Gabriel gave me a questioning look as we headed to our room but I couldn’t help keep the smile off my face. Maybe I would finally get some answers.
Gabriel unlocked the door with an old grimy key that looked like it had seen better days. The door squeaked open and a horrible smell came from the inside. This place probably hadn’t been cleaned since the early 1970’s. I couldn’t help but hold my breath. It was even worse when Gabriel turned on the light.
“Oh, dear. You have got to be kidding me,” I said.
Gabriel chuckled.
To call the room gross was a compliment. The walls were cracked and the blue flowered wallpaper was peeling and yellowing. The floor was salmon pink with various stains ground into the floor. The lights were dull, probably trying to hide more stains from the eye. The beds looked hard as a rock and also covered in various stains. A sickening smell emanated through the whole room. I couldn’t help but gag. It had an old smell like no one had been here in a while. And I really I couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to be here. It was beyond dirty. The only way for this place to be clean would be to tear it all down and build it new again. Gabriel crinkled his nose as he closed the door. If I thought the smell was bad it must be ten times worse for him. He put down his bag and moved the curtain peering out the window.
“We should be safe here,” he said, “Unfortunately,” he added under his breath.
“If anyone tries to get us the smell should take care of them,” I mumbled. He cracked a smile and I felt a sense of pleasure at getting a smile out of Gabriel.
The room had a few standard motel pictures of ugly flowers. There was no t.v. and nothing for entertainment.
Gabriel picked the bed next to the window and mumbled a few words.
“What?” I asked, thinking he had been speaking to me and I hadn’t heard him.
“It’s a charm. I can influence objects too, not just people or vampires. The window will warn me of danger,” he said.
I tried not to laugh, “Okay,” I said resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Maybe Gabriel is crazy.
I checked out the bathroom. It too was beyond disgusting. But I would have to manage. This was the first place we had stopped at and I desperately needed a bath. I let out a breath and stepped into the shower.
The water alternated between burning hot and freezing cold. At least I had thought to bring my own shampoo. I lathered my hair and body, relishing in feeling clean, even if it was in a gross place like this.
I got out and towel dried my hair.
I stepped into the room to find Gabriel changing his shirt.
I noticed immediately the intricate designs of the tattoo that marked his power. It covered his whole right arm. It had a bunch of swirling lines that were all intertwined and other things that looked like fireworks. And in the middle of his arm, at the elbow, was an eye. I also noticed something else. He was wearing a necklace with two circles, one larger, one smaller. Just as his shirt covered them I realized what was on the necklace. Wedding rings, his and hers, Gabriel’s and Lea’s. Poor Gabriel. I couldn’t begin to imagine the guilt he lived with everyday.
Trying to eliminate the silence I asked him the first question that popped into my head, “What does your tattoo, I mean symbol, mean? I know it represents your power but I’ve never seen one as detailed as yours is or as big.”
Every vampire has a power and when they are created a symbol that looks a lot like a tattoo, forms on some part of their body to identify their power.
Gabriel chuckled, “These swirling lines here,” he pointed, “Are supposed to be brain waves. These,” he said now pointing to the firework looking things, “Represent thoughts in the brain,” moving his finger to the eye he sighed and said, “The eye represents how I can make you do or see anything that I want. The size, well, the bigger your symbol the more powerful you are.”
“Wow,” was all I could say. The symbol on Jonathon’s stomach was pretty large. Larger than others I had seen but certainly not as large as Gabriel’s.
As if reading my mind Gabriel said, “Jonathon is a very powerful fire-setter. I’ve never seen another vampire with fire as hot as he has. And no other can control it like he can. For most it’s like lighting a match but for him he can make his fire do whatever he wants. For every fire-setter I’ve met the power is more of a physical thing but for Jonathon it’s more mental. He can just think what he wants the fire to do and it does it.” Seeing my confusion, he asked, “You’ve never seen him use his power?”
I shook my head, “Not really,” I said thinking about my rescue from Selena and my birthday where he lit the candles.
“Huh,” said Gabriel mulling that information over.
“So, if he wanted someone dead he could just think it and it would happen?” I asked feeling stupid for not knowing this. I was starting to think that Gabriel knew more about Jonathon than I did.
“No, it’s nothing like that. He’s tried. It only works as far as aiming and controlling who can feel the heat and who can’t. It’s quite interesting.”
I gingerly sat on the bed that was supposed to be mine. A little dust cloud filled the air making me cough.
“Gabriel?” I asked.
“Mhmm?” He said not turning away from the window. The way his eyes were moving you would have thought the window was telling him a story. Maybe it was for all I knew.
“Does it hurt?” I asked. “Becoming a vampire?”
He sighed and I saw his shoulders sag. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair.
