Welcome to the Darkness (Darkness Trilogy)

by L. M. Justus

  “Good evening,” Nathaniel said, and climbed out of the trailer. He rolled his shoulders and stretched like a cat waking from a nap.

  Reed raised his eyebrows at Sarah. Maybe he’s in a better mood now?

  Suddenly, Nathaniel stiffened. He tilted his head and sniffed the air. Thoughts of anger and revenge bombarded Sarah’s mind. Confused, she reacted on instinct and raced to grab her gun from the car.

  “What’s going on you guys?” Reed asked, his gaze darting between them.

  “Two vampires,” Nathaniel replied. His gaze narrowed as he looked out into the growing darkness. “Approaching from the east.”

  “What? How did they track us down so fast?” Reed shot Nathaniel a panicked look. “Hurry, get in the car. We have to get out of here!”

  “No,” Nathaniel said. “We cannot outrun these two. I know who they are, and they are not part of the San Jose contingent. I am uncertain what they want with us, however.”

  “They’re furious, Nathaniel,” Sarah said, panic rising in her gut. “I can hear them,” she added, pointing to her head.

  They turned in unison to watch for movement on the horizon. Sarah squinted to see in the darkness, barely able to make out the dust cloud the vampires created as they drew nearer. She held her gun in a strong grip at her side.

  Nathaniel touched her lightly on the arm. “Your weapon will not serve us in this situation. I advise you to put it away as the sight of it will likely anger them further.”

  Her heart raced. Even if her gun gave her a false sense of security, she was reluctant to part with her weapon. But the last thing she wanted was to make these unknown vampires any angrier, so she placed her gun back in the car’s glove compartment.

  Reed looked ready to run off in a panic, so Sarah moved beside him and patted his arm. She put on a brave face and hoped to hell Nathaniel knew what he was doing.

  Reed

  It took less than a minute for the two vampires to reach the spot where I stood with Sarah and Nathaniel. One was about an inch taller than the other was, and his dark hair was longer, hanging almost to his shoulders. They had similar slim builds and resembled each other closely enough I thought they must be related.

  “Interesting company you keep, Nathaniel,” the taller one said.

  “Nicolas,” Nathaniel replied with a slight nod. “Basil,” he added, nodding to the other vampire. “Is there something we can help you with?”

  The two vampires turned their attention my way. “We are here for the youngling,” Nicolas said.

  My heart pounded so loudly I wondered if everyone could hear it, and my throat felt dry. “Who . . . me?”

  “Of course you. You’re the wretch who murdered our father,” Basil sneered, his lip curling. “We intend to get our retribution.”

  My stomach tightened into a rock. “What?” For a moment, I almost felt relieved. Obviously, there had been some mistake. “Wait a sec. I’ve never murdered anyone. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

  Nicolas pulled a black-and-white photo, yellowed with age, out of his shirt’s front pocket. “You deny killing this man?” he asked and held the picture in my face.

  Recognition jolted through the marrow of my bones. The vampire that had slaughtered my family. “That’s your father? Wait a minute . . . he’s the one who murdered my family!”

  “Did you expose our father to the sun?” Basil snapped.

  “What? No . . . I mean . . . dammit! That never would have happened if he hadn’t attacked us. I didn’t know that vampires were real, or that they couldn’t go in the sun. I had no freaking idea he was going to burst into flames.”

  “Whether it was your intention to kill him or not, the fact remains you are responsible for his demise,” Nicolas said, his hands tightening into fists. “We are here to exact our revenge, are we not, brother?” he said, turning to Basil.

  “Indeed we are,” Basil answered. His mouth stretched into an evil grin and his fangs emerged. “But we won’t kill you today, youngling. That would be too easy,” he growled.

  “Today we give you a small taste of what’s to come,” Nicolas added, his own fangs extended. “In the future, when you least expect it, we shall come for you and tear you limb from limb. You will forever search the shadows for us, never knowing when we shall strike.”

