“Bullshit!” Horus seethed. “She is an imposter. She isn’t like us, I know it.” He glared at the others in the room. “And you all know it. There is something wrong with the baby vampire and you will regret this Pandora.”
Pandora did not engage in Horus’ rage, but stood silently as though witnessing a toddler’s tantrum.
“By the laws of the Patriarch,” the witch said, “I hereby pronounce Ruby Carter acquitted of her charges. She will be on a period of probation and we will reconvene at a later date to reassess the situation.”
“Fine.” Horus blustered. He shot every single Unfortunate in the room a menacing and maniacal glare. “But when something goes wrong because of her, don’t come crying to me. I am not okay with this decision.”
Before he stormed out of the room and, without warning, Horus materialized before me, causing me to suck in a sharp breath. He was so close, our noses nearly touched, and I winced, not wanting to smell his rank breath yet again.
“I’ll be watching you, baby. And don’t think this ruling changes anything. I will soon find out what you are and expose you for an abomination. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but mark my words, you will meet your end.”
And with that, Horus departed the room in a flash, leaving me panting, fear combined with utter relief.
“Don’t worry about him,” Pandora said, finally offering me an almost imperceptible smile. “He has too many coffin splinters shoved up his ass.”
I chuckled in spite of myself and let out a huge sigh, the weight of the world lifting from my shoulders. Incredibly, I’d been saved from permanent death. Twice now, really.
NINE: RUBY
Pandora waited until the rest of the legion left the room beneath the stage, then led me out a back entrance into an alleyway. I wasn’t sure if she’d saved my life because she saw my sentencing unjust like she said, or if it was the name I’d given her, Nora. Either way, I was highly grateful. I was about to thank her for saving me when she grasped my wrist and flashed us forward, the air leaving my lungs in a gasp. We traveled so fast everything blurred until we came to a halt in front of a tall building that clearly stated ‘Vampire Hall’ in scroll-like letters. I barely had time to gather my footing when, yet again, I was whizzed into the doors and found myself breathless in an office room, my back pressed against the wall.
“Where did you hear that name?” Pandora heaved, her voice dangerously low. “What do you know of Nora?”
Oh, okay. So apparently she had heard me after all. I arched my neck against the strain of her hands pressing me into the bricks, wondering why vampires had a thing about slamming people into walls. It wasn’t the first time this had happened to me, and I suspected it wouldn’t be the last. I squirmed, trying to get the words out.
“I… I… don’t know if I’m supposed to say. I don’t even know who Nora is.” Wilson had told me to be very careful about revealing my relationship with him, because he wasn’t very well-liked in Tombstone. I wasn’t sure how much I was to reveal, even to Pandora.
After a moment of glaring, Pandora dropped me from her grasp and I landed hard on my feet. Sadness claimed her beautiful features, her red hair falling over her shoulders.
“She was my sister.”
My eyes widened as I suddenly made the connection between Pandora and Wilson. Pandora was the sister of Wilson’s long lost love, Nora. Hot damn! That’s how they knew each other. I brought my hands to my shoulders where she’d pinned me, rubbing the feeling back into them. But Pandora did not back away, her tall form looming over me, eyes swirling with emotion.
“Who sent you here? What do you know?”
I put my hands up defensively, thinking I wasn’t out of the woods just yet. “I know nothing, really. I promise. I just… I was instructed by… by a friend to give you that name. He said you would help me.”
Pandora blew out a breath and gave me one last lingering glare before rounding a long wooden desk. She sat down behind it and nodded to a seat on the other side. I quickly made my way to the chair and sat facing her, my hands in my lap. She leaned in, elbows on the desk.
“Who is this friend? You must tell me.”
I gritted my teeth, fearing what I’d gotten myself into. If I kept my silence she would more than likely turn me over to Horus and let him have his way with me, and believe me, that was the last thing on my wish-list. From the looks of her furrowed, yet manicured brows, Pandora was angry and would probably retract her earlier objection to my death sentence. I needed to trust that Wilson knew what he was talking about and she wouldn’t be mad once I told her his name.
