The vampire smiled. “You will be.”
With that, the vampire vanished. He didn’t hide in the shadows like Lucius. He just disappeared, like he teleported or something.
Before I could fully comprehend what happened, the vampire appeared behind me, grabbed me by the neck, and slammed me down onto the floor. I gasped in surprise before his grip tightened around my neck, cutting off my air.
“Just as I thought,” said the vampire in my ear, his voice cold and deathlike, “you’re still about as competent as a Newborn. Having all that half-vampire power of yours is useless without knowing how to use it, after all.”
I gritted my teeth and tried to slash at him, but my arm was at a strange angle and I couldn’t hit him. Though I was incredibly strong due to my half-vampire nature, this guy was still much stronger than me physically. He was probably trying to knock me out, rather than kill me outright, but that wasn’t much of a comfort given how he wanted to deliver me to his master. Yet I wasn’t strong enough to throw his entire bulk off me the way that Lucius would if he was in my situation.
But unlike Lucius, I had a few tricks up my sleeve that no vampire did. I closed my eyes and quickly drew upon my magical power, trying to summon my fireball again. I felt the heat rise from within me and into my hand, and with a yell, I launched a fireball from the palm of my hand at the vampire.
The fireball struck the vampire in the chest, making him shriek in pain and jump off me. I immediately scrambled to my feet, while the vampire staggered away from me, clutching his now-burning chest with both hands.
“Damn it,” said the vampire, his voice full of pain. “That was a fireball spell. How—”
I smirked. “Half-vampire, remember? That means I can use human magic, too.”
I threw another fireball at the vampire, but he ducked at the last second and the fireball struck the box of books behind him. The box immediately burst into flames, which started to quickly spread onto the other boxes and wooden furniture in the basement.
“Uh oh,” I said as the flame in my hands died off. “That’s not—”
The vampire stood up and jumped at me again, but I dove underneath him and rolled away. I stopped on the other side of the basement near Dad’s unconscious form, while the vampire turned around to face me again, but had to put a hand over his eyes to protect them from the glow of the ever-brightening fire.
“Was this your plan all along, half-vampire?” said the vampire with a sneer. “Set this basement on fire in order to blind and perhaps burn me? Or are you just that clumsy?”
The light from the fire was starting to hurt my eyes, too, but I didn’t dare look away from the vampire for fear that he might attack me. “Actually, I was just trying to give you a hint of what hell will be like, because that’s where you’re going once I’m done with you.”
As surprisingly cool as that sounded, I really wasn’t sure I would actually kill him. The fire in the basement was rapidly spreading, and if I didn’t get out of here quick, all three of us would be burned to death. Even before the fires engulfed us, we would have to deal with the smoke, which was already starting to get bad. The vampire and I might be able to handle the smoke, but I knew Dad wouldn’t. Right now Dad was as far from the fire as you could be down here in the basement, but that would change quickly, so I needed to get Dad out of here as fast as I could.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think the vampire would let me go. He seemed determined to bring me to Lord Taranas, even if that meant risking his own life to do so. It would have been admirable if I hadn’t known that Hordelings generally do not think and are mostly the mindless slaves of their creators.
I had to end this fight, and fast. Yet the vampire was clearly faster and stronger than me. I had magic, true, but given how I had been the one to start this fire, I didn’t feel safe trying to throw another fireball again. I would need to try something else.
My hand fell on Domination’s hilt and I remembered that the sword was still sheathed by my side. The vampire didn’t know what Domination was. Most likely, he thought it was just an ordinary sword, but even if he knew that its blade was made of silver, he was probably confident that I couldn’t draw it fast enough to kill him. And that might very well be true, because unlike my magic, I hadn’t taken even one sword lesson yet.
But at this point, I was out of options. I would have to try to use Domination, regardless of my lack of experience. It was my only choice.
I stepped forward and gestured for the vampire to attack me. “Come and get me, then. Or are you afraid of getting burned again?”
