None of the others said a word, each knowing full well the limits of their position and of what Xander would do when he was tested. They shuffled off, back into the darkness from which they came. Even the two Celtic goddesses knew their place, and it wasn’t by their master’s side.
“They’re not all bad,” Emily said after the rest of the vampires slinked back from sight. She looked back at Xander with soft eyes, his pain readily apparent. “You just need to give them something to believe in… something to fight for.”
“And what would that be?” Xander asked, “I’ve been grooming my children for hundreds of years… and I fear that their time has finally come. They’re not ready, Emily, and I worry that they’ll never be ready. I’m leading my group to their deaths… and I don’t even think that I care.”
“Don’t speak like that,” Emily said as she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, “Never speak like that.”
She took a moment to console the cold-blooded vampire, her beating heart pressed up against his dormant heart, long since stopped pumping. Xander had saved her life a number of times, and now it was time for her to repay the favor. She was going to save his soul.
“I’ve found it,” Xander whispered in her ear, “I’ve found the Temple of Prometheus.”
Chapter Three
A bright red flash streaked across the night sky, far out of reach of the towering House Franson outlined in the distance. It stood alone on the landscape, masked by the cover of twilight and omnipotence.
The crack of thunder signaled the coming of Steven, appearing though a crimson fissure that opened over a murky and lifeless swamp. He dropped into the water with a splash and made quick work of pulling himself back upright. Covered in filth, Steven took a moment to try and understand what had just happened to him.
“Ugh,” Steven said with a nauseating feeling unlike he had ever felt before, “Ah—!”
He clutched at his turning stomach and spewed the remnants of his lunch into the brownish sludge that covered him right up to his waist. Whatever happened to him, his body clearly didn’t agree with it.
The last thing he remembered, he had just left Samuel’s company in their mountain hideout. He had opened the envelope to give the red stone another look when it suddenly transported him to a completely different location.
“Sister?” asked Steven to himself, “What’re you trying to tell me?”
As the uneasy feeling left his system, he looked up to see the mythical castle lingering in the distance, a clear sign for Steven that his sister had orchestrated the entire thing. Whatever the stone was, he believed that it was his sister’s way of helping him find his way. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Suddenly, the red stone firmly in his grip began to glow once more. Unsure of what this meant, Steven started to wade through the swamp towards the silhouette of House Franson. There, he would finally put an end to his sister’s unseen desolation. She would see the true face of her undead benefactor, even if it killed him. Only then, he felt, would his sister truly be safe.
“You may hate me for what I need to do, dear sister,” muttered Steven, “All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be safe… even if that means my own life need be forfeited—.”
Darkness had fallen over Steven’s heart, weighing him down heavily and brining him one step closer to the evil that he so desperately wanted to vanquish. He wasn’t sure if it was from the hunter’s training he had endured, or the dire circumstances of their life. All he knew was that it was there, dragging him deeper and deeper.
That was just fine with him, however. When faced with unchallenged evils in the world of the supernatural, sometimes the dark is the only place where battle could truly be fought. If his soul was to be sacrificed, then he would just be another causality of a war that was brought into their lives.
Steven would give his life away, if that’s what it took to keep his sister safe. All to make sure that his sister never had to live with the darkness he could feel engulfing him, tightening its grasp around his throat. He wasn’t always the most deserving brother, but perhaps in his sacrifice would his soul find sanctuary. That was the hope, at least.
“Forgive me,” Steven spoke softly to himself, “For I’ve sinned… and I’ll continue to sin until I know that my sister’s safe—.”
Something moving in the trees caught his eye, just outside the swamp’s boundaries. Whatever it was, it was watching him— and it wasn’t alone. Two other shadows emerged in his peripheral vision, biding their time until they were ready to strike.
He had never been in real battle before, at least not any battle that he could win. This time, it wouldn’t be like the unwinnable battles upon his front steps. Now, he had real power and would see it put to good use.
Steven lifted himself out of the sludge and back onto solid footing. No sooner than he did, one of the shadowy figures sensed the opportunity to attack— just like Steven had anticipated.
A concealed blade caught the monster off guard and with deft agility Steven managed to separate its head from shoulders. It wasn’t until the creature hit the ground that Steven was able to see the monsters that were attacking.
It was a vampire, no doubt sent from the master high atop his mountain castle. He had little time to gather his wits before another approached with otherworldly speed and aggression.
“Not today!” Steven shouted as his blade cut in a downward arc, “Today you’ll feel the wrath of a vampire hunter!”
The vampire jumped backwards in fear of Steven’s rage, now set completely on the creature in front of him. Steven faked a swipe to his left and as the vampire attempted to attack from the right, he struck the creature of the night with a hardened blow to the jaw.