“Wilson,” I grimaced, bracing myself for the worst.
The vampire’s emerald eyes fixed to me as if surveying my sincerity, but her tense shoulders softened and she sighed.
“Wilson…” she said as though in a daydream, her gaze glassy and far away. “I haven’t heard that name for many years.” She leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, shifting her attention back to me. “You haven’t been completely honest with us have you?”
I frowned and shook my head. She had me there.
She let a long moment of silence pass between us, her expression remaining flat. I couldn’t tell what she was feeling and, in all honesty, sensed nothing from her at all. I knew then that she was good at keeping her emotions in check. Finally, Pandora grabbed a stack of papers and woodenly fumbled through them.
“If you know Wilson,” she said, breaking the silence, “Then I will give you a chance and hear you out. Tell me what happened.”
After a moment of hesitant silence, I broke, and like an avalanche, the words explaining my journey as a vampire tumbled from my mouth. I proceeded to tell her the truth— well, a slightly marred version of the truth, but the truth regardless. I told her everything I could without revealing too much.
I told her about being saved by a strange man at the battle, to training at Wilson’s house and him dying. But I didn’t tell her the strange man was a FUSE Captain. And I definitely left out the part of being in love with him. I also left out that my real father was my maker, deeming that it was none of her business. But everything else I laid flat out on the table. When finished, I sighed heavily, studying her reaction. But Pandora’s expression rested steely and unreadable.
“I assume it was Wilson who found you then?”
I resisted the urge to frown at her assumption. It was Guy rather than Wilson who’d saved me, but she didn’t need to know that. Instead I nodded, letting her theory become my answer. I hadn’t been much of a liar in life, but I realized now how good I’d become at it. Wilson told me I could trust her, but I wasn’t sure how far, especially concerning FUSE.
“And Wilson?” she asked, her voice monotone. “He’s… dead?”
I nodded again, the image of his exploding house planting itself in my brain. Sorrow rose into my throat and burned like acid. Pandora studied me, her long fingers ruffling the edges of the papers.
“And he died to save your life?”
“Yes.”
She exhaled loudly. I swore I saw tears in her eyes, but she quickly shook her head and looked away.
“This… this is a lot to take in. Wilson is not a well-liked name here in the community, and I see now why you were not fully honest. But they don’t know what I know, and I hold him very dear to my heart.” Her gaze drifted off as though grasping at a long lost memory. “Wilson was always a… unique man.”
I resisted the urge to giggle at her description of the old vampire. Yes, she knew Wilson very well.
“But I never questioned his judgment,” she continued. “And if he did indeed sacrifice himself to save you, that is all I need to know. Take comfort that I will see you protected if that is what Wilson wanted.”
Relief flooded through me, and I found myself wanting to ask her a deluge of questions. Like what it was about the old vampire that allowed her to look past my lies and accept me as one of her own. Was it because he was in love with her sister and Pandora was
a part of the scandal that happened so long ago? The scandal where Nora died because of Wilson’s bond to her, because she was a human? But instead of asking more questions, I kept my silence, thinking I’d already pushed the bar too high and if I wasn’t careful it just might break.
“We will discuss this no longer,” Pandora said flatly, and I was glad I hadn’t asked anything else. The earlier sorrow I saw on her face was gone like it never existed, replaced with placid aloofness. “Your secret is safe with me and I will do what I can to protect you. I assume that was Wilson’s intention, anyway. But do not tell anyone else and don’t make me regret my decision.”
I nodded enthusiastically, thinking the last thing I wanted was her to regret saving me from permanent death. Pandora took in a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. She exhaled through pursed lips.
