Welcome to the Darkness (Darkness Trilogy)

by L. M. Justus

He shook his head. “Of course we don’t know everything. That’s why I’m here doing recon. Listen, you could be helpful getting us inside information.”

  The door opening interrupted him. He reacted immediately and held up the UV ball, setting off another flash of light.

  “Ah! What the hell?” Reed shouted.

  “Close the door!” Pickle hissed.

  Luckily, Sarah had closed her eyes as soon as she saw the UV ball, so her vision wasn’t affected. She pushed the door shut while Reed rubbed his eyes.

  “Sorry, man. I thought you were one of them,” Pickle apologized.

  “One of who?” Reed asked, blinking away the last effects of the light.

  “The vamps,” he answered.

  Reed’s face scrunched up. “Who the hell are you?” Then he turned to Sarah and his expression softened. “Hey, are you okay?”

  She nodded. “I’m good. This is Gareth, by the way. Although most people call him ‘Pickle’ apparently.”

  “Pickle?” Reed turned and inspected the other man.

  “It’s a long story,” Pickle muttered, his face reddening again.

  “Anyway,” Sarah continued, “he’s a vampire hunter and he thinks the King and his cohorts are creating a virus to infect humans, not a cure against sunlight.”

  “I don’t think that, I know for a fact,” Pickle clarified.

  “Infect humans with what?” Reed asked with a puzzled frown.

  “You two could both be a big help getting us inside information,” Pickle continued, ignoring Reed’s question. “Ultimately, we think every last vampire on earth should be destroyed, but for now, we’ve gotta do something about this virus. I know it’s hard to trust someone you’ve just met, but which side are you gonna choose? The vamps? Or your fellow human beings?”

  Sarah and Reed turned to each other, eyebrows raised.

  “I have to go. I’m expected at the rendezvous point in another minute,” Pickle continued. He dug through a pouch at his waist and pulled out a pencil and crumpled piece of paper. “Please, at least think about what I’ve said. Come meet me and the gang tomorrow at noon at this address,” he said, handing Sarah the paper with the address he’d scribbled on it. “We can explain everything in more detail then. You’d better take one of these too,” he added, handing Sarah his UV ball. “Just hold down this button with your thumb and slide this part until it stops. It should be good for another two bursts.”

  He saluted them and promptly hopped out the window. A moment later, there was a muffled thud when he hit the ground. Pickle brushed himself off and scuttled across the lawn, disappearing into the woods around the estate.

  “That guy wasn’t bugging you or anything, was he?” Reed asked, his eyes searching Sarah’s.

  “No, and he seemed sincere too. From what I could tell, both from what he said and what he was thinking, either he’s telling the truth, or at least he believes what he said was the truth. I mean, he wasn’t making the whole thing up. He said the vampires are developing a virus that will turn every human on earth into a vampire-human hybrid.”

  “Riiight,” Reed replied, looking as skeptical as Sarah had felt earlier in her conversation with the vampire hunter.

  “I think maybe we should go to that meeting tomorrow,” Sarah said.

  “What? No way!” Reed stood up straighter. “I’m not walking into a meeting full of vampire hunters. I am a vampire. Remember? Just because his stupid light ball didn’t work on me, God knows what other tricks they have up their sleeves. I say we talk to Nathaniel about this. And if you want to know what’s going on, why don’t you read the King’s mind and find out that way?”

  “Honestly, the thoughts I picked up earlier from the King were garbled for some reason, although I’ll admit I wasn’t trying to read his mind. Anyway, I don’t know if telling Nathaniel about the hunter is a good idea. After all, who is Nathaniel going to feel more loyal to? The King and his fellow vampires, or a group of humans who want to exterminate them all?”

  “So what do you suggest?”

  Sarah huffed out a sigh. “Maybe I should go to the meeting by myself.”

