by Jenna Bernel
I stared at him as I danced with Alec, pretending to be jealous of the girl he was with, like I wanted to take her place. He smiled, noticing my attention wasn't waning, and slowly moved his dance partner closer to us. Got him! We were truly greedy creatures.
"Stay here; I'll be right back," Alec instructed, giving my backside a playful tap as if to show the target he wasn't that intimately attached to me, or that I was just another meal. A twinge of sadness struck me that I refused to acknowledge. Alec left me to go to the bar. I had to stay far away from the bar, since the bartender, Brooks, was the only one who knew my face well enough to see through my disguise.
I kept dancing, feeling wobbly without Alec's support, which worked to my advantage. I did my best slutty-stripper moves as I continued to stare at the target like I wanted him to jump my bones. He whispered something into his blood whore’s ear and she turned to face me before coming toward me as she danced. She put her hands on my shoulders and started swaying along with me as the vamp got his jollies watching two barely dressed women dancing together. Alec returned when the music moved into another song and stopped short, like he was surprised at the turn of events.
"Made a friend, have you?" he asked and I bit my lip, nodding like I didn't want to push this drunken girl off my shoulder.
"She's mine," the black, button-up vamp announced as he stepped forward to claim her.
"I see; well, they're looking awfully cozy," Alec retorted like he was also turned on, and I wanted to roll my eyes.
"Care to share them?" the vamp suggested as I suppressed a dry heave.
"Take her. I'm sick of blondes anyway," Alec quipped. He and the target both laughed at the inside vamp joke and Alec walked away, like he was going back to the humans at the club to find someone more to his liking. I knew he was playing a part, but I really wanted to punch him right then.
I continued to dance with the blood whore, and the vamp soon joined in, putting himself between us as if he were the most desirable filling of our sandwich. He faced me and sprang his fangs out as if it were some contest of length between Alec and him. His brownish-gold Trance washed over my face.
"You're mine now and you'll do as I say," he stated as I nodded right along. "You wanted me tonight, didn't you?" he said, more as a statement than a question and further stroking his ego.
"Yes," I croaked out, like I was suddenly intimidated by his awesome power.
He stood up, ending our vamp sandwich as he took the other girl’s hand and mine. I matched her stumble as he led us off the dance floor and down the dark corridor of private rooms.
Chapter 19: Through the Vent
The target voluntarily, no, eagerly, gripped my hand in his and it felt cold as ice, nothing like when Alec interlaced our fingers. He stayed one step ahead of me and I stared numbly at his back, like a zombie, robotically following suit. I had him where I wanted him now; I just had to get him into the right room. I hoped they all weren't already occupied. Take one of the middle two on the left wall, Alec told me. We were about to pass by them when he suddenly grabbed the other blood whore’s hand, like I was losing my balance. My shoulder slammed into the door as I fell against it, forcing it open before I went toppling to the ground, taking the girl down with me.
I began to giggle like an addle-brained idiot over my inebriated clumsiness; and the girl also began to laugh as she rolled off me and onto her back. The vamp stepped over us, moving further into the (thankfully) empty room. He had an amused smirk on his face.
"I suppose this will do," he said, clapping sharply for us to snap out of our stupor and compose ourselves. The girl and I both became silent simultaneously as I began to stand up.
"Shut the door and come sit by me," he said. I closed the door while the other girl ran to his side, overly eager to please him. I sauntered over much more slowly and seductively than she, raking my eyes over him to, once again, suggest I wanted it more. He tilted his chin down, looking at me through his lashes as his darkly sinister eyes consumed me. Right then, I knew my salacious actions were responsible for me becoming his first meal of the night.
I slowly sat down and watched his bloodlust taking over, clouding his judgment as the hunger surfaced. I looked at the girl and washed my violet Trance over her face.
"Stand over there, and be silent," I commanded confidently, pointing to the corner and she immediately stood up to obey. The vampire looked confused, shaking his head as he let the bloodlust evaporate.
