” Eclipse sighed. With pouting lips he snatched the papers from Lunar’s hands and stalked off to find Vanessa.  

With Eclipse out of the way Lunar introduced himself to the man who called the company for help, the manager. The tall middle-aged man looked worried, his small eyes darting left and right.

“S…since last week, they—the Vampires—have been breaking in and attacking the staff. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, they grabbed the nearest person and slit their throat—“

“Wait. You mean they cut the victims’ throats open with a knife? That doesn’t make any sense,” Lunar said, folding his arms, “Are you absolutely sure they were Vampires and not some twisted serial murderer?”

“Yes, I’m sure…When I saw it, I was hiding behind the desk right over there,” the man pointed to the wooden desk near the entrance, “Their fangs grew over their lips. They didn’t drink the blood…they let it flow into buckets saying something about selling it.”

‘Well, that’s new…’ Lunar thought. “Can you tell me where most of the attacks happened?”

“Yes, of course,” the manager wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and led Lunar to the restaurant’s kitchen.

---

Eclipse trudged up the stairs, in no hurry to see Vanessa any time soon. There had to be a good excuse to get away from her.

“Eclipse! There you are!” Vanessa skipped over to him and clung to his arm, “My room is just down the hall…let’s have some fun.”

He cringed, normally he would have liked to play around a bit but…not with her. She was annoying. Not to mention he was working. And having sex on the job just didn’t sound right, “I’d love to but…I should really be work—“

He was silenced when Vanessa placed her finger on his lips, “All you have to do is protect me. As long as nothing can get near me you’re doing your job.”

As long as nothing can get near her…that gave Eclipse the perfect idea. Smirking, he let himself be dragged down the hall to Vanessa’s room. Once the door to the suite was closed and locked, she pulled him to the king sized bed and stood on her tiptoes to tried and kiss Eclipse. He skillfully moved his head away from her lips and pushed her on the bed. Towering over her he pressed his middle and forefinger between her eyes, red sparks glittered at his fingertips.

“Sleep,” he whispered as the spell slowly took its effect. Vanessa’s eyes slid shut and she was fast asleep. Eclipse straightened out, admiring his work and debating whether or not to hypnotize her into believing they never met before.

“One last thing to do…” he said to himself as he walked out the door.

Thankfully, the hallway was empty. Quietly shutting Vanessa’s door Eclipse placed his hands on the door and spread his fingers as far as he could. He had to focus his concentration on the entire suite if he wanted a barrier big enough to cover the entire room. Letting the warm, familiar sensation of magic flow through his body and gather at his hands, he let if free. Red sparks crackled from his palms and fingertips and a faint red glow spread outward, encasing the entire inside and outside of the room. Suddenly he felt exhausted, he leaned back against the door and braced his hands on his knees. The barrier he created moments ago flickered warningly at his presence.

“Maybe I did too good of a job,” he wondered out loud. If the magical barrier he conjured was so strong that he couldn’t reverse it then…Vanessa might be stuck in there for a while. At least then she wouldn’t be able to bother anyone. Shrugging it off and assuming the barrier would disappear eventually, he strolled to the stairs eager to help Lunar with finding the Vampire instead of babysitting. But as soon as Eclipse took one step down the staircase his vision blurred. Panting, he clutched the railing for support as the world around him spun.

“Darn it…” He slurred, screwing his eyes shut, willing the dizziness to stop. His heel slipped on the top step and he tumbled down the stairs, landing on his back.

“Are you alright?” Someone inquired sounding distant and muffled. Eclipse cracked one eye open to see who it was but all he could make out was a hazy figure of a young man. His eyes closed again and darkness overcame his tired body.

‘Lunar…?’

---

A faint prickling feeling gnawed at the nape of Lunar’s neck. He turned his head to look behind him, expecting to see someone standing there. But there was nothing behind him. Feeling uneasy, he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Strange…” he could have sworn he heard Eclipse’s voice just then.

“Is something the matter?” the manager asked, opening the door to the kitchen.

“No, it’s nothing.”

TBC