by D. N. Hoxa
I could see his fangs clearly now and the spray of silver that sprinkled the black in his eyes.
“I am strong enough,” I insisted.
“No, you are not.”
And he was right. I wasn’t.
“But I will be.” I raised my chin victoriously. Because Samayan might’ve been stronger than anyone I ever knew, but I had something that could easily supersede all the magic of the world. I had the very source of it.
“Bring it to me, Raven,” he demanded, and we both knew it was Illyon he was talking about. “Otherwise your little demon will pay the price. There are ways of killing those filthy creatures, I assure you.”
That, I would never allow. “Yes, as well as ways to kill things so powerful, they would leave the world forever naked.” My smile widened along with his eyes. “Do not underestimate me, Samayan. I am the Guardian, and I alone know how to forever seal the power that comes from Illyon.”
Blood would’ve left his face, if his body was able to produce any. “You wouldn’t dare,” he whispered.
“I would.” Without a second thought.
“Do you not see what you have become? You’re nothing but a lowly peasant, as small as a fly.” He laughed at his own words. “All because you think you love. Love is what makes great men weak. It’s what sucked the power off this world, and we paid the price. We’re still paying, and that is why we have to cleanse ourselves from it for good.” His eyes lit with silver fire.
“I don’t care what you think of my actions, Samayan, but if you dare come after those I love, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you meet your end.”
His lips stretched into an evil smile. “Very well, then. War it is.” He showed me his fangs before his face disappeared, and walls made of crystal and light took its place.
***
No better indicator to your whereabouts than those goddamn light bulbs.
I sat up way too fast and had to keep my eyes shut for a while. Once I came to my senses and was aware enough to check my own body, I saw that I was fine. Completely fine. No blood, no torn skin, no scars, not even bruises. Huh.
I looked around and found myself in a small room with no windows, as I expected, and with white tiles everywhere. The door to my left opened and Aaron came in. He gave me a smile that tugged out my own.
“Hey, you. How are you feeling?” He came to sit next to me on the sofa.
“Like a mess,” I mumbled, and I leaned onto his shoulder. As if he read my mind, he sealed my lips with his the next second, which brought an even bigger smile to my face. I’d missed kissing him, so much.
“You should rest,” Aaron whispered against my lips.
“How long have I been out?” I asked because I hadn’t been sleeping or daydreaming. I had been in some illusionary place that Samayan created, who the hell knows how.
“Just an hour. We’re in the Alpines.”
I nodded. I’d recognized the place.
“How long was I in Alcatraz?”
“Three days.” With his strong, gentle arms, he pulled me closer and closer until our bodies were flush against each other.
“It took you three whole days to find me?”
“Yeah. You weren’t conscious and feeling most of the time. I had to work with minutes only, sometimes less.”
He was right. Victor the bald warlock, had made sure I was under most of the time.
“Thanks for coming for me.” I planted a kiss on his chest, right above his heart.
“Any time,” Aaron said and smiled.
“Where is Ella? And my father? Are they okay?”
“Yes, they’re fine. They’re here, too. As well as all the others that made it out of Kentucky alive.”
Relief warmed me to my bones. My family was safe. I couldn’t have cared less about the others.
After a second of silence, Aaron’s body grew completely stiff. When I looked up at his face to ask why, he turned into a statue all of a sudden. I saw the thin layer of cold sweat that covered his skin.
“Aaron?”
When his eyes met mine, he looked terrified. Strange. I’d never seen Aaron scared of anything before. But then again, he wasn’t even breathing.
I sat up straight and framed his wet face with my hands.
“Aaron, talk to me,” I whispered, though I doubted he could. He looked completely frozen, except for his eyes. And when he squeezed them shut, I almost slapped the hell out of him to make him look at me again. I might have not cared about others, but Aaron was the man I loved. One of the few people in the world I’d do anything for. Nothing could happen to him. Not while I was still there.
I called his name, over and over again until he finally opened his eyes again. He could hardly focus for a few seconds, but he looked a little less terrified now. The storm in the ocean of his eyes had all but retreated.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I whispered reluctantly. It still sucked to share feelings, even if he already knew exactly how I felt.
“Sorry,” he said as shiver after shiver ripped through his body. “It’s the panther.”
I raised my brow in question. “The panther?”
With his lips pressed, Aaron nodded. “My animal has a mind of its own. Whenever I allow it to come out, it takes a while for it to accept that it has to stay inside. It’s strong. It takes a lot for me to control it and sometimes, it gets really close…”
He shook his head and squeezed my hands tightly.
“Is that why you never shift?” I’d only seen it once. Back when I killed McGraw in Lyndor, I didn’t even see him.
“Pretty much. Most of the time, it’s not worth the trouble of subduing it afterwards.” The small smile Aaron gave me told me that he was okay. I eagerly rested against his shoulder again. “Star, what did they do to you there?”
It was my time to freeze now. “Tested me. I don’t know,” I lied, until I remembered again.
“Don’t lie to me, Star,” he warned because he could obviously feel my feelings.
