The Living Weapon (Davenport Manor Book 2)

by Melissa Zaroski

  Chapter 5

  Daniel opted to keep Brianna away the day he moved back into the Manor, even though she was begging to come with him. Just like the rest of the general public, she knew of Davenport Manor and so desperately wanted to go inside and see what all the fuss was about. The grandeur and mysteriousness of it was enchanting to anyone on the outside of the Davenports’ tight-knit inner circle.

  Daniel felt that Brianna’s presence would cause unnecessary tension since she and Emma didn’t get along from the moment they met. He was ready to move forward and try to rebuild his relationship with his sixth-great aunt who posed as his big sister. He also wanted his best friend and stand-in brother, Zachariah back as well. While the independent life he had been living this past year was fun, he wanted the stability of his family back, no matter what happened in the past. It was the place that he could truly call “home” with the people who adored him. Emma had told him throughout his life that out of all the family members that lived at the Manor over the centuries, she had never been as close to them as she was to him.

  His other reason for leaving Brianna out was that the process would get done a lot faster with the help of strong, fast vampires as opposed to them having to act human. He didn’t have much to bring back with him since he was keeping his condo downtown, but it was enough for a few trips back and forth to the car. How could he explain their strength and speed to Brianna if she was there?

  Brianna scowled at him like a child as he shut the door of his truck, the last of his belongings loaded in. Her arms were folded, her head slightly tilted down while her eyes peered disapprovingly at him from under her eyebrows.

  “Come on, Brianna,” Daniel pleaded. “I’ll have you over once I get settled; I just think it would be a bad idea to have you there the first day. It’s not like you and Emma hit it off right away.”

  “And that’s my fault? She already didn’t like me because of what she sees in magazines!” She accused, finally speaking to him.

  “Well, it’s not like you even tried to be friendly with her! You kind of confirmed what she already thought of you with your behavior at the premiere. If you hadn’t given her such an attitude, maybe she would have changed her opinion about you,” he explained.

  Brianna looked away and shrugged in defeat, knowing he was right. She was intelligent enough not to argue, knowing that blood runs thick and he would most likely choose family over her, which infuriated her deep within.

  Daniel pulled her into an embrace to say goodbye and held her tightly to his chest.

  “I just don’t understand why you’re moving back to the Manor, you have a perfect home here,” she said, her voice muffled into his shirt.

  “The Manor is home, this feels more like a ‘getaway’ residence,” he replied. “I’ve never felt ‘at home’ here, only like I was on an extended vacation.”

  “Call me tonight?” She asked, looking up at his face.

  He stole one more kiss from her before climbing into his car to return to the Manor. As he drove North on I-94, the butterflies in his stomach fluttered every time he thought about walking through the front door. He knew it was going to be awkward for a bit. Anytime you get into a fight with someone and go a long length a time without seeing each other, the desire to feel instantly normal is overwhelming. However, the excitement of coming home far surpassed any impending awkwardness.

  He approached the front gates and pulled up to the guard shack. Their usual guard, a vampire of the most intimidating nature, was pleasantly surprised to see Daniel sitting behind the wheel. He rolled down the window and shook the guard’s hand, exchanging greetings to each other. He opened the gates and Daniel proceeded forward on the gravel road that led through the forest for about a mile before approaching the Manor. He hadn’t driven down this road in nearly a year; it was surreal to be here once again. The familiar road looked the same, but slightly different to him. He passed the tree stump that was the only remains of the tree that fell on top of his parents’ car and killed them. That’s what he believed for years until last year when he learned that Aidan actually pushed the tree with the intent to kill just Daniel’s father, but his mother happened to be in the car as well. He only glanced at the tree stump for a moment, trying to push the horrific memory from his mind.

  His car went over the final hill on the road and the Manor was a beacon straight ahead; the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. He was excited to be home, every nerve in his body filled with anticipation to settle back in. He pulled his car up to the circle driveway where Emma and Zachariah already stood waiting at the front door. Emma beamed, so happy to see her kin on the property once again. When Daniel stepped out of his car, Emma was already there and grabbed him into an embrace.