"How did you…?" he began, but I punched him in the mouth at full strength, effectively cutting off his words mid-sentence. I covered his mouth before he could shout and noticed a breeze passing me when Alec leapt to my side. Alec slit his wrist with his fang, and traded places with me just as I uncovered the vamp's mouth. As soon as the droplets from Alec's wrist hit the target's throat, he began having a seizure. It was the same way that all of my turns reacted. I couldn't believe how similar their responses were. Alec picked him up when the vamp's tremors became more violent and threw him over his shoulder.
"Bring her over here," he told me, and I waved the girl over. We had to take her with us. We could not just let her return from the private room with no vamp escort or bite marks. It would look much too suspicious. The best we could hope for was that anyone who saw us tonight would’ve assumed the vamp took us home for an after party. I shuddered… Yuck!
"Follow me," I told her, quickly putting the glow over her eyes and she silently nodded.
Alec went over to the wall where he spotted an old air vent that looked rusted shut and had cobwebs all over it. He reached up, giving it a hard tug to force it open, and eyed the door nervously. I jumped up and wriggled in, wondering how Alec and the other vamp would fit through. Alec gave a one-armed boost to the blood whore behind me while I started crawling, military-style, through the air vent. The memory of Evan sweetly kissing my cheek merely hours ago, and a mental flash of Dale doing a keg stand made me smile. I shook my head, still smiling, but also wondering what else I was missing while I crawled through the muck.
*****
"Hey," I said to announce my return, peeking my head into Alec's bedroom, now back at the Victorian home. I dropped Alec off there with his patient after we fled The Basement. We sent the dazed blood whore home in a cab. I went back to my house briefly to drop off my car and get cleaned up. My hair was freshly washed and free from the itchy wig, and I was finally back in normal clothes, never more appreciating the comfort of a pair of jeans.
"Hey, come on in," he said, looking up and waving me over. He was sitting next to the vamp who now rested comfortably on his bed.
"Is he doing okay?" I asked. It was a good question, because unlike my blood, this vamp’s heart wouldn't restart from Alec's blood, so I had no clue what might be a good sign.
"Everything's normal… so far," Alec assured me.
"When will he wake up?" I inquired, brushing the hair off the vamp’s forehead as I looked down at him. Even with his eyes closed, I could almost sense a softness returning and a more compassionate side. It was amazing to see the effect of Alec's blood.
"Hopefully, in the morning," he answered, looking at his most recent turn with unease. He had a funny expression when he looked at his newly turned. It was the same way I looked at those who received the Gift of my blood. You felt naturally connected to them, and responsible for them. It was almost like being a parent as you watched them change into something new and unknown. It wasn't like that in the vamp world anymore. When they bit a human, it was cold and self-serving. Maybe it was never like it was with Alec and me; I wasn't sure. I wondered if that was part of the problem, perhaps, one of the things disrupting “The Balance" as Alec called it. I was still unsure of the consequences to our failure to restore it.
"What's Caliontre like?" I asked.
"Let me take you there and I'll show you," Alec said, looking up at me optimistically, but I shook my head. I was warming up to the idea, finally feeling some control as we completed our mission to help E
li. However, knowing my birth father would be there, discouraged me and I wasn't ready yet. I'd always done things at my own pace and per my own timetable. Although I didn't know why I was being such a stubborn, inflexible person.
"We only have a few days left before Roman and Christoph send for you anyway," he said, shaking his head like my obstinacy was merely a trivial hurdle to overcome before returning his attention to his patient.
"We'll see," I said, putting my foot down metaphorically.
"Number twenty-three," Alec whispered to himself.
"What? This is your twenty-third? That can't be a coincidence," I said in astonishment as I looked down at Alec, wide-eyed.
"It's not, just another part of the grand plan you’re not ready to hear," Alec replied and I pursed my lips.
"What happens to the ones you've turned? Where do they go?" I was genuinely curious.
