Submerging Inferno

by Brandon Witt

  I loaded my arms with an assortment of chips and sodas and quickly returned to the backyard.

  Just as the food was being loaded onto the picnic table, Finn and the others arrived, all thoroughly soaked.

  Outside of the ones at school and church, picnics were a relatively new experience for me. Grandpa had always struggled with allergies, and since he didn’t enjoy being outside, no one else should either.

  The food was great, and once again, Peter and Saul helped fill an afternoon that could have been caught up with conversations about funerals, prophecies, and vampire murders with giggles, stupid jokes, and a rather rousing belching competition. Caitlin won. Go figure.

  The past couple of days were the first time I had ever spent any extended period around little kids. It was so fun to watch Finn interact with his nephews. It was clear they both worshiped the ground he walked on, and from the way Finn carried on, the feeling was mutual.

  The sun finally came out from behind the clouds after dinner had been cleared away. Wendell and Ricky retired to the living room to watch a game on television, while Finn and I helped clean the dishes.

  As I bent down to pick up a dishtowel I’d dropped, I felt a gentle tug on my back pocket. I looked back to see little Saul standing behind me, his eyes huge. “Mr. Brett, can you and Uncle Finn play hide-and-seek with us in the woods, please?”

  Christina hollered over her shoulder without turning around. “Peter! If you want to play with Finn and Brett, you come and ask yourself. Don’t put Saul up to doing your dirty work for you!”

  After a couple of seconds, Peter sauntered into the room, hands stuffed deep in his pockets. “Well, can they?”

  “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them.” Christina continued doing the dishes.

  Peter looked up at his uncle. “Well, can you?”

  Finn looked over at me and grinned. “Want to?”

  “Sure. I’m always up for a game of invisible hide-and-seek when I can’t be invisible.”

  “Yay!” Saul gave a little jump as he clapped his hands vigorously. “I’m gonna hide in that big rotted tree!”

  “You’re not supposed to tell where you’re gonna hide, stupid!” Peter rolled his eyes at his brother.

  This time, Christina turned around, her wet finger flicking water on Peter’s face as she shook it at him. “Don’t call your brother stupid, or you can spend the evening in your room.” She turned to Saul. “And no, you’re not going to hide in that old tree. It’s likely to fall and crush you.”

  Saul’s face fell.

  “Cate.” Christina looked over at her. “Will you please go and hide with Saul? Hide-and-seek in the woods is not appropriate for a five-year-old, and I don’t trust these two goofballs”—she gestured to Finn and me—“to not get bamboozled by my little monsters.”

  Caitlin glanced at me with disdain and then down at Saul, who was now tugging on her little finger. A genuine smile escaped, something I wasn’t sure she was capable of. She bent down and picked up Saul. “Sure, why not? It’s you and me, cowboy!”

  Saul let out a shrill cheer.

  WE PLAYED several rounds, and I had been caught three times already, so I was “it” yet again. I counted to one hundred and then turned around and headed back into the woods. We had set the boundaries as anywhere you could still see the house. It seemed to make sense but had turned out that, since the house was situated on a slope above the woods, you could see it from nearly everywhere. The hiding places were endless.

  There was still a good hour until sunset, but the sun was exceptionally intense, and I was sweating more than I normally did. I wiped my brow with the back of my forearm. I had discovered on the previous rounds that it was harder to discern the outline of the hiders’ bodies in the woods than it had been in the house, due to all the differing colors and patterns.

  I had been searching for two or three minutes when I was able to make out the shape of Caitlin and Saul crouching between a large boulder and a hawthorn shrub. Since there were two of them, they were easier to find, not to mention that Saul had a hard time not squirming. I’d caught them two other times, so I let my eyes travel over them and continued searching. Finn had yet to be caught by anyone, so I was determined to find him.

  I went farther into the narrow woods, wishing even though I couldn’t be invisible that I could at least manage to not sound like a wild boar crashing through the undergrowth. After a few minutes, I was nearing the other side, which was shared by another housing area. Glancing behind me, I realized I couldn’t see the de Morisco house. I’d gone too far. I turned around and started to head back the way I’d come.

