Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects

by Melinda Clark

  Gunner ignored her comment and forced the scroll into her hands. "Take this to the vault, until it is time for the ceremony."

  Daedra smiled and turned away from him, "Yes, Master."

  Talon was walking down State Street, one of the main roads in town, in hopes of finding himself something to do. He couldn't admit to himself the real reason he was in this area. She had beautiful fair skin, hair that smelled of vanilla bean, and the most entrancing green eyes. He had followed her scent this far and assumed she was near the college somewhere. He entered the Ferris State University campus, as it was known for the most activity. The area was full of college kids walking around by themselves at night, going to bars, parties, and whatnot. Easy pickens.

  A random curiosity just kept eating away at his thoughts since he met Avery: why does she do it? Usually people became slayers because the knowledge of vampires was passed down in family secrets for centuries. But she didn’t run with the slayer faction, so he wondered if there was a history there and some sort of vengeance to be had. How else would she come to know that vampires and the like existed? But if she had been attacked once upon a time, whilst still unknowing, she couldn't have possibly survived. You need a certain degree of training to take on that kind of opponent. He couldn't get her out of his mind. Maybe it was her similarities to him that aroused his interest, like both of them being withdrawn from others. This ultimately meant she must be just as lonely and dying for companionship as he was. He knew there was definitely an attraction between them. Now if only I could change her mind about killing me.

  Talon tread up the hill toward the library when he picked up a sweet, delicious scent.

  Avery had been pondering for quite some time about the day’s events. She had gone through the college campus, and all seemed quiet tonight. She looked out across the town from the hillside, appreciating the many lights. They were more beautiful than bothersome; beacons of safety in the darkness. Avery didn't flinch when she sensed someone walking behind her, she simply continued on her stroll. There was something about his presence, his energy, that was different than anyone else’s. She couldn't see it of course, but she still felt it, just as she did in the bar that night.

  "You know, you really shouldn't be out all by yourself. It's dangerous," sang a voice from behind her.

  She could have sworn an angel was talking to her from above, had she not known better. Avery only stopped walking a moment to calm her rising irritation before pressing on. "I don't know why I haven't killed you yet."

  "Because I'm cute," Talon smiled arrogantly.

  Find your 'happy place' and ignore him. "Hardly."

  But maybe that was part of it.

  "Obviously you saw something in me," he goaded.

  "Obviously I had too much to drink that night."

  "Somehow I don’t believe you."

  It was true alcohol didn't affect her as easily as it used to. Avery liked to maintain a sense of control, so purposely getting drunk was out of the question. It was that powerful aura, that didn’t feel threatening at the time, and his warmth that had fooled her. She hadn’t killed him yet because he tried to help her in the alley and he had an opportunity to hurt her sister, and he didn’t. But how was she to know whether or not this was a trick? Her imagination ran wild. Does he like to play with his food? What if he has an elaborate plan to make me trust him with this ‘I’m a good guy’ act and then kill me? Despite what her head told her, that he was just another monster, something held her back from turning now and staking him. Maybe because she had liked him a lot when she thought he was human?

  A quick jolt of intuition coursed through her body, but too late. She was tackled from the side. She wrestled on the ground with her assailant, looking up into the face of an angry, ghostly pale vampire as it clutched her throat. Quicker than she could think of a maneuver, Talon pulled the vampire off of her. Talon thrust his fingers into the vampire’s chest, pulled out the heart, and then tossed it. She sat there, shocked yet impressed, as she had never seen anyone with that kind of strength before. She then grew terrified, realizing that if Talon had wanted to kill her, he could have easily done it already. She picked herself up and dusted her clothes off, grumbling, "I didn't need your help. I had that situation under control." Avery continued on her nightly patrol route.

  After being dumbfounded for a moment and in utter disbelief, Talon caught up with her. "You call nearly getting your head ripped off under control?"

