He sends his spirit out looking for the faintest heartbeat near him. He found a deer and a few mice right away, but that wasn’t what he needed tonight. Then his fangs lengthen when he finds the man hunting that very same deer. He flashes behind the man, grabbing him by the neck. The man started struggling until Lucas reached inside of his mind, taking his will away. Then he sank his fangs in drinking deeply, until he felt the man start to tremble in his arms. Lucas pulled back licking the man’s wounds as he let go of his mind. He told the man to head home because he wasn’t feeling well.
Lucas immediately flashes back to the manor, the second his feet hit the floor he knew no one was there. He could sense Rage to the east, so he flashed to a nearby field finding nothing. He had to be getting closer because Rage’s emotions were all over the place. At first, he was terrified and angry, then all of sudden he was enjoying himself.
Lucas was completely confused, so he stops his mind and links his spirit with Rage. Doing this with an animal took extreme care, their thoughts processed differently than ours, and a mind as powerful as Rage’s was even harder to decipher. It takes a second for Lucas to focus through Rage’s eyes. At first, all he sees is smoke, or maybe it’s fog. Then Lucas could feel others around him. They were talking to Rage, communicating in their own way. Lucas realized he was communicating with his own kind, other Hellhounds, but he couldn’t figure out what they were saying or doing. Everything was jumbled together. He makes Rage’s mind quiet down, just long enough to give him time to focus on the things surrounding him. He turns Rage’s head and sees a fire in the middle of a field and then Ione Manor was in the distance.
Lucas releases Rage and grabs his own head when their bond snapped apart. He falls to one knee trying to pull himself together. The pain in his head was crippling from the sudden release. Shaking it off, he starts to flash from field to field determined to find Emma. He had spent precious time flashing from place to place trying to find the field in Rage’s eyes. They were all becoming a blur until he finally comes upon a large black wolf in full Hellhound mode tearing people apart limb by limb and he wasn’t the only one there. He is surrounded by other Hellhounds.
There are five of them in total and they were all working together like a well-organized killing team. The five incredibly huge animals were playing with the humans like a cat and mouse game. Chasing them from place to place, letting them think they were escaping, only for another Hellhound to grab them from another location, tearing them to pieces. Lucas was confused as to why there were so many here in one place. He could hear Rage, directing them like a general in an army. Each one of the animals had a unique killing style and Rage was using them very effectively.
Lucas sends his spirit out forcing the image of Emma into each of the animal’s minds. All he gets back is the feeling that she is safe. Rage sends a picture of her laughing, but the picture was distorted like there was something surrounding her. He knew Rage would have never left her unprotected once he found her, so she must be here somewhere near.
Something catches his eyes to the left of the field. Three men were scrambling under a fence trying to get away from one of the gray Hellhounds. Lucas immediately recognizes a familiar face from Emma’s dreams and sends out a message to the Hellhound chasing them that this one was his. Lucas flashes in front of the man, waiting patiently for the man to turn and face him, but he was preoccupied watching the Hellhound tear one of the other men apart slowly. The man’s face was etched in terror when he turned in the opposite direction.
Lucas simply stood still as the man runs right into his chest. He grabs the foul smelling human and picks him up eye level. “Well, what do we have here? A predator. I see, isn’t that what you think of yourself? You like to buy little girls and take them against their will, don’t you big man. Then when your weak little pecker won’t work you proceed to beat them. I can’t imagine how powerful you feel when you hear their screams and see the marks that you have left on their bodies for life. That is, if they survived your sickness.”
Lucas is walking towards the fence still holding the man in the air by his neck. The man is struggling to get away clawing and kicking at Lucas as his windpipe is being crushed. “How many others did you do the same thing to, big man? You made one fatal mistake when you hurt my girl and that’s completely unacceptable. Your fetishes make me sick. All you know how to do is abuse the innocent, but never again will your repulsiveness be forced on another. I will enjoy your death more than most.”
