The water in the shower has cooled, leaving no steam in the room and no sign of Thad. Beams of sunlight glow through the cracks in the curtains from the other side of the bedroom. Turning to the mirror directly in front of me, expecting to see myself, I see nothing.
“Thaddeus!” I scream from his bathroom. If I could cry, I would. If I could express any physical emotion, I would give all of this up.
Chapter Twelve
Thaddeus
Stone bricks line the walls of either side of the hallway. Torchlights burn every few steps, illuminating my path to the dungeon of the Vampire Lords. I can’t help but think this is stupid being the sun doesn’t affect us the way the humans think it does. We don’t burst in to flames or melt to the floor in a pile of ash every time a natural resource comes in contact with us.
This place would beg to differ, but fear of the unknown is a vice for feeding. The faster the blood pumps through the veins, the faster we are full. The human body has little control over the real threat to them. The monsters in the dark are a myth. Those of us that crave the consumption of your life source are hiding in plain sight, waiting for them to be in the right place at the right time.
“Thaddeus, we have been expecting you,” the faceless voice echoes against the stone.
I shouldn’t be surprised that they knew I was coming, only proving that I was right. The future of our kind has changed and the Lords are responsible.
“Of course, you have,” I respond without slowing my pace towards their chambers.
Locks turn as I move closer to the oversized double doors meant for me to enter. I haven’t been this deep in to the caves in a hundred years. Not much has changed, aside from the smell of decay.
The heavy doors creak as they swing open, signaling me to enter. As I pass through the archway, the Victorian decorated room welcomes me with lighted candles and Drake.
Having recovered from his bout with Ashley, I can’t help but grin. The suffrage that vampires wreck on humans is nothing compared to what Ashley was able to do.
“Where is your assassin?” I knew he was referring to Ash, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing where she was or that she was alone.
“She is safely away from you. Don’t worry, your history won’t repeat itself. Tonight, at least,” I threaten.
“We know why you are here,” a deep voice booms from behind me. I keep my eyes on Drake.
“Oh, please. Enlighten me.”
Dressed in black, a man circles around me because I wouldn’t turn to look at him. Taking his place between myself and Drake, he introduces himself, “My name is Christopher. I am nothing more than a vampire, like yourself.” He extends his hand to me, welcoming a hand shake.
“I see no reason for these bullshit pleasantries. You have sent others for me and found what you were looking for. What I want to know is, why?”
His hands wrap amongst themselves as if he is applying lotion.
“Pardon me, but I know why you are here. Why don’t we make this quick,” he tucks his hands in to the pockets of his over-priced pants. “You have something that I need and you are going to give it to me.”
With a chuckle, I raise an eyebrow to him, “I have something you want? What exactly is that?”
“Didn’t Drake deliver my message as he was asked?” Christopher looks to Drake to ensure the act was completed.
“Drake? He delivered a message, all right. Was it before or after he was rendered unconscious by my seer?”
“About your seer, Thaddeus,” he said as he started pacing back and forth for dramatic appeal.
My neck rolled uncontrollably in preparation for a battle that was eminent.
“Your seer has shown to be dangerous to our own kind and we are going to need to eradicate her from existence. You do understand, don’t you?” Lack of compassion laced his words but there was something in his eyes that told a different story.
“Are you kidding me? Our kind has been a danger to all seers. Consuming their energy and for what? For power, strength? I am not fooled by the loss of seers, but I’ll be damned if you think I am going to hand her over to you.” I left no option for negotiation because it wasn’t going to happen.
“Thaddeus, it seems as if you have broken the rules. You know there are measures that we must take to ensure the safety of our system. You have been around long enough to know this, have you not?” He cocks his head to the side while asking the rhetorical question of the night.
“As you do, correct?” I respond, mocking his posture and the hypocritical shit that he is trying to force down my throat.
“I have done nothing to jeopardize our future, unlike your seer.” Christopher turned to Drake, who was nodding his head in agreement.
“Drake had no business being here. He was looking for me and if I were given the chance, I’d let her do it all over again. Only this time, I’d let her kill him.”
Christopher looked shocked by my statement. His head jerked quickly to face me with the mention of killing a vampire. Not just any vampire, but Drake.
“Your seer is capable of killing a vampire and you think there is nothing that we should do about this girl; this threat?”
“You really don’t want to fight me. I am not in the mood and the last time I was here is the only reason you have a job. Remember, Christopher?” He is working my last nerve.
A smile crossed his face as he backed away slightly, his hands in the air in false surrender.
“Why yes, I do remember. You proved to be strong enough to syphon more energy from your own kind than any other. I, of course, blame your seer, but it made for a good show.”
I couldn’t stand still anymore. I could feel my tolerance for his stalling is wearing thin on me.
“Get to the point, Christopher,”
“The point is that you need to turn over your seer to Dominic. The less you fight, the easier it will be on her. It doesn’t matter much, he will consume her and ensure the future of vampirism stays safe. Isn’t that what you want?” I don’t move an inch as he continues without my answer. “This is how it works, my dear friend. You will give her to us or we will kill you to get her. The choice is yours, Thaddeus.”