  Without warning, pain blossomed in my jaw and I flew backwards through the air. They’d moved so quickly I didn’t even know which one had hit me. I landed hard on my back, my breath knocked from my lungs. The rocky ground dug into my skin through my shirt, and I tasted blood. I swept my teeth with my tongue and realized my own fangs had sprung out.

  Basil moved to straddle my body and pressed down on my arms, pinning me to the ground. I squirmed to get away, but he held firm. Shit, this guy was way stronger than me. He laughed while I struggled to escape.

  He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Until we meet again, youngling.” He pulled his right arm back and punched me in the side.

  There was a loud crack when one or more of my ribs broke. Agony exploded in the left side of my body and a scream tore from my mouth. Basil disappeared from above me, and he and his brother took off as quickly as they’d arrived. I panted with pain and every breath hurt like hell.

  “Reed!” Sarah screeched and started to run over to me.

  “No! Stay back,” Nathaniel said, holding out his arm to block her. “If he has lost blood, he may lose control.”

  Nathaniel knelt by my side. He grabbed my chin, and turned my head towards him.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I tried to turn away.

  “The color in your eyes leeches out as your need for blood increases. They are close to their normal color however, which means the situation is not desperate. You should feed soon in any case.”

  I shouted when another sharp stab of pain hit me.

  “Your broken ribs are healing,” Nathaniel explained. “You will recover shortly.”

  Rolling onto my right side, I dragged myself onto all fours and the pain subsided. I stood up on shaky legs and stumbled over to the road. I leaned on the hood of the car and blew out a breath of relief. Sarah’s eyebrows drew together and her mouth was partly open, as if she didn’t know what to say.

  “I believe you may approach him now,” Nathaniel said to Sarah. Then he turned to me. “You are all right?”

  “Yeah, no thanks to you. I could have used a little help.”

  “I apologize,” he said. “Those two were Panagos’ sons, from the time when they were all human. When Panagos’ children reached adulthood, he attempted to turn them into vampires like himself. His sons survived the turning, his daughter did not.”

  “Great. A family of psycho vampires that want to kill me. Just what I need. It’s not bad enough the Queen of San Jose is out to get us,” I grumped.

  “Yes, well . . . the fact remains that Nicolas and Basil are over four hundred years old, and I could never best even one of them in physical combat. That is why I was unable to intercede on your behalf.” He walked around the car to take the driver’s seat and motioned for Sarah and me to get in. “We should stop at the next occupied residence so you can feed,” he said climbing in.

  I hesitated for a second while his words sank in. “Wait, there’s no way I’m going to ‘feed’ off a person. We have to find a farm that has cows or something.” I got in the back of the car and shut the door. Sarah chose the passenger seat beside Nathaniel, and we drove off.

  Nathaniel stayed quiet for another minute before he continued. “You need to accept your nature, Reed. You must learn to feed properly, or you risk losing control. How would you feel if you awoke one day to discover you’d attacked Sarah, for example? You would have to live with the guilt of your actions forever.”

  “That won’t happen. I won’t lose control like that,” I said, crossing my arms and turning to look out the window.

  “Do not be so certain. Please, stop being stubborn, and listen to me. I am trying to help you save yourself from
making a mistake you will regret for the rest of your life.”

  Sarah turned to Nathaniel, a look of concern furrowing her brow. “It sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” she said.

  “I do not wish to discuss this any further,” he replied curtly.

  I braced myself against the car door when Nathaniel veered into a short driveway leading to a small house. He stopped the car in front of the tiny building and turned off the engine. Soft yellow light spilled out into the night from between the curtains in the front window. The dim light revealed the peeling white paint of the wooden siding and the worn steps that slanted up to the door. Silence fell around us and desert stretched away from the house as far as I could see.

  Nathaniel turned to face me. “Come with me.”

  “Yes, Sir.” I gave him a mock salute and rolled my eyes at Sarah. She shrugged and grinned at me.

