The full moon still bore all its glory as Cassius, Estefan, and Vesper with Eris in hand made their way home to the Crimson manor to end their night. The sounds of their leaps from atop the buildings came to an abrupt stop. The pair had followed Cassius' lead as he stood deadly still against the night sky, his fist tightly clasped.
'I'm afraid my night is not over yet.' Cassius turned to face the others; his face held an expression Vesper had never seen on him before- worry.
'Camilla?' Estefan guessed correctly once again knowing his master all too well.
'The aura I left within her has been removed.' Cassius spoke, his words were heavy. For someone to have been able to forcefully go against the aura he had left, he would have to be an extremely strong human, or worse a vampire.
'I shall accompany you, master.' Estefan bowed hoping to comfort Cassius with his loyalty.
Although Vesper didn't know the details, he could sense the urgency. 'I'll take Eris home first and catch up.' Without a second's delay, Vesper had already separated from the pair and headed off towards the manor. He didn't know why but his heart felt heavy, a feeling foreshadowing danger, similar to what he felt after bidding his parents a final farewell.
I'll make it this time- Vesper thought to himself.
Not a moment later Cassius and Estefan also departed in a separate direction, towards Camilla's apartment.
______________________
Camilla had gotten off the phone with Cassius and was powering through another study session before freshening up for her night with him. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of it, but first a coffee to set the tone.
The noise disturbances outside became a usual companion that reassured her every night. The random couple arguing, the homeless person rummaging threw the trash, all melodies of the city night.
Camilla set the kettle to boil as she contemplated the last few weeks, how she had become so accustomed to giving blood, being bitten, being with Cassius. That was an understatement, enjoyed would be a better term, began to crave it even. The sound of the boiling kettle filled her quite studio before falling silent, leaving only the outdoor city commotion to keep her company.
The sounds outside seemed louder and different in nature to what Camilla was used to. The silent kettle now felt too quiet.
A loud crash came hurling down her apartment door, with a large body bringing it down to pieces. She crouched and activated her code on instinct, covering herself with a golden shield.
On closer inspection she found the man's clothes strangely familiar. The logo he adorned confirmed her suspicions; it was one she couldn't forget. The person laying on her studio entrance was most definitely a VSF guard, similar to the ones who escorted Camilla the other day.
'Apologies my lady, you had an unwanted guest.' A man with waist long dark hair and piercings eyes was leisurely walking into Camilla's home.
His protruding fangs and burning eyes reminded her of Cassius. 'Are you my... protection?' Camilla asked remembering Cassius' words, the sight of a vampire seemed to comfort her over the guard lying unconscious.
'I'd prefer the name Eamon, but yes I am, the Dusk family is at your service.' Eamon introduced himself with a small bow as a loud bang came from outside.
Camilla ducked in response; her shield still held strong. She looked up to find Eamon's fist clasped by his face as he caught the bullet that hurled towards him. The smoke trails that escaped his fist stood evidence to his speed.
He dropped the bullet and rolled up his shirt sleeves as he dragged the limp body out of her doorway. 'A lady needn't see this.' His words echoed as he left her sight.
Eamon hardened his nails through his fingerless gloves, without hesitation he slashed the guards throat and threw him on the building roof to dispose of later. Camilla couldn't see much but the splattered blood that dirtied her entrance was a clear indication of what occurred.
Camilla's curiosity superseded her fear, and she found her body slowly approaching the doorway. Maybe it was her practical training but despite her fright, her powers stood firm. Perhaps it was ignorance as she'd never been in a real battle before, but she had this strange idea that she could help her saviour.
The sight she encountered though was one that knocked her into reality. Eamon was skilfully fighting off a small battalion of VSF guards that seemed to continue appearing.
Eamon dodged and caught multiple bullets, some he even catapulted back to injure the attackers. These were no ordinary bullets though; with Camilla's eyes she could tell they were densely coated in aura as well as containing condensed aura as well.
With each bullet Eamon had to not only match the speed and strength but also inject enough aura to cancel out their own. Camilla admired his control and endurance.
Watching Eamon fight Camilla noticed that his gloves weren't an encrypted item they were his own aura condensed into that form. Eamon was clearly a close combat fighter; he used his aura to increase the strength of his punches. He laid out his aura to move in the air and close the distance on his targets.
As he approached each guard his gloves would morph and coat his nails when needed to deliver an attack powerful enough to cut through any defence the guards had. Even their advanced level encrypted uniforms stood no chance against his aura. This was because Eamon's aura trait was one that could move between objects. This trait is what made him the Dusk family's top assassin.
The captain of the VSF guards was dressed slightly differently to the others and his skill showed his rank. He was able to match Eamon's speed when it came to each slash using his own code. Eamon switched tactics and threw his aura to the ground as he came at his bare handed.
The captain noticed this and stopped dogging to counter but found himself stuck as Eamon's aura travelled behind him and held him back.
Eamon went for a slash to the right.
The captain caught his wrist and pulled him in for a counter punch. 'Psyche.' Eamon smirked as he kicked of an aura step to wrap his body around the captain in an arm lock.
'Ergh, why couldn't you be a pretty woman.' Eamon's aura then travelled through his body and struck the captain through his neck.
The scene was a stark reminder at how weak Camilla was, he clearly didn't need her assistance at all.
Eamon approached Camilla at the doorway who had collapsed from what she saw, her shield still visible. He crouched down to meet her. 'Usually, you would let even notice me but looks like you really pissed someone off in that building you went to the other day?' He focused in on her golden eyes. 'Any ideas? I couldn't follow you all the way.'
Eamon did indeed try to keep track of Camilla on her visit to the research facility but could only make it through one layer of their defence system, anymore and he would have been noticed as they had multiple aura monitors.
'I-' Camilla couldn't finish her sentence before she flung out her arm in a hurry and expanded her shield to cover Eamon.
Eamon spun to face the final adversary; he retracted his aura that also shot up in his defence behind Camilla's shield.
'I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but Eamon Dusk, the legend himself guarding our little anomaly of a human.' Zeleti sighs. 'The plot thickens!' Iggi snickered through an absurdly oversized grin. He stood staring down at the pair from the end of the hall way.
Eamon pushes Camilla into her apartment. His eyes never leaving Zeleti, his laid-back demeanour was more serious. 'When you find the right time, run!'