by Lelana Croft
“Wow…I had no idea. I looked up some stuff online, but I figured it was all just conspiracy theory. So, you're saying it’s true?”
“From what I know, it is. Why?”
“Because I believe Sebastian is a part of it. As was Canon. And maybe even Marilyn.”
“Marilyn couldn’t have been part of it. First of all, she’s human and she’s a woman. Neither of which were allowed to be a part of Aegis.”
“Then why was she wearing their medallion?” I asked.
“What medallion?”
“Come inside, I want to show you something.”
We went inside and I pulled out the newspaper article and the book, pointing out the medallion.
“So, if Marilyn wasn’t part of the order, why was she wearing the medallion?” I asked.
Miles leaned back on the couch and thumbed his lip.
“You’re not gonna like what I tell you,” he said hesitantly.
“Spit it out, fly boy.”
“It’s a sign of ownership. If she’s wearing it, it means someone in Aegis owned her.”
My mouth visibly dropped.
“You mean, like property? She was considered property?” I asked, my blood boiling.
He nodded. “Yeah. But here’s the thing. She wasn’t forced. I mean, to be owned by a member of Aegis, you have to be willing to be owned. The members of Aegis don't marry. They own their wives. Their wives, and there could be more than one per member, willingly choose to take that life. It is never to be forced on them. But once they choose it, they have to keep it forever, regardless. If they want out, the only way out is death.”
I sat down dumbfounded that anyone would give their life to something like this. Then again, I understood having a cause to live for and believing in something. If Marilyn had given her life to Canon so that she could live forever, that made sense now.
“So what about her marriage to Martin Hastings? If she was owned by Canon, why did she marry a mortal?” I asked.
“Unsure about that, but I know of it happening to keep people from questioning things. Something may have happened back then to warrant her looking like she had a husband. We might never find out,” he said.
I knew I could find out, if I could take my time in her mind. But time was something I seemed to be running short on these days.
“Is Sebastian part of The Aegis Council?” I asked, hoping the answer was no.
“I don’t know. I don’t know as much about Sebastian as I’d like to, because I can't get on the property to find out what he does there. I know it’s a winery, but I don’t usually see anything being produced, at least not where I can buy it,” he replied.
“Wait, why can’t you get on the property?”
I’d forgotten that he’d mentioned this the other day, but I’d been focused more on how Sebastian had gotten into my house at the time.
“There some kind of spell or something on it. I can’t cross the boundaries. It’s like running into a brick wall for me. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to find a way to keep me out.”
I decided to tell him what I’d learned about Marilyn and Canon from my memory walk. About how the winery was formed and what it had been used for. I explained that it was how Marilyn was able to stay alive and that the young girl in the morgue was probably one of the victims because she'd been a virgin and had been completely drained of her blood.
“Her blood was used to make the wine. One question I have is whose vampire blood is being used to make it. Sebastian's? Canon’s? Do they have a vat of collective vampire blood somewhere where they all go to donate?”
“I have no idea. But this is disturbing. I knew about the practice of giving humans immortality, but it was something that wasn't supposed to be still in practice because it gave certain elites more power than they needed. If that is what has been going on out there, it’s been going on for over two-hundred years.”
“Yes, and that means that Canon and Sebastian are in the middle of it. Have you ever seen Canon in person?” I asked.
“No. Well, not since I was a kid. I saw him once when I was younger. My mother told Sebastian to keep Canon away from me. He respected her wishes and I never saw him again.”
“We need to stop this. We need to stop them from making this wine. It’s wrong. It’s immoral and wrong. Humans aren't meant to live forever. They aren’t meant to rule other humans like this,” I said, as I daydreamed about bringing peace to the world.
“I know, but this is something that is much bigger than you or me. We can do the best we can to control the damage and maybe stop some of the activity, but like all mafias, they'll find a way to do what they want. It’s out of our control,” Miles explained.
I knew he was right, but that didn’t matter to me. In our little corner of the world, I had no intention of just letting things happen. It was time to change it. And that time was now.
Miles took off and I decided to take a nap. I had plans and I needed to make sure I was awake and aware by nightfall.
“Why are you staring at me?” I asked Adonis as he sat on the corner of the dresser, watching me put together my gear.
“I’m just taking a good look at you before you die.”
I let out a chuckle. “I’m not gonna die. I need to get into that compound and find out what they're doing.”
“Wouldn’t it be smarter to go in the daytime when they are sleeping?”
“No, because that’s exactly what they’d expect, if they were expecting me. But they aren't. They think they’re safe because they have Miles blocked. But I’m not. I can get in.”
“Oh, that’s brilliant,” he said sarcastically.
“Look, I know Sebastian and his minions will mostly be out on the prowl at night. It’s the perfect time to go see what's going on. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”
“I’m sure you will, but that doesn’t mean you won’t wind up dead. I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Please, Adonis. I’m just going to check things out.”
“Then why all the gear?” he asked, looking at my mini crossbow laying on the bed.
