Someone touched his hand. The grip was tight and wouldn’t let go.
“Lucien.” The word was on his lips. The breath from his name filled his lungs, pushing away the gruesome images.
“Please wake up.”
The graphic visions faded but memories remained. He remembered it all: the thousands upon thousands of dead humans killed at his and Aiden’s hands, their blood that chased him through the streets, and finally the vampire whose words defined Lucien forever.
His thoughts lingered on Aiden, his older brother whom he’d adored when they were children. He would have done anything for Aiden, but Aiden had been jealous of their father’s attention toward him and, as a result, treated Lucien unfairly. After Aiden had been turned into a vampire, he didn’t waste any time changing Lucien as well.
Before Lucien could have a say in the matter, Aiden had exposed Lucien’s monstrous secret to their father while hiding his own identity. Their father had been so angered and disgusted that he’d enlisted the help of the entire town to hunt down and kill Lucien.
Aiden had been thrilled. He had destroyed any feelings his father may have had for Lucien and at the same time had turned Lucien into the complete opposite of what Aiden considered to be a perfect child.
Lucien tried not to become the monster Aiden had made him out to be. He had attempted to fight the blood lust and the desire for dark power, but he’d been alone in his endeavors.
After days of hunting for Lucien, their father had cornered him into an old ruined castle. Lucien did not run. He’d hoped to make his father understand that he wasn’t evil, but his hope had been in vain. A great fight ensued. Throughout the entire struggle, he’d been aware of Aiden who watched from above in a stone tower, barely able to contain his glee.
Lucien had tried not to hurt his father. He’d dodged his many blows until, at last, his father had grown weak and tired. He tripped on a rock and fell directly below him. Lucien stood over him with a pitchfork in striking position. When terror flashed in his father’s eyes, Lucien hesitated.
From up above, Aiden called, “Kill him!”
Lucien shook his head. He moved to place the pitchfork on the ground, but at that very moment, his father took advantage of his distraction and jabbed a hidden stake in the direction of Lucien’s heart.
Lucien had been too quick. He moved out of the way, and this time he did not hesitate. He did what his father always taught him to do—save yourself above all else.
The moment his father died was the moment Lucien first felt pure evil. He was so overcome with guilt that he embraced it rather than deal with the painful consequences of what he’d done. And with his brother’s assistance, he learned how to bury his human emotions, something Aiden had learned to do long before he ever became a vampire.
For decades, Lucien lived this guilt-free life with Aiden, but after the plague in London, he could no longer justify their actions. Aiden must die—his hunger for destruction was too great. And as for Lucien, he would withdraw from society and only feed when it served a purpose other than maintaining his life. He would also ensure that no one would cause this type of devastation ever again.
Lucien had been completely calm when he’d lured Aiden deep into the forest on a night as still and black as the confines of a mine. He’d told Aiden he had a surprise for him, a “thank you” for his brilliant idea of giving vampires the greatest gift they could ever receive.
At first, Aiden had been hesitant, but when Lucien explained he’d captured several more “pets” for him as a way to apologize for their earlier disagreement, Aiden couldn’t refuse.
Lucien guided him through the forest, a torch blazing in his hand.
“So you can better see the fear on their faces,” Lucien had explained when Aiden questioned the necessity of the torch. There was no moon that night, only beautiful, silent darkness.
Lucien stopped at the entrance of a hole in the top of a small rise on the edge of a mountain. The opening was all rock and spanned four feet in diameter. At first glance, it appeared like a wide shallow crevice, but a closer inspection revealed a cave that dropped down at least twenty feet.
He’d told Aiden to look inside and there he would find his pets. Aiden peered in, rubbing his hands in excitement.
Lucien dropped the torch to Aiden’s clothes and pushed him hard. Aiden, consumed in flames, fell to the cave below where ample amounts of dried brush caught on fire. Aiden’s screams matched the ones of those he had tortured.
Using all his strength to lift a thick slab of rock from nearby, he dropped it over the opening, burying Aiden. But it wasn’t just Aiden he had buried. It was all the horrible events leading up to that moment. The horrific destruction they’d caused had laid buried beneath a boulder—that is, until Lucien saw Aiden and heard the same speech he’d given Lucien over 300 years ago.
Lucien was fully conscious now, but still did not open his eyes. For in the second he did, Eve and all they had between them would end. He could not be with her or even be near her knowing the carnage he’d caused. He would go back to eating as little as possible to cause the greatest amount of suffering. At least he knew now why he starved himself the way he did. It was a form of self-punishment, and the only way Lucien knew to atone for his sins.
Eve raised his hand to her lips.
The pain of losing Eve was severe. Lucien could not do it. His mind broke in two. The part of him who wanted to remain with Eve stumbled back and crumbled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. The stronger of the two halves effortlessly picked up the wretched beast on the ground and tossed him into the river made by his own tears.
He withdrew his hand from Eve’s lips and opened his eyes.
