Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles

by Paul A. Cagle

  Chris, the Senator and VonBell were off to one side of the room all in cuffs with guards watching them, their guns drawn. Silas went around to the other side of the desk and sat in VonBell's chair.

  "Now that that's taken care of, care to tell me what happened last night?" Silas asked looking at Alec and Steven. Alec started at the beginning and told them the events of the previous night with Steven commenting on the details he left out. Silas looked troubled when Alec told him about the five vampires attacking them and killing Victor. He looked doubly so when Alec told him about the vampires attacking in daylight.

  "So that's what happened to the police officers," Marcus said. "They were cut up bad."

  "Yeah, I was trying to get them to radio to you guys to come get us but they wouldn't do it. Then, suddenly they were being hacked to pieces. There was nothing I could do," Alec said quietly.

  "When we heard the explosion in the hotel the FBI entered the building. They said they encountered moving shadows that were attacking the men." Silas sat back in his chair. "We knew it was vampires but not who had sent them." He shook his head.

  "We don't know either. Only one of them ever said anything and all he said was 'The Devil sends his regards'," Alec said remembering.

  "Who is this Devil and how does he fit into all this? How did he know you were even inside the hotel?" Silas sounded frustrated.

  Alec shrugged.

  "Well, there's an unknown player and we aren't getting any closer to any answers," Marcus said frowning.

  "We know one of his goals," Alec said uneasily. "To kill me. This is the third time he's tried. The first group that attacked Jake and me didn't say they were from the Devil, but there are similarities there. They won't give you any information and they can't be linked to any known vampire or group."

  Silas nodded his head, thinking. "It would seem."

  "I have a question," Alec said when everyone had gotten quiet and lost in their own thoughts. "What did you tell the FBI and why wasn't Victor’s or Steven's names all over the news?"

  Silas nodded at Alec's question.

  "When Marcus told me about Victor’s interaction with Senator Taylor and I questioned him about it, I could tell he was hiding something. Once Marcus got VonBell's records and reviewed Victor’s file, I began to wonder if there wasn't something more going on. Marcus, the Senator and VonBell were the only ones that knew Victor’s or Steven’s identity and I told them to keep the information to themselves until we sorted it all out. Senator Taylor had a fit. I thought maybe our unknown assailant had orchestrated the fiasco at the hotel."

  All eyes turned to Steven.

  "Don't look at me. I don't know anything," Steven said quickly. He sounded like he was starting to get scared again with so many eyes focused on him. “This was all Victor’s doing, and he’s dead.”

  "You might not even know it if you had been compelled Mister Reynolds," Silas said looking at him.

  Steven didn't look comfortable with the idea that vampires might have been messing with his head.

  "Mister Reynolds, please pull your chair over here and sit in front of me," Silas said and turned his chair so he could look directly into Steven's eyes once he sat down.

  Steven looked at Alec nervously. He licked his dry lips and looked like he was on the verge of bolting from the room.

  "It's okay, Steven. You can trust Silas completely," Alec told him encouragingly. Steven nodded once, sighed and pulled his chair over and sat down.

  "What…what are you going to do to me?" Steven asked nervously.

  "I’m just going to ask some questions about what happened and what you know about last night.”

  Steven nodded and swallowed hard.

  Silas looked Steven in the eye and Steven's face took on the slack look of someone being compelled. Alec realized he really needed to learn to compel people, though honestly the thought of it made him very nervous. If he could do the same thing, he could have gotten the police to call Silas and Marcus over the radio and they might still be alive. Alec shook the thought off.

  Silas asked Steven a series of questions about his actions at the Hillman-Hines and Steven detailed what had happened. Silas looked up at Alec to confirm that's the story Steven had told him the first time and Alec nodded yes. Silas told Steven that he was forbidden to speak of any of what he knew to anyone other than those present. Silas released Steven who sat back in his chair.

