Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  “And…you had a vision about Crixis,” Raphael put the pieces together.

  “Exactly. Well,” I corrected myself, “more than one, actually. A few of them.”

  “Were they…” Raphael paused. “…consistent?”

  I nodded, noticing his worried face. Why did he look like that?

  “What did you see?”

  I brought up my legs to the wooden pew and sat on them, making myself more comfortable. After all, these pews were hard and my butt was starting to hurt. “I saw him with this woman.” I detected the relief in his eyes, and also some understanding of who I was talking about. “And she ordered him to attack and kill everyone in this village. And he did.” I decided to leave out some details, because why would Raphael need to know every, single thing?

  Raphael was not saying anything, so I prompted him, “Your turn. Who is he?”

  “Crixis was…” Raphael’s serious gaze landed on me, making me squirm a bit. “…a very bad Demon. He was what you like to call a Daywalker, but he’s unlike any Daywalker you’ve ever met. John and his brother, Kirk, was it? They are nothing in comparison.”

  “Even when—” my voice shook.

  Raphael nodded. “Even when John was under the darkness of Osiris. Crixis was a plague on this world. Thousands of humans were destroyed by him in mere hours, and hundreds of other Demons were as well.”

  “How was he that powerful?”

  “He was sired by one of the oldest Vampires and his hatred fueled him,” Raphael answered me, finally tearing his eyes away from mine. “He found a way to gain power from those he killed. He was unstoppable…”

  “Was? So he’s dead now?”

  Raphael nodded. “Crixis was killed by one of the original Purifiers. His Demonic presence no longer haunts this world.”

  Suddenly, I stood up. “Okay, phew. That’s a relief,” I laughed out. I spun on my heel and began walking out of the church.

  Raphael stood and yelled after me, “That is all you wanted to know?”

  “Yep!” I waved as I exited the decrepit church. When I was a reasonable amount away from it, the fake smile on my lips disappeared. A strange feeling twisted in my gut, and worry hovered over me like clouds on a rainy day.

  He lied.

  Raphael lied to me, even though he told me he’d tell me everything I wanted to know.

  I asked if Crixis was dead, and he said yes. Raphael lied to me. He lied. How could I trust anything he’d ever told me or taught me before, when I knew now that he was a liar? When I knew that Crixis wasn’t dead, and that he was extremely alive and well?

  When I’d seen him and his fiery red eyes myself?

  Chapter Fifteen – Raphael

  After Kass left, I remained in the same place. I couldn’t believe myself. Why in the heavens did I lie to her?

  I told her that Crixis was dead, when in truth he couldn’t be farther from it.

  A liar I never thought I would be, but ever since coming here, to this town—ever since I began teaching them—it seemed I did nothing other than lie. Wear a mask that I never took off.

  The presence of company shattered my inner turmoil, so I glanced to the broken altar, at the evil man standing before it with a smirk I knew all too well. He shook his head. “You are a very bad person. I honestly don’t know how you can live with yourself, lying to her like that,” his deep voice said to me.

  I glared at him. “Get out.”

  “No,” he replied simply. “This town is entertaining, so why would I leave? Because you told me to? I don’t think so. But back to what I was saying before, you really shouldn’t lie to her. It could come back and bite her in the ass. Or in this case, her neck—or that lovely artery in the inner thigh…”

  I flashed in front of him with speed I hadn’t used in ages, getting in his face. “Don’t you dare even think about it.”

  He laughed, obviously not intimidated by me at all. “Oh, I have thought about it. Who hasn’t?”

  “If you touch her—”

  He waved his hand and disappeared, reappearing in a pew. “By the way, have you destroyed that book yet?” A cross smile formed. “I can tell by your face that you haven’t. Oh, dear. I hope that little journal doesn’t get in the wrong hands, otherwise, who knows what’ll happen?”

  My eyes widened as I ran to the altar. My hands nervously tore out all that laid within. Everything was there that should be, all except that book. Her diary. I glared at him. He smiled widely at me.

