A Shade of Halloween

by Robin Todd

  “Holy crap!” Trina exclaimed with wide eyes. “What the hell was that?”

  I was in so much shock that all I could do was move my wide-eyed gaze from Trina’s face to my palms and back to her face.

  “Oh my gosh.” That was all I could say.

  “We have to put it out!” Trina said, turning back to the flames.

  My body was rooted to the ground from shock. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t move. Thankfully, Ryan zoomed in and put the flames out. I had begun to get used to how fast he moved because it didn’t creep me out like it used to. Perhaps it was because I had spent some time around vampires or maybe it was my shock that stopped me from reacting. When Ryan asked what happened, I just had to tell him. Saying it plainly was the easiest way to explain it because something like that had never happened before. I was still freaking out when I explained it to him, and hearing it was a trait my past sorceress mum had only made me freak out more.

  “Hey... Calm down, babe. We’ll figure it out. I promise.” Ryan said, pulling me into his arms and rubbing my palms.

  “Isn’t he scared I’m going to burn him? Wait a minute. He just called me babe!”

  I couldn’t believe it. I thought Ryan was still too upset about what I did with Ros to want to call me endearing names. It was surprising to hear him call me babe, but it felt good. At least that one part of my life wasn’t crashing down.

  “Can you give us a couple of seconds, Trina? I need to take Selena somewhere.” Ryan said.

  “Sure.” Trina nodded. “Just leave me a blood bag on your way out.”

  That sounded so creepy, even to Trina. I could see how surprised she was at herself for making such a bizarre request.

  “Sure, but be careful. You don’t want to get crippled by the blood lust.” Ryan said.

  “Blood lust? What’s that?” Trina asked, surprised.

  I would have been surprised too if I wasn’t so distraught with my own creepiness.

  “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” Ryan replied. “Selena needs me right now.”

  The girl inside me purred at his last sentence. It was manly, sexy and overly cute. I smiled as Ryan led me out of the bedroom. He took me through a flight of stairs that ended on a very small balcony on the roof. It looked like it could take no more than three people and I looked up at him with curiosity.

  “I come here when I need to calm down.” He said, wrapping his hands around me. “It’s beautiful just looking at the night sky.”

  I smiled and melted into him, not wanting to let go. He hadn’t raised the issue of what I did with Ros and I figured he was deliberately avoiding it. It was probably best not to mention it myself, so I let things be. I just took in the sweet fragrance of his cologne and enjoyed the moment in his arms. Ryan turned me around so that he was behind me. He wrapped his hands around my waist, making me feel so good.

  “Which one’s your favorite?” He asked.

  “Huh?”

  I didn’t know if I zoned out while he was talking but I had no idea what he was asking me about.

  “The stars. I usually pick a favorite one.” He replied.

  “Really?” I smiled. “Okay...”

  I looked up at the night sky and stared at the little lights in the dark blanket. They were beautiful and surprisingly calming.

  “Um... the one over there on the far right.” I finally said, pointing to the brightest star in the sky.

  “Great choice.” He smiled. “My favorite one’s down here.”

  “Huh?” I didn’t quite get what he meant.

  “My favorite one’s in my arms right now.” He replied, putting his head into my hair.

  I blushed so hard, that I felt my cheeks were going to explode. I was lucky it was dark and my back was turned to him. I would have been so embarrassed if he had seen.

  “Really?” I asked.

  Ryan didn’t reply. He turned me around and looked deep into my eyes.

  “I know the situation with the fire down there freaked you out, but I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you. We’ll figure things out together, and we’ll have that beautiful life I promised you in 1889. I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt you ever again. This I promise you...”

  His words were so sweet that I melted further into his arms. I felt like he knew exactly what I needed to hear at that time. Each word felt like a soothing balm to my injured soul.

  “Thank you.” I whispered.

  “You don’t need to thank me.” I could feel him smiling in my hair. “My entire being is in love with you, Selena Ryder.”

