by Zara Novak
“That it is, and we brought you here today to show you how important the prophecy is.”
Rubago waved to the crowd as she escorted the children back through the curtain at the back of the stage, and Claire left to accompany her. The witch was back by Eric’s side a moment later, ready to say her piece when prompted.
“This prophecy,” a vampire said from near the front. Eric looked down and recognized him as Silas Horax, a blind, yet powerful vampire from the deep south. His voice rung across the hall in a strong southern drawl. Slow but confident. “I’ll admit I heard whisper of it down south, but it’s often hard for us to keep up with things, what with the world being as big as it is now. Can you elaborate on it?”
“I can,” Eric said, “Rubago here can elaborate even further.” Eric stepped to the side and let the witch take center stage. She curled her hands around the top of the podium and looked out across the crowd with her bright blue eyes.
“It’s quite simple,” the witch said, her voice echoing across the hall. The crowd of vampires watched in quiet expectation, almost looking hypnotized as they looked up at the witch. “There are three sisters, each of them separated at birth, each carrying the spiral birthmark at the bottom of their backs, just as Claire does. She is the first of the lost daughters, found by Eric just over a year and a half ago. Two remain. Two that still need finding. Two that need to be bred to ensure that the prophecy is successful.”
“And if it isn’t?” a woman asked from the middle of the room. “What then?”
“It is… unclear,” Rubago said after a brief pause. “The prophecy states that finding the three daughters and breeding them will usher in a new dawn for your vampire kind. Failure to do so… it will mean the end for your kind.”
The crowd reared back collectively, panicked whispering babbling across the masses as Rubago delivered the news. The witch continued regardless. “As of yet I have no timeline, all I know is that this prophecy has little patience. The other daughters will be in similar age to Claire, but their appearance might vary. All we know is that each will have the spiral mark at the bottom of her back.”
“This leads us to our next port of call,” Eric said, resuming the podium as the witch stood to the side. “There are groups out there that would like to see the prophecy fail, and those groups are actively trying to ensure that failure. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the White Order. They are heavily invested in trying to shut the prophecy down, going as far as attacking the York family very recently.
“William York died very recently in a fight against the White Order. His brother, Eli,” Eric paused and nodded to the blond-haired vampire standing to the left of the stage, “is the only surviving York vampire to carry the family name.
“The Order believed the next daughter would be destined to mate with a York vampire, as they are the oldest vampire family in this part of the world after my own. Despite this, no spiral-marked girl was found among the York family, and we have reason to believe that this assumption was now false.”
“So, these other girls,” Silas Horax said. “Where are they?”
“We think they will be in this general area,” Rubago said. “Prophecy and destiny have a way of crossing paths with each other, and it stands to reason that each of the daughters might be somewhere in the valley at this very moment.”
“No disrespect,” Silas said. “But your valley is thousands of acres across. That’s a lot of land to search. Belmont county is a far cry away from my sleepy southern town, I don’t see what a vampire like myself can do to help.” A few others in the crowd murmured their agreement at this and Eric nodded.
“I understand you all have your own jobs and lives to attend to. I myself have the responsibilities of the Belmont family to carry out. No one can devote every waking moment to this, but we brought you here to be on standby. Not today, not tomorrow… maybe not even next month. At some point my family will need the help of every vampire in this room. All I ask it that you consider that request when the call comes.”
Silas nodded. “Seems fair. But who else is against this prophecy? It seems natural for the Order to work against vampires, being vampire hunters and all. Who else?”
“Shifters for one,” Eric said. “We have actually recently befriended a shifter pack for the first time in my family’s history. A shifter by the name of Logan Nash helped save a vampire from false imprisonment at the Red Keep. There are other packs in the forest working against us, though. On top of that there is something else… We have reason to believe the Red Circle is actively working against the prophecy.”
This statement provided perhaps the biggest outburst of all in the room, many of the vampires vocally aired their disagreement with Eric’s bold claim. One of those vampires was Alice Strang, a powerful female vampire from the Midwest. “Come now Mr. Belmont, you’ve thrown a lot of unbelievable things at us in this meeting, but to talk against the Red Circle itself is pure conspiracy!”
“I know it’s a tough truth to swallow,” Eric said. The Red Circle were effectively the highest governing body of vampires within their world. Everything the Circle did was meant to prolong their existence. Destroying a prophecy that would end them seemed down right bizarre. “But we have very good reason to believe it is true. I have recently severed my own ties with the Circle. You will notice that everyone in this room today is not affiliated with the organization in anyway. That was deliberate.”
The vampires in the room looked across at each other, all realizing that they were representatives of independent factions. This had been orchestrated by Eric to ensure that no fighting took place, and that no spies for the Circle would report his meeting back to the Red Keep. “You are all independent for a reason. You value your individual strength.”
“Amen to that,” Silas Horax shouted. “I don’t need no fucking Circle telling me how to run my coven!” A couple other vampires in the room shouted in agreement. “It wouldn’t surprise me for a moment that those twisted fucks were involved in something like this. Question is: why?!”
