Shades of Red

by T L Christianson

  I looked between my Viking and David, before settling my gaze on the new Moroi. “Amy’s super worried. She misses you, she says she loves you.”

  The corner of David’s mouth quirked up sardonically. “No, I’m not going back.”

  He was handsome, and I understood what Amy must have fallen for all those years back in that Texas high-school. They'd gone to homecoming, and he'd given her the mum I'd found.

  “Look.” It was Karsten who spoke this time, “I know you’re close to Amy, but David was with her because she compelled him. He never had a choice. She fed on him for decades. Decades, Sarah.”

  I shook my head and met the new Moroi’s eyes. “That’s terrible, David. I can’t believe it.”

  “It’s true.” He said firmly. “If I ever lay eyes on that monster again, I will kill her with my bare hands! She ruined my life.” He frowned and I felt like something inside of me had snapped.

  Was this really true? Could this really be true?

  I sucked in a breath. This could devastate her. “Okay. Well, I guess we should go.” Looking over to Karsten, we stood at the same time and left quietly, running through the rain to the car.

  I took the driver’s seat this time and turned on the defrost to defog the car.

  “We’re just going to leave? Is there a plan? Are we going to rescue him?” I asked.

  My companion shook his head. “No,” he said incredulously. “He’s happy. He wants to be here. I think Amy really ruined his life.”

  I shook my head whispering, “No.”

  “Yes. Apparently, he turned because of the explosion. He had Amy’s blood in him. One of the Quaker groups found him and took him in.” His expression was grim.

  “I find it hard to believe that Amy could do something this terrible.” I shook my head, drops of water flinging from my hair. “Why would she do this?” I asked.

  A lump formed in my throat and I focused on driving back to the airport. We had planned to get a hotel room, but I didn’t have the stomach for it now.

  “I feel ill,” I told Karsten.

  “Do you want me to drive?”

  I shook my head.

  “Well, I have more bad news. David reported her to the GC and now that he knows she’s with us, he will probably report that she is with Chronos.

  “Amy’s going to be executed for sure,” I muttered.

  My chest hurt and my throat closed up. But I forced myself to maintain a calm exterior. It was bad enough that I cared for a rogue scientist, but a murderer and person who abducted people? Shame swamped me along with the sadness. Then guilt as well.

  When he looked at me warily, I forced a smile back and turned on the radio.

  My eyes started to blur with tears, but I blinked them back and got angry to keep from crying.

  It was a trick I learned during my internship after medical school. The other interns were already hard on me as a woman, I would be damned if I’d let them see me cry.

  But Amy… I swallowed. I felt like I knew her, but now, I didn’t think I knew her at all after this. Betrayal entered the mix and self-doubt. If I’d been wrong about this, what else was I wrong about?

  Then I reminded myself.

  Life isn’t some bullshit Disney movie.

  People are real.

  No one is only good or bad, people are crazy mixtures of both.

  “Amy is still just a scared fourteen-year-old in so many ways,” I told Karsten out of the blue.

  “What are you thinking? You’re acting strangely.”

  I shook my head. “Aurev will have to execute her before the Global Council gets involved.”

  He’d raised his eyebrows. “Did you think that after all this they weren’t?”

  His comment stung, but he was right.

  I’d known it from the beginning, but being with her day after day, having a friendship with her had made me see her as a real person and not just a means to an end.

  Growing up in foster homes, I’d encountered my fair share of bad and shady people, but no one came to kill them.

  “Were those hitmen GC,” I asked.

  He laughed. “They weren’t. If they were GC, you’d be dead.”

  “And you wouldn’t be?” I quirked a smirk at him between glances at the wet road, the rain still pounding our car.

  But the smile had left his face. “No.”

  “What makes you so special? That you were once one of them?”

  “I used to train them.” He reminded me deadpan.

  My eyes scanned the quiet farmland and the narrow black road.

