The stranger's grip loosened slightly. Zack stood up. Knowing that his every action was being watched carefully. As Zack's point of view changed, more light shown on the man's face. A blood red color had filled his entire left eye. The pupil was translucent against the rest of the eye. Only the black iris remained normal.
An overwhelming fear consumed Zack. He flinched, fighting a strong sensation to run away from this terror standing in his room. As quickly as he moved, Zack was struck in the side of the head. Zack could see no movement from this man as he fell to the floor. There was no pain, no understanding that he had actually been injured at all. He was simply attacked and collapsed.
Zack's world went black.
* * * *
Zack could feel a rigid metal chair. Thick, old ropes restrained Zack's chafed, swollen wrists. He awoke to a black bag covering his head and neck. Shielding Zack from the cracks of light that entered the room. Trickles of hope to help him decipher where he was. A chill leaped up Zack's spine from the cold chair. His hands were bound tightly enough so that he wasn't able to move. Zack felt fresh duct tape pressed over the rope. His feet were tied in the same manner and attention to detail as his wrists. Zack attempted to scream. The movement caused pain. Pulling at the hair on the back of his neck. There was a thick layer of duct tape around his entire head and mouth. As his for left his mind, Zack's memory had come back. The last moments in his room returned. Zack had been kidnapped.
The slow sound of calm breathing caught Zack's ear. He was not alone in the room. It was coming from behind his head, just a few inches from Zack's right ear.
“You are Zack Michael Giver.” A gruff voice spoke into Zack's ear.
Zack began to chew the tape at his mouth, he managed to tamp enough of it down to speak. “Let me go. Please. I'm just an innocent kid.” Zack said while trying to hide the trembling in his words. The chair shook, tapping on the concrete ground, attesting to Zack's unease.
The man suddenly ripped the loose bag off Zack's head. With one motion, the tape at Zack's mouth was cut. He was standing in front of Zack now. It was the same man from Zack’s room. There had been no sound to relate his sudden movement. One moment he was behind Zack, the next, in front. A fact that troubled Zack further.
Zack could see more of the man's face. The room was far brighter than Zack had imagined. The added luminance showed a level of detail in this man that wasn't present in Zack's room. Every feature of this kidnapper was strange. His short black hair was cut well and neatly, his eyebrows were thin and seemingly plucked. Outside of his nearly solid red eyes, he could have been a male model. His body was long and fit. His fingers like strong needles with sharp short tapered nails that were surprisingly dirty. He had taken off the jacket to his black suit. The white undershirt was plain, pressed, and tailored. The dark red stain still showed starkly on the perfect white collar. Suggesting that the suit wasn’t originally his to begin with. Zack looked into the man's eyes. Blood red from the iris outward as they were in the dark. However, in the light they seemed to be fresher, as if they were bleeding inside. Tears of blood that never let themselves cry. It was a solid hue of unrelenting color from the center to the edge. A glass red that haunted Zack, they were transparent. He was the vision of nightmares standing a few feet away from Zack. He looked like a demon, searing with anger.
“Don't worry, you will leave this place alive. As long as you answer a few special questions of mine.” The unknown captor told Zack. His voice dark, piercing. Every word made Zack want to run far away as fast as he could. “After you bleed for me.”
Zack struggled in the chair, trying to move and get free.
The man stopped Zack from moving more than once. He was quickly kneeling, pressing down on the chair with one hand and clamping Zack's nose and mouth with the other. He had closed the short distance while Zack had blinked. “You will behave if you wish to survive this. The choice is yours. I can always find another lead on her. Your life is most valuable to you, not me.”
Zack gasped for air for a second, there was no way around this man's grip. Zack calmed himself, holding his wits for a chance to find out what was going on. Zack slowly nodded with a gentle motion of his eyes.
The man released Zack, allowing him to breathe again.
