Submerging Inferno

by Brandon Witt

  “Unfortunately, that’s not all that uncommon.” Wendell offered me a sympathetic smile. “Well, it is in your case, since you clearly have a large amount of demon blood in you, but for those who only have trace amounts of other race’s blood, they sometimes don’t know it either. Many times, they are killed before they know anything.”

  My heart sank again. “Why? Why are they killed if they don’t know anything?”

  Finn shrugged once again. “That’s why they are called the Royals. Several centuries ago, many centuries ago, actually, the sun-walker vampires, or the Royals as we call them now, went off on a crusade to rid the world of half-breeds. They hunted down werewolves, witches, and any human hybrids that resulted from humans mating with pure bloods—the offspring of fairies, nymphs, demons… really, any combination that you can come up with.”

  Wendell broke in. “In truth, so much time has passed that it is hard to know what is fact and what is legend, but the end result is the same. Some mixed species were killed off, and others were greatly reduced. Even species that weren’t mixed species, but couldn’t pass as human, were exterminated as well. Demons’ offspring, and thus witches and warlocks, were so numerous that killing them all was too daunting of a task for the Royals, who are relatively small in number. At some point, and there are no real records of when and why, witches were determined to have separated so greatly from their demon ancestors that we had become our own race, a pure race. Obviously, this was just to save face, but nevertheless, here we are.”

  Finn glared at Caitlin. “Which brings us back to the fact that there is no way the Royals were trying to kill Brett last night. They don’t kill half-demons.”

  She sneered back at him. “If you’re so sure about that, then why are you not willing to contact the Vampire Cathedral?”

  “Hold on.” Although I was on information overload, I thought I was slowly starting to catch on, or at least understand who some of the players were in this fucked-up game. “What’s with the Vampire Cathedral? Is it some other type of vampire?”

  Wendell spoke before either of his children could respond. “The Vampire Cathedral is where the Royal Family lives. It’s some kind of forest in Central America. They have lived there for the past couple of centuries.”

  I looked at Caitlin. “And you want to call the Vampire Cathedral to check and see if they sent someone after me, right?”

  She met my eyes with a steady, unapologetic gaze. “If they didn’t, then there’s nothing to be worried about.”

  Chapter 11

  THE ride back to San Diego was silent. Finn was still fuming over the argument he and Caitlin had gotten into when she continued to insist they call the Vampire Cathedral. I couldn’t tell if he was angrier with his sister or if he was more embarrassed that she might try to turn me in.

  For my part, I was lost in my ponderings. If it really was the “Royal Family” after me, how had they discovered what I was when I didn’t even know? Maybe what I did to that boy on the beach had somehow alerted them. And how did whatever had been with me in the water the past few weeks correlate to all of this? It was too much to simply be coincidence. Somehow they had to tie together. I doubted there was a scuba diving team of assassin vampires. The thought did cause a brief moment of amusement.

  Part of me wondered if Caitlin didn’t have the right idea. If they were really after me, I didn’t have any chance of actually surviving anyway, especially if they could be out during the day. There would never be a time I was safe. For some reason, the thought of being attacked during the day seemed less frightening. Plus, if I knew they were coming, the whole situation would be a lot less stressful. If it was going to happen anyway, I might as well call them myself and make an appointment. Excuse me, Vampire Cathedral? Yes, I was wondering if you were trying to kill me, and if so, could you show up around four thirty this afternoon? Just ring the bell and walk on in, the door will be unlocked. If I happen to be in the bathroom, please wait. I won’t take long.

  “What’s so funny?”

  The sound of Finn’s voice caused me to stiffen. I glanced over at him in confusion. “What?”

  Finn glanced over at me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, and then he turned back to the interstate. There was never a time when the Five wasn’t teaming with traffic. “You were laughing.”

  “I was?”

  “Yeah, although I can’t imagine what you could possibly find funny right now, with my bitch of a sister wanting to get you killed.” Angry, definitely angry.

  I cleared my throat. “Oh, it was nothing. I was just daydreaming.” I wondered if he would get mad at me as well if I told him I was beginning to think Caitlin might be right. “Do vampires have to have your permission to come in?”

