Tainted Crimson

by Tarisa Marie

  One night, I find myself back in Denver with Jacob in some old hotel room that only takes cash. You can say creepy. I know it’s stupid but while Jacob is outside taking a phone call from my dad I take off out the hotel door and out to the nearest bus stop. I jump on a bus and let it take me to its next stop. From there I call a cab and have them pick me up. I can’t take not knowing how Mindy or any of my other friends are doing any longer. I know it’s dangerous but at this point I’m so tired of being told what to do and where to go that I don’t care. I want to do something that I want to do.

  When I show up on Mindy’s front step, I’m surprised to her mother’s tired, aged eyes when the door opens. She looks as though she’s been balling for years.

  When I ask her what’s wrong, she tells me that Mindy has been missing since the day she came over to my house after the fire. This takes me by surprise and I find myself even more stressed out, worried, and upset than before. I suddenly regret leaving the hotel room. I would have been better off not knowing about my friend being missing.

  As I descend the front stairs of Mindy’s house and begin putzing down the sidewalk, while calling a cab company, a voice startles me from behind me.

  I whip around and come face-to-face with Nathan. I gape. What the hell is he doing here? More importantly, what do I do? If I didn’t regret my decision to leave the hotel before, I do now. I could be about to be vampire chow. My heart leaps. “Hey, Ariella.”

  “What are you doing here?” I ask in a whisper as if I’m some sort of criminal or something.

  “I’ve been waiting for Mindy to show up back home. She’s been missing for a few weeks, but you know that,” he explains, but this doesn’t clear up any confusion that I have.

  “Why?” I question.

  “Because I owe it to you for your friend letting me go at your place. I heard she was missing and I know why. I know what happened to her I just don’t know where she is. I was going to try and help her if she came around but she hasn’t, which isn’t a good sign.”

  Confused, I continue my questioning. “You know what happened to her? What happened?”

  “Marco sent a vampire after her to turn her. He knew she meant a lot to you so he thought if he took her, had her turned, and then dangled her in front of you, you would run into her arms and she would lead you back to him,” he explains.

  I’m raging angry. If this is true, which I have no doubt it is, what other explanation is there? I have to save her from him. Even if she’s a vampire. I think to myself and know that I mean it. Does this mean that I think vampires aren’t the terrible creatures that I keep telling myself they are? I’m not sure but I have to save her. Wherever she is.

  “How do you know this?” I wonder.

  He chuckles. “I’m Marco’s son, Ariella.”

  I nearly choke on my own tongue. What?!

  “Don’t worry, I’m nothing like him. I pretend to do what he says but I have ways around it most of the time. He doesn’t want much to do with me most of the time anyhow. I’m not his most prized possession, unlike that vampire-witch that you’ve been hanging around with. I’m glad you shook him. He’s not a good influence for someone as innocent and untouched by the darkness as you,” he says. Like I can take anyone’s word these days.

  “You know D?” I ask curiously.

  “Daymon? Yes, I've seen him only a few times from a distance at my father’s headquarters, though I've heard much about him from my father. I was unaware that he was part witch until that day at your house. My father must’ve kept that information from me."

  "It was no coincidence that you ended being my prom date, was it?"

  "No, it wasn't. My father put me up to it," he admits sheepishly. "I had fun though if that counts for anything."

  I brush this off. I really don't care.

  "Why did you father want you to take me to prom?" I wonder.

  "I've always just wanted to be normal. I'm young, the same age as you actually. I mean in years, not looks, if you're wondering. I'm literally 18 years old. I was raised by my mother who was once a servant for my father but after she had me he let her go to raise me. That is until I turned 16 and she died. My father, Marco, killed her. She was human. That same day he made me into his first dark witch-vampire hybrid but since I'm his son he numbed my thirst as his way of showing love or something at least that's the reason he gave me for doing it. I hardly get thirsty, I mean I have to drink blood but I don't feel scorching pain in my throat like other vampires do. My father didn't want to take care of me once he discovered that I didn't inherit his darkness, but he killed my mother, so he made me a deal: If I went to school and watched you for anything out of the ordinary and reported back to him every week then he would leave me alone, let me graduate, and upon turning 18 I could do whatever I wanted. Easy. I pretend to have small amount of interest in the darkness but only so he tells me certain things like what he's up to and why. Mostly out of curiosity. I don't really care. At least I didn't until I began talking to you and liking you. Then you disappeared and he was furious which brings me to the question–why the hell are you here, what the hell are you thinking?" he demands. I'm not surprised by any of his words but I still can't trust him.