  “You looking for the boy? Or should I have gotten the good-looking one to get your attention?”

  The voice caused me to stiffen in surprise. I felt my skin crawl. Even though I hadn’t heard his voice before, I knew who it was before I turned around.

  He stood there, less than twenty feet away, his back pressed against a cottonwood tree, his arm wrapped around Peter’s neck, the boy’s head twisted at an awkward angle.

  Again I was struck by how normal he looked. He didn’t appear overly powerful, his thin arm relaxed as it coiled tighter around Peter’s throat. If I didn’t already know, I would have made the fatal mistake of lunging at him, thinking there would be no trouble in ripping the boy from his grasp. “Let him go,” I growled. I instantly felt the heat course through me. My hands began to tingle.

  His eyes traveled down to my fists. With a grin, he looked back up at my face. “I wouldn’t suggest that.” It struck me how his voice sounded like an everyday man’s. I’d expected something deeper, more sinister. “I’ll snap his neck before your fire gets halfway to me.”

  Tears were pouring down Peter’s face, and his bulging olive eyes burrowed into mine imploringly.

  I took a few calming breaths, trying to stop the shaking and regain control.

  “That’s it. Don’t stress yourself out.” He gave a little laugh. “As you can see, as I’m here right now, the only one you’ll kill is the brat.”

  In the shock of seeing him here, moments away from killing Peter, I’d forgotten about how I had left him the last time. Forgotten the charred, eyeless face that had glared down at me.

  Other than his smooth skin being an ashy gray, he looked the same as I remembered. His hair was back, full and red. His eyes were….

  His eyes. They pulled me toward him. I wanted him to touch me, just for a moment. One touch was all I craved. I needed him to touch me. Be inside of me again. Feel his fangs plunge into my neck as he sank into me.

  Peter sobbed, breaking the vampire’s hold on me. I shook my head, trying to shake away the disgusting thoughts. Anger surged afresh—both at what he was doing to Peter and how he was controlling my desires. I heard the vampire chuckle again.

  I focused on Peter, my eyes holding on his as I stepped forward.

  “Don’t come any closer, not yet.” The vampire grabbed Peter’s hair with his free hand and jerked his head backward so his throat was exposed, the two punctures above the hollow of his neck now evident, blood trickling downward. “I’ve already tasted him. I’ll finish the snack before you can get over here.”

  I stopped moving once again, still keeping my eyes on Peter, fighting every urge to look up at the vampire. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t even think of options. From everything Finn had told me about vampires, I didn’t doubt that he was serious. I was sure he could either suck Peter dry or break his neck before I could get so much as a spark out, especially since I didn’t know how to control the fire. The scene in the ocean replayed in my mind. It had seemed so easy, so natural in the water. I saw Peter engulfed in the flames, like the fish, like the kelp. What good was my strength, my power, my fire? I was useless to save Peter. I couldn’t even begin to think of how to proceed. I cursed myself for not practicing or trying to learn how to use my gift.

  Keep him talking. I had to keep him talking. Surely Finn would realize soon that someth
ing was wrong.

  “What do you want, vampire?”

  “What do you think I want? Don’t act like a fool. Surely you’re not as dumb as you are pretty.”

  I tried another tactic. Maybe it wasn’t really a tactic. I just couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Why Sonia? Why did you kill her? She wasn’t involved.”

  He let out a deep, sensual groan. “Oh yes. Sonia. Gorgeous. She was the most fun I’ve had in months. Delightful. So full of life, so full of fight. So full of blood.”

  “Why Sonia?”

  “Because I wanted to.”

  He paused, and I risked a glance up, trying not to meet his gaze.

  “You sure you want to keep asking those types of questions?”

  I glanced down at my hands. They were trembling again, steam rising off my knuckles.