  “Now.” He stood up. “I know what you’re going to say. Go ahead. Say it.”

  My jaw locked. “What did you do?”

  His defined shoulders shrugged as he said, “I was tired of the boringness around here, so I took it and gave it to someone. I also felt very well-mannered, because I even left him a little note telling him to read it.”

  “He can’t open it without the key,” I stuttered.

  “Oh, yes. He can. Believe me. He’s no ordinary human,” he said, a laugh rumbling from his lungs.

  “Why? Why are you doing this? Why don’t you move on?”

  “I have some unfinished business here, with one specific person. One girl. Perhaps, Raphael,” he paused and flashed to the doors, “you shouldn’t have told her Crixis was dead. If she’s seen me in her visions, then she knows what I look like, and that means she knows you lied to her. I can’t help but wonder what she thinks of you now.”

  “How?” My voice echoed throughout the whole church.

  “Because.” He swiped at his black hair, his eyes glinting emeralds. “We’ve met before. Multiple times. And not on the most cordial circumstances, either.” He paused, “Oh, and also the small fact that I’m not dead. No one can kill me. You of all people should know that by now.”

  Chapter Sixteen – Vincent

  I sat in the room, staring at the book for almost thirty minutes. After opening the cover, I found that this wasn’t really a book. It was a diary. For some reason, that stopped me right there. Did I really want to read someone’s personal diary?

  My skin tingled. Yes. Yes, I did.

  I grabbed the diary and opened it. And this time, I actually started reading it.

  Today I met the most wonderful gentleman. He is a head taller than me, even when I wear my shoes. His green eyes are bright and vibrant with life. His handsomeness rivals the ancient Greek gods. And, he is courteous. My heart fluttered when I gazed upon him. I do hope that I see will him again.

  I stopped reading and skimmed over the next few pages. The majority was all about how he courted her. Stuff that I did not want to read. I did, however, find an interesting passage.

  I have never felt this way. Every time that we meet eyes, I feel like there are many small butterflies in me. I think I love him. He has already told me that he loves me, and that the next time we meet, he has a surprise for me. I can only hope that he means a ring. I wish to marry this man.

  There was half a page torn out. The next passage was barely legible, which made me think that this man’s surprise wasn’t exactly a ring.

  Hedidntgiveringmyhandsshakemyentirebodyshakesihavediseaseheverybadman

  Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Reading this was giving me a headache. I looked back to the diary and found that the next entry was worse.

  Bloodbloodbloodblooditisallicanthinkaboutiwantitiwantitineeditineedtolivebloodblood

  bloodbloodbloodreddrippingbloodineeditnowmyheadhurtsknockondoorigotoansweritwillbemyservantandiwillkillherbloodineedherbloodiwantherblood

  There was a huge, empty gap in the diary. I flipped to the next inked page.

  It has been years since I have written. I feel as if it is all pointless. I began this journal so I would remember the past, but now I can recall every detail of my whole life. I am no longer human. The man I met years ago was no man, I came to that assumption that night he had a surprise for me. He was a monster. Still is. After making me a Demon, a creature of Hell, he left. It took me years of murdering and killing sensele
ssly to realize that he did not curse me. He gave me a gift. Perhaps the best gift of all: immortality. I cannot be killed. I am stronger, faster and smarter than I ever was. Tomorrow I will begin to document everything that has happened in the last few years, including what happened that night with tremendous detail.

  My stomach flipped, making it obvious to me that I needed a break from reading this, so I got up and put it in the bottom drawer of the night table. After fixing my contacts, I walked out of my hotel room.

  Something about that diary didn’t sit well with me.

  Chapter Seventeen – Kass

  Dinner was almost ready. Koath and Max were over. Gabriel was in the living room, entertaining them with his ridiculous stories. And where was I? In my room, alone. I was laying on my bed, thinking.

  Why did Raphael lie to me?

