Deamhan Chronicles, Books 1-5: Deamhan, Kei. Family Matters, Dark Curse, Maris. The Brotherhood Files, Ayden. Deamhan Minion

by Isaiyan Morrison

  “You are my sibling.” I walked up to him and placed my head against his chest. “You promised you'd protect me with your life and I would do the same for you. That hasn't changed. Do you think I want to run? I don't Finley.”

  His eyes returned to normal and his arms, now shaking, wrapped around me. “Then trust me. We are strong enough to handle this.” He looked at Jesse. “We have to be.” He paced over to the coat rack, grabbing his coat. “What we need is our own sanctuary.” He nodded. “We have to start tonight.” In Deamhan speed he rushed out of our apartment. I moved to follow him but Jesse grabbed my arm.

  “It's not safe for you out there. I will go after him.”

  “It's not safe for any of us.” I stared at the devastation in the living room. “You're not going alone.” I began to think. Siring humans wasn't a long-term solution to our survival. It gave us ten years at best.

  “We can't leave him out there on his own.” Jesse moved around the room in a fast speed, straightening the couch, the window blinds, and picking up the vase. When he finished he stood near the kitchen. “Our best defense is in numbers, right?”

  “Yes.” I placed my hand against his cheek.

  “And if he sires humans then we may have a chance.”

  “Jesse, some may not survive the transformation at all.”

  “I did.” He placed his hand over mine. “We should at least try it his way, Maris. It won't be all that bad.”

  I sighed. “Trust me. It will be.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Capture

  The human crowd cheered at the sight of a boxer with a handle-bar moustache striking his opponent across the face. His opponent stumbled back, shook his head, and regained his footing. Punch after punch, the dominant boxer who had muscles twice the size of the other, continued to beat his opponent to near unconsciousness when Jesse and I entered the room.

  We stood in the back, near the stairs, watching quietly and at the same time searching the crowd for Finley. When we first entered, the bartender told us that Finley had come in and immediately went to the basement. The large man watching the door to the boxing room also said that Finley specifically told him to make sure that no one entered or left the room.

  As we watched, I called out his name telepathically, hoping that he would answer. The hot scents of humans, sweat, and blood blocked my sense of smell and I started to believe that he wasn't in the crowd. Every inch of me wanted to step into the ring and call out his name, but I knew that wouldn't accomplish anything besides making the humans angry at my intrusion. Jesse decided to move further into the crowd, hoping to catch his scent.

  “Maris, I don't think he's here,” he said to me.

  “I don't know where else he would go,” I replied, still watching the boxing spectacle. The smaller boxer punched back, sending the bigger one flying into the ropes. The bigger boxer recovered, and he punched at his opponent's chest, face, and solar plexus. Soon the bigger boxer knocked his opponent to the mat and the crowd cheered and counted to ten along with Arnold, the host.

  Sensing my frustration and what I wanted to do, Jesse pleaded with me to not step inside the ring. We moved forward again, pushing spectators out of our way until we reached the ring. That's when I smelled Finley's scent from our right and when I looked, I finally saw him standing alone, eying the boxer that had just won the fight.

  We made our way to him but surprisingly, he didn't notice us. I saw the front part of his shirt covered in blood and a body at his feet.

  “Finley!” I shook him, hoping to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. “What did you do?” I looked around. No humans around had realized the body was lying on the floor.

  “Jesse survived the transformation.” Finally he looked at us and he held out his right arm, showing us a long gash that extended right to left on his wrist. “We need strong humans, like boxers.”

  I didn't hear his victim's heart beating. Before I had the chance to question Finley, he moved us to the side and headed for the ring. He then pushed Arnold and another human back and they slid across the ring floor. The bigger boxer, taken aback, stepped up to Finley.

  “Maris.” Jesse pointed to the human on the floor. “Did Finley give the human his blood?”

  I heard a scream from the audience and I looked back to see that Finley had pushed the bigger boxer back and he now straddled him. Finley held his head back, his fangs appeared, and he bit into the boxer's neck.