  “You!” She exclaimed, holding his face in her hands. “We’ve missed you around here,” she said, fighting back tears that would cause blood to run down her face.

  Daniel, wanting to feel normal again once and for all, hugged her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder. Through it all, Emma was his constant; his big sister, his second mother, and the one who was always there for him. They began to unload his car; Emma and Zachariah grabbed a majority of his things and quickly brought them up to his room at vampire speed. Daniel hadn’t even stepped through the front door by the time they came back downstairs. There were several perks that came with living with vampires, their speed and strength being two of them.

  As Daniel entered the grand foyer, the familiar scent of “home” wafted into his nose. It was an instant calm and comfort that took over him. He recognized the common faces of the staff, all of which were happy to see their favorite human back home.

  As Daniel unpacked his things, Emma knocked on the frame of his open bedroom door to get his attention. She was leaning against it, one foot crossed in front of the other. Zachariah soon approached from behind her, his arms folded, but with a pleased expression on his face.

  “Come on in, guys,” Daniel said as he took clothes out of his suitcase and hung them in his closet.

  “You want any help?” Zachariah asked.

  Daniel politely declined since he was relearning his bedroom that he hadn’t stepped foot in since last Christmas. As he continued on, Emma and Zachariah came in and sat down on the couch to keep him company while he worked.

  “Where’s Todd?” Daniel asked while crawling under his desk to plug in his laptop.

  “Yeah, there’s something we need to tell you,” Zachariah said with hesitation trailing on each word. Daniel stopped what he was doing and dreaded what they were about to say.

  Zachariah gave Emma the honor of telling Daniel what had happened.

  “I just thought of something,” he said slowly, a bit unsure of his idea. “Living weapons can see the ghosts of people who were killed by vampires, right?” They nodded and he continued, “Todd had formed somewhat of a bond with your sister, Elizabeth. If we can make contact with her, then perhaps she would be able to seek him out and tell us where he is, maybe pass messages back and forth.”

  Their mouths gaped open with hope in their eyes. Zachariah replied, “You’re brilliant, Dan. Only one, tiny little problem…she won’t appear to us, especially since she found peace.”

  “She’s around, though,” Emma added. “She may not appear to us, but I know one person who will be able to see her…Kelly.”

  “Why would Kelly be able to see her?” Daniel asked. “She’s not a living weapon, too, is she?”

  “She sure as hell is,” Zachariah said with a satisfied smile spread across his face. “Thing is, we’re going to have to tell her the truth and we’re not going to be able to charm her to forget.”

  Emma thought for a moment about the consequences and quickly realized that the chance of finding Todd far outweighed everything else. She nodded and quietly, yet firmly said, “It does not leave this circle of the three of us that she’s a living weapon…agreed?”

  Zachariah and Daniel assured her that the secret would be kept safe. Em
ma filled Daniel in on how they found Kelly and learned that she was a living weapon as well. He was actually impressed with their supreme stalking abilities and recommended they become private investigators as a side job!

  Emma pulled out her cell phone and called Kelly, who was pleasantly surprised to hear from her and had hoped she had good news about Todd. Emma explained that they had yet to find him, but needed her help and asked if she wouldn’t mind coming to the Manor.

  “Of course, anything I can do to help!” Kelly sputtered, the words practically babbling out of her mouth. While she was concerned about Todd, it was surreal that she was being asked to help find him and was invited to go to Davenport Manor.

  Emma offered to send a car to pick her up, to which she accepted, a little overwhelmed with the fancy treatment she was already getting. They set a time and said their goodbyes; Emma hitting the “end” button with a pleased smirk.

