Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  I was getting restless just thinking about it.

  But I couldn’t help it. There was something about her that drew me in. She was the flame, and I, the brainless moth, fluttering to its own demise. But as long as I reached the light, what did it matter? This must have been how John felt.

  John. I couldn’t see him. I knew he was still alive, but I didn’t know where he was. It’s like he existed, but he was off my radar. A week ago, I knew where John was, even if he was over ten miles away. But now, now I couldn’t sense anything.

  Anything but her.

  What was wrong with me? Why was I feeling like this?

  Her blood was so…addicting. There’s no other word for it. It took all my restraint to stop myself from going and getting more of her.

  I couldn’t let myself fall like that. I wasn’t a monster. I never slipped.

  Unlike John.

  Sixty-Five Years Ago

  “John?” My voice rang through the mansion as I set my overcoat down on the rack. “John?” I asked once more, before becoming massively worried. “John!” My animalistic ears heard a growl coming from upstairs.

  No doubt from John’s bedroom.

  “John!” I yelled as I flashed myself to his door. My nose twitched. I looked down to see a great puddle of blood seeping out of the bottom of the door crack. I kicked the door in, wincing as I saw it.

  John was curled up in a bloody ball, on the other side of the room from a dead, naked woman. He rocked back and forth, like that would change what happened, what he did

  In a mere second, I had John by the neck and smashed him against the wall. “What did you do?”

  “It,” John spoke as he scratched for his neck to get free, not bothering to fight me, to use his own strength against me, “was an accident.”

  “No. An accident would have been one bite. Not this.” I motioned at the corpse. “You need to learn to control yourself, brother.”

  “I know, but it’s so hard to…” John made up excuses.

  But I wasn’t in the mood for his excuses. No, not this time. I growled, “You mess up too much. This is not the first time you’ve lost control. This happens too often. You need to stop.”

  “Oh,” he spat out, angrily, “like you haven’t done this?”

  “No!” I yelled into his face, startling him. “No, I haven’t.”

  “In three hundred years, you’ve never lost control?” John seemed like he was at a loss for words. “I don’t believe that.”

  “Well, here is some information you should take to heart, brother, it’s the truth. I have never killed anyone. I don’t lose control. I don’t give in to the urges. And I never, ever would even think of doing this to a woman. Not all of us are monsters, like…”

  John interrupted me. “Like what, brother?”

  “Like you,” I finished, letting go of his neck and stepping back, away from the grisly scene. “I’m done cleaning up your messes. You’re on your own now. Goodbye, John.” With that, I ran with inhuman speed to the front door, picked up my coat, and left the house, hopefully to never see John again.

  Now

  But I saw him again. Forty-two years after that, I saw him. He was homeless, starving and, on human terms, near death. Although technically, he never would have died. However, I still felt bad, so I took him in. Again.

  I took him to the mountains and taught him many things. I taught him to live. I taught him to control himself. I taught him that Vampires didn’t need blood to survive.

  It took years, but we did it. We moved back into society. We integrated ourselves, moving every few years to avoid suspicion. Deep down, I was happy to have John back. The old John. The John that existed before the totem was broken and the curse was released. My little brother.

  To think all this started over three hundred years ago. It felt like an eternity.

  And I’d done so well. I avoided losing control and murdering anyone. I sidestepped the dating pool countless of times. I never longed for anyone.

  Until now.

  Now, it was like I wanted to throw it all away for her. And I’d only known her for a few days. There was something about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. Something that made me want to lose it. Something that made me want to dive into the dating pool. Something that made me long for her all day.

  And all night.

  I didn’t even like the girl. She infuriated me. She was the key to John’s disappearance, I knew she was. Plus, she was still a child. What was she?

  I shook my head. I could feel her walking to her locker. I could sense her turning the lock, looking for the right numbers. My skin began to crawl. Something was off.

  Chapter Twenty-Four – Raphael

  My eyes slowly searched the library for another book. One that I hadn’t read in a while, one that might hold the secrets I could tell the two young Purifiers. My lips pursed, and my gaze landed on a leather-bound book. One that I knew I’d seen before.

  The huge binding. The torn corners. The smell of aged leather.

  Oh, dear. I’d seen this book before. Years ago. Odd, I thought as I slid it out of its place. I never thought I would see it again. I burned it, along with her…hadn’t I?

  I made my way to a recliner that rested in the far side of the room. My fingers traced the corners and the golden lock. I truly didn’t understand why this book was here. I remembered throwing it in the fire. I specifically remembered tossing the book in the flames.

  I had read its secrets and had no more use of it. If someone found this book, and the key, they would know how to make a Vampire. A real Vampire. In Gabriel and Kass’s terms: a Daywalker.

  That secret could not get out.

  Even though I was on the second floor, I heard the front door slam. Michael was home. This morning something was off about him, and now that we were alone, I was going to find out what.

  I got up and gently placed the book back in its spot, making a mental note to come get it later. It must be destroyed once more. My legs took me down the stairs as fast as they were able. I peeked in the living room. Michael was not in there, meaning he was in the kitchen.

