PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  They rounded the corner, laughing amongst themselves as I exhaled a plume of smoke. I scanned the group and noticed they numbered seven, not five, which perplexed me until I realized two amongst them possessed pulses. Humans. The five vampires dressed in finer attire, with an air of superiority in the way they held themselves. The two mortals were women dressed in black. Ironically, they noticed me first.

  I grinned at one, a brunette wearing a dress with a low neckline. She raised an eyebrow and nudged the side of one male vampire before pointing at me. “Devin,” she said, glancing at her companion. “There’s some strange guy over there staring at us.”

  I raised the cigarette to my lips again. Devin, who had been conversing with two of his associates when nudged, turned to face me. The moment our eyes met, he abruptly ceased walking. I could not help but to laugh. “Devin,” I said, drawing from the cigarette and exhaling more smoke. “A rather unusual name for one of our kind. Turned recently, if I had to guess?”

  Devin swallowed hard, his brown eyes refusing to look away. “Flynn,” he said, exhaling my name and punctuating it with a chuckle. “I didn’t realize we were in Sabrina’s territory. If you want us to go somewhere else, we will.”

  “Well, in light of recent events, she claims all of Philadelphia as her own. I dare say, there is hardly a stretch of asphalt your shoes could touch which would not offend me, is there not?”

  The brunette eyed Devin in an inquisitive manner. “Sabrina?”

  “Never mind, Marie.” Devin shot her a sideways glance, only averting his eyes from me for mere seconds. The moment they met my gaze again, he grinned. “Please, Flynn, we’re merely going about our business, the same as you probably are. We’ve done nothing to upset you.”

  “Not yet anyway, which is the only reason you still have your lives.” I glanced at the women, then back at Devin. “Dismiss the humans.”

  Devin laughed. “Flynn, you can’t ask us to”

  With my free hand, I brushed back the side of my coat, brandishing the knives concealed underneath. Devin ceased speaking and I grinned after taking a long drag off the cigarette.

  He nodded slowly. “Ladies,” he said, still staring at me. “If you could please head back to the club? We’ll catch up with you later.”

  Marie looked from me to Devin and back again. I watched her eyes survey me, from wing-tipped shoes to unruly brown hair. Then they settled on my sunglasses. “Devin, who is this?”

  “You need not worry about who I am,” I said, spreading my mouth in a wide grin which exposed the sharp tips of my fangs. Her eyes widened. I nodded. “Do as he said and flee, or else you shall be made privy to an encounter you shall not soon forget.”

  Marie took hold of the other mortal’s arm, a redheaded woman whose expression read of the same shock her friend’s did. They began to pace backward. I growled and allowed my fangs to slip down.

  They screamed in unison. Turning around, both ran faster than I had seen a mortal run before, one losing a shoe in the process and not pausing to retrieve it. I laughed and allowed my fangs to slip back into slumber once more. “I grow loath to conduct the business of immortals in the presence of humans,” I said, watching the two women round a corner and disappear. My gaze drifted back to the collective and this time, I stole a moment to assess each of them. One she-vampire and four males, all looked to have been the same mortal age when turned. They were all, undoubtedly, from the same coven and each regarded me with identical measures of fear.

  Perhaps reputations were not such a terrible thing after all.

  “That aside,” I said, continuing, “You state you have not transgressed the House of Sabrina, but seem surprised you could be inside our territory right now.” I flicked my cigarette away. “Why is this, young sire?”

  Devin narrowed his eyes. “I’ll have you know, I’m a year older than”

  I growled to silence him. “I do not wish to argue your maturity in the ways of immortals, insubordinate.” My hand drifted to rest on the hilt of my katana and my tone of voice became sharp. “Now, shall I get nasty with you? Do you wish to lose your head arguing age with me?”

  “No,” Devin said, shaking his head and stepping back a pace. The remainder of his collective stumbled back as well. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. Please forgive me.”

  I stepped forward to compensate. “Then answer the fucking question and do not force me to reiterate it. When I have to repeat myself I become very, very cranky.”

