by Volley, Rue
He held up his palm and stared at the mended skin on it minus the pentagram that once adorned it.
“Even if the elevator had not been destroyed, I am of no use to the Hounds any longer and now I am a true distraction to you and you cannot defeat Lucifer and his son with me in the way. It cannot be done. So I need for you kill me and take back what I gave to you. You will be your own master, as I am my own and I never intended to have anyone bow to me.”
“I did this Dorin, not you. This is my fault.”
He looked at me and smiled.
“Halo, don’t be upset. I have lived for so long now and my love has come and gone. I have experienced it all and I only gave you this life because without me, you would be gone. I did it on my own, knowing what would have to be done.”
“I can’t, I just can’t. I love you Dorin.”
He looked at me and watched me very closely. His hesitation was unsettling. Then he lunged at me and I had to twist to knock him out of the way. He slid to a stop and dug his hand deep into the earth as he turned and stood back up. His expression telling me that he was going to test me on every level I did not want to be tested on.
“Dorin, please…stop.”
“Halo, I swear to you, if you do not kill me, I will kill you.”
“Dorin?” I said as he started to chase me through the forest. I dodged tree limbs and jumped dying logs as he gained on me. My speed was unbelievable, but his was tried and true, seeing he had been a vampire for much longer than I had. Finally I saw a cliff and stopped at the edge, teetering and watching rock fall far below me. I turned as Dorin ran up and stopped, staring at me like an animal would his prey. I held my hands up and shook my head.
“I get it now, I do. You came to Hell on a suicide run and I am so fucking sorry that Lucifer did not kill you like you wanted. But do not expect me to have your death on my hands.”
He ignored me and continued on.
“You have to kill me now, while your strength is at its height. If you wait too long, you will never be able to kill me Halo.”
“Dorin, I need for you to listen to me. I am not 100% vampire and you cannot be sure that I will always feel this way for you. You said it would pass. You said that.”
“I did, but it won’t. A bond between master and made is forever and you need to be strong if you stand a chance at all. I cannot have your death on my hands too. I can’t …I, I love you,” he said as I sucked in my breath and looked him over.
“You love me as a friend loves another friend, I get that!”
He shook his head ‘no’. “I don’t. It is not that way Halo. It is more.”
I stood up straight and watched at the sun broke through the clouds over us. The light came streaming down and hit him, lighting him up. He then rushed me and I did as any instinctive creature would. I reached out and spun on one foot, extending my hand. He grabbed it and held it, pulling it to his throat as my nails sliced into him and cut his flesh wide open. He cried out as he placed a hand to his throat and fell past me, over the cliff and out of site. I dropped to my knees as I stared over the edge and his name echoed from my lips and across the countryside.
****
Lucifer stared at Jet as he watched the fire rolling out side of the window. He stepped up next to him and placed a hand to his shoulder and Jet looked up at him. He now had reached what a human would consider the age of 14. He looked more like me than I could have ever imagined, his eyes shifting from red to black, but settling on green.
“Is Mom coming back?” he asked and Lucifer tilted his head and then moved his hair from his eyes.
“Your Mother is not like us. You have to understand that you have a destiny that she may not be able to a part of.”
“I don’t understand,” he said as he looked back to the fire and it lit up his eyes not unlike it did Lucifer’s.
“It is not always for us to understand why things are the way they are It is for us to accept them and become stronger.”
“But I want her here with us. Why can’t she just be here?” Jet asked and Lucifer turned him to look at him.
“I understand that you care for her. It is natural for you to feel a bond with her. But you have to push her from your mind and focus on the task at hand.”
Jet turned from the window and walked to the chair. He turned and sat down, looking up at Lucifer with Halo’s eyes.
“Will I see her again?” he asked and Lucifer nodded to him.
“I do think you will and I cannot promise that she will not be angry with you.”
Jet leaned back in the chair and relaxed a little bit.
“I know but I wish it wasn’t that way Father,” he said as Lucifer grinned and walked towards him, happy to hear Jet call him that.
“Listen my son. What you are destined for is bigger than your Mother, or this place or even me.”
Jet looked at him and smiled. “When do I get to see earth?” he asked and Lucifer paused and then walked to a large cabinet along the wall. He opened it up and many weapons hung inside of it. He turned with a sword in his hand and the light of the fire played off of the metal. Jet stood up and walked towards him as Lucifer stopped staring at it and flipped it, holding the hilt of it towards him. Jet took it and held it up as he stared at the etching on the metal. It did not feel heavy at all in his hands.
“What do the symbols mean?” he asked as Lucifer watched him very closely.
“It is your name in every language ever known.”
“It says Jet?” he asked.
“No, my son. Your true name is Cain.”
****
I sat alone in the atrium and stared at the dying vegetation all around me. I felt as if this may be my fate, to be forever stuck with the dead and dying. Dorin had done something I could never forgive him for, but he was right. As soon as he fell, I started to feel like myself again. Only now I have more strength. The memory of him falling invaded my mind, him holding his neck as I reached out to him and then I stood up as the scent of dog wafted through the room.