  My mind could not make up an answer to that question, which was probably why I had such a hard time coming to terms with it. People didn’t lie unless they had something to gain from it. And if that was the case, then what did Raphael gain from lying to me? It didn’t make sense.

  He was hiding something. He had to be hiding something. That’s what one half of my mind said. The other was saying maybe he thought he told the truth. Maybe he didn’t know that Crixis wasn’t dead and that was just what the Council told him.

  I rolled off my bed and leisurely made my way to the windowsill. Things were so complicated. Things were so much more different than they were out west, before we moved here. Before Gabriel and I started high school. Before I met John, (thought) I killed him, met Rain, and found out that Alyssa’s a Witch. Before my visions and dreams started to happen more frequently. Before John turned into a killer, drank my blood and came to his senses, and we let them go.

  We let them go. Like we were just saying goodbye to good friends who we’d known forever and not a murdering Daywalker, a normal Daywalker who made out with me while I was barely conscious, and a Witch who had been my only friend.

  I walked over to my dresser, taking in how messy it was. Anything that didn’t have its own place I threw here. I picked up some random socks and put them in a drawer, trying to clean it off, which might have been a first. I found some candy wrappers and threw them in the small, wooden garbage can. My eyes landed on a necklace.

  The one that Gabriel bought for me after I saved his life three years ago. The one that Gabriel had stolen Michael’s card and paid over a thousand dollars for. The one he had kept to himself for three years and suddenly gave to me on his birthday.

  The one with a diamond cross and diamond heart.

  I sighed, ignored it and continued cleaning. It wasn’t like I didn’t appreciate it, because I did. More than he’d ever know. I couldn’t go around wearing something that expensive every day without having people ask me about it. About where I got it, from who, and why. I just didn’t want to explain it.

  My fingers swept across something small and metal. Searching for it under the remaining mess, I found it. A tiny breath escaped from my lungs. Somehow, I forgot about this. This little, silver ring with a dark stone. Alyssa gave it to me right before she left with Rain and John. She told me it was a good luck charm, that she can sense me when I wore it, and that if I ever ran into trouble, I could put it on and she’d send help.

  Too bad I was pretty much always in trouble, being in my profession.

  Shoulders slumping, I set the ring down next to the necklace, for I had nowhere else to put it. My mind wondered if I would ever make use of it, and if it would really help, or if it was more of a parting gift. Like an it’s-the-thought-that-counts kind of present.

  The door flew open and Gabriel stood hanging on it. “What are you doing?”

  I rolled my eyes. He sounded like a five-year-old kid. For real. Sometimes I did wonder. “Cleaning,” I answered him. “Just cleaning.”

  He laughed and moved next to me, saying, “You’d rather be up here, by yourself, cleaning than be downstairs with Koath, catching up on old times?” Gabriel’s facial expression read: what’s up with that?

  Sighing, I said, “Old times are over. I’d rather not think about them.” I fibbed to him, soon after realizing that he was the only one who could tell if I was lying or not.

  If I would have remembered the slight fact that he could read my mind, I would have…well, no. I would have said the exact same thing.

  “Liar,” he smiled as his blue eyes gazed down at me. “But you’re right. The old times are over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be nostalgic every now and then. Sometimes it’s good to think of the past. Getting over it makes you stronger.”

  “When did this turn into a lecture?” I asked, being completely serious.

  Gabriel was also completely serious when he said, “Somewhere between being shocked that you’re cleaning and the fact you’re not downstairs with Koath, the man you’ve hardly seen the past few days. And before that, you haven’t seen him for years.”

  “I am aware that I haven’t seen him,” I said.

  “Oh, really? Good, because for a moment there, I thought you weren’t,” Gabriel mocked me.

  Crossing my arms, I bit my lip. “All jokes aside…Koath has Max now. He’s someone else’s Guardian.”

  The blonde’s eyebrows rose. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of that nerd.”

  “Have I ever told you that you’re a jerk?” I asked, wondering why I thought Gabriel would be the comforting one for once.