  It was Finn’s turn to be confused. “Huh?”

  “You know, to come into your house. Like in movies, before the vampire can come in your door, some stupid idiot has to accidentally invite them in.”

  Finn shook his head. “No, that’s only a wives’ tale. They can go anywhere they please.”

  Of course they could. “Do you know much about how the Royal Family kills half-breeds?”

  His knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Not exactly. I know they normally don’t fail the first time, and I’ve never heard of them failing the second. But honestly, most of what I know is stuff from the past that my folks and grandparents would tell us kids. I haven’t really ever heard about it happening in my lifetime. Why?”

  “I was wondering if him having… if what happened last night was normal. You know, the way he lured me into the alley, and… what he did after.”

  Finn gave an embarrassed grimace and then shrugged. “I don’t know if there is a normal with vampires. They are known to be seductive creatures, so I guess what happened in the alley would fit their standards.” His face blossomed to a rosy shade of brown.

  “Way to end my five-month dry spell, huh?”

  “Dry spell?” He turned to look at me, his face flushing deeper. “You?”

  “Yeah, it had been a while.” I felt a momentary flash of guilt as an image of the boy standing naked in the waves surfaced in my mind. I forced it away. Nothing had happened. Boiling someone definitely didn’t count as sex. “My roommate, Sonia, has been giving me a hard time for being a prude lately.”

  Finn’s right eyebrow rose skeptically, but he didn’t object. After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, he turned back to me, his voice sounding a little sheepish. “I don’t think getting raped counts as ending a dry spell.”

  I stared out the windshield, flashes of the night before threatening to take over. “I suppose not. I can’t figure out what to think about it. I didn’t want it.” I whipped toward him, suddenly desperate for him to believe me. “Really. I didn’t want to be with him. I tried to fight. I just couldn’t. One minute….” My voice was low enough that I wasn’t sure he would even be able to hear me. “I’ve never felt anything like it. It hurt a lot, but… felt good too.” I could feel my face start to burn. Once again, images from the alley made their way into my mind, seemingly blocking every other sight from my eyes. His smooth white chest above me. His green eyes locked with mine. The burn of his cold skin. The throb of him inside me. The drafts of my blood leaving me. His release. “I didn’t want him, but then I would feel like I did. Like I’d chosen to be with him. Like I wanted to be with him. But I didn’t.”

  Finn took his gaze off the highway. His voice was soft and warm. Somehow he found the balance between being gentle and not offering pity, which I appreciated. “From what I’ve heard, that’s normal. And, as sick as it sounds, kinda lucky. They don’t always make it that way, but it helps keep their victims from calling out and drawing attention. If you hadn’t been in a public place, he probably wouldn’t have made you feel that way. He would have wanted to hear you scream. He would have drawn out the pain.” He paused again for so long that I thought he’d finished speaking. He was looking determinedly at the tra
ffic, but his tone was firm. “I’m not trying to assume how you’re feeling, but if it were me, I imagine I’d be wondering if some part of me had made it happen or wanted it.” Again, he looked at me, his eyes hard and definitive. “Don’t let yourself go there. That’s part of the evil he did. Nothing you did caused it or wanted it. You don’t have to convince me, or anyone else that knows anything at all about vampires. It’s Vampire 101. It’s part of their power. Part of their evil.”

  We drove in silence for several more minutes. There’d been another thought plaguing me, one I’d not even let fully form in my mind. Maybe it was Finn’s warm tone that made me feel like I could trust him. Really trust him. Maybe if I didn’t say it, I was going to explode. “I’ve always been careful. Always. Never even slipped up once. I’ve been too scared to.” My eyes burned, and I slammed the lids shut. A tear rolled down my right cheek, luckily on the side Finn couldn’t see. “Do you think… is there a chance….” My throat tightened, suffocating my words.

  Still keeping his eyes focused in front of him, Finn reached his hand over, placed it on mine, and held it firmly. “No. There’s no chance. You’re not sick. Vampires are dead, and in some weird way their blood and… everything else, is pure. You’re not gonna get an STD.”