  Kelly finally arrived a few hours later in the black Escalade that they often used. Her breath was taken away just as Todd’s once was when the Manor came into view as they drove down the road. She was in awe of its grandeur and the fact that this beautiful building was what these people called “home”. It was so old, historic, and to put it quite simply, amazing. As they pulled up in front, Emma was already waiting in the frame of the front door.

  She smiled broadly, welcoming Kelly into her home and she led her through the massive front door. Zachariah and Daniel were waiting for her arrival in the parlor, hopeful that she was the key to finding Todd. They were already anticipating her laughing at them when they explained how she could help. No doubt, Emma and Zachariah were going to have to “show” her that they were vampires.

  “Welcome, Kelly. It’s good to see you again,” Emma greeted. “Please, join us in the parlor,” she motioned toward the archway.

  Daniel and Zachariah stood up as she walked in and each shook her hand, Daniel properly introducing himself. Kelly was trying to absorb the fact that she was in the room with Daniel Davenport and Zachariah Dancy, two of Hollywood’s biggest young stars.

  “Good to see you again, Kelly,” Zachariah said as he motioned for her to sit down on the couch.

  “You as well, Zachariah,” she beamed as she sat next to him. “What can I do to help you all find Todd?”

  Emma didn’t feel like hesitating and beating around the bush, cutting right to the chase no matter how crazy it sounded to Kelly. “First of all…whatever you see or hear while you’re here absolutely cannot leave this room, do you understand? You signed the contract at the guard shack, correct?”

  “Yes, I did,” Kelly answered, her hands folded primly in her lap and becoming more serious. She was curious of what she could possibly see here that would be such a big secret. Perhaps they just liked their privacy?

  “Do you believe in ghosts, Kelly?” Emma asked.

  Kelly shrugged, “I’d like to think I do, I have had weird things happen in my life that could be summed up to something supernatural I suppose.”

  Emma, glad to hear that she had a somewhat belief in the supernatural, continued, “Do you believe in vampires?”

  Kelly looked at her awkwardly and chuckled, but noticed no one else was laughing. Their faces all remained completely serious. “Um, no.”

  “What you’re going to learn today is going to change the world for you as you know it. Are you prepared for that?”

  Kelly slowly nodded, “Okay…”

  “I’m Emma Davenport…the original resident of the Manor. I was born in 1790 and I became a vampire in 1815. Zachariah here is just a little bit younger than me, turned in 1839.”

  Kelly’s eyes widened and her mouth remained open, trying to find the words to say. If they weren’t playing a prank on her, they were most definitely crazy. She looked around the room and nervously laughed, “Okay, where’s the hidden camera?”

  They anticipated this kind of reaction from her, so without hesitation Zachariah glared her down, quickly descended his fangs, and growled a sound that she had never heard a human make before. Emma did the same, except she hissed instead of growled.

  Kelly scrambled off of the couch and screamed, attempting to run toward the front door, however she wasn’t quick enough. Emma appeared directly in front of her as she was about to exit the parlor, which sent her into yet another scream. Kelly was too terrified to move and began to frantically cry, closing her eyes and waiting for whatever fate lied before her.

  Emma grabbed Kelly by her upper arms and retracted her fangs. “Don’t be frightened, Kelly,” Emma soothed, her voice almost a deep purr. “We’re not going to hurt you, we’re not like that. We just wanted you to believe. Only Zachariah and I are vampires, Daniel is a human. He is actually my sixth-great nephew, my brother Christopher was his sixth-great grandfather. He grew up with us, everyone in my family has. Can you calm down now and trust that we won’t harm you?”

  Taking short, shaky breaths she croaked, “Yes.”

  Emma gently put her arm around her and led her back to the couch, but this time she sat next to Daniel.

  Emma gave her a moment to compose herself before she continued on with spilling all of the Manor’s secrets. “As I was saying, Zachariah and I are vampires. Daniel is a human. And Todd is something special, too; he’s what is known in the vampire world as a living weapon. One drop of his blood will kill us. Living weapons are extraordinarily rare and strike so much fear into vampires that they are almost immediately killed. Not only could they kill us themselves, but a vampire with a bad agenda could use one against other vampires.