  “I am sorry. I just . . . ” Devin became visibly flustered. He paused for a moment to inhale a steadying breath. The rest stared at us, mute. “I . . . I, it’s . . . not that I don’t know about it, but there are territorial wars and immortals trying to establish minor covens. I mean . . . We all know that Mistress Sabrina is ruler over all covens, naturally, but this doesn’t stop the others from arguing over turf. So, I didn’t know if Sabrina had allotted this neighborhood to you.”

  “And had you half a wit, you would know all Sabrina possesses is mine as well.” I paused, perking an eyebrow. “Territorial wars, you say?”

  “Yes, Flynn. I don’t know the extent of Mistress Sabrina’s knowledge, but we are a small group, formerly of David’s coven. Jessica, Stephen, Mario, and Thomas are my kindred here, all turned around the same time by different immortals. We were friends as mortals, as well, and only assemble as a pack to feed, not to challenge Sabrina’s reign.”

  “This would explain your involvement with the mortals, then?”

  Devin blinked. “Yes, we still feed. We are vampires.”

  I sighed, exasperated. “I meant that you were not meaning to turn them.” Shaking my head, I frowned at Devin. “You shall never be confused for the brightest star in the night sky.”

  “Oh.” Devin scratched the back of his neck. “No, we are far too young to be turning anybody. That isn’t something one does flippantly.”

  “And yet, there are those who ignore that.” I stepped one pace closer. “Are there not?”

  Devin hesitated.

  I perked an eyebrow. “Are there not?” My hand closed around the hilt of my sword again as I advanced closer still. My smile turned cunning. “Do tell me, do you know of any who seek to do such a thing? I shall allow you to be made privy to what my mistress does know. We are aware rogue covens seek to unseat her by increasing their progeny. She wishes to know who, young one, so if you wish to keep your heads, you shall tell me.”

  At first, Devin remained silent. Then he glanced at my sword and frowned. “What they say is true. When one encounters Flynn, one doesn’t walk away.”

  “There is one certain way to find out.”

  “There are three,” said Jessica, speaking up for the first time. I directed my attention toward her quivering form, reading the mind that screamed the three vampires’ identities. She spoke them aloud as their faces marched across her thoughts. “Justin, formerly of our house. He has been prowling around University City . . . ”

  “Jessica!” Devin hissed.

  She ignored him. “A-and on the South side, there are several from William’s coven . . . the leader of that gang is Philip. The final one claimed the Northeast. I believe her name is Suzanne, but I’m not sure.”

  “You’re signing their death warrants, Jessica,” the one named Stephen interjected, scowling.

  “Better theirs than ours.”

  I held up my hand to stop them. “Enough!” Turning my head as if annoyed, I frowned and looked back toward Jessica. “You have done a service to me. I thank you for this information.”

  Devin sighed. “Are we free to leave?”

  “Self-serving you might be, but not a true evil. I shall spare your lives. However . . . ” I stared at them, my gaze severe, allowing whatever power of suggestion I possessed to emanate from my eyes and slither into their minds. “If I catch you so much as seducing a mortal with the intent of harming them, then you shall be punished in kind.”

  Devin raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand.”r />
  “You are a fool, Devin. I do not expect you to understand. All of this time, however, you have been speaking to a seer, and one who would kill his own kind if necessary. I shall show you mercy, but do not misconstrue my mercy for weakness. Now, go and live the remainder of your existence away from my sight or, so help me, the next time we meet, it shall end with your ashes on the ground.”

  He stared at me for long moments, and then burst into a fit of laughter. Glancing at the others, he then acquired equal measures of brazenness and stupidity in the way he spoke to me. “So, all your talk about Sabrina has been bullshit.” He stepped forward, as though to challenge me. “You know, Flynn, I find this hilarious. What they’ve said about you is true.”

  I smirked. “And what might that be?”