  “What? Absolutely not! That’s a terrible idea.” Reed started pacing the room and raked his hands through his hair. He stopped. “All right, how about this? We talk to Nathaniel to see how much he knows about the experiments they’re running. We can fish around, casually asking if they’re doing other research besides curing vampire weaknesses. We’ll leave out the part about meeting the vampire hunter . . . for now.”

  “All right, you win. We’ll go talk to Nathaniel. And we’ll plan on skipping the meeting with the vampire hunters,” Sarah said. “For now.”

  Reed gave her a grim smile and nodded. Then they left to find Nathaniel.

  Nathaniel

  Nathaniel lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He imagined faces forming out of the tiny bumps in the stippling paint like dot-to-dot pictures. At times, his life as a vampire could be downright boring. And on the occasions when it was exciting, it was never in a positive manner.

  He pondered alternate ways of occupying his time other than staring at the ceiling, and considered reading a book. It had been ages since he’d last indulged in such a selfish endeavor. He wondered if the King had stocked his library in the past few decades. It would be a shame if the shelves still lay empty. If Nathaniel ever became King, he would amass a glorious collection of literature, both classic and new.

  A soft knock at the door broke him out of his reverie. He sat up, swivelled his legs over the side of the bed, and called, “Enter.”

  “Yo,” Reed said with a wave, sauntering into the room with Sarah close on his heels.

  Nathaniel acknowledged them with a nod.

  “How’s it going?” Reed asked, leaning against a bedpost.

  “I am well,” he replied. Perhaps he was too suspicious by nature, but he wondered at the reason for their visit. No one ever came to see him solely for the enjoyment of his company.

  “So . . . have you had a chance to catch up with the King and your other New York acquaintances yet?” Sarah asked.

  “Not really, no. I am not a particularly conversational fellow, as you may have noticed.”

  “Right, but didn’t you say you were curious about their medical research? You wanted to know if they’d made any advances or discovered anything interesting over the last several years.”

  “True. Thus far, however, the King has not been terribly forthcoming with information. This leads me to believe that he may not have achieved the level of success he had hoped for.”

  “Huh. So basically, he hasn’t told you anything,” she surmised.

  “It is simply that I am not privy to such detailed information regarding his research, nor have I ever been. That is all.”

  “Hang on,” Reed said. “After all these years of doing research, you haven’t heard anything about what they’ve done? Like, they must have figured out something. Or are they the crappiest researchers ever?”

  “Maybe they’re hiding something from us,” Sarah suggested.

  Nathaniel blinked, contemplating her words. “Have you heard something?”

  “What? No,” Reed answered, turning to look away.

  The boy was not a very accomplished liar, which was probably for the better. Had he been a skilled liar, Nathaniel would have had to question his every word.

  A short rap at the door interrupted them. “Come in,” Nathaniel called.

  The King and one of his aides stood at the door. When he spotted the current occupants of Nathaniel’s room, the King broke into a wide grin.

  “Ah, just the three people I was looking for,” he said, his deep voice a satisfied rumble. “A proper meal has been readied for you, My Lady.” He bowed to Sarah. “If you would be so kind,” he added, spreading his hand to the side.

  The aide also bowed, and said, “Please, come this way. I shall accompany you to the dining room.”

  Sarah turned to look at Reed and Nathaniel.
Neither said a word, although Reed frowned.

  “I thought the boys and I could take a closer look at some of our latest research breakthroughs while you dine,” the King said, meeting Sarah’s eyes. He smiled warmly, waiting for her reply.

  Right on cue, her stomach growled. “Sure, all right,” she answered at last. “I have to admit, I’m pretty hungry.”

  “Excellent,” the King purred.

  Sarah followed the aide out of the room. Nathaniel and Reed went with the King in the opposite direction. They took the elevator to the lower level and stepped out into the area they’d visited earlier. Workers continued their tasks beyond the glass walls of the lab.

  “This way,” the King said, turning down the stark white marble hallway. “In here.” He opened a door, holding it to let them enter.

  The interior resembled a hospital room. A single bed with rails rested in the center and a table laden with medical equipment lay off to the side. The room was uncluttered and sterile white. It did not look like a place for discussing anything.

