by Marian Tee
“Rather, you’re just a girl who may be clinging too hard to the illusion of love.”
I take it back, I thought. I hope Rhapsody fails.
~~~~
An entire resort, exclusive to otherworlders, had been reserved by LSL for the trip. This was necessary since each student was provided her own room. Sharing was not an option, for there was always a chance a Master might drop by and require privacy for feeding.
It was nine in the morning when we finished with breakfast and the professors had us boarding the buses again. Our first stop was the public hospital. It was located in the old district of Key Moarte and was one of the many abandoned buildings that made up the key’s ghost town. It was also Elsa’s birthplace, and that was the reason why we were visiting it.
Glancing outside my window, I had to shield my eyes from the sun, which seemed to burn more brightly than usual.
As the driver steered the bus into its parking slot, the professor with us came to her feet and clapped her hands to call for our attention. “Listen well, ladies. Once we reach the hospital, I want you girls to note down all your observations. If you are one of the more sensitive types, I caution you against touching anything if you do not wish to have any unwanted glimpses into Elsa’s past.”
The professor smiled, revealing her fangs, and I flinched. She had such a gentle manner, such an unassuming face, that I had forgotten she was only pretending to be harmless.
I glanced outside the window again, and the hospital where Elsa had been born stared back at me, a sad, decrepit building with broken windows, unhinged doors, and long, spindly cracks that spread across its façade like black veins.
Just a harmless old building, but this time I wasn’t fooled.
Rhapsody was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs leading to the hospital entrance. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I grimaced. “Not yet.”
She blinked. “Pardon?”
I shook my head, mumbling, “Nothing.” We’d be doomed if I ended up scaring Rhapsody, too, with her paranoia. We’d never get anything done if so.
“You’re a little red in the face, too,” she noted. “Are you sure you’re fine? You’re not suffering from heat stroke?”
I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my handkerchief. Thank God we weren’t required to wear our school jackets for the trip or I really might pass out from heat exhaustion. “I’m okay,” I told Rhapsody. “Let’s go?”
Rhapsody nodded. We ascended the stairs side by side, and I frowned when I caught a glimpse of the vandalized walls in the hospital’s lobby.
ELSA. The letters on the wall were spray-painted in orange.
Rhapsody paused at the doorway when she saw me frozen on the third step. The other students filed past her, most of them chatting noisily while the others were busy taking photos and peering at their haunted surroundings through the zoomed lenses of their cameras.
“Lady Zari?”
I started to feel faint. Oh no, not here, not now—
Someone bumped me from behind, causing me to lose my balance.
I started to sway.
It was the last sign.
I started to see.
~~~~
Heat. Such scorching heat, burning my skin like the sun was next to me.
Orange. Everywhere was orange.
Swaying. It was hungry and uncontrollable, dancing like…a flame.
FIRE.
I screamed in my mind as my vision burst into life.
La Scala Legaturia was burning in the distance.
I sank to my knees. Sobs of guilt tore out of me.
Katarina was in front of me. Crying. Burning. Dying.
Noooooooo—
I reached out to her, but the flames kept me away.
This was all my fault, all my fault, all my fault.
Chapter Two
ALEXANDRU
“This is not like any demon we have dealt with.”
Alexandru couldn’t count the number of times he had heard that line before, and yet every time it was uttered, it proved to be true. It was as if Hell had nothing to do but birth demon spawn one after another, and they always came out more evil than the last one.
“We don’t know what it looks like, but we’ve seen enough of its victims.” In front of him, Sir Richard clicked on the pointer for the next slide to show up on the wall, revealing human corpses whose eyes were gouged out, ears torn from their heads, and their tongues ground into pieces. But the worst thing about it was that these wounds were not mortal, and autopsy reports had showed that they had been made to suffer the pain until they had finally bled to death.
The human enforcers in their midst looked fit to throw up. Beside him, he heard Lord Erou suck in a deep breath in reaction, which didn’t surprise him. The baby vampire’s experience with human warfare might be considerable, but humans could never be as evil as demons.
On his other side, Katarina was still and silent, a figure from the most buried part of his past. Even though a month had already passed since she had come to work in LSL, Alexandru was still unable to unbend in her presence.
Once, he had thought he would be the happiest person alive if he were ever to be with her again. But now that she was here?
Even just thinking about it didn’t feel right, and Alexandru forcibly shoved all such thoughts to the back of his mind. There would be time enough for it later.
His gaze returned to the images on the wall. Every death was a game to these demons, a way to taunt those who wanted to banish them back to the underworld. And always, even without meaning to, they would leave behind a clue because that was how demons were. Arrogant and believing they were as perfect as God.
“Based on the data we’ve gathered, we’ve come to the conclusion that this demon is relatively young and needs to feed every week.”
Young, which meant it had only seen its first century on Earth. Young, which meant it might even be under the command of one knowledgeable in the black arts. Young, which meant it had something to prove and thus was willing to go where the older demons wouldn’t dare.
