The floating frame was covered in layers of black, gold and red blankets that were thrown in disarray like a wild night of tossing and turning had caused the effect. Umm…So Lucius, mighty Vampire King never made his bed. I don’t know why but the thought made me want to chuckle.
I saw him drag his hand down a tired face and finally the guilt of my words started to weigh heavily on my shoulders. I shimmied closer, making the swaying bed move and laid my hand on his bare shoulder. I wondered briefly why he hadn’t yet changed into some clean clothes but then he finally looked at me, thanks to my contact.
“Explain it to me.” I asked and I heard him sigh.
“And if I do, you think you would be able to understand?” The disbelief was as clear as the lake that surrounded this mountain and his tone just as cold.
“I may just be some ‘little human’ Lucius, but if there is one thing I know and know well…then that is pain.” I said quietly and we both looked down at the evidence on my arms that, although hidden in softness, didn’t hide the truth that lay underneath. I felt Lucius’ hand rise to my cheek and pull a strand of hair away that clung there. He tucked it behind my ear and I finally brought my eyes up to his.
“Such strength behind these eyes, that your soul glows through. Blinding. Captivating. Torturing. You may be as stubborn as a mule on a cliff side but any man would find the true meaning to foolishness to ever forget these facts.” His words made me look away but before I could his fingers held my chin captive and I found myself trapped in his penetrating gaze. I didn’t want to delve into that tunnel of hidden emotions that Lucius had. I could feel the air around us crackling with its electrical charge our nearness always created. I had to move past this.
“Tell me what happened to you and Draven that day.” I asked and for a split second I saw his eyes flash red before returning to steely grey.
“You really want to know, because I warn you, it does not paint your lover in a kind light?” This didn’t shock me. Everything I was hearing about Draven lately was painting him in a different light as to what I would like, but I couldn’t find it in me to let it affect my love…I couldn’t even put a dent in it and that was even after seeing him in the arms of another! Can anyone scream the word…Obsessed!
“I kinda guessed as much,” I said honestly and he merely nodded.
“Very well Keira, but do not say that I didn’t warn you.” He dropped his hand and I moved back putting space between us and when he clocked my movements one side of his mouth quirked in a quick grin.
“I was reborn into the world three days after the third day in which the Son of God rose from death. I walked my last day in the sun on a field called Akeldama or also known as the ‘Field of Blood’. Once the sun began to set, my body began to change just as Lucifer had said it would. That night I became not just any Vampire, but the strongest.” He said this surprisingly without one hint of the arrogance I would have expected from him.
“What do you mean?” He smiled that I asked another question, as he had learnt very early on that it was a habit of mine.
“I was born into a position of leader, an instant army at my disposal. You see, until me, Vampires had been mere creatures of the night with no real strengths…just mindless parasites of the other world, with nothing to drive them but their basic need to feed. I brought them more than this….a kind of peace if you like.” He waved his hand around as if he was trying to find the right words to describe it all.
“I think I get it… without leadership they were uncontrollable and once you came along you gave them purpose, strength in numbers, type of thing?” At this he laughed making me blush.
“Yes…that type of thing.” He reached across and flicked my nose playfully. That was one of the things about being around Lucius…it was a bit like riding a rollercoaster blind and never knowing when the big drops were going to hit. It was a constant stream of ups and downs, angry glares and cocky smirks, playful touches and heated lust. By the time I got out of here I was going to need bloody therapy again!
I shifted on the bed at the thought and Lucius noticed my uncomfortable tension, and backed away.
“So you came along and gave them guidance, I get it, but what brought you to Draven?” I asked trying to get back on track and leave painful memories of me sat in a room being analysed by a doctor pretending to be my best friend.
“Well before I could take my new position, I was sent to the King to learn about my new life. He taught me more than about my new powers, he taught me how to fight, how to lead and the importance of keeping the balance. He was…” At this Lucius’ voice faltered and I looked up into eyes full of heartache and brimming emotion. That’s when realisation hit me with the full force of the root to his emotions.
“You looked up to him?”
“You seem shocked! Of course I did. He was my mentor and in time became like a brother to me. I was his second in command Keira, his right hand man as Adam is to me.” His words turned harder as his sentence continued.
“Then what happened?” I whispered, too afraid in generating a raging outburst but the need to know was too much to keep my question buried. So I went for the softer approach, in hopes of soothing him into the past instead of slapping him in the face with it.
“I was betrayed for the second time by a man I called brother!” I flinched at his harsh perception of the past.
“Tell me.” I asked quietly and bit my lip as I waited. He shook his head causing his hair to fall over his hard features. Like this, even with a frown that could cause the strongest to flee, he looked so fragile to me and I couldn’t stop myself from touching him. My hands tenderly curled round his shoulder and his skin heated on impact. I felt him shudder underneath me and he raised his head slowly to my gaze. The face I now looked upon wasn’t the face of my captor but of a friend. A friend that had found breaking point in his life over and over again, but instead of falling to his knees and begging for the sweet realise of death, he remained on his feet and took the biggest hit of all…betrayal.
