Passion And Fire (Passion #4)

by J. a Melville

  “You punished me for being born with something I could not control Father. God, you aren’t even worthy of that title. I didn’t ask to be born like this.” My voice broke slightly and I felt Damien squeeze my hand before I pulled myself together again. “One of you had to make me the way I was. There has to be some history of this sort of thing in our family, somewhere.”

  “That’s possible.” My mother suddenly spoke up in a soft voice. “Look at Fa…” She broke off when my father shot her a warning look, and I was suddenly curious as to what they were hiding and what my mother had been about to say. Obviously he didn’t want her saying anything, going by the way he’d shot her down.

  “I don’t know if there’s a history of this in the family and I don’t personally care.” My father ground out, obviously growing tired of this conversation now. “I used to hold a position of power, a position that put us in the spotlight a lot. Can you imagine what it could have done for my career to have a daughter who was…well…different? I managed to keep her hidden as long as I could, or what she is capable of anyway.” He snorted. “Just as well we left her too after seeing the career path she’s chosen. A pole dancer who shows her breasts to a room full of men? Oh yes, a father can be proud, can’t he?” He said sarcastically, his eyes filled with contempt when he looked over at me.

  “Shut…the…fuck…up.” Damien ground out alongside of me and I could feel the tremors through his body. It wouldn’t take much for him to spring up and choke the life right out of my father, I could tell.

  I patted his arm in an effort to calm him before turning back to my father. “I can’t tell you how warm and fuzzy you’re making me feel. It’s so fucking heart-warming to know just how much I’m loved.“ I poured as much sarcasm into my tone as possible, pushing the hurt down so he wouldn’t see. “Still, I have to ask, why come to me? Why the fuck would you think I’d help you?”

  My father laughed softly. “Well, I didn’t know did I? I do now though. I’m sure you aren’t looking to become the next attraction at the local fair, any of you, but you know what happened, you read the paper.” He turned to Fabian. “I’m man enough to admit my own greed got us where we are today, broke, nearly homeless. I may have been set back, reduced to a shadow of my former self but I’m no fool. An opportunity has presented itself and I intend to take good advantage of it. My needs are simple. Help me, and what you are will remain a secret.”

  “How much do you want?” Fabian asked and my eyes shot to him in surprise. He wasn’t seriously thinking of giving my father what he wanted was he? I had money but not enough. The strip club paid well but not enough to finance my father’s return to whatever the fuck he was looking to return to.

  “Not much, $50,000 should help us get back on our feet. I’m working on some ideas for our future. This.” He waved to himself and my mother. “This is not us. We had everything, just about everything money could buy.”

  “You lost it all because you stole money Mr Jackson. You were embezzling money. Strangely companies frown upon that. You were lucky you only served a very short sentence due to an excellent lawyer. Still, I don’t know why you would think your daughter owes you anything, why she should help you. You turned your back on her; you abandoned her, and yet you come here expecting her to help you?” Fabian’s strange pale eyes were the coldest I’d ever seen them. “Do you not have any other family you can call upon for assistance? Or did you drive them all away too?”

  “There is no one else.” My father said, and I watched the slightest shift in Fabian’s expression and that look in his eyes when he glanced over at Sirene. Something was going on between them. It was that glimpse of satisfaction, elation, something that appeared to please him. I frowned, my mind racing with possibilities until finally, it struck me. Fabian had just been fishing to see if anyone would come looking for my parents, and my father had just walked right into it and was too much of an egotistical asshole to realise.

  Did Fabian have something in mind? Would he kill them? I wasn’t sure, but when I glanced over at the older couple whose DNA I shared but nothing more, I realised I didn’t care. I’d been forced to live without them for almost eleven years so I had no ties to them, and it was too late for me to have any feelings for them anymore.

  “Well that’s not entirely true Phillip.” My mother suddenly spoke up. “We do have other family, you have a…” She stopped abruptly when my father shot her yet another warning look. Something was definitely going on between them.

