A bell chimed in Zack's head. He understood what Salas meant. He knew why Kyli wasn't hearing him, she was only hearing Salas. He knew why Kyli was distraught. Salas and Zack were one in this place. Kyli was not watching Salas dismember Malio as Zack was. She was seeing Zack committing the murder.
“Good, now you get it. Took you long enough.” Salas scoffed at Zack.
Malio had lost the will to speak. His mind was absorbing his limit. Salas acknowledged Kyli's attention with a nod and began to finish things with Malio. Salas let go of the blood spear in his right hand. It melted away, into the red sea. Salas tightened his right hand around Malio's neck. He gripped it, forcing shut Malio's throat. Salas smiled at Kyli, knowing her reaction to follow.
“SALAS NO!” Zack screamed, his words had no effect.
With one sweep, Salas cut down and left. The remaining skin holding Malio's neck to his shoulder gave way, leaving only Malio's head and neck being held in his hand.
“What the hell are you doing!” Kyli screamed. She dropped to the sand in horror weak from the scene. “Zack, how could you do something like this? Don't you have any sense of compunction?”
Zack knew his words meant nothing here. In the dream world he was both second to and behind Salas. Watching the tears flow from Kyli's eyes, Zack felt sick.
“Don't worry little vampeal. He's not gone yet. Besides, you're not really crying for him anyway.” Salas was speaking directly to Kyli now. “Is she, Malio?” Salas turned Malio's disembodied head towards him. “Best laid plans, eh?” Salas laughed as Malio's eyes rolled back in their sockets.
“I don't know what you're talking about Zack. This is wrong, sick. How could you do something like this?” Kyli was disturbed by Zack's actions as she witnessed it. In her eyes there was no Salas. Zack was the only one doing all this. He was the one cutting up Malio. He was holding Malio's head by the throat.
“That's enough. Run along now.” Salas spoke to Kyli. “And don't forget to bring Yugo. One of them is still alive.” Salas was commanding Kyli as if she knew more about this than Zack did.
Salas waved his other hand and Kyli vanished into blue smoke from the shore. The particles were flowing off into the distance, and faded quickly.
“Do you see, Zack? There is no one in the living world that can help you as I have. No one that knows the mounting danger you face. I am your only friend Zack.” Salas clenched Malio's neck, snapping what was left of the spine.
“I doubt that. So far all you've done is bring me pain and attention that I didn't want.” Zack responded with a growl.
Salas chuckled. “You still think you have friends? How amusing. Kyli, Marin, your father?” Salas had read Zack's emotions and picked up on their faces in his mind.
“Of course they would all help me. They're people I can count on. All of them.” Zack tried to argue.
“A girlfriend that randomly approached you in a night club? Doesn't that seem a bit out of place to you? Compared to even Malio, you were strange and gaunt when she met you. I've at least changed that, but it doesn't take away from the original fact.” Salas sighed. He used the nail of his right thumb to bore into Malio's chin, and was playing with his skin. “Then there's the assassin, Marin. Just because he chose not to kill you doesn't make him less dangerous than he is. He is a killer. A simplistic killer, but one none-the-less.”
“My father will always be there for me. He always has.” Zack made his last stand in the argument.
“Not after he sees what you've become.” Salas's words were cold. It shook Zack at his core. “Even Kyli's mother knew what she would become. She knew what David was when she met him. Your mother was not as conspicuous. She, unlike David had the mind to hide what she was from the world.”
“You knew my mother?” Zack asked. He was focused on the conversation more than the decapitated head Salas was playing with.
Salas formed another spear and planted it deep into the sand. He mounted Malio's head firmly on its end. “Here, you can at least have the courtesy of listening.”
Malio's head dangled on the pike, the blood had dried, his skin was now coarse and dying.
Salas returned to address Zack. “I knew her when she was young. Though after Malio had already been scorned.”
“How old is my mother?” Zack was curious.
