by Hayden, Sean
My headlight sputtered dead when I turned the key off, plunging us into darkness. My Fallen vision illuminated the grass and trees around us with a silvery glow, making the clearing look like it was midday with cloud cover. Night vision never ceased to amaze me.
“I can’t see shit.”
“Take your orb off.”
“Oh. Oh!”
“Pretty cool, huh?”
“Definitely. Connor?”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry,” she said weakly.
“For what?”
“Being a shit. That’s all the apology you’ll ever get, so don’t expect more.”
I smiled and ruffled her hair. “I’m sorry, too.”
I walked over to the middle of the clearing and stood there facing Caelyn. I called my wings and they appeared with a soft thwump behind me. Caelyn’s eyes opened in wide fascination.
“Can I touch them?”
I nodded. “Be careful though.”
“Are they fragile?”
“No, ticklish as all hell.”
It probably wasn’t a good idea telling her that. She was Caelyn after all. I felt her run her finger along the bone and the webbing between them. She behaved but couldn’t help mutter, “Cool.”
“I thought so, too, the first time I saw them.”
“So you can fly?”
I gave a quick beat of my wings and hovered in the air above her before slowly lowering myself to the ground. “Yep. You might be able to someday, too. When I made Brett, he wanted to be a very specific type of vampire. He would have been able to fly if he lived longer.”
“What?”
“He wished to be the kind of vampire that grows in power the older they get.”
“Not that part. The ‘when I made Brett’ part. What are you?”
I sighed. If anybody was responsible for my sister’s death it would be me, and she didn’t even know. I just hope she would forgive me. Stepping back from her, I called my true form. She backed up even farther as I grew to my full eight feet. I saw my hands turn blue, my nails grow into crimson colored talons, and my hair lengthened until it reached between my wings. When I spoke, there was an otherworldly resonance that sent visible shivers down my sister’s spine. “I am a Fallen.”
“You’re… You’re… You’re…”
“Basically a demon. Although they don’t like to be called that.”
Caelyn nodded almost imperceptibly. Of the million and a half questions she could have asked, she started simply. “How?”
“Well, it all started with a candle…” I banished my true form and my wings and made myself as human as possible before sitting down in the middle of the field.
For the next hour, I told her my story. I told her how I had sold my soul for my fondest wish. I told her how I met Clarisse for the first time. I told her about everything. She sat quietly through my whole tale.
The sky began to lighten and Cae slipped the orb on her wrist, becoming human once again. “So you made the vampire that attacked us?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. Apparently my magic is a little stronger than your average Fallen. The magic is supposed to take days or weeks to change a person. Getting slammed with that much power either made him crazy or he was crazy to begin with. Either way, he can’t hurt anyone again.”
“I remember. I was half conscious when I saw you yank his soul–or whatever it was–out of his body. That was pretty cool.”
“Not for him. When you break the rules I mentioned, the Fallen come down on you pretty hard. So no eating people,” I said with a wink.
Caelyn shuddered at my joke. “So what do I do now?”
“As far as?”
“Being a vampire. Am I going to have to eat people?”
I laughed, but stopped short. Honestly… I had no idea. But I knew how to find out. “I’m going to call a support group in for you. I honestly don’t know. I’d be guessing if I gave you advice and I don’t want to screw you up any more than I already have.”
“Connor.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not your fault, you know. Me dying. So don’t blame yourself. Yes, you did make a stupid wish, but your responsibility ends there. I can hear it in your voice. Don’t. Feel. Bad. We’ll get through this.”
“Together?” I finished for her.
“Don’t push your luck. You’re my brother. That doesn’t mean I have to like you,” she said. I breathed a little better when she winked.
I pulled out my cellphone and dialed Elizabeth Keating. She and Jenny Warburn were two vampires, created by the Fallen, who went to high school with us. If anybody could help Caelyn adjust to her new self, they could. They’d been there and done that.
“Hello?” I could tell Elizabeth was still sleeping when she answered the phone.
“Sorry to wake you. I need your help.”
“Connor? It’s six-thirty in the morning. Call me back after noon.”
“It’s an emergency. I’ll consider it a personal favor if you help me on this one.”
There was a moment of silence before she started speaking. “When and where?”
“The mall in twenty minutes.”
“It’s not open yet.”
“I know, just meet me at the main entrance and bring Jenny.” I clicked the off button before she could start asking questions.
I motioned for Cae to get on my scooter. With as fast as it could go over the dirt road, we would probably be getting to the mall at the same time as the Vamp Duo. Hopefully they wouldn’t have any objections to making it a trio.
Chapter 3
We pulled into the parking spot right next to Elizabeth’s black Explorer–or Exploder as she called it. The doors opened and she and Jenny stepped outside into the chilly November morning.
“This had better be pretty damn important, Connor. I need my beauty sleep.”
“Yeah, you do,” Caelyn added. Now normally this would have come out as a sarcastic sentence with the sole intent of belittling the intended target. That was how my sister rolled. Today, however, her comment sounded halfhearted and…almost…joking.
“Caelyn?”
