by Dylan Keefer
He grunted and forced them open. There was no light. In fact, it was mostly darkness. It was a cold, brick room with a single chair and a desk. The only light came from the cracks in the door on the opposite side of the room, and it was barely enough for him to see. But he did see what his predicament was. His wrists were bound together, and he was chained to a post in the ceiling. His ankles were also bound together. He was bare foot and his feet were so white that they almost glowed. There was a steady and slow drip behind him, and he couldn’t tell if there was something dripping or leaking from around him.
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
Larent jerked a little as much as his body would allow. “Wh-who are you? Where am I?” His voice sounded so weak and dry. His mouth could barely open. “What have you done to me?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” the voice repeated. Larent groaned. He did remember being in Boyle’s house and fighting the man. He remembered others coming in and pulling him away. He remembered darkness.
“I should have died,” was all he could get out.
“You’re right. You should have. And you’re probably going to wish that you had,” the voice said. “Larent, you are being kept alive. Barely. Enough blood is being feed into your body to keep you functioning enough—to keep your brain functioning enough. We need your brain, but we don’t need the rest of you. So, as long as you do what I ask, I will make sure that you don’t die. Okay?”
Larent’s eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, but he could still not see where the voice was coming from. “Okay,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”
There were footsteps from behind him, and a tall snow-white man stood before him. His eyes were blood red, and his fangs were out. His jaw trembled with ferocity.
“I want you to help us find Mei.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The fire crackled under the starry sky. Most of the colony was slowly retiring for the night. The girl lay on the grass while the woman hummed a beautifully soothing melody and tended to mending some clothes.
“You should be heading to bed, child,” the woman said breaking the song for a moment. “You’ve been spending too much time with me tonight anyways. You have to be bored.”
“I’m not,” the girl said. She pointed to the big patch of dirt closer to the small house. “I’ve been drawing. I just wish I could keep my drawings.”
“You don’t want to go out and play with the other kids? You always come here after school, and,” the woman smiled. “I’m not sure that Serge is happy with it.”
“He likes you,” the girl said. “He says as long as I stay out of trouble, I’m okay hanging out here.”
“Well, you are not one to get into trouble now that you are off that boat, Mei.”
Mei nodded as she sat up on her elbows and watched the woman work. Her stare was felt, and the woman raised an eyebrow. “What’s on your mind, child?”
“Nothing,” Mei said. The woman looked up with suspicion. “Okay, so, maybe there is something. You knew my parents, right?”
The woman frowned, but nodded. “I did, Mei. Why are you asking?”
“Serge won’t tell me much. For as long as I’ve known, I’ve just had him. He’s been like a father to me, but he’s always so—protective.”
“Because he is a father to you,” the woman said. “Trust me, Mei. He loves you. That’s all you need.”
Mei hugged her knees to her chest. “But I’m different. Everyone else in the settlement looks at me differently. Why?”
The woman sat up straight and motioned for Mei to come to her. The girl sat next to the woman who put down the material in her hands. “You are different, Mei. But different isn’t bad. Many people don’t understand that.” She looked around as if trying to see if anyone else was in the area. All was quiet except for the natural noises of the night. The woman smiled at Mei and pointed to the fire. The girl watched as her hand waived towards the flame. It lowered and slowly disappeared until all that could be seen were the coals. “A lot of people see the fire, and they think that the fire is what is really hot. It is hot. If you stick your hand in the flame, you will burn your hand. But what many don’t think about it what is underneath the flame; the coals that are keeping the fire burning and fueled. When the flames die, the heat lives in the coals. People won’t always see the deeper part of you, Mei. But what is inside of you makes you special. Who you are makes you special. It fuels everything that people do see.”
She waived her hand again, and the flame returned. Mei’s eyes widened. “How did you do that?” She gasped.
The woman laughed as she grabbed her work again. “I’m a little different, too. Now, go to bed.”
The car door opening woke her up. Mei sat up quickly. Her heart pounded. Her fangs were out. Madi climbed into the passenger’s seat and slammed the door. She held a thin box in her hands as she and Clayton both turned to look behind them.
“Mei, are you okay?” Clayton asked. He looked mildly concerned, but he had seen her go through these visions for a while now. She nodded.
“I’m fine,” she leaned her head back against the seat. “It’s just that these visions have been getting stronger. More in depth.”
“You need to drink some more of the blood that we picked up for you,” he nodded to the bottle next to her on the seat. She grabbed it but didn’t open it.
“They’re getting stronger and that’s a good thing,” she said. “I feel like I’m getting closer to understanding everything.”
Clayton frowned, but she reached out to grab his shoulder. “I just want you to be safe. We know that the Dominion will come after you, but we don’t know if they know you’re here. We don’t know what Larent will say and do if he’s tortured by them. We don’t know a lot of things.” He reached up to grab her hand. “All I know is that--that I care about you.”
Mei smiled faintly. She cared about him, too. Yet, she spent the night in Madi’s arms. Clayton made her feel safe and protected. Madi drove her wild and made her heart race to the point of exploding. Comfort vs. Intense passion.
The door opened again, and Madi climbed in with a small box in her hand.