“I'm not sure. She never told my previous host. Well over five hundred now though, at least. She must have changed over the years. The old Lucretia would never have mated with a human. She was a snob when it came to sex, licentious to the core. She enjoyed her vampire relationships. It was all kink to her. She always showed disdain towards human men and women. Lucretia always said their flesh was too weak. That they couldn't handle her enjoyment for long enough. On occasion she resorted to using-” Salas was cut off.
“-Too much.” Zack interrupted Salas. “There are some things you never want to know about your parents. Skip the details, please.”
“Fine. The basics, then.” Salas continued. “It's funny really. What happened back then, knowing who you are now. Knowing what she did to make you. Fate is sick and twisted. I doubt she hasn't figured out that I have awakened in you. She was always cunning. If Damien had connections with Malio, Lucretia was guiding him to you as well.”
“You think my mother would want to kill me?” Zack asked Salas, unsettled by the thought.
“Yes, of course. She killed my last host in cold blood in an attempt to stop me.” Salas was bitter. “I would have been able to do so many great things with Moira. Your mother murdered her before I had my chance.”
“Chance to do what exactly?” Zack was worried.
“To offer her my real power.” Salas explained.
Zack was curious, he wanted to hear more. “Go on.”
“Now, now. I've already fortified your body. I've changed your appearance. I have saved your life. You have done little for me as of late.” Salas was bargaining.
“What do you want?” Zack asked without thinking, treating the matter with no caution at all.
“Blood.” Salas replied.
“That's it? I thought you'd say something abstract like my soul.” Zack was relieved.
“Blood fuels my strength and adds to your power. The more of it you drink, the greater my abilities manifest in your body. When you have fed enough, reading minds as I do will be automatic. In time you will be able to inject thoughts into those around you. Manipulation of others is my greater demon gift. It is feared and shunned by even the most powerful of us.” Salas smiled. “At least that's what you will come to understand through the years. If you live that long.”
“Can't you resurrect me like Malio?” Zack asked.
“My dominion is here, I have no power in your world.” Salas sighed. “As you are.”
“Then what do you have to promise me of strength?” Zack had picked up Salas' way of speaking.
“There is a condition. One simple condition.” Salas said to Zack.
“Blood right?” Zack guessed.
“You're starting to learn. That's good. I need my hosts to be smart.” Salas was pleased.
“When you say hosts, how many have you had?” Zack was nervous.
“So many questions, so little blood.” Salas gestured around him to the shoreline. “The more you drink, the more answers I will give you. The longer you live, the stronger you will become.”
“And the less human I will be?” Zack nailed it on the head.
Salas sighed. “You've been talking to Yugo, haven't you?”
“Is it that obvious?” Zack replied.
“No one else besides another host would know what we do.” Salas told Zack. “You must be thinking what your advantage is in this? If you lose your soul, you might as well be dead. What do you have to gain from me? Am I close?” Salas paused.
“Exactly. Why should I do anything you tell me to?” Zack huffed at Salas.
“Fearlessness, unbridled and untamed.” Salas was confident in his answer. “To walk without equal in a
land of monsters as an abomination. I offer everything I once did. Except I include the knowledge of my abilities as well.” Salas boomed his voice. “Strength above all others.”
“What good is that if I'm dead?” Zack commented.
“Think of it this way if you were human, you'd live eighty years. A good long life, but a human one. I offer one to two hundred years of a vibrant youthful life. The result to each, you die at the end of both options. I offer the advantage, I provide the choice you didn't know you had. With me you will not age, you will not want, you will not break. You will never lack for anything.” Salas was getting through to Zack.
"So you're saying I have no real choice in the matter." Zack sighed.
"No. There is always volition. It's just that mine isn't fair." Salas put it plainly.
“And when I'm burning in the midday sun?” Zack protested.
Salas laughed boldly.
“Is something funny? Does the thought of my death amuse you? Zack was not happy.
“He didn't tell you, did he?” Salas kept chuckling.
“Who?” Zack had no idea what Salas was talking about.
“For trying to help you, Yugo left out a lot of information about the demon gifts.” Salas smiled. He knew he was enticing Zack. “We don't burn. Ever.”
