“Ignore everything he says, Kyli. Marin found the dates personally. Grey is just causing trouble.” David came up to the kitchen.
“Then how long?” Kyli asked David.
“Which one?” Cherry asked Kyli as she joined the group. “Malio captured them all at different times during his life.”
“The oldest of course. All I've ever heard about Malio was that he was a talented lunatic when it came to his obsessions and torture. That he was a very sick and gifted individual. Besides that, I have no clue what he was like as a person, or even who these people really are. Now tell me, how long has the oldest one been down there?” Kyli asked Cherry.
Cherry didn't answer. She turned around to help Marin with one of the two ringed vampires he was carrying by himself.
Marin answered Kyli. “Three hundred years. All with extensive forms of daily mutilation by Malio.”
“How did they survive?” Kyli didn't believe it. “If they were like this the whole time, how is that possible?”
“Malio kept them supplied with enough blood to heal the repetitive injuries he inflicted upon them. I found logs of everything he ever did to them. Meticulous notes on how they reacted and how much pain they felt.” Marin paused.
“But I thought Malio didn't have any psychic gifts. How did he know how much pain they were in?” Kyli blurted out, demanding more answers.
“He devised a system where he marked how much they recoiled, moaned, writhed in pain, and for how long. He used the rings as a way to measure the vibration of their reactions on a scale. There are thousands of entries. He recorded everything.” Marin explained. “Malio took great pleasure in remembering the days when they gave up. He drew pictures of their before and after positions of their bodies. He understood the exact minute each of them stopped thinking they would survive. Malio even celebrated the day they stopped screaming by cutting their tongues out and fed them to dogs, which he later ate.”
“Then we really did get rid of a monster, didn't we? To think that we can withstand that much punishment and remain alive. It's heartbreaking.” Kyli said to everyone, bewildered at the thought of her own eventual Rite of Redgold.
“Us, not you. A vampire can survive almost indefinitely. It's humbling to know that our weakest attribute is our mind.” Marin looked at the non-responsive bodies before him. “They are a grim reminder that we can be broken. An obelisk stating that Malio found a way. Thankfully we were able to put a stop to this.”
“But it wasn't us. We used an abomination to kill this monster. Rather, Kyli nurtured him so that it would kill Malio.” Grey put light on the fact that Kyli was trying to get away from the issue at hand.
“It's done. That's all that matters.” Cherry said to Kyli to help ease her mind.
“Actually, it's not.” Grey spoke up again.
“He's right. We were expecting them to kill each other, remember? Now we have something worse to contend with. If we let it continue, he could kill us all.” David brought the doom back to the conversation.
“If, and only if, it gets to that. For now he's not worth killing.” Yugo stepped in. “Besides, getting his blood on our hands was the central fear that made us choose this path to begin with. We all wanted Malio to be the one to kill him, thereby washing our hands of it. We can't get involved too deeply here, remember that.”
“But what of Kyli?” Marin asked the group.
“Kyli, you should forget about him.” David suggested. "Whatever your mendacious actions. He's not worth it now."
“No, she shouldn't.” Yugo argued.
“And why is that exactly?” David argued.
“Do you really want to give Zack a reason to hate people right now? Whatever their relationship is now, why burn him emotionally? Why stoke the fire in his heart that the demon is trying to create? Shouldn't we be helping him confront the demon, instead of leading him right to it? Remember, the longer he lives in this body dormant, the longer it will take before we have to kill him and see him resurrect in someone else. By letting him live in peace for now, we encourage the continuation of our own long uninterrupted lives.” Yugo's point was absolute. No one wanted to die early because of this.
David no longer had a stopping point to argue about. He was going to let Kyli do what she wanted, against his own better judgment.
Yugo smiled. “Kyli, go to him. Patch things up. Live the happy life instead of a cold mission for once. You are being given a choice here. Do what makes you content.”
“In other words, be a good girl and run along, kid.” Grey pushed it. “The grownups have work to do.”