  I watched as Fabian studied my parents for a moment. “Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money Mr Jackson. I’m not sure Flame would have that kind of money.” His eyes shifted to me and I shook my head.

  “I’m not leaving without something.” My father’s voice hardened. “I will out you, reveal what you are. Is that what you want; to become the freaks of Hobart? Vampires are romanticized on TV, movies and books all the time now. Do you want that kind of potentially constant harassment? People might go crazy trying to see what a real vampire is like?”

  I shuddered at his words. It would destroy us. We’d have no peace. We wouldn’t be able to go anywhere and if we were recognised, people would either want to kill us or annoy us. Feeding would be a nightmare.

  “Shut up father. You’re the fucking freak; you’re nothing but a selfish, ruthless, cold hearted bastard. Fuck, no wonder I’ve been so fucked up all these years. I’ve moved around and moved around, determined not to get involved with anyone, because I didn’t want to feel anything for anyone. I never again my entire life ever wanted to feel the way I felt when I came home to find you and mum had left me.” My voice broke on a sob.

  “It’s ok babe.” Damien’s voice was soft, his lips on my temple as he tried to soothe me. “He’s not worth your tears.” He turned to my parents. “You will never get one fucking cent out of your daughter. You are delusional, pathetic and one fucked up son of a bitch.”

  “Oh but I will.” My father said again, his voice firm and surprisingly confident sounding for someone who was sitting in the house of vampires. “I am not leaving without something.” He turned to Fabian. “You, you must have money. This is a huge palatial home. You organise to pay me…hell.” He tilted his head as if in thought. “Make it $150,000. That should give us more than enough to make a fresh start.”

  I watched as Fabian’s eyes moved to Sirene again and that look, that indecipherable look passed between them. Something was up but I wasn’t sure what.

  “So, if I pay you $150,000 you and your wife will go away and we won’t be bothered by you again? You will not come after your daughter at all or try to extract more money from any of us?” He asked.

  “Now you’re starting to get it.” My father grinned. “Hey I know that it sucks that you were caught out, and now it’s going to cost you, but you’re fucking vampires. What do you need money for? Not for food and I saw some of those cars you’ve got here. Money’s not an issue obviously.” Suddenly his cold eyes turned to me, those eyes that were a watery looking grey/blue.

  I took after my mother in appearance fortunately. My eyes were the same as hers just a bit brighter, and I remembered that her hair had once been red but it was grey now. Seems the hard times they’d fallen on had taken their toll on her. She looked beaten and deflated, almost timid sitting beside my father. As I stared at her I suddenly realised, she wasn’t the one doing all this. That was my father and he was a bastard. Now as a more mature woman or maybe just in my infinite wisdom I saw her for what she was; the broken wife of a bullying, manipulative man. She looked worn out, exhausted. In fact she looked totally defeated. Still, although I felt a moment’s pity for her I couldn’t forgive her either. She could have removed herself from the situation years ago, she could have protected her child, but she hadn’t. She’d simply gone along with my father’s proposal and abandoned me. She was no better than him in my eyes.

  “There is of course one thing that is of concern to us Mr Jackson.” Fabian said, glancing around at all of
us before turning back to my father. “Numerous times in situations like this, it starts with one payment, and then there are more and more. How do we know that you won’t do that? How do we know that you won’t keep coming back demanding more and more from us? It could well end up being a better option for us to risk exposure than to keep handing over more money.”

  “I can assure you we would not come back.” My father said but I didn’t altogether trust him. There was something in his eyes that I didn’t like the look of and I tightened my grip on Damien’s arm. His gaze turned to me and I shot him a worried look. It was like he knew what I was thinking because he looked over at Fabian, then my parents, before back to me where he gave me a wink. I raised my eyebrows at him. He was winking at me; now, in the middle of this tense situation? Was I missing something?

