Sight

by Chrystal Blue

Arel closed her eyes, listening in to the sounds around her that someone anyone might be nearby. She listened for voices, thoughts, memories, something that would tell her if they were truly alone.

  “You don’t trust me,” whispered Sebastian.

  “I do.”

  “Are you listening to someone?”

  “What do you want to talk about Sebastian?”

  “Arel, what’s in the envelope?”

  “The deed to this place. Robert and his family have died.”

  “How did you know that,” asked Sebastian.

  Arel leaned closer to him, resting her arms on the table. A smiled crossing her face.

  “Don’t you mean when? You want to know if I knew he was going to die when I sent him away.” Leaning back in the chair the smile removed from her face, she looked down at her hands. Arel thought about how much information she should reveal to Sebastian.

  “Robert’s death was inevitable. Death will always come to claim what is his. My vision was clear Robert would die, and shortly after his son would have sold Skip’s to you, he would die as well. They were all destined to die, alone, unhappy. All these years in hiding, I have learned I can’t keep death from happening. This way, they died together happily.”

  “You know how they died?”

  “With each decision, the path a person’s life is on changes, it brings about new experiences, but the destination is always the same. From the moment he accepted my offer, his path was changed; the destination remained the same. When he walked out of this building, I knew it would be the last time he set foot in it.”

  “Why did you send him away," asked Sebastian.

  “Do you really want to spend this time talking about Robert? There are so many other things we can talk about, such as Dmitri.”

  Sebastian chuckled, shaking his head slightly at the mention of Dmitri’s name. Arel sensed there was a history between the two. There was an apparent resentment she felt coming from Dmitri when he talked and looked at Sebastian. The relationship between Sebastian and Dmitri weighed on her, but she doubted he would answer her truthfully. Arel focused on asking about Dmitri himself. All she knew of him she had siphoned from the others in the house reading their thoughts and memories.

  “You seem fascinated by him,” replied Sebastian glancing at their intertwined hands.

  “I’m curious. Dmitri seems meek, almost harmless. Not really the mastermind behind the plot to kill you and your father. Although I could see him selling our child to the Darken to secure their blessing in his control over the Vampires.”

  “Dmitri is more dangerous then you anticipate. You have to be careful around him,” coached Sebastian.

  “I find him curious. Does he always show his fangs, or was it just for me?”

  “He’s very proud of being Vampire, he feels like his father, that the rest of us hide in the shadows. We are not worthy of the blood of Emi when we mask our true nature from the rest of the world. He’s a zealot who dreams of power and will use any means necessary to accomplish that.”

  “Where does Ramla fit in all of this,” she asked, changing the subject abruptly.

  Arel found herself fascinated by the female Vampire who had a residence within the city of the Darken of Zarnaiah. Arel couldn’t help question the information she learned from Ramla. The implanted Vampire weighed heavy on her mind. Arel could see her memories and feel her pain and sadness.

  Although given as a tribute, Ramla had proved herself useful, rising up in their ranks she was a valuable source of information. A survivor and hunter, Ramla’s fierce loyalty to herself left Arel questioning the blood ties the others put so much faith in.

  With her implant, she was able to relay information immediately. Everything she saw and heard recorded and sent to the core of Zarnaiah. Inside the heavily guarded citadel, the center contained and cataloged numerous pieces of information. Only the highest-ranking Darken could access The Core. Information readily deposited to the core could not so easily be retrieved. Arel was able to learn about The Core along with basic knowledge, including the location of her childhood home.

  “Ramla,” he asked.

  “Did you know she’s implanted,” asked Arel, trying hard to mask the excitement in her voice. Ramla provided her with a link to the information contained in the Darken database without having to go directly to the city. Arel hoped she would meet Ramla again, hopeful she could retrieve more intel without having to go to Zarnaiah. A part of her still unwilling to face her sister or the real questions her past presented.

  With each recollection that returned a mix of emotions flowed through her. Sadness seemed to follow each small memory that returned. Even something like remembering her favorite food reminded her that what she wished to remember most still evaded her. Now she had the location of the childhood home even though she knew everyone had been massacred. There was no great epiphany waiting for her at the resistance headquarters, but a part of her still felt the desire to return.

  “What did you see?”

  “I know where I lived with the resistance,” she replied cheerfully. Squeezing Sebastian's hand, she bounced up in the chair, kissing his lips.

  “You remembered,” he asked, brushing a loose curl behind her ear.

  “No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I learned it from the core. The implant she has connects to this computer that stores all of this information in Zarnaiah. Anything anyone whose implanted sees or says or hears is all recorded.”

  “Everything?”

  “Yes, everything. Ramla’s not high enough to access the important information such as Zorin’s current location or when he’ll return, but the locations of the Resistance safe houses are all listed on her access level. I wanted to gather more, but she got to the hospital memory quicker than I anticipated. I had to disconnect before she learned anything else from my memories.”

  Arel wondered if all of the implanted were able to search the memories of those they touched. She had not heard of another Vampire with the ability to read another’s mind. Sebastian had never mentioned any other Vampire being able to do that. She wondered if Ramla’s power was brought on by the Darken experimentation or if she had been born that way.

