The Alexandru Chronicles: The Beginning

by Julienne Holmes

  It was strange, a fledgelings sight, was more enhanced than a humans. Yet, the fledgeling still had problems willing his sight to see from long distances or making out facial features – to be able to do this, came with time and experience.

  While he couldn't make out his foe's face, he could make out his physique and garb.

  The slayer was dressed all in black, and had his hand resting on something; that swung precariously from his hip – he was making no attempt to hide whatever it was.

  He could feel the slayer's penetrating gaze on him—none yielding.

  He should have been afraid, yet, that fear was being overpowered by the blood lust that he was feeling at that moment.

  The slayer enraged him and made him want to kill.

  “She's mine.” he took a menacing step toward his foe.

  It was the glow of a car's headlights, that him instantly halting in his tracks. Cloaking himself the best he could in shadow, he watched and waited until the car had disappeared from sight.

  A few minutes after the car was gone, he had just stepped out again to oppose his quarry when he realized that his opponent was no longer standing there – he was gone.

  Where had he gone?

  Hadn't Madeira told them that they would be able to sense when a vampire was near, there, and gone?

  He hadn't even heard the slayer leave. And, yet, he had left.

  It was that same loud, inhuman, shriek from before, that had him flinching inwardly. After scanning the area one last time, he turned; and swiftly headed towards his mistress.

  XXX

  Kyle hadn't actually found out much about James Fording, he had found out more on his girlfriend – the allusive Monica Summers.

  What he did know about James Fording, though, was that he had had a facebook account, which wasn't really that surprising; facebook was what most people were on these days. It was used for another means of communication.

  To Kyle, it was just an excuse to not go out and socialize with other people. Yet, he supposed there was an actual good use for it. He himself, though, had not found that use.

  He had had a facebook account for three years, and had found it annoying when people, who he had known in either high school or college, would brag about how much better their lives were compared to his. What had annoyed him even more, was that some of these people's lives hadn't really been as grand as they had been bragging about.

  They had used facebook to try and create a life for themselves. A life, in most cases, that was more fiction than true.

  From what Kyle had seen at his high school reunion, a few of his friends from facebook, had drastically lied about their lives. One woman had bragged about being a model and having this really glamorous lifestyle. Yet, it turned out that she had none of that. Her life had consisted of being a mother and wife; apparently she hadn't thought that life grand enough. So, she had concocted a life that would have people foaming at the mouth.

  After his high school reunion, Kyle had just decided to close out his facebook account.

  What was the point, anyway?

  He didn't really use the account and when he did, there was a lot of liars on it. Besides, he met more people just going out than he would have met with facebook.

  Really there wasn't much on Fording's facebook; there was more on his girlfriend, Monica's. She had loads of pictures of herself, her family, and friends.

  Now here was a woman, that used facebook for it's true purposes.

  From looking at her page, Kyle found himself, subconsciously, forming a connection to this woman. She had an infectiously, warm, smile, that had him smiling in return.

  He liked her.

  As he continued to scan Monica's facebook page, he noticed how there was a little inconsistencies to hers and Fording's.

  On Monica's page, she had put that she was no longer in a relationship with Fording – she was single. Also, she had changed her career from waitress to bakery owner.

  There was also something else about her facebook account, that didn't sit well with him. While most people were on their facebook accounts twenty-four seven, Monica had not gotten on since July 2013.

  At first he had thought, that it was possible that Monica had so much going on in her life; that she was too busy to really have the time to get on facebook.

  Yet, he had then typed Monica's name into the search engine and found out that she wasn't actually busy – she was missing. It was when he clicked on a North Carolina newspaper link, that he found out basically the same information that Genevieve had already found out:

  Local Woman goes Missing:

  A Ms. Monica Summers was suppose to testify against her ex-boyfriend, a Mr. James Fording Sandman, in a domestic dispute case. Yet, the day before the trail, when friends and family went over to console the young woman, they found her apartment ransacked and her gone...

  The gist of the article, was that once Monica Summers had disappeared, her ex-boyfriend, James Fording, had been North Carolina authorities' number one suspect. Sitting back in his chair, Kyle let himself absorb all of this that he had just read.

  He was just about ready to do more of an Internet search on Monica, when his cellphone rang.

  At first he was startled by the loud shrill, but once he was able to comprehend that it was in fact his cellphone, he answered it.

  “Hello...”

  At first he didn't hear anyone on the other end, just the typical cell phone static and this unusual breathing; not heavy, but there was something strange about it. Looking down at his phone's screen, he noticed that the name and number were both unavailable.

  Just when he was about to hang-up, it was Genevieve's familiar voice that had him almost dropping his cellphone. “Kyle...,” she pleaded, “please help me...!”

  Suddenly standing up from his chair, he said, “Gen...”

  “Kyle, I need you.”

  “Gen, where are you?” when the phone was silent for that brief moment, he shouted, “Gen...!”