Rubago resumed talking. “We don’t know at this point. We are actively trying to find that out, all we know is this: The Circle cannot be trusted any more. They were behind the orchestrated attack against Eli York and his family. It’s possible the Circle want to seize the mates for themselves to try and take control of the prophecy. If they got control of the remaining daughters, they would have a majority hold of our destiny. They could shape your new dawn in any way they wish.”
More murmurs of disgust swept through the crowd at the idea. It didn’t seem that farfetched to Eric or any vampire in the hall that the Circle would try for such a tasteless power grab. “Well you certainly have the backing of my coven,” Alice Strang said. “I wouldn’t put it past the Circle to try something so vulgar, but tell me this: what is this new dawn you talk of? What does that mean?”
“I can understand it’s vague,” Rubago said. “But the language of prophecy often is. I can show you what I think it means however. Just as I can show you what might happen if the prophecy fails. It seemed that destiny wasn’t pleased with the rate at which the mates were being found. You might recall a breakout of Black Fang recently. The new disease that has been starving vampires across the country.”
Most of the vampires in the audience voiced their regretful acknowledgement of the disease. “Killed off half my Coven,” shouted Dexter Nunez, a respected vampire from the east coast. “Things seem better recently however. Looks like it’s died down.”
“The same can be said here,” Rubago said. “I anticipate it will return though, and worse than ever before. I believe the disease fell back recently because some process might have been made with the second daughter, but I will come back to that in a moment. I’d like to show you a glimpse of the new dawn. I’d like to show you what might be possible for your kind should this prophecy work out.” Rubago turned to the curtain at the back of the stage. “Ansel? Kat? Please come forward.”
The cur
tains parted once more, and Ansel Draco walked forward across the stage with his arm around Kat. Kat wore a knee-length dress which bumped slightly around her midriff. “This is Ansel Draco and Kat Summers,” Rubago said as the couple approached the front of the stage. “They travelled here recently from the west. I believe the prophecy brought them here. Before all this began Kat wasn’t a breeder. But she is now pregnant with Ansel’s child.”
The room gasped again at the startling revelation. “Amazing!” Alice shouted. “Just amazing!”
Kat gave an embarrassed nod as Ansel escorted her back off the stage. Dexter Nunez spoke up again. “And you said this was because progress had been made on finding the second lost daughter. What does that mean?”
Rubago looked over to Eric, who stepped forward and took the podium for the final time. “That’s right. There was an altercation very recently in the forest. It was the same night Will York died. The same night we rescued the York vampires and formed an alliance with Logan Nash’s shifter pack. After the confrontation settled down a feral vampire appeared at the edge of the fray, demanding that a girl was handed over to him.”
Babbles of confusion and curiosity swept over the crowd at this revelation. Eric continued. “The feral wanted a girl from the White Order. He said she was his mate. He demanded she went with him or he would destroy everyone in the vicinity with a hell charge, an explosive device he had taken from a witch.
“This girl acquiesced with the feral vampire’s demands, not wanting any more blood to be shed on what was already a tragic night for all parties involved. The vampire hunter surrendered herself to the mad vampire, and they vanished into the night. I thought nothing of the exchange until my good friend, Ansel Draco, informed me that he saw the spiral mark at the bottom of that girl’s back. The crazed vampire has taken the second daughter of the prophecy, and they are now hidden somewhere within the valley.”
“Great!” Silas Horax chuckled. “That’s just what you want. A feral vampire derailing a prophecy. If I didn’t know any better I’d assume he drank the girl dry in an instant, not realizing her worth!”
“I’m not so sure,” Rubago said and stepped forward. “This feral vampire was no ordinary man. It was Wraith Belmont, Eric’s fallen brother.”
The crowd reacted again at this news, perhaps more than they had done with any of the other information given to them tonight. “But Wraith Belmont died over a year ago,” Alice Strang shouted, other people in the audience vocalizing their agreement alongside her. “We all heard the news!”
“Wraith was thought dead,” Eric said. “And for the longest time I assumed he was. My brother fell from the roof of the castle while defending my family against a treacherous attack. We assumed there was no way he could survive the fall, but apparently we were wrong.”
“So, tell him to return with the girl!” Dexter Nunez shouted in suggestion. “Surely it’s easy?”
Eric shook his head as others murmured in agreement. “I would if it were that easy, but Wraith has always been different. He lived a life of chaos until his recent sacrifice, and it appears he is now something more than vampire. We do not yet fully understand what he is.”
“All we know is that Wraith possibly has the second daughter of the prophecy,” Rubago said. “And I believe his involvement is no derailing. I believe he is one of the destined mates. I met Wraith recently before the showdown at the church and his mind has been warped by the mysterious magic flowing through him. He no longer remembers who he is or where he came from. All he knows is that this girl is his mate.”
“And so, we can only ask your help if you should cross paths with them,” Eric said. “We have no idea where they are, but we are looking. More vampires are flocking to the valley every day with the promise of fertile mates cropping up. The White Order are increasing their numbers, more sightings have been made of Circle agents in the north of the forest. Everyone is converging to the valley, hoping that they might have some part in the prophecy—for better or for worse.”