The vampire dropped to the ground under his overwhelming power and begged for mercy. “Please, sir, I know not whom I attack. I beg for forgiveness.”
“You’ll find no forgiveness here, monster!” roared Steven as he drove his blade straight through the vampire’s black heart.
It screamed in pandemonium as the gravity of the situation sunk in through its thick skull. In the final moments of the monster’s life, it realized just who it was dealing with— a man with nothing left to lose.
Everything went deathly quiet, with nothing except the rustling leaves to keep him company. Except Steven knew he wasn’t alone. Not yet.
“Show yourself, demon!” screamed Steven, his fury reaching up to the heavens above. He searched through the tree line in attempt of separating the unholy monster from between the lush foliage around him. He found nothing.
“I know you’re out there!” Steven yelled, seemingly to himself, “Are you afraid? Does the thought of a warm-blooded man really give you cause to turn tail and run?”
Still, he received no response. A smirk streaked across Steven’s face as he raised his blade high into the air and let it slip from his grasp. “Is this what you want? I’m unarmed… and completely vulnerable! If you’re going to make your move, you might want to make it quick!”
Steven finally received a response in the form of a blood-curdling scream. The vampire charged through the darkness of night and appeared in front of him with little warning. He acted quickly, but not fast enough to stop the vampire’s claws from catching him in the cheek.
Blood splattered against the tree beside him, but before it could hit the ground, Steven grabbed the vampire by the throat and threw him to the dirt with near limitless power.
A look of complete shock and disbelief could be seen in the vampire’s eyes as Steven’s grip tightened around the monster’s throat. He was filled with hatred that burned with the fires of his friend’s Julia’s murder, and that of his sister’s eternal damnation. None of them asked for any of this, but Steven would be sure that no one else suffers a similar fate at the hands of another beast like this.
The vampire couldn’t understand the fate that had befallen it, a victim of a force that he could never fathom. It knew to fear a vampire
hunter, but never before had one managed to wield such power at a young age. Like a man possessed, the vampire hunter defector had completely taken the vampire by surprise— one that it would never recover from.
A smile crept across his face as the monster took its final breath. He was reveling in the misery of the monster, perhaps making him just as vile a creature as the one beneath his thumbs. It mattered little to Steven, who just wanted to see the war over. If he had to become a monster to kill a monster, than that’s exactly what he would become.
Steven was enjoying this, maybe a little too much, and he continued to apply pressure until the creature’s neck collapsed under the weight of his newfound force. It was a force that he never truly understood, one that not even his mentor, Samuel, was worthy of. It mattered not where the power came from, for Steven had a mission to complete and needed all of the strength available to see it finished.
“…Xander!” Steven bellowed, “I’m coming for you! Neither Heaven nor Hell will keep you safe from my wrath!”
And so, Steven picked his blade from the ground and resumed his course towards the mountainous castle, House Franson. There, he would finish this battle once and for all, whether his sister wished it or not. That’s what his mother wanted, or at least that’s what she required of him. It was a mission he was only too happy to oblige. He was a man possessed, and like any man with that much hate in their hearts, he wouldn’t stop until he had achieved all that his heart desired— and right now, his heart desired only bloodshed.
Chapter Four
Back at House Franson, unbeknownst to Emily of her brother’s close proximity, she and the object of her brother’s rage sat alone in the grand hall, discussing the implications of his recent discovery. He had found the Temple of Prometheus, and with it, the end of the war they both so desperately wanted to see over. However, their reasons for doing so couldn’t have been more dissimilar.
Much had changed since their first encounter in the alleyway behind some random bar in downtown Charlestown. Emily was no longer a passenger in the life that hurried by at a furious pace. She had taken control of the turbulent waves that crashed against her very soul, and turned them outward unto forces that could do harm to the people she cared most about.
“Something still yet bothers you,” Xander said as he placed his hand on Emily’s lap, “Please… I want you to know that you can tell me anything.”
Emily recoiled from Xander’s touch, still unable to remove the doubts from her mind. He had never given her any reason to fear him, but in many ways that scared her more than anything else. He was willing to destroy his own kind, all for a woman that he barely even knew. They had grown close over the last few months, but her mother’s warning still circled the corners of her mind and gave her cause for concern.
“It’s nothing,” Emily said.
“C’mon now… we both know that isn’t true.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Emily said with a nod in agreement, “My mother hasn’t appeared to me since the awakening of my powers, all those months ago. I fear that she’s abandoned me.”
“I’m sure that it’s nothing to fear.”
“You’re probably correct,” Emily conceded, “However, I can’t shake the unnerving feeling that she is upset with the choices I’ve made.”