  Now I knew his plan and how he thought he could make things right. He wanted to sire the humans, all of them, in order to protect me. I could have let him continue and watched him create new Deamhan who would soon bond to him like an offspring bonds to their sire, yet having a crowd of over fifty people turned proved to be too much. He didn't have enough blood in him to accomplish this crazy task and who knew how these new Deamhan would react to being turned.

  A woman's cries from the crowd made Finley stop and stand up. Blood peppered his bare chest and his face. He then turned his attention to Arnold.

  Finley, stop! I screamed in his thoughts but still he didn't listen. His sharp teeth showed themselves as he grabbed Arnold and bit into his neck.

  More screams echoed through the venue and the crowd began to fall into disarray. They turned to run and panic ensued. The door to the room opened and the human guarding it walked in after hearing the screams. I couldn't allow him to interfere or to tell the other patrons upstairs about what was taking place for the sake of being known. I forced the door shut, grabbed him by his neck, and threw him into the crowd.

  With his teeth fully exposed and his eyes the color of charcoal, Finley now moved indiscriminately through the crowd, biting whomever he could catch. Jesse pushed the running humans to the side and he moved to the stairs. He looked back at me, confused at what to do.

  I let my own sharp fangs drop from my gums. No one can leave, alive or dead, I spoke in a thought and without hesitation he grabbed a man next to him and snapped his neck.

  Finley placed his wrist over Arnold's mouth, letting only a drop of blood into his system before he moved to the next victim. I latched onto another man with my hand and lifted him several inches off the ground. His terrorized eyes locked onto me and his fragile thoughts turned to his wife whom he had just seen Jesse kill moments ago. I apologized, which was unusual for me, and not wanting him to suffer eternal damnation by being turned, I also snapped his neck.

  By now Finley walked through the crowd that had parted like the Red Sea. He threw humans into the air, bit chunks of their flesh like a rabid dog. He bit into the neck of one woman who begged for her life. I had to stop this madness by any means I could.

  I had no choice but to begin killing any human that came into my reach. I ignored those that Finley fed and gave his blood to and I planned on returning to them later to make sure they didn't go through the transformation. The crowd dwindled and the body count rose dramatically. When Finley saw what I was doing, he angrily moved to me.

  “What are you doing?” he screamed.

  Jesse stood near the stairs, killing the remaining humans who tried to escape. A short woman with green eyes and red hair cowered against the wall, sobbing. I wanted to feel sorry for her but I couldn't let that human feeling get in the way. I already apologized once and I couldn't see myself doing it again. Finley approached her but I stood in his way.

  “I like that one,” Finley spoke as thick gobs of blood dripped from his mouth. “We need women, not only males.”

  “Finley, please stop! This is madness.”

  “We need protection, Maris. You need protection.”

  I placed my bloodied hands on his face. “Not like this.”

  He pushed me back and my anger immediately rose. I slapped him across the face with my nails, leaving three long visible cuts that healed immediately. “Stop!” I scratched him again but on the chest. I attempted to strike him a third time but he caught me by my wrist.

  Blood covered every surface of the basement. The walls we
re caked with it along with each and every one of us. The remaining humans lost their balance in the liquid, falling to the floor. Soon an unearthly silence filled the room. With only two humans left standing, the red haired female and a male, we stopped our skirmish to take a look at the carnage Finley had started.

  “This is the only way I can make sure we're safe.” He dropped my hand.

  Jesse wiped the blood from his face with his forearm and he peered at the two humans. “What about them?”

  “Yes, Maris,” he said sarcastically. “What about them? Should we let them go?” He pulled the woman in close to him. “They'll run to the authorities and soon everyone will know what and who we are.”

  “You're damning them by doing this,” I said.

  “You know if any human had the chance, they would agree to be turned without a thought.”

