by Hayley Todd
We crossed, all of us surveying the scene and seeking out figures in the dark shadows. Nothing stirred.
At the opposing well, we moved closer to a set of metal double doors. They each sported a small pane of glass and a dull, golden glow emanated from behind them.
Carson nodded his head for me to step to one side of the door and Kellic to the other, leaving he and Damien standing before them. Damien looked at us and held one finger aloft. Wait.
We did. My father turned and grabbed the edge of a shelving unit. As we watched, the metal framing it melted toward my father, gathering around him fist into a solid shape that looked like a boxing glove. Then he turned back to us and nodded, readying himself.
Would the wonders never cease?
Kellic and I locked eyes as we reached forward, grasping the handles. The doors resisted, locked. I braced myself, pulling harder than necessary and my door whipped open with a snap. A second later, Kellic’s did the same.
The doors opened onto a long downward staircase, a soft amber glow at the bottom. Carson and Damien shared a look, stepping forward, edging toward the chasm below. Kellic and I scanned the room again, eyes seeking any movement. None came.
We followed down behind the two men, staying absolutely silent.
The stairwell felt nearly endless in this eerie half-darkness. But eventually we reached the bottom, uneventfully. The bottom of the steps had another set of metal doors and again we made quick work of snapping their locks. The golden glow shined from behind.
Inside their doors a room unfolded before us. It was hard to see through the golden glow emitted on our left. It was so bright from this distance that I struggled to even look at it. Before us, sketched into the floor was a giant circle line with thirteen smaller circles and marked up with shapes and symbols. There was a body, limp on the floor before us, within the circle.
Just as Damien stepped forward, a ball of angry fur leapt from the darkness, smashing into him. He caved to one side and Kellic leapt forward, crashing into the creature as it sprang away from a prone Damien.
I could vaguely make out the shape of a dog, but with large and distorted canine teeth and spittle dripping from its jaws. It snarled at us, the echo pounding through the room.
Kellic knelt beside Damien, helping him to his feet as another figure, more lithe, lashed out at them. Kellic was knocked away with a cry and the dog snatched on to Damien’s shoulder. He screamed a guttural bellow, digging his fingers into the beasts hide. The other more human figure was joined by another and another until we were outnumbered, two to one.
A pair of men—though I could barely make out the gender in this darkness, blinded by the golden white light to me side—loomed over Kellic, making their move.
I launched at them, sweeping a foot beneath one and knocking him from his feet. I lifted my fist and cracked it down into the other’s jaw. Another approached from my side, yet another from Kellic’s. She leapt forward, claws extended, and grabbed the person facing her before sending them sailing overhead to crash into a wall with a thud.
The other dashed toward me, malintent carved into a set of glowing red eyes. I braced myself but the force knocked me back and off my feet.
The figure came down again, wielding a knife whose blade glinted in the eerie half-light. The blade came down hair towards my chest.
I squeezed my eyes shut, embracing for the pain.
The flat of the blade collided with my chest.
I blinked. The figure was gone. Carson was now situated to my right, scrabbling with a man with white blonde hair. He seemed familiar. Lavender eyes flicked to me as he bucked Carson off, sending him rolling to the side.
The man pounced on my again, knocking his fist into my mouth. Pain lit my face and blood welled on my tongue. He reared back for another blow.
I rolled away from him, my foot sweeping low again. I connected with his legs, sending him sprawling to the concrete floor. I leapt after him, slamming my fist into his face. My other came down on the crown of his skull. His face bounced off the pavement, blood pooling beneath him. He had gone still.
I lifted myself off of him and stepped back. Kellic was sitting on her knees, breathing hard. Carson stood a few steps behind me, surprise written on his face. Damien landed a blow on his last assailant and turned to us, gasping.
Carson reached for me, lifting my knuckles to his face. He looked troubled. I knew I’d broken through the skin. I could feel the sting of it. He bit into the flesh on the pad of his thumb pressing it to my lips. His blood exploded in me, my pain gone.