  He’d always been a soldier of some kind. He didn’t talk about it, and he never mentioned his background unless I pushed, but the facts were that he was a good man.

  “Tell me about your farm when you were human.”

  He shook his head.

  “It’s like pulling teeth, trying to get you to talk about your past.”

  “Sometimes ghosts of the past should stay there.” He answered.

  The question was eating me up inside. I had to ask, “Are you… Emilie’s maker?”

  “What? Emilie?” His mismatched eyes were on the scenery, his jaw ticking with tension.

  “Why don’t we listen to the radio,” he mentioned, as if I hadn’t spoken.

  “Why does she feel a connection to you? Her accusation scares me, Karsten.”

  “It should. I was there. In Belgium. World War I.” He confessed.

  A dark chill went down my spine. “Oh my god.”

  “I was there, but I’m not her maker.” His stubbled jaw ticked.

  “But…”

  “That’s all you need to know.” His eyes pierced my own.

  His words cut me.

  I believed him but why wouldn’t he open up?

  Why wouldn’t he tell me the circumstances?

  What was he hiding?

  Protecting?

  Another woman?

  Another relationship?

  I took an unsteady breath, and his warm hand rested on my thigh. I grabbed his fingers and moved them away.

  “Why are you mad?”

  “I just wish that you could trust me. That you would talk to me. For once. Without me trying to piece together information I learn from other people.”

  I looked over at him. His expression pained, I could tell he was biting the inside of his cheek.

  His gaze examined the drenched scenery. “I don’t know how to be that person. I’m not hiding things from you… I…”

  I looked into his beautiful face, his wheat-colored hair standing on end from the rain in its sexy and adorable way and his one blue eye with its one fleck of brown.

  “I just want to know you, Karsten. That’s all. The unknown is scary. Just tell me that I don’t need to be scared of anything from your past.”

  His gaze focused on mine in solemnity, “You have nothing to fear.”

  I loved this man, this emotionally closed, wounded soul of a man, but it terrified me.

  Why had Aurev warned me away?

  “Okay,” I whispered before turning on the radio.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I couldn’t eat; I even struggled to drink a small amount of blood.

  My thirst was held back by some emotion I couldn’t understand.

  I had to tell Amy that David wasn’t coming and it was breaking me.

  Making my way down the hallway, I hesitated outside her rooms.

  After standing there for several minutes, the soldiers gave me a strange look until I knocked.

  I couldn’t bear to enter and stood before one of the guards leaned over and knocked several times for me.

  Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Running my hand over the lock scanner, it opened.

  “Amy?” I called out, pushing the heavy, reinforced door all the way open. “Sweetie? Are you here?”

  Something was wrong.

  Rushing through the living room and workspace with the laptop she’d been using, I hurried to the bedroom. Fling
ing the door open, I found piles of clothes and trash. The bed was messy as usual with crumbs on the sheet and the comforter in a lump.

  Throwing pillows and covers to the side, I was shocked that the teenager wasn’t in her room. Bending down to spy under the bed, I pulled out a few items of clothing, but there was nothing else.

  The closet–empty.

  The bathroom–a mess, but she wasn’t there.

  “Guys!” I yelled into the hall. “Guys!”

  They rushed in. The one named Gus pulled out a napkin that had been tucked into his collar.

  “Where the fuck is she?” I asked.

  “She’s gone?” Gus asked.

  “No, she’s here. I saw her at the beginning of our shift.” The other soldier, Matt, frowned and began searching the room just like I had.

  I focused on the heartbeats to figure out where she was hiding.

  “I mean this isn’t Fort Knox, but these rooms are pretty secure, right?” They didn’t answer. “Right guys?” I asked again.

  Gus was a large copper colored Moroi, built like a boulder. He stood, filling the wide doorway. “Got that right. It’s not Fort Knox. Awe… Helllllls no! Why this shit gotta go down on my shift?”

  Closing the door behind himself, he began looking as well.

  “Nah man. She's gone.” He told Matt and me. Matt’s Adam's apple bobbed furiously.