  Sebastian remained quiet listening to Arel speak of her encounter with Ramla. Suddenly stopping, she sensed something occupied his thoughts. Wondering if Sebastian would object to her meeting with Ramla, as she had already made her mind to do so, her words trailed off.

  “What else did you learn,” Sebastian asked after a few minutes of silence between them.

  Looking up at his eyes, Arel smiled over at him glad he was unable to read her thoughts. The smile fading, she looked down at her hands embraced in his, biting her bottom lip as she thought of how to tell him what she had seen and felt.

  “I saw her as a child with others. They were all so brave...young, children, they didn’t let them know they were afraid. Of twelve there were two and now one, Ramla. The Vampire of royal blood, implanted by the Darken, who lives at Zarnaiah.”

  “Was there any more information,” inquired Sebastian. His jaw clenched as he asked, Arel the question.

  “Fragments, pictures, pain. I piece what I experience together. I don’t get all the information. With Ramla, I don’t know if she got her power from the experiments or was, she born that way.”

  “Power,” replied Sebastian. His eyes flickered brighter as an idea passed through his mind. Arel wondered what plan he was putting together with the new information she was providing. Doubting he would reveal his thoughts for fear it would stress her, she continued with her train of questions.

  “Are there other Vampires that have abilities beyond hunting? Are there others that can read memories like Ramla?”

  “Well, it’s not something we discuss amongst ourselves. The last thing you try to be is different,” replied Sebastian somberly.

  Although Sebastian did not answer her question, she left the subject alone. Knowing she would later seek out Eir asking her about R
amla. If there were others, Arel believed they would be useful in their battle against the Darken. Of the cousins she met, it seemed only Dmitri did not try to hide his true self.

  “If you had a superpower, would you tell me,” she asked, breaking the silence between them. Sebastian seemed to concentrate on something else, and she wondered if he was still focused on Robert.

  “Super,” he replied, smiling over at her.

  “Yes. I mean more than your incredible speed, strength, hearing, sight, sense of smell.” Arel numbered them on her fingers as she rattled off his abilities.

  “Something other than what makes me the perfect predator.”

  “That’s a little unfair,” Arel giggled. “Think about it, all Vampires have those qualities. I mean if you could read memories like Ramla, or know if someone were truthful, or the ability to track someone’s location just by thinking of them like Teraya.”

  “Your sister doesn’t share the same abilities as you?”

  When it came to her sister, Arel kept much about her a heavily guarded secret. Since regaining her memories, Arel had not talked about Teraya much to anyone, not even Sebastian. She had told him bits of their childhood. It was from her screams into the night that he learned of the guilt she felt over leaving her sister.

  “No, we are different. I can’t track a person’s location, and she can’t kill.”

  “If you had not done what you did, I might not have made it to you in time.”

  Thinking back to the night of her attack, she didn’t feel sadness at their death. There was no question she would have done it again, their lives mattered little to her. She knew the community at large would not miss them, they fed on the vulnerable. For the three men, their deaths were a community service in her mind.

  “It’s not for them. I’ve not given that night a second thought.” Not wanting to explain any more she raised her hands above her head, stretching before bringing her hands to her mouth for a deep yarn forced from her belly.

  Rising Sebastian pulled her chair from under the table before picking her up out of the seat. She clung to him, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck, resting her brown curls on his chest. Arel listened to his heartbeat as he walked her through the restaurant out to the parked car in the empty lot. Looking up, Arel smiled at the multi-colored sky, the deep colors of the setting sun painted across the horizon.

  “I feel safe in your arms,” she replied.

  Opening the car door, he placed Arel in the front seat, kissing her on the lips before closing the door. She watched him walk over to the other side of the car, smiling at her. There was no doubt in her mind that they would talk about that night another time. They each had questions needing to be answered from the other, but she felt she had more than he did.

  With her belly fully and afraid Sebastian would press her for more information she feigned sleepiness. Although she had her secrets, she wasn’t ready to let him know it wasn’t the first time she had taken a life. Arel was her mother’s daughter right down to her ability to kill. The power the Resistance looked for in Teraya, what they trained for and made them so valuable to the others. It was the secret she had guarded not only from the others but partly from herself, not so much the ability to take a life the way she did but the unmistakable feeling of power she felt after she had done it.

  Closing her eyes, she leaned back in the seat, resting her head on the back of the chair. The soft hum of the engine tickled her ears as she fell back into her thoughts. Trailing all the way back to her first night in the state home, she remembered James. From one memory to another of James, she danced, watching as a fragmented movie, pieces flashing before her closed eyes. Smiling, she inhaled deeply as she finally drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Three

  Arel’s Dream

  They stood in a large metallic room, twelve children all younger than five waiting dressed in plain white tunics each bearing a golden crest on their chest. They were fearful, but they did not cry. A young man entered the room accompanied by two boys slightly younger than him. Following behind the elder, the man stopped in front of each child, looking them over before moving to the next one.

  An older man entered the room through a heavy metal door. Immediately the younger man greeted him as the two boys prostrated themselves before him. Fearfully the boys looked at the floor, afraid to make eye contact with the elder. A command from the younger man sent the boys quickly over to the first of the children leading them away.

