The Vampire's Prisoner (Tales of Vampires Book 2)

by Zara Novak

  “Sister? Woman in white?” Kat raised a brow in confusion. “What are you talking about? Why are you tied to a tree behind your house? What’s going on?”

  “Untie me and I’ll explain. I saw you coming Kat Summers. I saw all of you coming, except for one. He moves like a black shadow, and that shadow took a hold of me.” A shiver passed over the woman.

  Kat untied the last of the restraints and Rubago stepped forward from the tree.

  “Where is the vampire you are with?” Rubago asked. “The one who came here to seek me?”

  “He’s in the house with Edmund.” Kat paused. “Edmund is a bounty hunter and-”

  “I know it all child.” Rubago said with a hand in the air. “I’ve been watching you. Waiting for you to come.” Rubago turned in the direction of the house, and looked upon it with fear in her eyes.

  “When did they enter child? How long have they been in there?”

  “Five, maybe ten minutes…” Kat shrugged. “What’s going on?”

  “There’s no time to explain.” Rubago took off in a quick walk and Kat followed. “We have to get into that house and save your friends - we have to save them before it’s too late.”

  25. Ansel

  The house was quiet, dark, and seemingly empty. The front door brought them into a wide and wooden hallway. To the right side a staircase led up onto a balcony on the second floor. In front of them there was a wall with one door on it. The only sound in the house came from the dim rattle of Edmund’s chains.

  “There’s still time to back out of this you know?” Edmund said. “We can turn back now, she’ll probably let us go.”

  Ansel stood rooted to the spot. Staring at the door ahead of them.

  “It’s bigger in here than it is outside, there must be some sort of charm on the building.”

  “Yeah no kidding there’s a charm in here!” Edmund said nervously. “This hallway is twice as wide as the building itself. Let’s get out of here, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I’ll tell you where Ruth is now if you want, just let me go.”

  Ansel couldn’t help but agree that something felt off.

  “I’ll untie you, on the condition you go through that door with me first.” Ansel pointed at the wooden door up ahead. “I have a feeling that she’s in there.”

  Edmund stared at the wooden door, shaking his head to himself. “Once we’re through that door, I can turn back?”

  Ansel nodded and held Edmund’s gaze. “I want an agreement from you however. If I unchain you there’s no funny business. No punches, no running, no sneaking around behind my back.”

  Edmund held his eye and clenched his jaw. “You have my word Ansel, but once we’re through that door, I’m good to turn back and wait outside.”

  Ansel started unraveling the silver chains surrounding Edmund’s body, wincing as the silver burned his palms.

  “Don’t make me regret this Edmund.” Ansel let the last of the heavy silver chains fall to the wooden floor and Edmund stretched his body in relief.

  “Well, it’s been good knowing you Ansel Draco, but I must be getting off.”

  Ansel flashed a grim look at Edmund, indicating that his joke was hardly funny.

  “Just kidding…” Edmund said holding his hands up. He looked over at the door ahead and sighed. “What do you want a witch for anyway? She’s not going to be able to tell you anything of value.”

  Ansel stepped towards the door and Edmund followed reluctantly. He felt just as hesitant as Edmund now, and as they got closer to the door things felt worse. “Witches are the only ones who know the whereabouts of the Red Keep. If I can get Rubago to help me…”

  “She’s a witch Ansel.” Edmund interjected. “You’ve not a chance in hell that she’ll help you. They serve their own kind, no one else’s.”

  “Witches know everything, she has the information I need. I just need to get it out of her.”

  “Everything they do is to keep a balance, she’s not going to let you stomp around messing that up like some bull in a china shop.”

  “There is no balance as long as the Red Circle exists.” Ansel said flatly. “She will tell me how I can find Cairo Inai, and then I will kill him.”

  “And then what? Kill the guy above him? And the guy above him? Keep killing until you get to the High Vistor?”

  Ansel paused. “You said you’ve met this Cairo Inai before… what can you tell me of him?”

