Follow the Ashes: Book 1 of the Executioner Trilogy

by Kindra Sowder

  The vampire in front of me spoke first. His voice was so deep it didn’t sound like he had once been human at all. His voice reminded me a little of Gordon’s, but with a more gravelly edge that came from drinking gallons upon gallons of fresh human blood over centuries. He was losing more and more of his humanity with every ounce.

  “Lilith would like an audience with you, Executioner.” He dropped his hands to his sides and took a step forward, which made me feel the need to pull the arrow back even farther for the kill. I had to admit my trigger finger was getting a little itchy. He put his hands out in a submitting gesture and said, “All she wants is to speak with you. If you come calmly and quietly your friends and father won’t be harmed.”

  But what about killed? Harmed and killed weren’t the same thing. There was no promise of neither of them being killed. I was pretty sure Gordon and Beth could take care of themselves, but I knew my father couldn’t. He was too old and not as strong as the rest of us. I didn’t want to see him die because of me, but what other choice did I have? It was either go with them and end up dead myself by just talking to her and refusing her terms, or refuse to go and watch them all die in front of me because I was being a complete idiot. I’d choose option number one rather than the latter. I didn’t want any of them to die because of me. I loved them all too dearly for me to be able to live with their deaths.

  I lowered my bow and arrow and rose from my crouched position in one fluid motion. I still had the arrow notched on the chance they would change their minds and not let them live.

  “Okay.” Gordon made a move to protest but I wouldn’t allow it. I raised my hand in a signal to stop and not say a word. He obeyed like a trained dog would. I wasn’t sure whether I was okay with that or not. I didn’t want a trained man. I wanted the caring yet wild man who would stand up for me even if I told him not to. I had a feeling he knew better in this situation. There was nothing else I could do at this point but comply with whatever Lilith wanted. If she wanted only to talk then I would let her have that, and just that. She was more powerful than I would ever be, so I was going to at least let her have this and see what she wanted. Probably to make a deal of some kind, but I was unsure what she would want from me. What could she possibly want from me?

  Even though I was agreeing to go with them and speak to Lilith, I was still uneasy. My stomach burned with uncertainty, and that all too familiar pit was making a comeback. We were going to be speaking on her terms, not mine, which made me very anxious since I had no idea what her terms were. I was very aware of my own. The anxiety was a thousand times worse than that I’d felt when my father showed up on my doorstep.

  Of course, my father wasn’t after my head. Lilith was. My father had broken my heart and continued to smash it into the ground over the years. Could both of those be equally harmful? I wasn’t sure. My father was a cold, unrelenting old man and Lilith was a sadistic mother of evil. My father had the ability to be caring and protective when it came down to it. I’m sure Lilith could have been when it came to her vampire children.

  The vampire that attacked me in the kitchen walked up to me, arms outstretched to take my bow away from me. When his hands touched mine, they were rough and callused. Nothing like I would’ve thought a vampire’s hands would be like. If anything I would’ve thought they would be smooth, but as his fingers slid over mine they were almost as rough as sand paper. I had to keep myself from cringing once feeling them.

  They were also shockingly cold and I had to pull my hands away with a jerk. He grabbed them firmly and forced the bow and arrow out of my hands, dropping them to the floor with a clatter as soon as he had them in his possession. He then began to lead me to the front door with his cold hands. That was when I saw horror and rage fill Gordon’s eyes. Beth was wide-eyed with fear, as was my father. I could feel these emotions from all three of them wash over me in a flood, and it was nearly debilitating. My knees almost buckled under the weight of such strong emotions. Gordon’s stare was threatening to burn a hole in the guy’s forehead, so all I could really do was give him a reassuring look and a nod, which seemed to melt away a little bit of his tension.

