I powered down and sat back on the floor.
Albert stood up and walked out of the house.
There was an awkward silence in the room, broken by a few whispers and murmurs. Finally Ruby spoke.
“Please, everyone, let’s be civilized about all this. I know we’re in a difficult situation and tensions are high, but we’re going to get nowhere if we start fighting among ourselves. Now, let’s get back to the purpose of the meeting – which is what we should we do about the queen.” Ruby said.
“I hate to say this about my own mother,” Sarah said. “But the only answer is to kill her. If we don’t, all of us here are likely be dead before very long”
“If we kill her, won't we be as bad as her?” a short, Asian-looking woman asked. “I realize that she has killed, but if we just go off and kill her what makes us any different?”
“There’s a big difference, Daisy,” said Dr. Mills. “We’re only trying to defend ourselves and our families. If she’d leave us alone, and abide by our longstanding laws, we would have no trouble with her.
“The way I see it, is that there’s no other alternative,” Ruby said. “She won't reason with us and she won't leave.”
Over the few hours there was a lot of discussion. It didn’t take long for a general consensus to form that the queen must be killed. The big question was how to go about the task, which was especially difficult since no one knew where she was.
The meeting went long into the night. I didn’t know what time it was, and I looked outside to see if there was any sign of the dawn. As I peered out in the darkness I heard a loud bang on the roof of the house.
“What’s that?” I asked Cathy.
“Oh no! I bet he has ratted on us,” she said.
“Who?” I asked.
“Albert,” she said.
Suddenly there was a loud sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, and the doors of the living room flung open. A group of about ten vampires, including Ralph and Francesco, surged into the room. Everyone in the room instantly transformed to their vampire forms and there were snarls and growls between the opposing camps. From the midst of the intruders, June, the queen’s loyal daughter emerged, holding a small scroll. Oddly, she was in her human form.
“I have a message from the queen,” she said, and proceeded to read from the scroll.
“Every vampire who leaves this house and pledges their loyalty to me will receive a full pardon,” she read. “However, anyone who stays will receive the punishment of death.”
“June,” said Sarah, reverting back to her human form. “Why are you doing this?”
“You disobeyed our mother and they destroyed our home,” June said.
“But she was going to kill another human,” Sarah said. “You know that’s wrong.”
“Wrong?” June said. “What really is right and wrong? I don't think it’s very clear anymore.”
“It is wrong,” Sarah said. “You should know that.”
“I hope you’ll be obedient for once, Sarah.” June said. “You’re my sister, and I don't want to see you killed.”
“I'm not going to let anyone kill me or my son,” she said.
“Your son? Oh, you mean the human,” June said with a laugh.
“Well, I'm not a human anymore,” I said.
Once again, I raised my power level. I could see the intruders looking at me.
“What are you?” June asked.
“A creature that should haunt your mom's nightmares,” I said.
“Pathetic,” she responded.
I saw Cathy reaching for a knife in her jacket. I had to act fast.
In a flash I rushed June. We ended up crashing into a wall. I could see that everyone in the room was beginning to fight.
June transformed, slashing my face with her claw. I grabbed her by the neck, picked her up, and slammed her into the floor cracking the wood underneath the carpet with the impact.
“Leave her, Eli --she's my sister,” Sarah said. “This is my fight.”
I let go of June and Sarah grabbed her. As they began to claw each other, I looked around the room. Furniture was breaking and the room was being destroyed by the fighting.
I saw Cathy trading blows with a male vampire and I decided to help her, but before I could take a step I felt a fist slam into the side of my face. I was knocked across the room by the impact. The moment I hit the far wall, I felt a number of punches hit me in my abdomen.
I roared. My power surged and the punches were no longer impacting me. A bubble of power was protecting me.
I took my claw and slashed the neck of the vampire who was attacking me. Blood started to pour from his neck. I grabbed his head and slammed it into the wall beside me. I let go and watched as he staggered towards me.
With one massive punch I sent the vampire flying backwards. I turned and looked for Cathy, but I couldn’t see her. The room was in chaos as the fighting raged.
I heard a scream. Ruby had impaled one of the queen's loyalists with a long sword. The enemy vampire was screaming as Ruby twisted and turned the blade. I rushed towards the man and slashed his throat with my right claw. I continued to slash into his bloody neck until I could feel my razor sharp finger nails impacting his spinal column.