There are too many things that still don’t make sense. “With the eradication of all seers, that leaves us all vulnerable to an attack. This wouldn’t protect us in any way, it would only put us at risk,” I state as he stares over my shoulder.
“That is a risk that we are willing to take, so long as there is nothing anchoring vampires to their human life,” he looks straight in to my eyes.
“I have been a vampire longer than most of you. I lost my human side a long time ago and you know I would never do anything to cause danger to my own kind.”
I thought back to the day I found Ashley. Her fight for life had ceased but she wasn’t willing to give up someone else’s, even in the form of revenge. Her blonde hair, pulled in to a messy ponytail, even as a ghost. Watching her sleep through visions, walk through the garden and just hang out in my room, Christopher is right. I wouldn’t take back the moment at the piano for anything, not even to save myself. I would protect her and destroy any vampire that tried to hurt what’s mine.
Everything stilled as I remembered her pull of power. I knew what I needed to do and it was going to hurt like hell. It was worth it; she was worth it. I waited until Christopher was close enough for me to end this.
“You think you have any place in this conversation to argue? That, my friend, is not at all how this works,” he said with certainty that I was willing to challenge.
“So, tell me how this is going to work? This is how I see it. You are going to leave Ashley alone and I am going to walk out of here without taking the energy you are permeating from all the seers that you have syphoned. I can see the orange flow through your veins and it looks quite painful, even for a Lord like yourself,” It will hurt like hell, but I am willing to do it to keep Ash safe.
“You don’t have the stamin
a to withstand my power. It would kill you,”
I didn’t give him a chance to finish his rant as I slammed my fist in to his chest. Slowly, the undead was losing his will to fight as I felt the souls of seers attach themselves to my body. Burning from the inside, my muscles tightened as the strength grew. This was not the best idea but a necessary evil if I was going to save my girl.
“You’ll never survive,” Christopher croaked out as he struggled to keep what life he could. I was stronger than him and gaining more and more power with each and every ghost soul that I absorbed.
Their power differed as it attached itself to me, giving me everything that I wanted to avoid happening to Ashley. I couldn’t take anymore as the strength turned to lava beneath my skin. Admitting to myself that this was the worst pain that I had ever felt, makes me wonder how he could control it.
Drake stood with his mouth watching as I stood to full height. Christopher’s body fell limp against the marble flooring as I tore body parts from his chest.
Christopher’s final breath was reassuring, as the crossover from his body to mine finished. I could barely stand, let alone function as I moved towards Drake.
“I am not the one that you want. Find Dominic; find your girl.”
Before I could shred his body apart, piece by piece, I heard the angelic and damaging voice that owned me.
“No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,” I have heard her quote these words before, only this time she wasn’t talking to Drake. Her broken tone was clear as day, filled with uncertainty and something stronger than fear. Wherever she was, she was truly afraid of someone; or something.
Chapter Thirteen
Ashley
I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have left. That was the only thought I had as I entered the compound. The doors were of no difficulty since I could walk through them, it was the huge guard standing on the other side of it. He saw me as soon as I entered the stone lined corridor. Stilling and thinking my way out of this awful moment was of no use. I thought I had seen the devil in Drake, but I was wrong. This guy was everything that I should fear…and I did.
“No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,” my inner cry for help slipped and I hoped that Thad heard me. Please hear me.
“Lost?” He said, moving from the stool at the door.
The closer he moved, I could feel the pull to him. He was calling my soul away from my aura and I couldn’t move away. His body glowed from the energy that he harbored. It matched the color of the sunset over a red sea of blood.
No, was all I could say while fighting to stay grounded to this reality.
“Ashley, I presume? We have been looking for you. I heard the rumors about how special you are. Drake was missing pieces of the night he met you, I am sure you could help fill in the…”
“Where is Thaddeus?” I ignored his comment in hopes of buying time or convincing him to let me go. Either way, I knew at that moment, I wasn’t making it out of here the same way that I came in.
His head shook in confusion and annoyance, “This is pointless. I am going to enjoy this,” he said as the energy that he wanted caught my breath and threatened to surrender to him. I didn’t want him anywhere near me and I wasn’t going to give up. I needed to stay in this realm long enough for Thad to find me. Please find me.
In slow motion, I fought for enough of myself over the years that I wasn’t willing to give it up to a guard in my way from finding Thad. The moment he put his hand on my shoulder, everything changed.
“Ashley,” I heard his voice off in the distance.
Dominic’s darkness flowed in to me, grounding me. He didn’t expect for me to humanize.
With a deep breath, I was going to play his game. He wanted me and I was going to free the others like me from this cold and demonic asshole. He stood with his mouth agape while I smiled. Never had I imagined this would be possible, but it is.
“It’s true,” he said as I began the draw of power. I wanted him dead.
“What’s true?” I still didn’t understand.
