by Sean Stone
“Trap door under a rug? Amateur,” Dean said.
“Fooled you,” Kegan shot. “Didn’t find it last time you were here, did you?”
“Stop arguing,” Clara muttered as she heaved the door open. She was surprised that it wasn’t protected but if the shop was then why would the trapdoor need to be? She went down first and then Kegan and Dean followed her in that order. Below was a small circular room which was far less cluttered than the room above. The centre of the room held a cauldron and table. The edges were lined with tall shelves which held books, herbs, fluids and objects.
“This is the good stuff,” Dean said as he looked around in awe. “You want my advice? Look at the books. You’ll find some of the best spells you’ll ever see.”
Clara hated to admit it but Dean made a good point. If Elias had been telling the truth then Alistair was an ancient and that meant he had a lot of knowledge and power. She waited until he wasn’t watching her and then started digging through the books. She didn’t want him to see her taking his advice.
There was so much knowledge in the first book alone. She was definitely taking the books with her. It was quite apparent that Alistair was not going to return any time soon.
“Here it is,” she said excitedly.
“Here what is?” Kegan asked.
“A spell we can use. Or I can. It’s projection spell. I can project another me to distract Nick whilst the real me sneaks up on him,” she said.
“What if he attacks your projection?” Kegan asked.
“It will disappear,” she said. She’d have to find a way to stop him from attacking too soon. She could probably keep him talking for a bit, he seemed to like talking.
“Shit,” Dean said.
“It’s not that bad,” Clara said.
“No, this is.” He lifted the book which he was hunched over. “It’s the ritual Nick’s going to do. In order to bring down the barrier between the living and the day he has to sacrifice twelve souls of great power,” Dean said.
“The disciples,” Clara said slowly. “All that time gathering them just to kill them.” She shook her head. To think that they all thought of him as friend. Jamal was going to get quite a shock when he found out Nick’s true intentions.
“Hang on,” Kegan said. “Wouldn’t them dying be a good thing?”
“No,” Dean said coldly.
“Not to you. But to decent people.”
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s goods or not,” Clara said before they started fighting. “We can’t allow Nick to raise the dead.”
“How can we stop him? I mean, with all due respect I don’t want to pin all our chances on your distract and kill idea,” Dean said in a less than polite tone.
“I agree,” Clara said. “How about two back-up plans? Dean, whilst I’m distracting Nick and hopefully the others you try to get close enough to tell your dad the real plan. If he teleports out of there then Nick’s ritual can’t happen. We only need to remove one disciple.”
“Sounds good. What’s plan c?” said Dean.
Clara grimaced and looked at Kegan. “If those plans fail I need you to kill one of the disciples. All you need to do is remove their head and they won’t be able to come back,” she told him. Elias had been very informative about their vulnerabilities; they weren’t quite as immortal as Nick.
“Is that all? Just take the head off?” he said with added sarcasm.
“You’re a werewolf, you have super-strength,” she said.
“And they have super magic!” he argued.
“Hey, if you don’t think you’re able just leave it to us two,” Dean said snidely.
“I’m able,” he retorted. “Especially if I use that.” His face lit up as he pointed to something behind Dean’s shoulder. Dean turned around and lifted the small phial of silver fluid.
“Invisibility potion?” he said dubiously.
“Does it work?” Clara asked.
“Must do if it’s down here,” he said.
“Let’s find out.” Dean flicked off the stopper and tipped a minuscule amount of the contents into his mouth. In a second he vanished into thin air. “Amazing,” he said. Clara looked around but had no idea where he was. Then a small velvet bag bounced off Kegan’s head and Dean laughed.
“You shit,” the angry wolf snarled looking around for Dean.
“Get even if you can catch me,” Dean said. A moment later he reappeared. The smug grin on his face quickly fell away.
“Kegan,” Clara warned. Kegan shot Dean a filthy look and then snatched the potion from his fingers.
