The door to my personal prison slams open, and a man that I have never seen before enters the room. If I had to sum his appearance up in one word it would be regal. Everything about this man is polished and refined. He is tall with perfect posture. His perfectly pressed black suite screams success, and it definitely does not fit the dingy environment. He has a flawless ivory complexion, and eyes as dark as midnight. His hair is a shade lighter than his eyes, and is pulled back into a low ponytail. He appears young, but something tells me that he is far from it. He has a smile present on his face. The tight set of his strong jaw says that it is forced.
“Sorry for the accommodations child, but it is necessary. Once your will is broken I will upgrade you to a much more comfortable room.”
I send him my best go screw yourself look. “Go to hell. I will never break, no matter what you do to me.” He answers my sarcasm by tugging on my chain, causing my ankle to scream in protest.
“Funny, your mommy said the same thing eighteen years ago, but like all the others she eventually broke. Everyone has a breaking point Ridley, some just require more force than others.”
I cringe because he is right. I will eventually break in this damp hell. I don’t know how long I can live without Tristan. How long I will want to? He seems to read my mind, which scares me. The enemy having access to your thoughts is never good.
“I know about your little condition. Do not fear, your love will join us shortly. I will keep him close enough to make your pain bearable, but far enough away to keep you weak.”
Tristan will come for me. I know that. In my quest to save my mom I have placed him right where they wanted him. I want him to save me, but I don’t want him walking into a trap. I have to warn him. I reach for him through our connection, frustrated when I find nothing. The man laughs.
“Your connection will not work here. We are too far away, and the cell is magically protected. You also will not be able to flash or use your powers in any way. So don’t bother trying. It will only tire you. You belong to my son now Ridley. The sooner you accept that, the better.”
Wait a minute? His son? Then that must mean he is….
“Nicholas, I presume.”
“The one and only child. I have waited eighteen years for this day. I must give your mother credit. She hid you well. Derek and I searched for years before we were finally able to reach you in your dreams. I wanted to visit you there, but my son is greedy. Now that I see your beauty first hand, I can see why he wanted to keep you all to himself. He never did like to share.”
Well hell, this is just getting better and better. I may be a lot of things: trapped, hurt, scared, angry, and doomed but there is one thing that I will never be.
Derek’s.
I really want to tell the smug bastard just that, but mama didn’t raise a fool. I know that there are times in life when you just shouldn’t speak, and this is one of those times. I change the subject instead. Maybe, just maybe, I can get some answers.
“He fed me his blood last night. Why?”
I don’t think I will ever truly get that repulsive taste out of the back of my throat. Nicholas walks casually over to the mattress lying in the middle of my cell and sits down. It is strange seeing someone so nicely dressed sitting in such filth. It doesn’t seem to faze him though. The man is probably use to all kinds of nasty.
He shrugs. “Simple. If you ingest enough of his blood, then over time your Lamont blood will be filtered out and replaced. We are vampires Ridley, and soon you will be as well. You see he needs a mate that is his equal; someone powerful enough to create my army. That’s where you come in.” I shiver at the thought of being his mate.
“Well newsflash. I already have a mate. If you don’t let me go, he will come for me. He will kill you. Both of you.” I spit at him. Note to self. Threating the big vampire while chained and defenseless is a bad idea. Case and point, he is on me before I even have a chance to react.
“He will try,” he says before his fist connects with my jaw. My head whips back at his assault, blood filling my mouth. He inhales deeply before forcing his lips on mine. I force back the urge to vomit on him as his tongue laps up the blood from my now split lip.
“You might belong to my son, but make no mistake. I take what I want. Just because Derek doesn’t want to share, does not mean that I won’t have a taste when I please. You should be happy it is him and not I that you belong to. He actually does love you. So, unless you want me to kill everyone you have ever loved and make you watch, behave. I will kill them and enjoy it, and then you will still be his. You are so much like your mother; so brave yet so selfless. You will do as I say just like she did. You will do it not for yourself, but for the ones you love. It is your weakness my dear.”
I fight the urge to cry. “My mother? What did you do to her?” He has mentioned my mom several times.
“Why don’t you see for yourself,” he says with a smirk. Then thankfully he stands and leaves the room.
*****
~Tristan~
“Damnit! Why can’t I feel her?”
I am trying really hard not to lose my mind, but the fear of losing her is crippling me. I have faced countless demons, looked death in the eye hundreds of times, but nothing I have ever endured is worse than the possibility that she might be gone. That I might already be too late. It has been almost twenty four hours since her trace vanished, and with every minute that passes more and more of my sanity goes with it. Keep it together. She needs you.
“Tristan, I know you are worried, but I don’t believe that he wants to hurt her. He would have done that already. She is alive. He must be blocking your connection to her somehow.”