  “Then why don't you give them that choice?” I asked—pleaded—to him. My eyes constricted and my entire body felt as if I had been buried alive with bricks. Tears streamed down the woman's face and her green eyes wavered back and forth. She started to whimper and Finley placed his finger over her mouth, hushing her.

  “I'd turn her, kill her—I'd do anything to her just to protect you, Maris,” he said as he rubbed his fingers over her hair. “Haven't you realized that yet?”

  I walked toward him and his body tensed up.

  “I'll just kill her if that's what you want.” He placed his wrist over her mouth, feeding her some of his blood. He then snapped her neck and uncaringly tossed the body to the side. He slowly walked over to the last human and proceeded to do the same thing. He looked back at me. “This is our only protection!” He pointed to the room. “To sire more of us, to make our family bigger and stronger. You need to see the bigger picture, Maris. They won't stop coming until we make them stop. Creating a sanctuary, having Deamhan at your beck and call has worked for our kind for centuries. It'll work now. Once they see that we have Deamhan standing along with us, they won't come for you. We are the only ones who can secure our survival. Not some Metusba you just met.”

  I couldn't listen to him anymore. I headed for the stairs, expecting one of them to stop me, but no one did. Instead we heard more screams coming from the room above. I stopped and looked back at Finley. “Something is going on in the main room.”

  He didn't have time to answer. Quickly the door blew open and I felt a sharp pain explode from my chest and blood peppered my face. It happened so quickly and at first I didn't realize that I'd been staked. Only when I looked down and saw the sharp piece of wood protruding from my chest I realized that whoever did this missed my heart by inches. Almost immediately I lost all motor function. I tumbled down the stairs and stopped on my back just short of the first step. My senses went into overdrive along with my anger to attack back, but that was stopped by Finley's scream and the smell of other Deamhan in the room.

  I lifted my body up slowly and dragged myself to the nearest wall for support. Looking up at the stairs, I saw Jesse being pinned against the wall by two tall Deamhan males and Finley being pinned easily to the floor by two others. Blood streamed down my mouth; so much of it that I thought I was going to bleed to death right there on the floor. My arms began to shake and my eyelids became heavy. No... stay awake, Maris, I repeated over and over in my head.

  My vision blurred yet I was still able to see Ethel wearing a white flapper dress descend down the steps. Her hand slid over the railing and when she approached me, her eyes changed from dark to hazel and her thin lips parted in a wide smile. She stood over me and her eyes meandered over the room for a brief moment.

  “Burn it all down,” she said to the other Deamhan in the room. “Make sure there isn't any evidence left for the humans to find.”

  More Deamhan entered the room. Their scents signaled that they were also Lamia, Metusba, Lugat, and even my own: Ramanga. They began to ignite the ring curtains, posters on the wall, and human clothing not soaked in blood. They ripped the heads from the bodies of humans that Finley had attempted to turn. Slowly the fire spread and thick smoke billowed around us.

  Ethel ordered two other Ramanga Deamhan to lift me to my feet. “Maris, it's been a long time.”

  Still feeling weary, I spoke slowly. “Please, don't.”

  “Silvanus isn't here to protect you now.” She placed her hand over the stake and inched it further into my chest. I grunted at the pain and when she finished, my head fell forward.

  “You should've died a long time ago.” She placed both her hands on the side of my head. She began to dig through my thoughts, breaking and shattering barriers as fast as I could build them. I didn't know what she was searching for, but her strength felt strong and majestic at the same time.

  “Don't do this,” I begged her.

  “You're too dangerous to live,” she replied. “It's still inside you.”

  I wanted to scream but she forced my mouth to stay silent. It felt exactly like what Silvanus did to me, but it burned my head, made my legs quiver beneath me, and my arms flap widely at my sides.

  Close your eyes and sleep, Maris.