Eve gasped. “Oh, Lucien, I’ve been so worried!”
Genuine affection emanated from her sea green eyes. She reached for his hand, but he moved it away and sat up. He would fix this mess he helped create, and by doing so remove all threats toward Eve’s life. Then she would be free to live her life without fear. And without him.
Eve looked at him questioningly. “Are you all right?”
He moved off the bed and to the other side of the room. It was a typical hotel room: floral queen bedspread, two nightstands, small desk with a brass lamp, and old wallpaper, which was peeling up every few feet. Laying on the desk was the crumpled up paper Lucien had stuffed in his pocket earlier that night.
“Are you okay?” Eve asked again.
“I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
He picked up the paper and studied it carefully.
“Lucien,” she said more forcefully. “What happened?”
He looked up at her. “I went to the meeting and brought this back for you. It looks like everything you need is right here.”
“That’s not what I mean. I was waiting for you at the church when I heard you call my name, but there were no actual sounds. It was the strangest thing. I knew exactly where to find you.”
The flyer in Lucien’s hand listed fifty cities. At the bottom was written a date and time of when the “gift”, as Aiden had called it, was to be handed out to “his chosen ones”.
“Lucien!” Eve cried. “When I found you, you were almost completely submerged in water! What happened?”
The date on the letter was the twenty-second. That was in two days. He had two days to stop Aiden.
Eve walked over to him and gently took his hand. Tears glistened in her eyes, and he was reminded again of an Irish tide pool. He removed his hand and walked toward the bed—away from her.
“Lucien?” she begged.
He dropped the paper to the bed. “Have you called Charlie about this?”
She lowered her head and said in a quiet voice, “Yes.”
“Are you and your gang going to do anything about it?”
“Lucien, please, talk to me!”
“I am talking. Stay focused, Eve. What are they going to do about it?”
Eve looked as if she’d been slapped. Of all
the things Lucien had done to her, this seemed to hurt her the most. Barely above a whisper, she said, “We have a team going in with weapons five minutes after the meeting begins.”
“Why are you waiting so long?”
She straightened her shoulders, seeming to gather some strength. “We want to make sure we give the vampires enough time to congregate.”
“Five minutes is too long. I wouldn’t wait longer than one and make sure the men are at least a block away to avoid detection from vampires.”
She nodded. “I’ll let the Deific know.”
“Good. I’ll be there thirty minutes before.”
“Why?” she asked, surprised.
“This is my mess. I want to make sure it’s taken care of correctly. I would do it all myself if I could, but there will be too many of them.”
He walked past her. She reached out for him, but he kept walking toward the door.
“How is this your mess?” she asked.
He turned around. “There are many things I regret in my life, but the greatest of all is that I hurt you. I was a fool to think this would work. I need you to leave here, as soon as possible. Just trust that I will take care of this.”
He couldn’t stand to look at her for it hurt too much.
“I’m not leaving without you.”
“You will leave because after tonight, I will disappear, and you will never see me again. Whatever this was between us, it’s over.”
Her chest seemed to collapse, and she made one last effort to reach for him, but he stepped away.
“I am sorry,” he said, and he disappeared into the night.
34
The remains of a setting sun left giant ribbons of reds and oranges pressed against the horizon. Lucien forgot how amazing an Irish sunset could be on a clear day. He watched it from the third floor of the library where he’d been sitting for the last ten hours. This gave him a bird’s eye view of the city of Dublin, specifically Clarion Street.
Throughout the day, he’d spotted several vampires pretending to be inconspicuous among the humans, but to Lucien, they stood out like wolves among sheep. If the humans hadn’t been so wrapped up in their mundane lives, they would’ve noticed those hungry, murderous looks.
Lucien couldn’t help but think of Eve in the same city with these monsters. A rush of guilt hit him like a freight train. This was all his fault, but somehow he would make it right. At least he knew Eve wouldn’t be a part of the fighting.
The night before, he had followed Eve to a typical Irish pub situated inside a hotel. Waiting for her was a female vampire whom she called Alana. There were several others present he didn’t recognize, but figured them to be employees of the Ireland Deific branch.
After dinner, many of them debated, including Charlie from a cell phone, about what Eve’s role should be at the upcoming meeting between Aiden and the other vampires. Eve insisted she would be more useful fighting on the inside, but a large man with bright red hair felt she was too valuable to have that close to the fighting. Instead, he insisted she remain a few blocks away to try to sense if any of the vampires got out. If they did, she could radio the outposts to go after the escapees. The others at the table, including Charlie, agreed with him, much to Eve’s dismay.
Lucien was staring out the library window, thinking of Eve, when someone said, “Hey! What are you doing here?”
Lucien turned around. There was Rick, orange hair and all, grinning like an idiot. Lucien turned back toward the window and closed his eyes, wishing him away.
“Great minds think alike, eh?” Rick nudged Lucien’s shoulder with his elbow and sat down across from him.