  In that moment, time slowed down. I felt like I had the world under my feet and everything was going to be okay. I felt Ryan pulling my body even closer to his... and I yielded. His face moved slowly through my hair until he was looking right into my eyes. Our foreheads touched and he stayed like that for what felt like eternity. Then he claimed my lips with the brushing of his against mine. It was a slow passionate kiss that ignited sparks and explosive fireworks. I closed my eyes and lived in its bliss. In that moment, everything was perfect. I felt like the world outside didn’t exist. Nothing mattered. It was just me and him... and I was finally at peace.

  “Aaaahhh!!!”

  The sound of a painful scream filled the chilly night around us, causing us to break our kiss off abruptly.

  “It’s Trina!” Ryan said with concern in his voice.

  Ryan ran off with his enhanced speed and I took the stairs two at a time, running as fast as I could. When I got down, my eyes widened in shock. Right in Trina’s room was a very mean looking vampire. He had Trina by the neck, suspending her gagging and kicking frame in the air. Around him were six other vampires, who looked just as mean and scary as he did. I had no idea what they wanted with her but I knew one thing for sure. Whatever it was would surely not be good.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Selena’s POV

  “Let her go!” Ryan growled.

  I had never seen him so angry before. I understood he had every reason to be. The vampires that invaded his house were the very definition of the word scary. They were dressed in all black, which contrasted sharply with their pale skin and icy eyes. Whatever they represented had to be bad. I could feel it within me.

  “Ryan Soille.” The vampire holding Trina smirked, tossing her to the ground in the far corner. “How long has it been?”

  Trina ran as fast as she could to the spot I was standing, right behind Ryan.

  “I’ll like to continue with the chit chat but I’m too busy being repulsed by you, Viktor. What do you want?” Ryan asked from behind gritted teeth.

  I had no idea who this Viktor guy was but I already had a bad feeling about him. Ryan didn’t seem to like him and it was clear to see why.

  “Ah... Still so uptight.” Viktor gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

  “Has the whore not pleased you enough to lighten your mood?” Viktor asked, looking at me.

  “What? Did he just call me a whore?”

  Ryan charged at Viktor with bloodshot eyes and pushed him into the wall behind him. He snapped his neck in one quick motion, the sight freezing my body in wide-eyed shock. Viktor snapped his neck back into position and got off the ground he was slumped barely seconds ago. He looked at the still angry Ryan and smirked.

  “I could get into a doggy fight with you but I came for more pressing matters. You do that again and I’ll show you just how outnumbered you are.”

  “What do you want?” Ryan growled again.

  “Ros. Where is he?” Viktor asked casually.

  “...and what makes you think I know?” Ryan spat.

  “I don’t think you know. I just asked.” Viktor smiled.

  It was more of an evil smirk. One that said ‘I know you’re lying and I’m about to prove it’. Viktor’s presence made the room feel a lot colder than it really was and all I wanted was to get as far away from him as possible.

  “Well, I don’t know. You may leave now.” Ryan
replied in a tone filled with irritation.

  “Brother, brother, brother!”

  I heard Ros’s voice from behind me and almost collapsed in shock. My legs instantly felt wobbly, like I could be tossed to the ground by even the slightest wind. Where the hell did he come from? I didn’t even know he was alive! I knew I never asked Ryan where Ros was after the incident, but I assumed he was dead.

  “Why in such a hurry to dismiss the Council members? Could you perhaps be hiding something?” Ros asked sarcastically, walking into the room with four other vampires behind him.

  I could see Ryan clenching his fist and gritting his teeth but he didn’t reply. With the addition of the four vampires who came in with Ros, the number of intruding vampires rose to twelve. That was enough to crush Ryan if he dared go against them. It was in his best interest to stand down. Launching an attack against them would surely be suicide. Ros who seemed to be enjoying Ryan’s torture turned around and smirked at me.

  “I see he got you to safety this time, Peaches... but don’t celebrate too soon.” His eyes turned bloodshot red and I almost jumped out of my skin from fear.

  I had a mixture of conflicting feelings flowing through me. My body shuddered from the fear of seeing Ros again after the horrific encounter he put me through. My blood boiled from hatred – of his lies and his actions. An invisible knot tied so tight in my personals from his betrayal, that I had no idea when I pulled my legs together defensively. I didn’t want to be around him. I just couldn’t stand it. Ros Soille was nothing but trouble.

