Storm (Blood Haze: Book Two) A Paranormal Romance
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“Yo u never had to do this. Alexi will be
furious when he finds out I brought you here.
This is not what he would have wanted.”
“I know it’s not what he wanted, but it’s
what’s best for him. It’s what’s best for all of
them.”
“I’m not so sure that is right,” he said.
“Would they have wanted you to sacrifice so
much for them? How will they deal with your
absence?”
“I… I never thought about that. I just wanted
to protect them. Liam… I miss them so much!”
“There, there,” he said, smoothing my hair.
“I’m certain they miss you, too. But I will be
here for you, as your friend, for as long as you
need me to be. At least you will never be alone.”
“Thank you, Liam. I…”
I was interrupted by a crashing sound, and I
heard Alexi’s voice shrill and booming in outside
the door.
“Where is she?” he demanded. “Alice! Alice!”
“Alexi…” I gasped.
“What is the meaning of this?” I heard
Barnabas’ voice echoing in return.
“Where is she, Father? What have you done
with her?” Alexi demanded.
I flew across the room and threw open the
door to the music room. Alexi turned to face me,
and he smiled slightly in recognition.
“She is here of her own accord, Alexi,”
Barnabas said. “I told your brother to inform you
that you were to have no contact with her until
further notice.”
“I am sorry, Father,” Liam said suddenly. “I
didn’t have a chance to contact him, yet.”
“Liam. I should have known,” Alexi spat. “I
should have known you’d betray everything I
believe in.”
“No!” I shouted. “Don’t blame Liam. It’s not
his fault. This was my choice, Alexi, not his.”
“Why would you do this?” Alexi demanded.
“You left without even saying goodbye!”
I could hear the pain in his voice, and I looked
at him apologetically.
“Enough!” Barnabas boomed. “You have seen
that she is well, and she is here of her own
volition. You have no further need to be here. I
must ask you to leave immediately.”
“Alice…” Alexi whispered.
“Just go, Alexi,” I told him gently. “Please.”
“You don’t have to do this…” Alexi said, his
lower lip quivering.
“Yes,” I told him. “I do.”
“I will not ask you again,” Barnabas warned,
his eyes narrowing. “Leave the premises.”
Alexi clenched his teeth and looked back at
me. “Why, Alice?”
“Please…” I begged. “Go.”
He shook his head slowly.
“Everyone is worried about you. They miss
you. I miss you.”
“I’ve had enough of your insolence!”
Barnabas shouted. “Veronica!”
Veronica
immediately
appeared
behind
Barnabas, and behind her were the two I’d seen
her with when I first arrived.
“Yes, Elder Barnabas?” she asked.
“Please escort my son off the premises,” he
instructed.
“As you wish,” she agreed.
I saw her step toward Alexi, but he backed
away from her.
“I’ll go,” he said quickly. “But this is not
over!”
Alexi turned to me, his chin trembling. His
lips parted as if he wished to speak, but the
words would not come. He bowed quickly to me
and disappeared out the door, his cloak billowing
dramatically behind him.
I exhaled sharply, and I clutched Liam’s arm
to steady my balance. My knees were weak, and I
was trembling.
“I’m sorry about that,” I apologized to
Barnabas.
“It is not your fault,” Barnabas said. “Liam,
please take her to her room.”
“Yes, Father,” Liam returned with a quick
bow.
Liam took my elbow in his hand and directed
me toward the back hallway, which led to the
stairs. We went straight to my room.
“Can you stay with me?” I asked him when we
got there.
“I’m afraid not,” he answered. “My father will
wish to speak with me, I’m sure.”
“Okay,” I said. “Can you come back later?”
“I will try,” he replied.
With that, he turned and left. Once again, I
was alone. Not only was I alone, but I knew that
everyone who cared about me was worried, and I
was facing a kind of uncertainty I could never
have imagined. I had no idea what would happen
to me, but I knew I was doing the right thing. I
had to protect them all – no matter the cost to
me.
*****
Chapter Eleven – Training
I’m not sure when I fell asleep. I had lied
down to try to calm myself, and I guess I finally
gave in to exhaustion. I was awakened by a gentle
tapping at my door, and I stretched and yawned. I
padded across the floor and opened the door.
“Good morning, Alice,” Liam said. “You’ve
been assigned a Keeper.”
“Oh? And when will I meet him… or her?”