  I fought back against her commands, worried about what would happen to Jesse and Finley if I followed them. I felt my eyelids closing. I could still smell her around me but I felt now that I was being carried up the stairs and out of the building. My thoughts repeated over and over in my head to Finley and Jesse and they replied back. Knowing that they were safe and with me, I succumbed to Ethel's will and I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Goodbyes

  I dreamed of my mother and the father that I never knew, a house that we never owned, and the life I never had. The mental images looked beyond real and too amazing to believe at first. My mother's skin felt warm and soft under my touch. I felt the strong emotion my father carried for me; a love that resonated to the point that it almost made me cry. The sun brightened the heavens in its effulgent light above us, making my body radiate. The smell of daffodils and warm bread swam into my nostrils. Even the bugs in the field weren't afraid of me. I picked weeds and planned to show them to my parents later that day.

  My eyes slowly opened, snatching me back to the dark reality in which I lived. Ethel had her Deamhan take us to a remote area surrounded by trees and thick mulch, which swallowed our legs. Two Ramanga dragged me by my arms and dropped me next to Finley and Jesse who not only survived the trip but they also dreamed of their families like I did.

  I didn't know how she managed to make us hallucinate in such a way. Age had something to do with it, since Ethel's rivaled our own.

  They surrounded us in a circle, glaring at us like we were a disease and unworthy of them. My chest pounded in pain and when I went to remove the stake, I realized that it wasn't there. Without a word, these Deamhan began throwing rocks at us. Instead of covering my face, I covered my chest. The objects would sting, however I felt more concerned that one Deamhan would add something else into this mix; maybe an object sharp enough to pierce me again.

  Finley moved his body in front of my own, but a Deamhan pushed him back. They continued their barrage of rocks and other objects until Ethel, who stood with her arms folded, watching her cohorts attacking, interrupted the foray.

  “That's enough,” she said to them.

  I managed to lift myself onto my knees. Glaring at my attackers, I whispered, “Kill me but don't harm them. Please.”

  Instead of honoring my plea, Ethel laughed slightly. “You're in no position to tell me what I should do.”

  I stood up straight. “If you kill me, Silvanus will come for you.”

  “I'm not afraid of him,” she replied.

  “Kill her!” a female voice yelled from the crowd.

  “Stake her!” I heard another voice.

  I prepared to meet death at that very moment. I wasn't afraid of it. I never thought about the afterlife, where souls went, if there was a heaven or hell. If anything of that sort actually existed I didn't do enough good dee
ds in my life to warrant a trip to the pearly gates.

  The crowd had begun to get unruly and Ethel held up her hands for quiet. “In time,” she answered their calls. “I'm an ethical Deamhan. I follow the old rules and the old ways of punishment.” She began to walk along the parameter of the circle. “I will allow Maris to speak up in her defense.” She then leaned toward me. “That means I will allow you to tell your brethren why we shouldn't end your life and the lives of your siblings tonight.”

  “Ethical?” I couldn't believe the image Ethel had of herself. There wasn't anything ethical about her or her actions. She had already made up her mind, so why would she allow me to defend myself? However, I saw this as my last and only opportunity to hopefully speak some sense into her.

  “I've been alive for decades now and not once have I done anything to jeopardize all of us,” I said to her. “I've lived my life, out of reach of Dorvo vampires and The Brotherhood who want to use me for their own agendas.”

  “Did Ayden tell you that?” she replied with a smug look on her face.

  “Yes.”

  “He's wrong. They are coming for you and as long as you live, none of us are safe.”

  From the corner of my eye I saw the look on Jesse's face before I saw a rock traveling through the air, headed in my direction. It connected just above my eye and I stumbled back. Finley reached out to comfort me. I stared around, looking back into the eyes of Deamhan who wanted to rip me apart limb from limb.

  “Your death would mean our survival. No one will have the ability to translate what's written on that broken tablet,” Ethel said. “Don't you want Finley and Jesse to live? You know that they can as long as you die.”

  I thought that maybe if I ran fast enough they would chase after me, giving Finley and Jesse enough time to escape. The pulsating pain in my chest quickly put an end to that thought.