  I followed Nathaniel to the front door of the house and waited on the step behind him while he knocked. He raised his hand to knock a second time, when the door opened a crack. A man, around fifty or so, with graying hair and smelling like cigarette smoke and sweat, peered at us.

  “Can I help you folks?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “You will accompany us outside for a moment,” Nathaniel said in a hypnotic voice as he stared into the man’s eyes. “Are you alone?”

  “No, but my wife is in bed,” the man replied trance-like. He slipped outside and closed the door behind him.

  Nathaniel motioned for me to move around to the side of the house. The three of us walked into the shadows cast by the dull light of the moon, and I was relieved Sarah wouldn’t be able to see what we were doing from where she sat waiting for us in the car.

  “Reed, look into his eyes and tell him he will not feel anything and he will not remember this. Then you may feed at will,” Nathaniel instructed as though it were the simplest thing in the universe.

  I blew out a breath to gear myself up for the task. I looked into the man’s eyes and said, “You won’t feel any pain, and you won’t remember this later.”

  His expression changed from relaxed to worried and he stepped back. “Hey, what’s going on here?”

  Nathaniel grabbed the man by the shoulders to face him, and whispered soothing words to put him into a trance again. “Curious,” he said, rubbing his chin. “I have never heard of a vampire that could not mesmerize a human. Even the youngest vampires have no trouble with this. No matter . . . you must feed now. He is ready for you.” He prodded the man my way like he was passing me a plate of cookies.

  I wondered how I was supposed to bite this poor guy. “I can’t do this. This is crazy.”

  Nathaniel closed his eyes and sighed, shaking his head. When he opened his eyes again, his fangs poked out of his mouth. He grabbed the man’s arm, and bit down into his wrist. He pulled away and shoved the man’s bleeding wrist into my face. The smell of fresh blood wafted over me, drowning out the stale cigarette and sweat odor. My own fangs popped out, and I bit down on his wrist as instinct took over.

  The warm, metallic fluid that flowed into my mouth tasted incredible. It was so much better than cow’s blood. I sucked down one greedy gulp after another, yet as fantastic as it was, I somehow knew when to stop. I pulled my teeth out of his flesh, and licked his skin. I watched in amazement as the puncture wounds closed before my eyes.

  My whole body buzzed with adrenaline, and little sparks glinted off everything around me. I felt like a million bucks and strong enough to face anything or anyone. High with the feeling of fresh blood thrumming through my veins, I almost wished those two brothers would come back so I could give them a taste of their own medicine. Then I blinked, heaviness pushed me down, and I remembered . . . soon I would be in no condition to do anything. I lurched forward and died.

  Nathaniel

  Nathaniel caught Reed as he fell forward and died after feeding. Although the boy was a good fifty pounds heavier, Nathaniel slung the lad over his shoulder with little effort. He directed the human who had served as Reed’s dinner back into his humble abode and then walked back to the rental car. Nathaniel’s own thirst made his teeth ache.

  He opened the back door on the driver’s side and placed Reed’s unconscious form across the seat. He did so with gentleness that surprised him. Nathaniel had tried to remain uncaring in regards to this boy and his female companion, but he was lying to himself if he thought he could remain dispassionate towards them.

  More than a century earlier, he had fallen into a mentor-type role with another newling, and the affection he felt for that one had been used against him. The outcome was tragic, and Nathaniel had suffered immensely. It was no wonder the older vampires tended to go insane; Nathaniel had already experienced several lifetimes’ worth of heartache and loss.

  He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. The rocky driveway crunched under the car’s wheels as he returned to the main road.

  Sarah glanced over her shoulder at Reed. “So . . . I take it everything went okay?” she asked.

  The car’s headlights cut into the darkness as they continued the drive to Las Vegas. Nathaniel kept his attention on the road. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose,” he answered.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that Reed was only partially successful at accomplishing the task. For reasons I cannot comprehend, he was unable to place his prey into a trance. I was forced to do it for him.”

  “Oh. And what’s wrong with that?”

