The New Queen Rises

by Dawn Gray

  That night, at eight o'clock, I stepped out of the house dressed in black. My black turtleneck clung to my top while the tight black jeans hugged the rest of me. I wore black boots, but they made no noise as they touched the floor, and I pulled on my thigh-length black leather coat. My hair was down and my eyes seemed to be glowing silver in the light.

  Michael stepped up to me and looked me in the face. "You look like pure evil."

  "I feel it, it grows in my heart," I whispered to him, strong but in a pleading sense, wanting it to stop, but also planning to use it as a weapon.

  "Are you ready for this?" He questioned me. I shook my head, and then walked down to the car. "Are you sure you don't want Quinn and Julian to be there?"

  "No," I said and snapped my head around to look at him. "They must not know. Promise me, Mike, that you won't tell them."

  "I can't promise that, Ash. You and I are connected and if you begin to get yourself in trouble, then we're coming to get you," he replied. I smiled at him.

  "Oh, I'll be getting myself into trouble, all right. I'm just not sure about getting out," I replied and walked over to the driver's side door of Michael's Jaguar.

  "Be careful, Ash," he whispered to me, and I smiled as his voice reached my ear.

  "I will," I replied and got into the car. The engine purred like a kitten and I took off down the long, winding driveway that lead to the main road. Victor's Rhode Island house was only an hour away, but that's a long time when you're so anxious to get there.

  I walked up to the front door of his house and felt the power rush at me. I stepped across the threshold and looked around the room as I stood there. People stopped and started to turn to look at me. I smiled inwardly at this, knowing that it was the power that they could feel that they were so curious about. The power that was coming from what they thought was a mere mortal.

  I started to walk through the crowd; they began parting as I stepped by them, like the Red Sea opening up for Moses and his followers, except that I was far from the saint that Moses was. As I drew closer to the center of the room, I felt David close by. I turned to my left and stared directly at his face. He smiled, evilly at me, and then nodded as I walked over.

  "Good evening, David," I said to him, my voice almost an uncaring monotone.

  "So, where are your merry men, Robin Hood?" He asked me sarcastically.

  "At home. You really didn't think that I'd bring them here, did you?" I questioned. He nodded and I smiled. "And risk the possible chance of not being the one to rip out Victor's heart?"

  "You never change, still feeling mighty and powerful." He giggled to himself. "Tell me, Ash, is there any doubts in that feeble mind of yours that you might not walk out of here tonight?"

  "Not once ounce," I said softly and looped my arm through his. "Shall we begin?"

  "By all means," he whispered at me and walked me over to a door. We stepped through, after a rather large man held it opened for us. In this next room, there were almost a dozen people and in the middle of all of them was Victor mingling.

  "Hello," he said and smiled at me as if our past meeting had never occurred. I nodded to him and let go of David. "Did you not bring my fledglings?"

  "No, I decided to leave them at home," I replied.

  "You must have a lot of faith in your God to step into the home of a vampire without your bodyguards," he laughed.

  "My belief in almost any God disappeared the moment they allowed a creature like you to take my son," I replied, straight faced. He nodded and pointed towards a table.

  "Shall we?" He asked. He escorted me to this table and we sat down together. "So, why did you come?"

  "Why did you invite me?"

  "Did you come for your son?"

  "You know the answer to that," I replied and smiled. "Do you really need me to answer it?"

  "No, I guess not." He took the large glass of wine and took a sip of the red liquid. "So, shall we discuss the terms of his surrender?"

  "There are no terms," I replied. He looked at me with interest. "Either you give him back to me peacefully and I spare you the pain of a long death, or you don't and I just take him and you suffer for eternity."

  "Well, now. The question that remains here is, do you feel that you have the power to back up your threats?"

  "I have the power at my disposal, yes."

  "May I see some of this power?"

  "No."

  "And you don't seem to find this an unfair advantage on your part."

