Fan Fiction ❯ A Long Journey ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Vladimir jerks slightly at the news, brows furrowing and eyes narrowing. He swiftly turns away from Ydric with a darkening expression.
     `Great. Just great.' Vladimir groans inwardly, not desiring to verbally voice his frustrations.
     “Was there anything else?” Vladimir asks as his servant did not leave.
     “Yes, M'Lord. Lord Tinuviel wishes for your presence.” This time Vladimir did let out an audible groan as he turns to walk over to Keiji.
     “Get up.” Vladimir says sternly, eyes flickering to the servant as he slips out of the room.
     “Why? He wanted to see you, not me.” Keiji asks with a large yawn.
     “I refuse to leave you here… If Lady Panya has just gone missing of her own doing, then there is nothing to be worried over. But if this is not true, and there is foul play involved, I'd rather have you in my view to be certain that you are not taken as well.” Vladimir explains in a voice of disapproval, not liking the fact that Keiji could not pick this up on his own.
     “Get up. Get dressed.” With that said, Vladimir walks into the adjoined room to wash his face. A deep frown mars Vladimir's fine features as he contemplates the new bound of their journey. He grips the white towel that is laying hanging over the rim of the hand basin and dabs the wet portion onto his face.
     He lets out a heavy sigh as he hears his brother call him, dropping the damp towel onto the marble surface. He turns away from the counter and walks back into the room, glowering at his younger brother.
     “What?” he growls, crossing his arms across his chest.
     “Um… I knew there was a reason I called you…” Keiji murmurs as he looks about the room, putting his index finger into his mouth as an unconscious show of distress.
     “If you remember what it was, call me again.” Vladimir says with a sigh, turning way from his brother. His eyes scan the room for no obvious reason. As his eyes fall upon the entrance door, his brows furrow and a frown falls upon his lips. It seems that Vladimir had been frowning a lot since he came on this ridiculous journey.
     “Did you open that door?” Vladimir asks, disapproval obvious in his voice.
     “Oh! That was it! I called you in because someone came into the room…” Keiji says looking about the room. “Doesn't seem like they're here anymores.”
     “And you just forgot about this?” Vladimir asks suspiciously walking up to the head of the bed and grabbing a hold of the staff he kept with him at all times. He begins to walk up to the door before he stops and looks back at his brother. “Get over here!” Vladimir watches with narrowed eyes as Keiji scurries up to him, small hands clutching the back of his pants leg.
     Vladimir walks up to the door, looking out of it cautiously. Once determining that there was no one outside, Vladimir slips back into the room, closing and locking the door behind him. He looks down at Keiji, grabbing his smaller arm. Keiji looks up at Vladimir, frowning at him. Vladimir puts his finger to his lips and moves Keiji behind the coat rack, situating the coats there to cover him. Once satisfied that Keiji was properly covered and completely concealed, Vladimir turns away from his younger brother and walks into the main room again, looking about to check for anything off.
     After about spending 10 minutes checking every little crevice in the room and not finding anything off, Vladimir let himself relax and let out the breath he hadn't been fully aware of holding.
     “There's no one here…” Vladimir murmurs, turning around to face Keiji and tell him the news. But as he turns to tell him, Vladimir feels a shiver run down his spine and a sees a movement in the corner of his eye. Vladimir spins around to see what it was he caught but before he got a full glimpse of the large figure, Vladimir feels the large man grab him and fling him across the room. Only problem is, the man didn't move…
     Vladimir crashes into the opposite wall and slides down to the floor in an ungraceful slump. He struggles to push himself up off the wall to get to Keiji but feels a large hand at his throat pushing him back down and blocking his air supply.
     `Impossible!' Vladimir shrieks in his mind as he struggles against the invisible force. He watches through black and red splotches as the shadowed figure walks over to Keiji's hiding place.
     “Da… mn it…” Vladimir croaks as he feels the unwanted presence of unconsciousness creeping up upon him as he falls to rest on his side. Vladimir tries to push himself back up only to inwardly groan as his body refused to move, the action only making it all the more easy for darkness to slip its slimy fingers around his mind and pull him into the unconscious world he desires not to slip into. Vladimir feels a rising panic fill his gut as he sees the brute of a man throw the coat rack to the side, revealing a shivering and crying Keiji. And Vladimir curses the unseen pressure about his neck that prevents him from protecting his youngest brother and draws his mind way from the scene before him into a surprisingly conferrable darkness.