Master vampires were no easy kills.
With the three of them strapped in, he pulled out of the parking lot, and into the night. The club district would be a war zone and he could only pray that it wasn’t one of those popular nights that drew every young person eighteen and older out to play.
The Guardians arrived one by one in front of the crowded two story structure, facing the narrow street. The fast pace beat of techno sounds blaring from the speakers to deafening volumes while adrenaline, perfume, and sex tainted the air, filling the team’s nostrils and bludgeoning their palates. Despite all of the normal night life sounds and the electricity that filled the night, the hairs on the back of Archer’s neck stood at attention. Halo anxiously checked her revolver multiple times before replacing it on her hip. Congo tensely folded his arms as he rested against a nearby streetlamp and hocked spit onto the sidewalk. Halo scowled at him with disgust but kept her opinion to herself. Archer pretended to feign interest in the club, nodding appreciatively at a few young scantily clad women as they walked by before turning to face his team.
“Earlier today Tia and Eve canvassed the area. The vibe I’m sensing is real thick and seems to be increasing by the minute. Blend in. Keep your eyes open. Watch for any fledglings in the area because as we know, where the masters go the slaves follow. Send a mental SOS should you come across the master, but do not attempt to engage with the bastard solo. We have a couple of newbies rolling with us on their first real hunt so let’s show ‘em how it’s done.”
Congo said nothing as he stalked off behind Olivia, Shawn, and Paul towards the entrance of the club. Halo and Stefan remained with Archer as he motioned them to follow him in the shadows where they would lie and wait.
Sanaya dozed off minutes into the American Werewolf, comforted by the fact that her best friend was in the room with her. The sound of the television blaring was the perfect recipe for a lullaby as she nestled deeper underneath the beige comforter. She vaguely heard Maya’s fingers tapping against her phone, obviously engaged in a serious text convo with Sanaya assumed to be the new kid Trent. With her body completely relaxed and her mind drifting away into the welcoming nothingness, it was not long before the voices from the television and Maya’s extraordinary texting abilities were no longer her lullabies. She’d completely melted away into the mattress, her mind expanding, stretching well beyond the horizon of the living, creating its own nightly rhythm of worlds ready for her to explore.
From the safety of her own body, she watched herself stroll through the city of Los Angeles, her hometown, recounting the days when her mother was alive and in a rare moment of contentment. Her mother smiled at her as they stopped in their favorite ice cream joint-Cold Stones-and Sanaya’s face lit up as she ordered her usual white chocolate ice cream dripping with caramel syrup, peanuts and whipped cream. A quiet longing filled her chest as the memory stabbed into her consciousness, but she refused to give into mourning. Instead, she pretended that all of this was real and she was not the Slayer, but a regular girl having some much needed mother and daughter time as they took a seat in a corner of the eatery overlooking the street. Taking a huge spoonful of the specialty ice cream, she moaned with delight. Her mother watched her, still smiling, having yet to taste her own and that is when Sanaya realized something wasn’t right.
Her mother’s once beautiful brown skin melted away into a creamy white, almost porcelain complexion. Her radiantly brown eyes shifted into a pale green, and her immaculately styled coils transitioned into blonde tresses that were slicked back into a long ponytail. A handsome face adorned with highly chiseled cheek bones greeted with a sly grin. Her instincts began firing off, but something else held her in place. He made sure to sustain an image where his perfect pectorals were on display through an opened silk shirt, exposing smooth unmarred flesh that simply begged for her touch. Her breathing became hitched at the full vision of this vampire, a master of illusion and she wondered how she would free herself from this dream turned instant nightmare.
“Good evening Slayer,” he said, widening his grin. His heavily accented voice sent a shiver down her spine.
“What do you want?” She demanded, summoning the discipline to resist the call that this vampire’s silent message triggered within her body.
“The question is,” he began slowly. “What do you want?”
She looked away, gazing out of the window of the familiar street that once brought happiness to her bleak world when everything she knew was normal.
“Cat got your tongue?” He teased, gracefully sliding his hand to where her abandoned ice cream waited. He snatched it effortlessly, taking her spoon and scooping up a mouthful of her favorite ice cream and placing it into his mouth.
She glared at him, bile building up in the back of her throat as she watched the vampire imitate her pleasure that confectionary desert had given her as he moaned, licking the spoon dry.
“I can see why you would appreciate this so,” he said sticking the spoon back into the cup. “This particular brand of ice cream is indeed heaven for the taste buds…sinfully sweet…but, nothing compares to the sweet taste that makes you, you…”
Sanaya’s heart raced as her adrenaline spiked, giving her the fuel she needed to jump up and break the leg from the chair to brandish a stake. The master was on his feet instantly, and before she could act with the stake in his chest, he gripped her wrists and transported them through any dimension of her dream. She was naked, and pinned beneath his massive body in what appeared to be his lair. Black marble met crimson velvet while she struggled against his grasp.
