Revelation (The Keepers of the Teardrop Book 1)

by Simone Lari

  "Okay" the huntress responded briefly.

  The group, headed by Alyna, moved away without Sting, everyone looking at him with mistrust.

  "Why don't you go?" Gabriel asked him.

  The vampire shrugged. "I don't want to. And, in any case, someone has to remain here to check on the guests" and scrutinized Jude from top to toe, "because what if they have particular cravings ...”

  "Like smashing your face in, for example...” she retorted turning her back on him. She took her friends by the wrists and dragged them toward what seemed to be a large, elegant and comfortable room.

  Alyna led them up to a massive door fitted with a heavy lock; she opened it and went in first, followed immediately by Vans and Christopher.

  The hunter looked around; the room was rather bare and small. The walls were completely soundproofed, covered by a purple-colored fabric.

  Chains hanging from the ceiling, a four-poster bed and a small wooden table were the only furnishings in the room, apart from the chair on which the Duergar sat, gagged and bound, with a katana still buried in his heart.

  "A lovely little spot, without a doubt" began Vans.

  "I don't know what it was designed for exactly; I can only assume that at one time the old man used it to consume his meals in the traditional manner. The soundproofing must have served not to frighten the daytime custodians; humans” Christopher deduced without batting an eyelid.

  "You don't make these nice little speeches in front of the girl, eh?" retorted Vans, as he banged the bag on the table.

  "Shall we begin?" proposed Alyna.

  The hunter nodded. She took the hood from the prisoner's head, then bit her wrist and put it under his nose.

  At the smell of blood, the vampire jolted and after a few seconds began to show signs of recovery.

  He opened his eyes and stared at them with disdain.

  "Oh, welcome back among us" said Vans, giving him a wide smile.

  He opened the bag without another word, while Christopher and Alyna stood aside.

  Pulling open the sides of the bag, he inspected the objects inside it, turning them around with interest, without even a glance at the Duergar.

  "Why haven't you killed me yet?" asked the vampire, getting only the vacuous and inexpressive gazes of the two Morlands in response.

  "You see, handsome, you're wrong if you think that they'll give you any explanations" said Vans, giving him a fleeting glance, and then continuing to rummage in the bag, raising his eyebrows, as if happy to have found something of interest.

  "Shut up, human. I don't lower myself to speak with food!" he answered contemptuously.

  "And this is your second mistake" he replied, and then pulled out a dagger with a long wooden handle, pointed at the end, and placed it in full view on the table.

  "I understand: you want to torture me to extract information from me, but there is nothing more painful than the punishment that awaits me if I talk!"

  "Third error. I hope for your sake that you'll quickly have second thoughts" the hunter suggested, placing some objects on the table with extreme calm and meticulousness.

  The Duergar squeezed his eyes in a slit, and then tried to get rid of the chains that held him captive, but in vain.

  Vans finished preparing everything needed to proceed to the interrogation. Very soon he made a satisfied expression; carefully placed on the table were a small flask with a Celtic cross engraved on it, a massive silver knuckleduster, a strange lamp, apparently led, and the knife.

  Vans slowly opened the flask, took the dagger and poured some liquid on the blade. He approached the Duergar, stared straight into his eyes, flashing the same smile with which he had welcomed his re-awakening.

  With a sharp decisive gesture, he planted the dagger in his thigh making him scream in pain.

  "Does it burn? And yet it's only water. Well, holy water, of course."

  "Aargh! Disgusting human, what the fuck do you want from me?"

  "And who says I want something? Maybe I'm just fooling around a bit" he answered, putting the knuckleduster on his right hand.

  A violent hook hit him full in the face.

  The Duergar spat out a spurt of blood that soiled Alyna’s black latex trousers.

  A slight sizzling noise and some thin smoke began to rise from the Zmeu's thigh and cheek.

  "Where are the other members of your clan hiding?" she asked with an accommodating voice.