  "Well, you weren't compelled,” Silas said and smiled at the young man. Steven looked relieved.

  "So, now that you know Steven wasn't sent to stir up trouble at the hotel, what's going to happen?" Alec asked nervously.

  "Well," Silas said thinking, "it was obviously VonBell's attempts to erase huge pieces of Victor’s memories that caused him to become unstable." Steven sighed and nodded at this.

  "We can't really fault Victor for that, but he did attempt to reveal our secret. We will have to release information to the press that Victor was mentally disturbed and kidnapped several hostages. We will say that the hostages were released but that Victor took his own life by using the explosives. This should blow over quickly." Silas shook his head.

  "What about the Senator and Chris?" Steven asked eyeing the two men on the far side of the room.

  "I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen with them," Silas said, thinking. "That's a matter for the full council. The less you know, probably the better."

  Steven looked uncomfortable but he didn't ask anything else.

  "What about VonBell?" Alec asked quietly.

  "Another council matter I'm afraid," Silas said looking at the man. “Hopefully, he or the Senator can give us some insight into what is going on and why they are taking money, and what this unknown facility is that they were pouring funds into."

  Silas motioned to the guards holding the Senator and his son and the guards holding VonBell to let them know he wished to speak with the captives. The men were led over and chairs provided for them in front of the desk where Silas now sat. The Senator looked scared and was sweating nervously. Chris looked defiant and VonBell looked like the chair was the only thing keeping him upright at the moment. Silver really did take it out of a vampire, Alec noted.

  "What's going to happen to us?" Senator Taylor asked nervously, eyeing the vampires around him. He knew just how bad this could go.

  "That all depends on how you answer the questions I have for you." Silas motioned to the guards to remove the handcuffs from the Senator and his son. He had gotten his point across by having them cuffed. They were sitting uncomfortably in their chairs with their hands behind them. Both men rubbed their wrists where the cuffs had rubbed them raw. It brought back uncomfortable memories for Alec.

  "I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Senator Taylor said nervously.

  Silas leaned forward and caught both of the men's eyes. Alec saw their faces take on the slack look of one being compelled.

  "You will answer all of our questions honestly and completely, you understand?" Silas asked in that commanding voice of his. When both men nodded, he released their gazes.

  "Why were you diverting money from the blood facilities?"

  "I didn't think you'd miss it. I've accrued a series of debts over my term as Senator with payoffs, bribes, and such."

  "Who have you been bribing and paying off?" Silas asked narrowing his eyes.

  The Senator cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked away. "Chris has been less than discreet in his dealings with young women. I've paid their families off to keep them quiet. I couldn't afford the scandals to affect my career."

  Silas's eyes narrowed even further in anger. "I see," he said dangerously. "I want a list of these young women that Chris has…mistreated."

  The Senator nodded once, but never met Silas's eyes. Chris for his part just looked angry.

  "So you used the money for bribes and 'hush' money. Is that all?"

  "No. I've also used the money to supplement my
income."

  Silas only grunted at that. He had expected at least that much.

  "Why have you been giving VonBell money?"

  "To keep him quiet. He found out I was misappropriating money from certain projects and wanted a cut of it."

  Silas flicked his eyes to VonBell. He shook his head but didn't say anything to the man.

  "So you bribed him to keep quiet." It was a statement but Taylor nodded his head.

  "What about this facility that you've been diverting money to? What is it?" Silas motioned to Steven to pull the information up on his computer so he could see it again. Steven walked around the desk and placed the information in front of Silas.

  The Senator started sweating heavily again and was shaking slightly. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't seem to get it out.

  "HE made me," he choked out forcefully.

  "Who made you? VonBell?"

  The Senator was shaking visibly now. He shook his head from side to side with his mouth open like he was trying to talk. Suddenly he fell forward from his chair and onto his knees in front of the desk. The security guards moved forward but Silas put up a hand to halt them. VonBell was staring in fear at the Senator shaking his head slightly.