“I’m not gonna go in unarmed. THAT would be stupid. I don’t plan on getting caught.”
“Well, when you die, can I have your stuff?” he jested.
I just shook my head and finished strapping on my leg holsters.
“Don’t tell anyone. Okay?” I begged.
He looked out the window. “Only if you put out an extra-large bowl of cream before you leave. Who knows how long it will be if you die, before I get to have it again.”
“Oh geez!” I said as I made my way downstairs, pulling out a large bowl and filling it up with the last of the cream. I placed the bowl on the floor.
My phone dinged and it was a text from Katie.
{Have you heard from Patty? She hasn’t been responding.}
{No, I haven’t. Maybe she took a nap and turned off her phone?}
{Maybe. Okay, just wanted to check, thx}
I put my phone in airplane mode and slid it into my back pocket. I didn’t need it going off at the most inopportune time when I was trying to be stealthy.
It was eerily dark as I made my way out to the scooter. Well, at least I won’t make a lot of noise making my way out to the compound. I really needed to get that truck.
I keep the light on for most of the trip. It was about five miles out of town before I came to the driveway. I couldn't see anything from the street. I remembered looking it up on a map earlier and how it was pretty well hidden from prying eyes. There was dense forest all around, and the driveway was a couple of miles in through twists and turns, so that the mansion couldn't be seen from the road.
The property was hundreds of acres and surrounded by forest. The ironic thing was that I couldn’t see any grape vines on the satellite image of the map. So how do you make wine with no grapes?
I was glad I’d worn my hiking boots as I made my way through the dark forest. There was only a sliver of moon t
hat peeked through the trees, hitting the forest floor and lighting my way. After my eyes adjusted, I could see well enough to pick up the pace until I came to a clearing.
Coming out of the forest, I looked ahead and was overwhelmed by the size of the house. It had to have been over ten thousand square feet.
The German style was actually quite well done. Big stones and wood beams made it look impenetrable. I was going to have to find a way inside without being noticed.
I began to move in closer, little by little, stopping along the way from time to time to listen for any movement. I knew that was silly because most vampires could move as quietly as I could. But I could usually sense them if they began to get close, and I was mentally looking for them. I knew they were all inside at the moment.
I was about to give up hope of finding a way in when I stumbled upon a small door that looked like it went to some kind of cellar. Carefully, I inched my way down the damp stairs and listened to see if I could hear anything inside. All was quiet.
Reaching down for the handle, I carefully gave it a twist. To my surprise, it opened. I slowly began to open it, peering inside.
The stench of old blood hit me in the face and I stepped back and tried not to gag. I could handle a lot of things, but smells were always the worst. I could never seem to get them out of my nostrils for days after, no matter what I did.
I took a deep breath and held it, pushing my way inside and softly closing the door behind me. The room was damp and dark, and it felt small. I grabbed my flashlight and covered the lens before turning it on. I knew that if I had a large amount of light, I'd be blinded once I turned it off.
Once it was on, I opened my hand away from my face and shined the light on the room. Over in the corner was the body of someone hanging upside down, blood dripping from the obvious bite marks in the neck. The person was shrunken from being drained of blood.
Off to the other side was a set of concrete stairs that went up. I turned off my light and covered my nose and mouth with my hand, trying to block the scent. It didn't work. Making my way upstairs, I looked through the keyhole to see if I could see anyone. It was quiet. I turned my head and pressed my ear against the keyhole to try to hear anyone.
But I pressed too hard against the door, and it flew open, causing me to crash-land on the floor, and into a table next to the wall that held a very large vase. It looked like it was in slow motion as the vase began to topple toward me.
Chapter 29
My instincts kicked in and I reached out with one hand, catching the vase before it hit the floor. I sat frozen for a moment, balancing the vase in one hand as I waited to see if anyone had heard me.
There was no movement. No noise. I let out a huge breath and set the vase back in its place.
I closed the door and began to look for anything that could tell me what was really going on at this place. I didn't have to go far.
The hallway was ornate to the point of gaudy. Statues of naked men and women were all decked out in gold leaf and the red carpet down the hallway gave everything a pink hue. There was a lot of dark-stained wood and artwork on the walls. I didn't know a lot about art, but I could recognize several pieces from Casper David Freidrich, especially those that were painted to look like they were at dusk.
I was distracted by the sound of a woman crying, or what sounded like crying. I made my way to the end of the hall and listened through the door. Crouching down, I peered through the keyhole, my heart pounding in my chest. Anxiety rose in me when I realized what I was seeing.
A large cage was in the middle of the room and inside, were several young girls. I couldn’t tell if they were being guarded, so I readied myself as I slowly opened the door. The girls inside the cage froze as I walked into the room, frightened and crying while looking at me.
I raised my hand to make the shhh sign to them. They all nodded as I began to look around the room. There were no cameras or anything like that, so I went up to the cage.
“English?”
They all shook their heads. Great, no one could understand me. They looked just like the Korean girls I’d seen back in the city when I'd eliminated Ben Nichols.