  “It is mandatory for him to feed without leaving a trail of victims that recall being fed from. Otherwise, he risks exposure to our kind and most vampires would kill him for that reason alone. Now that he has sampled fresh, human blood, I do not see how he will be able to return to drinking the blood of livestock.”

  “Gee, he can’t get a break,” Sarah said, shaking her head.

  “It is a worrisome problem indeed.”

  The lights of the city flooded the sky as they crested a small hill. Soon they were driving into the heart of Vegas. Nathaniel exited the freeway onto West Flamingo Road and pulled into the parking lot of the Palms Casino Resort. The three towers of the resort rose into the night sky, the glittering lights beckoning tourists and gamblers. Forgoing the valet service, they chose to park the car and trailer themselves due to the dead vampire in the back seat.

  They climbed out of the car, and Nathaniel scooped up Reed and slung him over his shoulder. He walked toward an entrance labeled “Executive Lounge” and Sarah followed behind him.

  “Aren’t you worried about attracting attention with him like that?” Sarah asked, pointing at Reed with her thumb.

  “This is Las Vegas,” Nathaniel replied. “I expect they are used to dealing with clientele in a professional manner, no matter the situation. Our young fellow may simply be inebriated.”

  “True,” Sarah replied.

  The overwhelming opulence of the hotel became obvious as they entered through the glass sliding doors. Nathaniel marched across the black marble floor to the check-in counter. The mahogany surface of the counter gleamed under the generous distribution of pot lights above. The room was encompassed by floor-to-ceiling windows, and sumptuous leather couches filled the open space. The plush, maroon carpet at the base of the welcome desk felt luxurious to walk on.

  The concierge behind the desk eyed them with one slightly raised eyebrow. “Can I help you, Sir?”

  “Is the two-story Sky Villa available this evening?” Nathaniel replied smoothly, as though there weren’t a body draped over his shoulder like a bizarre fashion accessory.

  The concierge cleared his throat, before tapping a few keystrokes into his computer. “It is available; however we require a fifty percent deposit. How would you like to take care of that?”

  Capturing the man’s gaze, Nathaniel said, “It is complimentary tonight, courtesy of your fine establishment.”

  The man blinked. “Yes, of course. Let me handle this for you, Sir.” He final
ized the arrangements on the computer before passing over the room’s key cards. “Enjoy your evening.”

  Nathaniel took the cards and proceeded to the private elevators for the luxury suites. Sarah drew up beside him and glared. “Are you nuts?” she hissed through clenched teeth. “How much is this Sky Villa room worth?”

  “The cost is of no consequence. Did you not observe that I acquired the use of the suite free of charge?” The elevator door opened, and he stepped inside.

  Sarah stomped in behind him, her frown reflecting off the mirrored surface of the elevator walls. “But how much is it worth normally?” she demanded as the doors shut behind them.

  “I believe in the neighborhood of twenty-five thousand a night,” he answered. He scanned their room card granting them access to their floor before pressing the button for the penthouse.

  “Twenty-five . . .” she said, mouthing the word “thousand” as her eyes bugged open.

  They arrived on the top floor and walked off the elevator into the posh entryway of their suite. Nathaniel slipped a key card into the slot and swung the door open onto pure decadence.

  He walked into the dimly lit suite and deposited Reed onto one of the three white couches facing the two-story bank of windows in front of them. The view of the city below was an incredible display of multi-colored lights. Sarah stood unmoving while Nathaniel turned on more lights. A spiral staircase wound its way up the left side of the room, and two separate hallways branched off either side of the grand living room towards the bedroom areas. A fully stocked bar ran along the right side of the room, edging the large dining area fit for at least fifteen guests.

  Sarah placed her hands on her hips. “Nathaniel, this is robbery! Why didn’t we rent a little motel room? Whatever happened to being inconspicuous? My God.”

  “We are not attracting undue attention. I can use mind control over the human staff of this establishment if it becomes necessary. As to why I chose such accommodations for us, I have to take what enjoyment I can when the opportunity arises. I see no harm in us staying here. We shall treat the premises with respect.”