  “You know where...I'm where you told me, not to go...Oh, God..., Kyle, please help me!” the phone suddenly went dead.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Kyle hadn't wasted any time getting out of his apartment. The only thing he had bothered to do, was lock his door.

  Throughout the whole drive to Sherries, his thoughts were on his partner. He was so worried about her, that he sped right through red lights and even those flashing cameras that were up in some places.

  If he had been thinking straight, he might have been concerned about the tickets he would be getting, but even then, he probably would have cared less.

  Genevieve was the only thing on his mind.

  “Oh, God, let me get to her in time...I love her so much, let me get to her in time...!”

  From how fast he was going and how many people he cut off, it didn't take him but a few minutes to get to Sherries.

  Or as he liked to refer to, now days, the condemned hell hole. He had promised himself, that he would never returned to this horror fest, not even if someone paid him a million dollars. And, yet, here he was, back where that horrible night, that still gave him nightmares, had happened.

  Yet, because of how worried Kyle was, he didn't give himself much time to linger on this. His thoughts were solely focused on Genevieve—she was all he had room for.

  No sooner had he pulled the key from the ignition and had the door open, was he hopping out of his car.

  Hastily closing the door, he quickly made his way towards the towering building in front of him.

  “Gen...!” he called out.

  When first driving up, he had been so concerned about his partner, that he hadn't thought much about the fog, that had instantly met him once he got out of his car.

  Yet, it was that dense murkiness, seeping into his clothes, that now had him noticing it—he could barely see the building in front of him.

  “Gen!!!” he called through the fog. “Gen, where are you?!”

  The fog was beco
ming so thick, that he was having a hard time even seeing his hand in front of his face. Each way he turned, he couldn't see anything. Not even where he had parked his car.

  When he noticed a strange figure coming toward him, he abruptly halted in his tracks.

  “Gen...?” as the figure got closer, he found that he could make out some feminine qualities; but something told him that, just from the way this woman held herself, that this wasn't his partner.

  When she stopped just a few inches in front of him, he was finally able to make out this woman, who wasn't his partner; she had flaming red hair, ruby red lips, a fair complexion, and the darkest green eyes he had ever seen – they were practically black. In all appearances, she was a seductively, sensual, woman.

  And if not for him being madly in love and very worried for his partner, Kyle probably would have fallen, like so many men before him, for the red headed temptress in front of him.

  “Who are you...Where's Gen?”

  “Ah...don't worry...” it was that eery grin on her face, which had him, instinctively, taking a step back. “You'll soon see your, darling, partner.”

  Before he could even reply to this, he felt movement behind him. And, it was when he swiftly turned around to see who it was, that he was hit; he didn't even see who hit him.

  As he fell to the ground, the last person, whose face he saw, before succumbing to the darkness behind his eyelids, was Genevieve's beautiful face.

  Lord, he loved that woman.

  He'd do anything for her..., including die for her.

  XXX

  Just as Kyle was rushing out of his apartment, Genevieve was ascending up the stairs to hers.

  The minute she got in, she tossed her keys on the coffee table and, once she had kicked her shoes off and took off her shoulder holster, she turned on the television. After laying her holster down on the coffee table, she stretched her legs out.

  An episode of The Big Bang Theory was on and, while she was a huge fan of the show, she couldn't seem to enjoy it that night. Her thoughts were more focused on today's events and less on that night's episode.

  The actors on the screen, might as well have been little spots just running around, because that's what Genevieve's eyes were perceiving them as.

  For a few minutes more, all she did was sit there; staring at the blurry spots upon her television.

  How was it that Cirpian had been in that building?

  If it had just been the building, she could have, somewhat, explained it away.

  Yet, it wasn't, he had been in James Fording's apartment.

  Was it possible that he knew James Fording? Possibly he was one of James' customers or distributors?

  Yet, for some reason that seemed very unlikely; just from, personally, getting to know Cirpian, he didn't seem like someone who would be heavily into drugs.

  She supposed the real question was: What or who, could he have possibly been looking for?

  He couldn't have been looking for her.

  Could he?

  It was the sound of her cellphone, that had her attention instantly yanked back.

  Glancing down at the phone's screen, she was none too happy to see Kyle's name flash upon the black screen. Right at that moment, she didn't want to speak to him. One, she was still angry with him And two, she just couldn't help being suspicious of him.

  Before she could even make up her mind to disconnect the call, her phone decided to, again, make that decision for her. Yet, this time instead of disconnecting the call; it answered it.

  Realizing what the phone had done, she quickly said, “Kyle, I really...”

  Before Genevieve could finish, she heard this excruciating groaning on the other end – she knew instantly something was wrong.

  “Kyle...” she quickly stood up from the couch. “Kyle, what's wrong?”

  “Gen...,” he utter another excruciating moan. “please help me.”

  “Kyle, what's wrong?!”

  Genevieve was very close, to having a panic-attack; knowing that her partner was hurt, had her practically hyperventilating. “Kyle, tell me where you are at; and I'll come.”