  Keeping her distance, the house was tense as the heads of the families tried to figure out the events that had unfolded since her arrival. Aeron, Sebastian's father, refused to acknowledge her. Marcus, the second house of Emi and Iona, urged the elders to focus on the way to appease the Darken. She could hear their thoughts, and they screamed enemy and unwanted, as she remained in the study.

  Arel sat in the overstuffed chair, tears welling in her eyes. She had not seen Dmitri or Ramla since the tribunal meeting. The plans she had of discovering more about the Darken were no closer to fruition than before their meeting.

  Sebastian walked through the doors of the study, standing in front of Arel. Grasping her hands in his, he pulled her closer to him as he lifted her to her feet. Wrapping his arms around her, she buried her head into his chest.

  "I will not allow anyone to harm either of you," he whispered into her ear.

  "You have to warn your father," she began, ignoring his attempts at comforting. There was no question in her mind that he would stop at nothing to protect her from anyone, including his own family. Unable to see his future, she focused on finding a way to keep him safe from the fate Catrin said she was destined to bring.

  The sound of the door opening abruptly interrupted Arel's train of thought. Unsure of who was entering the study, she turned her head towards the intruder. In walked Isis, a cousin like Viktor who had been given the gift of blood made not born. Months had passed since the last time Arel had seen her, and she wondered what news had brought her to the estate. Even when all the families had gathered, Isis had not made an appearance at the estate.

  Isis' newly dyed red hair swayed back and forth as she walked, her heels silent along the stone floor. Behind her walked another young Vampire whom Arel could not remember in either face nor name. She stood meekly behind Isis, trailing her steps. Almond-shaped black eyes looked shyly towards the ground as she effortlessly strolled. A long black braid laid over her shoulder falling to her waist, brushing the top of her black pants.

  "Sebastian, I hear congratulations are due you and...Arel, isn't it?" Her voice was deep and sultry rounding out her voluptuous figure.

  "Thank you," Arel replied.

  Moving from his embrace, she walked over to greet his cousin, who stood a few feet from them. Abruptly stopping within inches of her, Arel stood in her tracks. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to control her breathing. Sebastian knew the reaction. A vision from Isis' life, death, or future had gripped Arel in a trance. Fixated, frozen between the present and the image, she remained motionless.

  "I hear you are expecting. Sebastian couldn't waist anytime especially with them trying to have him consummate that arrangement with Iliad," she chuckled.

  "Stay away from me! STAY AWAY," screamed Arel. Broken free of the trance she stood firm in her place screaming at the top of her lungs at Isis. Tears welled in her eyes, her jaw clenched, fists pulsing at her side Arel's chest heaved up and down. "I know you. Traitor, murderer! Betrayer! The snake in the house. I saw what you did," she continued screaming.

  The others in the house, disturbed by the noise, had gathered outside of the doorway. Aware of the commotion, she continued focusing solely on Isis. Seeing what she had done, an answer to a mystery buried deep in her subconscious. A slight smirk on Isis face, she stood her ground unsure of how to react. Sebastian stood a few inches to the side of Arel ready to protect her should Isis decide to strike.

  With eyes still focused on Isis, she listened in for Aeron. Waiting for his p
resence to enter the room before she relived the moment. It played back over and over, as Isis had thought on that moment gleefully.

  Cheeks red and swollen, her eyes puff as the tears rolled down her face. Desperate to get the vision out of her, ease the burden of the new information, she let it pour from her. The crime gushed past her lips out into the world. Secrets uncovered; regret filled her as she knew the pain it would cause Sebastian. The words rolling out of her mouth furiously as if saying them faster would alleviate the suffering it caused to have witnessed it again.

  "Beli played in the glass room, his special place. You asked him to play his favorite game...and when he closed his eyes, you...you ripped his throat the blood pouring out. He couldn't talk. He didn't talk, he never made a sound, ever. You could hear the sound of him dying as you watched the light go out of his eyes," Arel cried. Broken, fragmented pieces of a stolen memory relished by Isis.

  "There she found him in a pool of his own blood. Her beloved, her special child. She loved him as he was, but was different, treatment after treatment. Nothing wrong, perfect. You destroyed that. You stole that, took him away. You killed him." At last the secret out, her chest heaved frantically with each pained breath. Arel continued to cry silently as the tears trailed down her cheeks.

  "Overcome with grief and anger, she didn't see you, as you crept from behind. With predator precision, you sprung on her, securing her arms in your own as you bit down on her pulsating neck. The warm, iron-rich elixir flowing down your dry throat. An ancient power you tasted, desperate for more, completely unsatisfied. It started a chain of actions as you plotted. You killed them and took her locket which you wear now."

  Keeping her eyes on Isis, she could feel Sebastian's arm brush up against her side. Exhausted, she waited. It pained her to tell the story of Aeron’s wife's passing, her husband's mother, but she knew she had to get the words out. It was a release for her, freeing her from the pain of all she had witnessed. Taking in their death as if it was her own, her heart pained. Guilt followed the pain, relief, unable to save them years ago she rested on the hopes of bringing them justice.