  I cringe. I'm wondering the same thing. "I...I don't know," I admit.

  "Where are your bodyguards?" Ahe asks. I debate telling him that they're near incase this is some sort of ploy to snatch me.

  "Let me take you back to them. They're probably freaking out right now," he says. He's completely right.

  "One more question," I state.

  "What?"

  "Did you call my dad and warn him about the attack at the school?"

  He looks surprised. "I had a recorded message scheduled to be sent to him. Like I said I'm not like my father. I promise. Don't tell Marco about any of this. He will literally kill me," he begs and I really don't doubt it. He probably would kill him. "You really can't be out here. My father has people everywhere. Even humans that are spelled to call him if they see you. I'd be surprised if Mindy's mother isn't spelled. Get out of here. Now. The longer you wait the more likely you are to be caught." Duh, Ariella. Why wouldn't he spell Mindy's mom to report me if I showed up. My throat goes dry with the realization of how stupid running away from the hotel really was.

  "Good evening," A deep, familiar but very unwelcomed voice says from beside me. I gulp.

  "Good evening, father," Nathan says with a bow. Then looks at me apologetically with a hint of 'I told you so' in his eyes.

  "What have you found here?" The familiar young man asks, while stepping closer to me.

  "I'm not sure why you've been having such trouble finding this one. I was only just about to call you," Nathan says, his voice emotionless as if he's a zombie. He's saving his ass by sucking up to his father. I can't say I blame him. If it was my life or a stranger getting kidnapped, call me a coward but I'd probably choose my life too.

  "Good job, Nathan," he approves while sizing me up. Pinpricks of fear cover my entire body.

  "Come with me, Ariella. I have much to offer you as you have much to offer me," Marco chants calmly, as if he's trying to hypnotize me.

  Do I even bother arguing? I mean it's not like I stand a chance against him. He closes the space between us and extends a hand to me. I hesitate before placing my hand in his. My body warms and I'm suddenly being rushed through a busy concrete building. All eyes are on me as Marco leads me through people. To my left is a large window that spans the length of the hallway. Through the window is a giant empty room. Empty, aside from the numerous duos inside squaring off. To my right is another set of windows and another large empty room. Only in this one there is no one.

  We keeping walking. At every door we walk through Marco flashes a small keycard over the door knob to unlock it. As we get further into the building it becomes less busy. Eventually we only pass the odd person. This place is bland. The color scheme seems to be grey and greyer. It's depressing. He opens a final door and ushers m
e into it. In this room is a bed, toilet, and sink. It feels like a prison cell. Nathan trails behind us.

  "This is where you shall sleep. The more you listen and adhere to our instruction the more lavish your accommodation will become. The more successful you are at performing tasks we assign you, the more freedom you will have. This is not a prison, Ariella. It is your awakening. Here you will learn who and what you really are," Marco says, as if reading it from a script. "Will you cooperate?" he asks.

  I go off of a mere whim and hope that I'm not digging myself a hole. "Of course I will. Why do you think I ran away from my father and Jacob to find you?" I say with fake confidence. Thankfully he doesn't seem to see through my lie. He smiles and I internally applaud myself for my quick thinking. I see a corner of Nathan's mouth rise up into a small smile.

  "Glad to hear it. Get some rest, tomorrow will be a big day,” he promises smugly, and then I'm left alone in the dark.

