by Jacey Ward
Peeking window beside his door, he was utterly shocked by what he saw.
There was a veritable mob of people—most of them from the city council—gathered out on his front lawn, and they did not look happy.
He opened the door and stepped out onto the front porch.
Deputy Long forced his way through the crowd of people and hurried up onto the porch.
“What is all this? What’s going on, here?” William asked, concernedly.
“Sir, the city council is in an uproar. Two more bodies were found early this morning!”
William’s jaw nearly hit the ground.
**
Ava woke to the sound of her phone ringing. She sat up and saw that Chase had left and the sun was already high up in the sky.
Oh shit! I must’ve really slept in, she thought to herself.
She reached for her phone and saw that it was her father.
“Ava, if you really want to get the lead on that story you’re looking to write for the newspaper, you need to meet me over at the city meeting hall for an emergency council meeting as soon as you can,” he said. Ava could sense the distress in his voice.
“What’s wrong, Dad? She asked, throwing the covers off of her body and reaching for her silk robe.
“Just hurry up if you want this info for your story,” he persisted.
“I’ll be right there, Dad,” she promised.
**
The meeting room was crowded and the council members appeared to be very upset. Ava hurried over to her where her father and a few other police officers were seated. The mayor of Mountain Crest was standing up at the podium attempting to calm the loud, angry crowd.
“Something has to be done, now!” Mr. Rankin yelled out at the mayor.
“I assure you that we are giving this case the full attention of the precinct. We will not rest until this killer is found! You have my word!” the mayor responded.
“Dad, what’s going on?”
“Two more young women were killed last night,” he replied solemnly. “An 18-year-old high school senior and a 19-year-old girl who had just been accepted into a college upstate.” He shook his head and sighed.
“Oh my God!” Ava whispered.
“The city is in an uproar. The council is convinced that a Lexus resident is responsible.”
“I know what they are, Dad,” Ava confessed.
Her dad’s eyes widened and he looked up at her sternly.
“What do you mean, Ava?”
“I mean, I know what they are.”
“How did you--,” before he could finish his question, Ava held up her hand.
“You should have just told me, Dad,” she stated coolly.
“I’m sorry Ava. I just didn’t quite know how to,” he admitted, softly. “But now, the council members want to take action. A member of the council saw Chase Veldassare at the fair last night, and that’s where the two young girls disappeared from. They’re convinced that he’s the killer and they want to go after him. We have to figure out a way to calm them before they do something drastic and possibly start an all-out war between us and them!”
Ava knew what she was going to have to do. Though she really didn’t want to do it, she realized that she didn’t have a choice. There was no way she was going to let an angry mob go after an innocent man. She stood up and walked over to the podium. She whispered to the mayor and he moved back to give her the microphone.
The crowd began to quiet when they saw her at the podium. Ava cleared her throat.
“My heart goes out to the families of these beautiful young girls, all taken from this world too soon, but Chase Veldassare is not the killer. I know this for a fact. Yes, he was at the Summer Fair last night, but he was there with me; and there is no way he possibly could’ve killed those girls because he spent the entire night with me at my home. Thank you and God bless you all.”
Gasps, whispers and murmurs filled the room.
She kept her head raised and her eyes straight ahead as she walked out of the building. She could only picture the look on her father’s face as she hurried to her car and quickly sped off down the street.
Ava felt that there had to be some kind of connection between all of these young girls and she was determined to figure out what it was. Perhaps it could lead them to the real killer.
**
Later that day, Ava raced to Lexus and went straight to the Veldassare residence. She sprinted up the long walkway and knocked loudly on the door with the golden door knocker.
Finally, a voice came over the intercom.
“Who is it?” It was Evangeline.
“Ms. Veldassare, its Ava, Detective Hartzman’s daughter. Please let me in. I need to talk with you. It’s urgent!”
The front door opened and Ava entered.
Once inside the second doorway, Vincent and Evangeline greeted Ava in the front room.
“What is it, child?” Evangeline asked, looking concerned.
“The city council is in an uproar! Two more girls were killed last night and they think that Chase killed them.”
Their faces drained of what little color they had. “No! That can’t be! Chase would never do something like that!” Evangeline insisted.
“I think we’re being framed by someone,” Vincent suddenly stated.
“So do I,” Ava added. That’s why I came to talk to you today. Is there someplace we could sit down?”
They all went into the study. Ava took a notebook out of her purse and sat it down in front of her.
“Listen, I know what all of you are, here in Lexus, and I also know that you’re not killers. I think I have a theory about whoever is trying to frame you all.”
Ava had looked up all of the names of the young girls who had been killed in Mountain Crest. They were all young women in their late teens and two of them had grown up in a very religious family. The other two had been really quiet, introverted young women who were not very social or popular among other teens their age. None of the young women’s families had ever mentioned a boyfriend. Ava was starting to wonder if all of these young women could have been virgins.
When she said it, Evangeline’s already pale face whitened even more and her mouth dropped open.