Lucas held the man high above one of the fence posts. He shoves him down hard, impaling him on the fence post. He slowly pushes him down. The tortured screams that managed to break through the man’s mouth was music to Lucas’ ears. He would bleed out and die slowly on that stake which was more than he deserved.
All of a sudden the field held an eerie silence, except for a few moans or weakened screams of the few left dying slowly. The smoke was the thickest next to the fire. Lucas flashes closer when movement from within the fire catches his eye. He sees multiple red eyes turn his way. One at a time, each of the Hellhounds emerged from the smoke. It’s the final set focused solely on him that has his total attention. This one was slightly taller than all the others. The smoke moves out of her way like a curtain opening up on a stage.
Hellish red eyes stare his way, her clawed hands dripped with blood. There was a cruel smile on her beautifully innocent face. The power of Hell radiated from her small form. She looked like a God surrounded by her hounds, as they brushed up against her body, each one seeking her affection. She lovingly petted each one, before it disappeared back into the darkness.
Lucas didn’t know what to do. When he left her at the manor alone weeks ago, she was extremely upset with him. He wanted to run to her and crush her in his arms, never letting her go again, but what would he do if she turned from him? Lucas searches for her in his mind, trying to see her thoughts. Only he was still blocked. All of a sudden, she stumbles and he flashes to her immediately catching her in his arms as she folded in on herself. “You came?” He finally hears her in his mind.
Lowering her to the ground, Lucas puts a finger under her chin bringing her face up to his. “I will always come for you, my Love.”
Lucas hears her gasp as those words left his mouth. Emma stares up at Lucas, her hellish red eyes unfocused with bloody tears. Her small body was on fire. Her skin so hot it was blistering his hands. Lucas lowered her to the ground, hoping the coolness of the ground would help with the heat consuming her.
Rage, trotted towards them. His wolf form covered in blood and pieces of flesh hung from his claws. Sitting at her side, he whined up at Lucas. Rage puts a claw on Lucas’ arm, showing him picture after picture of the things that had occurred in the last hours to Emma.
The Hellhound blood that had saved her life before was now turning on her and it was frying her from the inside out. Lucas wasn’t sure what to do. Emma, my love I know the world has let you down, but please don’t leave me.
Chapter Seventeen:
I should have known that kind of power would come with consequences. I feel like I'm being boiled alive, but I am ready to go now. The people that have wronged me in my mortal life have all been destroyed and now my soul is finally at rest. I have no interest in living any longer. The weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders and I don’t want to fight anymore. I have prayed for peace and contentment my whole life, now my prayers are finally coming true as I feel my essence leaving my body.
One of the very last things my mortal eyes see is Lucas leaning over me. In such a short time he became my everything. What a wonderful way to go, to finally see someone look at me with love in their eyes. That is all I ever wanted. I’m damaged goods, but he doesn’t see that when he looks at me anymore. In all of my years, I never thought a man like him could care about me. I want to say so many things to him, but the pain has become unbearable. I hear him call me, “Love.” I let those words fill my heart as my eyes close, welcoming the darkness en
folding me in its arms. My dreams have been answered and it’s fine to let go now.
No one can take his words from me and I will carry them for eternity locked inside my heart. All I hear is the sound of Lucas’ voice asking me not to leave him. In another life, I would have given up my very soul to be his, if only for just a moment in time, but in this life, I have lost the will to even try.
§§§
Lucas watched her body tense up and then the familiar sound of death gurgled up in her lungs. He was losing her before he ever got the chance to have her. Rage was circling them, snarling and clawing at the ground. He snaps at Lucas’ face demanding that he do something to save her.
“Rage, I don’t know if my blood will have any effect on her now. Your blood is destroying her from the inside out and I would have to drain her dry in order for her to have a chance. My body will reject your blood, Rage. Emma’s body has been through so much that I may kill us both in the process.