Tyler, always the rational one between the two of us, has been trying for hours to calm me down. I have successfully broken every piece of furniture in the house, but nothing has eased my rage. Sometimes when you are broken, it just helps to break shit. I slam my fist into the coffee table, un-caring as it shatters into tiny pieces. Just like my heart.
“Enough Tristan. Focus. This is not helping.”
I take a deep breath, bottling my rage for when I find Derek. Then, it will be him who shatters, and that…that will help. Tyler has a point. He is blocking our connection. He won’t kill her, not yet. That should ease my anxiety, but it only adds to it. I know that evil bastard well enough to know that the things he will do to her will be worse than death. Derek Knight thrives off of the pain of others, and his father, well, his father is much worse. From the stories that I have been told, Derek was not always such an evil soul. No one knows who he was before he became a vampire, but in the beginning Derek’s soul was pure. Nicholas changed that. After that his thirst for blood became legendary. He killed without conscious, without mercy. Playing with his victims for hours, sometimes days, before he granted them the release that death offers. I only pray that it is only Derek that my love is facing, but I am no fool. Where one is, the other is not far behind. I dig my nails into my hands, making them bleed. Just thinking about her scared and in pain is too much for me. I swear if they touch one hair on her beautiful head I will kill them.
Aiden and Ali enter the room carrying what looks to be a blue print. I force my thoughts to return to the present as they carefully unroll it.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“This, my man, is a layout of daddy dearest’s personal fortress. It seems king Nicholas has a compound about three hours from here. It is an underground bunker. He uses it when he is in the states. A source told me that he got wind that the prince and a few members of the vampire royal guard are there. I figure it’s worth a look.”
Something about this just seems too easy, and it does not help that the information is coming from Aiden. Normally I would listen to that little voice in the back of my head screaming that something was wrong, but not when it comes to her. When Ridley is involved, logic goes out the window. I would walk straight into hell to get her out. I know she can’t hear me, but I say it anyway.
&nbs
p; “I will always find you my love. No matter where you are. I will find you. I’m coming. My kohtalo, I’m coming!”
*****
~Ridley~
One thing is becoming increasingly clear to me. Nicholas plans to use my love for my family and Tristan to defeat me. He is right. We all have a weakness, and he knows mine. I would do anything, become anything to protect them. My loyalty to them is my saving grace and my bitter destruction. “No. He will not win.” I tug hard on my chain, struggling to get free. I pull until my ankle is nothing more than a bloody mess. I finally give up, realizing that it is no use. Defeated, I lay my cheek against the cold floor and cry. I cry for my mom, for Tristan, for Ali, and finally for myself. I am never going to get out of this room; not alive anyway. I don’t know how much time I spend drowning in self-pity, but it seems like an eternity. The loud clank of the metal door stops my pity party. I expect to see Nicholas, but instead my eyes land on a woman. She remains cloaked in the cover of darkness, her eyes fixed to the floor. She stalks closer to me, and I gasp when I see her face. It can’t be! It is impossible!
I have only ever seen her in pictures, but in reality she is more stunning. Her white blond hair cascades in waves to her shoulders. Her skin resembles that of a porcelain doll, flawless and youthful. She is tiny, probably no more than five foot three. Her head snaps up as her eyes find mine. That is when the realization of Nicholas’s words hit me. Her eyes are not that of a human, or even a Lamont. The bright green is ringed with a small rim of red. She smiles, showing her fangs and confirming my suspicions. Madison Lamont stands in front of me, but she is no longer the founder. She is a vampire, and judging by look on her face, a hungry one.
I shiver as she approaches. Not out of fear of her, but of what she represents. Nicholas was not lying when he said that he could make me like him, and she is the proof. I have spent my entire life praying that one day I would be able to see my mother again. I have lay awake countless nights hoping that one day fate would bring us together. Now that she is finally within an arm’s reach of me, I pray for the exact opposite. I don’t want her to be real, not if this is her reality.
I close my eyes as she draws closer to me, shocked when her cold hand gently touches my face. The nurturing caress causing me to look at her. Her eyes are sad, haunted even, like her soul has seen too much. It probably has.
“My sweet baby girl. I am sorry. I never wanted this for you. I tried to protect you.” The sorrow in her voice is almost palpable. Her voice is soft, and holds the emotion of love and regret. I am surprised at the comfort that her words provide me. I just assumed that vampires were not capable of love or compassion. The sincerity in her eyes proves me wrong. I suppress the tears as I lift myself up off of the floor.
“Then help me, please. Let me go!” I beg. She stiffens and shakes her head. Opening her mouth and closing it twice before finding her words.
“Listen. We don’t have much time. I cannot help you. He controls me. He controls us all. I am able to breakthrough at times, be the real me, but mostly I am just his walking puppet. Do not let what I am now, make you doubt the person who I have always been. I am your mother. I would pay any price to protect you. Even this one.”
