Marin let go of Zack's wrist smoothly enough not to draw attention from Kyli.
“Okay, in twenty then.” Kyli hugged Zack, and kissed him on the cheek. “Marin, can we have a sec? I need to ask Zack something.”
Marin tipped his head to Kyli. “Sure, I’ll meet you on the other side.”
Marin placed his hand on the silver ornate handle. There was a sizzle. The silver was burning him. He opened the door and walked through. Zack saw through to the other side, there were around thirty people inside. Each person was more posh than the most boo schwa in the main room. They looked at Zack with intrigue as the door began to close. He was not one of them and they wondered what Marin was going to do with him. Zack got a bad vibe from the room in general. The door closed shut behind Marin. Zack noticed a small amount of blood boiling on the silver handle. It was Marin's
Kyli pushed Zack against the wall. Zack enjoyed the feeling of Kyli's body against his.
“What are you doing? That’s a room full of vampires!” Kyli put emphasis into her words while she kept her voice down. “You wouldn’t know, but there is a good reason why there are not that many people that know about vampeals.”
“Because their even better at hiding than actual vampires?” Zack was being a smart ass and Kyli could tell.
A fast right palm made contact with Zack's left cheek, the same one Kyli had kissed. The sound cracked loudly in the small hallway, though it did not leave.
“There are vampires in that room, Zack. Not the average street connoisseur, I’m talking old vampires. If you enter that room they will kill you Zack. No one ever hears of vampeals because none of them ever survive long enough to make an impact on history. In our perfect world, most are killed at puberty and the rest are turned into full vampires if they're lucky. Remember our conversation about how long a normal vampeal gets to live? That room spells death for our kind, Zack.” Kyli was mad, she didn’t want Zack going into that room. Even if it was with Marin himself.
It was clear to Zack that if he didn’t meet Marin in that room, he was putting himself in danger and possibly Kyli as well. Zack was being forced into a course of action he did not want to take. He had to brave the room and find out what Marin wanted with him. Zack didn’t know if it had anything to do with Orhn. He had no clue if Marin would keep his word and protect him amongst this threat. Regardless of that, he required the knowledge Marin had.
Zack wanted to be safe. “Kyli, Marin told me to stay cool, what does that mean exactly?”
“You remember the pheromones right?” Kyli placed her left hand on Zack's chest.
Zack nodded.
“Lust, aggression, exertion, and fear. A decent amount of either can provoke a chemical response in your body. It means they can smell you if that happens. If they do, you’re dead.” Kyli reminded Zack.
“But what if I fought them off with my new strength.” Zack argued. “Wouldn't I at least have a chance to get out of there alive?”
“They're vampires Zack!” Kyli pushed Zack into the wall. “You can't even defend against me. How the hell are you going to fight them off? There are thirty vampires in there Zack. You’d be a twig in a wood chipper. There’s no contesting them, you’d die.”
“-But-“ Zack sputtered out.
“Yes, your butt would be dead too.” Kyli added.
“That’s not what I meant.” Zack fought back.
Kyli forced Zack back into the wall. “No, you meant nothing because you’d be dead. You have to understand Zack, these vampires would not want to drain you, or simply strangle you. Those things you could recover from. They would dismember you. Then feed your body to ravenous dogs that they would later shoot and leave for dead in a field somewhere. Vampeals are not a welcome sight in our world Zack. They are a living symbol of infidelity. It means they showed weakness and fell for a human. A vampeal is a breathing, animate monument to a vampire having committed adultery on their kind. They will kill you out of that principle alone.” Kyli put her arms around Zack, showing she cared enough to not let him go. She unpinned Zack.
“This is something I have to do.” Zack was sure Marin was about to offer a connection to Orhn. He didn't have the time to risk. “Marin said that if I’m calm, then I have nothing to fear.”
“We all have something to fear.” Kyli told Zack.