My sister nodded and left the talking to me. “It is, Elizabeth. I wouldn’t have woken you up this early if it wasn’t.”
“What’s going on?” Jenny decided to join in.
“Well, my sister… She um…”
“I’m a friggin’ vampire,” Caelyn finished for me.
“What? Connor! How the hell could you turn your sister into a vampire?” Elizabeth sounded angry. Very angry. Pissed even.
“I didn’t.”
“I didn’t mean you specifically. I meant how could you let your kind turn her into a vampire?”
“They didn’t,” Caelyn clarified. “I got bit. Drained actually. And I bit the vampire who did it to me…”
“A vamp can’t turn you. That’s not how it works,” Jenny said.
“Forget what you know. Apparently, the ones I create can.”
“Oh, great. I hope you stopped him from doing it again,” Elizabeth replied.
I nodded. “Yeah. He um…won’t be turning anybody again. Ever.”
Elizabeth understood what I meant. She gave a small nod. “Okay. Good. How are you doing, Caelyn?”
“Still breathing. Sometimes.”
“It takes a bit to get used to it, but you’ll do fine. Come on. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“My house for starters. Then the mall when it’s actually open. Then lunch and more shopping.”
“I um–”
“You’re not invited. Girl-vamp day out. We’ll get her transitioned. You know. You might want to let your people know that this is a good idea. I wish I had someone who would have helped me figure this out. Thankfully Jenny wished the same damn thing a week after I did.”
I looked at Jenny who nodded her agreement.
“I’ll mention it. I had one. I don’t think it’s fair that you guys don’t.” I turned to my sister. �
�You okay?”
“Yeah. This should be fun. Tell the ‘rents I’ll be home later. Thanks, Connor. For explaining everything and finding someone to help me.”
“What are brothers for?”
“Mostly annoying the shit out of.”
* * *
I watched their SUV pull out of the parking lot and sat down on my scooter. Pulling out my cell, I looked at the time. It was almost seven-thirty. Hospital visiting hours didn’t start until nine. I wanted to see Jessie.
“Screw it,” I said and started my engine. I could always mind magic my way into the hospital if I needed to.
I pulled out onto the street and made it about a half a mile when a shiny red Harley pulled up next to me. I glanced over at Clarisse in her full leathers and tight red shirt…and drove into the back of a Volkswagen.
I stared up at the sky while I listened to the rumbly sounds of a Harley slowing down and turning around. The closer it got the louder her laughter could be heard over the sounds of her engine.
“Nice shot, worm. Nice dent, too.” She cut the engine and pointed at the back of the car I crashed into. There was a nice Connor-shaped indentation in the back. You could even see my face print on the back window. I was lucky I didn’t break it.
“Ow,” I said and stood up. My scooter was unsalvageable so I banished it into nothingness. “Great. How am I supposed to explain this one?”
“Explain what?”
“The damage to the car.”
“You are so dumb. I swear. I don’t know what I…um…what Jesse sees in you.”
“Huh?” She had started to say something else, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out.
“Fix. The. Car. Instead of calling one into being, tell that one to fix itself.”
“How?”
She sighed and got off her bike. She moved me out of the way, not too gently, with a push of her hand. I stood back and watched as she turned to face the rear of the car. She ran her hand over the damaged areas and I heard the creak of metal and soft popping sounds as the car miraculously repaired itself.
“Cool.”
She stopped and motioned me to finish. I moved forward and felt the remaining dent beneath my hand. “Now picture how it should look as you push some power into it.”
I did what she said and felt the metal smoothing out. I closed my eyes to help myself concentrate. “I can feel it,” I said proudly and opened my eyes when the smell of charred metal hit my nose.
“Nice…uh…job.”
I looked at what I had done. The car was perfectly smooth, but glowing red as the paint bubbled and charred around the repair.
“Maybe I should do the rest.”
“Good idea,” I said and stood back to let her fix it.
“I don’t know what happened, but when Darius made you a fallen…”
“What?”
“You have too much magic. Way too much.”
“What does that mean?”
She turned as she finished. I glanced down at the car and seeing it whole once again, breathed a sigh of relief. At least my rates wouldn’t go up before I even got insurance.
“It means that if I had turned Brett into a vampire, he wouldn’t have had half the power he had. If I try to fix a car, it gets fixed instead of turned into slag. I’m surprised that scooter you call into existence doesn’t travel through time.”
I gulped and nodded. “I wish I could control it.”
“Have you tried? When I told you to fix the car, did you let the power trickle into it or did you cram it in there like you were trying to burst it open?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think about it. It didn’t feel like I was cramming anything, but I wasn’t trying to control it either.”
“Try again,” she said and her hand morphed into a claw in front of my face. She raked it across the back of the car, gouging four slashes that ripped open the metal like it was made out of crepe paper.
I nodded and held my hand out again, covering the beginning of the damage. This time I slowly moved my hand across the damage while concentrating on letting the power drip from my hand instead of pouring from it. It worked. For a few inches. Then my hand pushed through molten metal. The smell of burning paint and hair wasn’t a pleasant combination.