Everyone looked at Grey's crass remark. He was right, but none of them wanted to admit it. The four ringed vampires needed to be brought back to David's club to be tended to. They needed to be revived for answers.
Kyli left, parting with her pride at the door.
In the kitchen, the group continued to discuss the end result of what was to happen next.
“Does Kyli know about Damien?” Marin asked David.
“She said that the demon mentioned him. Though I doubt she knows who he is, or his real part in all this. She's only heard a name so far. That won't pose any danger to her.” David responded.
“And if it does? Are we really going to protect her from Damien? With Malio dead. She is the next logical candidate.” Marin argued with David.
“What choice do we have? She's one of us, remember? Are we supposed to turn our backs on everyone that Damien singles out?” Cherry made a valid point. “If not, where does it end?”
“With all of our heads on a platter.” Grey laughed, his comical cynicism knew no bounds. He truly was ribald.
“Shut up Grey, we don't need to be reminded of that. Damien's theory of creating a force to rival the demon vampires was never apodictic. Kyli is an option. She has to be. Damien could kill us all, no one here can hold a candle to him. Yugo might have a chance, besides that, we're all the walking dead in his eyes, and deserving of it.” David ranted.
“Yes, but then again, he didn't tell Malio everything, now did he?” Yugo spoke up.
“What does that matter?” David was angry.
“If he expected Malio to kill Zack tonight. Wouldn't he have told him what he was really up against? Why keep Malio in the dark about the demon gift's full powers?” Yugo stated.
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” David yelled at Yugo.
“Malio was still in an inchoate stage. Maybe Damien didn't tell him because he didn't know.” Yugo smiled. “There are secrets that the demons whisper. Secrets that are told only to their hosts.” Yugo adjusted Martin's body onto the center of his back. “Damien didn't prepare Malio because he didn't know what Salas could do. That gives us the advantage, not him. Besides his age, Damien has no real gift outside of his focus.” Yugo turned to Marin and tilted his head and smiled. “Sorry, Marin. Present company excluded, our gifts give us the power to oppose him more than he would give us credit. If we can teach Zack-”
David cut Yugo off. “-YOU ARE NOT TEACHING THAT MONSTER!!!” David closed the gap between them. He was forcing his hand around Yugo's neck while screaming in his face.
Everyone froze, not sure what to do. Everyone, except Marin. He had moved slightly quicker than David and arrived in time to have both his hands on either side of David's heart, ready to kill him if he actually harmed Yugo. The situation was tense. Cherry backed off, not wanting to choose sides. Grey took a second to realize exactly what was happening. His eyes were just catching up. Before he knew it, there was a grim scenario unfolding.
Yugo managed to speak even though David's hand was squeezing as hard as he could. “Now, now. I believe ultimately that is my decision, not yours. Having your daughter woo him is the extent of your manipulation. I can offer him control of the demon, not subjugation. Do what you will, David. If both of us die here, Marin will only hunt your daughter down to close up all the remaining loose ends of our past interactions. I know deep down he doesn't want to do that. She's
been such a great student all these years.” Yugo stared at David. “Grey will finally run out of ways to avoid death's call. And Cherry will probably take full ownership of all your joint assets annulling all the influence you once had. When all the blood has been spilled and washed away, Marin will tell Zack everything. All about you, about Kyli, about all of us.” Yugo lowered his gaze against David. “I know you don't want that to happen.” Yugo sighed with a sense of sarcasm. “It would also mean that another demon would reincarnate. Do you really want that to happen?” Yugo stared into David's eyes with a taunting expression. “Well, do you?”
David said nothing. He slowly eased his grip on Yugo's throat.
Marin didn't move.
“I'm not going to kill him. You can relax.” David said to Marin.
Without motion, Marin silently responded in his own way, he turned to Yugo for direction.
“Let me put it another way. Get the hell off of me.” David was slightly meaner this time.
“Marin, let him go.” Yugo instructed.