  “Thing is, we have reason to believe that is exactly what has happened to Todd. And the crazier thing is…you’re a living weapon, as well.”

  Kelly didn’t respond with words, but her eyes spoke volumes of what she thought about the information that was given to her. Her day started out completely normal, almost mundane, and now…everything she knew about the world around her was turned upside-down. A few hours ago she was sitting at home planning to watch The Vampire Diaries (oh, the irony) that she had DVRed. Now, it became real life and it scared her to death. And this living weapon thing? She was considered a weapon against vampires?

  “You okay so far?” Zachariah asked after the long silence.

  Emma plugged on without waiting for her to respond, “The thing about living weapons is that they are able to see the ghosts of people who were killed by vampires. This is where you come in to help find Todd.”

  “How do you know for sure that I am a living weapon?” Kelly questioned.

  “Because that day that we came by your office we tried to charm you to forget, but it didn’t work. Living weapons can’t be charmed.” Zachariah replied.

  “Charm me?” She asked, not knowing the term. “Is that like making me do or think what you want me to?”

  They nodded and appreciated how quickly she was catching on. Emma went on and explained the story of Elizabeth and that Todd was able to communicate with her the year before. She explained why Todd lived at the Manor now, but decided to leave out the relationship that he and Emma shared. Granted, they may not be able to contact Elizabeth now that she was at peace, but it was something they at least had to try as they were running out of leads.

  “You killed your own sister?” Kelly asked, perplexed at the thought.

  “It was an accident! I didn’t mean to and I never would have hurt her if I had any kind of control over myself,” Emma exclaimed. “Anyway, I think the best place to try and make contact with her will be at the family crypt out in the cemetery, that’s where she was last seen. If you can make contact with her, then perhaps she can somehow find Todd since they had a connection.”

  Emma and Zachariah heard Kelly’s heart rate speed up, obviously the thought of communicating with a ghost made her anxious.

  “You have nothing to be afraid of,” Zachariah said, answering the rhythm of her heart. “Elizabeth isn’t scary or anything…her fashion sense is just two hundred years old, that’s all.”
He attempted to ease her nerves with a bit of humor.

  Emma placed her hand on Kelly’s arm, the chill sending a jolt of surprise through her. As scary and weird as this all was, she couldn’t help but be a little bit excited to be a part of something so crazy. She had so many questions and had hoped she would get a chance to ask. At the same time, she was fearful since they had explained that living weapons were not only dangerous to vampires, but their own lives were in danger as well. She almost felt she would always be on guard now, wondering if someone was going to come after her, but Emma reassured her that the only vampires who knew about her were herself and Zachariah. Oddly, she felt as though she could trust them.

  “Okay, let’s go ahead and go to the cemetery,” Emma said as she stood up, gesturing for the others to follow.

  As they walked outside, Kelly was confused when they went left toward the forest on the property instead of right toward the garages. “Where are we going?”

  “To the cemetery,” Daniel answered, pointing toward the dense trees ahead.

  “Wait, the cemetery is here?”

  “It’s our family cemetery; remember this property has been in our family for over two hundred years. We own the town and can get away with having a cemetery on our land.”

  “Doesn’t that creep you out?”

  Daniel chuckled, “No, it’s the walking, talking dead people you have to watch out for!”

  Emma playfully hip-checked him, causing him to lose his balance and take a few awkward steps to regain it. He retaliated by lightly pushing her back as they both laughed.

  “So, you’re technically dead?” Kelly asked, intrigued by the idea. Maybe now was the time to start asking questions since the path ahead looked fairly long.

  “As a doornail,” Zachariah bluntly said.

  “Well, not really as a doornail, Zach,” Emma corrected. “Doornails are inanimate, we, however, are not.”

  “Do you…kill people to feed?” Kelly inquired, a little worried about the answer.