"Most of them are like this vamp: they'll become moles, helping me, or helping you and Eli with your targets, even when you don't know they are. How else do you think you got Eli out of The Basement alive?" he asked, looking up at me with a glint in his eye and I gasped. The memories flooded my mind: the unlocked door, the vamp in the alley, walking away, the motel, magically opening when I needed a place to stash Eli.
"Wow, I'm actually impressed," I said, shaking my head as I thought it over. It's incredible what the Nephil managed to accomplish.
"Finally, something I've done that you approve of," Alec said mockingly and I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks for letting me tag along," I replied earnestly.
"You didn't give me much of a choice," he grumbled and I started to slide my hand from his shoulder, but he caught it in his before it fell to my side.
"You did well. I was right. When we work together, instead of apart it's a better fit than their design, and it's how it’s supposed to be. I just can't bear putting you in danger like that," Alec confessed. I was moved by the flicker of gold churning in his eyes as he looked at me. There was no denying after tonight that we made one hell of a team. Our tango, the way we understood each other, and moved together in perfect synchronization just worked effortlessly, like interlinking counterparts.
"I agree, it's dangerous; but like you said, it works. I hope you think about that for the next step so I don't have to fight you for two days straight," I said in a gravelly tone while still rapt in his compassionate look.
"They'll never allow it, I'm already in enough trouble after tonight and for blabbing about your biological father," Alec said, dropping his eyes.
"We'll see," I said, and I could feel him smile even though I couldn't actually witness it. "I should go," I added as I slowly pulled my hand from his and the tension started growing in the room. I thought about him in full vamp mode tonight, how dominant and sexy he was, and how badly I wanted him to kiss me. I didn't ever think I'd feel that way again, outside of my dreams. I needed to walk away before I allowed myself to get caught up in the moment again.
"Goodnight," he said to my back and I waved without looking at him, because it reminded me too much of the first time we kissed.
I hurried down the stairs and ran back to my house. Climbing up my balcony, I swiftly shut the door behind me as if there were a roaring fire outside, burning up my trail. I sat down on my bed and lay back, looking at the ceiling while clutching my chest and trying to catch my breath.
Fear crept over me, but I couldn't find any source for it. Our mission was dangerous, not to mention, threatening; but it was also something else entirely, which I had never experienced. I snapped upright as a tear rolled down my cheek and I pressed my hand on the salty droplet, not understanding it. I couldn't actually cry in any place but my dreams since Eli was taken. I shuddered, feeling a darkness rolling over my skin. I swallowed and gulped several times, trying to shake it off m, but it penetrated right down into the depths of my blood, and my heart pattered to a stop.
Chapter 20: With One Kiss
"Look at her! Look what you've done! I told you to stay away from her, and that it'd be too much!" Roman’s familiar voice boomed.
"Stop talking to me about her like you know her! I know her. I know her better than any of you will ever know her. It'll all come to light; she just needs time!" Alec yelled back, heaving with fury.
I found myself walking down a pitch-black hallway, in which I couldn't see a thing, like I was blind. I stuck my hands out in front of me, reaching toward the voices.
"Well, your time is up. Christoph will have your head," Roman barked. Blinking several times, I was suddenly in an open field, only feet away from Alec and Roman. They were looking at a picture of me in the sky. It was a bird's eye view of me, sleeping in my bed. It was exactly like the time Alec got upset and created a window in the ocean, so he could peer down into my room where I was sleeping in bed with Evan. My ribcage remained still, as I was clearly not breathing. I fell asleep vamp again, but I didn't remember turning. There was something else, a dark energy surrounding my aura, that was so strange, I almost didn't believe it was really me.
"Is that me, right now?" I asked, squinting at the picture while trying to remember what I wore to bed. I couldn't remember anything after I returned to my room. They both whipped their heads in my direction, and stared at me, looking shocked.
"Daniella?" Roman asked, amazed to see I was standing there.
"See? She's trying to fight it. And look where she shows up to do so," Alec said smugly as the picture of me sleeping vanished in the sky.