  Hours pass and I don't sleep. How can I? I wonder if my father will come for me. I mean, of course he will but I mean I wonder if his coming will be successful or if he'll fail. I pray that he nor Jacob gets hurt trying to free me and am sort of glad that D took off when he did. I can't deny that him getting hurt would kill me even though I know what I know now about him.

  When the door to my room clicks open I'm surprised to see Nathan standing in the doorway. I didn't get a lick of sleep so I sit up exhausted in bed.

  "Good morning, Ariella. Marco requests your presence," he states robotically and his eyes flash to the roof for only a second. I follow his gaze and see that a camera is bolted to the wall. I get up and follow him out of the room. He leads me into a small room and closes the door behind me, leaving me alone with Marco.

  Chapter 20

  "Good morning, Ariella," Marco greets me. "Welcome to my headquarters."

  "Good morning," I reply and force a smile.

  "I'm glad that you are cooperating. I wasn't sure if you would," he approves and clears his throat. "I'd like to start off by explaining myself. I'm sure you're wondering why it is exactly that I've been trying to find you. I've been looking for you because I think you'll be a wonderful addition to my team. I feel that you may even have the potential to be my right hand woman and second in command. Would you like that, Ariella?"

  I nod. "Of course," I lie.

  "Great. Then we should begin with some tests of your power. I assume you've done a bit of practice?"

  "A little. Not much," I admit. This is the truth. I mean I’ve practiced a lot but not gotten far, that is, if you don’t count that freak incident with the storage container in the clearing with D.

  "That will work for now. Lyndsay, one of our magic trainers, will take you down stairs to practice shortly." He nods curtly and stands up from his seat. "By the way, my dearest Ariella, have you any clue where my light witch-vampire hybrid Daymon has gone off to?" he asks in wonderment. So he hasn't found him yet.

  "Uh no but thank you for sending him to show me my potential and present my...er options," I muster. Maybe saying this will save D's life when Marco finds him. It's only a matter of time. At the very least, maybe it will spare D from being cursed againby Marco.

  "Pardon me? Your options?" he questions.

  "Yes, he's the one who convinced me to come to you. He also taught me how to summon my power." The second part is true. The first part, not so much.

  A light appears in Marco's eyes. Surprise? Hope? I'm not sure.

  "You're sure you know nothing of his whereabouts?" he asks again.

  I nod. "He disappeared a few days ago without much explanation."

  "Thank you for your cooperation, Ariella. Lyndsay will take you to train now and then Nathan will take you to your new room. You must've grown on him. He wishes to stay here while you are here as well. He's never shown much interest in the cause," Marco says almost in thanks and I wonder what exactly 'the cause' is. I assume it involves murder.

  When Marco swings the door behind me open, I meet the beautiful blue eyes of a young, petite, blond woman. Are they all the supernaturals drop dead gorgeous?

  "Nice to meet you, Ariella, I'm Lyndsay. We have a lot to go over and little time so follow me." She motions me out the door and I follow quickly. What should I expect? Is it going to be like my training with D? Somehow I doubt it. I follow her down the same bland halls I just walked through. She leads me to an empty concrete room downstairs. Okay, it's not empty, there are cameras all over the roof. I wonder if anyone is looking through them right now. Creepy.

  "This is how this works. I'm going to attack you. You're going to defend yourself as much as you can. Don't worry about hurting me because I'm not going to worry about hurting you so long as I don't kill you. That will have me fired." She smirks but her smirk is nothing like D's, hers is dark and devilish. I've been placed in combat positions before with my dad, Jacob, and D and they were never too scared to hurt me but I have a feeling that this is going to be much worse. I'm going to get my ass kicked. I don't mean that I’m going to be thrown on my ass though, I don't doubt I will be, but I mean I'm going to hurt after this. Really hurt.

  She doesn't give me any time to prepare. She leaps at me, grabs my arm, and twisted roughly. I react as fast as I can and try to use her move against her. She yelps in pain and jumps back. Then she's on me again. I swing my left foot up and catch her square in the ribs.

  "You've had some combat training I see," she approves. "Good. Let's throw some magic into the mix."