She sighed. “Well, I guess that theory sucked.”
“Big time,” I said as I pulled my hand from the hole I made.
“You need help.”
“Know any psychiatrists?”
“Very funny. You need to get this under control or there will be issues.
“What do you suggest?”
“We can ask the Triad.”
“What’s a Triad?”
“The Council of Fallen. We’re heading there anyway.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been summoned. I was on my way to collect you when you ran into the back of the car,” she replied absentmindedly as she fixed the Volkswagen again. “There,” she said and hopped on her Harley. “Let’s go. Hop on.”
I nodded nervously and swallowed the panic rising in my throat. I wasn’t afraid of getting on the bike. I wasn’t afraid of getting into a wreck. I was afraid of sitting behind Clarisse. She had an awful lot of exposed skin…
“Hurry up. We’re already late.”
I swallowed the lump and grabbed her shoulders as I swung my leg over the Road King Classic. I felt it rumble to life as I sat down on the leather seat.
She twisted the handle and the bike propelled us down the road faster than I liked. “Slow down!”
“Just hold on. You’ll be fine.”
My hands slid off her shoulders and down her back. I gripped her hips in an effort to stay on. She throttled even more and my hands involuntarily slid around her waist onto her hard stomach. I pressed my face against her shoulder and tried very hard not to look at the road.
I swear I felt her sigh beneath me, but I was too scared to think about it for more than a moment.
“Hold on tighter. We’re going for a ride.”
I didn’t like how she said ride.
I looked over her shoulder at the road ahead of us. There was a flash of green lighting that opened up a twenty foot hole in the pavement in front of us. I thought she might try to jump it, but she leaned forward as her front wheel dropped, plunging us down the hole.
We fell into darkness.
It opened up into a dimly lit green sky. We and the bike fell toward a city illuminated in purple fire. The bike dissipated and Clarisse twisted in my grip. “You better let go and call your wings or it’s gonna hurt when we land.”
I let her go and with a loud thump she disappeared above me, slowing her descent. I did the same.
She dove and passed me, leading the way.
We glided down and she headed toward the tallest spire above the city. I closed the distance between us and called out to her. “What is this place?”
“Shade City, the capital of the Fallen realms.”
I nodded and gulped, falling back after having my question answered.
She pulled up and floated onto a balcony near the roof of the tower. I landed, somewhat less gracefully, next to her. Without a word, she walked into the dimly lit interior. With little else to do, I followed.
The walls were made of polished black stone with gold streaks that glinted in the eerie purple flames. The chamber was enormous with a huge dais set against one wall. It’s only feature was a gold, intricate rail that separated it from the rest of the room, guarding the three chairs behind it. Clarisse moved to the center of the room. She motioned to me as I hesitated some ways away.
“Hurry up, worm,” she hissed and it echoed throughout the room.
I did, since she asked in her usual eloquent manner. “What is this place?”
“The tribunal room. The Triad will be here shortly.” She stood at attention with her hands clasped behind her back, nodding for me to do the same.
A bell rang through the room as three Fallen entered the dais.
I recognized Darius, the leader of the Reapers and Seekers, immediately. I gave him a small smile that he did not return.
The other two were as different from Darius as I was from Clarisse. One was garbed in dark metal plates that had been molded into wicked looking armor. It was matte black and reflected absolutely nothing. Strapped to his back was a two-handed sword whose handle rose above his long, silver-haired head by a few more inches. I was surprised. The Fallen could call their swords into being at will. To strap one to one’s back was kind of unnecessary.
The third also had long hair, but of the whitest white. He had no facial hair, nor was he old, but he radiated age and wisdom the way Clarisse radiated sexy. He was dressed in flowing robes and carried a gnarled staff of black wood.
They walked slowly and surely in front of their thrones before sitting as one.
“Who stands before us?” The robed one asked Clarisse.
“It is I, Clarisse of the Seekers, Lord Agravius. I bring forth the one you seek, Connor, also of the Seekers.”
“That remains the question. Step forward, young man. It is you we wish to speak to.”
I did as he asked, standing before Clarisse. “Hello,” I said humbly, earning a poke in the back from Clarisse. “Greetings, Lord Agravius,” I amended quickly. She rubbed my back, letting me know I had finally responded correctly.
“It has come to our understanding that your role of Seeker may have been…misplaced.”
I waited. Apparently he was waiting for a response. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say. “I caused a problem that was not easily rectified. In my role of Seeker, I imbued one of my charges with too much power. He ran amok, injuring and killing humans in his thirst for power. I apologize with all that I am, my lord. I did not know it would happen.” The words flowed from my mouth sweeter than honey. The problem was I had no idea where they came from. It wasn’t from my brain.
He turned to look at Darius, who nodded agreement.
“Apparently, we wrongly chose your calling. What do you feel you should be doing? Look into your heart, young one. What does it tell you?”
I did as he asked and drew a blank. I knew I couldn’t be a Seeker any more. It was too dangerous. At least until I could control my power better. “I know not, my lord. I have Seeked and I have Reaped. They are all I know.”
