Anastasia quietly lowered herself behind the front of the truck, watching another group of teens walk through the hole in the chain link fence and down the street. When the scent of humans dissipated she continued forward, keeping her eyes and ears open.
She didn’t know what to expect. The large building was unlike any sanctuary she ever visited in Minneapolis. She didn’t understand why Selene would come here. Maybe she still hunted Kei and she was the woman the teens spoke about earlier? She looked up at the only window on the third floor that wasn’t boarded. The light flickered, possibly a candle and a shadow moved across the wall. Someone was still there.
A loose board that creaked as it swung back and forth in the wind covered the entrance to the building. She walked in, stepping on a dirty blanket. The smell of rotten wood mixed with ammonia from dog urine swirled in her nostrils. The walls were stained yellow and black from years of accumulated dust and filth.
While Anastasia kept her hearing sharp, the smell she now encountered became commingled. The distinct smells of Deamhan, especially Metusba, Lamia, and Lugat were apparent however the smell of any Ramanga besides herself didn’t exist.
She walked up the stairs and slid her hand up the railing, reaching the third floor. The tiny sharp ends of her fangs rested on her lower lip and her eyes slowly filled with the darkness that made her Ramanga. Her body became rigid. If she was going to move she needed to move now.
In Deamhan speed she jumped forward, spanning a non-human distance. She landed silently in a crouched position with her nails gripping the boards in the floor. Her skin tingled to the slight touch of air around her. Her mind became blank and she became alert, ready for the kill. It didn’t matter if her life ended that moment. The lure of virulent behavior that made her Ramanga now consumed her.
Anastasia leaped again and landed next to the door. She leaned her body against the wall and she sniffed the thick air. The smell changed but she knew the intrusive scent.
She stepped into the doorway, staring into Selene’s cold and dark eyes. Her appearance in the dank small room stiffened Anastasia’s posture. Selene, now second most ancient Deamhan in the city, the woman that Anastasia helped last winter to push Kei on the run, the woman who knew her own maker, acted unhinged by Anastasia’s surprised appearance. Her bright carrot colored hair that always sparkled when Anastasia saw her now looked darker in the flickering candlelight. The smile she flashed at Anastasia was cold as ice. She flipped back the few strands of hair from her shoulder to her back and she licked her reddish lips.
Her human minion, Jessica, stood close to Selene. Surprised that she hadn’t picked up on Jessica’s scent before, Anastasia came to the conclusion that Selene had somehow masked it. Anastasia sensed nothing from her, not even a thought. But in her attempt to conceal her thoughts Anastasia sensed the minion’s fear.
“Anastasia,” Selene welcomed in a monotone voice. She tucked her hair underneath her loose black jacket that she wore. She wore a black dress that fell just above her knees with knee high boots. The candlelight flickered just enough to reveal the squalid conditions of the room. An old torn mattress was propped up in the corner. Garbage was strewn about the room. An old desk leaned against the wall, supported only by three legs.
Anastasia relaxed, allowing her body to revert back to normal. The tension between them would never change, neither would the way they greeted each other. Parting after meeting usually ended up with Anastasia in wretched pain and close to death. As with many older Deamhan, it didn’t matter what clan they belonged to. Selene was older thus harder to kill. Her age protected her. Anastasia knew she could never kill Selene but the thought of testing Selene’s strength tickled her Ramanga instincts.
The Dictum forbids the killing of their own kind unless ordered. Technically, Selene could call for Anastasia’s death, like she did Kei. But Anastasia knew her secretive side all too well. Like her, she worshipped her sire, Lucius, and he treated Anastasia like his own daughter. If Selene killed her, Lucius would end Selene’s existence.
Only Lucius strongly believed in following the rules of the Dictum. Anastasia remembered a time when he strongly believed in keeping the Deamhan out of the spotlight. Let the vampires expose themselves to their hearts’ desire. When the time came to shine in the spotlight, the Deamhan would be ready. But now he chased after Kei like a rabid dog, seeking his revenge because of his stint in Limbo and he hid secrets from Anastasia.