  I turned and watched the vampire open the front door. He began to lead me outside into the chilly night. I glanced back for a second to see the other vampires letting Beth, Gordon, and my father go. They were still watching every move they made as they backed away from them to follow us into the night. A chill went through my spine as a slight breeze started to blow when we stepped out onto the front porch. I heard the door click shut behind our group, and I knew there was no way I was going to be walking back through it. The click sounded so final.

  My hair whipped painfully across my face even though the breeze was only slight. It was like every nerve ending in my body had become a conduit. Everything that touched my skin was the lightning. Anxiety has a way of making your whole body sensitive to anything that affects it.

  As soon as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see two black SUVs parked out in front of my house. I couldn’t help but imagine them turning into hearses. They were so large and so intimidating. I hadn’t had time to put on shoes, and the cold wet grass on the bottom of my feet chilled me to the point of shivering. I wasn’t going to show any sign of weakness though I did have goose bumps.

  I was guided to the second SUV by a hand on the small of my back. I could feel its coldness through my shirt, and that was unnerving. I wanted to push the hand away, but I didn’t want to make any moves that would have me dead. Not before being able to learn what Lilith’s plan for me was. Only then would I know if I could stop her. One of the vampires opened the door. I slid in to the middle seat and was then guarded by a vampire on either side.

  Both were absolutely huge and I was squished in between them to the point where I felt like a pole of a person: cramped, stiff, and rigid. I had my hands in my lap, sandwiched in between my legs. My shoulders were pulled in during the silent ride. The silence was so filled with awkwardness that it felt like a nervous joke would have been a good idea, but I kept all jokes to myself. Going to meet Lilith was no laughing matter.

  The windows in the back were tinted to a black that mirrored the darkness that seemed to be overtaking me. I was sitting in the car with three vampires, and Lilith’s presence was looming over me like she was a giant. I felt so dwarfed by the presence of oblivion that I wanted to crawl away, never to be seen again. I wanted to act like it never existed, but with how fast it was engulfing my life, I had to acknowledge its presence. It was there, and there was no ignoring it. I felt it even more when the car came to an agonizing stop and I was freed from the metal and glass prison. I was let out into the night once again.

  I was greeted by an old warehouse that made me feel entirely too small. The bricks sparkled like it was slightly damp, and there was a soft glow coming from the windows. This hinted at natural light of some kind instead of the artificial light given off by electricity. Her presence was absolutely overwhelming here, and I hadn’t even gone inside of the dilapidated structure that housed the evil.

  Chapter 18: Into the Mouth of Madness

  The building felt like it was a living, breathing structure surrounded by a cloud of night and gloom. As I looked around, all I could see was a maze of alleyways and even more warehouses to obscure my view of where we were. The whole ride, I couldn’t see where we were headed. They would ensure that if I tried to escape I would get lost in the twists and turns. The tint on the windows was so dark I hadn’t been able to see how we got here. Every alley in Los Angeles looked the same, especially here. This is where my happiness would come to die, just like it was doing now, very slowly. I was sure it would speed up when I finally made my way inside. There was no way around it. The evil and the dark were becoming an integral part of who I was and who I would become. I was trying so hard to avoid that.

  The vampire to my immediate left took my arm and led me to a door that only stood out because of its color against the gray brick of the building. Cr
imson. I was sure I would come to hate this color by the time this was all over. Not because it wasn’t beautiful, but because of what it would come to stand for. Death. Evil. Destruction. I also knew I was getting sick and tired of being led around like a puppy by these extremely large vamps.

  They swung the door open with a steady hand. I was welcomed inside by a whoosh of even cooler air than what was outside. This time I couldn’t help but shiver from cold and fear. Any breeze that had been blowing had stopped while we made our way to where evil lived. The fear was becoming overwhelming. It was like even the wind was scared of her.

  Would Lilith actually want to talk or would she think it would be better to just to kill me right then and there? Would she just want to get it over with without having to deal with me at all? What would happen to me if I didn’t take her up on whatever deal she was offering? There would be no telling until I was standing right in front of her, vulnerable and welcoming death every step I took further into the mouth of evil.