  "No. I haven't seen your power; why should I show you mine?" I retorted and stood up. "Are we going to sit here all night and chitchat?"

  "Well, I was finding it quite enjoyable, but if you're so anxious to end your life, I won't wait any longer," he said and snapped his fingers. Two large men grabbed me around my upper arms and I smiled at Victor. "I didn't think that you would walk away so easily."

  "I'm just as anxious about this as you are," I replied to him, and then smiled as the two men dragged me away.

  I was put into a cell and beaten just as I was the last time that I had run into Victor, by the two large men. When they left, I dragged my beaten and bloody body over to the corner of the cell and curled up against the wall. I wanted desperately to close my eyes, to let the pain and the darkness take over, but in the back of my mind there was a small voice. A young child's voice urging me to go on, to stay strong and I knew that it was Jack.

  I turned over and looked at the moon outside my cell window and smiled, thinking about holding my young son again, then I concentrated on the moon and on Michael. I whispered his name and prayed that he heard me.

  I could almost see him when he did, looking up suddenly, from the bloody neck of some young girl that he had lured into his room, probably thinking that I was behind him, whispering in his ear. He would drop the girl, stand up and look around the room, red eyed and drooling from the red liquid still in his mouth. He would realize that he was still alone and he would search his thoughts and find me. When he did, I could feel the emotions raging off from him as my mind whispered bits and pieces of the conversation between Victor and me.

  How bad are you? His sweet voice whispered to me. I laughed at him and then sighed.

  Not as bad as last time, because I can heal, I replied. I felt his growing animosity towards Victor and I smiled to myself.

  I’m telling the others.

  No!

  Why not?

  I don’t want them to get involved, I whispered to him.

  Then, why did you contact me?

  It’s too quiet in here; I had to hear someone yelling at me, I sarcastically replied. He smiled and then touched my mind gently with his and sighed, quite loud mentally.

  We’re coming to get you.

  I asked you not too.

  That doesn’t mean I agreed to it, he whispered at me then broke the connection for a moment and softly spoke to me. If he were my son, would you tell me?

  I was shocked at this, but I knew the reason that he wanted to know. We had never told anyone else about out little affair, except Lauren, and even then after that, I told her that it was all a lie, though I believe that Julian somehow knew.

  If he were your son, Michael, I would have told you to begin with, I replied and then closed my eyes. I hurt, badly. I can’t do this anymore. If you come, you come. If not, then I’ll see you when this is over. I love you.

  I love you, too, Ash, he said softly, and then the connection broke for the rest of the night.

  I watched the sunrise for a split second before I scurried the best I could to the other side of the cell, away from the rays, then I slowly watched the hours pass with the position of the sun in the sky. As twilight approached, the door opened and large man half-dragged me out of the cell by my arms. I was still weak, still healing, and I had no way to defend myself.

  He brought me up this long corridor and then outside to the yard. In the middle of this was a large bonfire, with two poles six feet apart in front of its flames.


  This man brought me to these poles and grabbed the ropes that hung from them. He put one around each wrist and tightened it, then walked over and turned a lever that pulled the rope tightly, stretching out my arms so that I had no choice but to stand. This is where I stood for two hours before I heard the voices begin to surround me. I opened my eyes and looked at the growing number of people here. Amongst the crowd, I could feel familiar people, they're energies seemed to flow to me, but no one else seemed to notice.

  I would let this distract me, for I had somewhat thought of a plan. I watched as Victor walked out, dressed in his usual black attire, and then was followed closely by my husband and David. Victor walked up to me and grabbed me by the chin.

  "Aren't you excited? This is what you've been waiting for." He smiled at me and then I looked into his eyes. He had no idea that I was immortal, or inmortal, in between a vampire and a mortal.

  "I'm ecstatic," I replied and looked deep into the eyes.

  "When this is over, I intend to make you my bride," he whispered to me. I smiled evilly.

  "When this is over, I intend to be burning your heart on the end of a wooden stake," I whispered back at him. He smirked, then nodded and let me go.