His eyes spoke out to me on a deeper level and in those silent seconds I became lost in the man that Lucius was and saw that deep down that man still remained. Even if he had made it his mission to keep him locked away from the world and never to trust anyone with this side of him again. But right now, I wasn’t looking at Lucius…I was looking at Judas and he didn’t even know it. He had shown himself to me and his eyes were glowing with light and this time it was only with a simple touch.
“The Oracle was right…I didn’t have a chance at taming the light!” I frowned in confusion and it must have deepened when I saw one side of his mouth lift in a smirk. His eyes sparkled with mirth and he lifted my hand to his lips to kiss before placing them gently back on the bed.
“You’re not going to explain that are you?”
“Not yet, no. That would be like telling you the end of a story before it has even been written.”
“Yeah, right!” I said sarcastically making the bed shake with his laughter.
“Well if you want to hear this story then we are going to do it properly. Get under the covers.” I think my mouth must have dropped open.
“You’re not serious?” I looked for traces of the joke but there were none. Instead he folded his arms over his bare chest making the size of his strength show through tight muscles. I think I actually gulped.
“As a heart attack in Hell, yes. Now do as you’re told.” Ok, so bossy Lucius was back and I think even the Judas part of him would be laughing at the irritation that was written across my face. I rolled my eyes when he nodded behind me and I gave in. I got under the many layers and I think the sigh I let go of was proof enough why he was making me do this. My body was aching and felt amazing when I lay down under the soft covers, which was like getting a hug to all my body parts. It was at that point that I realised how tired I was and started to wonder what time it was?
When I was all tucked in, Lucius moved to lie next to me and I was thankful when he sta
yed above the covers but the position still felt far too intimate with him on his side facing me.
“So, are you ready for the rest of the story Keira, for I will warn you...”
“Let me guess…it doesn’t end well?” I said interrupting him, at which, he quirked a brow at me.
“Oh no, my little Keira girl, you are wrong…” I was about to ask when he raised his fingers to my lips to stop them from moving. Then he lowered his mouth to my ear and whispered…
“The end is yet to be written.”
Chapter 38
Tip Off
I woke up to find myself feeling refreshed after a surprisingly soundless sleep. After everything I had learnt last night I was shocked I hadn’t been tossing and turning like a mad woman. I looked around having no clue as to the time but I let out a sigh of relief when I found I was at least alone.
I don’t remember when I fell asleep but I do remember the soft alluring words that had got me there. Lucius had finished his story of the past and when I started getting animated at hearing everything he was saying, he started to soothe me. Hushed words whispered along my skin had taken immediate effect and it was similar to the power Draven had over me when trying to get me to sleep. So against my will, I had fallen under his spell despite the million and one questions I had, spinning my head into turmoil.
He had told me more of his friendship with Draven, which painted the full depth of his devastation at discovering his betrayal. Draven being portrayed as a mentor for Lucius was an easy thing to envisage and now I thought about it, the two Kings had a lot in common. Both believed in the balance that needed to be kept, in order for the world to continue on without destroying itself, which is where the story started.
On the 30th of September 1918, which many believed happened two days earlier, a Private by the name of Henry Tandey was on a one man mission near the French village of Marcoing. He and his fellow soldiers encountered exceptionally heavy gunfire in this area and with one thing on his mind, the slaughter began. Against all odds Private Henry Tandey single-handedly destroyed a German machine gun nest, braved enemy gunfire in bridging a huge hole that was halting British attacks and led a bayonet charge against a far larger force. He was, by all accounts, a war hero.
But this war hero had more than mere luck and skill on his side. Henry Tandey was possessed by a Demon of Death that fed from this one man killing machine that he created for his own feast. He gave him the raw power of adrenaline flooding his system until nothing could stop this dangerous mortal. Lucius spoke about this Demon with the look of sheer disgust and when I tried to press further into his name he shook his head and refused to say anything more about him.
I asked Lucius why this was even relevant to his story about Draven and with a one sided grin, he continued to explain. See, after the smoke had cleared and the sounds of gun fire had ceased to pierce the French air, a soldier appeared down the sights of Tandey’s rifle. The man limped along, injured and did not even try to raise his own weapon in the second of his death. But the private did not shoot. I asked why and Lucius at that point, leaned over to smooth the deep line in between my brows with his thumb and my frown dropped at the intimate gesture.
He told me that the Demon took one look at the man and saw a glimpse of the power he could gain if he intervened in his future. He placed a hand of suggestion on Henry’s shoulder and the gun lowered from the German soldier, sealing his fate and with it, the millions of lives that would find their end at the power this one man would gain. The German soldier was Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler of the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment.
On hearing this I gasped as the realisation took hold. This one moment in time changed the world forever and put in motion events beyond our comprehension. The Demon of Death seized this opportunity and left the Private a hero but in doing so, he gained so much more…the means for world domination.