  The vampire laughed heartily.

  "Is that all you know how to do? I won't tell you a damn thing! You're an inferior race, the human males are weak, and the females are only good for appeasing our appetites."

  "Oh, I'll appease your appetites: eat this!"

  A second hook landed on his mouth, knocking out three teeth.

  Vans poured another ration of holy water onto the knife, then twisted it around in his flesh.

  The vampire screamed loudly.

  Christopher and Alyna assisted at the torture, the first impassive, the latter amused, almost excited.

  "But you haven't seen the best yet, and I can assure you that you'll see it very well."

  Vans lit the unusual shaped torch, and a narrow, intense beam of light was immediately projected onto the floor.

  "Ultraviolet rays, very similar to sunlight, and also similar to the effect they have on your bodies; it just takes more time to get a good result, that's the only substantial difference. Luckily, I'm not in a hurry."

  From the ground, the light passed onto the Duergar, until it reached his cheek that slowly began to sizzle.

  The vampire pulled back on the chair. With a sadistic smirk on her face, Alyna jumped onto him to immobilize his head, as Vans directed the narrow beam of light onto his eyeball.

  Outside, the thick door and the soundproofing of the room prevented the others from hearing the inhuman screams of the Duergar.

  Chapter 18 - Interesting Intervals

  While Vans was busy making the Duergar talk, in the great hall Sting was keeping an eye on the three girls, Gabriel and Lynn.

  A heavy silence hovered in the air, a silence that nobody seemed able to break.

  Sting walked nervously up and down, while the girls continued to look around, becoming more and more bored.

  Nina's Trequetra was slightly warm, but the girl almost didn't notice it now. She was beginning to appreciate the pleasant warmth on her chest, especially after finding that it did not cause any redness or irritation on her skin.

  Gabriel watched the movements of the vampire, ready to react at even the slightest sign of hostility. Out of the corner of his eye he peeked at Angelique who often returned the timid glances.

  Jude too was squinting at a very precise target, Sting, looking him up and down. She had felt a resentment and repulsion towards him from the moment she saw him at the Black Sun, and yet something about him intrigued her.

  Lynn, on the other hand, was enjoying the company of her music, playing at low volume from her earpieces. Her apparent disinterest concealed, however, the careful monitoring that, with rapid glances, she was exercising on everyone present and on the points of access to the room.

  A few minutes later, she took a cigarette, put it between her lips and stood up, headed toward the door.

  "And what do you think you're doing?" asked Sting, standing in her way.

  She faced him stiff as a ramrod.

  "I felt like having a cigarette and, at the same time I want to check on things outside" she answered, fixing him straight in the eyes.

  Jude opened her eyes, thinking that having a smoke was a very good idea. She was about to stand up when the thought of catching cold outside and the bitter objections of her friends dissuaded her.

  With regret and pinch of envy she watched Lynn go out. The huntress gave her a curious look, followed by a short smile, an instant before Sting closed her outside.

  Jude barely had time to return her look.

  A couple of minutes later Gabriel stood up abruptly. The vampire quick
ly moved some steps towards him.

  "Where do you think you're going?"

  "Seeing we have to wait for the outcome of the interrogation, I might as well pass the time with a good book. Which way to the library?

  "That way, but see that you don't get smart, the other rooms are off limits, understood?"

  Gabriel repaid him with a small almost inaudible laugh.

  "Are you coming too?" he asked the girls.

  Angelique got up immediately, Nina followed her. They joined Gabriel in the center of the room, amazed that Jude didn't do the same.

  They looked at her astounded as she justified herself: "No way. I’m not the library type, to be honest."

  "Your little friend has already gone out to take a walk around, and it would be better if you didn't split up so I can keep an eye on you better" said Sting, with a strange patient tone of voice.

  "I'm not moving from here, I'm comfortable. You go to the library if you want to" she replied, crossing her hands behind her head.