  Probably making himself some more tea, that strange man.

  Except, as I rounded the corner, I saw that I was wrong. Michael was not making tea. He held up a large butcher’s knife, as though he was going to stab himself directly in his gut.

  As he began to bring the knife down, I realized I was right. And I also knew what was wrong with him this morning. John. He had compelled him. The knife was inches away from his stomach when I yelled “Stop!”

  My voice reverberated through the air, making it into Michael’s ears, causing him to halt abruptly. I slowly walked to him and took the knife out of his grasp. I opened a nearby drawer and threw it in, saying, “Michael, tell me what John told you.”

  Michael rubbed his head. “He told me I can’t tell anyone.”

  “Tell me. Michael, you must tell me,” I said slowly, staring at him eye to eye. “Did he force you to take Kass to school?” Michael nodded limply, blinking and trying to remember. “Did he also tell you to stab yourself?” I was met with another nod.

  Michael finally said, “Raphael, how did you know? And…how did you stop me?”

  “A story for another time.” I grabbed my coat. “Now we have to go get Kass from school.” I walked to the door. “What are you waiting for?”

  It was moments before he spoke, “I screwed up, didn’t I?”

  “No, Michael. You couldn’t have known John was going to compel you. You are lucky I was here fast enough to stop you.”

  I exited the house, ignoring his question “Yes, how did you get here so bloody fast?”

  Now wasn’t the time to play twenty questions.

  Chapter Twenty-Five – Kass

  “Seriously?” I hissed to my locker. “You’re going to do this now?” It seemed not a full school day went by that I didn’t have a problem with it. I got more tardy slips than I cared to admit, due to this stupi
d thing.

  Now I had to go the office and ask Mrs. McCafferty to open my locker. Again.

  She probably thought I was stupid and incompetent. Well, what else was I going to do? I needed my English book, otherwise I’d get a detention. And I wasn’t in the mood to get a detention. A few days ago, sure, give me one, but now? I really didn’t want one.

  I was keenly aware of the emptying hallways, remembering how Raphael and Michael told me to never go anywhere alone. In principle I wasn’t alone. There were still some stragglers running through the halls. And I was right outside the main office, so I wasn’t technically alone.

  My hand slowly reached for the handle.

  I felt my heart beat hard. I turned the doorknob and pushed it with my shoulder as I cradled my books to my chest.

  Okay, I was pretty much alone, since Mrs. McCafferty was a slightly chubby, middle-aged woman.

  Her chair was turned, so the chair’s back faced me and anyone else who entered the main office. I took in the leather stitching, wondering if it was as comfy as it looked.

  “Mrs. McCafferty,” I said, “my locker won’t open.”

  She didn’t answer me.

  I figured that maybe she was intently watching one of her soap operas on mute on the tiny office TV, so I said again, louder than before, “I need help. With my locker.”

  I heard the crackling of the TV and took a few steps closer to her. “Mrs. McCafferty?” Was she even there, or was I just talking to an empty chair? I held out a hand, deciding I’d find out as I spun her chair around. It rotated a little too easily.

  Oh, no.

  Mrs. McCafferty was there, all right. Every part of her, except her head.

  My breathing was ragged as I took in the sight of her brains spattered all over the chair and the television. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I gripped her lifeless hand.

  Osiris could enlarge brains, making the head explode in the process. Suddenly it was clear. The dream I had where Gabriel’s head exploded. It was Osiris. The electric thing was Osiris. John was Osiris. I stabbed him too late.

  A breath seeped from my lungs as I heard footsteps behind me. I didn’t even have to turn and look to see who it was. “Hello, John. Or should I call you Osiris now?” I questioned, setting my books down on Mrs. McCafferty’s desk.

  “It’s John. Just John. You know, it will always be John.” In a flash he picked me up by my neck, dangling me there like a limp doll. “I may have Osiris’s powers…” He brought me closer to his face. “…but it’s all me in here.”

  “Go to hell,” I choked out.

  “Oh, sure, but only if you go with me,” John laughed out.

  I could barely breathe. He had a strong grip on my neck, that’s for sure. In a few seconds, I passed out.

  My eyelids felt like stone. They were heavy little things. I could hardly open them, but I managed to. I glanced around. I was in a field, far away from the city and the high school. A very grassy field that had flowers of every kind. For some reason, the sun shone brighter, causing me to cover my eyes.

  Soon I comprehended that it wasn’t the sun. It was my mother floating down. “Kassandra,” her soft voice said, “you are marked for greatness.” And with that, she lifted a finger to my cheek, touching it ever so gently and disappearing right after.

  I delicately placed my own finger on the spot where she touched me, feeling the exact place where her finger had been.

  I looked around and realized that I wasn’t in a dream. This was real life. This was really happening. John/Osiris brought me here. I could only imagine why. Did that mean my mother really visited me? Maybe I was going crazy under all this pressure.

  “Finally awake,” John said, kneeling next to me. “About time, Kass.”

  I glared at him, sending all my hatred I had for him in one single defiant stare. “John. Why are you doing this?”