Shit. I needed to do something about that situation. I needed to learn how to block him from feeling me all the time, or I was going to be in a lot of trouble.
“They kept me unconscious, gave me things, and that green shit that Horatio gave Evan—the shifter—so he couldn’t use his magic. That’s why I was stuck.”
I didn’t want to tell Aaron about Samayan’s red potion for some reason, but because I told him most of the truth, I didn’t really feel like I was bullshitting. I went under his radar successfully, and Aaron kissed the top of my head.
“The New York meeting is in three days,” he reminded me.
I had completely forgotten about that. Not surprising, since the idea was to go down there and show a bunch of retards why they didn’t want to be on Samayan’s side.
But the thing was, I didn’t need them anymore. I was going to kill Samayan myself and take all that was his on my own. Now, I was strong enough.
“Am I sensing regret?” Aaron asked, reminding me again that he knew what went on through my head every second.
“Show me how to stop it.” I sat up to meet his ocean eyes again instead.
“How to stop what?”
“This feeling thing. I need you to stop feeling me all the time, and since you can't do anything about it, I want to know how to shut you out.”
“Star, that’s impossible. No one can shut out their feelings.” He smiled, shaking his head.
“If I can shut out everyone from feeling my powers, I can shut you out of feeling my feelings.” I could do it now. I knew I could.
“I don’t know. I never heard of something like it being done, but I guess you can try. I’m not a fan of not being able to feel you, but if that makes you feel better, go ahead and try.”
He was sweet when he tried to charm me with his own lies like that. He obviously didn’t believe I could.
“Should be easy.” I immediately began to imagine the best way I could keep my feelings from leaking o
ut of me and falling on Aaron’s radar. It was going to take me a while but I was confident in my new power. A grin spread on my face.
“What?” Aaron asked, smiling too.
“I want to see Ella and Dad,” I said instead because if I said nothing, he would know it was a lie. But his smile did falter a little.
“You should rest a bit more before—” he tried, but I cut him off.
“No, I want to see them now. I’ve rested more than enough.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, and I could tell that for a change, he was hiding something from me. It was right there, written in his eyes, impossible to miss. A bad feeling gripped at my insides.
“Aaron, what’s going on?” The words were heavy on my tongue, especially when he rubbed his face furiously.
“I guess you’re going to find out sooner or later, anyway,” he murmured and stood up.
“You’re scaring me, Aaron. What am I going to find out sooner or later?” This was Ella we were talking about.
“I’ll…uh…I’ll be right back.” Without even looking at me again, he went for the door and disappeared, leaving me alone, angry, and a little scared.
In an attempt to calm myself down as I waited, I focused on the walls I was going to build to keep Aaron from feeling my feelings. I failed each time, but I kept on trying right until I felt him coming back.
He wasn’t alone. Two vampires were with him, and when the door opened, Jack came in first. The other vampire waited outside. Was it a guard?
“How you feeling, Ballsweat?”
Jack grinned as if I even had the time for him. I turned to Aaron again.
“Where is Ella?” I was still keeping it cool, though I knew something was wrong. The last time I’d seen my sister, she had been wounded. I couldn’t let myself think about that at all.
“Star, something happened in Kentucky,” Aaron started. My stomach fell. “Ella was wounded pretty badly and we…”
He looked everywhere but at me. I took a step closer and spoke through gritted teeth.
“Where is my sister?” My heart was all I could hear with my ears and my fingers shook from the intensity of the power that was leaking through me uncontrollably.
“We didn’t have a choice, Star,” Jack whispered.
“She was going to die,” Aaron added.
The room spun around. White noise in my head. The door behind them opened and in came Ella.
She was heartbreakingly beautiful, her skin flawless, as white as Samayan’s. Her eyes shone like never before, and they looked sharper, too. Her posture was different, stronger, more solid. Her hair no longer had strings of sunshine to decorate her curls. They were silver now, cold and lifeless instead. She looked older. She looked like a vampire.
I don’t know how I got there, but Jack was pressed against the wall and my fingers were wrapped around his neck. My fingernails tore into his skin and buried inside the sides of his neck. He bled cold red blood.
“Star, stop!” Aaron said and tried to grab my arm. I pushed him, just a bit, and he flew a few feet on air.
“How dare you…” I hissed at Jack. I had been perfectly clear with him, hadn’t I?
“Star, stop it!” Ella shouted.
I couldn’t even look at her. I slapped Jack’s cheek instead.
“Star, let go of him, right now!” Ella tried again. She was closer to me now.
“I am going to kill you, so slowly, so painfully…” I hissed at Jack, but when I wanted to slap him again, a cold hand grabbed my wrist. Ella pulled me back, and Jack slid down the wall and to the floor.
“Look at me!” Ella shouted. Her voice had changed, too. It was no longer the same as Mom’s voice, a smooth, honey-like melody I loved so much. It was sharper, more arrogant now. Lifeless.
“How could you do this?” I asked as I analyzed her fingers because I couldn’t bear to look at her face.
“Would you have preferred I had died?”
Her breath sent chills through my body.
“You’re a vampire,” I said, more to myself than to her.
