The mutilated corpse had slumped down to the floor in front of him. Its head was gone. The arms were lying on the ground in numerous pieces and its chest had huge, angry gashes crisscrossed over it. The battle had ended and he turned to find everyone staring at him. He must have been a ghastly sight because even the remaining hell dogs flinched when they caught his gaze. He looked down at his arms. They were coated in the things blood and his chest was caked with it as well. He licked his lips and tasted the blood on his face while more dripped off the tip of the machete at his side.
Julia was gawking at him while she got to her feet, holding her bitten arm. “You alright?” She asked.
“Never better. You?”
She looked down at the bite marks on her arm and gave Charlie a worried look.
“Don’t worry about the bite. I was bitten once. You’re gifted. You’ll be immune to the virus.” He told her.
Ledge nodded. “He’s right, Julia.” He said while tearing the sleeve off of his shirt and wrapping it around her torn arm. “You’ll be fine, although it’s going to sting for a little while.” He said as black lines began to appear under her skin and draw up her arm slightly before receding. Charlie remembered when he had been bitten and the venom had been rejected by his body only to start his head and shoulder on fire. He shuddered a little at the memory of the pain.
Julia breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, then. Let’s get moving.”
The three of them and the remaining hell dogs ran down the hallway that they had seen Sylvia and Avery following. It wasn’t long before they found a bloody path streaked down the hallway floor. A corpse laid nearby. Charlie walked to the corpse. It had been torn to pieces but the head was relatively intact. “Ledge, is this Kinder?” He asked as he rolled the head over with one blood-stained boot so Ledge could see its face.
Ledge looked and nodded.
They followed the marks down some stairs and into a palatial room that was dressed in beautiful antique furniture. There they found another corpse lying on the floor and it didn’t take long before they recognized him. Avery’s dead body lay staring at the ceiling with his throat torn out. For all the talk of friendship, Ledge showed surprisingly little emotion when faced with his friend’s death.
“Godspeed, Brother.” Was all he said as he knelt down beside his friend and closed the corpse’s eyes with the palm of his hand. “Sylvia, then.” He whispered as his eyes cast back down to his fallen friend.
“Appears so.”
“How do we find her?” Ledge asked, eyes still downcast.
“I know where she’s going.” Charlie said.
The road to Glover’s mansion was wide open and empty as a ghost town. Charlie could feel his pulse quickening as they got closer and closer. No speed was fast enough at this point. It’d been weeks since he had last seen Maggie and not knowing whether she was hurt or even alive made it that much harder to bear. He had to believe that Sylvia had Maggie and that he could save her. He hoped his gamble was right.
The gate to Glover’s mansion was lying in the middle of the road. Ledge directed the SUV around the gate and down the long, winding driveway. The remaining hell dogs with them climbed over the wall or followed behind the SUV as it rolled cautiously down the pavement. Charlie could see their yellow eyes inching along through the trees on either side.
As they emerged from the trees, they saw the rest of the hell dogs they had traveled with milling about near the front door of the mansion. When the hell dogs saw the SUV, their attentions quickly shifted and they all lowered themselves into fighting stances, ready to pounce. Ledge brought the truck to a stop and threw it into park.
“Wait here. This won’t take long.” Charlie said as Ledge nodded. Julia began to protest but stopped when Charlie glanced back at her with a deadly serious scowl.
He got out of the truck and the hell dogs seemed to take a step backwards. The hell dogs that were with him were now beginning to show themselves around the small group taken by Sylvia. The smaller group glanced around nervously and backed up closer to the mansion, snarling. A big, beastly hell dog with a bandage wrapped around its midsection stepped up next to Charlie and let out a horrific roar directed at the smaller group of hell dogs. The smaller group parted like the Red Sea, leaving a perfectly lined pathway to the door of the mansion. Charlie shot the hell dogs on each side of the path a threatening glance and then began the slow walk towards the door, making sure to look each one in the eye on the way. They snarled their noses and swept at the air with their claws, but none of them dared touch him. When he reached the door he stopped and looked back. The path had closed behind him and they all stood in an anxious semi-circle waiting for what was next. He turned the knob on the door and pushed it open.
He stepped inside the mansion and closed the heavy door behind him. When he entered the main foyer and stepped through into the great room, it looked much different than the last time he had seen it. This time it was bathed in light from the fire in the great hearth to the candles lit on the giant chandelier overhead. There were candles lit everywhere he could see. Various pieces of antique furniture lined the walls and a huge grandfather clock ticked away next to a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. Behind the great desk where Sylvia had shown him the body of whom she claimed was Rowan Glover, was the woman he had been searching for. His heart warmed immediately to see her alive, but the panic in her eyes told a different story.