  More tears slid down my face, this time over both cheeks, and fell in hot, heavy drops on my lap. “Even….”

  “Even HIV. Nope. As horrible as it was, and as sick as he was, you don’t have to worry about any of it.”

  I tried to nod, and maybe I did. Relief flooded through me, leaving me weak. With all the other mix of emotions around the events, it was strange to add a sense of happiness. I could face the rest. I had to. I didn’t know if I’d be able to face being sick. That would have been too much. I had several friends who had the virus, so somewhere deep within me, I knew I would figure out how to deal. But I was so glad I wouldn’t have to.

  What seemed like centuries later, Finn’s voice broke into my thoughts, cutting through the turmoil. “You ready to go? We’re almost to the Washington exit. That’s how we get to Hillcrest, right?”

  Chapter 12

  “MY CAR!” I smacked my forehead with my palm as we turned onto my street. “I completely forgot!”

  “Huh?”

  “I left my car in Old Town last night. Actually, I guess you left it there when you loaded me in your truck.”

  “Oh, of course. That makes sense.”

  “I’m sorry to ask this, Finn, but could you run me by my car before you go back home?”

  He nodded. “Sure. That’s easy. Besides, I was kinda hoping that—”

  “That’s odd.” I didn’t mean to interrupt him, but Sonia’s red Miata in the driveway caught my eye as we got closer to the house. It was well after two, when her shift was supposed to start at the bar.

  “What’s odd?” Finn glanced around quickly, as if looking for something ominous.

  “Just that my roommate must be home, and she should be at work already.” I gestured to the car in the driveway. “The restaurant is only a few blocks away, but Sonia never walks.” I turned my attention back to Finn. “Is it okay to stop and check on her real quick, to make sure she’s okay before we go get the car?” Maybe it was the craziness of all the changes happening in my life, but I began to have a sinking feeling. Something felt wrong.

  “Yeah, of course. Besides, I’d like to meet her.” Finn pulled into the driveway by Sonia’s car.

  I jumped out before he had time to put it in park, and was already headed toward the door.

  “Hey, Brett! Are you okay?” Finn’s voice sounded alarmed. I sped up and reached out for the door. I heard the truck door slam and Finn’s footsteps running to catch up with me.

  As I turned the handle, the door swung open. Unlocked. Sonia never left the door unlocked. “Sonia!” The sound of the fear in my voice only made my panic increase. I rushed into the living room expecting to see furniture scattered all over the floor. Everything was in its place. It didn’t look like anyone had been here since I had left yesterday evening.

  I tore off through the kitchen and into the hallway. “Sone!”

  “Good God, Brett, what the hell’s the matter?” Sonia popped her head out of the bathroom door, a baby-blue towel wrapped turban-style over her hair and a white one clutched over her breasts.

  I was so surprised for her to actually be standing there that I didn’t trust what I was seeing. “Sonia?”

  A mixture of annoyance and concern flashed across her face. “Brett, I swear this had better be good. You about made me fall in the shower!”

  I stood there looking dumbly at her. “I’m sorry. I… I thought, I thought…. You’re okay?”

  “Of course, I’m okay. You’re starting to scare me. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, it was just that the door was unlocked and….”

  “I got home from Derek’s a few minutes ago. I’m kinda in a rush, and I….” Her eyes widened as her gaze traveled past me.

  I whirled around, ready to fight.

  Finn held up both hands. “It’s me. It’s just me.”

  My fists dropped to my sides, and I let out a groan. “I don’t know what is going on with me lately.”

  Finn gave me a sympathetic smile and then looked at me expectantly for a few seconds. Finally, he rolled his eyes playfully and turned to Sonia. “Hi! I’m Finn, a, uhm, friend of Brett’s.”

  “Oh. Oh!” Sonia offered one of her brilliant smiles, readjusted her grip on the towel with her left hand, and shot out her other one in Finn’s direction. “Hi, Finn. I’m Sonia.” She turned to me and narrowed her eyes before returning to Finn. “If you’ll give me a second, I can put on some clothes and come meet you properly.”

