Chapter 38: Knock Knock

“That’s the same figure I saw before!” Amelia shouted, pointing a finger at the door.

“Why isn’t your magic removing it off the property?” Silvana asked, joining Bruce’s side and readying herself for a fight.

“The spell only repels werewolves,” Amelia said.

“So whatever that thing is out there, it’s something we’ll need to dispose of the old-fashioned way,” Bruce said. His fingers extended out and into sharp silver claws.

The doorbell rang again, and the figure poked its hooded head beside the window by the door. No features could be seen beneath its hood or robe, and it gave off a chilling vibe for the three to see a person hidden by clothing as dark as the night itself.

“We shouldn’t answer,” Amelia said, taking a step back. Maybe Bruce and Silvana were up for another battle, but Amelia wasn’t. Her arm and back and neck were sore, and all she wanted was to heed Solaris’s advice and take an evening to relax.

But no matter how much she hoped this problem went away on its own, Amelia knew this was something that needed to be dealt with immediately. She rolled her stiff shoulder and stood beside Bruce.

“On second thought,” Amelia said, “let’s get this over with.”

“That’s the spirit,” Bruce chuckled. He nodded at Amelia as a respect of her strength.

Silvana’s hand ignited with a purple flame and she said, seriously, “We’re stronger if the three of us attack at once.”

“Then that’s the plan,” Bruce said.

They approached the door with Bruce leading, and Bruce, his shoulder to the door and ready to pry it open, said, “State your business or never mutter another word again.”

“Oh,” the figure said confusedly, and as if it wasn’t taking the threat very seriously. “Now it sounds embarrassing to ask for a cup of sugar if my life is on the line.”

Silvana, Bruce, and Amelia all looked at each other as if they were being pranked.

“Is that Kurt?” Silvana asked.

“He’s enough of a smartass to be,” Amelia and Bruce said at the same time.

“But no, that’s definitely not Kurt,” Amelia added.

“Definitely not Kurt,” the figure said. “I live next door and heard the screaming. I was checking to make sure if everybody here was alright. There were spirits haunting the city before. I’m making sure nothing is in our neck of the woods.”

“Could this be a trap?” Bruce asked in a whisper so the figure wouldn’t hear him again. “Do you even have a neighbor, Amelia?”

“I mean, I suppose I could,” Amelia said, “but I’ve never seen or heard from them.”

“Alright, well,” the figure said, sort of annoyed. “You people are all very strange, and are speaking loud enough for me to still hear you. I wish you all happiness and health.”

Through the window, the trio watched as the figure walked away, its large robe swaying in the night’s smooth breeze.

Silvana sighed and shook her head.

“Let’s just open the door,” she said.

Bruce shrugged and opened it. After all, the figure was outnumbered, and Bruce was feeling his second wind hit him.

Silvana leaned against the doorframe, protecting the entrance should the figure try and enter. She tried not to seem menacing as she crossed her arms and Bruce towered behind her.

“Do you really need a cup of sugar?” Silvana asked with a raised brow.

The figure stopped in its tracks and removed its hood. Full and long blonde hair fell to the shoulders of its robe, and the figure turned around to address the trio. He was an incredibly handsome man with full features and a long, noble nose. His skin was as pale as marble, and his teeth sharper than most, and so porcelain white they gleamed in the moonlight. Despite the elegantly handsome man’s cold, pale blue eyes, he had a truthful innocence about him when he smiled with his razor teeth and said, “If you could spare a cup of sugar, I’d be immensely appreciative.”

Amelia leaned in under Bruce’s big arm, and she felt all the breath flow out of her lungs so quickly she nearly fainted.

She caught herself by clinging to Silvana, and although Amelia was not sporting her usual affair and was in only purple flannel pajamas, she pushed her hair over her shoulder sexily, flared her eyes and said, “I might have a cup of sugar in the cabinet for you, dear, but only if you tell me what you’re baking.”

“Cooking, actually,” the man said, stepping forward. He felt an instant attraction to Amelia and was not afraid to hide it as he swaggered back to the cabin porch. In the light over the porch, his hooded robe seemed far less menacing, and in fact seemed to be embroidered with darker, floral patterns of black silk. He had the kind of taste in clothing that was as rambunctious as it was bold, and Amelia’s heart fluttered again.