  I growled in frustration. “What do you want? Why are you hunting me? You’re obviously not a Royal, so—” I stopped dead and looked up. The sun was still out. A swift glance at the vampire showed he was standing in the shadow of a cottonwood, but still, the sun was out. “You are a Royal.” I could hear the defeat in my voice. If he was a Royal, I was sure the rest were out in the woods too. It was only a matter of time before they arrived. The best I could hope for was that they would settle for me and leave the de Moriscos alone.

  “No.” He gave a small jerk of his head, his smirk growing. “Maybe you really are that dumb. I’m not a Royal.”

  “You have to be. You’re out in the daytime.”

  “Wrong, again, pretty boy.” The mockery in his voice went all through me. I longed to tear him to shreds.

  “If you’re not a Royal, then what do you want?”

  He paused for several moments. I decided he wasn’t going to answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was so quiet I could barely hear it. “I want to know what you are.”

  “What?” Surely I hadn’t heard right.

  “I said that I want to know what you are!” he screamed.

  Sonia died because he wanted to know what I was? That’s all? I felt my stomach sink. I felt like I was going to be sick. “I’m a demon. A fire demon.”

  The vampire tightened his grip, and Peter gasped. “Lie to me again, and I will kill him. Don’t try my patience. You are no demon.”

  Without thinking, my eyes flashed up to his. “I am too. Part demon, anyway. Half fire demon, half human.”

  He searched my eyes, his own darting back and forth rapidly. I didn’t feel his pull this time. “No. I have tasted human, I know it well, and I have tasted demon, on the rare occasion.” His lips curled into a snarl, showing the length of his fangs. “You may be demon. You may be human. But you are something else as well. What is it?” He was screaming again.

  “I don’t know! Why do you think I’m something else? Why does it matter?”

  He sounded half-crazed. “Why does it matter? Look around you, you fool. You said yourself that I am out in the daytime. If I’m not a Royal, what does that tell you?” He didn’t wait for me to respond. “Your blood did this! Your blood! I drink from you, and I can be out in the daylight. In the shadows, yes, but in the daylight, nonetheless!”

  It was my turn to yell. “Fine, it was my blood. Big fucking deal! Good for you! What do you want?”

  His voice grew cold, filled with sarcasm, with disgust. “What do I want? I want more, of course. If a small draft can do this”—he gestured to the lengthening shadow around him—“then the rest of you can complete it. I will be the same as a Royal. I will walk in the sun.”

  “The rest of me?”

  “You truly are an idiot. Of course the rest of you.” His voice took on a singsong, mocking tone. “That means I’ll drink the rest of you, and yes, you’ll die without your blood, stupid little boy—demon or not!”

  I glanced around. It seemed impossible that Caitlin and Finn weren’t here yet. It had definitely been long enough, and there was no way they hadn’t heard all the yelling.

  The vampire’s voice rose again. “Well, what will it be?”

  “What?” I asked stupidly, still looking around.

  “Will you give yourself to me now, or do I need to keep drinking those you love until you give up?”

  Sonia flashed through my mind. Her blood covering the bed, the walls. Her beautiful laughter in my ears transforming to gut-wrenching screams as life was sucked out of her. Her eyes staring into mine as she died. Alone.

  The vampire’s face blurred and then disappeared entirely. All I could see were the flames. I could feel the fire expanding out further from me, rapidly becoming a blazing sphere.

  Throwing myself backward, I stumbled and fell to the ground, the crunch of the leaves barely registering before they were consumed. Like a crab, I scurried back on my hands and feet, imagining Peter engulfed in fire.

  Despite my fear, I couldn’t release myself. The thought of Peter being harmed by me only increased my fury. Instead of lessening, the flames grew hotter, their white and blue spreading from me. I could barely see the flickering orange as it ignited the vegetation that hadn’t already been destroyed.

  The grief that had been such a constant torment over the past week was kerosene to the blaze. Fury, terror, and anguish gushed forth from me. For the first time, my body felt at risk of being devoured by my fire. My skin was hot. Dry. Blood pounded through my head, through my body, threatening to boil forth, ripping me asunder.

