by Tanja Neise
Hang in there!
The words hit my subconscious like the detonation of an atomic bomb. I gasped, stopped and put my hands on my knees to support myself. Robert! He was alive!
“You can take a break when we’ve arrived at our destination. Continue,” Ladorre ordered me.
I stumbled, elbowing one of the machines when he wrenched my arm roughly and pulled me with him. But I didn't care – the pain proved how alive I still was and that I wasn't dreaming. Robert was alive; that alone was paramount.
The door at the end of the hall was locked, but that wasn’t going to stop Ladorre. He opened the hidden control unit next to the frame and entered a sequence of numbers. The next moment I heard the click of the lock. Oh yes, he knew his way around here very well. Instinctively, I asked myself what chances I would still have, if we’d left the building. Would Robert still be able to find me? He’d said he’d track me down wherever I went. I clung to that thought so as not to lose all hope. If I gave up, I wouldn’t be helped. I had to believe in this, because I didn't have the slightest chance alone.
Cold air struck me as Ladorre pulled me through the door into the open. We were suddenly in the company car park and the large loading vehicles were surrounding us, to our left and right. It had cooled down considerably. White clouds floated away as I exhaled and goose bumps formed on my body. The vampire didn’t seem to notice anything. Presumably, temperatures didn't affect these creatures very much. I was shivering, however, as I followed him. He got through the exit without encountering any resistance.
“You're not going to try anything, have you got that?” He gave me a haunting look, but there was no way in hell I was going to answer him. Instead, I gazed at him emotionlessly and didn’t react. “Nice. Act aloof. Sooner or later I’ll make you respond and scream, though. I bet you’ll start begging, too. Whether you’ll be begging me to stop or carry on is completely up to you, my little firebird.” As he said these words, his fingers played with a strand of my red hair and a suggestive smile spread across his face. I remained rigid on the outside, but his vision of what was to come left me with an unfamiliar terror. “Keep going!”
We rushed through the streets for what felt like eternity, always keeping in the shadows of the houses. As soon as someone came towards us, he pressed me against himself and put his fingers in that familiar spot, leaving me no opportunity to struggle. It was already dark when we reached a dilapidated building that seemed to be about to collapse, though when we went to the back, I saw that it was equipped with the latest security standards.
“Ladies first.” With a silly gesture, he beckoned for me to go ahead of him to the door, which was locked. “My current safe haven, known only to you, me and my closest confidant.” Ladorre stepped unerringly up to the door and opened it by eye scan and fingerprint. Additionally, he gave a voice sample and then pushed me into the building. The small room was illuminated by a loose bulb and seemed bare and not very inviting. Opposite us I could make out an elevator door. “Actually, I ought to have carried you over the threshold,” he smirked.
“Absolutely not. We’re not married and never will be!” I was enticed into answering, which irked me a moment later. I hadn’t wanted to talk to him. Had he manipulated my feelings again? Had he made me answer?
“I wouldn't want that, either. Believe me, my dear, the kind of bond that I have in mind cannot simply be quickly annulled by your worldly lawyers, as you humans are normally accustomed to.” With these words, he opened the lift door and pulled me with him.
Anne Rumsfield
“Where's Tensington?” I asked Dark. The two of us would make a good team, but the more of us there were, the better the chance of us getting out of here alive.
“He's in the next room, recovering from the fact that your blood was full of the poison your beloved father invented.” Bitter sarcasm dripped from every syllable.
“Oh, so he changed me then?” Somehow I was more comfortable with the thought that Dark had done it.
He briefly hunched his shoulders. “I would’ve done it too – I’d even already started, but Tensington brought me to my senses. The poison would probably have killed me. He’s been struggling bitterly and was on the verge of death.”
Should I have a guilty conscience now? Definitely not! “I didn't ask to become a vampire,” I snarled at him.
“No, but I didn't want to let you go,” he said, and turned around. When the words slowly took on meaning in my brain, he’d already left the room and I was following him, confused.