  Edmund thought, rolling his tongue against his cheek. “I’ve only met him twice… each time he came to me in daylight.”

  “He can walk in light?” Ansel asked in shock.

  “No, he wraps up. He’s just that crazy.”

  “What does he look like?” Ansel asked. “I’ve heard… conflicting things.”

  “Both times I saw him… he was old and frail. Very frail. But that’s part of his trick. You have to remember Ansel, that this guy is a Warden of the Red Circle. You don’t get to that position by being any old vampire. Like it or not, the senior members of the Circle are mysterious and powerful creatures. Each one of them has their own unique power.”

  “And Cairo Inai… what is his power?”

  “Secrecy. I don’t know what his power is. He’s a clever man, and he keeps his tools to himself.”

  Ansel reached out for the door and Edmund stuck a hand out. “Tell me. Why is it you really seek the Red Circle. Is it to destroy them or to join them?”

  “What does that mean?” Ansel said, steeling his jaw in anger. “I would never join those bastards.”

  “But here we are.” Edmund said. “I could tell from our fight back in the forest that you’re not an ordinary vampire Ansel. You’ve been a vampire now for all of …what - one year?”

  Ansel nodded.

  “There’s no way you should be this strong, or fast.”

  “Well I am, there’s nothing to look into. Back off.” Ansel pushed Edmund’s hand out the way of the door, but Edmund raised his hand once more.

  “No.” He said shaking his head. “I want to hear you say it first. You absorb the powers of those you kill. Don’t you? That’s how you fought so well against me… I was fighting against the deceased powers of your old coven.” Edmund’s eyes blazed into Ansel’s eyes as he sought for an answer. Ansel’s answer only came in the form of silence - which was the only answer Edmund needed.

  “I knew it.” Edmund dropped his hand and stepped away from Ansel.

  “So what?” Ansel said. “This doesn’t change anything. I will still destroy the Circle.”

  Edmund laughed and shook his head. “Let’s see how you feel when they find out what you really are. Power entices all men - I wonder how long it will take for them to entice you.”

  “I’ve had enough of this.” Ansel pushed past Edmund and opened the wooden door in front of them. He turned back and looked at the vampire waiting on the other side. “Come on then.”

  Edmund sighed and walked through reluctantly. Ansel let the door shut behind them, and turned to see a wooden hallway stretching out in front of them. From where they were standing they could see the hallway opened up into a large round room. A woman’s voice floated down the hallway, so clear it was as if someone spoke directly behind them.

  “Come forward visitors.” The woman’s voice said.

  Edmund let out a shriek of surprise at the voice, jumping and turning around to see no one was behind them. “Fuck this,” He said. “I’m getting out of here, I held up my end of the deal.” Edmund reached for the door handle only to discover a smooth expanse of wooden wall where the door had been only seconds ago.

  “Christ.”

  “What?” Ansel glanced back and saw the door had disappeared. He burst into a chuckle of laughter and patted Edmund on the shoulder. “Oh well Edmund. Guess it looks like you’re coming with me anyway. Come on.”

  They walked down the hallway together, Edmund following slightly behind Ansel. The hallway opened up into a large round room, with a high ceiling that went up at least
twenty feet.

  The floor was broken into descending levels of concentric circles that continued down to a solitary circular platform at the center of the room, on which there sat a woman. The woman had her back to Ansel and Edmund. She was cross-legged, with her arms in a meditative pose. She wore a long, crystal blue gypsy dress.

  The air hummed with the quite presence of magic. Ansel walked down a few of the layered steps until there was about twelve feet between himself and the witch at the center.

  “State your name.” The woman said without looking back.

  “I am Ansel Draco. This is Edmund…” Ansel glanced back at the nervous looking Edmund, who was stood firmly at the room’s edge.

  “Volks.” Edmund prompted. “Edmund Volks. It was his idea to come here. Not mine.”

  A dark chuckle sounded from the woman.

  “Rubago always welcomes visitors. Tell me Ansel Draco. Why did you come here to seek me?”