“Seems like your brother hasn’t got a cat in hell’s chance of making it back here alive,” Alice Strang said. “You must know him better than anyone else Belmont. Where would you go if you were him? What would your plan be?”
Eric looked across the room, listening to the question he had asked himself a thousand times since Wraith had made his most unexpected return.
Where was his brother now? And just what was he planning to do with this girl?
9
The vampire woke in the dark room, unsure of who or where he was. Sitting up, he moved to the edge of the bed and stared across the darkness, his pupils widening as they adjusted to the dim light. There on the other side of the room he saw another bed, with an unconscious human girl upon it. The vampire stood and looked down at himself, wondering how he had got there.
Fight. Was there a fight of some sort?
Rolling his head on his tired neck, he paced across the floor, his feet making no sound as they fell onto the soft carpet. He had been stripped of almost all his clothes. There were no marks or wounds on his body, but there was an edge of fatigue in his muscles, as if he’d recently faced some laborious task.
Name. Did I have a name?
He looked down at his arms and hands in confusion, knowing there would be no answer there. He felt as if there had been something significant in his mind, but now it was gone. Turning around, he looked back at the girl sleeping on the bed opposite from him. Her. Was it her?
The brief flash of an image came before his eyes. It was an image of a great castle, lost in a sea of frozen snow. Frost clung to stone. Cold winds barreled down long-forgotten hallways. The chill whispered over the stone, seeming to call out to him. Come.
He tilted his head back slightly, taking a deep breath and drawing in the scents of the room. There was the distant fragrant of dried blood and dirt. His own body had traces of earth, oak and more recently, sweat. Pleasant. Definitely in need of a shower. The rest of the room was normal enough, but then there was her. Dear God. Her.
Feet pulling him forward, he stopped at the foot of the bed and looked down at the girl, his chin held high as he tasted her scent on the air. His muscles tensed at the flavor, his body went rigid for the briefest second as his brain flushed endorphins through his ice-cold veins. She was a summer meadow. A bowl of lavender and freshly cut grass. Honey. Cinnamon. Warm spice that pulled you in and made you want to… taste.
His eyes flushed with black at the thought, as his ears picked put up the rhythm of her dull heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Drumming away quietly, just inches below her chest. Driving the life force around that delicious smelling body. She smelled amazing. Better than anything he’d ever known in his life. Imagine what she tasted like.
The whites of his teeth sharpened, growing down past the edges of his plump red lips at the thought. He brushed his tongue across his lower lip. His cock filled and pushed against his boxers, urging to be let free. Is this why he was here? Was she a gift for him? Was he allowed to touch? Was he allowed to… taste?
He took another step forward closer to the foot of the bed and smoothed a thumb across his fangs. She was a pretty little thing. Long blonde hair, silken white skin. Tall, yet curvy at the same time. He imagined what her soft flesh would feel like under his broad fingers. He imagined what it would feel like to wrap those legs of hers around his waist, to thrust deep and hear her moan as his teeth sunk into her perfect milk flesh.
No, a voice seemed to say in the distance of his mind. Not this one. Don’t hurt this one.
But it would be so fun, he sent back to the other voice. And she’d probably love it too… until she was dry. It was always fun until they ran dry. That’s when the fun stopped. That’s when Wraith went and found the next one.
Wraith! That was it! That was his name. A low snarl rumbled at Wraith’s lips as he remembered the name. It had been such a long time since he’d been able to remember. It felt as if he’d been living behind the eyes of a stranger for a l
ong time. Too long. He was back now though. He could remember again. He was himself once again.
And we’re very hungry Wraith, he thought to himself. Very hungry indeed. And what luck he had to wake up in a room with a morsel as delicate as this one? Of course she was meant for him. Of course he was allowed to taste. Why else would they be in here together?
He crawled onto the bed slowly, the mattress sinking as his knees touched the soft surface. That distant voice came in his head again. Shouting louder this time. No Wraith! No!
The vampire pulled himself back from the bed, spinning around on his feet and thrashing his hand through the air silently as if to pull the voice from his head. None of this would be fun with that thing here. He’d been in the background all this time, and now it was his time to shine. He’d had enough of letting the other voice walk around acting like he was in control. What did it call itself? It had found a name recently. A name that was most stupid.
“Jack?”
Wraith spun on his feet and looked back at the bed to see the blonde-haired girl was propped up on her elbows, staring at him. Jack. That was it. That was the name of his other self. The half that thought it was so high and mighty. “Jack… what are you doing?” The girl sat up in the bed. He could hear the fear in her voice. He could see the fear in her wide eyes. He could even smell it on her skin. Her delicious, enticing, skin.
“Jack,” he said back to himself, almost wanting to laugh at the name. “That’s what you call me?”
Confusion knotted the girl’s brow. She blinked sleep out of her eyes. “…Yes. Don’t you remember?”
“Remember?” he said, speaking the word back to himself very slowly. He didn’t remember anything. Whatever happened, that must have been with the other one. Still, it seemed like she wanted to talk to this Jack. They looked exactly the same, so he might as well play along. It might even work out in his favor. “Of course, I remember. That’s my name of course.” A hollow smile formed on his face and his eyes sparked in the dim light.