  Avery stopped to face him, "Look. I don’t know what your angle is, helping me and all, but..." Her face was just inches from his, and she found herself looking at his lips to avoid his eyes. He definitely had the most kissable mouth on a man. A little voice in her head dared her to do it. She felt her aura and his energy meshing, and she tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling coming over her as she watched those lips speak to her.

  "I told you, I'm a good guy."

  Her gaze dropped to his hand that dripped with dark blood. It was enough to snap her out of her self-induced trance.

  "No matter how much good you do, you'll never redeem yourself. You're still damned," she started walking again, her boots keeping a steady rhythm to her faster pace. She needed to shut her sensations off for a while, at least until the tingling went away. Be a bitch. Be cold.

  "Why do you say that?"

  He was still following her. How awful did she need to be to get rid of this guy?

  "Because of what you are. Think what you will, but that's how it is."

  She felt guilty as the words she had said soaked in but reminded herself that they were indeed true. He was a vampire; a creature of darkness and death that survived off of the lives of others.

  “Who are you to judge me?” he proclaimed.

  Avery cringed, “Touché.” She wasn't even sure of her own acceptance into heaven if there was such a place.

  Avery was heading toward the campus library when Talon abruptly pulled her down to her knees behind one of the cars nearest to them in the parking lot.

  "What are you doing?!" Avery wrestled free from his grip on her forearm.

  Talon put a finger to his lips and then pointed into the darkness.

  Avery peaked around the rust bucket and focused her eyes hard toward the football field, which was usually lit up like a laser light show, but tonight was otherwise. "Jesus, there's like… twenty of them." She had never encountered a pack this big before. Normally she wouldn't hide from vampires and was surprised Talon would. Then again, there was no way either of them could take on all those vampires at one time. That was suicide.

  "It's a hunting party. The clan must be after someone or something."

  "There's a clan of vampires?" Avery was in disbelief. They had a system? Some sort of organization? The things she had known or thought she had known about vampires was changing, and not for the better. Avery snapped back into situational awareness mode, feeling the closeness of Talon's body next to her. And after seeing what he did to that last vampire, she knew he could crush her like a bug at any moment if he wished. She found herself analyzing what he was wearing and what it looked like beneath it, inwardly sucking up her breath and holding it. She needed to keep her focus on the enemies she was pursuing, not on the enemy's hard-muscled body beside her.

  "What are we waiting for?" she asked before feeling the hand over her mouth. It was cold but she felt the shock from it more than just from the temperature. She pushed his hand away.

  "How do you do that? You weren’t this cold when I held your arm on our walk, or else I would have known…” she whispered. “And what about back there? I've never seen a vampire rip another's heart out like that."

  “I can will myself warmer when it suits me. Some of us elders get perks you see. The sloppy ones you usually encounter are not as old as me, thus not near as strong and skilled. They're infants in comparison.”

  "And exactly how old are you?"

  Talon acted amused and turned his focus back toward the group of vampires. "I was twenty-eigh
t when I was sired. It was in the year of our Lord, 1693."

  She knew she had hit rock bottom when she found herself attracted to someone over three hundred years older than her. She felt like her brain was absorbing too much information. Avery refocused her scattered attention back to the football field. A single vampire ran up to the group with something in his hands that looked like an old necklace.

  "What is that?" she asked herself.

  "I'm not sure," Talon sat on his haunches, peering through the car window.

  He could tell that he was making Avery uncomfortable with his closeness, though he could feel pangs of sexual tension from her. He suppressed a growl in his throat. If only she knew how hard it was for him to be so close to her body and not act on his instincts. Focus. The group left with the necklace, leaving the newcomer behind. The plan was to beat the hell out of him for information, then ultimately kill him, leaving Avery a safe distance away.

  Avery stood up and casually jogged over to the vampire before Talon could stop her. He knew she was capable, so he tried not to trample on her ego by immediately rushing to her aid this time. He would just sit back here and see how it goes, and then when it went wrong, he’d fix it. He slowly stood up, listening to her mocking technique.