“Yes, and I am alive.”
Her cold hands grabbed my face to make me look at her. I jerked away from her touch.
“You’re not alive. You’re a living dead. You can’t stand in the sun. You suck the blood of innocents to survive, to maintain your strength…”
And that’s when it hit me. The weird craving I’d been feeling. The red potion…my body was demanding it.
“Don’t you dare lecture me! You murdered innocent people without even needing to do it to survive,” Ella shouted.
But she didn’t understand that I didn’t give a damn about the people. Nobody was innocent. Except for her. She was the only innocent person I knew. Not dad, who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and was dumb enough to be seduced by a fucking fairy. Not Mom, who thought it wise to give her life away and raise me. Only Ella. And now her innocence was gone—vanished forever.
“You left me alone, do you remember that?” She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. She was so strong now. “Because I do! I remember all four years of being on my own. I remember waiting for you every single day, and I remember you never came back. How dare you try and lecture me about life? How dare you do that to Jack, who saved my life? Who saved your sister from dying?!”
When her voice broke, I had to look up. The tears that wetted her cheeks were my undoing, always. I grabbed her in my arms and hugged her until she couldn’t breathe anymore, even if she needed to.
“I remember,” I whispered against her hair. “I remember every single day.”
“Then stop. You’re hurting me. Just stop hurting me, please,” she said against my shoulder and held on tightly to the back of my shirt.
“You’re a vampire,” I whispered to myself again. She was a vampire, and there was nothing anybody could do to change that. Ever. So the only thing left for me to do was to accept it. That shouldn’t have been so hard. I would take her being a living dead than her being just dead any day.
I bit my tongue to fight away the anger that still had control over me, because she was never going to see the sun again, never take pleasure from a glass of wine, a piece of nicely cooked steak. Just blood.
“I am. And I’m alive. Next time those fuckers come, I’ll be prepared. I won't be weak,” Ella mumbled against my shirt.
“You were never weak.” She was stronger than I could ever be. I just wished she could see that, and now, maybe—finally—she would. “I’m glad you’re alive.”
Her face stretched into a smile as she took half a step back. It was the first time I allowed myself to look at her. Take all of her in.
An adult. She was no longer a little girl. She had grown now. She was a vampire. A beautiful vampire.
“Welcome back,” she whispered as she, too, analyzed my face and body for any injuries and smiled when she found none.
“Welcome to the supernatural world.” It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to say.
“It’s good to be here.”
I knew my sister, and by the way her eyes moved, she would’ve blushed if she were capable.
“You two are the freakiest people I’ve ever met in my life.”
Jack’s voice came from below us. He was still sitting on the ground. Ella widened her beautiful eyes at me as if to try and tell me something…oh.
“Sorry about that,” I mumble to Jack.
Like the stupid vampire that he was, he grinned again, just like that.
“Ella, your dad is waiting for you,” Aaron said from behind us.
He was sitting on the sofa, and the deadly look on his face told me just how wrong something was.
“Yeah, well, I’ll be back,” Ella said and squeezed my hand.
“Wait, where is he?” I asked, not sure whether to be scared that he wasn’t there already or not.
“He’s fine. He stayed up all night fixing something. I’ll just go tell him you’re fine and maybe get him to sleep for a while. I wa
sn’t sure I should bring him just yet.”
“He hasn’t turned into a vampire, too, has he?” It didn’t hurt to double-check.
“No, just me.” Ella grinned.
“The Elders want to meet with you, Star,” Jack said as he finally stood up.
“No, I don’t have time for them,” I said, and Ella moved lightning fast to the door.
“I’ll be on my way.”
“See you later,” I said with a wink before she closed the door.
“What do you mean, you don’t have time? They want to see you,” Jack said next, a dumbfounded smile on his face.
“Well, I don’t need to see them,” I said and went to sit next to Aaron. I couldn’t care less about the Elders. I still needed to get over the Ella-is-a-vampire thing. That she would feed on human blood from now on. Always depending on someone. Immortal. Just like me. And Aaron…suddenly, forever didn’t seem like such a long time anymore. Not with what I had in mind.
“What are you—”
“Jack, do you mind leaving us for as sec?” Aaron cut his complaining off before I could.
“Sure,” Jack whispered, and with another suspicious look my way, he left us alone.
I leaned against Aaron’s shoulder.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he hissed and pushed me away from him.
Confused, I looked up at him. “What do you mean?” I really had no idea.
“What do I mean? Is that a way to treat a friend? He saved your sister’s life, and you didn’t even have the courtesy to mean a fucking sorry!” he shouted, incredulous.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“Oh, come on, Aaron. It was nothing. It wasn’t like I could choke him. He’s a vampire. He doesn’t die from lack of air.”
He stood up, shaking his head and rubbing his face, and he stayed with his back to me for a while. I couldn’t keep my thoughts in check, like the pleasure that the thought of Ella being immortal brought. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about it before. I knew she wasn’t going to be too happy with what I had in mind for the world, but I could be very persuasive. Aaron, on the other hand, was going to be a bigger problem.