“Jack,” I said, before I even turned.
“Halo, those senses will come in handy just as we need them.”
I turned to look at him and he was gone. I then heard his voice above me and I looked up and saw him come to a stop, his black shadow tracing behind him like smoke.
“I am not in the fucking mood to play.”
“I am not playing with you. You need to know how to track me. I do know you have not dealt with my kind yet.”
I sat back down and stared at the ground as he narrowed his eyes and returned to the bottom level. He stopped a few feet from me as I continued to ignore him.
“Gunner sent me here. I did not mean to upset you.”
I wiped a black tear from my eye and shook my head as I looked at my hand and saw it. Of course my blood will never be red again. I pushed myself up and turned to walk away from him.
“I know it is your son we hunt.”
I stopped and turned back to him. “I am not hunting my son. I plan to free him from Hell.”
“You do not know what he is, do you?”
I stepped towards him. “I know he is my flesh and blood.”
“He will reach maturity and he will kill you, as he would any other.”
I shook my head and looked around the atrium. “I don’t believe that. He would not do that.”
“Don’t be foolish,” he said to me and I flashed to him and lifted him up by his shirt. He dangled in the air before me until I heard Gunner’s voice behind me.
“Halo, please.” I sighed and then lowered Jack to the ground. He straightened his shirt and then tilted his head as he looked me over.
“Where is Dorin?” I looked down and then Gunner walked up next to me.
“He…he came to me in the forest and then…”
“Then what?” Gunner asked as Jack continued to stare at me. I turned to Gunner and tried to remain calm, but it was hard, even in my calmer state as a vampire.
“He a
ttacked me and I killed him.”
“What?” Gunner asked me as his expression changed from soft to hard in seconds.
“He forced me to do it. He said he would always be my master, and that I was weak with him and he attacked me and I ….he fell over the cliff and he is gone. He is gone Gunner and it is because of me.” I buried my face in his chest as I sobbed. Jack looked down and then back into Gunners eyes. Gunner’s jaw tensed up as Jack left us standing there in the atrium as I continued to cry. I felt his hands on my back, but he suddenly felt distant to me as if he may not believe me. I stepped back from him and looked him over.
“He made me Gunner. He did.”
“Halo, how did this happen? How could this possibly be?”
“He came to me. I had fed in the forest on a deer. He told me that he would always be my master and that it weakened me. He said with him, we would be defeated and I told him no. I told him I would not do that and then he chased me down like an enemy. He made me Gunner, he made me do it. In fact, it was an accident. I simply extended my hand and he took it and forced it to his own throat.”
Gunner looked down as if he was processing all of it. Dorin had been with him much longer than I had and I could not even imagine everything they had seen together. He was as much a friend to him as he was to me.
“We will tell Finna and Ari that he left. We will not speak of this again.”
“Gunner…he said he loved me.”
Gunner sighed and then rubbed his neck. He stepped up to me and placed a hand to my face.
“I believe you. I do Halo but we cannot speak of this again. He left us and that is what Ari and Finna will be told.”
I nodded as I had no choice.
“It is time to prepare for battle. You need to be ready because Lucifer will soon rise with his army of demons and his son at his side.”
“My son,” I said and Gunner turned and walked away from me as I if I had not said anything at all.
Chapter Ten
Hunter’s Blood
Jack stood very still in the middle of the street as I watched on. One by one the wolves came as he howled. It sounded sad and for a moment it made my heart ache as I thought about Dorin and everyone who had fallen. I am trying my best to remain focused, but it had only been days since Dorin had fallen from the cliff after revealing his love for me. I had not known. If I had, I would have told him to stop, to please not feel that way for me. There was nothing I could have ever offered him. My love has remained true and is for Gunner. I know that Lucifer and I…well, he is the king of lies and deception. I never meant to be with him and if even if a small part of me allowed that night with him to happen, it was all his doing and trickery. I have to believe that, I have too.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to see Finna stepping up next to me and Ari followed. I wanted so badly to tell them about Dorin. But Gunner had said no, and I had to trust him. If they knew it would only weaken us and I could not bear the thought of them falling because of me. I was not even certain that we would make it, that any of us would see that many more days. For the first time since I fell and became what I am, I envied humans. I envied the ignorance of what was truly happening all around them.
As the rest of the wolf leaders assembled around Jack, I saw them all start to discuss the upcoming war. The inevitable thing I felt as if I had brought it on. I leaned towards Finna.
“I thought Jack was the leader?” I asked.
“The wolves have many smaller packs spread out everywhere; Jack is the pack leader of all of them.”
I saw Moxy dart in as a black blur and stop behind Jack. She was very protective of him and I could tell. Their bond was more than that of leader and mere follower.
“It is his daughter,” Gunner said as he joined us and held his sword out in front of him.
“I did not know they could breed.”
“Oh yes. They breed like dogs,” Ari said as he laughed and Finna hit him as the circle of people turned and stared at us. I cleared my throat and hoped they did not hear him.
“Behave Viking,” Gunner said to him as Finna pushed him, almost knocking him over.
“It was just a joke.”