“You’re awake,” she smiled at Mei. Smile. Not something she did often.
“Yeah, after a powerful vision.”
“Tell us about it,” Madi said reaching back with the box. “And have a donut. Trust me, I got all of the best ones.”
Mei opened the box and stared at the sugary snacks. “What are they?”
“It’s a donut,” Madi sighed. “doughy, sugary, and not healthy.”
Mei picked a suspicious looking one with a strange glaze on top of it and took a bite. Her eyes widened as she hadn’t expected anything to be inside of the donut. Madi laughed as chocolate oozed from the sides of the vampire’s mouth.
“Wow,” Mei said shoving more of it in her mouth. “How many did you get?”
“Look what you did,” Clayton clucked his tongue at Madi. “She’s addicted.”
“You had better get yours now then.” Clayton grabbed two and put one on his lap as he drove.
“So, what have we pieced together?” Madi asked in general.
“I was the child of a Dominion vampire and a human girl. The Dominion must have wanted me dead. Somehow, Serge became my protector and guardian. He brought me over to America, and on that boat, was one of your ancestors, and I’m pretty sure she had powers, too.”
“You begged Serge to turn a boy who was burned at the stake,” Clayton said. “You had to kill someone who was hunting you, and that’s when your vampire side was awakened.”
“The Salem witch trials happened seventy years after the Pilgrims landed in America, so we are going to assume that you came here around then,” Madi said. “Which would make sense because I believe my great, great—too many greats—Aunt on my mom’s side, arrived in America from England.”
“And because the Dominion were after me, someone—possibly Serge—handed
me off to the Davenport’s ancestors for safe keeping until I woke up.”
Madi took a bite of her donut and shook her head. “I can’t promise anything, but we will see what we can dig up from my family.” She chewed thoughtfully, and Mei knew that she was trying to pretend like it wasn’t a big deal, but she did not want to see her family again. Mei didn’t want to pressure her to talk about it anymore than that had to, and they were going to have to since they were now only a little way away from where they needed to be. They hadn’t talked about it the night before, and Mei also wondered if that was something the girl was pretending to ignore.
Whatever Mei was expecting to see when they arrived to Madi’s home, she wasn’t expecting what she did see. The highways turned into the small roads that led through the city and out to small town life. It was quaint and beautiful. Then as they drove along the coast, Mei started to feel strange. All of this was somewhat familiar. She rested her arm on the edge of the open window and smelled the air as they passed by houses along the road.
“Here it is.” Madi said. They pulled into the driveway of a cottage-style house that overlooked the coast. It’s white and teal colors made it seem bright and happy. Mei smiled as she could picture Madi as a child running off the front porch and down the street into the sunset. This place made her think of warm family times and laughter at inside jokes and…
“Don’t do that.” Mei turned to Madi with a question in her eyes as the girl looked at her solemnly. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re imagining something that never happened. There weren’t any fond memories here. Only sad ones.”
The three of them stepped out of the car. As soon as they started up to the porch, the front door opened to the house. A tall man with a goatee and glasses stepped up to the edge of the top step on the porch with his arms crossed. The scowl on his brow made his skinny frame seem more formidable.
“You don’t get to come up here and surprise us like this,” he snapped at Madi. She didn’t seem to take offense and kept walking forward.
“Not here to stay long, Lucas. I just want to speak to mom for a few minutes and grab something. Then I’ll be gone.”
Still ignoring Clayton and Mei, Lucas reached out to either side of him and grabbed a porch post. “What makes you think that she wants to see you?”
Madi walked up the steps until she was inches away from her brother. He towered over her, but that didn’t seem to matter. “Why don’t you give her a chance to send me away? Then you can go back to living life as her favorite child.”
Mei and Clayton watched the tension build from a few feet back. Madi’s fingers flexed rapidly, and it was obvious that she was trying not to use her powers on him. Just then, a woman appeared in the front door. Too young to be Madi’s mom, Mei assumed it was Lucas’ wife. Madi mentioned that her step-brother and his wife lived nearby and took care of their mother. The equally thin, but small blonde walked up from behind her husband and put her hands around one of the arms blocking Madi. She removed it and pulled him aside.
“Madi, come on in, and bring your friends.” Lucas looked down at his wife, but she gave him a look that said it wasn’t up for discussion. Madi’s body relaxed, and she looked back at them.
“This is Clayton and— Mei.” There was a small pause when she said Mei’s name, and Mei wasn’t exactly sure why.
They walked passed Lucas who did not extend an invitation and return the warm smile that his wife gave. “My name is Laura, and please forgive them.”
“Thanks for welcoming us in,” Clayton nodded his head. The inside of the house had a lot of light streaming through the windows around the perimeter of the front. Old wooden floors creaked as they walked across, and a cat meowed from the staircase that they passed by; its head tilted in curiosity at the newcomers.
“She’s in the day room by the bay window,” Lucas said with his voice a little less gruffy. “She saw you pull into the driveway.”