Alexandru looked at the images again, rearranging them in his mind like puzzle pieces until it all came together. Finally, the demon’s message became clear, and he murmured, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” The passage was supposed to be a moral lesson, but trust the demon to have twisted it into something evil.
Everyone turned towards Alexandru.
“The wounds symbolize it,” Alexandru elaborated. He walked forward and tapped the victim’s missing eyes, ears, and tongue.
Lord Erou’s eyes widened in realization. “Guilt.” He glanced at the vampire hunter with grudging admiration. Such an angle would never have occurred to him. The only thing he had gleaned from the photos was that the demon was another sadistic creature, but so was the rest of its race.
Alexandru nodded. “It’s targeting humans burdened by guilt.”
“And I suppose the heavier the burden, the stronger the demon becomes,” Katarina murmured. “The question is – why would it come here? Key West isn’t exactly in the running to be the next Sin City.”
A frown settled on Sir Richard’s round face. “You are saying the demon has deliberately chosen this place then?”
“I think it’s the only plausible explanation. It wants something, and it doesn’t care about the consequences of its actions to have what it wants.” She gestured to the photos. “The more corpses humans have to analyze, the closer they will be to figuring out the truth. It’s only a matter of time before they exhaust all human angles and start thinking about the non-human ones. About the possibility that we exist.”
“Then what do you propose?” one of the enforcers asked. “We figure out what it wants and if it’s worth giving up, then we strike a compromise and let the demon have it?”
Katarina paled. “No, of course not.” She glanced at Alexandru, and the cold light in his emerald green eyes made her swallow.
�
��Then what are you suggesting?” another enforcer demanded.
Before she could answer, Alexandru said, “I would like to know the same thing as well.” Alexandru faced her fully. “And I hope you speak plainly this time, hunter.”
He saw Katarina flinch, but his frigid gaze on her didn’t ease. This woman might have once owned his heart – might even own it still – but that did not mean he would let her speak ill of his pet. Ever.
“Alexandru, I—” She started to reach for him, but her hand slowly fell back to her side when she felt it.
Everyone felt it.
The air in the headmaster’s room, dropping to sub-zero temperatures—
“If you believe my pet is to blame…” Alexandru’s voice was velvety soft, almost musical. “Then say so.”
Katarina paled.
She had heard that tone innumerable times before, but he had never used it with her, and she had never thought he would because when Alexandru had used it in the past, it was always just before he killed.
“I’m sorry.” Fear had her speaking between stiff lips.
“Calm down, my friend.” The headmaster’s voice was quiet. “I’m sure Katarina did not mean any such thing.” As he spoke, puffs of cold air came out of his mouth.
Alexandru started to speak, and Katarina held her breath while tension gripped the rest of the room’s occupants, all of them vigilant as they waited to see if Alexandru would snap.
No words came from Alexandru.
Her heart beating madly, she mustered the courage to look at him.
Oh.
Alexandru’s eyes were closed, his lips tightly compressed. She knew immediately that he was no longer with them, with a part of his mind locked with his pet through the blood bond they shared.
When his eyes opened again, fury swirled in its green depths. “I must go. My pet needs me.”^^
And then he was gone, his powers fully unleashed, its impact like a torrent of wind that left the humans falling to their knees with dazed expressions on their faces.
Katarina only had a moment’s hesitation before a rare sense of impulsiveness seized her.
She followed him, tracking Alexandru by his scent. It was the only way since Alexandru was moving too fast, making it impossible for Katarina to keep him in sight.
When he slowed down, she slowed down, too, and Katarina realized that they were at Key Moarte. She remembered then that today was the scheduled trip—
A scream spilled past her lips as fingers came out of nowhere, encircling her wrist and whipping her back. She stumbled to a stop and she screamed again in shock, this time upon finding Alexandru looming before her, with nothing to shield her from his powerful aura.
Leave now if all you have come for is to cause trouble.
Alexandru’s menacingly soft tone in her mind made Katarina shudder. It was like hearing a stranger speak, a terrifyingly volatile stranger and not like a man who had once loved her more than anything else in the world.
I come in peace, Alexandru. She dropped to her knees. It wasn’t just a sign of respect, it was also to acknowledge that he was the brother of the marquis and thus he, too, ruled over their kind.
She said in her mind, I am a healer, Alexandru, and your pet may need my help.
Silence, vicious and taunting, as if Alexandru was weighing how much he wanted her alive—
Her name is Zari, hunter, and I will not forgive you again if you ever speak ill of her.
Katarina bowed her head. Yes, milord.
She knew then he was no longer the Alexandru she loved, no longer the Alexandru who had loved her. But even so, she would not give up.
Chapter Three
ZARI
It had only been minutes since I came back to the hotel room when I felt the door open behind me, followed by a cool blast of wind coming from the outside. Since I knew air-conditioning units couldn’t walk, I had a pretty good idea what caused it.
“Master.” I turned around, and it really was Alexandru.