  "Hey,” Avery acted like she was trying to seduce the vampire.

  The fiend smiled at her. "Why, hello sweetheart. What's a girl like you doing out so late, and all by your lonesome?"

  "What was that thing you guys were so giddy about? Smiling is so unlike the undead."

  The vampire stepped toward her, still trying to seduce her in return with his voice. "You know what I am, and yet you approach me? Are you one of those fan-girls that has certain fantasies you want me to fulfill for you? Or do you simply have a death wish?"

  Avery shrugged her shoulders. The vampire approached her with his teeth protracted, staring into her eyes. Whatever her plan was, Talon couldn’t wait while she was being threatened. Before Avery could make a move, Talon ripped up part of the bleachers. He came up from behind and hit the vampire over the head with the steel beam. The vampire fell unconscious. He looked to Avery, who was clearly pissed off with her hands on her hips. He wanted to laugh at her because she looked like a pouty child who had their toy taken from them.

  “What the hell are you doing?!”

  “Am I always going to have to rescue you?” he teased.

  Avery fumed, “I HAD IT UNDER CONTROL!”

  Talon saw the headlights of a vehicle coming up the hill toward them. They needed to go somewhere they couldn’t be seen. Somewhere safe. He hoisted the deadweight vampire over one shoulder and stared into Avery’s irritated, yet brilliant, green eyes.

  “Your control is just an illusion. For example, you can’t stop me from doing this…” He swung his arm under Avery’s butt and slung her over his other shoulder. Before she could protest, Talon ran with all his supernatural speed to the outskirts of town.

  Avery disliked the thought of being treated like a thing. To be grabbed and tossed around whenever anyone pleased. She felt like she was being carried away by a barbarian, but didn't have time enough for the kicking and screaming part. Everything happening around her was a dark blur. Within a minute, they arrived at their destination. Talon set Avery down. She was disoriented, but after some deep breathes she eventually found her equilibrium.

  “Don’t do that again,” she spat out as she fought back the sick feeling she was getting. She tried to focus in the dark on their location, making out the two-track beneath her and the woods that surrounded them. "Where are we?"

  "My place," Talon led the way up a long, winding driveway until they came into view of a cabin style, A-frame house. It had a two-car garage and sat next to a small lake. The house would have been beautiful to Avery, except for the fact that the windows were boarded up from the inside, giving an appearance of being abandoned or condemned. Vampires live in houses? She always figured they hung out in cemeteries and other creepy places.

  “Why couldn’t we take care of this where we were?” Avery argued.

  “Cops are patrolling campus all the time. Did you really wanna risk being seen beating the crap out of someone? Or killing him?”

  She sighed, knowing he was right, though she didn’t see how being caught by campus police was significant when they could easily get away with no body left as evidence. Maybe this was all a trick just to get her to his house. She didn’t know what he had planned, but she remained ready for anything; except what she experienced next.

  Talon opened the front door for her and Avery was in awe at the sight before her eyes. It was an open floor plan. The kitchen was to the far left of the space. Dark wood cabinetry, granite top surfaces, and stainless-steel appliances. Complete with an island counter and bar stools that were lit with modern style lighting. The dining furniture was in front of the island, and the living room took up the rest of the space with the exception of a couple doors off to the right. Avery assumed one was a closet and judging by what she could see through the open door, the other was an office. Stairs in the center of the floor plan led up to another floor. She could only assume were at least a bedroom and a bathroom. Beautiful thick suede curtains covered the windows so well on the inside that you couldn’t even tell they were boarded. Still astounded and forgetting her purpose there, Avery sauntered over to an expensive looking black leather sofa and plopped herself down on it. As soon as she did, the panels on a huge cherry wood entertainment center opened to reveal a fifty-two-inch flat screen television.

  "Oh my..." She swore her mouth was hanging open and drool would come out at any second. She slowly turned to Talon. He was smiling at her.

  "What did you expect? A crypt?" he commented. He had already tied the unconscious vamp up to one of his elegant cherry wood dining room chairs.