I turned and looked again for Cathy. She was nowhere to be found.
“Where's Cathy?” I asked Ruby.
“I don't know,” she said. “Keep fighting, Cathy can take care of herself.”
I looked back and saw that Daisy was being beaten. Two vampires were taking turns punching and kicking her. Blood was pouring out of her mouth. I tried to rush to the scene to help, but Lizzie suddenly slammed into me. She bounced off me, and fell to the ground.
Looking in the direction from which she came, I saw Ralph and Francesco standing there. After trying to extend my claws to their maximum extent, I rushed between the two of them as fast as I could. Time seemed to slow down as I managed to slash both of their faces.
“You're gonna pay for that!” Ralph yelled.
He tried to punch me, but I dodged his blow. I jumped into the air and kicked him in the face. The impact sent him flying across the room. He crashed into a large bookcase and fell to the ground.
By the time I’d landed, Francesco had wrapped his hand around my neck and began to slash into my face repeatedly: I could feel the skin of my face tearing.
“Let go of him!” Cathy shouted.
I turned, and saw a knife fly past my head and into Francesco’s eye. He collapsed onto the ground and started shaking.
“Cathy!” I said. “I was worried.”
“We all need to get out of here,” she shouted.
Before I could answer, I looked over at Sarah and saw that she was still fighting her sister, June. They were both bloodied and wounded.
“We have to help her,” I said.
“No,” she said. “This is something she has to do for herself.”
Over the next half hour we slashed, stabbed, and punched our way to victory. With the help of our allies and our family, we sent most of the enemy vampires fleeing, but the battle had taken its toll. We were all injured in one way or another.
The last remaining enemy vampire in the house was June, Sarah's sister. With the first rays of morning light coming in from the windows, we watched as Sarah and June fought. They were exhausted, bloodied, and wounded, but they continued to fight.
“Your tougher than I thought,” said June, as her white skin started to burn from the morning sun.
“I'm sorry it has come to this, June,” Sarah said.
June rushed Sarah and the two fell onto the floor. Smoke was rising from both of them as their skin started to slowly char.
Sarah managed to get to her feet and wrap her arms around June's neck.
“I love you, June,” Sarah said, before twisting her neck.
I heard a popping sound, and June fell to the floor.
“Get her out of the light!” Cathy yelled.
I rushed to
Sarah, lifted her in my arms, and took her into the hallway.
She began to sob. I held her in my blood-covered arms as she cried.
A moment later, Cathy came and joined us. She put her arms around Sarah.
“I love you, Mom,” I told Sarah.
“I love you too, son,” she said, weakly.
I held Sarah for a while, as Cathy left to find some bandages. Sarah was sobbing uncontrollably. Cathy returned with some towels and warm water and began to nurse Sarah’s wounds. I left them and walked into the living room which was a complete disaster. The walls were all cracked, the floor had caved in, and all of the furniture was in pieces.
Standing all around the room, were our allies. I saw Daisy, who had taken such a horrible beating, sitting on a chair holding onto her stomach.
“Are you alright?” I asked her.
“I'll survive,” she said.
“We all have to get out of here,” said Ruby. “We have to leave Savannah to regroup. I know a place.”
I smelled more smoke and I looked at June's body. It was now totally burned; she was unrecognizable.
“I thought you had to chop a vampire's head off to kill it,” I said.
“Breaking the spinal column will do almost as well,” Lizzie said. “The sunlight finished her off.”
I was glad to see Lizzie.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“I'm fine,” she said. “I just wish you would’ve told me about your engagement to my sister.”
“It all happened really fast,” I said.
“I need to talk to you about that,” Ruby said. “But for right now we need to leave.
We all raided the fridge and consumed as much protein as we could – it would help us heal.
Before we left I went into the bathroom and looked at my face in the mirror. The slashes were almost healed. However, I noticed something else. My hairline was restored. Due to male pattern baldness I’d started losing my hair at the age of twenty one. Only days ago I had a receding hairline, but now the hair had grown back.
I checked my pocked and pulled out my phone which was totally destroyed. It probably had been ruined in the water anyway.
As we all transformed back into human form, we left the house. The sky was blue and I could smell the salt air. It was a beautiful morning on the Atlantic coast, and it didn’t seem like a major battle had just taken place.