He came to me wordlessly, cupping my face and looking into my eyes. His touch made me tremble, and I stayed still as he ran his hands over my body, searching for any sign of injuries.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t want him to worry.
His gaze returned to my face, and I realized that my reassurance hadn’t done any good. I could feel his hands shaking. “You were burning,” he bit out. “I could feel it, even though I didn’t see your vision—”
Good, I thought numbly. Because he was the last person I wanted to know about my vision.
Shaking my head at his words, I cut him off, saying, “I was just…hot.” It was supposed to be a quip, but it fell awkward between us and when his gaze narrowed, I immediately looked away.
“What did you see, pet?”
I didn’t answer.
He cupped my face again, forcing me to look at him. “Zari…”
“I can’t.” The words were torn out from me, and suddenly I could see it again.
The school was burning...
Katarina was dying…
Guilt flamed into life, a fire that didn’t just burn me but crushed me under its weight, nearly bringing me down to my knees.
Oh God, had it all happened because unrequited love had turned me into a selfish and vindictive bitch?
“Just tell me this, and don’t fucking lie,” Alexandru said in a hard voice. “Were you in danger in your vision?”
Biting my lip to stop it from trembling, I shook my head slowly and watched my Master’s powerful body relax at my answer.
A sob rose to my throat, but I forced it back down.
If only.
If only it could be me—
Someone knocked on the door, and Alexandru stiffened, making me look at him in surprise. “What is—”
“May I come in?”
I paled.
Katarina was here?
“She came with you?” The words came out of my mouth in a hiss. “You’ve been with her all the time?” In the back of my mind, I knew that I was acting out like a kid, knew that the anger was my defense against the guilt.
Alexandru’s handsome face had turned rigid. “You know I’ve been in a meeting. Read my mind if you will. I’m not lying—”
“Why is she here?” I was shouting now. Outside, Katarina had fallen silent but we both knew that she was still standing there, hearing everything that was going on. The whole school may be outside for all I knew, but I couldn’t seem to make myself care.
I just wanted to be mad.
I wanted him to be mad.
So damn mad that he would punish me the way I deserved.
It was better than having him find out the shameful truth.
“What’s gotten into you?” Alexandru demanded. “You are not being your usual self—”
“And that’s what? Someone who just stands aside every time she calls for you?”
“You know it’s not like that.” Alexandru gripped my shoulders almost as if he was prepared to shake some sense into me. “All this time, you know I’ve been avoiding—”
“Really?” I let out a hollow laugh. “You’ve been avoiding her? Oh, that’s rich,” I spat. “You may be trying to avoid her, but we both know you weren’t really trying too hard—”
“Stop this.” A muscle started ticking in his jaw.
“No!” I shook my head wildly. “I want to hear you say it—”
The door opened behind us, and Katarina appeared in the doorway, a troubled look on her oh-so-lovely face.
Emotions warred inside of me.
Jealousy, bitterness, even hatred, but most of all there was guilt, and it made me want to scratch her eyes out, just so she wouldn’t accidentally see the truth in mine.
The thought left me paralyzed with shock.
Oh God, when had I become this evil?
“I’m sorry for intruding.” Katarina closed the door behind her. “But I thought you two should calm down—”
She thought we should calm down?
Who cared about what she thought? She wasn’t part of this—
I shut that line of thought down, but the effort left me shaking.
Why was I so vindictive? Evil? Bitchy? Why?
“I’m going.” I wrenched myself out of Alexandru’s hold. I had to leave before either of them realized how low I’d sunk.
I only managed a few steps before he spun me back around. “Where are you going?”
“Somewhere, anywhere I won’t have to see you.”
He froze. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
“Why do you even have to ask?” I was screaming again. I was losing it, and the more he kept me with him, the more I’d lose it until I was nothing but an empty shell, a being made soulless by my guilt.
“Zari—”
“Let go of me! You want to be with her, don’t you? So be with her—”
“I never said—”
“But you’re always with her—”
“Because you keep pushing me away!” This time, Alexandru had shouted, too.
The vampire hunter who was legendary for never losing his control, for always being so beautifully mannered, for never letting his temper get the best of him—
I whitened at the realization that I was the only one who had made him this way. Mortification flooded me as the knowledge that everyone who had heard us would have known the same thing, too.
Alexandru was pale, too. “Zari, I—”
I spun away.
There was nothing he could say that would change the truth.
This time, he didn’t stop me.
~~~~
Moping was something I had become really good at in the past months. I had the art of isolating one’s self down pat, with people generally steering clear once they had taken a good look at my face.
I had also developed a sixth sense for the best places to drown in self-pity, and at the resort I found it in the remotest part of the beach, a tiny strip of sand hidden behind the woods.
It was restful here, if not a little creepy. I would have been terrified if I hadn’t felt my Master’s presence in my mind, the blood bond between us giving me a sense of safety. It sucked, but it was the truth. I probably wouldn’t even have thought of venturing here if I wasn’t so sure Alexandru could be by my side in a second if I needed him to be.
