by Nicole Rae
“They do appear to have special abilities that make them stronger. Though they seem to be gifted to the species as a whole, not by individual.” He rifled through papers on his meticulously organized desk. “You will find that this world isn’t what you are brought up to believe. The term supernatural,isn’t just for books, legends and myths.” He raised a thick brow at her. “In fact, there are even humans that are gifted with certain abilities that most aren’t even aware of. Some of those gifts would tremendously aid in our efforts. Unfortunately, we are strictly forbidden from revealing our true identities to humans. I suppose it’s a sort of conundrum.”
Alexander seemed to be trying to convey a message to Emily. The trouble was, she had no idea what he was trying to say. It made sense to her that the whole under world couldn’t be revealed. It would omit panic and chaos amongst the humans. That would definitely not be a good thing.
It did put her in quite the predicament though. Not telling humans meant not telling Sam, or even Lucy. How could she possibly keep such a big secret to herself? Wouldn’t they notice something was off about her? Well, if she was ever able to return, that is.And if she couldn’t return, what would that be like? Emily couldn’t imagine a life without Lucy in it. There had to be a loophole to the rule, and she would find it. She had to find it. “I understand Alexander. That does make sense.” The Lucy problem would have to be solved later.
Apparently satisfied with her answer, he moved on to another topic. “I have already sensed some of your gifts. Can you tell me what you have been noticing?I don’t mean to be intrusive. It’s just that it’s necessary information. I hope you understand.”
Emily took a deep breath to dive in and was cut off short. Something vibrated in Alexander’s pocket, instantly grabbing his attention. “Is everything okay?”
Alexander gave her an apologetic smile and reached for the interruption in his pocket. It looked like a pager of some kind. It had more buttons though, and continued to vibrate until he pushed something on its side. “I’m very sorry, but I need to check this. It’s the…” His explanation was lost as he looked at a display screen. He blanched and his face went very pale. Suddenly, his fingers were in motion jabbing at several buttons at once.
Alexander?” Emily asked perplexed by his shift in mood.
His head shot up as though he had forgotten she was even there. “Emily… I’m terribly sorry.I’m going to have to cut our conversation short.” He looked regretful but only for a moment. After that he was all business. “Will you please go to my office? I’m calling the others there as well.” He turned his body in dismissal.
That was bad. Something big was happening. Whatever it was, had been so bad that Alexander wanted everyone in the office at the same time. She didn’t argue with Alexander, instead she just set off towards the direction of the meeting place.
CHAPTER 22 Of course, Sebastian was already waiting when she got there. He probably had done that weird teleport thing. That was going to take some getting used to, that was for sure. If it wasn’t for the situation going on, she would have loved to give him crap about it. She would say something like… beam me up Scotty. That was childish Emily knew, yet she still got a secret thrill out of what his face would have looked like when she said it. Her dorkness helped ease her tension over whatever was about to happen.
As her mind wandered, others started entering the room. Kyle stalked meaningfully toward Sebastian. Oh goody, Emily thought dryly. Ivy trailed in after Kyle, even better. Her piercing blue eyes instantly found Emily’s, and narrowed.
“Isn’t it past her bedtime?” Ivy a sked her voice dripping with acid as per usual.
“What’s going on Bass?” Kyle spoke as though he hadn’t heard Ivy’s remark at all.
Ivy glowered at him, but otherwise said nothing. Clearly being ignored wasn’t something the other girl was used to. Ivy marched over to one of the arm chairs by the fire place and flopped down. Her face quickly transformed to a slow languid smile as she gazed up at Sebastian.
Was that supposed to be seductive? Emily thought she just looked like a cat ready to pounce. Maybe that was the point though. Sickeningly, it was true that some guys went for that sort of thing, even though it was disgusting.
“Kyle, I got the same message you did,” Sebastian replied frustrated. “I know as much as you do.”
Kyle matched Sebastian’s tone easily. “Well it must be big if he summoned all of us in the middle of the night.”