“I will be the Zen master of the mellow reaction in there, especially for you. Nothing will frazzle me, I promise.” Zack was reassuring Kyli without any concrete evidence for his own safety.
“There has to be another way to gather information other than this.” Kyli was panicking.
Zack thought it was cute.
Kyli didn't like the smirk on Zack's face.
“You’re right, but I don’t know how long it’ll be until Orhn actually wants to kill me. I can’t tempt the clock with him. It's my life. Besides, if Marin is a real vampire musician in high society, that means he travels. He might know who Orhn is.” Zack’s mind was heavy with the weight of the decision that he had just made. Zack was going through with it, only not at one hundred percent.
Kyli stared into Zack's eyes, making sure he wasn't looking anywhere else. “I will pay you back for what you did to my hand, remember that.” Although the words were a clear threat, Kyli spoke it as if she was going to give him a present later. Stroking the back of Zack's head and neck.
Zack smiled and opened the door. There was no sizzle this time. Kyli watched as Zack walked into the dark, smoke filled room. The door closed behind Zack. Inside this surprisingly spacious room were about ten tables with three to five people sitting at each. The room had the same black and red theme as the main backstage region. The only really difference was the lack of gold chandeliers. There were no posh adornments at all in this place. It was muted. A thick haze of cigar smoke hung low in the room. As if it had been there for a long while. Some of the smoke hovered just off the floor, licking the edges of the black table clothes. The attire of the men and women in the room ran from modest to extreme. There were evening gowns and tuxedos. Leather rocker pants and snake skin canes. It was a strange mix. Zack made his way through the small maze of tables where Marin was sitting.
Marin greeted Zack by raising a now full glass of blood towards him. There was one other person sitting at the open table. He was haggard and looked far older than Marin. His eyes were purple, something that was very odd to Zack. A light purple that an albino might have. Besides the obvious they were normal. He wore a red and white fox pelt slung across his shoulders with the head facing his left side. He had short dirty blond hair with a broad jaw line and stunted nose. His face was riddled with old faded scars, most of which were so light they barely registered in the dim room. He was far taller than Marin, something near six foot five from what Zack could tell.
The man smiled at Zack. He placed his hands spread palm down on the table and leaned forward towards Zack. “You’re him? Mr. Giver.” He said with a Russian accent. He sat back in his chair, tipping it slightly off the front legs. He crossed his arms as he put one leg up to keep himself from falling back. “You’re shorter from what Orhn mentioned. Smaller too.” He glanced over Zack in disapproval. “Not fully turned? That’s good. That means we have some time.”
Zack wanted to scream at the tall man leaning back. He knew Orhn, the vampire that had beaten Zack up just two days ago. Zack looked at Marin.
Marin turned to Zack and set his drink down.
“Come, sit.” The Russian man instructed Zack.
Marin gestured for Zack to follow the man's request.
Zack realized that the Russian man wasn’t drinking any blood, his skin wasn’t even that pale, he appeared to be human. Zack pulled out a chair and sat quietly.
“Zack Michael Giver, you are not what you seem. You are not a simple creature. You deserve to die when this fiasco is concluded. For now, there is information to be distilled that would not otherwise be made available to anyone. Let us begin.” The unknown man spoke to Zack.
Zack
knew that if he began to feel fear, the vampires in the room would kill him far sooner than later. He had to make light of the situation in a way that would calm his nerves. To attempt not to think about the more than thirty very powerful freaks tearing him limb from limb in the encroaching future. He had to say something to prove he was thick skinned. “Why is it that every time someone uses my middle name, they have the inclination to kill me?”
Marin’s quiescent nature fought the creeping smile provoked by Zack’s comment.
The other vampire however, reacted differently. He fell back in his chair, right onto his butt. He was laughing, very loudly. He was making a scene.
Marin helped the man up before anyone could realize he had fallen. He was still laughing. Zack held tight in his seat. He didn't want to accelerate his own death by brushing up against one of the more violent vampires on a mad dash out of the room. They were however, leering at Zack. It was as if they had been clued into something, that the status quo had changed.