  Nathaniel took a closer look at the neatly sorted medical paraphernalia on the side table. There was a stack of empty blood bags and box of syringes amongst the supplies. His heartbeat sped up in alarm.

  “I think you have had enough time to grasp the importance of your unique blood and DNA,” the King addressed Reed in a soothing voice. “Therefore, this seems the perfect opportunity to make your donation.”

  “What? Right now? Hang on . . . I . . . I’m not sure–” Reed faltered.

  His eyes darted around the room and the color of his irises faded. Six more vampires filed into the room and Reed backed up against the far wall.

  “Wait . . . wait, I’m not ready yet,” he insisted, his fangs lowering into his mouth. He assumed a defensive stance.

  “It is in a vampire’s nature to protect every last drop of his blood,” the King explained, his voice hypnotic. “I understand this will be difficult for you, Reed, but it will soon be over.”

  “No!” Reed shouted. “I said no!”

  The vampires swarmed Reed and hauled him, twisting and thrashing, onto the bed. It took four of them to hold him down while he bucked and struggled in a desperate attempt to break free. Another vampire prepared a needle to begin extracting his blood, while the last vampire left the room in a blur.

  “Let me go! Get your hands off me!”

  Nathaniel’s own fangs stung, ready to burst through his gums as Reed’s blood filled the first bag. The boy shook and panted with exertion, but he stopped fighting.

  “Nathaniel, please . . . help me,” he begged.

  Nathaniel met Reed’s pleading look and his heart of ice splintered, shards lodging themselves throughout his chest.

  The vampire who had left moments earlier returned, dragging a human male into the room. With a flick of his wrist, he slashed open a wound in the man’s neck and pushed the bleeding gash toward Reed’s face. Unable to deny the instinct to replace his lost blood, he latched on and began to drink in greedy gulps.

  How much blood were they planning to take from Reed? He would unwittingly drain the human dry if they took much more. One less human life meant little to Nathaniel, but he was certain Reed would feel quite differently.

  “Sire, may I ask how much more you intend to extract from the boy?”

  “We are almost done,” the King answered, regarding Nathaniel with curiosity. “Are you concerned for him?”

  “I . . . trust your judgment, of course,” he replied, lowering his head.

  “Good, very good,” the King said, his eyes half-lidded in contentment. “You may have the privilege of returning the boy to his quarters afterward, if you desire.”

  “As you wish,” Nathaniel replied. He watched when the human sagged on his feet, too weak from blood loss to support his own weight. The vampire next to the man held his body in place while Reed continued to feed ravenously.

  When the vampires had finished with the blood extraction, they placed the precious bags of blood into a cooler. They left the room, and the human slumped to the floor in an unceremonious heap. Reed had died, no doubt for a lengthy amount of time after such a voracious feeding.

  The King nodded and departed with a theatrical bow. Nathaniel couldn’t comprehend why the King behaved in such a dramatic manner. He glanced at the floor where the human lay like a discarded banana peel. This was not good. Reed was going to be very upset upon wakening. Would he understand there wasn’t anything he could have done to stop this? That they were both powerless to avoid the inevitable? And what if, wonder of wonders, the King managed to find a way for vampires to go out in the sun, thanks to Reed’s blood? Surely, it was more than worth this relatively minor kerfuffle.

  Nathaniel stepped over the body on the floor, and scooped Reed’s deadweight into his arms. He carried him back to his room, worried he might meet Sarah along the way. He did not see any sign of her, however, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Back in their room, he laid Reed on the bed. He arranged the pillows under the boy’s head, lay his arms by his side and straightened his legs so he wouldn’t wake up in an awkward position.

  He went into the bathroom to wet a facecloth and returned to Reed’s side. Nathaniel wiped the blood from the boy’s face and then threw the soiled cloth into the trashcan in the corner of the room.