  "HIM, he made me…" again the Senator starting making choking noises. Alec thought his tongue might have swollen cutting of his airway.

  Silas sat forward a little in his chair.

  "Who made you do it?"

  Senator Taylor was on his knees in front of VonBell's desk. His body was shaking so bad, it looked like the beginnings of a seizure. His fingers gripped the edge of the desk and were white from the strain.

  "It…was…the…DEVIL," Senator Taylor finally choked out, each word sounding like it was dragged out of him. The last word came out a high-pitched scream. The Senator's eyes flicked over the desk and before anyone could stop him, his hand shot out and wrapped around a stainless steel letter opener. The Senator gripped the opener in both hands and to everyone's horror he started stabbing himself in the mouth with it over and over. His eyes were wide with terror and he was screaming in pain and fear, but he didn't stop. He stabbed himself in the mouth over and over again as hard as he could until the security guards jumped forward, wrestled him to the ground and took the opener from him.

  Chris had jumped up and was screaming in fear for someone to help his father. The Senator was picked up with his hands forced behind his back. His eyes were wild with terror and tears were spilling down his face. His mouth was a bloody mess of swollen tissue and broken teeth. He had used the letter opener to deliver maximum damage to his mouth. His tongue was in bloody ribbons from what Alec could see. Silas ordered the guards to take the Senator to VonBell's infirmary for treatment.

  Everyone but VonBell had stood quickly and backed away when the Senator had grabbed the letter opener. Several chairs had toppled over in the process and lay on the floor. One was quickly picked back up and Chris was shoved into it. He was visibly shaken by what he had witnessed. Silas's face was a storm cloud of anger. He looked ready to hit someone, but he took a moment to breathe deeply and regain his composure.

  Silas wasn't really sure how to start again after that. He didn't know if something he said would start another fit. To be on the safe side, he had Chris's hands cuffed to the chair arms.

  "Do you know what your father was talking about before… before he became erratic?" he asked Chris quietly.

  The young man, whose eyes were red and swollen from tears, shook his head no.

  "You don't know who the Devil is?" Again, Chris shook his head. "Do you know about his facility?" Again no. Silas took a moment to think.

  "Tell me about your involvement with the vampires."

  Chris took a deep shuddering breath.

  "At Christmas break this last year, I overheard my father talking to one of you guys," he began quietly. His eyes flicked briefly to VonBell and Silas realized the young man was talking about him.

  "I overheard the conversation and wanted to know more but didn't have a chance to talk to my father before I went back to school. So I emailed him." Silas realized this was the email that Steven had stumbled across and motioned for him to go on.

  "He wouldn't give me any information on them so I went looking on my own. I found several that were more than willing to talk to me. That's when I met Nia. We fell in love." Chris's face look on an infatuated look and Silas rolled his eyes. The man had obviously been compelled.

  "Go on."

  "I introduced her to my father but he said we couldn't see each other anymore. That's when she offered to turn me."

  "Did she ever mention the Devil or introduce him to you?" Silas asked and watched the man for any signs of unusual behavior.

  "No." Chris shrugged. He obviously didn't know anything about their adversary.

  "Did your father ever mention anything about the Devil or talk about anyone else?"

  "No. He couldn't talk to me about the vampires because of the compulsion that was put on him," Chris said bitterly.

  "So where is Nia now?"

  "I'm not sure. We were supposed to meet the night that I was abducted, but things happened so quickly."

  Silas pressed a button on VonBell's desk. Several vampire security officers stepped into the room and Silas gave them instructions to search for Nia and her friends and bring them in for questioning and Chris gave them her description. They left the room to carry out their task but Silas didn’t hold out much hope.

  "Nia will explain everything when she gets here and then I can be with her forever," Chris said almost dreamily.