After a moment of heavy breathing. Zack looked around. He was in a large abandoned warehouse stockroom. The room was industrial, made of concrete slabs and a couple of steel rolling freight doors. There were many small window tiles lining the wall facing the sun. More than half of them were broken and smashed out. The other half were covered in filth and barely let the light through. The room was isolated, separated from the world. There were no sounds coming from the area. Only silence accompanied Zack's gasping. He had a feeling that there wasn’t anyone for more than a half mile in any direction. That no one was coming to help him out of this, he felt truly alone. In the outer corner, Zack spotted several old paint cans lined up on two tables close to the ground. It was clear this was a workshop at some point. There were various machines he didn’t recognize in the back of the shop room, over Zack's other shoulder. There were signs of decay everywhere. This site had been abandoned for years. Cobwebs and dust lay on everything in sight. Zack and this man had all the time in the world.
The man stood, awaiting an answer from Zack.
Zack wanted the man to keep talking as he searched for another way out. “After? You’ll let me go alive?” He was trying to play it smoothly. Meanwhile, Zack was memorizing the man's face so he could describe it later. Zack had every intension of picking this guy out of a police lineup in a day or two. Assuming they were able to catch him of course.
“Yes, alive.” As the man spoke, his lips revealed bright white teeth. Straight and edged, sharp to a point on the sides of his mouth. Both at the top and bottom, they weren't normal. He didn’t look human, Zack was sure of that. Some of his teeth appeared to be longer than the rest. It looked like the man had fangs.
“Wait, who are you?” Zack tested his constraints without exerting himself, they didn’t budge. He wasn't going anywhere.
“What does that matter?” The man said calmly.
“It matters if I believe you're a nut-case or not. It matters if I'm going to go along with what you ask me or not.” Zack was pushing a fine line.
The man struck Zack in the right side of the face without moving. Before Zack could understand what was happening, his face hurt and the right side of his lip was bleeding.
“If you must know. I am Orhn Damascus, a former soldier of the Ottoman Empire. A patriot to my country.” He said it proudly, with honor.
“Ottoman Empire? What's that?” Zack was great when it came to world geography, but he couldn't remember there being an Ottoman Empire on the world map last year. A name like that would have stuck out too much for him to forget.
“A nation that lasted nearly as long as the Romans. It was a wonderful country.” Orhn reminisced about a nation long forgotten by the world.
“Was? What happened to it?” Zack kept the conversation moving.
“It crumbled in 1937.” Orhn sighed in remorse.
Zack thought to himself this man named Orhn didn't look very old. “Then Orhn, why are you doing this to me? Does it have something to do with your empire of sorts?” Zack tried to twist and slip his wrists around in the ropes. It didn't work. The tape prevented any real movement.
“In a way. I came to your town to find you. A link to the person that caused a great deal of suffering for me. I came to rip your flesh, to break your bones, and eventually murder you at the feet of your deserving family.” Orhn said with conviction and justice in his voice.
“What does my dad have to do with this?” The ropes had loosened slightly as Zack burst forward in response. The tape wasn’t letting him go any further.
“Your father, nothing. It’s your mother that will watch your blood soaked body carried to her steps by my hand.” Orhn’s smile bore his teeth that now appeared as a set of full upper a
nd lower fangs. They seemed to grow at the mention of slaughtering Zack.
“But I don’t even know my mother! She left me when I was two! So why the hell are you going to kill me!? What could you possibly want from me?” Zack was panicking, freaking out over the thought of dying for someone that didn't want to be a part of his life.
Orhn backhanded Zack in the left cheek. More blood dripped down from his mouth. A puddle was resulting from the compounding injuries. It spilled, slowly off the lap of the chair and onto the floor.
“To make you bleed for what she’s done, then sever your bruised head from your tattered body as she understands what I have taken from her.” Orhn was cold. He meant every word he said. He radiated a deep seated dedication. Something was driving him to do this. An event that Zack couldn't fathom. Orhn had a purpose for taking Zack, a reason to cause him pain. Whether it was justified or not, he felt it was.
Zack feared this was going to escalate, quickly. “Someone! hel-“ Zack attempted to scream, to call out. His voice muttered to speak.