He saw in Hitler’s future that one day he would be Fuhrer but only with the right path down the supernatural rabbit hole. Of course the Demon was only too happy to be the one behind him pushing. The rest of Hitler’s life was lived as a dark Demon’s puppet and even Hitler himself spoke of a divine reason for his life, believing the Gods were keeping him alive for a higher purpose. He wrote about times when he would hear warnings in his head being whispered and whenever he listened, the proof of it was walking away with his life.
Years later such proof happened in the trenches, while eating dinner with his fellow men. A voice ordered him to move away and then seconds later, a flash indicated his narrow escape in death as a stray shell exploded, killing everyone in the trench but Hitler.
As a massive fan of anything that included history I found myself glued to Lucius’ every word and every now and again, I felt his eyes basking in my excitement. Every time he paused, I thought he was going to stop and I had my argument ready for more but one look at my face was all it took for him to continue. He then began to tell me how the Demon needed to speed things up for the time was coming for Hitler to take power over Germany but he needed to push a little more for the supernatural beliefs in Hitler to rise before he became a man of position.
He started to whisper the name Erik Jan Hanussen, who was known at the time, as a famous a hypnotist, mentalist, occultist, and astrologer. Hitler met with the man and thanks to a little mind play of the Demonic kind, using Hanussen as another puppet, he had his show complete.
Hanussen told Hitler about the means in which he would have to follow to become leader of Germany and would then lead his people into victory. He made the unbelievable prediction that within thirty days Hitler would become Chancellor of Germany, with the power of a Mandrake root and utter faith in the occult.
“Mandrake root?” I asked him in confusion and he laughed, which I can only imagine was due to the face I was pulling. He told me that the Mandrake root belonged to the nightshade family and had hallucinogenic properties, but this was not the only reason it was used in magic rituals in paganism. It is a holy root that is formed to resemble human figures for sacrifices of the soul. When I still looked confused, he described them as being like glass bottles for the souls. Souls of his kind, which could be held inside the root until another vessel became available. The thought of being trapped in one of these things had me shivering under the many toasty warm layers.
He went on to say how Hitler was convinced enough to put such faith in things and in thirty days Hanussen was proven right, sealing Hitler’s obsession with the occult. The Demon now had full control over a single mortal being that could now bring forth more deaths with only a spoken whisper in the Fuhrer’s ear…
Next on his list was Genocide.
When Hitler was but a boy he disliked the Jews but the dark Demon throughout the years, turned a mere discrimination into pure blinding hatred of a whole nation. For this, in a man of extreme power, was to be history changing events at its most horrific. This was more than enough to tip any balance and shift the world into another war.
These were the very reasons Lucius was sent by Draven to put an end to the supernatural interference and capture the creature to be readied for trial. Of course by the time the Demon found out about his awaiting damnation from his King, the Demon fled leaving Hitler to still continue with his quest of eradicating the Jews and cleansing the world. He was left believing the Jews were all demon spawns and his fight against them was a holy one, doing the work sent to him by the Germanic Gods he worshiped. He believed Jesus to be the root of all evil and being the ultimate Jew himself, he was therefore the leader to such hell on earth.
So without guidance from the Demon, he lost all faith in Hanussen when finding out about his Jewish roots and any other Mystics known in Germany. On April the 30th 1934, he ordered nearly 200 people murdered, Hanussen included, on a day known as the ‘Night of the long knifes’. This was the night that led Lucius to Hitler.
With the Angel long gone, Lucius was awaiting word from Draven on how to proceed, when a conversation was overheard with one Hei
nrich Himmler, Hitler’s right hand man, about something that would break a bond as strong as a holy brotherhood… The Spear of Destiny.
Lucius explained, that with three fake spears all in circulation throughout the years, he wasn’t worried what information the Nazi leader had on the spear, that was until he overheard the mention of a powerful seer that spoke of the real spear and its missing tip, a part that contained the most power…the tip coated with the blood of Christ. He listened to Hitler give orders for the seer to be brought to him and how his plans for the tip would bring about the completion to his world domination, but for that, he needed the blood that started it all. He believed that the blood of the Jew was the ancient key to its end.
His warped mind had him believing an antidote made from the blood could be used to kill all Jewish genes from the world and his super race of German blood would become the new way of the world. Lucius cared little for Hitler’s delusions but instead of complying with his orders to pursue the Demon that started it all, dubbed as the ‘puppet master’, he remained. He disobeyed Draven for the first time in his new life and waited for the seer to arrive in pursuit of his own destiny.
Draven was furious but none more so than Lucius, when he saw what the seer projected. The vision of Draven from a different time, ripping the tip from the dead body of Jesus Christ and walking away was, in Lucius’ words, like ripping it from his own body, along with the heart it was embedded in.
I was shocked when finding that Draven had always known of Lucius’ mission in trying to find the other piece of a relic that became a part of Lucius. And all this time Draven had it in his possession, keeping it from his second in command. I wondered why? Why would Draven go to such lengths to keep it from a man he considered his trusted friend? My, weren’t the questions mounting up for Draven, I thought with distaste.
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