Selene motioned to Jessica to kick over the mattress in the corner. Without hesitation Jessica removed the mattress, revealing a pile of trash and dirt.
“When did you get back to Minneapolis?” Anastasia asked.
“A few weeks ago,” Selene replied.
“You found Kei?”
“That’s none of your business.” Selene lifted her nose in the air.
“It is my business. What do you want with The Brotherhood?” Her abrupt question made Selene immediately turn and stare at her. “I know you went there.”
“Again, that’s none of your business.”
Another scent drifted in the air, making Anastasia stop speaking in mid-sentence. She looked across the room, to a doorway leading to another room not yet explored. Like Selene’s scent, she knew this one very well and this time she welcomed it.
Lucius walked into the room and he stopped as their eyes met. Months had passed since she laid eyes on him. Then he looked vastly different, covered in blood from the Deamhan he killed during Kei’s Gathering. She remembered his look being tarred and ratted. His brown chestnut colored hair was cut short. He wore a white and gray colored shirt with tight fitting blue jeans and black shoes, reflecting the modern times.
After being released from Limbo, he disappeared for a few weeks, only to reappear at The Gathering. When she asked him about Limbo, he refused to answer. Instead he was more concerned with helping Veronica find out what happened to her mother who was his former lover.
He motioned for her to approach him and Anastasia stepped forward. A feeling of relaxation and undying loyalty engulfed every fiber of her being. While being in his presence, she felt the bond between a sire and their offspring even though he wasn’t her maker. His sister, Lucia, would always be Anastasia’s sire regardless if their bond was broken centuries ago. As she had lain in the metal coffin her sire had placed her in, it was Lucius who rescued her warped body a hundred years later and took her under his wing. He taught her what it was to be a Deamhan, the bad and the good, and he helped her rid her mind of any thoughts pertaining to her own sire.
So when she found out that he went missing, Anastasia traveled to Minneapolis in search for him. At first she thought Nathan was responsible and Anastasia killed anyone in her way without a thought. She made it her goal to learn about Lucius’ every move in the city before he disappeared. When Selene finally arrived and placed protection on Veronica because of Lucius, Anastasia followed the order without question.
She loved him with her disheveled heart and she would die for him.
Anastasia slowly kneeled in front of him and she lowered her head. “You look well.”
He placed his hand underneath her chin and lifted her head. “Stand up, Auerelia.”
He was also the only one she’d allowed to call her by her human birth name.
She stood to her feet. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back in the city?”
He gently rubbed the side of her face and he looked at her for a few moments before speaking again. “I was going to call on you when I felt that you were ready.”
“Ready?” Anastasia stepped back from him. She watched him walk toward Selene. Confused by his actions, Anastasia shot Lucius and Selene a bewildered stare. “What’s going on? You aren’t telling me something.”
Lucius stood still. “A deal must be made with The Brotherhood to secure the future of our kind.”
“Deal?” Anastasia couldn’t believe her ears. “Did you forget about the last deal they made with Kei? You ended up in Limbo.”
Anastasia pointed to her. “I’m not talking to you.”
Lucius raised his hand, ceasing the rising tension in the room. “You’ll understand in time but for now you must stop this bickering.”
“You’ve been lying to me?!”
“It’s not important. Not now.”
Anastasia folded her arms across her chest. It wasn’t like Lucius to give up on a chase so easily.
Selene turned to Lucius. “She isn’t ready to know.”
“Yes, she is.” Lucius nodded. “Auerelia,” he looked at her, “Kei’s scent still lingers throughout the air in this city.”
Anastasia stood still. No Deamhan was strong enough to differentiate all the scents of their kind in a city as big as Minneapolis, including Lucius.
Answering Anastasia’s thoughts, Lucius spoke. “I am more powerful now.”
His reply startled her. How did he do that? Yes, she questioned Lucius in her thoughts and she hid them very well. She was good at it. How did he read them without her feeling him penetrate her mind?