“Dear God!” she exclaimed, her voice a loud whisper.
“What is it, darling?” Vincent asked, reaching out and covering her hand with his.
“When I was a young woman, my grandmother used to tell me stories about the days of Van Helsing’s revolution. She said that some vampires became so desperate for power to rule over the humans once again, that they made pacts with darker supernatural entities…like demons…and dark witches.”
Ava shivered at the sound of Evangeline’s words.
Evangeline got up and went over to the bookshelf. She pulled out a book and opened it up on the table. Ava and Vincent moved in closer to look at the pages.
“There was a certain kind of demon in this world called a Necromorus who could open a portal between this world and the Underworld. Controlling this opening would give a species domination over all others. Only a Dark Witch or someone who practices dark magic can summon this particular demon though, and they would need to use an ancient amulet called a Necrostone in order to summon and control it. It is said that whoever has the Necrostone can control the demon, who in turn controls the power from the open portal.”
She paused for a moment and Ava and Vincent looked down at the pictures in the book.
“In order for the demon to open the portal, he must perform a ritual. He must drink the blood of five human female virgins and then offer the blood of a “Sacred Sixth” to the Keeper of the Portal.”
“Sacred Sixth? What’s that? A sixth virgin?” Ava asked.
“No, it’s a human woman born on a certain day at a certain time. But, it says here that the Sacred Sixth will bear the Mark of the Sixth somewhere on her body.”
“Like a tattoo? Or a birthmark?”
“Exactly.”
&
nbsp; Holy shit! Yesterday I didn’t even know vampires existed. Now, I’m being told that there are witches and demons and shit running around on earth! Ava’s head felt as if it was spinning.
“Well, four virgins have already been killed, so it only needs one more before it sacrifices the Sacred Sixth! Is there anything in your book that can help us identify who the Sacred Sixth is so we can protect her or something? My dad can put her under police protection.”
Evangeline laughed at Ava’s naivety.
“Darling, there’s only one way to defeat a Necromorus demon, and that is to burn the Necrostone, sending the demon to the Underworld.”
“So if we need to figure out who has the stone, so we can destroy it,” Ava reiterated.
Chase silently watched and listened to them through a crack in the study door. He had just about walked into the room but then had heard the sound of Ava’s voice. He had stopped, wondering why she would be there. However, as he listened, he had a suspicion that he knew who the person behind the Necromorus demon was. He decided not to join in the meeting happening in the next room – he wanted to confront this person himself. If he was wrong, then no harm will have been done, but if he was right, he was going to take care of the conniving bitch himself.
Chapter Ten: The Testing of Boundaries
“Azalea!” Chase shouted out as he banged on the front door of the Bradenton residence. It was just barely after sunset and he had rushed over to her house as soon as the last rays had disappeared over the horizon.
Malachi, Azalea’s father had actually left town shortly after the announcement ceremony and wasn’t due to be back for several weeks. Chase knew that only Azalea and her mother were currently in the home.
“Azalea, I know you’re in there! Open up, damn it!” he commanded loudly.
A few seconds later, a negligee-clad Azalea opened the front door and greeted Chase with a seductive grin.
“Why, Chase! What a surprise! What are you doing here?” she asked slyly as her phony, flirtatious smile widened.
Chase narrowed his eyes at her.
“Azalea what the fuck is going on?” he demanded, glaring at her angrily.
“Why, Chase, whatever do you mean?” she replied sensuously, moving in closer to him and reaching out to touch his chest.
Chase slapped her hand away and she flinched, looking taken aback at his reaction.
“Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean, Azalea,” he said firmly, glowering at her with ire in his eyes.
“You look so sexy when you’re upset, Chasey,” Azalea crooned. Chasey was a pet name that she used to call him back when they were younger; however, he’d always hated it and told her to stop using the silly name. “You know, my mom isn’t here right now. We could go up to my room and…well, you know—get naked. Like we used to do, remember?”
She licked her lips as she ran her hands down his chest until they were just above his crotch, pushing her large, and nearly exposed breasts up against his chest. He backed away from her touch and pushed her hands away from him irritably.
“Knock it off, Azalea. That’s not what I what came here for. What do you know about a Necromorus demon?”
“A what?” she asked, looking genuinely confused.
“Azalea, I know how you feel about mortals. You’ve hated humans with a vengeance ever since we were kids. If anyone would want to summon a demon to kill them, it would likely be you,” he snapped.
Suddenly, Azalea’s entire mood changed.
“You know what, Chase? Fuck you! Yes, I hate humans and I always will! And I know about that little red-haired whore you’re fucking, too! Do your parents know that you’re cheating on your future mate with a lowly, repulsive, wretched mortal pig?” she spat back at him, her façade of sensuality dropping quickly.
Chase was livid at the sound of her words. She knew him well, and she certainly knew how to push his buttons and get under his skin. He refused to play her game, though. Glaring at her through eyes narrowed into thin, angry slits, he shook his head at her.