  I was still surprised that Fabian seemed prepared to negotiate a deal with my parents. They were blackmailing him and he was sitting so calmly? Why wasn’t he fighting back, showing anger and aggression but most importantly, why wasn’t he mind controlling them?

  “Well, I think you’ve dragged this out for long enough. It’s time to get down to business. My wife and I should be getting back and then I can call the person who has been informed to contact the authorities, should we not return within 24 hours. I’m sure you wouldn’t want any more attention drawn to you than I’m threatening and a visit from the police probably isn’t something you’d want to have happen either.” My father slapped his hands together, shifting forward on his seat, his expression animated.

  Fabian and Sirene rose, as did my parents, and still confused I scrambled to my feet, as did Damien. What the hell was going on now? I found myself tensing up with nervous anticipation. Surely Fabian wasn’t going to quietly hand over $150,000, and how the hell would I pay back that amount of money if he did? I could never earn enough at the strip club and I wouldn’t have that job much longer if I didn’t get back to work soon.

  I frowned slightly when Fabian and Sirene closed in on either side of my parents. “Restrain them.” She gave the quiet command and I gaped, my mouth wide open when ropes seemed to materialise from nowhere and coiled themselves around their torsos, binding their arms to their sides.

  “What the hell?” My father roared and struggled against the ropes binding him, while my mother’s eyes filled with terror. “Let us go this instant. You will be sorry for this. I told you what will happen if we don’t make it out of here.”

  “Silence.” Sirene waved her hand and duct tape appeared just like the ropes had, seemingly out of nowhere and adhered itself to my parents’ lips. I could do nothing but watch in a kind of dazed acceptance. So Fabian was not going to roll over quietly and take it up the rear like I’d first thought? He and Sirene worked amazingly well and I was in awe of her ability and her quiet control of the situation.

  “Damien, come help. You know where we’re going.” Fabian beckoned to him.

  Damien nodded and got on the other side of my father while Sirene and I took my mother. My mother was surprisingly accepting of her fate, not fighting us but my father thrashed violently and was quite obviously hurling obscenities at us from behind the tape over his mouth.

  We led them from the room and down the hallway to the door that led to the dungeon. My mind was racing with possibilities as to what Fabian’s intentions were for them. He couldn’t just hold them prisoners. That would be too dangerous to us.

  When we got to the dungeon, Fabian led us down the corridor. We passed the cells where Adrian had cuffed me, and the theme rooms which made me shiver when I thought of what had happened there. Damien must have been thinking about it too as his eyes met mine and he smiled.

  I was surprised when Fabian kept walking until we finally reached a wall. It was a fucking wall so I was really confused now. He reached out and pushed on one of the stones of the wall and I gaped when a hidden door swung open. This house was full of surprises.

  While I stared wide eyed at the secrets the house held, we walked through into yet another corridor but this one was dimly lit and I saw straight away that there were more cells. Wide open cells with bars running the full length of them.

  Fabian and Damien dragged my now very reluctant father into one of the cells and Sirene and I took my mother in. Once they were both in the cell, we released them and walked back out where Fabian locked the door with some ancient looking key.

  “Release that which binds them.” Sirene chanted quietly and I watched the ropes and tape disappear. I couldn’t contain the smile I shot in her direction. It was certainly handy having a witch in the family. It kind of made me envy her when all I could do was throw things with my mind.

  “Did you want to feed from them anyone while we’re here? We have two humans on tap.” Fabian looked around us but we all shook our heads. Something about biting my parents just felt off to me. Not because I felt sorry for them, or thought it might be disrespectful but I didn’t really have any desire to taste them. As crazy as I knew it was to think that way, I didn’t want to become tainted by the evilness that was my father and if I took his blood, maybe I would.

  “We will go back upstairs then. I wish to speak with you two.” Fabian’s eyes turned to Damien and I and I knew this was it. The time for us to pay for our indiscretion in the car park had come. We were in the shit for publically fucking and being caught with not just our pants down but also our fangs. Not just caught but caught by my parents and in particular my blackmailing, bastard father who was after money, a lot of money.

