The Bookstore Mage

"I smelled the presence of something, very interesting," said the old man and raised his finger to point at Lucien before he continued: "You."

Hearing that, goosebumps rose on the back of Lucien's neck. He watched in shock as the almost normal old man morphed into something horrifying. His mouth opened unnaturally wide, revealing the rows of sharp shark-like teeth. His golden eyes began to glow as he stared at Lucien excitedly.

A split second later, the vampire lunged toward Lucien. His fingers turned into dangerous black claws, his mouth gaping wide as he aimed for his neck.

Lucien, however, was prepared. Surprisingly, at this moment of truth, his mind was calm. He had already been aware that something was wrong with the old man the second he walked in, and he was on his guard the whole time.

Before the vampire could reach him, Lucien raised his hand to face him and quickly brought it down. The vampire that was sailing through the air was instantly dropped to the ground, causing a part of it to cave in.

Seeing that Imer worked on him, Lucien's eyes shone brightly as he raised his hand, causing the vampire to rise from the ground and hover in the air. His expression was vicious as he tried to break free, but Lucien's control over Imer was already far beyond what any of them could have imagined.

Glaring at the vampire that almost gave him a heart attack, Lucien stepped from behind the counter and carefully approached him. He took a glance at the door and used Imer to pull down the curtains and lock it before he turned his attention towards the intruder.

"What the f*ck was that? Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" He scolded in annoyance, the adrenaline was still pumping in his body.

The vampire growled in reply, as he continued to bare his teeth. Moon who was sitting on top of the counter jumped down and made her way toward both of them. She first glanced at Lucien and then hopped on top of the Vampire's head.

"Wait, careful!" Lucien warned, yet the cat was already nestled on top of the monster's head. She hissed and began to deliver a series of vicious paw strikes to his face, aiming for his eyes in particular.

The proud vampire wanted to roar in anger, yet Lucien quickly used Imer to seal his mouth shut. Although his neighborhood was relatively empty, he did not want anyone calling the police on him, only to find him holding a vampire suspended mid-air.

Still, it was satisfying to watch Moon punish the vampire as he squirmed mid-air. Cuts began to appear on his face, which in turn began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Interesting," Lucien mumbled. It looked like the vampires' famed regeneration was not a hoax after all. It was even more ridiculous now that he was seeing it live.

"Still, I have to say, I'm a little bit disappointed. I thought vampires were supposed to be strong. You couldn't even put up much of a fight."

Lucien's words caused the vampire to shake in anger, his golden eyes burned with rage. He hadn't expected the young magician to be so proficient in high-ranking spells. He didn't even see him cast it before he was pinned to the ground and was now hopelessly made to float about. The damn cat that continued to blind him wasn't helping.

The vampire watched as the young man's eyes turned frosty. As if he was suddenly possessed by someone else. His dark brown eyes began to burn with a red glow causing shivers to run down his spine. A wide grin slowly stretched across his face.

Even the cat that was hitting him stopped and jumped off before she ran off on top of the counter.

'What the hell is that?!' Inwardly cried the vampire.

The young man was not normal! How could a mere human change so fast? The aura that he was leaking was tremendous. As a vampire, he was not very sensitive to mana, his body had a natural degree of immunity to it. So he was unable to sense the pressure emitting out of the bookstore.

But when faced with Lucien, the vampire felt like he was staring at a devil. He deeply regretted his rash decision to plunge into this damned bookstore headfirst, he deeply regretted not being able to control his urge, he regretted it all! If only he was able to turn back time.

****

The world suddenly turned clearer in Lucien's eyes. He felt a sense of ease and calm wash over him as if something had clicked in his mind. The bound vampire was no longer as scary as he thought him to be, no, why would he be scared? It was the intruder that was supposed to be afraid.

"Yes. Are you afraid?" Asked Lucien as he slowly approached the vampire. His hand moved and lightly patted his head with a chuckle.

"I think we are going to have so much fun together." The grin on his face extended as he turned to make his way upstairs with the vampire floating behind.

Moon on the other hand meowed before she followed behind from a distance. Her green eyes seemed to shine with intelligence and concern.

Once upstairs, Lucien placed the vampire on the ground of his bedroom and tapped his chin, deep in thought. "I heard that healing spells don't work against vampires, I wonder if that's true." He mumbled.

The old vampire overheard him, his eyes widened as he struggled to shake his head.

"Mmmm! Mmmm!"

"Oh, you sound excited! Don't worry, it's just a minor healing spell, it shouldn't do much damage... I think."

His words were like a hammer that smashed on the vampire's heart. He was confused. Wasn't the young magician supposed to interrogate him? Ask him, what was his reason for attacking him. What brought him to this damned shabby old bookstore?! What did he seem so unconcerned about the answers?!

After making sure that the vampire was tightly bound in place, Lucien attempted something that he had yet to try. Simultaneously casting two different spells. He needed Imer to stay up to keep the vampire from moving.

Tadawsa was his goal. He wanted to test how effective his healing spell was against a vampire.

"Bear with me, will you? After all, you were the one that attacked me in my home."