“Get out, Charlie!” She screamed. “It’s a trap!” It felt so good to hear Maggie’s beautiful accent again that he barely heard what she said.
“I know.” He said. “It’s okay. She’s not going to hurt me.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself, Charlie.” Sylvia’s sultry voice came from behind him.
“I am, Sylvia. Or should I call you, Rowan?”
She chuckled. “Figured it out? Finally? What tipped you off? Was it my knowledge of the mansion? The fact that I was new to the Seraphim?” She curled out from behind him like a stalking anaconda. “Tell me, I want to know.” She said with a giant grin on her face.
“A little birdie told me.” He said stone faced. He looked back at Maggie, struggling to get free from the ropes that had her bound to the chair she was in and couldn’t miss the dark red wound on her neck. “Just couldn’t wait to get some of that Original Blood, ey?” He asked Rowan.
“Mmm. And it was so good.” Rowan said, licking her lips with a deliberate smack. “I can feel it running through my veins already. Now, my dear, why don’t you get rid of your little friend here so we can go get better acquainted, you and I.” She smiled as she walked her fingers up his chest and brushed one finger over his lips.
He sneered and pulled his head away, smacking her hand away from him. “And why would I do that?” He asked.
“Because you love me.” She answered.
Immediately, his head began to swim. He felt like his faculties had been suddenly taken over by the effects of alcohol. And at that moment he knew she was right. He had never thought about it before. All those weeks fighting hell dogs and watching each other’s backs and he had never realized how beautiful she was, how badly he wanted her. He did love her! He wanted to be with her forever!
“Charlie!” The other woman yelled. “What’s going on? Why is she saying that?”
He looked over at the other woman, slightly dazed. “Huh?” He said to her as his head reeled and his vision blurred. Suddenly he felt Rowan’s hot breath on his neck. Her tongue licked at his skin and sent chills up his spine. She bit his earlobe with a playful nip and whispered into his ear. “Kill her. We don’t need her anymore. Kill her and we can be together forever.”
Together forever. That was what he wanted. To be with Rowan forever is what he wanted. He smiled and drew the gun from his hip, aiming it at the head of the woman in the chair behind the desk.
“Charlie!” The woman behind the desk yelled again. “Snap out of it! She has you under some kind of spell!”
For a moment, he reme
mbered her name. “Maggie.” He whispered. His hand was shaking. He wanted to pull the trigger but something told him not to. He stared into Maggie’s eyes and remembered… something. Suddenly his chin was gripped by strong fingers and his head turned to see Rowan’s hateful glare.
“Now.” She said, her teeth grating together. “Kill her now!” She threw his head back and he saw Maggie again, tears running down her face.
“Charlie.” Maggie whimpered.
He smiled again. “Original Blood.” He said under his breath. His hand had stopped shaking, no longer fighting the urge to pull the trigger. He looked at Rowan. “You drank Original Blood.”
“Yes, now kill her!” Rowan said with obvious annoyance.
“And it gives you strength? Powers?” He asked.
“Yes!” She was getting angrier by the moment. “Legend says; ‘The power to walk in the sun’! Now kill her!”
“It doesn’t give you powers. But it will let you walk in the sun.” Charlie said. “It took me a while to piece together. Ginny was a vampire, now she’s not. Original Blood isn’t something that gives you powers.” Rowan stared at him, speechless for the first time since he’d known her. “It’s a cure.” He said and pointed the gun at Rowan, pulling the trigger before she had a chance to react. Her body tumbled to the floor and crumpled next to the great hearth of the fireplace.
He holstered his weapon and ran to Maggie, drawing his knife. Her eyes went wide as he approached her and he had to calm her down. “It’s alright. It’s me.” He said as he cut through the ropes holding her. Once free, she threw her arms around him and held him tight, nearly squeezing the life from him.
“God, it’s so good to see you. Thank you.” She whispered.
They held each other for a long time until he sat back to look at her again. He examined the wound on her neck. The black lines under her skin were already retreating and a thick black fluid oozed from the tears. He ripped some fabric from his shirt and wiped the goo from her neck. “You ready to get out of here?” He asked and she nodded. She rose and tried to walk but quickly stumbled, weak from the blood loss, so he scooped her up in his arms and started for the door.
“How did you know my blood was a cure?” She asked.
“Remember Virginia?” He asked and she nodded. “We found her.”
“She’s alive?”
“Yep. And she’s cured… sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.” He opened the door and stepped out into the night. Dozens of pairs of yellow eyes stared at them, wondering. Maggie tensed up until Charlie assured her everything was alright. The hell dogs moved aside, revealing an open path to a smiling Ledge and Julia, who stood next to him, cradling her injured arm.
“What now?” Maggie asked Charlie.
“I don’t know.” He answered. “I hear Jackson is nice this time of year.”
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