“Yeah, like Dorin,” Finna said and I looked down as Gunner spoke up.
“They look to be done.”
I looked up as Jack walked towards us and the rest stayed behind, all except Moxy of course. She stayed with her Dad. He stopped about 5 feet in front of us.
“You have our support, fully. I will not say that they are all happy about it and quite honestly it is more to fight the son of Lucifer, than being by your sides.”
I looked at Moxy as she stared a hole through me.
Jack then looked at me. “We need your new, shall we say, appearance… to help us.”
“Help in what way?” I asked and Gunner turned to me.
“We need the vampires to fight alongside us.”
“What? Do you think I can make that happen?”
“Well, you do smell like them,” Moxy said behind Jack and he turned and held his hand up to her. She crossed her arms on her chest.
“Halo, I do understand that Dorin is no longer among you and that leaves but one who can appeal to them. Perhaps you can bridge that gap, because I know that we wolves cannot. It is an old rivalry that will not settle easily.”
I stared at him and then at all the people behind him as they watched me very closely. “What makes you think they will listen to me?”
“I don’t know if they will, but it is worth a try. We need them. We need everyone to fight. Without them the odds are much greater and I can sympathize with you Halo. I cannot imagine having to choose between blood and survival, but this is much bigger than any of us and if you truly are meant to protect humanity, as Hellhounds were created to do, then you will at least try.”
I looked at Gunner who glanced at me and then back to Jack. I almost felt as if I was on my own.
“Fine. Who am I talking too?” I ask
“Oh, a strange pair, Hunter, and his queen, Vanessa.”
“Queen?”I asked and Gunner nodded to me. “She is Vlad’s daughter, born vampire and maker of all vampires.”
I threw my hands up. “Okay well that sounds simple enough. So what? I stroll on in and say hey, I am Halo, a Hellhound and half vampire? Oh and yeah, I mothered the son of Satan.”
Jack laughed and so did Moxy as my sarcasm seemed to amuse them. Gunner did not crack a smile though.
“I will be with you. They fought at our sides while you were in hell …with him.”
I swallowed and looked back at Jack who was quietly speaking to Moxy.
“Okay, where do I go then?” I asked him.
“What, you can’t feel it?” Moxy asked me with some sarcasm in her voice.
“Give me a fucking break, okay? It has not been the best few weeks for me.”
“Moxy,” Jack said as she took a step towards me. “Go, lead the pack back to the warehouse and welcome in the other leaders. Tonight we rest, tomorrow we fight.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked as Jack pointed up to the moon hanging large in the sky. I turned to look at it and saw the red color seeping into the white.
“A blood moon. An omen. It will be full tomorrow night and blood red. The son and Father will rise at midnight tomorrow.”
I stared at the moon trying to contain the horror of it all. I could not tell if I was relieved to be getting the chance to kill Lucifer once and for all, or that Jet would finally come back to me? But in what way and what form?
“You need to understand that when he rises, your son will no longer think of you as his Mother. You will be his enemy, as we all are.”
I shook my head and Gunner took my hand.
“First we visit the vampires, no need to worry about that now,” he said and we walked away from the wolves as Jack’s words made my chest ache.
****
“You are kidding me,” I said as we stood outside a blood bank. Gunner turned his sword an
d placed it onto his back. Ari turned and stood by the door as did Finna, both holding weapons and looking as if they were on guard.
“It is not what it appears to be Halo, come.”
He opened the door up and I was immediately met with the smell of blood. My teeth elongated inside my mouth and I covered it as I walked behind Gunner and towards the back of the building. My senses heightened, my muscles tensed and my fingertips hummed as the blood was overwhelming.
“I know it may seem obvious, but that is the way of the vampire. They have very large egos.”
“Thank you,” I muttered as he stepped up to a large door and stared at it. He then pulled a small knife and grabbed my hand. He sliced my palm open as I hissed and he pressed my palm against the door. The blood started to seep into the wood as if it was a vampire itself and needed to drink. We both stepped back as we could hear the locks undoing themselves one by one and finally the door opened on its’ own. We stared into a hallway and I shook my head.
“Bad idea.”
“This is the only way in,” he said as he stepped in and I had no choice but to follow him. Once inside, the door closed behind us and the lights overhead started to come on, one by one. I looked up and held my hand over my eyes to block it. Light does not kill a vampire, but it is still annoying as shit. Gunner walked along cautiously as I followed him and then once we reached the end, he stared at the door and I shook my head as he pulled his knife again.
“I can do it myself,” I said as I took it and sliced my hand back open. I pressed my palm against the door and just as before the locks started to undo themselves. Only this time once they stopped the door did not open. I looked down as the floor started to tilt and both Gunner and I rose up as the floor did. I looked for anything to hang onto, but there was nothing. The lights started to go out one by one and Gunner and I slid down the tilted floor and into the unknown.
I landed on something hard and cried out as did Gunner. I shook my head and pushed myself up. I looked out and realized that we were in a very large room and as I looked under me I saw skull after skull of human beneath my feet. The skulls also lined the walls, and everything around us. Gunner balanced himself on the skulls as I did.