Dominion

by Marissa Farrar

  Elizabeth shook her head. “No, Mommy. Look!”

  Serenity followed Elizabeth’s line of sight to the other side of the room. She gasped in shock.

  A body lay crumpled on the floor in the doorway.

  “Oh, God!” Instantly, all drowsiness left her. She scrabbled up and climbed over the back of the couch to grab Elizabeth and place the little girl firmly behind her. The body blocked the only door out of the room. She glanced out of the window and ascertained that dusk had already fallen.

  Sebastian?

  Could he be responsible for the presence of a body in their home? Surely he wouldn’t do such a thing.

  No, but the thing inside him might.

  A hundred questions raced around her head. Where was he now? What should she do? She didn’t want Elizabeth to see any more than she already had.

  “Sit down with your back against the couch,” she told her daughter. “Put your hands over your ears, close your eyes and sing a song, okay? Pretend none of this is happening.”

  “What are you going to do, Mommy?”

  “Never mind. I’m the grownup, so I’ll deal with this. Now do as I tell you.”

  With the corners of her mouth pulled down and tears trembling in her eyes, Elizabeth slid down behind the couch and curled her knees into her chest. She buried her face against her skinny thighs and started to mumble a song Serenity didn’t recognize.

  What the hell was she going to do with a dead body?

  First of all, she needed to see if Sebastian was still in the house. The thought alone made her stomach churn with nerves. What if Sebastian wasn’t Sebastian? What if the demon was in control?

  Serenity moved around the side of the couch, her jaw clenched. She didn’t want to touch the dead man. Perhaps she could just throw something over the top of the body so Elizabeth wouldn’t have to see it close up and then she’d get them the hell out of the house.

  Serenity crept closer to the body. There was something invariably creepy about the dead. Though she knew she was only looking at flesh and blood and bone—that whatever had made him a person no longer existed within the shell—she couldn’t help but be freaked.

  “Mommy!” Elizabeth’s panicked voice came from behind the couch. “Don’t leave me!”

  “I won’t, honey,” she called back. “Just keep singing. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She approached the doorway and glanced down at the body. It had once been a young man, in his early twenties, she guessed. He wore a dirty t-shirt and jeans, painfully thin arms and legs poking out from the holes.

  As she stared, the body moved—a twitching of limbs.

  Serenity froze, her heart in her throat. “Oh, shit.”

  What had Sebastian told her—that after he’d killed, the body had come back? Or had she jumped to conclusions and this man was simply alive?

  The body jerked again.

  “Oh, God,” she moaned. She didn’t want to get any closer to the man, but she needed to know if he was alive or dead.

  “Hey,” she said to the body. She reached out a foot and nudged the man’s leg with her toes. The man didn’t respond. “Are you alive?”

  Serenity felt ridiculous asking the question, as though he would sit up and answer, “No.”

  She needed to check for a pulse. If the man was only hurt and unconscious, he might need help. She took a deep breath and scooted closer, then crouched beside his torso. He lay on his back, his right arm folded over his waist, his left arm splayed out on the floor beside his head.

  Serenity suppressed a groan as she reached out and lifted the arm closest—the one rested on his waist—and pressed two fingers against the inside of his wrist. She held her breath, trying to still her own pounding pulse in order to check for his. Could she feel anything? The man’s skin felt cold—too cold—and slightly clammy against her hand. No beat thumped beneath her fingertips, but she wasn’t even sure if she was checking in the right place.

  She gritted her teeth and carefully replaced his arm. Moving higher up his body, she studied his exposed throat for a sign of a pulse. Two perfectly round puncture wounds marred the skin. The holes appeared to be black in color, though she knew if she dampened them, they’d smear red.

  If the blood still flowed through his body—something Serenity was starting to doubt with every passing second—she couldn’t miss the pulse here. A vampire bit the parts of the body where the blood was carried closest to the surface. Assuming Sebastian to be responsible for what lay before her, she trusted his judgment on that at least.