  Great. This, I’m not practiced with. At all. In fact, I realize that I know nothing about magic. At all.

  An orange ball flies towards my face and I leap out of the way. I realize she's throwing fireballs at me. Lovely. She starts hurtling them at me faster and I know she's waiting to see if I react with my own magic. I dodge them as best as I can until one finally hits me in the shoulder and singes me. I cry out in agony and swat at my shoulder as if trying to put it out. Another hits me at my waist and I stumble back with a few curse words.

  Now I'm raging angry. That fricken hurt, bitch. She doesn't stop. She continues to throw them at me. I feel like I'm about to explode with anger. Not only anger towards her or Marco but anger towards my life right now in general, towards D, towards everyone and everything. I'm just so angry. I've never been so angry in my life. For once, I unleash this anger and it comes out of me in waves. Literal, electrified waves. Lyndsay is knocked backwards into one of the concrete walls and blood gushes from her scalp. Pity doesn't pass my mind nor does any sort of sympathy. She deserved that. I wait for her to heal enough to come at me again only she doesn't move. She doesn't even blink. Have I...no. No way have I just killed someone. No way was that me who sent that wave of sheer force into that girl. Days ago, I could hardly move a piece of paper. I stare down at my hands in wonder.

  Suddenly there's a voice that comes from nowhere. The walls? I look around for its source and see an intercom on one of the walls. "Congratulations, Ariella, you've passed you first challenge with flying colors. You may exit through the door on your left when it opens. Nathan will be waiting for you outside."

  I gulp. I should be feeling some sort of regret. This is wrong. So very wrong. I look at the limp girl on the floor and wait for it to hit me but it doesn't. The doors open on my left and I follow my instruction. I exit the room and leave Lyndsay’s body lifeless on the ground.

  Nathan meets me outside of the room, a grim look on his face. "Are you okay?" he whispers.

  I nod. Surprisingly, I'm fine. He looks at me apologetically and it confuses me. Something feels wrong. I just killed someone, why am I not hyperventilating?

  "I'm supposed to take you to the lab. They want to run some tests," he says blankly.

  "Tests?" I wonder. Great that sounds like needles. I hate needles.

  "Yeah. Probably just need some blood. I assume they'll take your blood pressure and stuff too," he reassures me as if that’s minor. I realize it is. They could do far worse.

  He leads me in
to a new room. This one has windows and I'm delighted that I get to see outside. Even if the only thing I can see is the sky. I wonder where on earth we are.

  "Hello again, Ariella," Marco chimes as he steps out from around a corner to face me. He extends a hand and I take it reluctantly. "We just need to take a little blood if that’s alright?" he coaxes me as he has me sit down and a woman in a white jacket approaches me with a needles and some vials. I try to keep my heart from racing. It's just a needle, Ariella, you're fine. I'm freaking out more about the needle than killing someone five minutes ago.

  "We were very impressed by your performance." He grins. It's not a friendly smile, it's terrifying. "Do you draw your power from your surroundings or do you take it from others?" he questions.

  "I'm not sure what you mean," I reply truthfully.

  "Do you drink blood like a vampire, child? Do you pull power from others like the black witches? Or do you pull it from around you unintentionally?" he tries again.

  "I guess, I pull it from around me," I gather.

  "Interesting. Do you find yourself getting tired quickly?"

  "No, not really. I'm not tired now." I assess myself.

  "That is good. After this, I'd like to do one more test, it's an easy one, then Nathan can show you to your new accommodation if all goes well," he promises.

  I merely nod.

  "All done," the lady says, and I glance over to see all of her once empty vials now filled. I didn't feel a thing. What is going on with me today? I feel like I'm in some sort of daze where everything around me is numbed or dulled.

  I'm ushered down another hall to another room. This building seems huge and I doubt I'll ever be able to navigate it on my own.

  In this new room is only a desk with paper and a pen, and a large screen. I'm reminded of high school film studies.

  Once I approach the desk, I realize that the paper has writing on it. It looks almost like a multiple-choice test.