“Damn, child. You do have guts to say that here.” The Russian vampire had taken his seat again. He continued to chuckle with his mouth open.
Zack noticed the man's fangs were long and pronounced, not short like Marin’s. They protruded farther than the other's Zack had seen. Whoever this man was, he was either a fake, or a very peculiar vampire.
“Zack.” Marin said sternly. “You will behave when making conversation with him.” Apparently Zack had been too brash with his words.
“Then would ‘he’ please tell me his proper name so that I can address him adequately?” Zack was being a smart ass, and he knew it. He didn’t have to be so crass about asking, something inside him wanted to be.
Bad move.
Marin’s right hand clasped Zack’s throat. It squeezed tight, it was crushing Zack's airway. He was only leaning in towards Zack. Marin took no effort to stand in his direct attack against him.
Zack looked into Marin's eyes, he wasn’t letting up. Zack pressed on Marin’s arm, there was no relent, he was holding Zack still in his chair. Without a single sign of stress on his own, Marin held Zack in place. No one around the table made a move. The clear struggle didn’t cause a second glance from even the most bored in the room.
Zack gripped Marin’s hand, trying to force him to ease up.
No effect.
The air was running out. Zack was getting desperate. If he used all his new-found might he thought he might be able to shake off Marin’s hand. Zack asked himself, to what end? If he forced his way out, the rest of the vampires would pounce before he got within ten feet of the door. There were more vampires the further he went. There was no way out. Zack was going to die, killed by his hopeful girlfriend’s favorite musician. Zack thought there had to be something he could do, something to stop Marin from squeezing his neck until his head popped off. Zack's gaze shifted to the other vampire, the whimsical fellow that he was accused of insulting. His vision drifted off as Zack was losing consciousness. His eyes shut down, Zack's mind wandered.
There was a plunge and Zack was amerced. Submerged in a warm, still water. Zack thrashed in the liquid. It was smoother than water. Zack opened his eyes, there was no light that shown through. Zack fought to get air. He gasped, struggling as fluid poured in. It was blood or at least close to blood. It was softer, wetter, it was something else. Zack broke the surface to a horizon of mist and a sea of what looked and felt like thin blood. There was no land he could see. Zack was in the middle of a large turbulent ocean covered by a thick gray fog blocking the stars. Possibly the sun. There was no perception of day in this place.
Zack screamed out. “Please help!” Again and again, he called. Moments passed as Zack began to lose hope of rescue.
A single hand reached down, through the mist, next to Zack. It searched around, reaching in the area. The hand found the collar of Zack’s shirt. It pulled him up with great speed and ease. It flung him onto a solitary patch of land. Zack fell onto all fours and coughed up the liquid he had aspirated. The mist began to clear. The plot of soil wasn’t big, no more than a hundred square feet. There was no vegetation, no signs of fertility on the receding soil underneath Zack. Only tarnished, partially wet sand.
“You are a demon vampire. Just as they said.” The man's Russian accent gave away his identity. “I mean demon vampeal.” The same vampire wearing the red and white fox pelt helped Zack up to his feet.
This wasn’t the deep voice Zack was used to hearing in situations like this. He was expecting the sky to open up and blood to rain down at any moment.
“You’re from the club, the Russian vampire.” Zack stated the obvious.
“It’s Yugo and I haven’t considered myself Russian since I was consulting for the Romanov family. I was always quite bashful when Peter called me into his council room.”
“Romanov? You mean you knew a Russian Tzar?” Zack asked Yugo without hesitation.
“I'm impressed. From what I've read about you, I didn't think you knew that much about history.” Yugo brushed some of the red water off Zack's black suit.
“What is this place?” Zack took off his soaked jacket.
