by Lari, Simone
She saw Christopher’s face motionless in front of her and completely covered in blood: a red mask that left only his sad eyes uncovered. Then she looked for Vans: he too was immobile, a scarlet river flowing slowly and inexorably from his slit throat.
They had completely flooded her with blood; her feet were immersed in a thick red puddle.
She awoke startled, short of breath, her heart beating wildly. She let out a choked cry that her parents did not hear.
It took her a few seconds to realize that it had been a horrible nightmare and it took a few minutes to calm down.
When she regained her self-control, she understood how those terrible visions, the blood and the red puddle at her feet, reminded her in some way of the prophecy that concerned her.
"You knew that I was a witch, and that our daughter would be too!" Clarissa recriminated.
Her voice resounded all through the lower floor where her husband had just finished telling her the truth about himself.
"Try to calm down. Of course I was aware of it, which is why I delivered the members of my order to the hunters and abandoned black magic forever, so I could stay by your side and rear our children together."
The woman shook her head.
"Those who practice black magic are marked forever" she continued to rail, though trying to contain her tone. "It is not possible to abandon it, not to mention the fact that your order has been in contrast with mine for centuries."
"When I met you, we were just Clarissa and Steven, two people who fell in love at first sight and didn’t ever want to leave each other. I came to know of your double life almost immediately, but it was already too late to let you go. I was hopelessly in love, I could not give you up" he revealed.
"For almost twenty years you have kept your past secret. Didn’t you think that I could accept and understand your choices?"
"Indeed, and I was right to fear it, given that you are not accepting what I'm telling you now."
"Now doesn’t count, you have come into the open only because Nina and that hunter saw you use magic."
"I could have altered their memories, but I didn’t."
"Of course, the solution would have been to resort to black magic again. I want you out of my life and our children’s immediately."
"I will not go until this conflict is ended. Only then, if you really want it, I will go out of your life but I will never give up my children!" he burst out
"Nina is a witch and George... I will never allow him to grow up beside a sorcerer" she decided firmly.
"Not a sorcerer, his father, a man who renounced magic and its powers for his family."
"That doesn’t change a thing. When the game is over you're out." She pointed to the sofa and went upstairs.
"You're a stupid! I can’t believe that you are actually the vampire of legend!" Christopher hurled at him.
"I thought we were friends, but instead you're just envious of what I’ve got: a woman at my side who loves me for what I am and a power that you will never have" retorted Sting, with his usual scornful and provocative attitude.
"You haven’t done anything to deserve it! You’re a nullity. And anyway, what are you boasting about? At your side all you have is a little girl who wanted to fuck a vampire, who was about to die and woke up as one of us."
Sting felt an overwhelming anger growing inside him.
"Don’t talk about her like that! She mightn’t be the queen of the witches, but she’s a determined type” he retorted.
"I’m sorry I saved you that night. I should have let the hunters torture you some more and kill you in the end. It would have been better for all concerned" Christopher went on, his face becoming increasingly grim.
"I understand that the defeats are pissing you off, but I will not allow anyone, not even my best friend having a meltdown, speak to me like that."
"You owe me your stinking life and what little mental sanity you have left, so I’ll talk to you as I like!" he roared, putting hand to the hilt of the katana.
Sting’s heartbeat accelerated; the veins on his neck began to pulsate visibly.
"Th-that’s en-enough! I w-won’t tell you again!"
"You’re even beginning to stammer now? You’re pathetic! You know, maybe I would feel better if I went into your room to fuck that red haired whore. Perhaps she’s not just thirsty for blood; I could offer her something different from a vein to suck on."
"That’s enough!" Sting exploded.
His irises turned a fiery red; two long sharp fangs emerged from his lips. His muscles tensed and pulsated as his body trembled, shaken by violent spasms.
In a few instants he increased in height and muscle mass. His clothes ripped and two long black bat wings sprang from his back.
Christopher quickly took his katana from its holster and sank it into Sting’s chest, missing his heart by a few centimeters.
Sting let out a guttural roar, a deep and monstrous sound that echoed through the chalet.
Katrina was the first to run to them.
Christopher tried to move the katana inside Sting’s body searching for his heart to pull it out, but his resistance was too fierce.
Sting opened his mighty arms with the palms spread open and, with a sudden movement, crashed them against each other. In the middle, Christopher’s head was reduced to a bloody pulp, a mixture of flesh, splintered bones and cerebral matter dripping blood.
Several shots exploded from Katrina’s Beretta and reached him full in the face.
He tore the katana from his chest and threw it at the elder, cutting her head from the neck.
Then he felt a hand touch his naked back. He turned and blindly landed a mighty punch at whoever the new opponent was.
To his amazement, he found Jude’s eyes in front of him, wide open and staring.
The vampire girl was standing still, her mouth open in a silent cry of terror.
Sting looked at his own arm sunk between her breasts; the bloody hand was poking out from her back which was torn apart.
"Wake up! Fuck, wake up!" Jude yelled at him.