“You smell divine young one,” He groaned, placing a kiss on the side of her throat. “Submit to me…”
“No!”
A low growl rumbled in the center of his chest. “Submit to me. I cannot take you like this!”
“No!” Tears of frustration filled her eyes as she mentally prayed to wake up.
He forced her arms above her head, his neon green eyes illuminating in the darkness of his lair. “If you do not come to me of your own will, then those Guardians who dare themselves strong enough to hunt me will meet their end, as will every student at your Academy. You will bend to me Slayer or you will watch everyone you love die!”
He disappeared the instant her eyes snapped open. She sat up with a jolt, screaming in terror. She heard Maya’s yell for help and she could feel her calming hands smoothing her messy hair back from her face. She felt like she was still trapped in the dream, despite Eve’s strong hands gripping her by the shoulders and shook her; however she struggled and fought against her hold. Tia’s voice could be heard calling her name, but nothing could break her from the cold terror that threaten to siphon all of her sanity. The fact remained that Archer and his team of Guardians were in trouble if she didn’t do something. The entire Academy was in trouble if she didn’t act.
“He is coming,” she finally whispered.
“Who is coming?” Tia demanded.
“Archer is in danger. Call the Guardians back!” Sanaya screamed, panic strengthening her enough to break free of Eve’s hold.
“Sanaya!” Maya hollered, chasing after her.
Still in a grip of terror, Sanaya dodged her best friend and ran out of the room in search of a weapon. Eve reached her before she could yank the floorboards of the living room back and slapped her with such a force that her neck snapped back.
“Sanaya,” Eve demanded. “Sanaya!”
Although no longer caught in the panicked daze, instant fatigue blanketed her as she went limp, collapsing into Eve’s embrace.
“He said if I do not come to him of my own free will he will kill the guardians that hunt him as well as the students from the Academy,” Sanaya sobbed. “I can’t let him do that.”
Eve and Tia shared a knowing glance, before Tia finally said, “I’m calling Archer. They’ve been set up.”
Congo remained seated at the bar, his dark skin prickling from the vibrations of something that just wasn’t right
. He could sense the nervousness in the other guardians as they patrolled the scene, pretending to be just regular clubbers, when he tasted the evil that tainted the air on his palate. Demons. And perhaps a legion of them were manifesting into semisolid form. Rogue wolves corrupted by the darkness and of course the freshly transitioned vampires surrounded this place. The Master Vampire clearly was a shrewd son of a bitch, and Congo flexed both of his massively thick arms and popped his joints, anxious to claim the kill of one the top motherfuckers in the supernatural food chain. Paul approached him with Olivia and Shawn behind him when all of their cell phones went off at once with a message from Tia.
Yo, fall back. It’s a trap.
“No shit,” Congo grumbled to himself. “Let’s bounce. This is some bullshit.”
Just then gun shots were heard outside, which meant that Archer and the two newbies may be in some trouble. However, as more shots rang out, the music in the club came to an immediate halt as its human patrons went into panic mode. Several rogue wolves shifted in the center of a large crowd of onlookers and immediately attacked several unsuspecting victims. Paul and Shawn were on them in an instant, hitting the beasts with round after round of silver which separated them from their victims and incinerating them on contact. Piles of sulfuric ash clouded the scene as dozens of innocents ran for their lives.
Congo spotted a freshly turned vampire, perhaps no older than twenty at the time of his death snatch a pretty brown eyed girl from the crowd and sink his four inch incisors into her throat. She screamed as Congo head straight for them with his silver dagger in hand, decapitating the vampire in the process. The young woman fell to the ground, her body undergoing multiple seizures and slipping into shock. Congo hated what he had to do next. He placed the silver dagger into the center of her chest, putting an end to the turn but also her life. He said a quick prayer over her body and secretly hoped that her spirit had been made right enough to ascend. However, he did not have time to contemplate the ramifications of what a sinful life could bring because he found himself surrounded by dozens of demon entities ranging in size and level of grotesqueness. From his holster he pulled out two mini Uzi’s and unleashed a fury of silver, their high pitched screeching causing his ears to bleed.
More screams entered his consciousness as he ushered the last remaining innocents out into the street. The dark presence, an entity stronger than those that currently terrorized the club, slammed into his psyche followed by the telepathic SOS from Olivia. Just beyond the DJ booth, she struggled with Shawn to lift an injured Paul. Apparently, Paul tried to rescue a couple of underage patrons from a group of vampires. Not only was he overwhelmed, but he ran out of ammo. Olivia was too busy working on the alpha wolf while Shawn had been on the other side of the club beating back his own vamp problem. Olivia fought back unshed tears; her heart shaped face flushed beet red with anger.
“He’s turning man!” She screamed in panic. “Oh God not Paul!”
“If we can get him to the Vatican in time he just might have a chance,” Congo replied as calmly as possible, unsure if he believed his own words.