  “Why so shocked to see me, brother?” Ros continued taunting Ryan. “I mean… It should be common knowledge that my Council members will come looking for me. Or were you hoping things would be different?”

  Ryan still didn’t reply. He kept his gaze locked on Ros, watching for any action he might take.

  “It turns out your heroic moves are going to be useless. No offense, dear brother but you can’t save her this time. She’s going to die.” Ros continued.

  “What do you mean?” Ryan asked, anger raging in his veins.

  “A couple of hours ago, the Council’s witches sensed a surge of dark magical powers very similar to that of the sorceress, Sophia. They traced that dark energy all the way here... and guess what they found? No, not me. I was just the added bonus.” He smiled. “Your little witchy girlfriend just happens to be a direct descendant of Sophia. You know the rules, don’t you? The Council cannot let her live!”

  Ros had barely finished speaking when the eyes of all twelve Council vampires turned bloodshot red. They bared their sharp fangs and charged towards me with enhanced speed. The murderous intent in their eyes was as clear as daylight.

  A Shade of Halloween 3: Sorceress

  Chapter One

  Selena’s POV

  I froze on the spot, barely able to process the speed with which the vampires attacked me. Of all the things that had happened in my life, this was by far the scariest. I was terrified out of my mind, forced to go numb while staring at death in the face. The vampires moved like a cold, forceful wind of death and in my mind’s eye, I had seen that wind envelop me and destroy my fragile mortal body. The determination of all twelve attacking vampires came across to me like a raw power, against which I was completely defenseless.

  I felt the impact in less than a split second. It came in the form of a jolt, and not long after, I felt lightheaded. I knew the feeling came from my body being hoisted into the air, traversing through the distance faster than I ever believed was possible. In that moment, I had only one thing in mind. This was the end. As the split seconds rolled by, other thoughts surfaced in my mind. Thoughts like how I was actually feeling. I expected to feel the most excruciating pain from the attack but I didn’t. Instead, I felt perfectly fine. For a split second, I thought I had died and my ghost was floating in the air just above my body but when I looked down, I didn’t see a body. It didn’t take long for me to understand what had actually happened. Trina had picked me up, and was running as fast as she could. I had no idea where she was going and I was pretty sure she didn’t either. Regardless of that fact, I was grateful to her from the bottom of my heart.

  It was obvious we weren’t going to make it far because those vampires were older and faster than Trina. However, her actions gave me hope. At least she tried something. It was much better than freezing on the spot like I did. I could hear Trina panting but she continued to run with all her might. Turning my head behind me drained any trace of respite the initial escape gave me. The Serafino Council vampires were hot on our trail, gaining on us with each passing second.

  “Just in case we don’t make it, Trina, I want you to know that I love you... and thank you!” I yelled against the wind that was blowing so fast against my face.

  “Yeah. That’s encouraging!” Trina teased sarcastically. “But I love you too, Selena.”

  Trina held on to my body tighter and I could hear her panting increase. She was getting slower because her energy was running out but I admired her courage and determination to keep trying. Behind us, the vampires looked like a whirlwind in the shape of a pyramid, racing towards us at a dizzying speed. Though I couldn’t quite make out the faces, I could tell Ros Soille was in lead. He couldn’t wait to sink his murderous fangs into my flesh and I desperately wished there was something I could do about it.

  The slower Trina got, the closer the vampires came... and the more terrified I became. I knew they would catch up to us any moment now and all I could do was wait for the terrifying moment to come. That moment came a little too quickly, as Trina tripped on something and crashed onto the ground. Our colliding bodies had barely hit the hard surface when the Serafino vampires pounced. I heard Trina scream, but her voice was drowned out by the angry roar of the vampires around us. I instinctively held my arms over my head and closed my eyes, as I waited for the painful end to come.

  It didn’t.

  Instead, all I heard around me was silence. I opened my eyes and for the next few seconds, I was completely confused. I was on the ground right where Trina had tripped, but there was no one else around me. The street, houses and lining trees looked exactly the same, except the vampires were gone.