“What?” Lucien asked.
“You came up here to check out the competition.” Rick eyed the vampires below. “Doesn’t look too good. You’ll be fine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You want The Dark Prince to pick you as one of his chosen ones, so you came up here to see who you’re up against,” Rick said.
Lucien laughed hard and loud, enough that heads turned in their direction.
Rick looked nervous. “What’s so funny?”
Lucien’s expression turned to stone. “I would never become one of his chosen ones. I would rather shove a cactus down my throat.”
Rick’s jaw dropped. “How can you say that about the most powerful vampire ever?”
“Rick, how long have you been a vampire?”
“A few months.”
“Were you this gullible as a human?”
Rick squirmed in his seat. “I don’t understand.”
“Who told you he was the most powerful vampire ever?” Lucien probed.
Rick thought for a minute. “Nobody. But did you see the show he put on the other night and how many bodyguards he had? And what about his brilliant plan to create a better world for us? He’s a genius!”
Lucien laughed again, but not as loud as before. “You can’t be serious! He is a bottom-feeder, a disgrace to what a vampire can be. Do you really believe that killing thousands if not millions of humans is going to make a better world for us?”
“Maybe not, but at least we’ll be able to eat all we want for a long time and that’s worth it to me.”
“Do you have any family living?” Lucien asked.
“I have a dad and sister living in the states.”
“Where?”
“Hillsborough, California. Why?”
“Hillsborough,” Lucien repeated. “By San Francisco, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you know San Francisco is one of the fifty cities that are scheduled to be hit with this virus of the Dark Prince’s? But it won’t just be San Francisco. It will spread to every city around it. Millions are going to die, and there’s a good chance that will include your dad and sister.
“Am I supposed to care?” he asked, but his tone was genuine.
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because I’m a vampire. You know, evil, dark, child-of-Satan or something like that.”
Lucien was beyond frustrated. “Just because you’ve become a vampire doesn’t mean you can’t feel. You’re feeding into the whole stereotypical description of vampires. You still have a choice. So I’ll ask the question again. Do you want your father and sister to die a slow and painful death?”
Rick rubbed his forehead and pursed his lips together. This much thinking seemed to be giving him a headache. “I guess not.”
“Of course you don’t, and I’m proud of you for admitting it.” Lucien removed a short pencil from a black cylinder. He opened a nearby library book and on the first page wrote the word: Deific. Underneath it he scribbled the address. He tore the page out and handed it to Rick.
“Go to Seattle. To this address, and ask to speak to Charlie. Tell him you want to know more. These people will give you a key to a door you never knew existed. I’m not the one who should be talking to you about this stuff.”
Rick sneered. “Humans are going to help me?”
“They’re not all humans.”
Rick’s eyes widened. “Have you talked to them?”
“Sort of. But the door they offer is not meant for me to pass through,” Lucien said, turning back toward the window.
“Why not?”
“Some sins are so great they can never be forgiven.”
“Who’s doing the forgiving?”
Lucien raised his eyebrows. It took him a moment to answer. “I guess I am.”
Rick folded the paper and put it in his pocket. “How’s that worked out for you?”
“It hasn’t.” Lucien stared through his reflection in the window
Rick left without saying goodbye. Lucien wasn’t sure what Rick would do, but he hoped he wouldn’t be there tonight, despite how annoying he could be.
One hour later, Lucien, alone in his hotel room, took a syringe and dipped it into a cup of human blood. He filled the syringe to its capacity and then with his left hand picked up a half-inch empty rubber bal
l. Plunging the needle into it, he injected the blood until the ball was filled. He repeated this tedious process over and over until there was no more blood remaining in the bags he’d stolen from the nearest hospital.
After dropping the balls into a black metal case next to a sleek looking paintball gun, he left with a smile. Tonight was going to be a blood bath.
35
The warehouse was packed with vampires, more so than the previous night. Lucien couldn’t understand why they had returned. But then he remembered what it was like when he was first turned into a vampire. He had been reckless and full of blood lust, and even though he knew what he was doing was wrong, the primal vampire urges were simply too strong. No wonder all of them were here—Aiden’s plan was too easy and irresistible to pass up.
Lucien moved about the warehouse, taking it all in. Several fights were in progress as there was nothing else to do until the meeting began. He walked by a particularly violent scuffle just as a short male vampire shoved a small knife (it looked like a switchblade made out of hardwood) into a larger vampire’s back and into his heart. It took longer than usual, but eventually the big vampire collapsed to the floor in dust. The short one victoriously spat upon the dirt.
Lucien pushed his way toward the front to where he could see tables with many boxes piled on top. A pungent aura stopped him. It was a strong chemical smell that stung his nose if he inhaled too deeply.
After telling himself not to breath, he continued forward until he reached the brown boxes. In small letters at the bottom of each one it read: Bodian Dynamics. He nudged the closest one; inside, glasses clinked as if they were hitting against each other.
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