“You should know well what that sea represents, you have one too.” Yugo raised his hands to the surrounding ocean as it roared and swelled. “It is the direct representation of the demon that lives inside a vampire host.” Yugo waved his arms open to the landscape below them, gesturing to the loose sand. “And this is the rest.”
“The demon inside? I thought it was related to the thirst caused by the virus?” Zack recalled what Kyli had told him.
“That’s right for everyone, except us.” Yugo tilted his head up to the sky. “What's out there is them, what's beneath us is all that's left.”
“What do you mean?” Zack didn't understand what Yugo was telling him.
“In your dreams, what is it like?” Yugo asked Zack.
“In my dreams? I don't remember.” Zack didn't want to admit to Yugo what happened during the concert.
“In your dream world, Zack. What is the terrain like?” Yugo got to the heart of the matter.
“There's a large shoreline.” Zack was reluctant to go forward.
“And a sea of blood?” Yugo's words struck Zack.
“How did you know?” Zack wanted a clear answer.
“Look around you.” Yugo stated the obvious.
“I'm not talking about that. How did you know about my nightmares?” Zack wanted the bigger answer.
“You are a smart one.” Yugo smiled.
“You didn't answer the question.” Zack stated.
“And quick too.” Yugo smiled wider. “The same way as others have and will find out.”
“That's still not an answer.” Zack restated.
“I know.” Yugo stopped smiling. He stepped away from Zack and turned to the sea. “I know because I used to have the same type of dreams. I know because this is my dream world.”
The upper clouds parted. The sky opened. There was no sun, only a red tint to the world. It was desolate. As Zack was trying to digest the sheer size of the world he was in, the mist receded back from the island. For miles, there was nothing but the red ocean. No signs of life or land.
“But it's not all bad. They do have their perks.” Yugo saw the questioning expression on Zack's face. He needed to explain. “They provide us with amazing gifts to wield.”
“What gift? I've got nothing from it but an abduction! What the hell kind of gift is that!?” Zack was furious over what having this 'gift' was doing for him.
Yugo approached Zack. “Calm down. The demons that reside in you and I are powerful tools. They can be used against their will for our gain.”
“Really? For some reason I don't think a naked vampire posing as my girlfriend bathed in blood would listen to any request I might have! Not from all the weird shit it's told me so far!” Zack was upset. This was the first real time he just didn't care what happened to him. Zack had to rant. “I keep having these whacked out dreams and people keep t
elling me that there are more and more reasons for others to kill me! It's a lot to put on a kid!”
Yugo laughed. “He spoke to you?”
“He? I thought it was an it.” Zack lowered his voice.
“No, they were once people.” Yugo told Zack.
“I thought the ‘demon’ only referred to the level of power the gift had. That those with them were feared for what they could do.” Zack was attempting to keep his footing on all this. He wanted to know more.
“You know much for only drinking your first sip of blood a day ago. These are secrets only the demons and few others know. The better details are astounding and unnerving. Not for the weak.” Yugo stared at Zack. “You just may be right after all.”
“For what?” Zack didn't like Yugo's tone.
Yugo didn't answer.
Zack concentrated on Yugo’s face in the silence. He appeared more human in this place than at the table. His fangs were gone. There were no scars. Yugo had color in his complexion.
“They would want you to think they are all powerful. That their course is the only path. They will tell you they are the omega to each age. They are wrong and can be manipulated.” Yugo's words resonated within Zack.
“You mean they can be tricked?” Zack perked up.
Yugo bent down to Zack and slapped his knees with both hands. “Yes.”
This was interesting and very relevant to Zack. The voice in the back of his head was bothering him, frightening him. Tempting him with blood and an image of Kyli. Yugo was about to give him the best advice he would ever get. Zack was eager. “Tell me everything.”
“Not everything, only what I can. Anything I tell you will pass down to your demon. It is my guess that he is far more coercive than you give him credit. However, I applaud you for reaching out to me like this. Is this the first time you have used it?”
“Used what?” Zack asked.
Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) Page 17