I pulled myself away before I could fall into him.
Kellic and Damien has rejoined us, turning to the body we hadn’t left.
Damien stepped forward, Kellic to the side and knelt. He lifted the arm of what turned out to be a familiar young woman. The servant from Damien’s house flashed through my mind. She was still wearing the black dress even but the apron was gone. Her eyes were open, but vacant, staring into the darkness. She didn't appear to have any injuries but her chest did not rise and fall.
Damien pressed his finger over her neck, feeling for a pulse. But we all knew. I could hear the patter of our own heartbeats, quick, anxious, but nothing else.
No.
There was something else.
It was faint, as though muffled, but I heard again the flutter of a heartbeat, like the wings of a butterfly, but definitely there. It had the rapid cadence that I had grown to find indicative of vampires.
I followed my senses, breaking away from the others and tracking the sound toward the light. The closer I got, the more my eyes couldn't handle the glare. I reached a hand out toward it, not really understanding what I was doing but feeling drawn to do it.
The room was silent, that thump thump thump the only sound to gain my attention. As my hand extended, silvery blue lightning bolts leapt from my skin, looking like my arm had been charged with electricity. I connected with something that was buried in the light and with a pop and hiss, the light vanished.
The room plunged into darkness except for the glow of my skin. I closed my eyes, focusing...something in the air into my palm. I could feel it, as though there was a sensation pressing against my skin from every direction. I could feel it change direction and form over my palm. A small blue stirring ball of electricity lifted from my hand.
It let a sweeping glow cast over the room, iridescent.
I looked back toward where the light had vacated, blinking spots out of my vision. The light cast by my strange new friend was pale but clear, easy on the eyes. It bathed the ground in light and exposed an alcove in the wall. Bars lined the alcove in a wide doorway.
I knew to do it without knowing how. My hand twisted in the air, the ball of slight spinning gently. The inside of the door sparked and snapped open, shrieking as it did.
I lifted my foot to step forward when Carson’s warm palm wrapped around my wrist. He leaned away from the glowing ball in my other hand.
“Kyra,” he whispered. “Let me take point.”
I obliged, dazed, stepping aside to all him past. Damien followed suit, stepping into the doorway. In the hall beyond, a cavern had been carved into the very rock, small chambers carved off along either side.
Damien and Carson stepped into the chamber. “Kellic,” Damien said in a commanding voice looking over his shoulder. He dipped his head toward me and she lifted her hand much like mine to begin emitting a red glow.
Carson went left, Damien went right. I stayed with Carson providing him light in the darkness. Kellic went with Damien. Carson leaned toward another set of iron bars and I extended my hand high, letting the blue white light bathe the room. It was empty except for a toilet and a bed hanging from chains in the wall.
“Clear,” he called over his shoulder. I stepped aside to let him past, re-emerging onto the main cavern.
“Clear,” Damien echoed, doing the same.
They stepped up to the next aisle of cages, doing the same with the same result. On
the last run, I noticed movement through the shadows of our hall as we approached. I stood beside Carson this time, leaning toward the gates, holding the light aloft.
A figure huddled against a corner, as far from the light as it could be. All I could see clearly were a set of glowing blue eyes, locked into us.
“We’ve got something,” Carson bellowed.
There was no immediate response.
Carson reaches forward, his hand clutching the clasp and ripping it free from the wall. The door swing inward.
He stepped nearer to the figure, and it shifted farther from him.
Just as my light touched a pair of dirty feet, the creature sprang at him.
Teeth locked into his neck, nails digging into his back. I could see blood welling along the impact marks through his tattered shirt.
I stepped closer yet, my light falling onto the figure of a thin, evacuated, pale woman, dark hair sweeping over Carson’s shoulder where her lips pressed onto his neck.
I leapt forward, catching her by the shoulder and easily knocking her away.