Marin removed his fingertips from David's chest. He stepped out of David's personal space. “Of course.” Marin smiled at David. “Shall we finish the job at hand?”
“Without killing each other off, please.” Cherry kicked in with her two cents. “As much as I would enjoy liquidating all of David's holdings I didn't agree with. The thought of no longer having him to further business deals is painful.” Cherry chuckled at David. “Sorry, alive you're useful, but dead you're only half as useful.”
Grey picked up Phillipe's body, proceeding to the front of the mansion where everyone had parked. Cherry followed Grey. Marin picked up Teresa's body and left with Cherry and Grey.
David and Yugo stood alone with the two remaining bodies.
“This won't have a good outcome.” David said to Yugo.
“It never does.” Yugo replied. He walked slowly out the door.
David turned to Yugo. He placed Timothy's body onto his back with a rope. “Then do any of us truly have a hope for the future?”
Yugo stopped in the doorway. He didn't face David. “She died before we could determine that.”
“I'm not talking about the demon gifts. I mean against Damien, is there any real chance left?” David asked Yugo with a heavy heart.
Yugo took a deep breath. “The last time I saw Damien was when he saved me from a demon vampire. A force that we were nearly powerless against. It's not something that I look back on with fond memories.”
“Didn't he save your life, Yugo? What's wrong with that?” David asked.
“He was able to kill it, by himself. He destroyed the demon vampire with his own hands. With all my power, I wasn't able to accomplish that. Damien did it with his hands.” Yugo went silent.
“So he saved your life. Why be bitter over that?” David didn't see what Yugo was getting at.
“David, he was younger than you are now.” Yugo said with conviction. He turned to face David. His scars were lit well by the mansion's luminescence. “If a demon vampire could do this to my face.” Yugo gestured to the many scars that covered his muted expression. “Think of what horrid strength Damien wields if he was able to kill the one that did this to me. After all this time, Damien is only stronger than he once was.”
David was silent for a moment. “Will Orhn help us?”
“Orhn hates only Lucretia and her family.” Yugo told David.
“Then there's no way he could be of use?” David asked.
“Orhn wants to kill Lucretia's legacy and then die. He doesn't care about the rest of the world. Pain, torment, blood, there is nothing that means anything to him anymore. Once he kills Lucretia, Orhn will die.” Yugo said.
“Is someone hunting him?” David was confused.
“I know Orhn. This is what he has lived for. Once she is dead, he will have nothing left. He won't help us. He won't do anything to assist us, especially me. Orhn will end his own life in a spectacle that will change the world.” Yugo sighed.
“What, are you a psychic now?” David scoffed.
“No, I just employ one. Or did you forget?” Yugo replied.
“Good practice.” David admitted.
Yugo walked away. David stood, shaken at the knowledge laid upon him. He knew Damien was strong, but to find that he was relatively young when he killed the only demon vampire to ever fully manifest was disturbing to say the least. David waited for the others to pack up the bodies into the hearse that Grey brought with him. David walked out, silent of the terror that lay before them all.
The end was coming.
* * * *
Zack was angry. He had stormed off into the night in the direction of his apartment. He hadn't been to his room in three weeks. He was a little worried that his dad might have redecorated and re-purposed it into a storage closet. Zack attempted to keep his mind off of the reality of the situation.
The air was filled with hot steam from a rain that had recently ceased. A mist arose from the street. Zack's pace was hurried, rushed. He wasn't running, but briskly walking down through the bad parts of town, unwilling to make the safe detours he was used to. He wanted to simply get home and think about his life.
Up ahead Zack saw his regular bus stop. The one he used to change buses every school day when he was in middle school. He decided that walking was worth the time to cool off. Zack knew getting home faster would only translate into a confrontation with his dad. Zack needed all the support he could get. He couldn't afford to lose anyone right now. With all the power he felt in his veins, the strength pumping through his blood made him feel restless. Zack wanted to calm down and tell John what he could. He took a deep breath and decided to take the bus instead.