“For what it’s worth I hope Nick kills you,” Kegan said bitterly and then climbed up the ladder. Clara and Dean had one final search and then once Dean had a few weapons and Clara had as many books as she could carry, they headed back to her house.
21
It was clear to Victor that there was no chance of repairing things with Richie now. Perhaps he’d been as delusional as Isabella by thinking that there had been. Richie had allied himself with the Cult of Osiris. Michael Aramaya was in town and helping him. The only way Victor was going to get his daughter out of town now was by killing Michael. He assumed that if he killed Michael then the Cult would then be his to command. He could order them to escort Isabella and himself out of town. He could even have them kill Richie if needed. But that was a last resort. The priority was escaping. He did not want to kill Richie, even though he had set Michael on them. Of course, he could be wrong. Killing Michael might just enrage the Cult rather than making him their leader. He could see no other way forward, however. Reconciliation was off the table. Fighting was the only option left.
Victor knew that he would never to be able to kill Michael on his own. Even with Isabella and Mason helping him. Richie was vastly stronger than Victor and even he had struggled to hold his own in a fight against an Aramaya. Had it not been for Nickolas Blackwood’s interference, Richie would be dead right now. Victor needed something or someone to even the odds.
The night after he’d barely escaped Richie and Michael’s attack he had journeyed to Winters Research. These days it was common knowledge that under the glass tower was the SIT base of operations. They’d been unable to keep that a secret after taking recruits from the three supernatural factions. If anybody had what Victor needed it would be them. What he required was venom from the Egyptian cobra. The Aramaya family were terrified of the Egyptian cobra and for good reason. Apparently when Osiris had turned them into the first vampires he had drawn some of their power from the blood of the Egyptian cobra. Victor was unsure whether or not Osiris intended it but the venom of the same cobra severely weakened them. It worked a hundred times better than blood of the dead. Just a small dose of venom could bring an Aramaya to his knees. A bit more could paralyse them. He’d learned that after Nick had taken down Cain Aramaya. In the past, Victor and Richie had acquired Egyptian cobras, as well as a good many other cobras from Zoos around the country. That was no longer an option because Victor could not leave town. There were still some of the snakes stashed away in the manor but Richie and Michael would have that place secured tighter than Buckingham Palace now. Michael might even have destroyed them through fear of them being used against him.
Victor drove to the tunnel entrance of the SIT headquarters. He used a stolen car because Richie would be on the look out for his own vehicle. Living on the run was not ideal and Victor couldn’t wait to be done with it. He remained in the car and scoped the area. He never knew when he might be ambushed nor where. Richie and Michael could have stationed men in any part of town. It was likely that they would expect Victor to be looking for cobra venom and that people had been stationed watching the tunnel.
Sure enough, after ten minutes Victor saw movement behind the windscreen of a parked car in the car park a few yards from where he was. The sun hadn’t long set so they must have been staying nearby. Unless they could walk in the sun like the Aramaya family could. That seemed unlikely. That particular talent was res
erved only for Aramayas as far as Victor knew.
From what Victor could tell they hadn’t seen him yet. He slipped out of his car and kept to the shadows as he moved closer to them. He stopped regularly to make sure he hadn’t been spotted. As he entered the car park he ripped out one of the metal bars of the fence and took it with him. He ducked behind a car close to theirs and peeked over the bonnet. Scurrying around like a rat was beneath him and he wanted Richie punished for forcing him into this position. The goal, however, was survival, not revenge.
The guards were still looking straight ahead at the tunnel, oblivious to the fact that Victor had crept right up to them. He lifted the metal bar and examined the spiked end. It would do nicely. He took aim and then launched it. It sped through the empty car park, smashed through the passenger side window and tore through the heads of both men. It was a mercy that neither of them had time to think before death took them. A mercy that Richie had tried to deprive both Victor and his daughter. They weren’t completely dead, though, not yet. If the metal bar were to be removed then they would heal. The only way to truly kill a vampire is by destroying the head or the heart beyond repair. Victor sped over the car and reaching in through the widow he punched through their chests and ripped out their hearts. Killing was a messy business and he usually tended to avoid doing it personally and in such a gruesome fashion. But needs must.