She caught herself and glared up at me, feral, flashing teeth with four sets of fangs. She snarled, deep in her chest. “I already told that bastard, I’d never be his,” she hissed, her voice almost familiar, dark and tainted with hatred.
Then, my light washed over her fully and her blue eyes settled onto me.
I felt a pang of agony sweep through my chest, and it brought me to my knees.
Those blue eyes pulled closer.
Carson has knelt, clutching his neck with one hand, trying to edge closer to me but seeming unable to.
Her face unfolded beneath my light.
“Mom?”
Chapter Fourteen
Naomi Santina stared up at me, shock carved into her emaciated face. Her eyes were wide and stunned.
Beside me, Carson lifted himself to his feet, dripping his hand from his neck, the wound healed. He stepped closer, putting himself between my mother and myself.
Her eyes swiveled up to him, scared. She gazed at his face for several seconds before her eyes lit up with recognition.
“Carson?” She asked, leaping up to wrap her too slender arms around his neck. He stiffened before relaxing his arms around her waist. He pressed his face into her hair. I felt something pang in my chest that almost felt like jealousy.
He pulled back from her at last but their eyes were locked in a communicative gaze. Then she shot to me. She was so close I could smell her unwashed scent. Somewhere, buried beneath the neglect, I noted a familiar smell. A smell that used to help me sleep.
I threw my arms around her, pulling her close. Tears burned down my cheeks.
She returned the hug, squeezing me around my back. It didn’t hurt. I honestly didn’t think she was strong enough to hurt me right now. “Oh, my sweet baby! My little Kyra,” she cooed, rocking my body with her sobs. She eventually pulled back, looking me over.
I had switched to a pair of tight jeans and a form fitting sweater. My hair was pulled into a ball at the nape of my neck, strands falling down around my face. I was pretty sure that after all the fighting, I wasn’t looking pretty.
“You’re gorgeous, my baby girl,” she finally said, pulling me to her again. “How old are you now, precious one?” She asked, as though we were catching up at the holidays, not meeting after eighteen years of believing her to be dead.
“I’m twenty four,” I replied.
She let go at last. “Like real twenty four?” She asked, looking at me curiously before her gaze switched to Carson. He was just staring at me.
“Yeah, I’m twenty four,” I repeated.
She scrutinized my face for several seconds.
“She’s turned,” Carson said at last, his voice quiet.
Naomi shared a gaze with him, her face falling. “Married?” She asked.
He shook his head.
Her face lit up with a smile that touched one thousand memories. “Then you’ve found me in time to help,” she said cheerily.
I stared at her, eyes wide, still trying to make sense of the ghost standing before me. “Mom, how are you alive?” I asked her. I felt as though I’d taken a punch to the gut.
My mom looked at me for a long moment, confused. “Alive?” Then her face darkened. “Henrick,” she growled.
Carson flinched. “What about Henrick?” He asked, grabbing my mother’s tense shoulder.
She turned to him, that angry glint still in her eye. “He did this.”
At those accusations at our enemy, we retreated to locate Damien and Kellic, worried about the silence. Carson led the way, with me in between him and my mom. Mom needed some assistance getting down the hall so her arm was wrapped around my shoulder and I took most of her weight instead.
At the end of the corridor, I was stunned again. Damien and Kellic were there. But so was my aunt.
Gabrielle Santina was absolutely stunning, just like her daughter and even with her diminished frame. She had that same long black family hair and spotted a pair of dark blue eyes. She was leaned against Kellic much as my mother leaned against me.
My father looked up at our approach and I could tell when his world fell away. His face lit up with stunned joy. He paused for a moment, absolutely still, not sure how to respond. Then his eyes shot to me and back up to my mother.
Then he collided into her, taking her into his arms. I could feel that familiar sensation as they kissed. It rolled off of them in waves. Was it like that around Carson and me?