They hurried outside, shooting at anything without a pulse in range when they found Archer standing just a few yards away from an entity that had bulked up in size preparing to fight. In front of him lay the now deceased young Guardian Stefan, with Halo sobbing over his body. The entity quickly turned to greet the new additions to the party, flashing one of the longest sets of incisors Congo had ever seen. This was indeed the Master. Something had drawn him out to play.
Archer, Congo, Olivia, and Halo surrounded the entity with Shawn discreetly guiding Paul to the car.
“You hide the girl,” The vampire stated confidently. His once neon green eyes a deep crimson. “Give her to me or your entire team dies.”
“Fuck you!” Archer spat as he shot a silver tipped arrow directly at the entity’s chest.
The other Guardians followed suit and the master dodged all of their attempts effortlessly. He shifted into mist, reappearing in solid form in front of Halo. Archer, using his skills in marital arts flung silver coated death stars that slammed the master in various sections of his chest. However, that was not enough to stop the entity. He snatched Halo by the neck and disappeared. The team of Guardians lost it, shooting everything they had into the vapor.
Halo was gone. Stefan was gone. And if they didn’t Paul back to the Vatican in time, he would be too. Archer cursed and kicked over trash bin, while Olivia fell to her knees and wailed. They had indeed been set up, and Archer as head Guardian could not rest with the fact that he had been overconfident in his strategy. Every Master differed in strength and ability depending on the age and the strength of the vampire that made them. This particular Master was perhaps much stronger than the ones he encountered previously. He should have taken more Guardians and left the two newbies at The Academy.
None of the remaining Guardians spoke as each headed towards their separate vehicles: with Shawn and Olivia riding with Paul. The procedure would be for the team to transport a wounded Guardian to a local cathedral where a specially trained priest would use every blessed ritual including the usage of holistic medicines to rid the Guardian of the toxins that threatened his or her humanity. Archer knew there would be at least 50/50 chance that Paul would survive. He needed to make it through the first three days without the blood hunger before the Vatican could exhale in relief.
But that, unfortunately, was the least of their problems. The Master was still alive and Halo would more than likely join his harem of lair mates, which meant that they would have to put her down too. Archer shook his head. And Sanaya…that may be the reason why Tia called.
Chapter Nine
Sanaya awakened to the sounds of Archer’s fervent whispers in the front room. Maya was still unconscious, gripping her pillow and Tia must have stepped out. She sat up, shoving the blankets out of her way, the memories from last night’s experience flooding into her awareness. Panic threatened to reveal itself as she expanded her senses into the front room, desperate to discover what happened. What the vampire threatened was real and if Archer was here in the other room, speaking to Eve in hushed tones, she had more than enough reason to believe that last night did not go exactly as planned.
“Halo…” she heard him say, his voice cracking. “The fucker just snatched her and vanished. And, it was entirely my fault. She was in my charge. I should have-“
“Don’t think like that Archer,” Eve soothed. “Don’t. She made her choice when she overheard you discussing the opportunity. We all make a choice each time we go out into the field. It is our job-“
“And then Paul man…Paul and I finished training together. He had just as much experience as me when they got him. I should have taken more Guardians! Our team was too small…now, the man is fighting for his life and from the looks of it, and he won’t survive the next three days. We were too late…”
Sanaya had never heard her Guardian ward sound so defeated. He was always confident, strutting around like the entire universe was in the palm of his hands. She covered her mouth with her hand to prevent the sob that threatened to reveal her presence. But the fact remained that two and perhaps three Guardians were dead, all because of her. No wonder her peers hated her. They knew that seven of them will be the unfortunate chosen to join in her quest against the Darkness which would mean she would be sentencing them to death. She had to do something. The next time the vampire met her in her dreams she would be ready for him. She would put an end to this, and then, she was leaving the Academy.
She moved away from the door and to the bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Class would begin in an hour, and she was certain that she and Maya would be escorted by a full Guardian team on top of having to deal with Archer being all over their case for every little thing. She took out her wide tooth comb and made an angled part in the front section of her hair, and smoothing it down with the gel she had to have specially ordered from the states before piling t
he rest of her hair back in a bun. She could sense Maya awakening, which prompted her to hurry. She threw on a pair of black denim and a navy blue top, still unable to shake the anxiety that crept into her psyche.
When she finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed and anxious to go, Maya was sitting up, stretching out her arms, yawning deeply. Neither said a word to each other as Maya took her place in the bathroom, to which Sanaya was grateful. There was just too much to think about, and the images of last night’s nightmare permeated her senses. She could still smell the vampire’s foul breath as he pressed his cold hard body against hers demanding entry. She shuddered. The vampire’s will revealed itself to be strong, powerful even. She swallowed thickly, mentally vowing to strengthen her own will. Besides, losing her virginity to a master vampire, a blood sucking demon; a curse upon mankind was not something she planned on doing. Ever. And she definitely was not about to be pressured into something she wasn’t ready for, no matter how pretty the package.
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