  “Well, what kind of protocol is there for this kind of thing?” I asked, pursing my lips. “How did a skinny little teenager escape?”

  “Let’s see.” He examined the vents. They were industrial for the building but looked intact. Then Gus began moving the furniture away from the walls.

  “What are you looking for?” I asked, as I followed him around.

  “My guess? If she didn’t go through the door, and she can’t go through the windows, she went through the wall.”

  “I don’t understand. I thought she was happy here. I thought she was protected here.” Licking my lips, I began to pull furniture away from the walls.

  Gus gave me a skeptical look. “She was a prisoner, biding her time, that’s all.”

  All the walls were intact behind the furniture.

  Then I saw where Gus pointed. A large landscape painting in the living room sat slightly askew.

  As soon as Matt touched it, the edge of the escape hole revealed itself.

  He set the painting down and looked through the broken drywall.

  “Where does this go?” Matt asked me.

  Gus sighed. “I don’t know, but we’re about to find out.”

  The men took off, and all I could do was sit at the desk and put my head in my hands.

  The screen lit when my elbow accidentally touched the wireless mouse.

  There was a window open with a video paused on the screen. It was like a mirror, except sitting in the frame, was my teenager.

  I pressed the play button and the video restarted.

  Sitting where I was now, her voice was hushed, even for a Moroi.

  “This video is for Sarah.” Her black lashes covered her eyes before she looked up again. “I know you’ll be mad when you find me gone. That’s why I had to make this video.

  “I really do love David. I’ve loved him from the time I set eyes on him almost sixty years ago in Texas. But I’m a hard person to like, so you probably know that I compelled him. If he really is a Moroi now, then I’ll leave him alone.

  “I know something’s wrong with me. I was changed too young, and I’ve lived too long. I know that. But I don’t deserve to be given over to Global. I heard the guards talking about the GC. Yeah, I know about them. They’re meddling bastards that just want to control our lives.” She paused, looking off camera for a moment, then continued. “They’re allowing too many Moroi to be made. Allowing the human population to grow too fast and too big.

  “All I ever wanted to do was help. All I ever wanted to create was a utopia,” Amy smiled and looked away. Then she smoothed a dark hair out of her face. “Sometimes a few have to suffer for the benefit of the many.” Her clear, blue eyes met mine across the screen. I knew that she was looking into the camera, but I felt like she was looking into my soul. “I don’t regret my experiments. I don’t regret anyone I’ve killed. It needed to be done. The research needed to be done.”

  I swallowed.

  “That’s why I left you all the locations of my storage units. They’re yours. I want you to have my research. I’m sorry about Texas. That sucks that those assholes blew it up,” she shrugged, “but what can you do?

  “They’re under a file named, storage lockers. Anyhow, I know you were trying to help me, and you did. I’ll never forget your kindness.

  “You know I had to leave. You knew from the beginning that I was dead if I stayed.” She looked over her shoulder, hearing something and ended the video.

  I closed the laptop and hugged it to my chest.

  She was right.

  She was dead if she stayed here, but I would’ve fought for her.

  A tear ran down my cheek. I knew it was a betrayal to Chronos and all Moroi, but I hoped that she got away.

  She was broken, and I worried about her being out there. I worried about what she might do.

  My heart ached, and I knew that in some twisted way I had grown to love her, like a child or sister.

  Standing, I held the laptop to my chest and made my way down to my office.

  Setting the computer down, I sensed two people near my door.

  My heart racing, I twisted around, my butt hit the edge of my desk and spilled an old cup of coffee. I yelled out.

  Two intimidating, uniformed soldiers in Global Council uniforms stood blocking the door. I’d walked through them so deep in thought, I hadn’t even detected them until too late.

  “Sorry to disturb you, ma’am, you must be Dr. Sarah Shepard. We’re looking for Sten Ingvar. We were told that he works with you.” There had been no need for introductions. Every Moroi knew what GC soldiers looked like and knew what they wanted. It was never good.