My parents were imprinted. It was a subdued feeling versus what I felt with Carson, but it was there, stirring the air. Could everyone feel this? A glance around proved that they could. Kellic and Gabrielle were whispering to one another but both kept shivering every few seconds, their eyes landing on my parents. Carson was staring straight at me, a knowing look in his eyes. He took my hand, wrapping his warm fingers around mine.
My parents finally broke apart, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. It was really something beautiful. For several moments, they were lost in each other.
Eventually, my father fought to return his attention to us.
“We’ve got to get out of here in case someone comes back. We’ve got to get back to the manor and regroup,” he commanded, taking my mother into his arms like a child. He carried her past us and back the way we had come without another word.
Kellic followed, helping Gabrielle limo along who was completely absorbed in her daughter. I wasn’t even sure if she had noticed me.
Then Carson and I stood alone. He was still staring at me in awe. His green eyes seemed hypnotized to me.
“Are you okay?” I asked. In the flurry of activity I had forgotten that my mother had bitten him. He reached a hand up to his neck but he didn’t seem aware of it. He stared.
“Hello?” I said, and pushed more will into the ball in my hand. For one second, it burst into a starburst of white light and he blinked hard, shaking his head.
“I’m fine,” he replied as though there hadn’t been a gap. He straightened up and looked me over as though seeing me for the first time. “Are you okay?” He asked. He wasn’t eager for the answer.
I paused. “I-I will be.” As the ball returned to its primary blue white, a wave of exhaustion rolled through me, throwing me to my knees.
Carson’s arms were wrapped around me at once, lifting me back to my feet. He looked at me, helping me out of the chamber. “You fed your dad and me didn’t you?”
I nodded not wasting the energy to look up at him.
“Kellic?” He asked as though he were discussing the weather.
I shook my head.
“You spread yourself too thin.”
He reached down and scooped me up, resting my head against his chest. He made quick work of navigating his way back to the parking lot, being careful with me in his arms. “Thank you,” he said at long last, as we neared the upper floor.
“For?” I asked, unsure of what I had possibly done to deserve thanks.
He looked down at me, those gorgeous green orbs looking me over. “For saving me,” he said simply, looking back up to our path.
I huffed a weak laugh. “I guess we're even,” I teased. A smile spread across his lips.
My mother and father were speaking beside the mustang on the top floor. They would share a few phrases before delving into kisses once more. It was sickly sweet. I had to look away. Liam was looking after Evelyn who I could see clearly now that the dust has dissipated. Kellic was gathering Gabrielle into Damien’s car, speaking quietly with her.
The moment Carson neared, my dad’s eyes shot to my face. He was immediately beside us. “Is she okay?” He asked, looking at Carson.
“She needs blood,” Carson replied. “She overdid it.” Both of them looked at me. My dad had worry painted on his face.
“I’m fine,” I moaned. “Just kicked a little too much butt.”
My dad chuckled. “You did well, my daughter. Let’s get going.” He went to help my mother get situated in the passenger seat and climbed into the driver’s seat, starting the roaring engine.
Kellic was already in the back of the Mercedes, waiting for us. Carson went to the passenger door, easing me into the seat before going to the driver's seat.
Damien pulled out of the lot and we followed quickly after. I couldn’t see him or my mother through his tinted windows but I took comfort in them being there.
Vans pulled into the lot as we left. Carson assured me they were Damien’s people, investigating the crime scene.
Kellic pulled her phone out, calling her brother. Will answered on the first ring. “Kellic?” I could hear on the other line.
“Will...you need to come to Damien’s mansion, immediately,” Kellic gasped after a deep breath.
“What is it, Kel? Are you okay? Is Kyra okay?” He didn’t actually give her a chance to answer at first.
“Will. Mom is alive,” she replied.
There was silence for several moments before Will responded.
Finally he spoke. “I’ll be there in twenty,” he said in a tight voice and disconnected the phone.