“Just wait and see. I’m sure Alexander will be here soon to explain.” Sebastian’s eyes fell back on the flames in the fire place.
Ivy licked her lips considering. “Where’s the new guy? I haven’t met him yet.” There was a heavy emphasis on the word yet. When Ivy said it, she gave Emily a meaningful look.
“I’m not sure.” Emily replied noncommittally. “When I left his room earlier he was pretty tired…” Emily trailed off letting her words hang in the air. She only said it because she knew the image it would conjure for the other girl. She and Tyler had only in fact been talking,but her enemy didn’t need to know that information. The satisfaction in watching Ivy’s expression falter was too good to resist.
Sebastian’s head snapped up and his eyes locked on her. His expression was hard and made Emily uneasy. Why was he looking at her like that? He clearly didn’t think of her in that way anyway, so what did it matter? If looks could kill though, Emily would have been six feet under. Sebastian swiftly hid his reaction, but not before Emily had a chance to catalogue it for later reference.
Tyler burst into the room like his butt was on fire. He was still putting his head through his shirt as he entered. Emily got a peak at his wash board stomach and definitely liked the view. They may have been just friends, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the merchandise. She snuck a glance at ivy and saw the other girl was equally appreciative. Stupid Cow.
“So nice of you to grace us with your presence.” Sebastian’s words were clipped, and his face was like stone. “Maybe if you weren’t so exhausted from your bedroom acrobatics, you would have been here sooner.” His implication was thick and he darted a glance at Emily, before returning his flame eyed gaze on Tyler.
Emily gasped. Even for Sebastian, that was too far. She couldn’t believe he had said such a thing.
Ivy and Kyle chortled.
“Huh?” Tyler was confused, and rightfully so. He looked as though he had walked in late to class, only to find there was a quiz on the menu that he hadn’t studied for.
Emily was saved the embarrassment of having her lie discovered, by Alexander strolling into the room. He headed straight for his desk where he promptly took a seat. The entire room silenced like a classroom full of students, who just realized their teacher had eyes in the back of her head.
“I’m glad you are all here.” He said it as though he hadn’t just summoned them all.
“What’s up Alex?” Kyle said.
“We don’t have a lot of time, so your attention is imperative. Casey has reported in. There’s been an incident.”
Ivy uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “What now?”
“Casey overheard one of their conversations. They are displeased with the earlier events of this evening.They’ve decided to take action sooner than expected.” Alexander looked weary. His forehead was lined with stress.
Emily couldn’t hold herself back any longer. “What does that mean?” She began playing with her fingers, as she always did when she was nervous.
“This doesn’t involve you little girl!” Ivy exploded. “Just sit there and look not pretty.”
“Ivy,” Alexander said reproachfully. “This is neither the time nor place for your menial vendettas.”
Ivy actually looked stunned by that. She probably didn’t get corrected much.
Serves her right, Emily thought smugly.
Alexander continued. “They’ve taken several humans into their lair. Casey heard them speak of turning the humans, and using them agains
t us.”
Turning the humans? What did that mean? As soon as the question formed its thought bubble, she understood. The vampires were planning to make more vampires. This really was bad.
The room immediately erupted into a bustle of activity. Everyone was talking at the same time, making preparations for the coming battle. Tyler looked over at her with an odd expression. It was fear, mixed with determination.
Alexander spoke halting allplans. “I’ll of course need all of you for this. There will be too many vampires and humans to just send the usual. I muststay here and tend to Miss Thomas.” He looked sorry for this, but resigned.
“No problem. We can handle it,” replied Sebastian firmly.
It seemed strange to Emily that Alexander would even consider going along. He was a retired slayer, who had begun aging again. Didn’t that mean he couldn’t fight? She made a mental note to ask, when it was a more appropriate time and place. Either way, if he had thought about going, whatever was going on must have been epic.
Alexander nodded gravely. “Well children, you better head out. Casey will be needing assistance.” The older man seemed to be battling within himself as everyone left the room.