Rage leans over Emma’s body, looking right into Lucas’ eyes. For the first time ever, Lucas completely understood what Rage was saying. “What good is your immortal life without her?”
Lucas pulled Emma up close to his body, rocking her back and forth. A single blood tear ran down his face. “Please Emma, forgive me for what I'm about to do to you. My own greed and selfishness won’t let you leave this world. I need you too much. I know I'm not much to live for, but I will spend every day of my immortal life loving you. The world has beaten you down. I know you’re tired of fighting, but you don’t have to fight it alone any longer.”
Lucas pushed her hair back out of the way and sunk his fang deep into her neck. Her blood was unnaturally hot, scorching his throat as he ingested her blood into his system. The longer he pulled the Hellhound blood from her, the cooler her body becomes and the harder it was for Lucas to ingest. Lucas’ own curse was fighting the invasion of her blood.
His body was fighting the intenseness of her blood. The one small taste he’d had of her didn’t prepare him for this onslaught of power coursing through her veins. When he finally hears her heart flutter, he pulls back. Her blood was running down his chin. Her blood was pulsing with power through his own body. His Vampire genes were fighting the Hellhound blood as they both fought for control.
Lucas rips his wrist open with his fangs and leans Emma’s head back, forcing his blood into her. At first, she struggles, something he wasn’t prepared for because he thought she was on the brink of death. Lucas pins her against him, throwing a leg over her body, willing her to drink. He tries to send his spirit into her mind to calm her down, but the Hellhound blood was still too strong in her system even at the brink of death, it wouldn’t give him control over her.
Lucas feels a disturbance around them, he had become so wrapped up in Emma he forgot the scene in front of him. There were voices coming this way. Lucas immediately flashes them to his lair. The darkness that greeted them was like being wrapped in a warm comforting cocoon. Lucas lays Emma on the bed, her body fully exposed to him as he tore off the tattered pieces of what was left of her dress.
Emma didn’t look like she had ever been starved a day in her life. He didn’t know which blood was responsible for the instant change. He laughed at himself that at one time he actually thought she would never actually be pretty, but the woman lying in front of him was stunning. With her milky white skin and long dark blond hair that was covering one breast, lie clear to her stomach in soft waves. Emma’s features had changed drastically from the starved beaten girl he had found on the ground months ago. Her body was perfect but unmoving. She had a faint heartbeat, but her essence was gone. Lucas once again tried to reach her mind offering any comfort he could, but she was unresponsive. He had done everything he could to save her, now the will to live or die would be up to her.
He pulled the blanket up over her and laid down beside her, turning to face her in the dark, his eyes watching her every movement. There is nothing to do now but wait. Maybe if someone would listen, he would pray for the Angel lying unnaturally still next to him.
Lucas knew he was putting his own life at stake when he pulled the blood out of her body and into his own. He could feel his insides struggling with the Hellhound blood. He hadn’t been sick in centuries, but all of a sudden his body tightened. Anguish, unlike anything he had ever experienced rolled through him. He barely got turned away from Emma and to the other side of the bed, when all of the blood he had ingested came back up. Weakness, like he had never known, took over and the darkness took him too.
Rage watched from the doorway, he had come in through one of the hidden entrances just moments ago. Rage silently pads over and lies at the foot of the bed, his blood red eyes watching their every movement, from the twitch of their fingers, to a missed heartbeat. He would wait for three days before he went to get anyone. He knew if they made it that long. Their bodies would recover.
Chapter Eighteen:
The whispering in the dark awakens Lucas first. The spirits trapped in the manor will him awake. He sat straight up in the bed and immediately reaches for Emma. The urgency of the voices couldn’t be ignored, but he couldn’t tell what they wanted. Emma still lay still as a statue next to him in the bed. She hadn’t moved a muscle the whole time they had been in the lair, and terrifying enough, not a single sound was coming from her body. He could sense nothing from her. Technically, she was dead, but her body was still warm to the touch.