“Yes, you can’t begin to imagine how much. You’re on fire all over but you’re cold too and you shake uncontrollably. Your veins feel like they’re going to burst and your eyes feel like they’re going to explode. Your skull feels like it is splitting open. Your throat burns with thirst. Every bone in your body feels like it’s been broken and knitting back together. You think you must be in hell with all this burning but you can still feel your heart beating because it’s beating so fast. You think it might beat right out of your chest. You just want it to end. You beg and plead but you can’t tell if you’re speaking or only hearing your own thoughts. Everything hurts. Everything burns. You welcome death. Beg for it even. But it doesn’t come and never will. And then you wake up some indeterminable time later and then you really wish you would have died. You’re so thirsty but not for water. Blood. It calls to you. All the time. The thirst never goes away even after you’ve had a meal. The pain of thirst is sometimes as bad as the process of becoming a vampire.”
“If you had been given the choice to stay human or become a vampire which would you have chosen?” I asked softly.
“I would have stayed human. There are so many good things about being human that we all take for granted. I would give anything to be human again but this is my life now. I have to go on and live my life even if it’s never going to end. I’ve lived through so much and seen so much. I’ve had to experience things that no one should ever have to. I have to live every day with blood on my hands. I’ve killed people, that’s common in the first years after you turn, at least now I know how to control myself before it goes that far. There’s so much that I’ve done that I wish I could take back. There’s so much stuff I’ve seen that I wish I could have prevented. I guess I have a hero-complex. It’s taken me a long time to see that there’s more evil in the world than good. I’ve had to build a shell around me in order to protect myself,” he said leaning against the window.
“So, you understand why I don’t want to become a vampire, right?” I asked timidly.
He chuckled, “I do and I don’t. I would give anything to be human again but if I found my soul mate I’m not sure I would still think that. A lot of times I think that I’ll never find my soul mate. That maybe it’s my punishment for letting them kill Lea. That I’ll never find happiness. You have no idea what it’s like to live forever being miserable. Do you know why it is that vampires have to drink blood?”
“No,” I shook my head, “J
onathon doesn’t tell me anything.”
Gabriel gwaffed and shook his head, “It’s because we’re not holy. We aren’t meant to exist and therefore in order for us to live we have to have sustenance through something that is holy. Blood. That’s what gives us our powers, our magic, the blood. As long as there’s blood there will be vampires.”
Just then my cell phone chimed with a text message making me jump. Gabriel picked it up off the shared end table a tossed it to me. I caught it and flipped it open to read the text. Isaac.
Meet me outside. 5 min.
I typed back a quick, ok. I sighed and tossed the phone onto the bed that would be mine. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. I had a bad feeling about this. I grabbed a jacket and put it on to protect against the chilly night air. I grabbed the ice bucket and told Gabriel, “I’m going to go get us some ice and be right back,” I pointed to the door.
“Oh, I can do that,” he said.
“No, really. I just needed some fresh air. After all you’ve told me I just need to think a bit,” I hoped I sounded convincing.
“Oh,” he said nodding, “Got it.”
I slipped out the door and down the walkway. The air was nippy and I wrapped my jacket tighter around my body. I walked down the stone steps to the lower level rooms. Standing at the bottom was Isaac leaning against the building hidden by shadows. I walked towards him cautiously.
“Hey,” I breathed.
“Hey,” he said stepping into the light.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“To see you,” seeing me about to protest he put his hands up in surrender, “I know that you can’t change how you feel about him. Some of the other vamps explained the soul mate thing to me and I understand that neither of you can control it. But I also can’t control how I feel about you. I wanted to tell you that I’m working on it so that hopefully we can at least be friends. I want to be your friend and I want you to be mine. I want you to be able to talk to me. I want us to be a part of the other’s life. You know what I am. You’re just as much a part of this world as I am. I can’t have a normal relationship with anyone. All my friends are vampire hunters and I am expected to date and marry a vampire hunter and then our kids are supposed to grow up and be vampire hunters. I hate this world. I just want to be normal. You are normal and you make me feel normal. You ground me. Everything my whole life, since I was born, was about killing vampires and the order of things and the good of mankind. I started martial arts training as soon as I could walk. I’ve never had a normal life. The only ounce of normal I had before you came along was my music. I know you don’t feel the same way about me that I do you but I’m begging you to look past that and just be my friend. I know that vamp, what was she, a thought persuader, or something another, made you feel something for me that you didn’t really feel. I understand that and I won’t try anything, I promise,” said Isaac.
“Isaac,” I sighed. I wanted to be his friend. I always had. But I also felt like I owed it to him to explain that I did have feelings for him but that it didn’t make any difference. I thought he deserved the truth. “I want nothing more that to be your friend. But I should tell you something.”
“What?” he asked.
“That vampire, the thought persuader, well Gabriel explained how her power works and well… She can’t make you do something she can only influence or persuade you to do or feel something that you already have some kind of feeling for,” I said hesitantly, looking down at my feet.
“So, you’re saying that you had to have feelings for me in order for her power to work?” Isaac asked.
I blushed, “Yes, but you have to understand that she made my feelings so much stronger. Her goal was to tear me and Jonathon apart but I thought you deserved to know.”