He didn't want to let me go? Why? Because of the sexual attraction between us? I decided to clear this up with him later. Right now our focus should be on saving Margaret. Everything else had to be put on the back burner.
When I saw Robert Tensington, it roused a guilty feeling in me. He looked like he was seasick. There was a green shimmer on his skin and his eyes were glazed as he looked at me.
“Boss, we're ready.” Dark stood next to the pallet and ignored me. Apparently, he was also someone who knew how to keep an eye on the essentials and shut everything else out. I had to admit, however, that it gave me no pleasure being excluded. But it also made me proud. Proud of him.
“Are the others already there?”
“They were there, but I've put them on different sentries across the city.”
“Ladorre?” Tensington asked, in a fragile voice.
Dark took a deep breath. “Escaped. I guess Olivia's with him.”
Tensington threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. He had trouble gathering himself after this disclosure. That made me curious. “Who's Ladorre?”
“Someone who knows the true value of the purity of Olivia's blood, or should I say Margaret's,” explained Dark.
“A vampire?” I asked, even though the answer was clear to me by now.
“One of the worst,” whispered Tensington.
“Then we have to be quick. Dark and I will be able to fight, while you act as our eyes and ears.” Then I turned to Dark. “What equipment do we have at our disposal?”
A smile flitted across his otherwise constantly gloomy face. “Anything you need, Baby.”
“Then let's make a move.”
Olivia Morgan / Margaret Rumsfield
The apartment that awaited us when we stepped out of the elevator could only be described as decadent. Luxury, gold, antiques: all of this was present and in abundance. I was speechless at the sight of everything this creep had accumulated in the course of his far-too-long life. There was a musty smell in the air, the kind that was often detectable on old things – as if one could suddenly smell the dust on them.
“Please excuse the chaos, but my right-hand man has demonstrated his diligent nature. He brought everything that is close to my heart here after I was captured. This dwelling is merely a kind of safe house. Normally, for my undeserving one, as well as my wife.” Once again, he reached for a strand of my hair, which he was apparently taken with. I remained motionless, not letting him out of my sight for a moment. “Oh, the kitten has retracted her claws.” His eyes looked dark and a chill slithered out of them, which slowly crept down my back.
I definitely hadn't retracted my claws, but I didn't answer him and kept my mouth shut this time. I would punish him with disregard; perhaps that was the only weapon I had against him.
He reluctantly desisted and turned his back on me. “Very well. For the time being I’ll have to hold myself back. But don't assume you’re out of harm’s way. From now on you belong to me.” Shaking his head, he walked straight over to a desk that seemed to be from the Rococo period. I remembered a similar piece that I’d seen in a museum, which resembled this one almost down to the smallest detail.
Ladorre activated a device that was on top of it and spoke to someone a few seconds later. “I'm outside and not alone. Pick me up from the safe house as soon as possible. We should leave the country.” Then he listened, before answering: “Get rid of her, I don't need her anymore. Ideally, before you come h
ere. Yes, as far as I’m concerned, it’s payment for a safe flight without questions. See you soon!” With one fluid movement, he ended the conversation and reached for an old-fashioned key.
As curious as I now had become, I followed his movements with my eyes as he stepped towards the wall to my right and put the key into a lock. A mechanism was instantly activated, causing half of the brickwork to slide to the side, revealing the view to a hidden room.
With my mouth open in amazement, I took two steps in that direction so as to get a better look. Weapons from every historical era were hanging on the walls of the small room and I could see gold, jewellery and cash in boxes. Ladorre reached for two travel bags and filled them with jewellery. He left the money that hardly anyone used today. Too bad, because he certainly would’ve stood out with that. Next, he took three weapons, which he attached to various parts of his body, and came out again.