Orhn had one hand on Zack’s throat and the other grasping his left index finger before he could finish the second word. Once again, Orhn's actions were instant, exacting to Zack. There was no sound. Nothing as Orhn moved into position, not a rustle or a wisp of wind that shifted. It was only a fact, Orhn had moved before Zack’s eyes could follow. The realization was gripping. Orhn's hand on Zack's throat was enough to silence him and just enough to not kill him. So much so that not one word squeaked out when Orhn pulled back and broke Zack’s finger. Orhn didn’t allow Zack to breath in that moment, only to look and listen. Zack was only able to view as his digit snapped like a carrot before him. Twisted and mangled, it remained bent and broken as Orhn released it. Zack writhed in pain. He made every effort to squirm or shake free to no result. Zack’s muscles fired at full strength. Orhn didn’t bother to flinch as he held Zack sitting in the chair. His one hand clamped on Zack's neck, forcing downward was more than enough to keep Zack from moving at all. It was a surreal nightmare, Orhn was in another realm of strength. He was far too strong to resist.
Orhn peered into Zack's eyes. “Are you going to scream again?”
Zack didn't fight.
Orhn eased his clamp on Zack’s neck.
Zack Caught his breath. “No, I don’t want to die. I’ll keep quiet.”
Zack studied his finger to amass the damage. It was broken near the base of the mid-section just below the joint, it would eventually heal in time. If it was set soon. Zack had taken a junior emergency medical technician course at the university last summer. He was taught how to bandage and splint most injuries and was glad he had paid attention during class that day. John had suggested the course, but after what had happened, Zack wished he had a refresher course.
“Why me? And what about my mother do you hate so much? What the hell did she do to you to make you want to kill me?” Zack huffed, still trying to breathe again.
“You have in your possession something that you of all people should never have received. Or should I say that it has possessed you.” Orhn stared at Zack's face in disapproval.
“Something has possessed me?” Zack's eyes widened. “Like a ghost?”
Orhn scoffed. “No. It would all be much easier if it was just that. Much safer for everyone.” Orhn exhaled deeply. He was thinking. “No, think of it as a demon. A dark gift few of us will ever have an equal to. A talent that none of us will ever actually have. A curse that plays with everyone's life and destroys those who are near it.” Orhn was seething with anger after each word.
“What gift? What the hell are you talking about?” Zack had no idea what Orhn was referring to.
“The one gift that sets you apart. The dark talent that makes you special.” Orhn was now face to face with Zack inches from him. His breath was cool, his skin smelled bitter.
“Sets me apart from what?” Zack had a suspicion. A deep seeded worry that his unfounded fears just might have some truth when it came to this terrifying man named Orhn Damascus. Zack held back the other words nipping at his mind. Partly out of fear, partially out of disbelief. Thinking that he was only scarred. That he was in a disturbing situation. He had a right to be freaked out, to jump to the unreal theories that he was pondering. Zack was trying to convince himself he wasn't putting all he was seeing together. Trying but not succeeding. With each movement, with each action, this man was adding to a list of Zack’s most unlikely but unavoidable conclusions. Orhn was not human.
“From the talents and aptitudes of the others of our kind.” Orhn was speaking with great pride. He was confident in who he was, what he was.
“What are you talking about?” Zack swallowed the pooling saliva that was wetting his teeth. His lip had stopped bleeding.
Orhn backed away from Zack. He lowered his brow. Squinting at Zack. “Don't you know what you are boy?”
Zack didn't answer. He wanted to hear what Orhn had to say.
Orhn saw the desperation in Zack's eyes. “Do you at least know what I am?”
Zack closed his eyes and opened them slowly out of exhaustion. “No. Of course not.”
Orhn smiled, bearing his teeth. “Vampire.” Orhn pointed to himself. “And vampeal.” Orhn gestured to Zack with his left open hand. “I’m talking about the unique abilities of all vampires and vampeals.” Orhn’s sharp, wet fangs showed the truth of his statement.
There was no need to ask. Orhn really was a vampire. A real as day, in the flesh, vampire. The blood on his shirt, in his eyes, his unreal speed, the strength, and of course the fangs. Zack couldn't stop staring at Orhn. The stories he had heard all his life were nothing compared to Orhn. Novels talk about power. Men speak of terror. Zack was not witnessing any feat of strength. He was experiencing fear. For the first time in his life, he was honestly afraid of another person. It just happened that he was a vampire.