  "Fellow vampires, behold!" He said loudly and spun around, like the ringmaster at a circus with his arms open wide. I waited patiently for him to say 'step right up', but it didn't happen. "The hour of our victory is upon us, for tonight, prophecy will be denied. We have, in our grasp, the future of this planet, where vampires will rule with iron fist."

  "We have no need to fear the mortals anymore for their Queen; the bearer of their prince of peace is in our hands." He turned and pointed up at me. I smiled down at him and then looked over at David and Jack. I bowed my head and waited for the moment that I could unleash the anger in my heart. "And, the Prince of the Vampires at our side." I looked up quickly as Victor brought out Jack, who seemed to walk out on his own, as big as a two-year-old boy would be, although he was not even yet a year. His blond hair was long and fell into curls at the back of his neck and his eyes seemed to glow like two silver stars, and when he smiled, I could see his long teeth.

  My son was not the innocent child that I had lost what felt like an eternity ago, but a young toddler with the vengeance of his vampire heritage already well defined in his face. This angered me, the blood began to boil in my veins and the blood haze began to cover my eyes. I lowered my head, waiting for the right time to strike. However clearly I could feel them, the three men in the audience were not high on my list now, and Victor was.

  He went on with his speech, filling their heads with the image of a world run totally by vampires, a world without me in it, for I was the greatest threat, though still thought to be mortal, to their whole existence. He suddenly walked up to me, grabbed me by a handful of my hair and then grasped his fingers around my chin again and made me look up at him.

  He stopped dead sentence, in the middle of whatever it was that he happened to be talking about, as he stared at my bright red eyes in utter shock. This was nothing that he had ever thought would happen; it didn't fit into his plans.

  "I thought you said she had no powers," he yelled to David, who shrugged and looked at Jack, the older one, who seemed just as dumbfounded. Victor looked back at me and smiled. "Well, you shouldn't be too much trouble. You didn't have them last time we met and I'm pretty sure that you aren't that strong, no matter who your sire is."

  "I want my son," I told him, through clenched teeth. He smiled and patted my face.

  "Silly girl, the boy belongs to me," he said back and sneered. "And, so will you."

  "Not highly likely," I replied and tilted my head, looked him directly in the eyes and a smile formed on my lips as a cute little rhyme appeared in my head. "All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel ..." I sang softly to him, but loud enough so that he could hear me. He looked at me oddly.

  "What are you singing?" He questioned and then listened to the sounds of popping that seemed to be going on behind him, in the crowd. That's when the screams started and Victor turned and looked at the others, who seemed to be bursting into flames. He looked at me again, shocked one more time.

  "The monkey jumped out and said with a shout ..." I smiled at him and he slapped me across the face. I bowed my head again then looked up at him with my vampire teeth exposed. Victor backed away. With a very evil snarl and a voice that didn't seem to be my own anymore, I finished the children's rhyme. "Pop goes the weasel."

  Behind me, the bonfire seemed to explode and the fire raged higher and wider. I clenched my fists together, and then brought my arms towards one another, making the rope pop as if they were made of sewing thread. Victor backed away and looked around the crowd.

  "You can't destroy destiny, Victor," I told him sternly. "My parents were vampires and so am I." I stepped forward as he turned and ran. This might be interesting. I stepped back got a few good strides and then jumped off the platform. "There's no use hiding, Victor, I can read your mind. I know where ever you go."

  "Impossible, no vampire alive can do that," Victor said, appearing behind me suddenly when my feet finally touched the ground thirty feet from the platform. I turned and looked at him.

  "No? But, I can," I replied and lashed out at him. Victor ducked and then moved away from me. I smiled at him and lashed out again, this time connecting with his upper chest muscle with the blade that I had grabbed just before he stepped away from me. He looked down at the gash in his flesh then back up at me and glared, evilly, with red eyes.