“You’re looking at him.”
“You?”
“Yep. Father apparently thought you would
respond best to training if it came from someone
you knew.”
“Really? Why?”
“Your gifts are very unique. They are more
powerful when you have some sort of attachment
to the people around you. Since none of the
people you care about can be present, I’m the
next best thing.”
“Next best thing, huh?”
“I’m used to never being first in anyone’s
heart,” he said with a wink. “Are you ready to
begin?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
I followed him down to the training hall, and
we entered one of the classrooms. There was a
tall, plump man with a receding hairline standing
in the middle of the room. He was wearing plain
clothes rather than an Elder robe, and he stood
beside a machine. In his hands were two large
alligator clips that looked like the leads on
jumper cables.
Liam walked over and stood beside him. He
removed his cloak and tossed it over a table, and
then he rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt.
“This may be… difficult,” Liam said. “The
purpose of today’s training is to help you
strengthen your ability to put people to sleep.”
“Okay, what do I need to do?”
“In the beginning, we must evoke an
emotional response in you in order to help you
practice. You must concentrate. Focus your
energy, and touch him.”
“What? Just touch him?”
“It’s not that simple. Not at first. Since your
abilities seem to require you to feel some s
ort of
emotional connection, we must… create one.”
I eyed the machine nervously.
“What do you mean?”
“When you are ready, you can stop it,” Liam
said, and then he grabbed one of the leads and
nodded to the man by the machine.
The man turned a switch on, and then he
pressed the other lead against Liam’s arm. Liam
gritted his teeth and groaned loudly, and I heard a
sharp zap and a crackling noise. I gasped. The
man pulled the lead away.
Liam shook his head to clear it after the jolt.
He took a deep breath.
“You can stop this with a single touch.
Concentrate, and do it.”
Again, the man pressed the lead against
Liam’s arm, and he groaned, his body trembling.
“Stop!” I shouted, and I touched the man’s
arm.
Nothing happened. He touched the lead to
Liam again, and Liam shrieked in pain. I clenched
my teeth and touched the man’s arm again. No
response. The man twisted a knob, apparently
turning up the voltage.
The zap was louder this time, and Liam
clenched his hands into fists, and he screamed in
pain through clenched teeth.
“Stop! Stop!” I shouted, trying desperately to
channel my energy into the man.
Still, nothing happened. The man twisted the
knob, turning it to the maximum setting. I felt a
huge knot growing inside my stomach as he
touched the lead to Liam’s arm.
Liam’s body jolted in a seizure, and he
screamed in pain. He dropped to his knees, and
still the man kept the lead pressed against his
skin. I could smell Liam’s skin beginning to
burn, and he looked up at me with pleading eyes.
“Stop! Please!” I shouted, my entire body
beginning to tremble.
Tears began to sting my eyes, and a lump
began to swell in my throat. Liam looked so
helpless as his eyes pleaded with me to stop the
pain. The sharp smell of burning flesh infiltrated
my nose, and the room began to spin.
“I said stop!” I screamed, thrusting my hand
against the man’s forehead.
The man’s body slumped into a pile in the
floor, and I heard Liam exhale sharply as the pain
subsided.
“Well done,” he said, his voice still shaky.
I fell to my knees beside him and placed one
hand on his chest.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m so sorry, Liam. I tried to stop it earlier.”
“It was expected, Alice. It’s going to take a
while for you to learn to use your ability without
such extreme measures.”
“You mean we have to keep doing this? No! I
can’t handle this, Liam! I can’t stand seeing
anyone in pain like that!”
“That is precisely why we must do it. If you’re
going to learn to use your gift, you must be
forced to learn to use it without going through
this type of thing. By doing it this way, your
mind will adapt and you will unlock the ability to
use it without the emotional response.”
“Not like this. I can’t stand seeing him do that
to you.”
“It is necessary,” he reminded me. “There is no
other way.”
Liam shook the guy several times, and he
finally came around.
“Again,” Liam told him.
“No… please…” I said weakly.
Liam stood up and braced himself. He stood
with his fists clenched beside him, and his eyes
burned into me. He nodded, and the man reached
forward with the lead.
“Please,” I whispered.
But the lead touched Liam’s skin, and I saw
him trying desperately not to cry out. His body
shook violently, and his teeth rattled together.