"How did you get here, my dear?" Roman asked, walking over to me as if he refused to believe I was really there. I just shrugged; I didn't know how I got there; I didn't even know where I was.
"I don't know; where am I?" I asked out loud, now curious as to what was going on.
"You're in my dream," Alec said with a warm, gratified smile.
"I am?" I said, shocked. I twirled in a circle to see where I was. We were in an open field surrounded by a forest and the sky was bright and sunny. I felt lighter again, like the darkness was falling away, but my skin didn't have the subtle, ethereal glow it usually possessed whenever I entered the dream worlds.
"How'd I do that?" I asked, addressing Roman. He took my hand and his sharp features perceptibly softened as soon as his cold fingers held mine.
"You're very powerful, Daniella. Even more extraordinary than I could have imagined," Roman said proudly, as if I were his child. I wondered if Alec was also his prodigy, why did they detest each other so much?
"Leave us. She came to see me; let me help her," Alec said. Roman's eyes turned to slits, then red flickers, which somehow connected us, emerged from their depths. He brought my hand up to his mouth, very lightly pressing his cool lips over the top in a gentlemanly farewell before he evaporated into thin air.
Alec walked over and took up my hands in his, but it wasn't like before, when I leapt into his arms in my dream and kissed him without hesitation. Something felt wrong.
"What's happening to me?" I asked, my voice sounding almost child-like in its confusion.
"You turned vamp, but for the first time, it was not of your own volition. It's starting to take you over, Dani," Alec said forlornly.
"But I don't want it to. I didn’t mean to turn," I said, shaking my head, and trying to remember it, in order to control it, but I couldn't.
"I know. You're just scared. Your fear is greater than anything you've experienced and now you're shutting down. That's what happens when you go dark to avoid the emotions you don't want to deal with. Eventually, it can put your body on auto response. The darkness, however, is more than just vamp; it's unnatural, and will drown you in its cloudiness until you can't find your way out." Alec brought my hands to his face and placed my palms over his cheeks, but for the first time, they didn't feel warm to the touch. He looked saddened, like he was losing the warmth too.
"How do I stop it?" I asked, starting to feel a bit freaked out.
"By opening your heart and letting life back in
," Alec answered, like that was some big help.
"What does that even mean? I let life in. I go to school, I have friends. I'm even trying to learn how to forgive. What else am I supposed to do?" I said, feeling exasperated and dropping my hands from his cheeks. He pulled his face to one side, like he didn't really have a good answer for that.
I walked past him, going deeper into the field, searching for the door out of here. Alec caught up with me, taking up my hand as we walked. Part of me said to rip it away from him, but the other part easily entangled with his fingers, not wanting to let him go. We kept walking in silence until we reached the edge of the field, where it met the forest. Dry pine needles crunched like tiny toothpicks being snapped into pieces as we walked.
"What is this place?" I asked and Alec shrugged.
"Just something I dreamed up. It’s usually the meeting place I use for Roman or Christoph," Alec explained.
"How do I get home?" I asked as I stopped looking around for an exit. It was pine trees for as far as the eye could see.
"I'm still not sure how you got here to begin with. I've given you no training, so now, I'm the one who's impressed. I imagine you'll leave when you're ready," Alec said.
"I'm ready now," I snipped, stopping mid-stride to look at him and feeling frustrated by the whole thing. I wanted to blame him, and be mad at him for not telling me how dangerous it was to go vamp just to dull the pain. Except I knew he was right when he told Roman I'd do as I pleased. I was really mad at myself for not being strong enough to keep the darkness at bay.
"It was amazing, watching you in action tonight. I can't stop thinking about it," Alec admitted, brushing his thumb over my cheek, but I still felt no warmth.
"Was it me whom you couldn't stop thinking about? Or the slutty outfit?" I asked and he smiled from ear-to-ear. It made my heart swell a bit and I sensed a little spark of warmth from beneath his thumb.