  Serenity reached out and forced herself to place her fingers on the spot just below the bite. She held her other hand below the man’s nose, trying to feel any warmth of breath.

  Please be alive, she willed. She didn’t want to be looking at a man Sebastian had killed. Through her love for him, she tried to forget about the violence intrinsic in making up the person he was. But in her heart of hearts, she knew the man had already gone. From his cold, clammy skin, to his lack of pulse or breath.

  The man was dead.

  Suddenly, the body jerked and Serenity fell back, stifling a scream. She scrambled backward, pushing with her feet.

  “Elizabeth,” she called out, urgency in her tone. “Elizabeth, come here right now.”

  “But, Mommy—”

  “Right now!”

  Elizabeth’s dark head popped up from behind the couch. Serenity climbed to her feet and ran to her. She picked up her daughter, the little girl’s arms and legs wrapping around Serenity’s neck and waist respectively.

  “Hang on, honey, and don’t look.”

  She’d have to step close to the body. Oh, God, what if he reaches out and grabs my leg?

  Don’t think about it … don’t think about it, she repeated in her head, terrified she would freeze. She needed to get out of the house and get Elizabeth away from the monstrosity.

  Why didn’t I leave with Bridget when I had the chance? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  Serenity clutched Elizabeth’s head against her shoulder, trying to hide the girl’s gaze from the body now jerking on the floor, and approached, giving the thing as wide a circle as possible. She didn’t want to be anywhere near the corpse, but, if she wanted to get out of the house, she didn’t have any choice. She stayed close to the end of the dead man’s feet, skirting around the edges. Thank God for their big house with its wide doorways. If it were a standard-sized doorway, she’d have to climb right over the top of him.

  The body kicked out and Serenity jumped away, holding Elizabeth tight and stifling a scream.

  Just do this!

  Keeping her back to the wall and the doorframe, she edged closer. Only inches of floor space separated them now. Her heart hammered, the sound filling her ears with a frantic beat. She was sure she could smell the corpse on the air, a sweet scent of meat just about to turn.

  Though her legs trembled beneath her, she forced herself on, moving past the body and heading out into the hallway, toward the front door. She made it safely past and breathed a sigh of relief. If she could put their heavy front door between them and the body, she’d feel much better.

  Serenity reached the front door and yanked on the handle and pushed. The door didn’t budge.

  Damn it! She’d used her keys to double deadbolt the door after Bridget left, aware that a vampire out to destroy her family was still on the outside. Why had she even bothered? A locked door couldn’t keep a vampire out, but it could certainly keep a couple of humans and a resurrected dead body in!

  Elizabeth was starting to grow heavy as Serenity held her perched on one hip, carrying her in the same way she had when the little girl had been a toddler. Her weight was starting to take its toll, straining the muscles of the arm wrapped around her daughter.

  “I need to put you down, honey. I need to find the keys.”

  Movement from behind caught her attention and she half-turned to see the dead man start to rise. He slowly sat up, bending at the waist. His eyes were open, rev
ealing burst blood vessels in his pupils, causing his whole gaze to be glaring red.

  Where were the keys?

  Frantic, she looked over at the hall console. Piles of mail, her handbag, a vase of flowers, all cluttered the surface. The keys must be there somewhere!

  The corpse started to get to its feet.

  “Mommy, he’s coming!” Elizabeth cried.

  Serenity hesitated between the corpse, now staggering toward them with uneven, stiff steps, and the missing keys. Even if she managed to get hold of the keys, she’d have to make it back to the door. She’d never get the door unlocked before that thing reached them. By staying where they were, they would be trapped and she had no way of fighting.

  Mind made up, she grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and yanked her away from the door and into the kitchen.

  Serenity spun around and moved backward, pushing Elizabeth behind her as she went. All her instincts were to protect her daughter. She’d fight this thing with her bare hands if she had to.

  She remembered the block of kitchen knives sitting on the work surface.