  “I’m a vampire.” Ansel said boldly. “Seeking justice against the injustices laid down by a group who call themselves the Red Circle. Do you know them?”

  Another dark chuckle sounded. Ansel squinted at the back of the woman’s head, concerned that there was no movement on her body at all. There was something about it that felt eerie to him, and a cold pit of dread opened in his stomach.

  “I know the Red Circle, I know all there is to know about vampires. I am a witch. Our job is to watch, to protect - to keep the balance. Tell me, why do you seek them, and who do you seek?”

  “A man named Cairo Inai sentenced me to death. I seek revenge against him first, and then I seek to topple the entire agency. Only then will the vampire truly be free.”

  The statuesque profile of the woman broke as the figure shook her head slightly. The witch stood and turned, revealing the face of a beautiful black girl. The girl had lilac eyes, curiously luminescent.

  “You came to the right place Mr. Draco. For I can tell you that I do know the location of Cairo Inai.”

  Ansel’s eyes widened, almost not believing he nearly had his answer. “Yes, if you could be so kind… that would most helpful.”

  A mocking smile flickered over Rubago’s still expression. “I must warn you however, the answers you seek aren’t the ones you should always expect.”

  Ansel stared at Rubago in puzzlement. “Pardon?”

  “Did you anticipate some grand and far off adventure?” The witch let out a dark cackle, throwing her head back as she did so. “Did you expect you’d turn every stone in this land, looking for the man you seek to find?”

  “Whatever it takes.” Ansel said clenching his jaw.

  “And what if I told you that you didn’t have to look very far at all?” The witch teased. “What if I told you that the man you seek is in the room with you right now?”

  Ansel glanced around the room nervously. “Say what you mean witch.” He said impatiently. “I have no time for riddles.”

  The witch cackled again, but louder this time. “What if I told you that the man you had been hunting, had hunted you?”

  “I don’t…” Ansel paused. “I don’t understand.” Ansel glanced back at Edmund, who stared at the witch, transfixed in his own horror.

  “You…” Edmund whispered, shaking his head.

  Ansel turned back to Rubago and froze in dread as he watched the witch transform into someone else.

  Her skin faded from dark into light. Her eyes lost their luminescent lilac, fading back into a dull and ugly red. Even the clothes shifted, twisting into tiny knots from the long crystal blue of the gypsy dress, into a dark and tight suit that wrapped itself around long and spindled limbs.

  Ansel watched in horror as the girl shifted into the form of tall and gaunt man, with skin stretched so tight across the bones it looked like a walking skeleton.

  “Who are you?!” Ansel hissed through clenched teeth.

  “Why, don’t you know the man you’ve been seeking Mr. Draco?” The vampire responded in a ghastly whisper. “I’m Cairo Inai.”

  26. Kat

  Kat followed the witch silently through the woods back to the house, holding her breath tight in her mouth. Rubago was a peculiar looking woman. Dark skin, large frizzy hair, her curiously luminescent eyes. The witch walked low and quiet.

  “If you don’t mind.” Kat whispered, drawing herself level with the witch. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  A wooden door squeaked open somewhere in front of them and a scar faced vampire with slicked back hair came out, followed by another vampire. The witch quickly pulled Kat behind a tree, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Quiet child.” She said in a deadly whisper. “If they see us they will kill us.”

  Kat a felt a strange warmth pulsing over her body, she looked down and saw that they had become invisible. Rubago stepped away from her and they both leaned around the tree to watch the vampires.

  Judging by the tiny crimson badges on their suit jackets, it was obvious to Kat that both vampires were members of the Red Circle.

  “Circle members?!” she whispered to Rubago, totally confused. “What are they doing here?”

  “They are meant to be here child. This house is the gateway back to the Red Keep. The members convene here once every three months, and I help them through the gateway.”

  “But why were you tied up?”

  Rubago hissed. “Cairo Inai. He mentioned he was expecting company. He wanted me to help trap traitors to the circle. I told him I couldn’t do that, so he tied me up.”