  "Dust and books: no, thank you! I've already read what little there was of interest in there."

  "Then what do you want to do? I don't think that your race has the gift of bilocation" Gabriel said with irony.

  "Go ahead, but no funny business: my hearing is very good."

  The hunter and the two girls departed in the direction of the library. Nina sent a last worried look at her friend; she was just about to retrace her steps, when Jude winked at her, gesturing to her to go.

  Jude and Sting remained alone in the great hall with its austere and impressive aspect.

  He continued to walk nervously and throw brief glances at her.

  "Look, you can relax, because I haven't the slightest intention of moving from here." Sting stared hard at her. "What's up, are you trying to use your power with me, match head?"

  "Strange, you're the second person to call me that today."

  "It's just that people notice your hair. I like red, and it also happens to be my color."

  "It suits you, in fact" he said softly, "and anyway I had no intention of using my power, I was just looking for the right words to apologize to you."

  The girl looked very bewildered and surprised.

  "I wanted to ask your forgiveness for having dragged you into this ugly story" he went on apologizing as she slowly moved toward him. "You're risking your life and it's not right; our problems have nothing to do with you, and neither do those hunters."

  She laughed amused, surprising him.

  "Are you trying to butter up to me? For what little I've understood of your character, I'd say that it's not like you to worry about your neighbor."

  He gave her a sly grin, putting his face in front of hers.

  "You're dammed right" he admitted. "I just wanted to seem like a sensitive and attentive type, when in reality all I want is to take off your panties and possess you in every possible way."

  Jude's smile was far from amused.

  "Well, you just had to say so…"

  She moved suddenly, threw her arms around his neck and pulled him to her in a fierce wild kiss.

  She savored it for a long moment, as their tongues competed for the other's mouth.

  Then Jude took her lips from his and, breathless, said provocatively: "Tell me that you don't sleep in a coffin, but that you have a comfortable bed where we can have a good fuck!"

  Surprised and thrilled by that uninhibited language, he pulled her fiercely from the sofa and dragged her up the stairs.

  When they arrived at the upper floor, she came to a sudden halt and pushed him hard against the wall. He hit his head violently, but didn't seem to suffer any ill effects. Jude leapt on him quickly.

  She pushed herself against Sting's body; her hands were fast and curious, no less than his, and once he had grasped her buttocks did not let go of them.

  Sting kicked open the door to the bedroom, pushed Jude inside, entered and shut the door.

  He pushed her roughly onto the covers. She bent down to take off her combat boots and at the same time he worked on the belt of his leather pants.

  He dragged them off, almost tearing the rest of his clothes from his body, revealing a lean physique and a completely smooth chest.

  She awkwardly undressed in front of him.

  When she was left in just her bra and panties, he jumped on top of her, attacking her neck.

  For a moment she trembled, terrified at the thought that he wanted to bite her, but a pleasant calm took over when she felt his lips and tongue tickling her skin.

  Determined, she slid a hand into his boxer shorts in search of his excited member.

  "You're hotter than I expected" she remarked happily.

  "I'm not dead you know, sweetheart, and I'll let you know that my heart beats, slowly, but as much as necessary" he explained.

  "I don't give a damn, as long as it's enough to send me into delirium!"

  He grabbed at her panties and slipped them off with a single, precise movement.

  "I'm sorry for you, but I'm not keen on long-winded preliminaries" he said, standing over her.

  She struggled to free herself but Sting resisted, sniggering at the demonstration of his physical superiority.

  Then, with a quick movement, Jude put her hands around his neck in an iron grip and, leveraging, landed him flat on his back and straddled him, effectively reversing their position.

  "And I'm not one who likes to be underneath."

  She attacked his mouth again; he made no resistance.

  Almost an hour later from the time they entered the sound-proofed room, Vans, Christopher and Alyna came out.