“I’m packed, Honey. We can go on our honeymoon in a minute.” He laughed at his own joke before he turned serious. “But first I must fortify myself.” Before I even realised what he was planning, he was already right beside me. With unflinching determination, he caught hold of my hand and pushed up the sleeve of my sweater. “Normally, I prefer to drink from the neck vein, but we’ll save that for our union.”
I pulled fiercely, but he possessed a strength that I couldn't compete with. As he bit into my wrist and noisily sucked and slurped on it, I reached into his hair and kicked him in the shin, but all that simply elicited an amused snort from him. It was over quickly, yet I felt dirty and used. To me, I had betrayed Robert. He licked the two small wounds on my skin clean, and licked his owned lips afterwards, in a very suggestive gesture.
An inquisitive shine appeared in his cold eyes. “Interesting. A human being, who isn’t quite human.” His gaze was harsh and he was obviously trying to fathom out the meaning of what my blood had revealed to him. “How is it that a mortal is supposed to taste as if she were part of my family?” I could sense every single drop of the rage that was blazing away inside him, and a terror worked its way up my back that I could no longer really contain. I took a step back, but Ladorre pursued me. The look that he fixed upon me said far more than words.
Robert Tensington / Raphael
There was only room for one thought in my head: Liv! In my mind’s eye there was a horror film of the highest quality playing over and over again. Olivia in my father's arms. Olivia, who was playing my stepmother. Olivia, who loved Ladorre and forgot me. And the next moment, pictures were floating through my mind, showing Liv lying abused and bloodless on the floor.
I’d tried to send her a mental message, but I couldn't tell whether she was still able to receive it. That, in turn, frustrated me so damn much. Perhaps one of my men would root out Ladorre somewhere, perhaps discover him by chance. I hoped so. In the vampire community, Ladorre was a celebrity, not only because he was my father, but because he was the epitome of the evil bloodsucker. He was the one who’d called for the uprising and he was responsible for the infamous vampire wars. Accordingly, the chances of him being recognised somewhere were relatively high.
Dark and Anne were walking ahead of me through the catacombs of the Centrodynamics building, at a pace that made it difficult for me to follow them. My strength was depleted. The poison had cost me my power resources and I felt weak. I was feeling better by the minute, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with them.
“Hey boss, you want me to get you a wheelchair?”
“Oh shut up, Dark!” But even those few words cost me enormous effort. I would’ve loved to chase them away so that they’d find Liv even faster, but we could only do this together.
When we were just outside the door to the stairwell, we suddenly came face to face with a handful of soldiers. “Don't move!” one of them commanded.
“Hello, you must be the president’s men,” I greeted them. “It’s great that you’ve come here to help us. The vampire has escaped – probably miles away by now.” Just saying it hurt me. “The bloodsucker slaughtered all the attacking soldiers. We didn’t catch sight of anything else.”
The soldiers’ faces expressed scepticism and incomprehension. We were met with silence. Perplexed, I glanced at Dark, who just shrugged his shoulders. It was Anne who stepped forward and addressed the commander-in-chief.
“Major, I'm Special QS Anne Rumsfield. Has anything happened here that has caused you any irritation?” She folded her hands behind her back and her feet stood shoulder width apart: a typical posture for people who worked either in the military or the police force. Dark was staring at her, in awe. Oh boy, he'd obviously fallen head over heels!
The major awoke as if out of a trance. “Special QS? What are you doing here?”
“Sir, if I may, I've been here for a family reunion. I was visiting my sister and her future husband, Mr Tensington. Unfortunately, my sister is now a hostage to this hideous, bloodsucking creature. We have to do everything in our power to free her from the clutches of this animal.” Dark's facial expression became puzzled at these discriminatory words, even though Anne was deliberately using them to distract the major from the fact that all three of us were vampires.
The soldiers looked at each other frantically. “Shit!” the major cursed. “Earlier, a dark-haired man who looked like you, Mr. Tensington, came by and claimed that he was ‘Tensington’. He had a young red-haired woman with him.”
