“That’s a good way to look at it, I guess,” she smiled softly and turned to the small fishing pond that bordered the camp site.
“I’ve been having these really weird dreams…” Axle finally said, “Nothing clear, but I think there’s something in them that might offer some answers.” He sighed, sitting on a nearby log that was next to her. “I’m hoping that it may be able to tell me what I’m trying to remember so desperately.”
Serena blushed and sat down beside him, “What sort of dreams are they?”
“Nothing clear enough to describe yet,” he sighed and shook his head, “Just flashes of emotions and voices and sometimes colors, but they’ve been getting more vivid.”
Serena smiled and nodded, “Well, keep me posted on them, okay?” She stood up, “Feeling better?”
He nodded.
“Good,” she held out her hand to help him up, “Come on. I’m famished, and that must mean you are too. Let’s head back and get some grub.”
If there had ever been any doubt to Axle’s species or the degree of starvation that his lifestyle up until that point had been, the degree of his consumption more than cleared the air. Though Serena was certain that the clan’s pantry was stocked for well over the next couple of years, there were periods in his ravenous consumption and immediate return to refill his plate that made her wonder if they’d have enough to sate the onslaught. Finally, however—issuing a triumphant belch and letting his head fall back—he announced that he was, in fact, full and ready to get some sleep.
Still smiling from the spectacle she’d witnessed, Serena escorted him back to his room, eager to get to her own, as well. As they reached his door, Serena stopped and smiled. “You promise you’re feeling better?”
He smiled, “I promise. Thanks for—”
“Don’t you say it!” Serena playfully scolded, “And don’t you go kissing me on the cheek again.”
Blushing, Axle nodded, offering a solemn “I won’t,” that convinced Serena it was safe to start towards her own room.
Before she could turn away, however, his arms were around her and pulling her against his chest as he pressed his lips to hers.
The kiss was gentle at first, almost testing her reaction. Gentle, yet filled with an emotion Serena hadn’t felt in so long. When the gesture earned no response to sway him, the kiss deepened.
Serena gasped as his lips melded harder with hers; his passion came out and she lost herself in the kiss as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck to bring him closer to her.
The warmth.
The desire.
The need for this.
It was too much.
Too much…
She was getting lost in Axle’s embrace, filled with fear and longing as she desperately clawed at her core to find the strength to resist the urge to go on.
However, at that moment Axle did just that for her; abruptly, pulling away as he held his head and groaned in pain before stepping into his room. “I-I’m sorry! I need to get some rest…” He growled out before shutting the door in Serena’s face.
Serena frowned, biting her lip as she glanced once more at the door and allowed the guilt to consume her as she ran for her room.
13
Lullaby of the Crucified
Serena, close your eyes; I’ll be your lover tonight.
Axle blinked at the words that echoed all around him, unable to fully grasp their meaning. The pain in his head had spread and become a misery that consumed his entire being.
A misery that now seemed to taunt and condemn him.
A misery that seeped like a dense, pale fog from deep within his chest until he was surrounded in the cold, bitter clouds of his own despair. He whimpered, feeling the powerful self-loathing come down on him, forcing him to gasp against the weight of his own hatred; a hatred that turned the air in his lungs to ice.
Serena, close your eyes…
Just outside the ghostly wisps of fog were the dark phantoms of leafless trees that slowly began to define a forest that he suddenly found himself surrounded in. All at once it became clear that he was trapped there; condemned to the frigid, barren forest of his own condemnation.
“Hello?” Axle spun around in a frantic attempt to spot the source of the words that seemed to carry on the very fog itself, “Who’s there?”
I’ll be your lover tonight.
“WHO’S THERE, GOD DAMMIT!!”
Out of the corner of his vision, he spotted eyes—a pair of mismatched orbs that followed his every movement—and he spun to face them. But he found himself face-to-face with only one of the dark, dead trees.
Serena…
Spinning around again, he caught sight of the eyes again, this time several pairs that scattered across the landscape in his peripheral vision. Every time he turned his head to face them head-on, however, he saw only trees.
Silver and blue.
Silver and blue.
Silver and blue…
No matter where he turned the damned eyes watched him just out of his focus.
There was no escaping them!
Growling in agitation, Axle turned away—starting towards a direction that in no way differed from any other—and hoped that it would take him somewhere; anywhere! But for every step he took, his setting didn’t change; the scenery didn’t move.
And the eyes didn’t stop staring!
Snarling, Axle forced his body to transform, feeling that he might find some comfort—some sense of safety—in his therion body. The pain of the change flooded his system as his body pitched and tossed, and he relished in every excruciating moment, knowing just how much stronger and faster he’d be when he ridded himself of…
His human body!
Looking down at his hands, he was rewarded with nothing but the sight of his weak, pink human hands. The only thing that held was the ache, which clung to his body like a freezing, mocking cancer.
He could try to run…
Buddy, what’s the point!