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” The quote was from the bible and referred in regards to my kind. Are we real and do we stand a chance against those of the dark? We are and we do.
Having built the strength to survive the soul transfer, I looked over Dominic’s shoulder. Thaddeus quietly moved behind him.
“Good bye, Dominic,” I said.
Thaddeus had a glow that resembled the souls that I was trying to save. Thad wouldn’t kill one of me, would he?
Dominic’s face lost all of its color as Thaddeus’s color brightened. His face contorted as he syphoned the life out of Dominic. Thad is strong but is he strong enough to hold all of this energy? Neither of them moved as the battle for power threatened both of their lives.
“Thaddeus, are you okay?” I had to do something, but I was at a loss.
He didn’t say a thing. No response was harder than I had expected. I couldn’t lose him and here I was watching him give up his life for me. He didn’t need to do this and there was nothing that I could do to stop him. I was a ghost for fuck sake.
“Fuck, Thaddeus. I told you to find him, not kill him,” Drake said coming to a stop right behind Thad.
“Do something,” I pleaded with Drake. I couldn’t believe I was asking for help from someone that threatened to end me, but I was desperate.
“Honey, you are going to have to wait. Until the transfer is done, there is nothing that you can do.”
“I have seen him take power before. It is painful and it will kill him.”
Drake looked at me with squinted lids, “He is going to die, whether I stop him now or not. The amount of energy he has acquired has never been consumed by a single vampire.”
“I just saw Dominic standing in front of me. He held the same power that Thaddeus is fucking with. Don’t lie to me, Drake.” I was starting to slip in and out of a vision and I fought to avoid the part of my job that I used to enjoy.
Tears began their long journey down my cheeks. I couldn’t tell what was making me cry, the fact that I was going to lose him or that there was nothing I could do about it.
Everything began flickering from color to black and white. I couldn’t dream now, I had to stay here. I didn’t want to see anything other than Thaddeus standing in front of me, free from all of this paranormal bullshit. I wanted him here, with me.
Drake pulled me back to this world, away from whatever void from existence was summoning me, “What you didn’t see was Thaddeus just drank down so much energy that it had to be split amongst two vampires. The last Lord that tried to consume it all had combusted, releasing all of you back in to the world. By keeping you with vampires, we were able to keep an eye on the power source and lend some security to both lost souls and vampires.” His eyes were the same violet color as Thad’s, making me want to break down and give up. I didn’t want to live without him in a world full of vampires and darkness.
Dominic fell to the floor, leaving Thaddeus standing with his eyes closed. The energy was too much for him to contain. His entire body shook as the sparks in his aura flashed brighter and more frequent.
“What do I do?” I begged for help from anyone listening. Heaven and Hell both would rue the day they took him from me. I was watching Thad die and they were allowing it.
It will kill you. Whatever he says, don’t.
Thaddeus’s words wrecked my body with cries of pain. I couldn’t do nothing. I would rather die than be alone to wander the earth with someone else.
“I’d rather do hard with you, than easy alone.” I said out loud as well as in response to him.
“I know what to do,” I said as Thaddeus fell to his knees.
I lowered myself to him, lifting my hands to his face without touching him. It wasn’t time yet. His eyes opened as if he sensed me. I could feel the pull from him as I moved closer.
�
�Hi,” I whispered through sobbing tears.
Don’t do this.
“I have to.”
You will be okay. Please, listen to me this time.
“I can do this without you, but I don’t want to.”
I can’t do this without you.
My heart broke with his silent admission, but I had to be selfish for the first time since I met him.
“I love you,” I whispered as I readied for the pain.
My fingertips touched his face gently as I tested the exchange. I could do this, I had to. Unlike a vampire, I was a ghost. “I was made for this. Trust me,”
Before he could respond, the brightest burst of light startled me. I shut my eyes and prepared for the worst.
The constant flow of energy didn’t change but my surroundings did.
Chapter Fourteen
Ashley
“Where am I?” I found myself in an alley, caught between a wall and a dumpster. I quickly crawled from my knees, looking for anything that I recognized.
Without warning, the silent pavement shook with bass from a huge speaker. I grabbed my head to avoid losing focus on where I was.
A car swerved down the street, narrowly missing a street light and an accident. The train bells were as loud as the music and the steady beeping. Nothing made sense as I started seeing everything in fast-forward then slow motion. I clamped my hands over my ears and let a scream rip through my throat. A loud bang halted everything as my knees hit the ground.
Waiting for it all to start again, I opened my eyes to a white van parked beside a convenience store, the same convenience store I saw in my vision. I pulled myself from the gravel, running to the other side of the parked barrier, seeing there was no mutilated mess on the wall. There was mumbling coming from behind the sliding door of the van. Pulling it open, there was a little girl, bound with ropes and duct tape.
I quickly unbound her hands, leaving her to remove the tape. “Don’t tell him you heard me. He was going to bring me snacks and let me go. I don’t have to play dress-up if I was quiet.”
Secondary Silence Page 6