  “Yes.”

  “An idiot?”

  “You bet.”

  “Really weird?”

  “Oh, yeah. Lots of times.”

  “Sweet. Looks like I’ve got myself covered, then.” I began walking out of my room, followed shortly by Gabriel, who was on my heel like a small dog.

  “Yeah, you’re covered. I really wish you weren’t, though.”

  A swift smack landed on his back as we headed down the staircase. “If you see me naked,” I pointed to myself and paused, “it will be the last thing you see. I’ll make sure of that.”

  “As long as you’re naked when you’re killing me, I wouldn’t mind. Plus, I’d die a happy man,” Gabriel spoke with a sloppy grin as we entered the living room.

  Michael blinked at us from underneath his small-rimmed glasses. “What are you two talking about?”

  After dinner, it turned into an odd night.

  I sat at home, with Michael—not right with Michael, though. He was upstairs in his library, no doubt reading up on something. I sat in the living room watching TV, while Gabriel and Max were out making the rounds. I’d never been told to just sit at home and do nothing before.

  Every night for the past forever I walked side by side with Gabriel. Well, except for that one time the Hyena Demon wanted me as his sacrifice so Osiris’s darkness could inhabit me. That night and day I stayed home alone, much to my irritation.

  My mind wandered to Raphael and the fact that he lied. Soon I was on my feet, running up the stairs to Michael.

  “Michael, I have a question,” I told him as I swiftly entered his library. He was in a leather sofa with a gigantic book in his lap.

  He looked at me, startled by my sudden appearance. Once he came to his senses, he replied, “Whatever it is, my answer is no.”

  “What?” I said. “What do you mean, no? My question isn’t a yes or no kind of question.”

  “Can it wait? I’m right in the middle of reading up on—”

  I cut in, “Do you know anything about Crixis?”

  Michael’s eyebrows went together. “Crixis? The greater Vampire?”

  I waited a second before saying “Is there another Crixis?”

  The book closed abruptly. Michael fixed his glasses. “Why the unexpected curiosity about Crixis? And how do you even know his name?”

  I came up with a lie right away, “Raphael’s lesson included his name, and I’m just interested in hearing more.” Even I believed that lie, and I was the one who came up with it.

  “And why didn
’t you ask Raphael more about him? Why wait to ask me?”

  My inner brown-noser perked up. “Because I figured you would know more about him than Raphael.”

  Michael seemed to buy it, for he set the book down on the small table next to the sofa and said, “Crixis was a terror upon anyone he met, before and after he was turned. Before he became a Demon, he slaughtered hundreds in the name of glory. After, he was worse. Much worse. You see, when Vampires—Daywalkers, as you and Gabriel call them—were made, when the secret of killing one’s soul and giving it to the darkness was known, their human personality multiplies tenfold. Say you were borderline genius. After becoming a Daywalker, you’d be the smartest person to ever walk this world.”

  He shifted his weight and crossed his legs. “If you were a lady, after getting over the bloodrush, you’d revert back to your normal self.”

  “The bloodrush?” I asked, my raging curiosity forcing me to do it. From what I understood, Nightwalkers were in a permanent state of it. It had to be different for Daywalkers.

  “The bloodrush is what you feel after being turned.” Michael paused before continuing, “Normally greater Vampires go through similar bloodrushes. They feel the need to kill and feed, otherwise they’d go crazy. Sometimes the bloodrush lasts for only a few days, other times it may last for decades. Even centuries.”

  I bit my lip. “Could it last for thousands of years?”

  “I don’t believe so. The longest recorded case was three hundred and fifty-six years. Normally, if it lasts longer than a few years, the Council catches onto them and sends some Agents to take care of them.”

  “But,” I began, “how do they take care of them? You can’t kill a Daywalker with a stake to the heart.”

  Michael nodded. “You are right. The Council…uses atypical methods to purify them. Normally those atypical methods involve specially trained assassins who take care of them.”

  “Assassins?”