He looked to Selene and nodded. “Tell her.”
Selene opened her mouth and hesitated but with Lucius’ continued glare, she nodded in affirmation and she faced Anastasia. “Do you know the origins of our species?”
Before Anastasia could reply, Selene interjected, “Of course you don’t. I don’t think your sire knew or cared. It was a time when vampires ravaged ancient cities, robbing babies from the arms of their human mothers. They devastated small towns, killing any human they could find. Desperate, the humans prayed to their pantheon of gods for answers, for hope but their prayers went unanswered.”
Anastasia heard small stories here and there about Deamhan origins but she considered them nothing more than fables, created to give Deamhan a sense of purpose. She remained quiet while Selene continued.
“But one night the vampires killed the wrong human; the son of a practitioner of dark magic. He was the town’s Kashshapu; a priest of dark magic.”
“Very powerful and ancient magic,” Lucius added.
“In return the Kashshapu used his magic to create the very first Deamhan in human form. He chose four humans, thus creating the Ramanga, Lamia, Metusba, and Lugat to protect the humans from the vampires.”
“The very first, the Pure Ones, had none of the weaknesses we have today,” Lucius said. “They walked in the sun, they could not be killed. They were truly immortal and served their human makers.”
“But soon they began to kill the ones they were created to protect,” Selene said. “Desperate, the Kashshapu wanted to reverse the horrors brought to his people so he returned to his magic. Again he chose four humans and created the Adze, Ekimmu, Empusa, and the Estrie to battle his first four evil creations and the vampires.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Anastasia asked.
Ignoring Anastasia’s question, Selene continued. “And like the first four he created, they also turned on the humans. The human king had enough of this Kashshapu and his dark magic. An astral plain, void of time, was created to hold them. We call this place Limbo. They cursed those sired by the first eight Deamhan with weaknesses to light and wood and the humans created amulets for protection against them.” Selene’s green eyes glowed in the flickering candlelight. “But some Deamhan managed to flee the city and escape out into the world.”
Anastasia took the story with a grain of salt. She didn’t believe in deities so the story made little sense to her and she didn’t understand why they believed it. She started to feel Selene probing her mind, looking deep for answers and she didn’t try to hide them. Whatever she was looking for, Anastasia knew she’d eventually find it. But something didn’t feel right. Selene managed to enter her thoughts easily, making Anastasia rethink her decision to give them full access to her mind. Now she pushed back, trying to force Selene out. The harder she tried, the more her brain began to burn.
She closed her eyes and looked away. Somehow Selene was too strong for her to block, or maybe she was too weak to defend.
Selene pointed to Jessica and ordered her to leave the room. In a hurry she walked past Anastasia, glancing up at her only once before exiting. She looked to Lucius. “She hasn’t been feeding. She isn’t any use to us.”
Any use? For what? Recovered from Selene’s onslaught, Anastasia walked around the room, taking in the plethora of smells. She spread her hand along the wall, feeling the slimy texture of dirt on her fingertips.
“She needs her, Selene. I need her.”
“Yes, just like we need that researcher you want me to constantly flirt with,” she replied.
“Soon, you won’t have to.”
“She can’t function on a diet of animal blood alone.” She looked to Anastasia.
“Don’t question our orders.” Lucius’ voice raised and Selene backed off.
Their interaction proved mysterious and Anastasia moved away from them, not knowing what to expect. “If what you told me is true then the Pure Ones are still alive in Limbo.” The thought drew Anastasia back to the cave where both she and Selene had gone to free Lucius. While there Selene had made some deal with Amenirdis, Queen of Limbo and a Pure One in her own right.
“They want out, Anastasia,” Lucius said. “They want to be freed.”
“You’re going to free them?” Anastasia eyed him suspiciously. “How are you going to do that?”
