A few seconds later, Kellam gave the sign and with his sister’s hand in his, he rushed to the front, followed by the others. With his eyes, he gestured at Mina towards the house. He tried to read her, to see whether she was scared, but there was no faintheartedness. Not that he expected any. Still, he knew that he’d put his sister through a lot and he needed to watch out for her, now more than ever.
The duo reached the porch and Kellam climbed it first. He tried the door but it was locked. He wondered whether they should just break a window, and let Dante know they were there, but Mina gently pushed him aside, took a bobby pin out of her pocket and worked the doorknob. It took her only a few seconds to open it. He winked at her, forgetting how skilled she was at picking locks. Just one of her many, mostly hidden, talents.
Kellam turned the knob and slowly opened the door. He gestured at her to stay hidden behind the wall, until he gave the okay. He pushed the door open just a little, peering in. Everything was peaceful. The light was on, illuminating the whole room. There was a little sofa, a couch and a fireplace with a gently crackling fire. The sound was soothing. The interior was all woodwork, with deer heads hanging off the walls as decoration and frames with photos scattered all over the place. It looked nice and cozy. Almost too cozy.
Kellam checked the room for any signs of life. Everything seemed peaceful. Then, he noticed the shadow from the little armchair, which was turned towards the fireplace and away from the door. It looked like someone was sitting in it. Kellam swallowed heavily, turning to Mina and pressing his index finger to his lips, urging her to be quiet.
He took a step inside, trying not to make any noise. A second later, he saw Mina by his side. His eyes watched her sternly, sending daggers but he couldn’t say anything. If she wanted to do something, she would do it. There was no stopping her and, right now, she wanted to be by her brother’s side. All he could do was nod and gesture at her to go around the sofa, so they could surprise him on both sides.
A second later, they jumped at the figure in the armchair, Kellam pressing down on his one arm, Mina on the other, but there was no need for that. The figure lay slumped down, giving no signs of life. Its head faced downward, mouth half open. It looked like he’d been there a while. Mina checked his pulse. She couldn’t feel anything. She knew that it was more difficult to check a vampire’s pulse, but they still had it. Faint, but it was there. This guy was a flat line.
“Is he…?” she wondered aloud, looking worriedly at Kellam.
“He’s dead,” Kellam couldn’t take his eyes off of the dead body in front of them.
It made no sense. He was supposed to be alive. He was supposed to have been waiting for them. They were supposed to fight and the good guys were supposed to win. That was the scenario inside Mina’s head. Now, this was a whole different movie, one she hadn’t signed up for.
“But, that’s Dante, right?” Mina asked again, examining the pale face, trying to recognize it, even though she’d never seen it before.
Kellam just nodded, burying his hands in his hair. It looked like desperation was taking him over. That was Dante. Kellam had confirmed it was but, if he was dead, then who killed him? And, why? Who was behind all this?
Before they could say anything, Renwick and Thorne barged in through the door, shouting something, carrying a wounded Raphael. Hendrik rushed in immediately after them, slamming the door shut, then frantically looking for something to bolt it with. He pushed a little nightstand against the door, then turned to face everyone.
“It won’t keep them out for too long, but it might buy us some time,” he spoke, out of breath.
“What happened?” Mina shrieked, rushing over to Raphael.
Renwick was pressing a torn sleeve of his shirt to Raphael’s lower abdomen. Mina lifted it to see the wound, but the blood started spurting out, so she quickly pressed the rolled up sleeve against it, in an effort to stop the bleeding.
“He’s losing too much blood,” she faltered.
“Is there a first aid kit here?” Renwick wondered aloud, knowing that the others were equally unfamiliar with this house as he was.
“Maybe in the kitchen,” Mina got up and rushed to the kitchen, which was to the left of this room.
She started rummaging through drawers and kitchen cabinets, throwing everything out on the floor but she found nothing. Grunting angrily, she looked around. Everything was emptied. The kitchen was a mess. She was sure that, if a first aid kit was here, she would have found it.
Then, it hit her. Maybe it was in the bathroom. Delirious with worry, she ran through a narrow hallway but instead of the bathroom, she found the bedroom. She immediately got out of there, then noticed another door, down the hallway. She rushed over and pushed the door open forcefully with her foot.
It was a small bathroom, with a square shower stall, one toilet and two small cabinets. She opened them, finding some medications, razors, toothbrush and toothpaste. Then, pushed all the way back in the lower cabinet, she found a little black, zip bag. She got it out and checked the contents.
“Bingo!”
She ran back to the room where everyone was. Raphael was barely conscious, his head in Renwick’s lap. He was coughing up blood already. The rolled up sleeve was barely keeping his wound from bleeding out. He looked bad.
Kellam was looking out the window, while Hendrik watched the doors. Everything seemed peaceful and, yet, Mina knew something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. She wondered where the others were, but right now, she had more urgent matters to attend to.
“Lemme see,” Mina knelt down by Raphael’s side.
Renwick cautiously removed the rolled up sleeve and revealed the wound. Mina felt an urge to gasp but she suppressed it. It looked deep. She was hoping it’d just be a nasty flesh wound but there was no such luck. She needed to clean it immediately, before an infection could set in. She got the hydrogen peroxide and a small washcloth from the zip bag.
“This is gonna hurt,” she said out loud but she wasn’t sure if Raphael would hear her.
She poured the solution onto the wound and Raphael squirmed in pain, turn
ing to the side. He moaned loudly, wanting to press the wound with his bare hands, so Renwick had to hold his arms.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry…” she kept repeating, watching the foam merge with the blood. “I can’t treat this. It’s too deep,” she told Renwick. “He needs a hospital or at least a place with basic medical tools.”