Covered in sweat and with veins of his neck beating hard, Sting got up startled.
His muscles tensed, to the point that they seemed ready to burst at any moment.
"Calm down, I’m here" she reassured him. She kissed him and, at the same time, inserted a hand into his trousers in search of his member.
"Hey, do you think this is the best way to make me calm down?" he started, as soon as the hand reached its goal.
"Well, it seems to me that it’s working: you're talking to me and you’re distracted from... whatever was happening to you" she justified herself, smiling.
"Well, seeing that it’s working, don’t stop..." he encouraged her, but she withdrew her hand.
"What were you dreaming about?"
"It was not a dream, it was a terrible nightmare. It showed me what could happen if I completely lost my mind" he confessed.
"As long as I’m with you, I won’t allow that to happen, even if I have to go around with my hand constantly stuck down your pants."
Sting allowed himself a roar of laughter and then adjusted a lock of her red hair which had fallen on her forehead.
"I love you" he said to her, realizing how true and sincere her words were.
"What did you say?" she said, cupping a hand around her ear.
"You're a vampire girl, you have a perfect hearing. I don’t need to repeat it."
"But I’m a woman too. I need you to repeat over and over again that little something you’ve just said and, more importantly, that you show it, always."
"I would die for you" he announced.
"Well, in a certain sense you are already dead, and so am I, so your statement is not worth all that much."
"Listen, why don’t you shut up and put your hand back where it was before?" he proposed.
This time Jude did not deny him.
Christopher joined Katrina outside the chalet.
The elder had just finished reading
a message which had arrived with a raven.
"News from the house?" he asked.
She looked up at the moon high in the sky. As the sound of a nocturnal raptor echoed in the night, she revealed with dismay: "Not what I hoped."
"What are they saying from the upper echelons?"
"We will not have reinforcements for the conflict in Persepolis."
"Why not? This is where the greater part of the battle will be won or lost" Christopher objected, horrified.
"A battle in which our clan has just declared its neutrality."
Christopher froze.
"Why? Why have they done that? We had an agreement with the humans!"
"It seems that the house is on the brink of complete collapse. We’ve been attacked by surprise in many locations and we have suffered considerable losses. We have to stop siding with the humans and embrace the destiny of our race if we want to survive."
"I won't do that!" he sanctioned, steadfast. "I will not take the side of traitors, monsters and murderers."
"They are not asking us to do that “she replied patiently, "but to remain neutral, to assist at the outcome of the conflict without taking part. It seems that if we do this, we will not be attacked by the enemy."
He shook his head.
"Well I have just stopped belonging to the clan of the Morland. What are you going to do?"
"I shall follow orders" she stated bluntly.
"I must admit that I didn’t expect that from a fighter of your caliber, but perhaps I still don’t know you as well as I thought" he commented.
"We must warn Sting and Jude. They need to know and decide."
"You're a fool if you think there is any margin of choice for them. Jude will never betray Nina and Angelique. And Sting, mad and unpredictable as he is, will not abandon Jude."
"If you’re talking about the bond between him and the vampire girl he has just created, I am certain that he can manage the thing if he wants to."
"That’s not what I’m talking about; I mean a very different type of bond."
"Do you really think that creatures like us, even a specimen like him, can feel love, a love that is sincere and profound that pushes them to sacrifice?"
Christopher sighed, then, with a bitter smile on his face, replied confidently: "I am sure, because I would do the same thing."
Chapter 16 - The Counterattack
"Abraham is dead, my protégé has failed, but there is no need to despair" Banedoom stated, admiring a white mask with unusual protrusions of bone.
"The work on the artifact has been carried out to perfection" approved the sorcerer.
"The facial bones of an ancient vampire, one of the first of his order, steeped in the blood of twelve virgins. When it is put onto my face, it will make me immune to the effects of the Teardrop."
"Therefore you can get close enough to the bearer to pull her heart from her chest."
"Exactly, my dear Garland. But where is our ally? I’d like to rejoice in our success with her."
"Chandra does not tell anyone about her movements."
"And why should she?" she broke in, appearing out of nowhere.
She looked at the unusual artifact steeped in black magic. She passed her long tapering fingers over it, feeling its properties.
"Ancient bones that belonged to a first generation hemophage. The blood of virgins and... Also many vampires were sacrificed to create this object" she observed.
"Their blood was necessary for the ritual of black magic" Banedoom explained arrogantly.
"How does it work? No, wait, let me guess: the bone spikes penetrate the skull and the mask adheres to the face of the wearer, making him immune not only to sunlight, but also to the power of the Teardrop."
"Exactly" confirmed the sorcerer. "It also increases the powers and physical abilities of the wearer."
"An interesting trinket which will certainly shift the balance in your favor."
"In our favor, you mean" Banedoom corrected her, putting an arm around her.
Chandra freed herself with a sinuous movement and began to walk around him.
"I only take sides with myself, but on this particular occasion, yes, we can say to our favor."