“I’ll be back,” I whispered, even though they probably had no idea what I was saying. As I began to walk out of the room, I could hear them whispering to me and reaching out to me, begging for me to save them.
I held up my hand and showed them my crossbow, hoping they’d understand that I needed to take out whoever was keeping them there. I pulled the door to but didn't close it completely, so it wouldn’t make any noise.
Making my way down the hall, I checked each room as I went. There were a lot of rooms that were just empty, nothing in them. I thought that was strange but then, I figured they probably wouldn't sleep in a bed like we did because they’d need to be away from the sun. They probably had their beds in the basement.
I heard the sound of whimpering as I made my way up the hall. When I got to the room where the sound was coming from, I peeked around the corner and could see a young girl, laying strapped down on a table, a needle hanging out of her wrist and her blood filling a canister on the floor. She was either dead or almost dead.
I could hear the sound of a whimper, then heard what sounded like some kind of machine. I looked in a little farther and saw the back of a woman, putting a tattoo on the wrist of another girl that had been strapped down to another table.
I leaned back on the wall in the hallway, trying to decide what to do. If I took her out, her maker would know and might be here in a flash. If I didn't take her out, it could be one additional vampire that I’d have to fight.
I readied myself and checked my bow. Taking a deep breath, I got down on one knee and propped my bow up, aiming for her heart. I released the bolt and the vampire let out a small moan before turning into a pile of ash, as soon as the silver tip had hit her heart.
Making my way into the room, I unstrapped the girl that was still alive and told her to get out of the house. She may not have understood English, but she knew what to do. She immediately ran in the direction I'd pointed and disappeared.
I readied myself as I continued to make my way down the hall. I heard another voice coming from a room on the opposite side, but this one sounded muffled. There was a second voice that sounded like a man. I waited outside the room to listen to their conversation. He was taunting her.
“If Sebastian didn’t insist on keeping you for himself, we could have a dandy ol’ time. Yes, indeed. You sure look nice and juicy. I'll bet you taste really good, too. I’ve always loved pure white flesh and red hair. Just something about it makes me tingle all over.”
His voice was gravely and gruff, like he’d been a smoker all his life and needed to cough.
I listened intently to his footsteps, trying to make out where he was in the room. I decided not to chance it by peering through like I'd done before. If he found me before I found him, I’d probably have a ton of vamps on me before I could say ‘boo’.
I pulled a tiny dental mirror out of my pocket and slid down the wall until I was at the floor. I carefully positioned the mirror to see where he was. I couldn't see much else with the mirror, but I could see if he was facing me or looking away. I held my breath to steady myself as I waited for him to turn away. I peered into the doorway and shock went through me when I saw who he’d been talking to.
It was Patty! How did she get here? Oh, God, not Patty.
She was strapped down tight and gagged. I could hear her trying to speak to him, but he didn’t care. He just kept mumbling about how pretty she was and how jealous he was that he couldn't have her.
“I don’t know why Sebastian has to get all the domestic virgins. It’s just not fair. He always gets to pick what he wants and we get the scraps. I don't like Korean. I’d much prefer Irish.”
Patty’s a virgin? That surprised me, but I didn’t have time to think about that now. I had to get her out of there. I readied my crossbow and waited until I thought it was a good ti
me.
Quickly peeking my head around the corner with crossbow in hand, I took my best shot. He moved just as I was releasing and it caught him in the arm. He yelled and turned around with fangs out, and began running towards me.
I stood up and ran up the opposite hallway wall, flipping over him and landing behind him in the doorway of the room. He came after me and I ran around the other side of the table that Patty was on. She was crying as I tried to fight off this mammoth of a man, trying not to get bit. I pulled out my blade and went for the heart a couple of times, but he swung and I just managed to slice him, pissing him off even more.
We watched as the wounds healed themselves and he came around the table again, trying to grab me.
I knew I needed to take him out. I couldn’t let him call for another vampire or I’d be hard pressed to win this fight and save Patty at the same time.
I also knew that if he bit me and died the horrible death, that his screams would notify every vampire within a hundred-mile radius and we'd have a swarm on our hands. I couldn’t let that happen. There was only one thing I could do to save both mine and Patty’s life.
I had only used my silent kill once before. It was draining and used almost every bit of my power when I did it. But it was the only thing that would allow me to take him down and not be heard. His maker would know he was gone, but wouldn't know how.
I came around to the front of the table and forced out my wings. They almost filled the whole room as the vampire watched stopped in mid-lunge to take it in. I saw a little smile as he looked at me with a thirst that only he could fathom.
He rushed towards me and I wrapped my wings around us both, creating a cocoon of silence. As he went for my neck, I used my silver dagger and drove it through his heart from behind, hoping I could stop him from getting any of my blood in his system, but it was too late.
First, his body began to shrivel as the small amount of my blood began to break down his. I kept my wings tightly closed as his screams of pain echoed in my head. I closed my eyes when he turned into white-hot flame before finally ending up as sparkling dust before I collapsed on the floor, my energy spent.