Zack was speechless. He had understood that this was one of the principal downfalls to drinking more blood as a vampeal. From what Salas was saying, there was no negative result to gaining the power he saw Kyli wield with ease. This turned his mind upside down.
“Once we awaken in our host, fire holds no risk. The sun loses its reign. It is the first step to the full awakening.” Salas' words upset Zack.
“You mean when you devour my soul?” Zack was expecting Salas to provide consolation and an easier explanation.
Salas offered none in his puissant tone. “Yes.”
Chapter 12
The Living Nightmare's Gait
White satin sheets draped over silky porcelain skin. Black hair in disarray, scattered across a soft pillow. Kyli's naked sculpted hips outlined with such a thin veil left to the imagination, her skin was wearing the satin. She turned, unsure of her surroundings. The light fabric was sliding down her barely covered round breasts. The cloth failed to hide the supple regions of her body as she moved. Kyli let out a sigh. Her voice was feminine and relaxed. Her legs twitched from the thought of the recent nightmare of Zack torturing Malio.
Kyli had woken as she was forced from her dream state. She knew exactly what Salas was telling her. Kyli knew that telling David what had actually transpired would lead to Zack's ultimate death. She had to tell David something to get his help. She chose to leave out certain parts from her father. It worked. David was going to gather a few people to meet Zack.
Kyli was at her apartment when she had initially entered Zack's mind. It was a mission to see if the gift had awakened yet. Kyli had never been thrown out of a dream before, she was disoriented and dazed. It was not a pleasant experience. She felt drained, her head was a drum. As she got up from the bed, the last piece of her body became unclothed. Kyli walked over to her dresser. She threw on a black pair of shorts and a blue sun dress. It was quick and allowed her to remain nimble. Kyli had decided what to do, she was going to ignore what her father originally had told her to do. She had come to know Zack over the last few weeks. He had grown on her. She knew that if he lived, Salas had a chance to awaken. Kyli was fond of Zack. The idea of killing him was not something she relished, not after what they had experienced. David had told her that in the end, Zack's death by Malio would ensure everyone's safety. Kyli knew what it meant to ignore what her father said. She didn't care now. She had made up her mind.
Kyli reached into her top most drawer and pressed a button inside the front lid. A false compartment opened at the top. She reached in, as her right hand came out, she was holding a single red Japanese style short sword, a wakashashi. The weapon was thicker than most of the others in the apartment. Kyli held the weapon with resolve. She knew what she wanted to do, the sacrifice required to keep Zack alive. Kyli was going to kill Malio in the real world. She was going to rescind her contract herself.
* * * *
At Malio's estate, Zack woke up. He stood, holding on to something round. He hadn't opened his eyes, yet. He was afraid. Zack called out loud. “What is this?” It was wet, “Slippery?” Zack was confused. The last thing he remembered was talking with Salas. Zack recalled the offer, his deal. “Why can't I open my eyes? What's wrong with me?” Zack's eyes were sealed shut.
A deafening sound griped Zack's ears. His entire chest tightened. There was an impact on his chest, a pressure within his heart. It was inspiring in its total control over his senses. Zack couldn't divert his mind anywhere else. He wasn't able to think of anything else except the wave of sensation that rocked his body. It traveled outward, extending from the torso to his hips, arms, legs, face, hands, and feet. It was a wing. Suddenly Zack felt a sense of relief. The pain released. Zack opened his eyes.
“Zack, is that you?” It was Kyli. She sounded worried, troubled by what she was seeing.
Zack saw Malio's operating table before him. All of the instruments and documents, everything was covered in blood. Zack didn't think anything of it, this was Malio's personal workshop. Zack examined the area. The four ringed and dismembered vampires were still in the same place they had been when Malio sunk his teeth into Zack's neck. He was stunned, dazed. It was difficult to understand what was going on.
“Zack? Are you alright? What happened here? What happened to you?” Kyli's voice was shaky, there was obviously something wrong.