“Before the king had the Kashshapu executed, the Kashshapu wrote down the spells used to create our species on a clay tablet. He also instilled the magic in his descendants so that in the future, they would be the key to unlocking the spells used in his rituals. After his death the tablet disappeared from history only to appear a thousand years later. It was broken into two pieces to make sure that the magic would never be practiced again.”
Selene’s thin lips slowly curled into a conspicuous smile.
Anastasia wanted to know what stirred inside their minds. Sure, she could probe, but the risk seemed too great when in comparison to Lucius’ power alone and what he could do to her if she tried. Instead, she decided to flesh out the information from them the old fashioned way…by talking.
“So I guess you want me to get on my hands and knees and thank the Pure Ones for my existence?” Anastasia’s snotty remark quickly dissipated the smile on Selene’s face.
Lucius approached Anastasia. “When the time comes, you will have no other choice.”
“I don’t bow down to anyone.”
Selene huffed and again her lips curled into a snicker. “You bow down to Lucius.”
She turned to Selene. “Yes, because he deserves it. He has my respect. The Pure Ones don’t.”
“Anastasia.” Lucius approached her. “Choose your next words carefully.”
A moment of silence overcame their conversation. She knew he meant business when he started to call her by her Deamhan name. Anastasia watched Selene’s eyes focus in and out as she stared back into hers while her mind still rattled on why Lucius acted so differently.
“The time I spent in Limbo I spent as servant to the Pure Ones.” His face drooped in discontent. “They showed and taught me so much.”
“What could they have taught you that you don’t already know?”
“We are a dying species and we need to be saved,” he replied. “Only they can save us.”
Just then, eu4Anastasia saw Lucius’ eyes change from brown to dark red. Amazed, she broke their stare and stepped back from him. Something definitely wasn’t right. “Your eyes! What’s wrong with them?”
“I was given power to help free them—”
“Power? What kind of power?” In reality, she knew the answer to her own question but she couldn’t believe it. “They will turn on all of us. You can’t trust them.” Anastasia placed her hand on his shoulder.
Selene tilted her head back and exploded into laughter. “I told you, Lucius. She wouldn’t understand, not like I have.”
“No, it’s just that I’m not easily manipulated,” Anastasia replied. “The only thing I felt when I walked in that cave to free you was pure evil. Nothing more. The Pure Ones were placed in Limbo for a good reason.”
Selene rushed toward Anastasia in Deamhan speed and pushed her up against the wall. Anastasia gripped onto Selene’s neck but in a quick movement, Selene grabbed Anastasia’s wrist and yanked her arm away. She then placed her elbow on Anastasia’s throat and she pushed. The pressure ached at her trachea and Anastasia, with her Ramanga teeth fully exposed, snapped at Selene.
Selene placed her hands on Anastasia’s face. Her touch converted from ice cold to burning hot as she began to feed. Anastasia felt her body becoming weak while she still struggled unsuccessfully to free herself from Selene. She knew that Deamhan couldn’t feed off Deamhan without killing themselves in the process so she expected Selene’s attack to cease. Instead Selene continued and now frightened, Anastasia grabbed Selene’s wrists and she dug deep into her skin but Selene only increased her grip and pressure. She was also stronger than normal. Anastasia looked to Lucius for help, but he remained still, watching the spectacle unfold. She felt her legs wobbling underneath her. Her body became heavy and her mind distorted. She felt her skin beginning to tighten then wrinkle. The blood flowing in her veins began to dissipate and as she began to lose consciousness her arms fell loosely to her sides.
Lucius finally spoke. “Selene, that’s enough.”
Selene released her, allowing Anastasia’s weakened body to slide against the wall and to the ground.
“This isn’t part of their plan.” His voice turned into a whisper. “Anastasia, do not stand against us. Do not do what Silvanus did.”
Anastasia grinded her teeth in pain. Since when could Selene feed from Deamhan? It was just another question to add to her already long list of ‘what-the-fuck’ moments. “Did you do something to him?” She forced her eyes to glance up at his face. “Do you know where Silvanus is?”
Dark Curse (Deamhan Chronicles Book 2) Page 9