  Finn grinned and nodded. Sonia ducked back into the bathroom and closed the door with a light click.

  Finn stood there with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised—a look I was already beginning to expect from him. I shrugged and shook my head. “I don’t know. I had a feeling.” I shrugged again. “I have no idea what’s going on. I think I should go back to sleep. Maybe I’d somehow wake up and it would be two days ago.”

  Finn started to nod and then stopped. “Why two days ago?”

  “Never mind. Sorry for all the dramatics.” I walked past him into the kitchen. “I’m starving. Want a sandwich?”

  I HAD only taken one bite of my sandwich when Sonia walked into the living room. She was wearing her default outfit: black hooker boots, black miniskirt, white wifebeater, and a black bra showing from underneath. Her long raven hair was still wet and hung in slick tendrils around her, making damp spots all over her wifebeater.

  “Wow! Brett didn’t tell me you were a model!” From anyone else, it would have seemed like a cheesy line, but the awe in Finn’s voice attested to his authenticity.

  Sonia beamed and grinned at me. “Oh, I like him. Good choice. I really like him.”

  I felt my face flush. “So, just getting back from Derek’s, huh? That must have been some night.”

  Her face softened peacefully as she answered. “Yeah, it really was, but not in the way you’re thinking. Not in the way I was planning either. Finn here has gotten a better view of the goods than Derek did. We stayed up all night, driving around the city, and then talking at his place. We went and got lunch, and I lost track of time.”

  I scoffed. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously!” She nodded happily. “I tell you, Brett, I have never felt like this with anyone before. It was sure worth waiting on him getting up his courage to take me out.”

  “Wow, Sone. That’s wonderful! You two will make beautiful part-Chinese babies.”

  She swatted my arm. “Shut up!” She turned her attention to Finn. “And where did you find this one?”

  I started to say “Don’t ask,” but Finn spoke up quicker. “My sister and her husband own Taberna de las Brujas in Old Town. My brother-in-law set us up last night.”

  “Oh, I love that place. Ricky is so nice!”
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  Finn nodded ruefully. “Yeah, everybody says that.”

  Sonia tossed her hair over her shoulders, spraying little droplets of water around the room. “Well, I hate to have to rush, but I’m already late, so I need to get out of here. Finn, it was really great to meet you. I hope I get the chance again soon.” She reached out, offering her hand.

  Without missing a beat, Finn bent down and wrapped her in a bear hug. “You too, Sonia. Congratulations on your successful date last night.”

  “Thank you!” She held his gaze as she pulled away. “I like you already, but if you hurt my man here, I hurt you. Got it?”

  Finn chuckled. “Got it.”

  As Sonia turned and gave me a hug, intentionally whipping her wet hair around on my face, she pulled me close and put her mouth to my ear. “He is beautiful. Good job, sweetheart.”

  With that, she turned and rushed toward the door. “See you after work, Brett. It’s a short shift. Love ya!”

  “Love you too, Sone.”

  Chapter 13

  “SO, I was thinking.” Finn’s voice was tentative. He had been quiet throughout lunch, and even now, he didn’t look directly at me, but kept his focus on the plate he was drying. “I already told Mom not to expect me back at the bakery until tomorrow, and since we need to go pick up your car anyway, we might as well hang out for the rest of the day.” He rubbed the dishtowel quicker on the already dry plate. “I mean, I’m sure you must have a lot more questions about everything. Unless you have other plans or stuff you need to do.”

  His nervousness was both endearing and rather off-putting. It felt like weeks had passed since I had woken up in his truck last night. Part of me felt like we had known each other for months. The tension in the room quickly reminded me that, no matter what had happened since we’d met, we’d only known each other less than twenty-four hours. Truth be told, though, I didn’t want to spend the afternoon by myself, and I was more than a little okay with being with Finn as long as possible. Although, every time I let myself notice his muscles or his smile, the burned boy’s face flashed behind my eyes. The last thing I should do would be to spend more time with Finn.