  The walls were red and shiny in the dimly lit hall. It seemed to lead into an even larger room, and all I could see was a fire in the middle of the room. It was burning brightly and was somehow controlled so it didn’t burn the building down with us inside. That would’ve been a welcome fate compared to what she may have had in store for me in that room.

  I wanted to reach out and touch the walls to see what coated them, but at the same time the thought terrified me. A part of me wanted to know if my assumption was correct: blood coated them. An even larger part of me wanted to remain ignorant of what it was. What was that saying? Ignorance is bliss? I’d rather remain ignorant.

  I normally tried to keep something happy in mind to prevent being so overwhelmed with fear that I couldn’t function. But at that moment, it wouldn’t do me any good. Lilith was bigger than anything I had encountered thus far, so if I wasn’t scared I was just plain stupid. We reached the end of the hall and stopped in the threshold, like we were waiting for permission to enter the room. I didn’t want permission. I just wanted to turn around and run right back out that blood colored door.

  “You may enter.” Her voice rang through the room and down the hall as she greeted us. It was like it was coming from inside the walls. It echoed off of the walls and through my entire body. That voice would come to haunt me forever. It was somewhat high pitched and still sultry, but with a demonic edge to it that spoke of the evil she was made from. I still had a large vampire on either side of me. They silently led me to stand right in front of the large burning fire. I was standing so close to it I could feel the heat from the flames. It was almost overpowering, like it would begin to melt my flesh away from my muscles and bones. The heat of such a large fire would have been enough to have anyone sweating like a pig even if they weren’t as frightened as I was. A sheen of sweat was even starting to develop on my skin as I stood perfectly still, not daring to move just in case that would make things worse for me.

  “Leave us,” Lilith commanded as I saw her slim form make its way from behind the billowing tower of blaze. She was swaying and lifting her dress to sway with her like a ghost in the firelight. The smoke from the fire filled my nostrils and would have been suffocating if it weren’t for the large hole in the ceiling being used as a vent right over the flames. As I watched Lilith emerge from almost pure darkness, the other vampires left. I could still feel their presence as if they were right next to me.

  When Lilith stepped into view, I fell speechless. The air left my lungs just as quickly as it had filtered in, leaving them empty. I almost couldn’t fill them up again. She was pure radiance in the dark. She definitely had a glow that could rival the flames as well as my own. A part of me was so close to admitting I was in the wrong for assuming she was evil, but then I felt the resonance of what she was inside of me. It was pouring out from her skin. It was an echo of what I had encountered when she crawled from within the earth covered in soot and dirt. Her eyes said it all that night. Pure evil was the only thing in this world with eyes like that.

  She was covered in a light, white fabric that was almost transparent. Her eyes sparkled with the light coming from the fire, but I could tell that reflection wasn’t just from the flames. Her red eyes looked almost orange against that light, but her beauty didn’t hide what she was. She was the mother of all evil in the world. She was a destroyer of good. A master to the killers she bred. I guess that’s why pure evil always wore a beautiful disguise. To draw you in. Then you would know what she truly was. As soon as she had you in her arms and she was taking you to a place where no one wanted to venture.

  Her blond hair fell in soft ringlets around her face and as she walked it was almost like she was dancing to music that only she could hear. I was the deaf one wondering what in the world she was swaying to. Maybe there really was only music she could hear, but I was scared to know if that were indeed true. If so, was it made up of the cries of the innocent her children have slaughtered? Or was it only something she could decipher? Only she knew, and I didn’t want to know. Ignorance is bliss. This was certainly true in that instant.

  “Executioner,” she said, her voice pronouncing the word with a light trill. Every syllable was pronounced with calculation and precision. Every word enunciated almost to the point of annoyance. “I presume you are wondering just why I have brought you here tonight. Am I correct?”