What is she talking about ‘even this one’? Did she become a vampire to protect me?
She grabs my hand, worry masking her features. She bites her lip when she is nervous, just like me. So, that’s where I got that from.
“I can’t fight his control much longer, so listen carefully. Whatever you do, fight him. Do not give up. He can only turn you when your soul succumbs to darkness. Remember the light my angel. No matter how dark, or how hopeless, always remember your light.”
“What does that…..?”
My words are cut short as her icy hand circles my throat. It is like someone has possessed her right in front of me. One minute I am talking to my mother, and the next I am staring into the eyes of pure evil. Her loving gaze replaced by a murderous glare. The green in her eyes totally vanishes, leaving only a dark crimson. ”Oh hell. This is going to hurt.”
She says nothing before she bites into my flesh. I cry out as she bleeds from me my essence, my life. It is kind of ironic that the woman that gave me life is now causing me death. I should have struggled, should have fought, but I don’t. The pain of watching my mother gorge herself on my flesh is insufferable. Physical pain I can handle, but this transcends physical. It is an emotional pain so deep that it scars my heart. For a moment, one tiny molecule of time, I pray for death. Someone up there must like me, because I get the next best thing. With a roar of fury, she is ripped away from me.
“She- is- mine!”
Guess Nicholas was right. Derek really doesn’t like to share. Stars explode behind my eyes, and I follow them. The blood loss and trauma taking me under.
I wake hours later, with a dry throat and a splitting head. I am cold and hungry, but it’s not like asking for a blanket and pizza is going to get me anywhere. Huh. I wonder if Pizza Hut even delivers to hell. My bladder is going to explode soon, and I seriously need a bath. My wounds from the bites are healing slower than they should. Dry, crusted blood covers almost every surface of my upper body. My clothes are ripped, but from what I can’t exactly recall. I am a mess. It is so dark, so lonely, that I would give anything for just a sliver of light. I recall my mother’s words about finding my light. The flames that had consumed me since I arrived here are showing me no mercy. How easy it would be to just give up. To just say, “Here I am death. Come and get me.” If it wasn’t for the hurt that it would cause those I love, I probably would have. Instead, I close my eyes and think of Tristan. I picture his face, dark and angelic. I picture his eyes, the most mesmerizing blue. I picture his lips, soft and perfect upon mine. I imagine his arms, strong yet gentle and his words, “I will always come for you.”
I am surprised when I feel the intensity of the flames give, and for a brief moment the darkness disappears. That’s when it hits me. Tristan is my light. As long as I have him nothing can defeat me. I close my eyes and smile as I focus on my love for him. A love that saved me once, and that will save me again.
The minutes turn to hours, the hours to days, and still no one comes for me. Every day I sit in total darkness, weak and in pain. A pain so great that I wouldn’t wish it on Satan himself. It is an inescapable hell. I fight to keep my love for Tristan the primary focus in my mind. I have to fight the darkness. I have to keep my inner light, because when I lose it, I lose myself. I refuse to become the one thing that I hate. The one thing that he hates…. Evil. I will stay strong, and believe that he will find me, that he can always find me. Every night Nicholas comes and drains me to the point of death. Then he force feeds me his vile blood. It is the only nourishment I am allowed. Strangely, I do not see Derek again during that time. It seems he is leaving all the dirty work to dear old dad.
My body reeks of blood and urine. The bastard won’t even unchain me to pee. I imagine that he is satisfied with degrading me in every way possible. Thankfully he hasn’t forced himself upon me. That would be my breaking point. So as my eyes open to start another day in hell I am surprised that this day seems different. The flames that have tortured me for so long are gone. I should be relived to be free from their hold on me, but I not. They are my only connection to Tristan. As sick and twisted as it may be, I prefer the pain. It is the only thing that reminds me that I am alive. The only way that the burning would stop is if Tristan is near. I want him to be here, to save me, but not at the cost of his own safety. I have no way of knowing if he is here as my savior or as my fellow prisoner. I just hope it is not the latter. Death does not scare me. Death is simply a new beginning. A world without Tristan, now that terrifies me. I have no idea what today will bring, but I know in my soul that nothing can prepare me for what is yet to come.
~Chapter 14~
The Soul Within
The door to my cell opens and I am shocked to see Derek’s graceful form making his way toward me. A tra
y of food balanced perfectly in one hand. His eyes, the color of melted gold, find mine easily. For a moment I swear I see regret in his stare. His father had said that he loves me, but I doubt that he even knows what that word means. His caramel eyes latch on to me, and strangely something about his presence makes me feel at ease. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not happy to see him, but if I have to choose between him or Nicholas I choose him.
Destined for Darkness Page 19