He could see familiar spirits floating around the room. This used to bring him comfort in the long days he laid here trapped, waiting for the night to come, but this time, the spirits had awakened him in the daylight. Usually, his body would be in a death-like sleep this time of day, but he wasn’t tired at all. He felt the same but different too.
A single spirit splits away from the others and floats to Emma’s side of the bed. The figure was wearing a long white gown and Lucas watches as a skeletal hand reaches out from the gown towards Emma’s cheek. Lucas immediately reaches for Emma to pull her away from the spirit, until it looks towards him, with raging red eyes. The spirit flicks its boney wrist and Lucas is paralyzed.
Lucas struggles but can’t break free. “What do you want here? She has done you no harm, leave this place!” This spirit was unfamiliar to him. The spirit flickers, but the eyes never waver. The spirit looks away from Lucas and back down at Emma. “She was mine first.” The words come from the air around the ghostly form.
Suddenly standing in the apparition’s place is a little girl, no more than five or six years old. Intense feelings pulsed from her when she puts a solid hand on Emma’s forehead. Love, acceptance, belonging and being WANTED radiated out from her. She pushed all of these feelings and emotions into Emma’s unresponsive body. Willing her to believe in the things she always dreamed of and pushing the want to live into her mind. Emma’s hands suddenly jerk. Her heart starts to beat erratically, her legs move around the bed as if she was running.
“Get the Hell away from her!” Lucas screams out, he was fighting to get free.
Emma suddenly stops fighting and rolls peacefully to her side, tucking her hands under her head, a sigh leaving her lips as her entire body relaxes.
Lucas looks up at the girl now hovering directly over Emma’s resting form. A small smile on her young face, she turns towards Lucas and says these words even though her mouth never moved. “Love her for eternity, or I’ll be back to collect what’s mine.” She turns and floats towards Rage who had been watching from the foot of the bed and runs a loving hand down his back. I watch her form turn ghostly again, before she completely disappears into the dark.
Lucas was overwhelmed, he knew that little girl. He saw her in a dream, one of Emma’s dreams actually. Katherine Elizabeth Ione had come back from the depths of the unknown to save Emma’s life.
Rage jumped up on the bed and curled in behind his legs. “Oh, now you want to sleep with me, traitor.” Lucas puts a comforting hand on Rage’s side and lays his head back on the pillow where he could wat
ch Emma. Peacefulness like he had never experienced washes over him and he feels the pull of sleep beckoning him.
Chapter Nineteen:
I awaken once again in a strange place, but this time, I'm surrounded by familiar sounds and smells. There is no light of any kind, but I can see every detail in front of me plainly. I’m lying in an extremely large bed, which is as black as the night surrounding me. Dark purple bed curtains hang from high in the ceiling. The room is very masculine and it smelled of Lucas.
I turn my head looking around and my heart jumps in my throat. I am seeing things all around the room. I can see images of things. There is a small mouse in the outside wall. His blood was bright against the darkness and the veins in his body were like a drawing of him, inside out. I hear a spider spinning a web in one of the curtains. The room is alive with sounds and images.
Something large and bright red is lying close to me. I watch its heartbeat, the pushing and pulling of the blood running through its large body. The veins were running like roads in every direction. I blink, and everything different was back to usual.
It’s Rage I’m seeing in red. I somehow saw his insides, “Yuck.” I thought to myself. Rage must have sensed me being awake; because he lifts his head up to look at me and starts his usual grumbling. I reach over and stroke his head calming him down. Rage nudges my hand gently and I smile at his playfulness.
As I reach over to pet Rage, I notice that Lucas is lying in bed with me. I blink several times, but he still looked the same. I reach forward and rub my finger gently over his eyebrow. There is nothing unusual about him at all except his beauty. I stare at his face. He is so attractive with his strong jawline and high cheekbones. His long black hair is lying messily on his shoulders in his sleep. When I look back at Lucas he is staring at me with those beautiful black eyes, “Hi.” I say.
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