  I wasn’t sure exactly what to do. Do I answer? Do I just nod? I went with just a nod. I was going to do whatever I could not to anger her, and if speaking would do it, I would refrain from doing so. No words would come out of my mouth until I was sure. Not because I was deathly afraid of her, which I was. It was because I wanted to make it home alive and intact to be able to relay the information to Beth and Gordon, to continue to love Gordon, and to defeat Lilith. Whatever it took, I would do.

  She came around the fire, all grace and beauty, but evil. I could feel the excitement rolling off of her. Her feet didn’t seem to be touching the floor at all as she came toward me. It was as if she was floating at least an inch or two above the ground. The closer she got the harder it seemed to be to stand my ground and not move away from her like a frightened little puppy. She would detect weakness if that was how I reacted, and I was in no way weak so I wouldn’t act weak. I would make sure she saw that and knew I wasn’t going to back down. At least not without a fight. I stood there and tried my hardest to keep my devastating fear out of my eyes. I wasn’t sure how well I was doing, but at least I was trying. I didn’t know how long I would be able to keep up the façade, but I was managing so far.

  “You can vocalize an answer, Executioner. No need to be so coy. After all,” she reached out and took my hand in hers, turning it palm up. She traced my palm with one cold pale finger, “We are about to strike up a deal. A partnership, if you will.” Her touch sent a chill up my spine that I couldn’t hide from her or recover from. I really wished I could’ve hidden that reaction once I saw the sly grin cross her face. It was as if the very evil that made her up had sent a shock of it through my body. Her laugh made it even worse. It was high pitched and lovely, but you could feel the extent of her darkness in that laugh. Like that’s all it was made up of. No sound. No excitement. No life. Just the dark that was threatening to overtake us all.

  Chapter 19: The Art of Denial

  Was she really going to ask me for a partnership? And, if so, what kind? I was terrified to find out because I wasn’t sure if I could agree with her terms. My heart was racing so hard I thought she could hear it. It felt like it was going to beat right out through my throat and out of my mouth. When her smile spread even wider over her face I knew she indeed could hear it. She knew exactly how scared of her I was. I couldn’t keep my breath from coming out hard and fast, but I managed to keep it as silent as possible. I swallowed down my fear as best as I could with a completely dry mouth and decided to do what she told me. Utter an answer.

  “What kind of partnership are you proposing?” The question came out stern, inquisitive and
slightly shaky. But at least I was able to hold my own without jumbling my words. She was still tracing the lines on my palm with her icy finger, like she was studying them, and trying to read my future. She then dropped my hand and began to trace the veins down from the side of my neck down to my chest where they were easily visible. They showed greenish blue underneath my skin. Then she licked her lips. It was like she could taste my blood just through the act of touching me. When she did it she reminded of me a jungle cat licking the remnants of its dinner from its mouth.

  “You are destined for greatness, Executioner,” she whispered without looking up from her hand, still tracing those faint blue lines like a road map. The concentration in her face was evident and her brows were furrowed, as if they could tell my answer to the question she was about to ask. She knew she wouldn’t like the response. It was like the lines in the palm of my hand held those answers.

  She looked up at me and took her hand away. I rubbed my chest. Her cold fingers had left anywhere she touched feeling icy to the point of shattering. She then turned her back to me. She began to sway in front of the fire, like she had forgotten why she had asked me to her cozy hideaway in the first place. I could tell that she didn’t like to be standing still very long and very well did what she pleased. This was what we had gathered from our research, but I didn’t realize it was to this extent. It was almost like she had ADHD. She danced completely around the fire and when she got back to me, she stroked my cheek and kept on moving in the large circle around the flames. She was almost like a child in the innocence portrayed, but I knew better. I could feel it as it resonated through my body.

  I could still feel the icy coolness of her hand on my face when she made another round and stopped suddenly in front of me, ending her dance just as quickly as it had begun. A look of importance crossed her beautiful features, making her face look domineering instead of the soft loveliness I noticed here.