Emily waited until they were all gone and said, “Alexander?” She raised a hand to place on his shoulder but dropped it. He wasn’t an intimidating person at all. Just then however, he didn’t look like he was in a touchy feely sort of mood.
Alexander smiled weakly at her. “I’m alright child. I’m just worried about you all. I regret having to stay behind. I just have a bad feeling about this. Do you understand?”
She thought she did actually. “Do you mean like a cramp, or gas bubble?” Oh my God! Gas bubble? She did not just say that, did she? Her face grew hot with instant mortification.
Alexander’s smile grew,but it didn’t touch his eyes. “Yes Miss Emily,exactly like that.” He shook his head. “I guess I never really thought about it like that.”
“Sorry,” Emily mumbled, still embarrassed. At that moment, she would have liked nothing more than to crawl in a hole.
He waved a hand at her in dismissal. “No need I assure you. As I was saying, my feeling tells me something bad is going to happen. It makes the prospect of staying at the compound much less appealing. We should have planned better. Casey should have never been left there alone. I should have known they’d be out for vengeance after one of their own was killed and another severely wounded.”
Emily sucked in a breath, but was brought up short.
“No no child,it’s not your fault. It had to be done,” Alexander soothed. “Go now. Your brothers and sister will be departing soon.”
“Yes sir… I mean Alexander,” Emily corrected. Without another word, she left to find the others.
The prospect that Alexander shared in her ridiculous stomach alarm system problem, was kind of a comfort. It was nice toknow she wasn’t the only strange one. If they had that in common, did they have anything else? If so, what did that mean?
CHAPTER 23 Sebastian explained that he could take people with him on his Star Trek adventures. All he has to do is simply touch them at the time he moves from one place to another. Apparently the teleport thing worked for more than one person. Before Emily caught up with them, Tyler was quizzing Sebastian all about the mechanics of it. Somehow or another through that, they discovered that Ty could do it as well.
It really was an amazing and cool gift. Emily just liked to make fun of it because it was kind of fun to tease Sebastian. It wasn’t every day you met someone who could disappear and then reappear in an entirely different location. The whole thing fascinated Emily and she wanted desperately to know how it worked.
Tyler being able to teleport was a big deal. It meant they wouldn’t have to use their van. Yep, they had a van… an actual vehicle. Emily wondered why Sebastian had never used it for any of their travels. Also, now that she was thinking about it, why hadn’t he teleported them out of the alley earlier? That definitely would have made things easier. She was so going to have to ask him about that.
For the latest expedition, Sebastian could transport Emily as well as Kyle and Tyler could transport Ivy. Yuck. Emily really didn’t like that idea. She didn’t want Ivy to touch a single hair on Ty’s head. Whatever, she wasn’t going to whine about it. If she did, it would just prove to Ivy that she was immature.
The guys transported them a block away from the vamp’s house in an alley. Really? Emily was really starting to despise alleys. Couldn’t they have dropped them in a bush or something? Nothing good has ever happened in an alley, and she doubted that would be changing anytime soon.
It was still dark outside. Well, pitch black to be exact. Emily’s new heightened night vision senses were working in full affect already. That was something at least. She scanned every nook and cranny of the alley just in case. There were garbage cans and some old discarded appliances, but that seemed to be it.
The whole group seemed to be on high alert while they walked. Dressed all in black, they appeared like just a Goth gang of kids planning to terrorize the neighborhood. Thanks to the darkness, their gear and weapons were pretty well hidden, which was good. If there did happen to be anyone outside, they wouldn’t get freaked by the sight of the arsenal they were carrying. A frantic call to the police by a skittish neighborhood watch dog, would be the last thing they needed.
The temperature was chilly, which added to the malevolence of the evening. Emily felt like an extra in a bad horror flick. Was there a rule somewhere that scary situations had to take place in the cold? Didn’t anything ever go wrong in the desert? If not, she planned to add Arizona to her list of places she wanted to move, as soon as this was all over.