“How can you think that?”
Emily picked herself up and paced around the hall, unsure of how to respond. It was true that she had no idea what her mother’s intentions were, but one thought kept resonating within her— not even Xander was to be trusted.
Somehow, Amanda had been able to follow her daughter’s misadventures, always keeping close to Emily from beyond the grave. Not even death itself could stop a summoner from influencing another one of her kind, a connection they shared that transcended both time and space. Wherever her mother was, she was watching closely to the events of Emily’s life.
“I cannot put my feelings into words,” Emily said, “At least, not yet. For now, I can only hope that she’s still guiding me down the right path.”
“I’m sure that when the time comes for her intervention, she will return to you.”
“I hope you’re right, Xander,” whispered Emily, still pacing around the room, “Because I fear that with every day that goes by, I lose a little bit more of myself. I don’t even feel human anymore…”
“You’re not human.”
His words echoed loud in Emily’s mind, reaffirming her belief that she was, in fact, not human anymore. Like her mother’s comforting presence, Emily’s humanity had abandoned her, as well. Or at least it certainly felt that way. “I worry that my mother’s warnings have fallen on deaf ears.”
“What warnings do you speak of?” Xander asked, although it was quite clear on his face that perhaps he already knew the answers he sought. He had lived for hundreds of years, and never once before had he felt a connection like the one he shared with Emily. It felt pure, free of the taint of the undead mentality. When Xander was with her, he was alive. It was a rush that he knew would never last, no matter how hard he tried.
Except it wasn’t pure, and like everything around him, it was nothing more than an unholy lie that should’ve never seen the light of day on this plane of existence. It should’ve stayed buried, far out of reach from the human’s they subjected and bent to their corrupt will.
Emily turned her back to Xander, and let the uncomfortable silence speak for itself. There wasn’t much she could say to make the situation any better, and decided that their time would be best spent deliberating other matters, like the plan to finally end this war— once and for all.
“I’d like to ask you something,” Emily said as she turned back to face the man that had so willingly disobeyed his former master, Simeon.
“Please, speak your mind.”
“What made you change your mind?” Emily asked, “You once told me of a time when your master was searching for the summoner, my mother, and you disregarded his vision as nothing more than a fool’s errand.”
“I remember the conversation.”
“The next time your story picks up, it’s on the night I lost my mother,” Emily said with a pain in her eyes that came from a life prematurely ripped away from her. It was still a sensitive issue, and somehow knowing that her mother was still watching over her, but refusing to aid her daughter, made the knowledge all the more painful. “I want to know what changed your mind… what brought you to the side of the summoners, when the rest of your kind only wants to see me dead.”
“It’s a very long story.”
“And I’ve got all the time in the world,” Emily reaffirmed.
Xander pressed his fingers to his lower lip and deliberated what he would say. There was much he needed to tell her, and even more he needed to hide. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep her in the dark, but there were otherworldly forces at play, and he needed to be sure his family would be taken care of. “I suppose that I should start at the beginning—.”
“Master Franson!” shouted Ava as she through the front doors to the castle open, “A stranger arrives under the cover of night. Shall I send out the troops?”
Xander rose from his seat with alarming intensity and stormed over to his firstborn vampire. He feared that Lady Amata had found their secluded hideout, a fear that would unravel everything he had worked so hard for. “What of our scouts? Do they report anyone else?”
“My lord,” Ava faltered, “They’re all missing, master. The scouts have not reported back… I believe they’ve fallen in battle.”
Xander slammed his fist down on the ancient mahogany bookcase to his right and let out a scream of uncontained frustration. The wood splintered upon impact and flew across the room in every conceivable direction. He was fuming and he wanted everyone within earshot to know his anger.
“M-master…,” Ava stuttered after waiting a few moments for her vampiric father to respond, “What shall we do?”
“Do nothing,” Xander commanded, “I will han
dle this myself.”
Xander began to walk off into the night’s cold embrace, but Emily wasn’t about to let him leave her behind anymore. She had come far in these last few months, and no longer resembled the scared young girl that needed a vampire’s protection. It wasn’t that she was ungrateful for his assistance. Quite the contrary, Emily valued his help more than she would ever allow herself to admit.
That was a long time ago, however, and she wasn’t about to allow anyone to do battle in her name. If war was coming to their shore, then she would be ready for anything— no matter what darkness lay in wait.
“If you go,” Emily began, “Then I’m going with you.”
“It’s not safe,” Xander growled.
“Nothing in my life has been safe,” Emily replied, “Not since the paranormal became my normal. No, we face this threat together. You and I against the world…”
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