  “Umm…yeah,” Avery tried to shake her head free of the glitz and glamour that captured her. "How can you afford all this?"

  "When you've lived as long as I have, you learn to manage your money well. Of course, I could afford a much more luxurious home, but I'd rather not draw attention to myself."

  Okay, don't let yourself get won over by all this crazy awesomeness, she told herself. It was time to get back down to business. Avery leaned over the tied-up vampire and slapped him in the face. "Hey… hey WAKE UP!"

  "Let me handle this," Talon gently moved her to the side. Avery put her hands on her hips again, in disbelief at the action. He really didn't get that she didn't want him touching her, even if his touch this time was warm. Talon splashed a glass of water on the vampire's face. He slowly came to.

  "What the…? Where am I?"

  He struggled, but Talon's cable bonds on him were stronger. The vampire looked between the two of them. He calmed himself with laughter and allowed his thick, southern accent to take over. "Well aren't you two cute." He grinned at Talon. "What are you doing? Playing with your food?"

  Avery took the vampire’s comment into consideration.

  "So what's the clan up to nowadays?" Talon persisted.

  "Fuck you!" He bared his fangs at Talon like a rabid dog.

  "You're really gonna make me do this, aren't you?" Talon opened a drawer in the kitchen and brought back a pair of needle nose pliers. He handed them to Avery. Talon tilted the resisting vampire's head back and held his jaw open. She knew what Talon intended to do. Though she had never tortured anyone before and didn't like the idea, this wasn't exactly an innocent human she was dealing with. Thus, any guilt she could have procured flew right out the window. The distressed vampire's eyes widened in fear as Avery placed the pliers’ grip on his left fang.

  Avery and Talon were back at her apartment, trying to be quiet while Kyrie slept. Talon was making himself comfortable on her plush couch as Avery paced the room.

  "I have to get the sacred objects before they do. I need to monitor their activity...." She was running through her checklist out loud. Talon butted in on her thoughts.

  "We'll have a stakeou
t."

  What was with him and this 'we' stuff? Did he think that just because they worked together torturing someone tonight that now they were now on good terms and hanging out? After thinking it over, she realized that she was the bigger idiot here.

  "We? I work alone."

  "You don't know where their headquarters is."

  Damn it. "And you do?"

  "Hello? Vampire. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me until this is over. Better to work together for the same goal than separate. Gets the job done quicker."

  Avery didn't need to get attached to anyone, or likewise and she absolutely, positively, did NOT want to be associated with a vampire.

  Kyrie opened the door to her room, and they both stopped their bickering. Her sister groggily moaned at them. "It's five in the morning."

  Talon looked at his watch to confirm. "I need to get going.”

  As her sister disappeared back into the hallway, Avery extended her hand toward Talon, despite her better judgment screaming against it. “I guess a common goal makes us partners… for now.”

  Talon slowly took her hand in his, sliding his fingers across her palm and searing her skin with his warmth. There was a tingling sensation in her hand before they firmly shook in agreement.

  When Talon had left, Avery headed toward her room but was taken aback by finding her sister leaning against the wall in the hallway. Kyrie crossed her arms and interrogated her. "Did you just get back from another date? I thought you weren't gonna see him again."

  "Things changed."

  "But do people?" Kyrie noted before shuffling to her room and closing the door.

  Leave it up to her sister to say something profound and then disappear. Honestly, Avery didn't know if people, or vampires for that fact, could change who they are. Could she trust Talon to do the right thing? Experience told her no, but her heart...since when did she listen to that body part?

  CHAPTER 4

  Sunset came all too quickly for Avery the next day. The job hunt yielded useless, then again she was too picky to work in the fast food business. She couldn’t be picky for too much longer, as her savings would only last so long. She had nothing to do the rest of the day but clean and train. She was finishing up with the black punching bag in her room, listening to the Shiny Toy Guns song 'Le Disko,' when Kyrie came in to watch her.