“A vampire?” Zack’s voice was timid and a little unwilling. He was shaking in his seat. He spoke out to Orhn. “Vampires don’t exist. Besides, there’s daylight shinning in through the windows right onto you. You would burn if you were a vampire.”
Sunlight bore down on Orhn's face. He smiled at Zack. Orhn placed his right hand to his cheek. “It feels good, doesn't it?” Orhn chuckled. "I don't burn."
“No. If you were a vampire, you’d be dust by now.” Zack clung to the last rational argument he could find.
“Mind well what I mentioned about what sets each of us apart.” Orhn smiled again and turned to the sunlight. There was no effect on him at all.
“No, you’re just a freak with pointy teeth that kidnapped me. You're not a vampire.” Zack realized the faulty reasoning of his sentence partway through. Whatever Orhn was, being a vampire explained many things.
Orhn walked away, towards the farthest door in the room. He was standing more than thirty feet away from Zack. “You don't believe in vampires?” Orhn was waiting for Zack to flinch. For him to lose the last shed of makeshift composure he had left.
Zack blinked. Orhn was at his feet, kneeling. There was no sound, no commotion to represent the effort of the task that transpired. Nothing to suggest that someone had just ran across the room. The air hadn’t brushed by when Orhn appeared. There was no exertion to be said on his part. Orhn was merely in one place one second, then directly in front of Zack the next moment.
“Still think I’m not a vampire, and just a pointy toothed freak?” Orhn straightened his right hand and put it to the side of Zack’s leg. He waited for a response from Zack. Orhn wanted to see the reasoning lose its grip on Zack's mind.
Zack was unable to speak. The anticipation of what Orhn was going to do to him was overwhelming. Zack stopped breathing.
“There will be blood, but you are to remain silent.” Orhn instructed Zack. His hand pushed itself through and into Zack’s outer left calf. Blood dripping down his leg, down Orhn's arm, Zack understood if he screamed, it would be worse. He held back with all his will. The fresh blood spilled on the floor, cov
ering the coagulated puddle under it.
Zack clenched his teeth and shut his mouth tight. He began to inhale from his nose. He fought every instinct to yell for help. The blood was pouring out of his leg. Zack's heart raced.
Orhn stood. Zack could see more motion in his actions from this distance. Orhn’s body moved like the ticking of a clock, with precision, delicate speed, and power. Animate, but cold. Orhn appeared to be shivering slightly. There was no way someone of his size and stature would be able to have that much strength. Zack concluded Orhn wasn't human. The sun portion of it bothered Zack. Orhn simply seemed cold in the light. It didn't fit into being a vampire.
Orhn’s placed his right hand on Zack’s left upper arm. “What’s the matter Zack? You look as though you’re feeling faint? Have you lost too much blood? Thirsty yet?” Orhn reached into his pocket with the other hand and pulled out a small pouch of red liquid in a vinyl bag. It looked thick, like something from a medical storage room. Orhn tore open the spout with his fingers. He doused Zack’s leg with it.
Zack reacted without thinking. “What the fu-“
Orhn bore his fingers into Zack’s left upper arm before the ‘f’ sound leaped off his lips. Zack could feel Orhn's fingers pierce his muscles, tear his flesh. There was a crepitation as Orhn grasped the shaft of Zack's arm in his hand, below the shoulder. It was impossible, but it was happening. Blood gushed down from Zack’s left arm.
“What’s wrong Zack? You look hurt?” More blood splattered on the ground, tapping lightly on Orhn’s shoe. “I’m not hurting you, am I?” Orhn squeezed, as more blood flowed. Orhn was waiting. He was searching Zack’s face for a reaction, examining his arm and leg for any subtle change. Orhn was looking for something special. “Now close your wounds, take in the blood, and regenerate yourself!” Orhn yelled with a terrifying voice.
Zack tried to be diplomatic, to guide Orhn away from the raw flesh and bone he had a hold of. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.” Zack winced in pain.
Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) Page 6