They followed Madi through the kitchen and into a small room filled with sunlight shedding its light over chairs and tables organized for community. Madi’s mother sat in her wheelchair with a big smile on her face. Gray hair trying to make its appearance on a young-looking face, Madi’s mother was very beautiful. Kind eyes peered through a few wrinkles of pale skin. She reached out her hand as her daughter approached.
“Child, you never cease to amaze me.”
Madi walked closer hesitantly and let her mother grab her hand. Mei assumed that there would be anger and resentment the way that Lucas had acted, but there was only a desire to understand.
“How are you doing?” Madi asked still stiff-figured.
“I’m alive and well.” The woman looked past her daughter at the two strangers and raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve brought friends,” she smiled at them, and then looked strangely concerned. Her eyes felt like they were peering into Mei’s soul. “The Princess.”
Madi looked back at Mei. Clayton nudged her. “I think she’s talking about you, Mei.”
“I’m no princess,” Mei whispered.
“Mom, this is Mei and Clayton. We’ve come here fo…”
“I know why you’ve come,” her mother said. She dropped her daughter’s hand and rolled her wheelchair across the floor to them. She stopped in front of Mei. “My name is Olivia O’Henry, and I know who you are.”
CHAPTER ONE
What’s a good song to sing that I haven’t sung already? There weren’t any coming to his mind. In fact, he really didn’t want to sing. Larent wasn’t sure why he thought that would be a good idea. Maybe there is a game that I can play with myself. Like how to get out of these stupid chains! Larent tried to violently shake himself free, but he had no energy. Energy had left him a long time a long time ago.
True to his word, his captor did exactly what he said he would do. Gregory. From the few interactions that he had with the beast, the vampire was arrogant, entitled, and dangerous. No doubt he was Dominion. Larent had told Gregory that he didn’t know where Mei was, and even if he did, he wouldn’t tell anyone. Gregory had laughed at that and easily cracked several of Larent’s bones in his left side. The pain had made him pass out and was an unwelcome hello when he woke up. Gregory had shown up after that asking again. This time, he added another request.
“I want you to tell us everything about your research.” Gregory stood in front of him with a full suit on, and a tie laying over a freshly starched shirt. His eyes stared deep into Larent’s as if trying to see into his very soul. To Larent, it looked like his eyes had turned completely black.
“Not going to happen,” Larent grunted. “You aren’t getting anything out of me.”
“Damn!” Gregory turned away. He was trying to compel me. Whatever Madi gave us at the hotel before we left worked. Thank God.
“Okay, that’s fine,” Gregory sighed. He stepped behind Larent who hung from chains from the ceiling. “I just want to let you know that I’m the nice one. I really am.”
Larent felt the impact on his shoulder blade and immediately went out again. The pain that he woke up to after that was almost mocking him. Somehow, he wondered if Clayton had gotten back to the girls and if they were looking for him. Probably not. He was expendable. He did what he wanted to do. He wanted to save that mother and her children. That was what mattered.
The door to the dank room opened. Her face was innocent and pure. She was beautiful. Her eyes peered at him as she walked closer to him. Her hair hung down past her shoulders to the small of her back. Larent watched her carefully as she circled around him as he hung there.
“Are you okay?” She asked with some genuine concern. Larent didn’t answer. This had to be some trap. Send a beautiful girl inside his room to make him talk. “No one sent me, and I’m not here to make you talk.”
Larent’s eyes widened. How did…wait, you can read my mind. She smiled slightly.
“No, I can’t read your mind. I don’t have to. I am very good at perceiving someone’s emotions. But don’t w
orry. I’m not here to hurt you.” She looked him up and down. “You are lucky. Gregory was nice to you.”
“Nice? This is nice?” Larent groaned out loud forgetting his determination not to talk. She nodded. Her eyes smiled in a mischievous way.
“My name is Nya. And you’re Larent?” Again, he didn’t respond. She pouted her lips as she stopped in front of him. She took a few steps forward slowly and touched his hurt side. Larent winced in pain. “I really don’t want to see you in pain. You look like such a nice person, and I think you could use a friend in here. I’d hate to see you in any more pain--Larent.”
“She--uh--says as she causes me pain with her grip,” Larent grunted. Nya removed her hand and placed both hands behind her back. She nodded.
“You’re right. You’re right. I just--I’m trying to help you here, and you aren’t being nice either. I came here to give you a gift. Are you ready?” Larent wondered what was going on. Nya took her arm and brought it to her mouth. Larent heard her teeth pierce her flesh. Blood poured from the sides of her mouth. She lifted her arm to his mouth. “Drink.”
“Your blood? Are you crazy?”
“It will help you heal. I can’t give you a lot because Gregory will know, and he will take it out on you. I can’t stand to see you in pain though. It will provide you with some relief.”
Larent looked at the wound. He couldn’t believe he was about to do what she was asking. He brought his lips to her arm and started to drink the blood. It tasted like blood. Metallic. Nauseating. But he immediately started to feel the effects of its power. He began to drink greedily. She watched curiously as he did for a moment
“There you go,” she said softly. “It’s kinda hot watching you drink knowing you crave my blood.” Larent looked up at her as she pulled the arm away. “Enough though. Can’t have Gregory too suspicious. He’ll be back soon.”