  He remained standing next to the bed, staring at Reed’s placid expression. Memories swam to the surface of Nathaniel’s mind: images of his son, lost so long ago. What would he have looked like had he grown to adulthood? Although he had never shown his son an outpouring of affection–for that was the way of things two centuries earlier–he had loved his son to the depths of his soul. He pictured teaching him everything he knew, and watching him grow into a man, perhaps marrying and fathering children of his own.

  A lump formed in Nathaniel’s throat and he quickly shut down his current train of thought. It was dangerous to dwell on the traumas of his past, for those memories led the way to darkness and insanity. Best to keep the lid on his chest of memories locked shut.

  He took a deep breath to clear his mind and left to find Sarah. He would relate to her what had happened so she could be there for Reed when he awoke. Nathaniel knew Sarah would do a far better job of appeasing Reed, and convincing him that everything would be all right. If only there was someone to reassure Nathaniel in the same way.

  Reed

  My eyes popped open. I was set up like a corpse on a bed. I smelled Sarah before I spotted her, sitting in a chair to my right. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying. Somehow, we’d ended up back in our bedroom at the vampire’s mansion. I hated dying every time I fed, and half the time someone moved me so I had no idea where I was when I woke up.

  And then I remembered why I’d had to feed. I lurched into a sitting position.

  “They . . . they took my blood,” I said, turning to Sarah.

  “I know. Nathaniel told me,” she said quietly.

  “But, they took it by force. They stole my blood. I begged them to stop.”

  Sarah nodded and bit her lower lip.

  “They took so much of my blood, they had to bring in some guy for me to feed from. To replace all the blood they took. I could have killed him! I was so thirsty I was out of control.”

  I waited for her to say something, anything that might make me feel better. She pursed her lips and blew out a long sigh.

  “Nathaniel wanted me to tell you something because he thought you had a right to know. Even though it’s going to upset you,” she said.

  “I’m already upset,” I said, throwing my hands in the air.

  “The man they brought in for you to feed from . . . he didn’t make it. He died from blood loss. I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

  “What?” I said through clenched teeth. “What do you mean he died?” My fangs ripped out of my gums and I clenched my fists.

  “I killed him? I killed a human being! I’m a murderer,” I wailed. I leapt off the bed
and picked up the bedside table. I hurled it across the room and swore at the top of my lungs. The table smashed into the wall, shattering the mirror. Pieces of the table and shards of glass sprayed outwards, littering half the room in debris. Sarah scuttled to a safe spot in the far corner of the room near the window. But I was only getting started.

  “I hate them! I hate the goddamn vampires, every last one of them,” I shouted and dashed over to the dresser. I punched it, ripped it, and flung the pieces across the room. I used one of the larger chunks like a bat to smash several holes in the wall. I kicked the front of the dresser so hard that my foot went right through to the wall behind it. I kicked it again and again until it was a pile of splinters on the floor.

  Breathing heavily, I sank to my knees at last. I blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. I would not cry. Sarah tentatively touched my shoulder. She rubbed her hand up and down my back. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t afraid of me after my outburst.

  “It’s not my fault,” I choked out.

  “No. It isn’t,” she agreed.

  I turned to face her. “We have to get out of here. It isn’t safe. We can take our chances with the vampire hunters. Maybe they can help us.” My fangs retracted as I calmed down.

  “What about Nathaniel?” she asked.

  “Screw Nathaniel! He just stood there and watched while they attacked me.”

  “I don’t know if there was anything he could have done, Reed. You should have seen him. He looked sad. I think he felt awful about the whole thing.”

  I crossed my arms and gritted my teeth. “I don’t care. They’ll be coming to steal your blood next. We’re getting out of here. Now.”

  “Okay, you know I’m with you no matter what. Plus, I think it’s a good idea for us to talk to these people anyway. If there’s even a bit of truth to what that guy Pickle said, it could affect humans and vampires everywhere,” she said.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “Just after eleven.”

  “Already?” The sun beat down outside the window.

  “You were out a lot longer than usual because you had to drink so much. At least, that’s what Nathaniel said would happen,” she explained.