The vampire sneered. “I’m afraid of very little, girl, but unlike you, my lack of fear isn’t mere bravado. Lord Taranas chose me because my bravery is real, honed from years of service to him. And all of those years Lord Taranas invested in me are about to pay off today.”
With a hiss, the vampire rushed toward me. He was probably moving too fast for the average human eye to follow, but being a half-vampire, I could follow his movements easily. I tightened my grip on Domination’s handle, ready to draw its blade at just the right moment, but I would have to be careful, because if I pulled too early, then the vampire would have enough time to dodge. If I pulled too late, then I wouldn’t be able to hit him. I had to time it just right, because I definitely wasn’t going to get any do-overs.
The vampire leaped toward me, hissing and snarling. With a yell, I drew Domination from its sheath and stabbed the sword into the vampire’s chest.
The vampire’s eyes widened, but the momentum of his jump still knocked us both down. He landed right on top of me and for a moment I struggled to push him off, thinking he was going to start strangling or biting or clawing at me.
But then I realized that the vampire had gone limp on top of me and that Domination was still jabbed straight through his chest. And that meant that he was dead, which meant that my gambit had paid off.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
That thought normally would have filled me with joy or at least relief that the fight was over and that I had won, but the roar of flames reminded me that I still had bigger problems to deal with. With some effort, I shoved the dead vampire off me, leaving Domination stuck in his chest, and sat up to get a better look at the basement.
The fire had consumed nearly the entire place now. A good chunk of the boxes full of books were burning brightly, while grandpa’s old rocking chair had flames dancing all over it. The smoke was intense, covering most of the basement and making it hard to see anything. The smoke smelled disgusting, but oddly enough I could still breathe. Maybe being a half-vampire meant I didn’t need air like a human.
In any case, Dad was still a normal human, even if one who could use magic, and if I didn’t get him out of here fast, he would suffocate from the smoke. And even if I couldn’t suffocate, I could still be burned to death.
“Dad, wake up,” I said, pushing his shoulders. “Come on, wake up, the basement’s on fire and you’re going to die if you don’t wake up!”
But Dad didn’t even stir. Being hit point blank with a small explosion and sent falling down a staircase was probably too much for a man his age. That meant I’d have to drag him out of the basement myself.
I grabbed Dad by the shoulders and started to drag him up the stairs. He was lighter than I thought, though it was probably due to the fact that I was a lot stronger ever since becoming a half-vampire. For the first time since becoming a half-vampire, I was grateful for it, though I couldn’t be too grateful because I was the one who had been stupid enough to cause this fire in the first place.
Before I could get very far up the steps, however, an explosion ripped through the smoke and flames and sent a large chunk of debris flying toward us. I ducked at the last second and the burning debris crashed into the stairs ahead of me, leaving a burning piece of wreckage in my path that was almost as tall as me. I realized that the explosion I heard must have been the fire getting to the house’s gas, but I pushed that out of my mind for now in order to
focus on getting out of this situation alive.
Letting go of Dad, I desperately tried to move the debris out of the way, but the fire burned my hands and the light from the flames around me was so bright that I had to cover my eyes to avoid getting blinded. The light from the flames probably wouldn’t have bothered me under normal circumstances, but being half-vampire meant I was more sensitive to intense light than I normally was. I knelt down on the stairs next to Dad, who still hadn’t stirred even one inch, as the flames crackled and roared below and the smoke grew thicker and thicker.
Damn it. I couldn’t see, everything was on fire, and Dad was still unconscious. At this rate, Dad and I would soon join the vampire I killed, although hopefully we would both go to heaven rather than hell, because the basement was already doing a pretty good impression of what I imagined hell was like. I might have been able to save myself if I really pushed, but there was no way I could save Dad at the same time and I definitely wasn’t going to leave him behind, either.
But what else could I do? I didn’t want to die and I didn’t want Dad to die, either, yet this seemed to be the fate in store for both of us. Too hot, too bright, too slow … this was exactly the sort of trap I would set for a vampire if I was going to do that and it was all my fault.