  “Go and hide behind the refrigerator,” she hissed at Elizabeth. “If that thing keeps coming, run. You’ll be faster than he is. Get upstairs and lock yourself in the bathroom. Got it?”

  Did they stay animate forever? Serenity wondered. No, she was sure Sebastian had told her in the past that it was only for a brief time. Before long, they dropped down as dead as they’d been before. If Elizabeth locked herself in the bathroom, the thing should hopefully collapse into a complete death before long.

  Her heart clenched at the idea of Elizabeth locked away and terrified while this thing hammered on the door. But if something happened to her, she’d rather Elizabeth be alive and scared, than dead.

  She ran to the counter and yanked out the biggest, sharpest knife they had—one saved for carving meat.

  “Close your eyes, Elizabeth,” she yelled at her daughter. “Do you remember your song? Sing it, okay. Put your hands over your ears and sing as loudly as you can.”

  “But, Mommy …”

  “Do it!”

  The dead man staggered toward her, arms outstretched.

  Serenity brandished the knife, the weapon trembling in her grip. “Don’t make me do this. If any part of you is still conscious, please, just stay away!”

  The man kept coming, no understanding of her words in his bloodshot eyes.

  Only a matter of feet separated them now. In a second, he’d have hold of her and then her moment would be lost.

  “No!” she cried as she darted forward, swiping with the knife. The blade caught the man’s right forearm, slicing open his flesh. Blood didn’t spurt as she’d expected, but oozed from the cut. He showed no sign of pain from the wound; didn’t cry out or stumble or pull his hand away.

  He just kept on coming.

  Serenity backed up, her lower back bumping against the kitchen sink. A memory caught her in its grip—that of Jackson coming at her, laughing because she’d told him she was leaving him.

  Rage built up inside her, a boiling cauldron threatening to overflow. Who was this person, coming into her home to torment and hurt both her and her daughter? She’d hack off every damn limb if it meant she and Elizabeth would walk out of here alive.

  She screamed in a mixture of horror and rage, and lunged. The knife plunged into the thing’s throat, the blade entering with little resistance, sinking into the dead flesh like butter. The dead man didn’t squeal or try to get away, but pressed onward, one foot in front of the other, until she held it back with her two hands wrapped around the base of the knife. It swiped out with one hand and she ducked, automatically drawing the blade with her, opening a gash in the dead man’s throat. The corpse took another staggered step and she let go of the knife with one hand and took hold of the kitchen counter behind her. Using the stability of the counter to brace herself, she kicked out, catching the dead man in the ribs, sending him flying backward. She lost grip of the knife, leaving it protruding from the gash in his throat.

  The dead man crashed to the floor and she took her moment and jumped on his chest.

  “Die!” she screamed, grappling for the knife. The corpse’s hands came up to bat her away, but her fury made her stronger. “Just fucking die!”

  She grabbed the knife and pulled the blade from his throat before jabbing again, hacking and stabbing with all her strength. She was caught up in a frenzy, lost in the moment, only wanting this thing that should already be dead to stop fighting back.

  But the thing continued to buck and writhe beneath her.

  Bile rose at the back of her throat, her mouth flooding with saliva. Her jaw tightened as she suppressed her urge to vomit.

  She hacked, severing arteries, cartilage and tendons. The more she cut, the weaker the thing beneath her became, cut nerves preventing him from fighting back. But cut nerves wouldn’t be enough. She needed this thing dead and gone.

  The arms flapped at its side, weak little flutters of the limbs. It continued to stare at her with blood-red, rage-filled eyes, but now its body was incapable of doing whatever the thing’s instincts demanded.

  Serenity tightened her grip on the knife. Her other hand gripped the man’s face, pressed his head down against the kitchen tiles, exposing its throat. It gnashed and flailed under grip, but she evading the snapping teeth and cut once again, hearing the crunch of bone, the tip sliding beneath the spinal column and severing its neck.