  “Why?” he echoed, sitting down and spreading his legs out. I saw the way the sun glowed on him, the way his high cheek bones stood out, making his normal face a very handsome one, the way his dark eyes stared at me expectantly, just like they did before all this happened.

  Before I took my rose blade and impaled his heart.

  And then I saw the tattoo that seemed to breathe with his body. I saw the evil deep in his soul. For the very first time, I saw John. John with a little bit of Osiris, but it was still John. It always was.

  This was the real John. The monster that killed almost ten people in the last week. The fiend that cut my wrists, almost killing me. The creature that sent me the roses, the messages. It was John.

  John was in control, not Osiris. It never was Osiris.

  Because, if it was Osiris this whole time, he wouldn’t have killed only ten people, he wouldn’t have bothered to merely cut my wrists and keep me alive, and he wouldn’t have troubled himself with sending me the black roses and taping that video.

  If it was Osiris, he would have just killed me. Plain and simple.

  “Yes,” I said through clenched teeth. “Why?” I was angry now. I needed to stab something. I hated John. One way or another, only one of us would survive this encounter. “Why me? Why all this?” I held my arms up, motioning all around me, around the field of flowers.

  “Why? Because I want you. Why you? Because it has to be you. Why all this?” John made the same hand gesture. “Because this is what I want.”

  “You’re insane, John. You’re a monster,” I stated, soon regretting it. In a flash, his hand closed around my neck and he held me down in the grass.

  “Yes. I’m a monster. I know. That’s who I am, Kass. Soon enough, you’ll come to accept it.”

  I bared my teeth and collided my fist with his cheek. A bad angle. I had enough already. He stumbled back, stunned by my sudden outburst. “John. I don’t care if I can’t kill you. But…” I jumped to my feet when his grip on me loosened and readied myself for a fight. “…I plan on enjoying every second of it anyway.”

  “Is that what you want?” I nodded. “Put your fists down, Kass,” John tried telling me, commanding me. Compelling me. When I didn’t, he seemed even more confused. “I said put them down!”

  I shook my head no. “It’s not going to happen.”

  “What?” He looked truly flabbergasted. “Why can’t I compel you?”

  My shoulders shrugged. “Who cares?” I asked. “It’s not like it matters. Does that small fact complicate things for you?”

  “No,” he finally said. “If you want to fight, we can. But I don’t plan on killing you.”

  I inched closer to him. “That makes one of us.”

  “You know what I think?” John flashed and disappeared from my line of sight. I frantically glanced all around me, waiting for him to pop back up. I felt a swift kick to my back, one that shoved me forward about five feet.

  When I finally caught myself, John appeared in front of me and kicked me again, saying, “I think you’re all bark and no bite.”

  I stumbled back on the ground, soon flipping myself back into standing position. “Oh, I bite. I may not bite like you do, but I bite.” He vanished once more, but instead of looking around, I stayed in one place, closed my eyes, and concentrated.

  In one second I felt him behind me, so I promptly elbowed his face as hard as I could. Which was pretty hard, all my Purifier strength behind it.

  He staggered back, gripping his nose. I saw the blood that flowed easily out of it. That’s what he got. A terrible nosebleed. Granted, it didn’t start to make amends for all he had done, but it’s a good way to begin this battle.

  “John…” I said, because I needed to know the answer to this question. “…why me? Why is it me you’re after? And don’t tell me it’s just because you want me and all that crap. What’s the real reason?”

  His brown eyes blackened entirely. The whites of his eyes were one with his irises, all a sheer, dark black. Blacker than anything I’d ever seen. Utterly soulless. “You want to know why?” He flashed behind me, holding my a
rms back with one strong arm and restraining the rest of my body with the other. “Do you really want to know why?”

  I nodded, expectant, waiting until I had the opportunity to fight back.

  “I honestly don’t know. There’s something about you…” John began moving his hand, the one that wasn’t holding me back, over my stomach.

  Too bad John turned out to be evil, otherwise I wouldn’t mind this. That wasn’t the case, though, so I felt sick. I wanted to throw up all over his face and ask him if there was still something special about me.

  “I don’t know what it is…if it’s the way you smell, the way you look, the way I think your blood will taste going down my throat…” John started moving his hand lower.

  Way too low.

  I had enough of the direction his hand traveled, so I silently thanked God I was so flexible and lifted up a leg, kneeing him in the face and making his nose bleed even more. Which was a little funny, even though the circumstances were beyond sick and dire.

  John whispered while clutching his nose again, “I am going to enjoy taming you.”

  I raised my eyebrows and said, “You couldn’t tame me. You’d have to kill me first. And that, I believe, would be called necrophilia. Which is something I’m not sure if I can put past you.”

  “Oh, Kass, Kass, Kass.” John laughed, showing his brilliant white teeth. “You think I would kill you? No, I’d keep you alive. Barely.” He smiled that billion-dollar smile I recently began to hate.

  Why, oh why did the first guy I ever liked turn out to be a crazy psychopath? Why couldn’t he have been normal? A normal guy? One that was into sports, one whose hobbies did not involve murdering people, one that was human.

  I sure knew how to pick them. Lesson learned.