Axle spun, growling and swiping his fists at empty air. “SHOW YOURSELF!!”
I may never know why I let you go…
Axle whimpered, fear sinking into his heart as he drew back, “Please… leave me alone—”
I’m sick of waiting!
The ground shook with violent tremors that seemed to extend into Axle’s own mind—every quake causing him to tremble like a child; every distant sound of destruction seeming to fracture a part of himself. The chaos drew nearer, the trees that had stood proudly over him and held him captive succumbing to the pitching of their soil and beginning to collapse with thunderous roars that reverberated behind Axle’s eyes. As the tremors continued, the ground beneath his feet began to split into violent, spider-webbed cracks—bright, blood-red light pouring from the cracks and casting a visceral haze over the forest—that began to collapse into the crimson oblivion below.
I’M SICK OF WAITING!
“Please! What have I done to—”
The lonely plot of land that Axle stood upon began to crumble, and he howled in panic as his only foothold vanished. Desperation sinking in, he hurled himself towards the nearest tree and grasped onto the upturned roots that had presented themselves in their fall. Scrambling to keep his grip he found the roots too slick to hold, and as he looked at the mass within his bone-white fist he saw that he was trying to hold himself from strands of platinum-blonde hair.
I may never know why I let you go. Serena, close your eyes…
“NO!!”
I’ll be your lover tonight.
“NOOO!!”
Losing his hold, Axle plummeted into the depths of the crimson abyss. As the void grew all-consuming, he felt himself swallowed in its sticky warmth, and with every drop that rolled across his skin he felt new levels of pain—heard new decibels of screams and wails—and saw the mismatched silver and blue eyes looming over him in the distance.
Why I let you go…
And then it was gone. Every drop of the ocean of blood
vanished, leaving him stranded in an urban mockery against a curtain of blackness. All around him the skyline held no promise of any concept of “beyond”—no stars nor moon nor hope—and he found himself staring at a vacant street that stretched infinitely both ahead and behind him. Only a short distance away, he spotted his only possible solace:
Serena!
Axle’s eyes widened and he began to sprint down the road towards her, ignoring the tremors that once again threatened to rip the world apart.
None of that meant a damn thing to him. Nothing else mattered.
Throwing himself into a mad dash towards her, he rolled and vaulted and dove and duck under everything that the tremors dropped in his path.
A sedan—its wailing alarm fading in and out as it rolled towards him—was easily cleared as he kicked off from a runaway hotdog stand and barrel vaulted over the runaway car’s hood.
Landing in a tucking roll, he caught sight of a portion of a building that threatened to block his path. Refusing to slow down, he pushed that much harder, the collapsing rooftop landing around him—boxing him within its weakened walls and threatening to dump its collapsing roof on top of him—and offering only a cracked window ahead of him to illuminate the space. Hurdling towards the single pane of glass, he threw himself into a screwdriver dive that freed him from the collapsing structure and sent him sailing into a new set of obstacles.
A sailing double kong over a picnic table.
Monkey vault between a set of concrete barricades.
The city came alive in an attempt to stop him from reaching Serena, who seemed to never be closer but never too far…
The ground ripped free and began to disappear beneath him, leaving Serena—his prize—growing ever distant at the bottom. Crying out her name, he flung himself over the edge in what he was sure was a suicidal air bomb and…
He landed, rolling with the momentum and pulling himself to his feet right in front of Serena.
The bed stretched across the meridian of the street; the wind-licked sheets gripped tightly in her hands as her naked body writhed and heaved in orgasmic pleasure just in front of him. She was so close…
He reached out, eager to escape the chaos of this world and sink into the bliss he saw in her.
“All the things you’ve done,” Axle whispered to her as his hand wavered in the ether between him and her, “have made me fall in love with you.”
Serena’s silent orgasm rolled on before him, her sweat-glistening breasts heaving as she spread her sex before him; further inviting the invisible source of her pleasure.
And then his hand found the barrier.
An unseen wall that kept Serena just outside of his reach.
“I’ll never know why I let you go, my love.”
Looking up towards the source of the familiar voice, Axle spotted a man—his pitch-black hair interrupted by a single silver bang that hung between his silver and blue eyes—perched atop the barrier; squatting atop the massive, transparent cube that kept him from the only thing that mattered to him anymore.
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
“ANSWER ME!”
“ANSWER ME!”
“You…”
“You…”
“Can’t…”
“Can’t…”
“Have…”
“Have…”
“Her!”
“Her!”
The two roared at one another, their voices mirroring one another as though the thoughts emanated from a single source.
“I’m tired of trying…” Axle groaned, leaning his head against the barricade, “Serena, I would do anything to be lying with you…”
“I’m sick of waiting!” The man growled.
Then Serena was gone.
And, before Axle, only the man.
“You don’t belong here,” he growled, stepping towards him. “You don’t belong with her!”
“WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?” Axle roared.