  Feeling suddenly nervous, I grabbed Damien’s hand for reassurance and he raised it to his lips, kissing my palm. Then with Fabian and Sirene leading the way, we followed them out of the dungeon and back upstairs. I heard the abusive roars of my father, the threats, what he would do to us once their contact realised they were missing, and I just wanted to be a child and block my ears against his hateful voice.

  Damien

  When everyone was back in the living room Fabian indicated they should sit down. Francesca wasn’t around but she’d apparently been dismissed by Fabian earlier since she was unpredictable and they didn’t need unpredictable when they’d been dealing with Flame’s parents.

  Flame was looking nervously at his sire and Damien realised she was worried about what Fabian would do to them for their public display against his car. Sure he was probably pissed but they’d just become one, a couple, they were finally together. It had blown him away when she confessed she loved him. Flame, his Firebird who could tear him down with one well aimed lash of that tongue of hers had beautifully and poignantly told him she loved him. It had been the most amazing moment of his life when he’d just been in the deepest despair, convinced he was destined to suffer for all eternity from unrequited love.

  He recognised some similarities between Flame and Francesca although his sister was largely in a class all of her own. He wondered if she’d ever fall for anyone, and was there a man around who could handle her? He was dragged out of his musings by his sire’s voice and struggling to focus, Damien turned to him, ready to face their punishment.

  “You made a mistake of monumental proportions this evening.” He said. “You have been lacking discretion lately Damien and although I do appreciate a healthy appetite for sex and I’m more than aware of the way lust consumes us, a little control would go a long way. Because you couldn’t keep it in your pants, you exposed us and someone saw that. Anyone seeing us for what we are is unacceptable but now the situation has been exacerbated because of who it was that saw you. I read a lot about your father Flame when the scandal broke and hit the newspapers. He is a controlling, manipulative man with no morals or scruples. The fact that he put his career and his ego ahead of his child shows the kind of man that he is. Now he, because of you two, knows what we are. We are stuck with them here in my home and we have to decide what to do with them.”

  “Why didn’t you mind control them?” Flame asked.

  “Your mother would have been susceptible but your
father cannot be mind controlled. Don’t you think I would have already tried that? That is the irony in all of this. Your father chose to abandon you because he was embarrassed by what you can do, but the thing is, he’s the one who made you what you are. I don’t know what his secret is, what he can do, but I was not able to mind control him.”

  Damien heard the audible gasp from Flame at his sire’s words and when he looked over at her, there were tears running down her cheeks. “Oh babe, I’m sorry.” He whispered and pulled her into his side. She would have to be devastated to learn her parents abandoned her for what she was, when her father in fact was not entirely human, otherwise he’d be able to be mind controlled. She was rejected by the very person who made her what she was.

  “What do you intend doing to us as punishment sire? I know you are not happy with us and the position we have now put you in. In my defence at least, you know how miserable I’ve felt lately and Flame had just told me that she loved me. I became overcome with emotion which led to the desire to fuck, and I’m sorry but surely you and Sirene have taken risks at some stage in your relationship? Every time we go out to feed, we risk detection. Do what you must but I will not regret what we did because it has brought me the only woman I have ever loved.”

  “Knowing what that kind of love feels like and how much it can take one over and make all rationality desert a vampire, is the only reason I will not punish you two. It has not been a complete disaster as it has answered many questions I’m sure Flame would have had about her parents. I see two potential problems; one, what to do with them now. You know they can’t live, do you not?” He turned to Flame and Damien saw her nod.

  “I know that Fabian. I feel nothing for these people that raised me for the first eighteen years of my life. They discarded me like garbage so my father’s career wouldn’t be put in jeopardy.” She gave a short burst of laughter, but Damien could hear there was no humour to it. “Kind of ironic, given I’m what I am, is because of him. He’s hardly an upstanding citizen either having done prison time for embezzlement. I will not be sorry to see them die.”