  “That you killed the heads of all the covens, except for Sabrina, and the experience drove you insane. And here, we have the evidence before us.” He turned to face his brethren. “A vampire who fancies himself a seer. What a ridiculous bunch of bull . . . ”

  Devin started to twist to face me again, but I drew one of my knives and waited. The moment he faced me, he ceased speaking and watched, mouth hung agape, as the blade flew through the air and plunged into his chest. With only enough time to scream, Devin turned to ash and was no more.

  The knife hit the cold asphalt. I glanced at the others, an eyebrow upturned. “Does anybody else think me lying?”

  Devin’s group all turned and ran without as much as a beat between my words and their action. Scattering like their compatriot’s ashes in the wind, the four disappeared in mere seconds, something that brought a smile to my face. I relaxed my posture and strolled to where my knife lay. “Was that unwise?” I asked, directing my voice toward the fire escape, knowing Monica could hear me.

  She clapped as I plucked my weapon from the ground. Pushing away the side of my coat, I slipped the blade back into its sheath while she spoke. “I think you did very well. Bravo, Master Peter.”

  Bowing in a sweeping fashion, I then stood straight and walked toward her position. Monica vaulted down the stairs, and then leaped to the street below. I grinned. “What do you think, dear? Am I mad?”

  “Stark raving,” she said with a wink.

  I chuckled. “And no doubt, they shall spread the tale of my madness.” Nodding, I glanced toward the night sky again. “I think this is a rather good thing for us.”

  Monica blinked, raising an eyebrow. “How do you figure that?”

  “Let them think I lost my mind.” My eyes met Monica again. “When they face me, they shall know precisely what they are up against. I might have been feared by the others as an assassin, now let them think me a madman.” My grin turned devious. “I shall shortly become their worst nightmare.”

  Part Six

  The Last Temptation

  “Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life;

  it supports them all, lends strength to them all.

  Ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust.”

  Marquis De Sade

  Chapter Thirty

  One by one, they fell, victims to my sword.

  Over the course of the next five evenings, I orchestrated my assault on the vampire population of Philadelphia. It started with Justin, as he and I had a history and I knew all too well how he conducted himself amongst the mortals. Justin maintained the reputation of being the bloodiest vampire outside Sabrina’s coven and the second most of all the covens, period. The prestigious honor of being first belonged to me.

  He did not see it coming when I descended on his fledgling coven and killed the entire lot of them more than a dozen strong. I saved Justin for last and allowed him to stare into my eyes before I ran him through.

  “The gaze of a seer,” he said. “God help us all.”

  As he turned to dust, I grinned. “God shall not be of any aid to you bastards.” I strolled away from the empty room with an air of satisfaction. As heavy as the weight of my burdens still lay, I found respite in the kill, as if I could atone for all of my sins through violence. This blade, which had once wrought pain and suffering now dedicated itself to my calling, affording me the chance to plumb the depths of my talents in the process. Even then, I suspected I had merely scratched the surface.

  Suzanne heard the reports, but still seemed surprised when I appeared and made quick work of her grab for power. I stripped her of her immortality with a slice through her neck before walking away, shaking the dust of nearly two-dozen vampires from my shoes.

  Philip proved to be a bit more of a challenge.

  By that point, reports of the past week had been circulating around, becoming more urgent with each occurrence. Each collective I downed formed a stone on a pond with the ripples expanding outward, forcing the stragglers to assemble and flock to Sabrina’s wing for shelter. The pockets of resistance steadily declined and Philip departed from his previous location, taking his fledgling coven into seclusion. While a part of me relished having the lot of them running scared, I realized this also made my task that much more difficult.

  Monica and I spent the next three evenings scanning the area, questioning any vampires we managed to locate and casting whatever incantations Monica could utilize for our benefit. Finally, The Fates allowed us to sniff out Philip in the far northwest portion of the city, in an abandoned warehouse seated in a gang-riddled neighborhood. When I showed up, he was not nearly as surprised as the rest.