  “What?” I questioned them, believing they were here for Amy. “Sten? You’re looking for Sten.”

  “Yes,” said the other accented man. “Do you know his whereabouts?”

  “I…uh…” I hesitated. My Viking was in the building somewhere. Probably the exercise room. Pursing my lips, I told them. “I’m not sure…”

  Black eyes pierced my own, and I backed up so much, I found myself sitting on the edge of my desk. A few sheaves of paper fluttered from the opposite end, and I stumbled around the piece of furniture to pick them up.

  “I’ve got a location, let’s move,” black eyes told the other. Then they vanished, and I wondered if my addled brain had made them up.

  I texted Sten: GC is here for you, run!

  The bubbles bounced in the text box, and I tapped my foot in distress.

  Karsten: It’s no problem. I haven’t done anything.

  Me: Is this about the Emilie thing?

  Karsten: Yes, but it’s a misunderstanding.

  Me: Where are you?

  Karsten: Stop worrying. I’ll be home tonight, and you can make that chicken thing.

  Me: WTF?! This is a big deal. These guys are scary and they only intervene rarely. Why would they come for you? Something else is going on because Chronos would handle this in-house, not bring in GC!

  Karsten: Chronos Corp can’t handle this because I’m not part of their clan.

  Me: I’m not talking semantics.

  Karsten: Baby, calm down. They’re here. Trust me.

  A breath whooshed out of me, and I sat back in my chair.

  I shouldn’t have even gotten out of bed today.

  First all the bullshit with David. Then Amy running away and now Global had come for Karsten?

  I hit the call button on my phone for Chronos HQ and typed in Aurev’s extension. It rang through to Ms. Smith.

  “Aurev Vatia’s phone, Ms. Smith speaking.” Came her crisp newscaster, no accent, voice.r />
  “Yeah, hello. It’s…”

  “Ms. Shepard. Yes. What can I do for you… Wait, I know. Global Council has shown up and arrested Mr. Ingvar. You’re calling to complain to Aurev and get him to intervene? He won’t and he can’t.”

  “Well, will you at least leave him a message? Tell him to call me?”

  “I will, but there’s nothing he can do when it comes to GC.”

  “Shit,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Goodbye, Dr. Shepard.”

  I bit my lip, fretting. I needed blood. Reaching over to my little fridge, I pulled out my last bottle, chugged it and set it with the others to be recycled.

  “Crap.” It was already 4 p.m., and I needed to head into the city. I laid my head down onto the desk.

  I was going to have to drive rush hour traffic into the city.

  Great. That was just great. That was the poop nugget on top of my shit sundae.

  The good news was that I was going the opposite direction of most traffic; the bad news was that it was still rush hour in the city.

  After an ungodly amount of time, I wondered if it would’ve been faster to just walk. Maybe.

  After the valet took my keys, two liveried doormen held open the large glass double doors for me, and I entered the Chronos building.

  Walking briskly through the lobby, I pressed the button on the bank of elevators.

  Chronos Corp was like a city and county building rolled into one corporation. The jail was even here. On the Directory posted next to the lifts, it was listed under, “Correctional Facility.” The elevator moved at a snail pace, so when the doors zipped open, I rushed out.

  A dated waiting room held a handful of people near a secure window attended by a small bearded man.

  “Hi, I’m looking for… Sten Ingvar. He was brought in by GC.” I pursed my lips and made an expression that I hoped discouraged any questions.

  “Oh, oooh. Him. Yeah, we have him in the back. Private cell. No visitors.”

  I bit my cheek. “Can you tell me when his hearing is?”

  “Nope. It’s GC business.” He smiled. “But they’ll let everyone know when they behead him. That’s old school for you. Nothing like a public execution.” His comment earned him a death glare from me.

  My jaw dropped, and I found myself unable to speak. After standing there in shock, I managed to narrow my eyes at him. “Think before you speak next time.”