“I’m cooking my blood-red cranberry sauce,” the man smiled. “To go along with a pan-roasted duck I’ve got prepared.”

“Sounds decadent,” Amelia said, sizing the man up. “I always love when a man knows how to cook.”

“And I love when true talent is appreciated,” the man said with a wink. “If you make it two cups of sugar, I’d be happy to bring over a plate for you.”

“I think that’s our cue to leave and get the sugar,” Silvana said, arching her head towards the kitchen.

“I thought Amelia just said she was going to get the sugar?” Bruce asked, oblivious and sincerely.

Silvana gave Bruce a gentle and tamed stomp on his foot.

“Let’s go into the kitchen and get the sugar, love,” she reiterated.

Bruce snickered, gave the man on the porch a quick glance, then made for the kitchen with Silvana.

“He’s handsome,” Silvana remarked, digging through the cupboard for a plastic container.

Bruce retrieved a half-empty package of sugar, handed it to Silvana, and said, “I think he looks pasty, even for a vampire.”

Bruce observed the color of the sugar in the plastic container; it was similar to the shade of the man’s skin outside.

“Anybody beats Kurt for her,” Silvana said.

And that was Amelia’s exact thought too.

That, and all the things she’d like to have done to her by a man with a bit of muscle on him.

“So, do you have a name, Mr. Chef?” Amelia asked, folding her arms together to fend off the cold chill of the night, but to also bolster her breasts upwards.

“Angus,” the man said with a soft twirl of his hand and small bow. “Angus Prescott, at your service.”

Amelia bit the tip of her bottom lip and whispered, “Don’t make a girl a promise you can’t keep.”

Angus looked up at her and asked, “What was that?”

Even though he had heard her, he simply wanted to tease her. And, he greatly enjoyed the thought of how they might spend a night together should circumstances had differed than what they were that night.

Amelia twisted a lock of her hair around a finger and said, “All I said is that I don’t think you should be a stranger, Mr. Angus Prescott.”

Bruce and Silvana returned with the sugar and Amelia snatched it up quickly, then sped down the cabin steps to greet Angus.

“After all,” she said, handing Angus the container, “We are neighbors.”

Through a grateful half-smile, Angus said, “And neighbors should be very close, after all.”

“Close indeed,” Amelia said.

She wrapped her fingers around his and helped him close his hand around the container.

“My name is Amelia, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Angus.”

“The pleasure,” Angus said, relishing every moment Amelia’s fingers were beside his, “is all mine. Goodnight to you all, and thank you again.”

Angus walked off into the night, and Bruce, Silvana, and Amelia returned inside. They cooked themselves a grand meal, topped off dessert by splitting a bottle of brandy, and decided to all share a room so as to not at all feel alone.

They were all wiped, and Silvana collapsed into the bed.

“You girls take the bed,” Bruce said, rolling a blanket out on the small futon at the foot of the mattress that Silvana was on.

“Oh no,” Amelia said, pulling the blankets right out of Bruce’s hands. “You two lovebirds are sharing the bed. I’ll take the futon.”

“Amelia,” Bruce said. “It’s far less comfortable.”

“Oh Brucie,” Amelia chuckled. “It’s very cute that you’re being a gentleman and all, but I’ll be quite alright. I’m so tired I could fall asleep on the floor if I closed my eyes right now.”

And then the two heard a loud snore.

It was Silvana, and Bruce and Amelia shared in a moment of quiet laughter.

Bruce wrapped Silvana in comfortable blankets and carefully rested a pillow under her head.

Bruce shut the bedroom light off, crawled into bed, then heard Amelia say, “Hey Bruce, I’m glad you’re the one for Silvana. You’re a good man.”

“She couldn’t have a better friend in you, Amelia.”

“Thank you,” Amelia said, before drifting off to sleep.

And so did Bruce, all the running around of the day finally hitting him.

The three settled into a long, safe, and well-deserved sleep.

But just as the sun rose over the clouds the next morning, Solaris’s ring on the bedside table began to shake and holler with a strange noise.