Cathy, Sarah, and I rode in one car and Ruby and Lizzie in another. We would follow Ruby and Lizzie, and our allies would follow us. Hopefully, the queen's forces were regrouping and we could make it out of town without a conflict, and without being seen.
I sat in the back seat and held Sarah in my arms. Out of all of us, she had the worst injuries. Her face still had burn marks and her body was badly beaten. As she cried, I talked to her and tried to convince her that she had no choice but to kill her sister, but I couldn’t console her.
“Sarah,” Cathy said. “I want you to know that you can join our clan. Since you’re his mother, when I marry Eli you’ll be family.”
“Thank you,” she said.
After a few minutes of driving in silence, Cathy spoke.
“Do you two mind if I play some music?” she asked.
“I don't mind,” I said.
Sarah shook her head.
We rode the rest of the way listening to country music.
I knew that I’d chosen the right woman to marry.
Chapter 11
I woke up and noticed that the sky was now dark. Cathy was lying next to me in the back seat of the car, and Sarah was driving.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Good evening,” Cathy said.
“Hello beautiful,” I said.
I couldn’t stop looking at her face. It was perfect. She was a beautiful woman – inside and out.
She reached up and kissed my cheek.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We’re on the way to Bristol,” Sarah said.
“Bristol, Tennessee?” I asked.
“Yes,” Sarah said.
“My mom owns a mountain there,” Cathy said.
“An entire mountain?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I sat up and looked out the window. My night vision clicked on and I could see that we were in the mountains. I really liked my new vision powers.
I felt Cathy take my hand.
“Now, I want to warn you, Eli, my mom wants to talk to you,” Cathy said.
“About what?” I asked.
“Us,” she said. “She’s been calling every so often to see if you are awake,” Cathy said.
“Didn't all of our cell phones get destroyed?” I asked.
I keep a second phone in my car,” she said.
The phone rang and I answered.
“It's me, Ruby,” she said.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m fine, how are you?” she asked.
“I’m doing okay,” I said.
“We need to talk,” she said.
“About Cathy?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to know that I love her with all of my heart,” I said.
“I believe that you think you do,” she said.
“No, I do love her. I chose to love her,” I said.
“I know you did. I heard the conversation you two had in the bedroom,” she said.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“I want to urge you to rethink your engagement. You’ve only been a vampire for a short time and your feelings for Cathy may change,” she said.
“My feelings aren’t going to change,” I said.
“You’re drunk with power,” she said. “I wish you’d call off the engagement.”
“I'm not going to, absolutely no way.”
There was silence for a few moments. I wondered if she’d hung up.
“Then I want you to promise me something.” Ruby sounded deadly serious. “I want you to promise me that you’ll stay with Cathy for the rest of your entire life. I want you to promise me that you’ll never leave her,” she said.
“I promise,” I responded.
“She’s been hurt before by other guys,” she said. “I don’t want her heart broken again.”
“I know how she feels,” I said. “I promise you, I’m not going to hurt your daughter.”
“Then I will bless your marriage,” she said.
“But if you ever break up with her, I’ll kill you,” she added.
Cathy grabbed the phone.
“Don't you ever threaten him again!” she said, and hung up.
“I love you, Eli,” she told me again.
“I love it when you tell me that,” I said.
“I love you,” she repeated.
Cathy and I embraced.
“You two should get a room,” Sarah said.
“No, not until we’re married,” I responded.
A few minutes later we turned off the main highway onto a gravel road which headed uphill. Before long I could see a house ahead of us surrounded by woods. It seemed to be very isolated – I couldn’t see any other homes.
When we got close to the house, Sarah pulled over and quickly exited the vehicle. It seemed that all of her wounds were healed.
The caravan of vehicles behind us pulled up and parked.
We all went inside the tall, brick house. I could smell the scent of food cooking.
“Grandmother!” Cathy exclaimed as we walked into the kitchen.
Cathy rushed to hug a large woman who looked very much like Ruby. She was wearing an apron and was cooking food.
After Cathy finished hugging the large framed woman, she turned and introduced me to her.
“Grandma, this is Eli. He’s my betrothed. We’re going to get married,” she said.
“Well it’s wonderful to meet you, Eli. Welcome to the family -- sit down – dinner’s almost ready.”
“Are you Ruby's mother?” I asked.
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