  The vampire's face was completely impassive and expressionless, hers was satisfied and ecstatic. She looked at Vans at her side, in awe; she was a breath away from telling him how much she appreciated the information that he had managed to extort from the Duergar and the magnificent torture he had perpetrated with a style which, to her mind, was impeccable.

  The hunter, on the contrary, had a horrified expression. He was rubbing his nose with sharp movements of his hand, as if he wanted to get rid of the insistent stench of biological slurry.

  They reached the great hall.

  Seeing it deserted, Christopher called loudly for Sting, while Vans shouted repeatedly for Gabriel and Lynn.

  Not long after, Nina, Angelique and Gabriel came out of the library.

  "Here we are" he began.

  "Is everything alright?" he asked, looking at Nina.

  "All ok" she answered, with the hint of a smile.

  "Where's Lynn?" he asked, looking around.

  "She went to check on things outside; I'll go and call her."

  Gabriel went out half-closing the door where Alyna was standing guard.

  Christopher began calling again with increasing agitation, and the girls, not seeing their friend anywhere, began to worry.

  Hurried steps were heard on the upper floor.

  Sting and Jude came to the top of the stairs, disheveled and panting as if they had been running.

  The wrinkled clothes and the untied combat boot on her left foot offered Nina a clear interpretation of how the pair had passed the time; it didn't take Angelique much time either to understand what had happened, and Nina had to put her jaw back in place when she saw her mouth gaping in dismay.

  Gabriel and Lynn returned inside and Alyna closed the front door.

  "Good, we're all here now" said Vans.

  "We have the information we wanted from them. When we come back, the girls can go home" decided Christopher.

  "They're not going to remain here" argued Vans, "I much prefer to take them to our place, so that our companions… ", he hesitated a moment to wink surreptitiously at Gabriel and Lynn, "can protect them properly."

  "That seems sensible to me" confirmed Sting, tucking his shirt into his pants.

  Jude gestured at the zip, and he pulled it up with a quick casual movement.

  "We'll take the girls to our safe house, and you can wait
for us in front of the Black Sun" proposed Gabriel.

  "Lynn, do you feel like going with them, or would you rather I do?" Vans asked her.

  "Don't act the protective one with me, it' won't get you anywhere. I'll go" she replied.

  "Good, then we'll see you outside the Black Sun" he reconfirmed.

  "Well, given that we're about to undertake something dangerous and deadly, I'd say that at least a good luck kiss is in order," said Lynn, heading toward the foot of the stairs, where Jude and Sting were still standing side by side.

  The two looked in each other's eyes for a brief moment in the time it took Lynn's fast steps to reach them.

  Sting shrugged. "Well, how could I deny her a kiss at this juncture?"

  "Not from you!" answered Lynn, an instant before she swooped on the lips of an incredulous Jude.

  The girl stared and froze, then in the face of the hunter's impetuosity and her impatient tongue sliding into her mouth, she gave in.

  Enveloping, seductive and unexpected, that kiss shook her just as much as those she had exchanged up to a few minutes before with Sting.

  With a lot of gasping, their writhing tongues sought each other as the vampire and the others in the room looked on incredulous.

  Lynn regretfully detached herself from the girl and, after a languid look, winked at her and departed with the same speed with which she had thrown herself on her.

  Jude smiled and turned to look at the unbelieving Sting.

  "Well, you said so yourself: how could I deny her a kiss at this juncture?" she accused him.

  "You know, it's not easy to amaze someone like me, but you've really managed to do so, goddam."

  Chapter 19 - The Enemy's Lair

  During the car ride, Vans' expression became more tense and sullen than usual; he had not spoken a single word, and nor did Gabriel who limited himself to looking sideways at him at regular intervals.

  Knowing what he had been forced to do and how the thing weighed heavily on his soul, Gabriel searched for the most suitable words to boost his morale. The presence of the girls, though, didn't help him to broach such a delicate matter, so he decided to send a message to Jared, informing him of what had taken place and their imminent arrival.