So I did the one thing I always did whenever I found myself in such a dire situation: I prayed to God for deliverance. Dad always scolded me about praying to God only when I was in trouble, which was something I tried to balance out by praying to God whenever things were going good for me as well, but now I didn’t care how selfish I appeared. I just cried out to the Lord, asking him to save me if it was his will. At the very least, if he couldn’t save a creature like myself that might be beyond even his grace, I prayed that he would save Dad, who was one of his ministers and deserved to live even if I didn’t.
But I didn’t know if God was listening. I was a half-vampire, after all, and, while my status was theologically unknown, I was pretty sure that God didn’t listen to creatures born of evil like myself. I just prayed that God would listen to me anyway, for Dad’s sake if not my own, but deep down I didn’t feel God’s presence and I wasn’t sure that I even could feel it if I wanted.
My prayer was interrupted by another blast below, which sent more smoke coming our way. I ripped off my shirt sleeve and used it to cover Dad’s mouth and nose, but I knew that was only delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later—likely sooner—the smoke would choke him to death and the flames would burn me to a crisp. I just hoped that one of Dad’s neighbors would notice the fire and call the fire department before it was too late. Perhaps they would be able to save at least some of Dad’s possessions so my screw up wouldn’t be as damaging as it could be.
But then I heard movement above and looked up to the exit. Though the smoke and flames made it hard to tell, I thought I saw someone standing in the doorway, though I couldn’t tell who it was. Had one of Dad’s neighbors noticed the flames and come running inside to save us?
The person rushed down the steps toward me. They smashed aside the burning debris between us and the door and stopped in front of me and Dad. The person wore a bandanna around their mouth and sunglasses over their eyes, but somehow I felt like I could trust him.
Without saying a word, the guy grabbed me and Dad and dragged us both up the stairs with surprising strength. Soon all three of us were out in the hallway, but our savior didn’t stop there. He dragged us out of the hallway and toward the back door, which he kicked open with one foot, and tossed both of us out into the backyard. Dad and I landed on the soft, still slightly dewy grass and I immediately inhaled the clear, smoke-free air.
“Oh my god,” I said, panting hard as I tried to breathe in as much of the good air as I could. I looked up at the guy who had saved us. “Thanks. But who are—”
The man raised his sunglasses just high enough for me to see two familiar red eyes. “Tara, it seems like every time I leave you alone for even one minute, you end up getting yourself in trouble. I’m starting to think you’re intentionally doing it in order to get my attention.”
I gasped in delight. “Lucius? Is that you? You look different.”
Lucius lowered the sunglasses over his eyes again. “I have to wear this get up whenever I’m in the human world, because I don’t want to draw attention to my vampiric features. It also helped protect my eyes and skin from the fire.”
I nodded, but then looked back at the house. The fire was still mostly confined to the basement, from what I could tell, but already I was seeing the smoke rising from the windows on the bottom of the house and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the flames engulfed the entire building.
I looked up at Lucius. “Lucius, we need to call the fire department before the house burns down.”
“I was going to ask about that,” said Lucius. “What started the fire? It wasn’t you, was it?”
I was about to tell him it was none of his business before the back door burst open again. A man on fire burst out of the house, screaming in agony as the flames ate away at his skin and clothing, holding a silver sword in his hands. I recognized him as the vampire I’d killed earlier, or at least thought I killed, yet somehow he had managed to get Domination out of his chest and escape from the basement after me.
“Who is that?” said Lucius in bewilderment at the flaming vampire standing on the back porch.
“One of Lord Taranas’ minions sent to capture me,” I said. “I thought I killed him, but—”
“You!” screamed the burning vampire, his voice distorted by the flames running over his body. He tossed Domination aside and raised his hands. “You bitch! I’m going to rip your head off your shoulders and present it to Lord Taranas as a gift!”