  “Serenity?”

  The sound of her name broke her from her frantic hacking and she looked up, feeling as though she was coming around from a nightmare, to find Sebastian standing above her, staring down at her, his eyes wide in horror.

  “Sebastian?”

  She didn’t dare believe it was actually him standing there. She crawled off the decapitated body, all the strength seeming to have been sapped from her body.

  “Jesus, Serenity. What the hell happened?”

  He frowned and leaned down, closer to the man’s now hacked-off head. He put a hand over his face. “Please don’t let this be real.”

  Serenity blinked. “Don’t let what be real?”

  “I brought this man into our home, didn’t I?”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Daddy!”

  Elizabeth’s voice made them both turn.

  “Stay there, honey.” Serenity shouted. “Don’t move, okay?”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  “You need to sort this mess out,” she hissed. Even though she knew there was something going on that was beyond his control, a small part of her couldn’t help but blame him for what had happened. “Don’t let our daughter have to see any more than she already has.”

  He stared at her, his green eyes full of sorrow. “I’m so sorry, Serenity. I don’t remember getting back here. I don’t know how I survived making it back to the house. One minute I was standing on the freeway, burning, and the next I’m waking up back here.”

  Serenity gaped. “What do you mean, you were burning?”

  “It was the middle of the day.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  “I have no idea.” His eyes flicked to the spot where Elizabeth still hid. “We’ll talk later.”

  Serenity nodded and glanced down at her hands. She still clutched the knife and residues of thick, dark blood—the residual blood Sebastian had been unable to drain—covered her hands. Revulsion washed over her, causing her head to spin, and she swallowed hard. The man’s head lay several inches from the mess of its neck. Its eyes were still open, staring at a spot on the wall, its mouth a frozen snarl.

  She’d done that.

  The blood drained from her face and the bout of dizziness hit her again. In an instant, Sebastian was by her side, one hand taking hold of the arm which ended in the knife, the other wrapped around her waist. As he lifted her, the knife fell to the floor with a clatter.

  “You’re in shock,” he told her. “You need to sit down. I’ll take care of this.�
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  “My hands,” she managed. “I need to wash my hands.”

  Sebastian had been heading toward to the living room, but he switched direction and took her to the kitchen sink instead. He put her gently on her feet and turned on the faucet so warm water gushed into the sink.

  “I can’t … Elizabeth …”

  “I’ll take Elizabeth into the other room. Now stop arguing with me.”

  In an instant, he was gone. He reappeared beside the refrigerator for only a moment and she caught a glimpse of Elizabeth in his arms before he vanished again, no more than a blur of movement.

  She lowered her hands beneath the stream of water and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the blood splash and swirl across the white porcelain. The hot water felt good against her skin. She hung her head, her hair falling around her face.

  Within the minute, Sebastian returned, standing behind her. His hard chest pressed against her back, his arms reaching around her to cup her hands in his. He added hand soap and massaged the hot water and foam down the length of her forearms, the backs of her hands and her fingers, washing away the final residues of blood. Serenity sighed and allowed herself to lean back against him. She turned her face so her cheek pressed against his chest, her face turned away from the decapitated corpse that had been of both their making.

  Sebastian buried his nose and mouth against the top of her head, in her hair. “God, I’m so sorry, Serenity. I’m so, so sorry.”

  She suppressed a sob, her body hitching. He must have sensed the movement, for he turned off the water and turned her around to face him. He kissed her cheeks, the corners of her mouth and her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

  She stepped back and looked down. “My clothes …”

  Blood now spattered the front of her t-shirt. Two red patches stained the knees of her jeans. Even a vampire was unable to drain every drop of blood from a body. Though they drained the main arteries, some always remained in the small capillaries, which then pooled toward the center of the body after death.

  Without saying another word, he grasped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head. He popped the button on her jeans and slid them down her thighs. She used his back for support as he pulled them from her legs, allowing herself to be undressed as though she were a child.