  “Cairo Inai?!” Kat’s heart thundered in her chest. Wasn’t that the very man that Ansel had mentioned to her over and over? The focus of his obsession. The man he had been hunting all this time. “He’s here?!”

  “Of course he’s here child. He’s the Warden for this region. This is the gateway they use to travel between this world and the Red Keep.”

  “Why did he tie you up?”

  “I’m not allowed to interfere. Things are supposed to happen a certain way. If I assisted Cairo Inai, I would be disturbing the balance.”

  “So why are you helping me?”

  “The balance calls for it. There is something important inside of Ansel Draco. I need to try and give him a fighting chance.”

  Kat looked up at the vampires ahead, who were taking a smoke break.

  “He’s probably doing his grand reveal now.” The scar faced vampire laughed between long pulls of smoke. The other grunt laughed and nodded the way a worker would with his boss. “I fucking hate this prick, why do I have to work for a chump like that? Abducting random vampire girls and recruiting idiot bounty hunters…”

  The vampires finished their smoke break and headed back inside. As soon as they were gone Rubago broke the invisibility spell that was cloaking them.

  “We’re safe out here. Their senses are dulled because of the wild garlic that I grow. Inside the house though the vampires have an upper hand. We need to get in there and try and do something to restore the balance. There is a way in the back, we can sneak in there and we might be able to get one up on them.”

  The witch stopped and stared at Kat for a second. “Your eyes are like hers…” she said cryptically. “Are you cognizant?”

  Kat nodded. “I think so.”

  “Can you feel anything child?” Rubago asked.

  “No.” Kat said after a moment. “I tried before but there was nothing. It’s like there’s a void here.”

  “It’s the power of the gateway. It’s too strong… it consumes everything. It is the same for me. Never mind, I thought there might be a chance you could give us some foresight. Let us head in.”

  “Wait.”

  Rubago stopped and looked back at Kat.

  “Can you use your magic in there? You’re a witch right? You’re supposed to be powerful… can’t you just stop them all?”

  Rubago shook her head. “I can’t use my magic to interfere with the balance in an aggressive way. I took an oath forbidding it. All I can do is
try to protect us. Be wary Kat Summers… we are not immune to danger in there.”

  They crept into the house, inching inside of a wooden door that was hidden just off to the right of the one the other vampires had come out of. Inside the house was dark and sprawling. Tip toeing down a long and featureless hallway, Rubago turned back to Kat and whispered.

  “The hut is charmed to a design of my own. It’s bigger than it is on the outside. It can be confusing in here if you don’t know where you’re going. Stay close to me. I need to take you to her first.”

  Kat nodded quietly and followed on her tip toes, staying close to Rubago. What had she meant by ‘her’ exactly?

  Turning down a number of maze like corridors, they finally reached a door with a small wooden grate in it. Rubago pulled the grate back and nodded. “She’s alone. Let’s go in.”

  Rubago opened and shut the door quietly behind her. Kat walked into the room to see a girl tied up in chains in the corner. She recognized her face immediately and froze solid.

  “Ruth?!” she barely managed to contain her words to a whisper.

  Ruth looked back up at Kat with a similar picture of shock on her face.

  “What the hell are you doing here?!” They both said in unison together.

  Standing in shock for a few long seconds, Kat finally broke herself free of her stupor, ran over to the corner and threw her arms around her sister in a tight hug. Ruth’s arms were pinned to her sides with chains, but she nudged her head affectionately against Kat’s chest in return.

  “I’m here with Ansel.” Kat said. “The men in the club that night, they were after him… I’m so glad to see you. I saw that you were missing, are you okay?”

  Her eyes wondered over the pale skin of her sister, and a question hung on her lips that she didn’t dare to ask.

  “I’m fine.” Ruth said with an almost bored smile. Peculiarly, she didn’t look particularly scared to be tied up in chains. “Things have been rather strange since I last saw you however… I don’t know where to begin explaining…” She broke away for a second as she attempted to find a way to deliver the news to her sister. “Kat… I’m…”