  “What the hell was that?”

  I heard Trina’s voice from my right and turned in her direction. I couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped my mouth from seeing her there. I had no idea what happened, but whatever it was could only be described as very bad. Trina had burns all over her body, as if she had been set on fire... and she wasn’t healing as fast as I knew vampires could.

  “Can you at least restrict the fire power to the enemy vampires?” Trina asked, looking at me with angry eyes.

  “Me?”

  It was all I could ask. I had no idea what she was talking about. I didn’t remember doing anything except closing my eyes and waiting to die.

  “Where the hell are we?” Trina asked.

  She had gotten to me now and was clutching her arms to ease the pain she was feeling.

  “I have no idea.” I replied.

  “Well, I don’t see the vampires around so whatever you did saved us. Just try not to hit me next time.” She grinned.

  “Your mood swings will take some getting used to.” I replied. “A minute ago I was scared you were going to hurt me with how angry you were. Now, you’re all bright and happy.”

  Trina smiled.

  “I’m still trying to figure it out myself.” She replied.

  She turned around and looked at our surroundings.

  “Everything looks the same.” She said.

  “Yeah, but the streets are empty. I don’t know where everyone went.” I replied.

  “You don’t remember?” Trina asked.

  I was completely confused. The only thing that happened before the vampires disappeared was me covering my head - except there were holes in my memory that I didn’t know about.

  “Remember what?” I asked her.

  “The force field.�
� Trina replied. “It was so powerful I felt like I was going to die. It pushed me away from you but I guess we ended up together because our bodies were pretty much colliding with each other when the blast happened.”

  “Are you lying to me right now?” I asked, looking at her skeptically.

  “Did I manufacture the burns on my skin?” She replied with a sarcastic question.

  “I’m sorry, Trina but it’s all so surprising.” I apologized.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t want to believe her but everything she was saying sounded so unreal. Besides, I didn’t have any memory of a force field and I wondered why.

  “It’s okay. It’s probably got something to do with your sorceress nature. Just like the fire blast at Ryan’s house.” Trina shrugged.

  Trina’s last sentence made me remember Ryan and the fact that I had no idea where he was.

  “Oh my gosh. I hope I didn’t hurt Ryan.” I gasped.

  “You most likely did if you burned me like that. But don’t worry. I’m fine now so he should be fine too.” Trina consoled me.

  I wanted to tell myself everything was going to be okay but I couldn’t. I had somehow managed to lose Ryan and I had no idea how to find him again. He was the one person who could help me figure things out and I could only imagine how freaked out he’d be to be separated from me again. The only good part of all this was the fact that we were still alive.

  “So what do we do now?” Trina asked.

  “I have no idea.” I replied honestly.

  Chapter Two

  Ryan’s POV

  I stood face to face with Viktor, the most obnoxious wannabe clan leader I had ever met. Ros might not have seen it for whatever reason, but I was sure Viktor didn’t have the clan’s best interest at heart. It was written all over him. All he wanted was to point out a slip up from Ros and turn Council leadership in his favor. As much as I wasn’t a fan of Ros’s actions, he was still my brother and I didn’t want a sly, deceitful and conniving vampire anywhere around him. Okay I admit it. Ros’s wellbeing was not my only reason for wanting Viktor gone. His presence meant trouble for Selena, especially since her sorceress powers were just beginning to manifest. Viktor was born the son of a witch but he was turned into a vampire on his eighteenth birthday. As a result of the natural divide between witches and vampires, his special powers never fully developed. While he couldn’t do any of the cool magical stuff, he could sense when magic was being used and could locate the user faster than any other vampire. This ability made him an asset to the Serafino clan and a member of Ros’s inner circle. The minute I saw him, I knew something bad was about to happen. When he asked where Ros was, I wasn’t surprised. Knowing him, he probably already knew. All I wanted to do was get him out of the house before he noticed Selena’s powers - but that didn’t go as planned. He not only knew about Selena’s powers already, he also got the order to execute her from Ros.