With the watchmen taken care of, Victor turned and strolled towards the tunnel entrance. From the outside, it looked like a door to an electrical cupboard, no different to any other electrical cupboard that might be found throughout the town. Only those in the know knew that it was in fact the door to something much more interesting. Victor pulled the door open and saw a wall covered in circuits boards, fuses and wires. The common person would be fooled by that. Victor was not. He grabbed a handful of wires and slid the walls aside to reveal the tunnel behind. A hand fell on his shoulder and yanked him backwards. He staggered and fell to the ground. He climbed back up immediately and was faced by two grim looking vampires, both were wearing the Cult of Osiris emblem.
“Michael thought that Richie’s men might be less than vigilant. It seems that he was correct,” the female one said. The male one stayed silent. “Michael said to give you one opportunity to tell us where we might find Isabella. If you decline to tell us then you will be killed.”
Victor didn’t say a word. He ran at the man in an attempt to take him off his feet but his attack was anticipated. The man stepped aside, grabbed Victor by the back of the neck and then kicked his legs out from under him. “Death then,” the man said simply. Then the man’s head flew off into the distance and his body dropped to the floor. The woman had time to look around in confusion before she too lost her head. Victor got up and looked about him in confusion. When he turned back to the tunnel he saw Nickolas Blackwood waiting patiently, a bemused smile on his face. Victor considered running but what good would it do? Nickolas could teleport after him. He could probably kill Victor without even moving and after Victor’s part in his entrapment he certainly wanted to kill him.
“No need to run, Vic. I’m more curious than angry,” Nick said.
“I didn’t want to fight you that night. Richie made the decision and I followed his orders,” Victor said. It was the truth but that didn’t make him feel any less slimy. A real man stood by his actions.
“Oh, I’m not upset about that. Bygones and all. As you say Richie was responsible so he has to answer for it. I couldn’t help but overhear that those men you killed in the car park were Richie’s. I was under the impression that Richie’s men were your men and so forth. Do you understand my confusion?” said Nick.
“Richie and I have had a disagreement.” Victor explained it all to Nick, seeing no choice. Nick listened eagerly and didn’t stop smiling throughout. Dissension in the vampire clan was obviously immensely satisfying for him.
“Well I find this highly amusing. So, what brings you here?” Nick asked.
“Cobra venom,” said Victor.
“To take down Michael. Clever. But you do not want to go in there.”
“Don’t I?”
Nick shook his head. “My friends are locked up in there and I’m about to set them free. Things are going to get messy if you catch my drift. You don’t want to get caught up in that. However, it just might happen that I could help you.” Nick held out his hand and a small jar, like a jar of jam, appeared, except the contents were not red. The jar was half-filled with a clear yellow liquid. “I have some left over from my own experience with the Aramaya family. Yours if you want it.”
“What do you want?” Victor asked. Nothing came free with people like Nick.
“I just want you to punish Richie. Make him sorry for his numerous crimes,” Nick said. He handed the jar to Victor. Victor reached out and took the jar from Nick’s hand. It felt like making a deal with the devil but like all of Victor’s decisions as of late, there was no alternative.
“Richie will be sorry,” Victor said. He had no intention to kill Richie. Getting Isabella out of town would be enough to hurt him, though. He’d live with the pain of losing Lydia and never exacting revenge on her killer. Once Victor was out of the country he and his daughter could start their own clan and make it big enough to protect them from Richie if he ever came looking for them.
“He better be or you will be,” Nick promised. Then he walked casually into the tunnel.
Victor went back to the safe house with the venom and explained what Isabella and Mason what had happened.