Zack didn't answer. His attention held on the four ringed vampires.
Zack heard Salas in the back of his head. “You want to know the story, don't you?” Salas' voice was much smoother than it had ever been. The grumble was gone, it was nearly pleasant.
Zack nodded as he looked at their beaten, mangled bodies.
“Close your eyes.” Salas instructed.
Zack closed his eyes.
“Zack-” Kyli's voice was mute to Zack.
A headache came over Zack, a quick and focused pain hit him in the back of the head. Memories of Malio's childhood, life, and obsessions, flashed through Zack's mind. Salas had given him knowledge of Malio's life up until the moment he bit into him. Zack reached for the back of his head with his left hand, cradling it. He could feel a fleshy mass in his right hand. Zack looked down.
“Zack, what did you do to Malio?” Kyli spoke directly to Zack.
Zack's fingers were closed tight around Malio's severed neck and head. He had been mutilated in the same way Salas had killed him in the dream world. In a second of clear thought, Zack knew what had happened, the truth. Salas had used him. While Zack and Malio had retreated to his mind, Salas took that time to kill Malio in the real world with Zack's body.
“Zack? Are you okay? You're shaking.” Kyli approached Zack, slowly.
Zack's hands were covered in blood, his jacket had been taken off. The white shirt was smeared. Zack's injuries were gone. There were no scars, no pain, no indication of Malio's actions at all. He was fine, better in fact. Zack felt a sense of power. He ran his tongue over his teeth. His fangs were out. They seemed larger.
“Zack, answer me. What did you do to Malio?” Kyli asked again.
Zack heard her this time. “Uh, yeah.” Zack's mind was clouded. “Yeah, I did something to him alright.” Zack was still holding Malio's neck. The shock of understanding the event was a bit much on him.
“Could you put down the head? It's creeping me out.” Kyli said as she set the wakashashi down at a nearby dresser.
“Uh, yeah. Sure Kyli.” Zack dropped the head. It rolled off his right foot and past the remaining pile of Malio's severed body parts. The blood had sunken into the carpet. Zack tilted his head back, trying to overt his eyes. There was blood splashed on the ceiling. It had been spread everywhere. Salas wasn't one for being discreet.
; “Zack, are you sure you're okay? You seem odd, not yourself.” Kyli took a hold of the back of Zack's neck and pointed his head at her. She searched his face.
Zack had changed again. He was even older than before. He appeared to be closer to nineteen now than fifteen or sixteen as before. He had grown another inch, he was even more lengthy and gaunt now.
Zack was “Hot.” Kyli said out loud to Zack directly.
“What?” Zack's voice squeaked. “What did you just say?” Zack's voice had lowered. It had a firm bass to it that wasn't there last time she had talked to him.
“You heard me, sexy.” Kyli checked Zack out head to toe, and back to head again. “This is a good look for you, apart from the massacre.”
Besides being covered in blood, Zack's shirt was ripped open down to his waist. There was a hint of muscular definition that hadn't ever been there before. Zack's arms were still thin, but now they were shapely. Zack was a vampire supermodel. She leaned into him, forcing Zack to catch and hold her.
Zack was colder to Kyli's touch than their last night together. He was much colder. Kyli rested her ear to Zack's chest. She was expecting to let the soothing sound of his natural heartbeat calm her. A second passed. Kyli jutted off from Zack's chest. Springing away from him, she landed on the exam table with all of Malio's instruments. She was no longer happy. Kyli was angry, she was defensive towards Zack.
“What's wrong Kyli? What is it?” Zack questioned her honestly. He didn't know what was going on.
“You can't tell just from breathing? You're no longer human Zack.” Kyli quickly peered down at Zack's chest.
“I thought I wasn't human to begin with.” Zack argued as he stared at Kyli.
Kyli was breathing heavily, her arms raised, she was guarding against Zack. She was afraid of him.
Zack lowered his eyes. Kyli had left deep gashes in his chest when she pushed away from him. They weren't bleeding, they weren't hurting either. “What does this mean?”
Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) Page 52