“Moving on,” she said, flipping through the papers on her desk. Silence fell as she rifled through the documents and I took the opportunity to survey the little office. Butter yellow paint covered the walls and the dark brown molding encased the boarded-up windows. A sign on the door I’d missed before read, ‘New Recruit Job Placement.’ I took it as a symbol I was no longer a prisoner, but a new recruit in the city of Tombstone. Thanks to Wilson. Even in death, he’d helped me more than he knew, and the thought squeezed my heart; joy and sorrow combined.
Pandora’s cherry-red hair hung long over her shoulders and she wore a long green dress indicative of the eighteen hundreds. I looked down at myself in comparison, wondering if I would be made to wear the same style clothing. She leaned back, the chair creaking as she studied me.
“First, we need to address your lodging here in Tombstone.” Pandora tapped the stack of papers on the desk to straighten them. “Seeing as you are under a period of probation, you will need to be placed with one of the legion leaders.”
A fearful lump formed in my chest. Please not Horus. Please not Horus.
Pandora made a thoughtful tsking sound with her tongue and slid me a glance. “Honestly, the best fit for you right now would be Jax, the werewolf leader.”
I exhaled loudly, thankful it wasn’t Horus. I had hoped for the nice witch lady, Morin, but at this point beggars could not be choosers. Pandora continued, ignoring my outward relief.
“And if, after your trial period, you are deemed fit to live on your own, you will be placed in your own residence, barring anything unforeseen happening until then.”
I nodded eagerly, but Pandora cleared her throat, tapping the papers with her finger.
“Now for job placement. Tell me a little about yourself, Ruby. What did you do in life? Before becoming a vampire, that is.”
“Oh. Um…”
I was lost for words. Though it was only a short while since I’d been human, it felt like an eternity ago. The memories of my human life were faded and blurry. But the memory which stayed most fresh was the car accident, and the moments leading up to my death. The moments causing me to make such a rash decision by driving into the storm.
The night before my eighteenth birthday, my parents had revealed a long-kept secret that my real father had abandoned me and my mother before I was born, the father who’d raised me not being my blood relative after all. It had hurt me beyond words, and when I called John, my former boyfriend, to relay the news, he’d broken up with me. Under the influence of anger and pain, I’d recklessly driven into a monsoon, crashing my car and well… dying. To say I’d had a bad day was a huge understatement. My hands trembled just at the thought of it, but not wanting to dredge up the painful memories, I started on a lighter note.
“I was supposed to start college soon. Nursing school, like my mother.”
Pandora scribbled something onto a paper. “Good,” she said. “All right, what else? Any hobbies or careers that would enable you to contribute to this community? What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
I pondered her questions. Like grasping around in the dark for a toothpick, I tried to recall the moments of my prior life. So I focused hard and, little by little, flashes came back to me.
“I loved children. I would babysit all of the children in the neighborhood. And piano…” I instantly remembered the conversation with Guy. The conversation we had that epic night in the mission during my transformation. He’d been trying to distract me from the terrible pain and I’d told him I loved to play piano. And though I reasoned he would mock me, he hadn’t. At the time a piano-playing vampire struck me as bizarre. “I loved playing the piano,” I recalled.
Pandora held a pen in her hand and tapped it against her chin.
“Interesting,” she said, yet I got the feeling that she found me less than impressive.
But I tuned out her indifference, seeing that once I’d tapped into my memories, they started flooding back like a river. I sat up straight.
“I also volunteered a lot, in group homes and shelters. I enjoyed helping people. I love to cook as well, though I’m not very good at it.”
Pandora laughed. “Well there’s not a lot of need for cooking around here. Plus, the witches have that covered.”
“Right.” My cheeks blushed at the irony of a vampire chef.
Pandora sat forward and placed her pen on the table. “I normally would not do this with a new recruit, but I’m placing you on blood slave duty. Seeing from our earlier snafu, Horus insists you be somewhere he can keep an eye on you. That is his area and you will be training with Cloe.”
The lump that had formed in my chest earlier grew in size, making it hard to breath. The last thing I wanted was to be under Horus’ scrutiny, but training with Cloe might be the silver lining I needed. If I had someone to talk to, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all, and I liked Cloe. She was kind and I might just find a friend in her.