  Throwing myself off the ground, I screamed. It reverberated, resounding on itself within the sphere of fire. It was the scream of an animal. Of anger, rage. Of a demon.

  The scream continued as the flames died.

  At last silence fell.

  My mouth closed, my throat aching.

  My eyes opened, and I saw the earth, scorched and blackened, under my feet. Small flames lingered here and there, still feeding on some random particle that had survived the extermination. As if viewing from afar, I saw myself, my naked body steaming. Muscles rippling and trembling from the exertion. Fists clenched, knuckles white.

  “Are you done?”

  It took a moment for my eyes to focus. When they did, they found the vampire yards away, a bored expression on his face. Peter, tears streaking through black soot, was still ensnared in the monster’s grasp. His strangled breathing reached my ears. He was now dangling from the vampire’s hold, his feet unable to touch the ground.

  They were no longer by the cottonwood tree; it was a charred skeleton between us. In some fucked-up reality, Peter owed his life to the vampire’s speed in escaping my outburst.

  “I asked if you’re done. Your little display was quite entertaining. And, as much as I enjoy seeing a hot naked man screaming, you are wasting my time.” His gaze wandered slowly up my body.

  I was empty. There was nothing left. I looked back at Peter, the blood running more rapidly down his strangled throat. “You’ll let him go if I let you drink me?”

  “Yes.”

  I glanced around once more. A picture of Sonia flashed through my mind, of Finn. There was nothing else to do. “Fine. Let Peter go.”

  “Not until I am done with you.”

  “No. No way. As soon as you’re done with me, you’ll turn on him.”

  “After you, why would I give a shit about the ounce of witch blood in him?” The right corner of his mouth curved into a sinister smile. “What choice do you have?”

  He was right. What choice did I have? If the others hadn’t come yet, then who knew how long it would take. Even if they did come, what did I expect them to do? If I couldn’t set him on fire, what chance did they have?

  “Fine.” I crossed the yards of smoldering earth between us, not looking at the destruction. I kept my gaze on Peter. Only Peter.

  He held out his hand signaling me to walk slowly. Peter’s eyes were closed, but I could see the rise and fall of his little belly. He must have passed out.

  Within a few more steps, I was there. I looked into the vampire’s eyes, partly hoping that he would make me want him ag
ain, make it at least a little pleasurable. He didn’t.

  “Lean close, and tilt your head to the left.” His voice was quiet, reverent.

  I did as he asked. Within a second, I felt his lips on my throat, giving me a kiss. Without any more warning, his fangs sank in, fire instantly rushing through me. A strangled scream escaped me. The pain was unbelievable, like he was running pipe cleaners through my veins with every draft of my blood.

  His hand reached around to the left side of my face, pulling himself deeper into me. He moaned in pleasure as I felt myself grow weaker. The weaker I became, the less pain there was.

  It seemed that half-demons were capable of dying, of being killed by something other than another demon. I almost smiled at the relief of that knowledge.

  When I was sure the end was mere seconds away, I opened my eyes, refusing to leave this world in the dark.

  There was a burst of wind, and I was soaring through the air, the surroundings blurring as I flew past them. I heard an enraged screech and voices shouting. My voyage through the air came to an abrupt stop as I slammed into something solid and everything went dark.

  Chapter 29

  “CAITLIN! You’ve got to calm down! Seriously!”

  “I’m sorry. He’s bleeding, Finn! What if he doesn’t wake up?”

  This time, I didn’t have any problem knowing where I was when I came to. Everything rushed back in a second—the vampire, little Peter. The fire. I opened my eyes carefully. The only reality I was having a problem accepting was that I was alive. I had known I was going to die… was seconds, if that, from death. Yet here I was, blinking into the red setting sun.

  I tried to sit up, but as soon as I lifted my head, the charcoaled trees began to spin, and I crashed back down into the crunch of ashes of leaves and shrubs.

  “Cate, you’re a witch, for crying out loud. Heal his neck. I’ll be right back.” I heard him take several rushed steps, and then his face was over me. “Brett, baby, how are you feeling?”