He sighed, “Ky, you’re killing me. Do you know that?”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I really am. The last thing I want to do is hurt you but I never want to lie to you.”
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, “I’m glad you told me but you have to understand that this makes my feelings for you even more complicated. You feel something for me but I can’t have you. It hurts. It really does. Have you ever wanted something so bad but you were told that you couldn’t have it, that it wasn’t yours?”
“Of course,” I sighed.
“Well imagine that only a hundred times worse.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, tears forming in my eyes.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. You can’t help it any more than I can,” said Isaac.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, grabbing his arm in comfort.
“Thanks for coming out here,” he said with sad eyes and turning to head away.
“Night,” I said hugging the ice bucket to my chest.
He didn’t reply. I watched him leave and enter a room.
I sighed in defeat and headed to chest of ice I had seen earlier. Gabriel would think it was weird if I went out for ice and didn’t come back with any.
I slid the door over and got the shock of my life. I screamed bloody murder and dropped the ice bucket. Suddenly everything faded and I fell to the ground hitting my head in the process. I was out like a light.
Chapter Twenty: Fright Night
I sat up and rubbed my head. Wetness seeped out. My hand came away covered in blood. People were running and shouting. I saw Gabriel jump from the second story down to the ground beside me. He knelt beside me. He touched my head and found the wound. His breath hissed.
“What happened? Is she here?” he asked.
“No, no,” I pointed to the ice chest, “Look.”
He peered at me questioningly as the others joined him. Danny and Mason looked quizzical. The Coven members looked mad and Isaac was looking at me like he wanted to pick me up and wrap me in his arms. He finally came over and helped me up off the ground. My legs were still shaking as Gabriel peered into the ice chest.
“Oh my god,” he said and covered his mouth.
“What is it?” asked Isaac.
“See for yourself,” Gabriel said.
Isaac looked at me questioningly. Suddenly I knew I was about to be sick. I ran from the group and threw up in the surrounding bushes. Gabriel came over and held my hair back. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. My stomach began to dry heave. I coughed and gagged but finally managed to get myself under control.
“Are you okay?” Gabriel asked.
I nodded as silent tears began to leak out of my eyes. I wiped them away hastily.
We walked back to join the group who was already in motion.
Gabriel peered back into the ice chest. Noticing something he picked it up. It was a piece of paper.
“This is what’s coming for you,” he read, “She has the flare for the dramatics doesn’t she?”
I tried to avoid looking at the gruesome sight in the ice chest. The girl couldn’t be any older than I was. She was paler and shorter than me but she had dark hair and her green eyes were open in horror. She was dead.
Her body had been completely mutilated. Her neck was ripped open and her body was covered in all kinds of lacerations. She was dirty and looked beaten. Her expression was full of fright. I felt so sick thinking of what Selena had done to this girl just to get at me. This girl, whoever she was, had a family and friends but here life had been cut short. In essence, because of me. To get at me. To torture me. To unhinge me. It was working. For whatever reason Selena hadn’t drained the girl’s body of blood so instead the blood leaked into and filled the ice chest turning the pieces of ice into red rivulets.
“Stop looking,” said Gabriel.
I sniffled and wiped my eyes, “It’s my fault. She did this because of me. I’m the reason this girl is dead. Why does my life seem to cause so many deaths?”
Gabriel looked at me sternly, “This is not your fault. Selena did this. Not you. You can’t blame yourself.”
But I did. I blamed myself. Everything came back to me. Non
e of this would be happening if it wasn’t for me. So many people were dead because of me. All because of me. I was only one person but I had somehow managed to cause so much death and destruction. Everything came back to me like the pieces of a puzzle. If you took me out of the equation none of this would have happened. So many lives had been lost simply because I existed. If I had not come along Selena wouldn’t have done any of this. I had given her reason to exact revenge. I was the spark that ignited the flame and now there was no controlling where the fire burned.
Gabriel sighed, “I can see I’m not getting anywhere with you. We need to go back to the room and get our stuff, we’re leaving. Nowhere is safe anymore. There’s been a leak. Someone among us is working with Selena.”
“What?” I asked shocked.
“It’s the only explanation for her finding us twice in a row. Someone’s working with her. We have no idea who it could be.”
“How do you know she doesn’t have her own spies?” I asked grasping at straws.
“She could but spies wouldn’t be able to help her get so close. We had guards all around this perimeter. Someone has to be helping her from the inside. It’s the only logical explanation.”
I was shocked. Any of the people around me could be working with Selena. They could be leading her right to me. Gabriel and I started up the steps back to our room. He opened the door and in the dim light gasped at my wound.
“What?” I asked turning around.
“You must have hit your head really hard. It’s worse than I thought,” I could see he was holding his breath and probably had been for a while, “I’m going to have to stitch it.”
“You have got to be kidding me. I hate needles,” I said.
“Well, you better get over that fear real quick. Come over here and sit down. I have a first aid kit and I’ll get you fixed right up,” he said with a smirk.
Forbidden (Fallen Series Book 2) Page 20