Pandora reclined in her seat again and eyed me intently.
“Do you have any questions for me?”
A million questions were at the tip of my tongue, but at that moment I couldn’t think of a single one. The relief of no longer being put to death must’ve overshadowed everything else. I shook my head.
“You will report for duty tomorrow night. For now, go to the Crystal Palace Saloon and tell Jax I sent you. He’ll show you to your quarters and get you settled in for sleep.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a tentative smile, worried I’d stirred up past feelings she didn’t wish to rehash by bringing up Nora. I saw a depth of sadness in her eyes which normally held indifference.
“Now go.” She waved a dismissive hand. “The sun will be rising soon and I don’t like peeling vampire jerky from the streets.”
With that, I was off to the Crystal Palace to find my new roommate. I touched the place on my chest where the rosary Guy had given me laid hidden beneath my shirt. I hoped Jax the werewolf was less unpredictable than Horus the vampire. I also hoped that I could eventually let go of the fear holding me so tightly. I was home now and needed to make the best of it.
TEN: GUY
They were at it for hours, interrogating me and basically beating me senseless. Bruises and cuts covered my body. My throat was parched and tongue dry. I’d lost track of time since being kept in the cell, my body weakening from physical damage and lack of nutrition.
But I refused to utter the slightest of sounds, my silence infuriating the vampire Horus even more. Despite the pain, it amused me to know I was getting the better of him, and he and his sidekick vampiress were tiring. It wouldn’t be long before they gave up and left me for the day only to return the next night for another round.
My left eye was swollen shut, but from my right I watched the onyx-eyed vampire pace furiously inside of my cell. He pressed a cigarette firmly between his lips and took a long draw.
“You are making this harder than it needs to be Captain Stone,” Horus said, and I couldn’t help but notice the disdainful inflection he used when saying my title. “I could kill you right here and now, but I am a patient man and always get what I want.” He vanished, then appeared again fa
ce-to-face with me, knocking his forehead against mine; a speedy vampire trick. I nearly fell sideways from the bench they’d chained me to, but my restraints helped keep me upright. Horus smiled.
“What I want from you,” he hissed, “is information.” He lifted the glowing cherry of his cigarette and pondered it a moment before digging it into my neck, letting my skin sizzle. I grimaced but held firm, keeping my pain at bay with reflections of Ruby.
I’d learned to tolerate the pain by clinging to thoughts of her. Every time I received a punch or a kick, my mind faded away from the present, blocking out the grim reality of my situation. Every time Horus ordered his female vampire to hurt me, all I had to do was think of Ruby. I kept a picture of her face firmly planted in my mind, pulling my strength from her smile, and my resistance from her lips. I remembered the night I’d found her vulnerable and scared, taking shelter with her in the old mission to see her through her painful transformation. I remembered holding her close and wiping away her tears.
I recalled the night I kissed her in the drug store to keep my FUSE brothers from seeing her fangs. I dreamed of the nights I slept next to her on Wilson’s floor, listening to her soft breathing. I remembered when I brought her here to Tombstone and how badly I wanted to take her away with me, how badly I wanted to feel her next to me. I remembered her tears on my face as I kissed her, and it broke my heart. But I took solace that I sensed her nearby and that she was doing better than when she arrived. Her level of anxiety had diminished and her spirits had climbed a little. That’s all I cared about. That’s all I wanted. I wanted her happiness and her safety.
Horus threw me back, my head cracking hard against the wall, bringing me from my reverie. The skin on my neck blazed from the cigarette burn and my skull throbbed from the collision.
“You will break sooner or later, Guy Stone, and I will be there to watch you beg for mercy,” he hissed. I couldn’t help but think if the tables were turned, and it was he who was my prisoner, I’d do a lot more than make him beg for mercy. I’d make him rue the day he was ever born —or in his case, re-born.
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