“If I find out that you had anything to do with these murders, I will personally…” She cut him off and yelled loudly back into his face.
“You’ll what?” she snapped back at him, placing her face very close to his. “Humans don’t deserve to be anything more than cattle and slaves at our feet! You’d better watch it, or your disgusting little human whore might wind up having a little ‘accident’!”” she threatened brashly, and then turned on her heels, about to slam the door in his face.
Before she could grab the door handle however, a strong hand gripped her upper arm tightly, cutting off the circulation like a manacle. Chase leaned forward and put his face a mere inch from hers. “If you so much as breathe the air around her, I’ll kill you,” he growled. “And you’d do well to remember that I always follow through, Azalea,” he vowed.
**
Ava couldn’t concentrate or focus on anything at all. She felt completely overwhelmed.
I sure could use a nice dose of Chase right now to relieve some of this goddamned stress, she thought to herself with an exasperated sigh.
Her mind went back to the night before, and how she’d never felt anything so amazing and so deeply intense in her whole life. Nothing else could compare to the moments they had shared together, and she was certain that nothing else ever would. Vampire or not, there was no way she was going to be able to stay away from him—no way at all.
A part of her wondered what her father thought of her now, though. Would he be ashamed of her? Would he look at her differently? Would he ever even talk to her again? Had she embarrassed him in front of the entire city council, and would the council members think of her differently now?
She needed to stop agonizing over all of these questions. She didn’t want to be alone so she called Jocelyn, who agreed to come over and keep her company for the day.
**
Nicholai sucked in a breath and exhaled deeply. He never in a million years thought that he’d ever have the opportunity to be with the woman he loved—had damned near worshipped—ever since the day they had met. But, back then, he hadn’t been her first choice. In fact, back then she had never even seemed to know that he existed.
He’d spent many a night with his own large hand wrapped around his throbbing erection, pumping up and down, thrusting his hips into the air, calling out her name until he’d shot his release all over his own sheets.
“Azalea,” he mumbled, opening his eyes so that he could watch her beautiful, perfect lips wrap around the tip of his manhood.
He almost had to pinch himself to believe that it wasn’t a dream, that she was actually down on her knees in front of him with her succulent, voluptuous breasts completely exposed. He hissed with arousal as his length began to disappear into her exquisite mouth. She stopped for a moment and ran her tongue up his shaft, causing his hips to jerk and his breath to catch in his throat.
“Oh, God, Azalea!” he whispered. “That feels fucking amazing!”
Azalea smiled up at him. She saw the tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead and the amazement in his eyes as he stared down at her.
“I never thought that I’d ever be with you this way,” he muttered.
Azalea ran her hand over his length and then held him in her hand as she rose up off her knees and sat down beside him on the sofa. “Nicholai, I’ve seen the way you look at me—the way you stare. You’ve longed for me for so many years, haven’t you?” she asked seductively, stroking his fully-erect manhood with precision as she spoke. He swallowed hard and looked right into her eyes.
“Oh, God, yes, Azalea—for so very, very long. I worship the very ground you fucking walk on!” he said breathlessly.
Still stroking away at his stiff erection, she asked him a question.
“Nicholai, do you love me?”
“Fuck yeah, I do, Azalea! I’ve always loved you!” he replied, placing a hand on one of her breasts and caressing it, running his finger over her pert, c
herry shaped nipple. He moaned as he took it into his mouth and began to suckle greedily.
“Would you do anything for me?” she asked him as she squeezed her hand against his shaft, causing his hips to jerk upward and a muffled moan to escape his mouth, which was still licking and sucking her breast.
“I’d do any fucking thing for you, Azalea!” he exclaimed.
“Anything?” she repeated, speeding up her rhythm and feeling him throb inside her hand.
“Anything!” he breathed. He groaned again and grabbed her other breast, sucking it into his mouth while fondling the other with his hand.
“I need you to kill that ghastly, revolting human woman, Ava Hartzman!” she demanded.
All of a sudden, Nicholai stopped and let her breast fall from his mouth. Realizing that he’d paused, she stopped stroking his manhood and looked him in the face.
His erection began to soften as the reality of the situation started to set in. He shook his head and moved away from her, putting away his cock and grasping at the remains of his pride. He forced a chuckle from his lips.
“I can’t believe I was actually thinking that you truly liked me, but you just want to get rid of the human woman so you can be with Chase. It’s always been about him for you, and it always will be. You just don’t know when to fucking let go, Azalea!”
He got up and left her sitting there alone, slamming her front door as he left.
Chapter Eleven: The “Sacred Sixth”
The mayor of Mountain Crest had implemented a 9:00 p.m. curfew at the city council meeting earlier that morning, but 20-year-old Bridgette Mansfield had just arrived back in the city. She was returning from a visit with her grandmother who lived in a neighboring state.
It was just after midnight, and she was driving her small, white coupe down a quiet back road less than three miles from her home. All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, something large and very fast dashed out in front of her car.