  Victor attacked me, slicing through my flesh with his claws, leaving me standing there bleeding from a wide slash on my arm. I looked quickly at my arm, and then grabbed a large wooden stick, about eight inches around, flaming at one end, and I dove towards him. His clothes caught on fire first, then, as the stake went through his chest, his hair caught on fire. Victor snarled at me, coming at full force, and then I lashed out with the blade that I still had in my hand and sliced his throat.

  As the red liquid quickly flowed from his body, Victor grabbed a stake of his own and thrust it at me before I could move out of the way. I felt it rip through my skin, deep into my abdomen. He laughed at me and then watched as, with the last of my strength, I sliced his chest again and punched my hand into his chest, breaking ribs as I went through.

  He looked me in the eyes as I withdrew my hand, clenched around his heart. I lifted it to eye level and looked past it at him, and then I tossed in the fire. He screamed as he finally died, then burst into flames.

  I stumbled to the platform once again and looked up only when my name was called. I watched as my husband raced towards me. He grabbed me around the throat and proceeded to squeeze my throat. I gasped for air. Between that and the draining of my blood, my world began to go black. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as David raised a large stake then brought it crashing down on Jack.

  The grip on my throat released and I watched as Jack fell off to the side of me. I lay back on the wooden deck and then looked up at David, who towered over me, his stake still in hand.

  "Do it, you son of a bitch," I told him and wanted him to end it right then and there, but he dropped his stake and wrapped his hands around the one protruding from my chest. I thought for sure that this was it, that he was going to drive it in further, but he set his foot and began to pull at it. Pain lurched through my body and then he stopped. I looked up at him as he looked at me almost defeated and then grabbed the slippery pole myself. "Get this goddamn thing out of me."

  "Hold still," David said again and pulled it quickly. It yanked then came loose. Then he looked at me and then at the pole in his hand. "Hang on, Ash. Don't close your eyes." However, it was already to late, my eyes closed and the darkness took over.

  Two Weeks Later

  I turned and smiled at Quinn, who walked into my room slowly. I moved away from the window I had been looking out and walked up to him.

  "How do you feel?" He asked me, taking my hand
.

  "Odd," I replied. He looked at me confused as I tried to smile.

  "Why?" His dark eyes seemed to hold a secret that he could tell me.

  "The walls in this place whisper to me, they tell me things and it's just odd to hear them," I said and walked over to the chair and sat down by the large bay window. He walked over and stood across from me, against the wall. "You don't have to hide it from me, Quinn."

  "Hide what?" He asked me. I giggled at him and then ran a hand through my hair.

  "Your feelings for Lauren." I smiled. He looked at me, quite shocked, then knelt down on the floor in front of me and took my hands as if he were about to beg for forgiveness. "No, wait, don't say anything."

  "But, I've hurt you," he said and sighed. "I loved you, I still do, but I ..."

  "Stop, right there," I told him and touched his cheek. "We never promised each other anything, we were never really together. We never made that commitment. Quinn, I told you that my love for you was not some childish thing. I told you that it was never going to fade or change and I meant that, but I can't hold on to you just as much as you can't hold on to me. You can't be tied down, not to me, but Lauren ..."

  "I don't know how it happened," Quinn said and sat against the wall. "After we got here, things just began to happen and we were together; always thrown together. One thing led to another," he explained.

  "You don't understand me, Quinn. I don't need an explanation. I can hear it; the voice of the heart is very loud, especially when it's found true love." I smiled at him. "Lauren's is very loud at this very moment."

  "I don't want to hurt you," he said softly. I kissed him on the lips softly.

  "What we had, Quinn, those days, those weeks, was magic, pure, untouchable magic, but I feel that what you're feeling now is much more than that, whether you decide that you want to acknowledge it or not." I smiled at him. He stood and kissed me quite hard on the lips, the pulsating feeling wasn't there, and neither of us felt it. He looked at me as he cracked the door open a bit. "It’s okay, Quinn, really."