  "I hate to break it to you Mister Taylor, but Nia is in a lot of trouble and she won't be turning anyone," Silas told the young man. “She was using you to threaten your father. She never had any real use for you, son.”

  "But she promised we'd be together forever." He looked like he was going to cry.

  Silas just shook his head and rolled his eyes again. “Tell me about Victor abducting you,” Silas said and sat back in VonBell’s chair.

  Chris shrugged. “I was there looking for Nia. That’s where we normally met. I went to find her and instead found that freak Vic with a gun and explosives.”

  “Vic wasn’t a freak you piece of shit,” Steven hissed from between gritted teeth. “He was driven over the edge by you, your father, and VonBell messing with his memories. He’s twice the man you’ll ever be.”

  “He’s several times the man I am after that huge explosion,” Chris said with a sneer.

  Steven jumped up and went to charge Chris and punch him in the face but Alec was standing in front of him. “He’s not worth it, Steven. He’ll get what’s coming to him,” Alec said soothingly. Steven was breathing heavily but he nodded once and sat down again with his fists balled up.

  “That’s it freak, sit down when your masters order you to,” Chris said smiling cruelly. “I doubt very much that I’ll pay for anything.”

  “Oh?” Silas said with interest.

  “My father’s a Senator. Do you think you can just punish him or make him disappear? There will be questions and inquiries. I doubt we will get more than a slap on the wrist.”

  “You were sitting here when your father stabbed himself repeatedly in the face, were you not?” Silas asked looking at the young man. Chris swallowed hard but didn’t answer. “Senators have accidents and bad things happen to them just like normal people. So do Senator’s sons.” Silas let that sink in for a minute. “If you think for one second you are safe from justice, you are sadly mistaken. You and your father are in a lot of trouble. This is not something either one of you will be walking away from unscathed. Even without us involved he’s been misappropriating funds from the U.S. Government. That’s enough to get him removed from the Senate. And then there are your indiscretions with young women to worry about.”

  Chris looked at a spot on the desk but didn’t insult anyone else.

  “So,” Silas
continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “you were at the hotel to meet Nia. Then?”

  Chris gritted his teeth so hard the muscles in his jaw stood out but he had been compelled to talk. “Then Vic shows up with Steven and demanded to speak with the vampires. That’s it.”

  Silas nodded his head and then told security to take Chris to a cell and keep a watch on him for unusual behavior. Chris protested all the way through the door.

  Once they were alone, all eyes fell on VonBell. He looked miserable.

  "Vincent, can you shed any light on this?" Silas asked, glaring at the man.

  VonBell wouldn't meet his eyes and only shook his head no.

  "You know something don't you?" Silas asked with narrowed eyes.

  VonBell sat there uncomfortably, but didn't say a word or raise his eyes to look at anyone in the room.

  "I see," Silas said slowly.

  "Can you compel him? Can you make him tell you what he knows?" Alec asked Silas quietly.

  Silas just shook his head. "No. Vampires really can't be compelled…under normal circumstances."

  "What does that mean?" Alec asked confused.

  "We will talk about it another time." Silas meet Alec's gaze to let him know not to ask further questions on the matter. Alec shrugged but dropped it.

  "Vincent, we need to know what's going on. I'd rather do this the easy way," Silas said, letting the implication sink in.

  Marcus had his head turned towards VonBell, searching the other man's face. VonBell looked uncomfortable under all the scrutiny.

  "There's nothing I can tell you," VonBell said quietly.

  "Can't, or won't," Marcus asked.

  "Can't." That's all VonBell said.

  "Take him to a cell," Silas said wearily and fell back in his chair. The guards came forward and picked up VonBell and led him out of the room.

  When the door closed Alec, Steven, Marcus and Silas sat quietly each lost in their own thoughts.

  "He's been compelled hasn't he?" Alec asked quietly.

  Silas looked worried at the implication but only shrugged.

  "Who could do something like this?" Alec asked and sat down heavily in the chair beside Marcus.