Zack looked around. His mind was not content with having to wait for the bus to arrive. In the distance, there was a commotion. Under a street light, there was a group of young men kicking something on the ground. Zack stared his night vision seemed to improve as he focused onward. It was a small boy they were beating up. Zack didn't think, the residual anger in him started walking for him. The temerity of the moment had gotten the better of him. Not sure of what he was going to do exactly, Zack wanted to stop it. As he continued, two people in the group noticed him. Zack kept walking. This was the same gang that had attacked the other kid at the bus stop a month ago. The same ones that beat Zack up before he went out to the club.
“Hey, you! What do you think you're lookin' at!?” The leader of the group called out to Zack.
Zack didn't stop. They hadn't recognized him. He had changed too much in the past couple of weeks to seem like the same kid they attacked.
“Back up, this doesn't concern you.” Another one yelled at Zack and pulled out a switch blade. He waved it round. “Run away, man. Before you get hurt.”
Zack stopped about five feet from the gang member. The idea intrigued him. It was tempting. Zack wondered if he could even be hurt by a normal person anymore. He wanted to know the extent of his strength. After Salas had made Zack drink all of Malio's blood, there was a question as to how much power was in him. Zack smiled. He waited for a chance, a moment to test it. To test his new self.
Zack listened to the packing sounds that came from the road as each foot struck the kid on the ground. The sweat shirt muted the overall presence of each kick. They were kicking him from all sides. Zack listened further. He had grown an affinity for Salas's gift. He could hear their minds, their thoughts. They didn't want to kill this kid. They didn't want to kill Zack either. A murder would complicate their lives. They merely wanted to scare Zack off and steal the money this kid had in his bank account. They were mediocre criminals, standard punks.
Zack smiled as his new senses picked up everything.
“What the hell are you laughing 'bout homo?” A third member of the gang got in Zack's face. His head was shaved, and he had a slight lisp in his words.
Zack didn't hesitate anymore. The chance was there, he took it. Zack removed this man's heart with his right hand alone. Ther
e was no impact, his fingers went into the flesh as a matter of fact. The power was unreal. It was palatable. It tasted good. Sweet in Zack's mouth, wet on his lips as the blood sprayed Zack's chest, soaking him. It was in his eyes, on his face, and it covered his hands. It absorbed, and disappeared into Zack's skin.
Zack turned to the leader of the gang.
“WHAT THE FUCK, MAN!!!???” The leader of the group screamed out in terror. He was afraid.
They were all afraid.
One of the gang members ran for his life. His wit had been shattered. He ran with every ounce of adrenaline in his body.
Zack met the runner, closing the gap of more than twenty feet instantly. It was as if Zack had been standing there the entire time. The others were too shocked to move. They feared what damage Zack was to do next.
Zack punched the man in the stomach, collapsing his chest cavity. It was concave as he fell. “Six to go.”
“Just take what we have and let us go, man. This guy's not worth it to us.” The leader told Zack as his legs shook.
Zack smirked and chuckled. He was amused by their words. “This guy's not worth it? That's your only defense, a few words? He was worth mugging a minute ago, wasn't he?”
The leader got angry at Zack. Panicking, he yelled out. “Okay, let's plug this freak!” He and the other five gang members reached for their hand guns.
Only four of them succeeded in drawing their weapons. Zack tore the right arm off of the nearest man to him and used it to decapitate the second. Both men died instantly from the sheer trauma. Zack let the men bleed on the ground, soaking the street. The lamp behind Zack flickered. Intermittently shutting off, Zack walked towards the leader.
“Blast this guy!” The leader called out.
All four men began shooting Zack. The bullets pierced his skin, blowing holes directly through his body. No blood came from Zack's wounds. He waited motionless for their next action, their next attempt at him. He was toying with them now. Zack was enjoying their fear and unease. He watched as they trembled in placed, as their guns emptied.
Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) Page 54