“More than you know,” the man threw the first punch; a solid right hook that took Axle across the jaw and threw him to the road.
But no pain…
Somewhere behind him, Axle was somehow aware of one of the many buildings collapsing under its own weight.
“I’ve been forced to watch this scene, and all that’s happened has led me—led us—to this bittersweet abyss. Now you need to go—you need to do what will set things right—or I will rip you out and do it myself.”
In the distance, Serena’s cries of ecstasy rose over the horizon, chanting a name that Axle couldn’t bring himself to hear.
The man nodded, “Serena, close your eyes. I’ll be your lover tonight.” He sighed and looked up at Axle, “This is the lullaby to sing the tortured to sleep…” he charged towards him, “And you MUST sleep!”
Fists flew.
Feet struck.
Flesh and bone slammed with apocalyptic force.
And all around them the buildings crumbled and collapsed.
I have broken free! You hear me? I’m free! FREE!
You can’t deny me; can’t defy the truth!
I have been reborn!
“WHO ARE YOU??” Axle roared, throwing his elbow back in an attempt to catch his attacker in the skull, only to have him duck beneath the blow and deliver an uppercut to his gut.
And then Serena’s voice called out, and the name rang like church bells across the eternity of their battlefield.
“ZANE!!!”
The man nodded, closing in on Axle as the buildings collapsed all around them, “Yes, my darling. I’ve been reborn. Tonight… we say goodbye!”
14
Start of Something Good
Serena sighed as she sat in her study, pretending—even to herself—to look over the accounts for the clan. Despite the responsibilities at hand, her mind was determined to keep her thoughts on only one thing.
Axle.
She growled after her mind replayed the scene of the kiss inside her head once again and she shook her head, pushing the paperwork aside. Sighing, she rested her head in her hands.
“Why did he kiss me…?” She whispered to herself.
Zane was still out there—somewhere—and though there was something in Axle that kept her second-glancing him, there was never a moment when her heart didn’t know exactly where her loyalties lay.
Zane…
The one who had saved her; the one who had protected her.
The one who had loved her in ways that she’d never thought possible.
So what was it about Axle that kept the two names bobbing side-by-side?
What was she trying to tell herself?
A knock on the door jolted her from her thoughts and she quickly moved to answer it.
“Yes?” She blinked a few times as Zane’s face greeted her, and forced herself several times to remind herself that it was Raith standing at the door.
“You got some time? I need to talk to you,” he frowned.
“Uh, sure. I suppose that’s not a problem. Do you want to come in?” She moved out of the way to let him through. After a moment of him not moving, she sighed and nodded, “Alright then! A walk it is!”
The walk was a quiet one through the city and Serena was beginning to worry that Raith wouldn't say a word to her at all.
She wanted to see Axle again and clear things up…
Turning to look at Raith, she found herself swept into memories of Zane.
“It must be hard, eh?” Raith finally said.
“Excuse me?” Serena found herself yanked back in the present. Back in the cold streets of the city. Back in the world where she didn’t have Zane.
“To look at me, I mean. Having me squattin’ in your man’s body must be tough for ya,” he frowned. “I just sort of feel like I should offer my sympathies. If it had been up to me it wouldn’t have happened like this.”
Serena looked over and nodded slowly, before offering a small smile. “Even so, it must’ve been hard for
you as well. To watch through your friend’s eyes. Especially Zane’s… we all know he hasn’t had the best of years.”
“He’s definitely a lot darker and more grim than he was before…” Raith sighed.
“Was he very different then? Before whatever happened to create Maledictus, I mean.” Serena asked.
“Completely different! Granted, he was still a fan of the ladies, but he was a gentleman and charmer back then. He was…” Raith sighed, “He was the sort of guy you wanted to have around no matter what, whether it was at the greatest of parties or the most vicious of battlefields. He had looks, charm and a positive attitude towards life.” Raith sighed, “But after the Taroe… Well, it was all too much for him.”
“I understand… and Maledictus certainly didn’t help with his outlook on life,” Serena shook her head, biting her lip and shivering, “We were surprised that… that beast had actually taken a liking to me.”
“That beast doesn’t know the difference between friend or foe, I’m afraid. What it felt—well, what it feels—for you can’t really be defined by anybody. But what you showed to it that night when you first met Zane…” He shrugged.
Serena blushed and looked over, “So… you saw all of that then? That night and all the times that…”
Raith shrugged, “I don’t want to make this awkward, but I don’t want to lie to you either. There was a reason that Maledictus always talked about himself as ‘us’ and ‘we’,” he looked over and pointed to himself, “The curse needed all of us—Zane, me, and it—to become that thing; it was my therion heart that fueled the change each time. It’s why, without him in here with us, Maledictus can’t come out and I can’t transform. This body is just a vampire body now.” He pointed to his right eye, “And this has changed back to my normal eye color?”
Scarlet Night: The Complete Trilogy Page 35