Emily had been given another knife and her silver powder had been replenished. Kyle thought she might be good with a crossbow. He tried to give her a brief rundown on the proper use of the awkward contraption. That sowasn’t going to happen, Emily passed on that one. Sure, she evidently had some kind of a gift with the dagger, and the silver powder was easy enough. A crossbow on her first day, seemed like pushing it just a little too far.
Just like earlier, there wasn’t anyone out on the streets. Curtains were closed and even most of the porch lights were off. In the distance, Emily could still hear the thudding base from that party. Huh, they were really going for it tonight. After all, it was two thirty in the morning and they were still going strong. They must not have gotten the memo that the undead were in town for a visit. The thought of a hungry vampire crashing the party made Emily’s whole body shudder. That would be a blood bath none of the party goers would have a chance to escape.
The group slowed as they neared the dark house at the center of the cul-de-sac. All looked quiet to Emily. The curtains were drawn so tightly,you couldn’t see a sliver of light from the inside. Of course, Emily’s opinion didn’t count for a whole lot, since she had no idea what she was doing, or what she was looking for.
Even with her insecurities, Emily felt like a live wire. Her body seemed more alive than it ever had before in her entire life. Some part of her knew that if she tried, she could jump higher and move faster and quieter than sheever imagined. That didn’t mean much though since the fear and paranoia still ran cold in her veins. Despite her apparent instinctual talents, she had no official training whatsoever. Hopefully, whatever happened wouldn’t be that bad, otherwise her inadequacies would be discovered.
“Look,” said Sebastian as he pointed to the house next door to the vamps.
Immediately when Emily trained her vision to the spot he had indicated, she saw that the windows were boarded up with wood that had been tagged by graffiti. Surprisingly, the vandalism was kind of pretty, in a creepy sort of way. The window on the left side had what looked like blue flames licking up the side of the board. Coming out of the flames, was a multicolored dragon. The window on the right also had the blue fire. Instead of a dragon, this one had brightly colored flowers. The two different designs were a startling contrast with one
another. As if representing, the struggle between what was evil and pure.
The door of the house was leftwide open. That couldn’t be good. Note to self… don’t enter the old abandoned house… ever. Maybe the vamps were using it for something. It seemed logical. Plus, they wouldn’t care if the door was left hanging open. They were the boogie men after all.
Sebastian motioned for them to move toward the empty house. Kyle and Ivy headed around back wordlessly. Even without training, Emily knew what they were doing. If they blocked both openings, it would make it harder for any monsters to escape and get the drop on them.
Tyler appeared to be ready, even through his definite apprehension. Emily couldn’t blame him one bit. Her fight or flight mechanism was screaming for her to run and hide. Another part of her seemed to be hungry for the action. She would be lying if she said she didn’t want to kill those vampires. They were hurting people and they had tried to hurt her. That wasn’t okay and they had to be stopped.
Sebastian came closer to them and whispered. “We’ll take the front. I’ll go first.” He paused to give Tyler a meaningful look. “I want you at the rear. Emily needs to be in the middle until we can assess the situation in the house.”
Tyler nodded solemnly.
Sebastian continued, “Casey is more than likely standing watch over the vamps house. Until we know what’s going on in this one, I want both of you with me.” He didn’t give either of them a chance to say anything. Within a second, he was gliding towards the house in a crouch, ready to spring at any given moment.
Tyler put an encouraging hand on Emily’s shoulder. He nudged her slightly, coaxing her to move forward. She silently obeyed and willed herself to be brave as she moved. She couldn’t see Tyler, but she felt him ghosting behind her guarding her back.
As she passed through the threshold of the house, her senses were overtaken with a rancid smell that made her nose wrinkle. It wasn’t easy to place though. It smelled like copper, trash and mold all rolled into one. It was absolutely terrible and she had to swallow back the vomit that threatened to surface. Aside from the smell, there was no noise or anyone in sight in the vacant home’s small living room. It was evident that the homeless had turned this into their stomping ground. There was no visible sign that they had been there recently, which made Emily nervous. Did the nasty vampires eat them? Emily hoped not, no one deserved that.