  “Flynn, I have information I will divulge to you if you let me live,” he said as I pressed a knife against his throat. Arms wrapped around him, I clutched his back to my chest and felt him shake in a manner that should have brought a sadistic grin to my face. As it was, I could not claim any sort of amusement at the moment. I simply wished the bastard dead.

  “What information is this?” I asked, sneering at him.

  “First you must promise me you will not kill me.”

  “Now, you know better than that, Philip, or have you forgotten the order of things? I am the seer. You are the enemy. This dictates where my course of action is headed, does it not?”

  “This information is worth sparing me. I promise it.”

  I hesitated. “Speak. I shall decide whether or not it is.”

  “Sabrina knows,” he said, struggling. My grip tightened. His eyes shut and his body quaked all the more when I pressed the blade harder into his throat, drawing blood. “She knows all about you. That you have deserted her and become a seer.”

  “Good,” I said, leaning close to issue a harsh whisper into his ear. “And I sincerely hope she is petrified, because she is next.”

  “Flynn, there’s more. Other immortals” I pushed him away from me and he turned to face me with hands extended in surrender. Philip stepped backward as I slipped the knife into its sheath. His expression shifted from wary to terrified when my hand settled on the hilt of my katana. A final attempt at bartering for his life spilled from his lips. “No, Flynn . . . the others, they know about your powers. They”

  Quickly drawing my sword, I advanced on Philip and aimed a swift arc for his neck, ridding him of his head and rendering him to dust. I whipped my blade to the side to flick the blood from its sharp edge and slid it back into its sheath. As my weapon snapped into place, I heard footsteps advancing and turned my head to regard her in my periphery.

  Monica frowned, glancing down at the remains of Philip. “What do you suppose he meant by that?”

  “I am not certain.” My eyes drifted to the ground as well. Monica paused by my side as I mused on Philip’s last words. “I did not spare him a moment to read his thoughts and am not apt to trust him.”

  She nodded. “I’ll have to ask the Council if they know anything.” Monica drew a deep breath inward and glanced up at me. Her hand rested on my shoulder. “Come on, Peter. It’s been a long night. I’ll call them tomorrow and see if they’ll meet with me then.”

  “I shall accompany you of course?” We began to stroll away from the
warehouse-turned-crypt. I plucked my weapons from the mounds of dust which encompassed Philip’s downed compatriots and paused to secure them back into place. I then offered Monica my arm and led us out into the night.

  She shook her head as we began a sedate pace down the street. “Not a good idea,” she said. “I still don’t know if you’re safe being seen by them. We’ve come a long way, though.” Monica paused. Her eyes found me again. “When Sabrina’s dead, I’m sure they’ll be more agreeable. For now, it’s best if I spoke for us both.”

  “Very well, then.” I nodded, falling silent for the majority of our stroll back to the safe house. All the while, I mused on Philip’s warning, wondering what to make of it without knowing the answer would find its way to me in due time.

  ***

  Before she set out the next evening, I watched, amused, while Monica patted herself down. “Okay,” she said, exhaling a deep breath. “The Council is expecting me. Protection spells have been cast. Knife is secured. What am I forgetting?”

  “To calm down,” I said, grinning. “You look as though you are marching off to face an execution squad.”

  “Feels like it sometimes,” she muttered. Monica’s eyes met mine before narrowing. “You know, when you were mortal, I bet you were still a pain in the ass.” Her lips betrayed her words. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Try to keep yourself out of trouble while I’m away. No slamming your fist into any more walls or anything.”

  I placed my hand over my chest. “I cross my silent heart and vow to save any pent up aggression for the vampires.”

  “Good.” Monica winked, and then straightened herself out. She nodded. “Alright, it’s time. The Council gets snippy when I keep them waiting.”

  Shifting in my seat, I watched Monica pass me on her way to the door. “Are you certain a protection spell shall be enough to ensure your safety?”

  “It got me into your coven.” She fetched her red scarf from the back of the couch and tied it around her neck. “Besides, it’s all I have for now. You can’t join me. I promise I’ll be careful and won’t talk to any strangers.”