Banedoom sniggered satisfied.
"The time has come. The clan of the Morland has declared its neutrality, the humans have lost a precious ally, and their numbers in Persepolis have been significantly thinned. Once you have eliminated the bearer and the vampire of legend, we can imprison the Teardrop in a place where it can no longer harm us and then we will begin the purge of human beings from this land." A long laugh, worthy of the most convinced of the possessed, echoed in the room for a few moments. "Witches, druids and hunters will be the first to be swept away" he announced, almost in ecstasy as he declaimed his program.
"I have a personal issue to take care of. I need to get rid of the one who has decreed the end of my order: the renegade sorcerer."
"You’ll have your prey, Garland. We will all have something to satisfy our thirst for blood."
Chapter 17 - Attack at the Chalet
"You could at least help me to load the pick-up, couldn’t you? Considering you don’t pay for board and lodging and you’ve decided to follow the Swiss ideology, at least get going and do something!" protested Jared.
Katrina unfolded her arms and began to carry weapons and materials.
"I want you to know I’m not coming with you."
"I’ve understood you very well. On the other hand I’m not a paragon of niceness, and I don’t have the charm of George Clooney. I may have said this already, however I did not expect anything at all from you. I imagine that having given you a roof over your head after your house was burned down, and provided a few bags of plasma to quench your thirst for blood, are not worth the risk of losing an almost immortal life."
"If I helped you, I wouldn’t just be risking my life but also the affinity with my clan."
"Right, your clan. The one that stood and watched as your group and the group of your new protégés were almost wiped out. The one that convinced you to just sit there doing nothing until the conflict is over, and that way whoever wins will not have any reason to turn against you. Handy, really handy."
He put another box down loudly. The van was almost full now.
"I don’t think that having everyone meet in Agata’s country house is a good idea. That way the enemy can attack in mass and wipe you out in one hit."
"Have you ever heard the saying there’s strength in numbers? Separated we run even greater risks. And furthermore, neither the druids nor the network of hunters were able to find the location of the enemy, so we’re forced to wait for them to make their move and then act accordingly, just as we have done to date."
She clearly disapproved.
"And have you never heard the saying the best defense is attack?"
Jared approached her with a scornful look on his face.
"I’ve been attacking people like you all my life" he said a few inches from her beautiful and disturbing light eyes. "A massacre in Oregon? We leave and we fight. Young girls disappear in Nebraska? We go and fight. We lose our dear ones because they die at our side, or because they decide to abandon us to our unhappy destiny. We lose control of our lives, we even lose ourselves, drowning in alcohol or lost in pain but we attack, always and anyway, whatever enemy appears, wherever it is." He loaded the pump-action rifle with a brusque movement. "So let them show themselves, and we’ll attack them!"
For a moment, Jared’s discourse, set out with passion and conviction, made her wince and made her experience an unexpected pang of guilt; something she had not felt for many decades.
He stared at her grimly as he took an abundant supply of heart pills from the drawer.
"Kira!" he called to the cat, opening the carrier. "Here, come here, you don’t want me to leave you leave alone with the Ice Queen do you? We wouldn’t want her to mistake you for a snack."
"I don’t bite anim..."
"Sssh!"
Jared silenced her.
He looked at the cat hiding under the table: she was staring at the door with fur raised, hissing.
"We have visitors. If you don’t want to help me, get out of my way at least."
A violent kick knocked the door open. A noise of broken glass announced a second breach of the perimeter. Two vampires rushed through the front door.
Jared welcomed them with a gunshot at close range that blew apart the head of the first. Blood and matter splattered around the entire room, even onto his clothes.
He disarmed the second vampire and pushed him against the wall. The man drew a knife with a silver blade and planted it in his chest, causing him to burst into flames immediately.
Remaining apart, Katrina witnessed the arrival of two more vampires.
Seeing her standing immobile with her arms crossed, they sniggered and ignored her, focusing on the hunter.
Jared raised his guard, knife in hand, and faced the two opponents.
He was about to make a lunge with the dagger, when a sharp pain around his heart made him freeze. His arm became weak and his sight clouded abruptly. The knife fell out of his hand.
One of the vampires kicked the weapon away and punched hard straight in the chest bouncing him backwards.
"You're too old and beat up to do this job" the creature railed at him as the hunter was belly-down in pain. "I don’t understand how you’ve managed to live this long."
He kicked his legs and then broke into a mocking laugh, his accomplice echoing it.
Jared turned over, aimed at the heart and a thin sharp spike was launched by a mechanism hidden beneath his forearm.
"Acting instead of talking rubbish!"
He tried to get his feet but his legs wouldn’t hold him up.
Another vampire leapt at him and lifted him from the ground, then hit him with a header into his face.
"I’ll kill you, slowly, that way you will pay for having killed my companions!"
Jared spat a spurt of saliva and blood in his face, the last resistance that he could offer.
A light sound shook the air.
The vampire’s head separated slowly from the neck and fell onto the ground, at his feet.