His crimson eyes looked wild with pain. I closed
my eyes and took a deep breath. With tears in my
eyes, I pleaded with myself to do it. I lifted my
hand and touched the man’s arm, and he slumped
to the floor.
Liam grunted with relief as the pain ended.
“Well done,” he said again.
“Liam, I can’t keep doing this. Please stop
this,” I begged, tears spilling down my face.
Liam put his hands on my shoulders and
looked into my eyes.
“You can stop this any time you want,” he
said.
He bent down and shook the man to rouse him
again, and then he prepared himself for another
jolt.
“No! No more!” I said, taking the man’s arm
to restrain it.
Once more, he fell to the floor.
“Good job!” Liam shouted excitedly. “You
did it without the need for an emotional
response!”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t want him to hurt you
again,” I argued. “That was an emotional
response.”
“But you didn’t need to see the pain this
time,” he said. “You’re improving.”
“Liam, I could still see the pain. Before he
touched you, I could see your face. It was
unbearable.”
He nodded.
“Tomorrow, we will try it under different
circumstances. I don’t want to push you too hard
on your first day.”
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” I told him.
“I’m sorry, but you must continue,” he said.
“There is no other option. Are you hungry?”
“Yes, I guess I am,” I admitted.
“Good,” he said. “It’s time for breakfast.”
He revived the man and told him we were
done for the day, and then we headed for the
dining hall to have breakfast. I ordered a fruit
salad and a croissant and Liam ordered a ham and
cheese omelet. Liam disappeared through a door
into the kitchen briefly, and he came out carrying
two glasses of orange juice.
“You like juice?” he asked me.
“Sure,” I said.
We sat down to wait for our food. As I sipped
my orange juice, I thought about the training
session I’d just been through. It was unbearable.
If this was just the beginning, I was starting to
think I’d made the wrong decision to come.
“I’ve been wondering something,” I said
suddenly. “Why are the Elders working with
hunters, anyway? Isn’t it a bit counterproductive
to be working with people who are trying to kill
our kind?”
“There’s a book in the library that will explain
all of that,” he said. “I’ll get it for you after
breakfast, if you want. We won’t have another
training session until this afternoon.”
“We have another one today?” I groaned.
“It won’t be the same one as earlier,” he said.
“We won’t try that again until tomorrow.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I only hoped it
wouldn’t be something worse.
“I know this is hard on you,” Liam said.
“I’m
sorry. I tried to tell you this was going to be
difficult for you.”
“I know,” I told him. “I made my choice.”
“Alexi’s been calling every hour to check on
you. Everyone is really upset. They miss you.”
“I know. I hate it that I had to leave them like
that, but I had to make sure nothing happened to
them because of me. Can you tell Alexi I miss
them all terribly?”
“I will relay the message when he calls next.”
“Thanks.”
“And tell him I’m sorry for leaving the way I
did. I just knew they would try to stop me, and I
had to do this.”
“He understands,” Liam said softly.
“Does he? Do they all?”
“I don’t know about the others, but Alexi
understands why you did it. He’s not happy about
it, obviously. But he knows you. He understands
why.”
“I hope so.”
After breakfast, Liam took me to the library
and located the book that contained information
about the history of the Council. I took it to a
quiet table in the corner and opened the dusty old
cover. I skimmed through the pages, looking for
information about the hunters.
About halfway through the book, I found a
chapter about the alliance. In 1835, a vampire
named in the book only as Lucius was the head
of the Council. Originally, the Council was at
war, but they were tired of seeing their vampire
brethren slaughtered mercilessly at the hands of
the hunters, who sought to eradicate the entire
vampire species.
Lucius went to the hunters and proposed a
truce. They would help the hunters eliminate the
most problematic vampires, and in exchange,
they had the ability to control how many
vampires were killed, and to occasionally ask for
exceptions for certain individuals. In other
words, they would help kill their own kind, but
only those they deemed appropriate.
After the alliance was formed, the hunters
reined in their slaughter of vampires. The hunters
and the Council worked together to determine
which vampires were the biggest problem for
society. Those vampires were eliminated, and
others were allowed to live.
“Liam, if the Council determines which
vampires are allowed to live, then why did this
hunter try to kill me when he caught me feeding
on the beach?”
“A hunter tried to kill you?” Liam asked,
raising one eyebrow.
“Yes,” I acknowledged. “I was feeding from
this guy on the beach. Kai and I had just stopped