“Nick’s back?” Isabella asked. The fear was obvious in her expression.
“Yes, but he’s letting us off the hook as long as Richie suffers,” Victor explained.
“Will he suffer? I thought we just wanted to kill Michael?” Isabella said. Clearly she still wasn’t ready to let Richie go.
“Us getting away would cause Richie enough anguish. But he’s got more than that coming his way. I don’t want to kill him but he might have left us with no choice.” Victor had come to that realisation on the way home.
Victor took out three stakes and coated them in the venom. One for each of them. “Keep it on you at all times,” he told them.
“I thought wood could kill them like it could a normal vampire?” Mason asked, examining his stake.
“It can. The venom is just in case we miss the heart,” Victor explained.
“Not all of us have poor aim, Father,” Isabella said with a sly smile.
Victor gave her a sarcastic smile in return. He then filled three syringes with venom and handed those out too. The rest he tucked away under the floorboards. He could come back for it if he needed.
He headed back out and went to a place that only two people knew about. Him and Richie. Lydia Aramaya had known but she was now dead. Victor scoped out the graveyard before entering and was surprised to find that Richie had not posted any guards. He obviously thought this was a line Victor would not cross. A few weeks ago, Victor would have thought so too. Things changed. Richie had allied with a monster to kill Isabella and now Victor would do the same to save her.
First he found the grounds keeper and used mind manipulation to put him under his control. Then he found the grave marked Salvatore. Whoever Salvatore had been, he wasn’t in this grave any more. Victor instructed the grounds keeper to dig up the grave and then waited for him to complete his task. Victor was tempted to help him to speed the process up but he needed to keep watch in case anybody did come to check on the place. He had considered bringing Mason to help him but he needed someone to watch over Isabella and he would not take his daughter on a task as dangerous as this. When the grave was dug Victor grabbed hold of the coffin and heaved it out of the earth.
“What the… There’s another.” The grounds keeper pointed into the grave in confusion at the second coffin which had been underneath the first.
“Yes, but I only require this one,” Victor told him. There was no chance he was going to open the second coffin no matter h
ow dire the situation became.
“Can I go now?” the man asked. Clearly, he’d had enough oddness for one evening.
“No. I have further use for you yet.”
The man perched himself on one of the headstones and stared sullenly at the floor. That was until Victor tore the lid off the coffin. That got the man’s attention again. Victor looked down at the grey lifeless form of Ramsay Aramaya. He couldn’t believe that he had been driven to this. But what choice did he have? He gave the thick chains that were coiled around the ancient vampire a tug to ensure they were securing him. Once satisfied he beckoned the Groundsmen over, commanding him to remain silent no matter what. He took the man’s arm, bit into it and then held the wound over Ramsay’s mouth. The blood dripped down on to his lips. After a few moments, the lips parted just a fraction and the blood started to slip inside. Then Ramsay’s eyes shot open. Their redness cut through the darkness. Victor pushed the groundsman aside, cutting off the blood supply. He wasn’t going to risk Ramsay getting his strength back. Red eyes found Victor but there was no friendliness in them. Only hate.
“Victor Redmane. For your sake I hope you are releasing me,” he said. His voice was dry and raspy.
“Your sister is dead,” Victor said. Best to get the bad news out of the way first.
Ramsay blinked but his face remained neutral. “Who?” he said.
“My daughter.”
Ramsay raised an eyebrow. “Yet, you have come to wake me up. Matters are not what they seem.”
“Richie wants Isabella and I dead. He has aligned himself with your brother, Michael. I was hoping that you would help us in exchange for you freedom,” Victor said.
“Do you not think it would be more appropriate for me to join my brother and Richie?” Ramsay asked.
“Michael and Lydia sided with Richie against you. I thought that you might like some payback. And, of course, I will not release you if you do not agree.” Victor was hoping that Ramsay’s hatred for Richie would be enough to sway him.