Anne straightened up. “That was Margaret, my sister. And the man who supposedly looked like my future brother-in-law was probably the bloodsucker I’ve been looking for. Major, I'd say something has gone terribly wrong!”
I admired the young woman as she was scolding the man who was higher in rank than her. But this kind of talk was tearing dangerously at my nerves. The longer we stood here talking, the further Ladorre could flee with Liv. I impatiently switched my supporting leg. “I don't want to be pushy, but can we please concentrate on the essentials now? Finding my fiancée. Who’s responsible for this is irrelevant at the moment.”
Dark cleared his throat before agreeing with me. “I am of the same opinion. Identifying someone to blame is pointless. Our main focus right now should be on liberating the hostage.”
The men nodded at each other while the major gave orders. After he’d detailed two men to secure the corridors, he set off with us upstairs. We said goodbye and promised to wait at home for information. Well, promises were there to be broken. This one, at least, I would happily break without even batting an eyelid.
Anne Rumsfield
The fact that I was now a vampire and was facing one the president’s elite units was the reason that I was experiencing the enormous adrenaline rush. But instead of repressing it, as I usually would, I welcomed it with open arms. I’d never felt more alive in my whole life – never more focussed – and I had to admit, I felt a certain degree of arrogance towards the major.
The guy had absolutely no idea that there were three vampires standing across from him and that his whole unit could be annihilated in an instant. Instead, he talked to us as if we were on the same level as him. It must have been because he’d made a blatant error and let the supposed last vampire slip through his fingers. And with a hostage at that! This jerk probably wasn’t used to being surpassed in arrogance. Just like many superiors in the military. Like Harrison, my boss.
Would I ever be able to return to my unit? Would I be as sensitive to light from now on as Dark was? In that case, I’d no longer be fit for duty in the future. I grinned just at the thought of it: Anne Rumsfield, out of action due to severe sensitivity to light. Perhaps I could take care of the Centrodynamics buildings with Dark. Yes, I’d definitely enjoy that. And I would happen to be in close proximity to the man who made my body quiver.
I was getting used to the idea of being a vampire amazingly quickly. Or was it because I had these two men by my side? They exuded confidence and showed more humanity than many a member of my Special Unit.
Dark, Tensington and I proceeded str
aight to the ironclad, blacked out limousine. Once we were inside the car, I began to laugh. It was cathartic after all the tension I’d been feeling that entire time. That had been my acid test, so to speak. Nobody had realised I was a vampire.
“Where to, boss?” asked Dark. He’d made himself comfortable in the passenger seat, while I had the whole back seat to myself.
“If only I knew. My powers have suffered extreme damage from the poison again. I’m unreliable, damn it.” I could see his knuckles turning white as he clasped his fingers tightly around the steering wheel.
“How does it work? Do you feel Margaret, or can you smell her?” I asked, because I couldn't imagine how we were supposed to find her.
“Normally it’d be a mixture of both, but at the moment it's as if everything’s been blurred, as if I can’t see properly and ought to be wearing glasses.”
“Then we’ll follow the path that you can see best through the veil,” I said, optimistically.
With a snort, Tensington glanced into the rear-view mirror and frowned at me. Dark remained relentlessly silent, as he always did when he had nothing to say. That was something I liked about him. He only spoke when there was something important he wanted to share.
Suddenly, Tensington braked hard and steered the car to the right side of the road. Since I wasn't strapped in, my head collided with the window. I graciously noted: it didn't hurt. I was definitely beginning to enjoy my new existence.
When the car stopped, Robert Tensington turned to me, fixed his intelligent eyes on me and said, “Anne, I'm not sure, but now that you're a vampire, you should be able to seek out your sister, too.”
Dark looked at his boss, astonished.
Robert smiled cautiously and explained: “They’re of the same blood – not like parents and children or even normal siblings. They’re twins; perhaps there’s a bond between them. We mustn’t neglect that fact. Maybe it can help us.”