  “That's good to know.”

  It was the unfamiliar woman's voice on the other end, that had Genevieve perplexedly looking down at her phone.

  Bring the phone back up to her ear, she inquired, “Who is this...?”

  For a few minutes the woman didn't say anything, when she finally did reply, there was this, sick, gleefulness in her voice, “That doesn't matter...If you love your partner, you'll come to him...If you don't...Well, still, that's up to you...I'm sure you have the perfect black dress picked out..., for his funeral.”

  “If you hurt him, I swear...I'll...”

  “You'll do what?” the woman on the other end cackled.

  “I'll...” Genevieve could feel this anger boiling up inside her. She wanted to, literally, put her hand through the phone, and throttle the woman.

  “If I were you, I wouldn't say anything that would cost him his life...He, after all, was just trying to be the chivalrous hero and come to your rescue.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You promised him, after all, that you wouldn't returned to Sherries. And what did you do...?” it was that feeling of being slugged in the stomach, that had Genevieve momentary speechless.

  “Naughty partner...” the woman's sinister little giggle, had Genevieve inwardly flinching.

  “What do you want?”

  “Well, that's easy, I want you to come and retrieve your partner...At least what's left of him...” Genevieve instantly bristled at that last statement, yet before she could say anything, the woman said, “Ticktock..., times a wasting...You better hurry..., my fledgelings are very hungry.” the woman cackled.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cirpian hadn't meant to send his little warrior queen out so soon into battle. There had been so many things he wanted to tell her. Yet, because of unforeseen circumstances, he hadn't been able to.

  The difficulty with his little Genevieve, was that she was the kind of independent woman that a man had to be patient with. Yet, in this new age of man, that was easier said than done. Because centuries had past, where man kind had developed in the sense that they had made life easier than just the simple riding either on horse back or in carriages; they had ultimately taken a step back in maturity levels. The majority of men had decided that being immature was not just better, but easier. There was a downside and upside to all of this, though. While most of the male race were acting like children – until they reached an appropriate age – the majority of the female race, were taking on the once male dominate role; instead of staying at home and knitting, sewing, keeping house, and having babies, they were going out and fending for themselves. And when these men had eventually grown-up, the women, that might have been interested in them at one time, had already moved on to greener pastures.

  Yet, it wasn't just man kind's impatiences with having to handle a woman such as Genevieve, it was their fear, that having her would ultimately cause them to mature too soon; which was possibly the main reason behind so many of them breaking it off with her.

  If Genevieve's independent nature wasn't just a problem, it was the fact that she had serious trust issues. Once someone lost her trust, it was next to impossible to get it back.

  Somehow he had inadvertently lost her trust. He didn't know what he could have possibly done for her to become so suspiciously, distrusting, of him. Yet, he had done something.

  Either way, he was still going to try and protect her; he couldn't just step back and let her get over her distrusting of him on her own. If he did that, he would lose her for sure.

  Once he had left her car, he had willed his shadow to stay with her. It was his shadow that had followed her into her apartment and observed her on the phone – in a heated conversation—with Madeira. It was his shadow, that had observed how hurried she was; grabbing her keys from the coffee table, she been too distressed to grab an
ything else. Upon noticing that she had not even bothered grabbing the box with the cross, his shadow had hastily retrieved the box; and then hurried after her out the door.

  The strange thing about Cirpian's shadow, was that where his eyes couldn't see, his shadow could. Yet, unlike his sight, which he no longer had, his shadow could see everything in a reddish tint. He knew, right at that moment, what was happening, because his shadow reported everything back to him. Yet, the downside about his shadow, was that it worked only during night and was, even then, slightly fickle; it preferred to stay close to him, rather than be sent out on it's own.

  XXX

  Genevieve was so worried abut her partner, that she paid little to no attention to the two sets of shadows following her. Hers, that was barely noticeable, because of the street lights; and Cirpian's, that could blend in or take the shape of another person's shadow. She didn't even notice that her passenger seat was slightly darker than the other seats in her car.

  No sooner had she pulled out of her parking place, was Cirpian's shadow alerting him of her departure. He arrived moments after her car had peeled away from her complex. After hastily following after her, Cirpian kept in mind that he would have to keep a safe distance from Genevieve; and not get too close.

  At least not until it was an appropriate time to do so.

  Knowing Madeira, the moment she knew that he was there, she would kill Genevieve and her partner.

  As much as it pained him to do so, he would have to bid his time and wait.

  Wait until the appropriate opening.

  XXX

  As Madeira stood over her handsome cop, she felt that familiar desire for the man sitting tied up in front of her. She wanted him, that was no lie. It had taken all her will power just to stop herself from draining him – not that it matter, a dead body was as good as a live one at being bait.

  It wasn't just the desire to drink every last drop of him, though, but she also wanted to sleep with him. Yet, the only problem was, was that he didn't reciprocate the same lust for her that she did for him.