"Who the hell are you?!" the vampire snarled, taking a step back.
"You move just as fast as we do… and you seem awfully familiar!"
Flash didn't answer. His face was focused, almost cold. He feinted left, then suddenly shifted right and drove the knife into the vampire's side.
The creature howled and tried to strike back, but Flash was already behind him. Another precise thrust, and the knife sank right under the shoulder blade.
The vampire dropped to his knees, coughing up black blood.
"You're… not human…" he rasped.
"What are you?!"
Flash silently pulled the knife free and, in one swift motion, slashed the vampire's throat. The body collapsed onto the asphalt and slowly began turning into black smoke.
Gideon stood a few meters away, breathing heavily, staring at Flash with wide eyes.
"Flash…" he said quietly. His voice was a mix of surprise, disbelief, and growing unease.
"How did you do that? You moved… like them. And don't tell me you've been hiding this from us all this time."
"Frr?"
Laska, tucked in Flash's sleeve, gave a quiet snort while looking at Gideon.
Flash slowly wiped the knife on the dead vampire's cloak and straightened up. His breathing was steady, almost calm, even though he had just fought an elite vampire on equal terms.
"I lived among them for a long time," he replied quietly, not looking at Gideon.
"Long enough to learn how to fight like this," Flash said coldly.
Gideon took a step closer. His pistol was still in his hand, though lowered.
"That's not something you just learn, Flash," he said, suspicion now clear in his voice.
"You fought like you were one of them. Like you… know how they think, like you could even…"
"You drink wisteria and carry silver…"
Flash finally turned to him. His face was tired, but a shadow of something heavy and long-hidden flickered in his eyes.
"I'm not a vampire, Gideon," he said calmly, with a touch of bitterness.
"If I were one of them, you'd already be dead."
Gideon stared at him for a long time, not blinking.
"You're hiding something," he said finally.
"You know their world too well."
Flash sheathed the knife at his belt and looked away. He bent down to collect the vampire's ash.
"I told you — I trained," he answered quietly.
"That's enough for now."
Gideon didn't reply. He simply continued watching Flash, and the suspicion in his eyes was now unmistakable.
Flash didn't pursue the topic. He simply picked up his revolver from the asphalt and nodded down the street.
"Let's go. We need to get back to the apartment."
The guys had only a couple of blocks left to reach their place.
Gideon was limping worse than usual, pressing his left hand to his side. Flash carried a small metal canister in his hand, tightly sealed with a lid.
His face wore an expression of grim exhaustion, and his jacket was stained with black vampire blood and ash.
When they reached the old apartment, the door was already ajar. A dim light glowed inside. Bruno, Ethan, and Susie were waiting for them.
The moment Gideon and Flash walked in, all three stood up to meet them.
"Finally," Bruno exhaled with obvious relief.
"We were starting to worry."
Gideon nodded wearily and lowered himself onto the nearest chair, wincing in pain.
"We got the ash," he said hoarsely.
"Had to work for it."
Flash silently placed the metal canister on the table. It clinked dully. Traces of black ash were still visible on the lid.
Ethan stood a little to the side, pressing his right hand to his left shoulder. Blood had already soaked through his jacket sleeve and was slowly dripping from his fingers.
"You guys okay?" he asked quietly.
Flash looked at him and noticed the blood.
"And you?" he asked instead.
"What happened to your arm?"
Ethan grimaced and slightly pulled down his collar, revealing a long but shallow cut on his shoulder.
"Ran into a blade," he answered.
"Nothing fatal. We ran into one on the way back."
"Almost got me."
Susie immediately stepped closer, her eyes filled with worry.
"Let me see. Why didn't you say anything?" she said softly.
"I can at least bandage it…"
Ethan gave her a weak smile.
"I'm fine. The ritual is more important right now."
Gideon walked over to the table and opened the canister. Inside was gray, almost black ash with a faint silvery sheen.
"So we have the first ingredient," he said.
"And the second, we found a full wisteria root. We also have the ring…"
Bruno leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, sighing heavily.
"We barely got away. These creatures are getting bolder."
Flash sat down opposite him and wearily ran a hand over his face.
"We're all exhausted," he said.
"Ethan is wounded, you can barely walk, Gideon took a hit to the ribs."
"Susie…" Flash paused and turned to the others.
"Susie did great…"
Susie stood next to Ethan in awkward silence, looking down at her feet and blushing slightly after Flash's words.
"I'm okay," she said quietly.
"It was just… scary. We're all just humans. I don't even know how we're supposed to fight monsters like that…"
Ethan looked at her, then at everyone else.
"Right now we need to focus on the ritual," Flash said, looking at Ethan.
"You look like you've been through a meat grinder. Did something happen?"
"Damn, I can't tell him I almost died back there," Ethan thought. He gave a weak smile.
"I'm fine. It's just… this weapon was especially hungry today."
Flash looked at him with a long, attentive gaze.
"We'll talk later about how you used it," Flash said, then turned to Susie.