With a deeply inhuman roar, the burning vampire’s form started to change. Giant wings burst from his back, which immediately caught fire like every other part of his body. His body began to grow and expand, bursting apart the human clothing he wore, but it didn’t matter because thick fur started to appear over his pale skin, until soon we found ourselves face to face with what could best be described as a giant, flaming bat.
The fire bat flew toward us, screeching the entire time. It smacked Lucius with one of its wings, sending him flying into a nearby tree, which he crashed into hard enough to nearly topple it. The bat then struck me with another wing, sending me sprawling across the lawn until I crashed into Dad’s car, which was parked in the driveway behind the house. Dazed from the blow, I nonetheless raised my head in time to see the bat land in front of me and cover me with its huge wings, making escape impossible. The heat from its wings made my skin hiss and burn, not helped by the fact that the morning sun was high in the sky now.
“Lord Taranas will just have to forgive me for killing you,” said the bat with the most inhuman voice I’d ever heard in a vampire. “He can always start again with a new half-vampire elsewhere, if he has to. And if he is upset with me, then I will take it, assuming I survive long enough to see him again.”
I said nothing, because I was covering my eyes with my hands and I was overwhelmed with pain from the fire and light. I felt like I was lying inside an oven whose heat was turned up all the way. I wanted to fight back, but I was in too much pain to throw a punch, much less conjure a spell that I could use to beat him back.
The bat opened its mouth, revealing long, sharp fangs the size of butcher knives. But before it could bite me, the silver tip of Domination burst through the back of its head, causing it to choke briefly before the sword was ripped out. In the next instant, Domination tore through the bat’s neck, causing its head to fall off its body and land on the ground in front of me. The rest of the bat’s body also collapsed into a burning, stinky heap of rotting flesh, which rapidly started to turn into dust even as I watched.
But my attention was more on the man who stood on the rapidly degrading vampire body rather than the corpse itself. It was Dad, wielding Domination in both hands, panting and sweating like crazy, his glasses a
skew on his face and the sleeves on his shirt ripped and burnt at the edges.
“Dad?” I said, lowering my hands to look at him. “Are you okay?”
Dad nodded, but it was a very shaky nod. “I’m f-fine, Tara. I—”
All of a sudden, Dad’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell forward onto the dusty remains of the giant bat, Domination falling to the ground beside him in the process.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Luckily for us, one of Dad’s neighbors—Mr. Tumlinson, who didn’t go to our church but who I had known for most of my life due to living next door to Dad’s house—had seen the smoke and called the South Side Volunteer Fire Department as soon as he realized something was wrong. The fire truck came not less than fifteen minutes later and the brave volunteer firefighters put out the fire before it got too out of control. As a result, they managed to save most of the house, though the basement was practically destroyed and I didn’t want to think about how much it would cost to clean and repair all of the damage caused by the flames.
As for Dad, the fire fighters took him to the hospital as soon as they saw the condition in which he was in. I went along with them, partly because I suffered from a few burns myself, but also because I didn’t want to let Dad out of my sight.
A couple of hours later, I sat in Dad’s hospital room, looking at him as he lay sleeping in his hospital bed. The doctor who worked on him said that Dad’s burns, while bad, weren’t lethal and that he would be fine as long as he took the right medicine and rested, though he was going to have to stay in the hospital for a while until they could be sure that he was going to be okay. In particular, they wanted to monitor his lungs, because they thought he had inhaled a lot of smoke and wanted to make sure that the smoke hadn’t left any lasting damage on his lungs.
The fire fighters asked me a lot of questions about the fire and I told them that it was caused by a gas leak in the basement, which I figured was the only explanation I could give them that wouldn’t blow the Secrecy Pact wide open. They didn’t seem entirely convinced about it, but I put on a good show of acting like I was too traumatized by the flames to remember every little detail, so they left me at the hospital for my wounds to be treated while they took care of the fire. They also left Domination with me, because I explained that it was an important family heirloom that I had managed to get out of the basement before the fire got to it and that I didn’t want it to leave my sight. Again, they seemed slightly skeptical about that claim, but luckily, they didn’t question it.
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