Whatever I had hoped to find wasn’t going to be found on the first floor. Nothing here triggered my memory, and I was puzzled by that fact. Here I was standing in the house that I grew up in, the place that I had once called home, and not a blur of a memory came to me. Upon coming here, I had expected a flood of flashbacks to hit me once I entered the house.
“Why couldn't I remember a damn thing?” I said, and listened to my voice echo.
Maybe I’d have better luck on the second floor. I tiptoed up the stairs, carrying the lamp, and tried not to let my shoes tap against the steps of the winding marble staircase. I didn’t want to make any noise even though I believed that I was alone in the house. Once I was on the second floor, I went into the bedrooms. They were huge and quite a few, so I wasn’t sure which one was mine. I gave each room a complete walk – through. I even checked out the closets. It was the same as the first floor; void of any furniture with a carpeting of thick dust as if the house hadn’t been lived in for the past ten years; not two.
The last room was decorated with a combination of mint and ivory striped wallpaper, which I immediately liked. Even the walls of the walkincloset had been wall papered in the same refreshing print. Stepping further into the spacious closet, I was distracted by a rickety floor board beneath my foot.
The floorboard was about a foot long and six inches wide. The slightly raised board wasn’t perfectly aligned with the others. After I tapped on it a few times, I saw that it was completely loose, and practically coming up from the floor. I bent down to push the panel back into place and lifted it.
“Ugh!” I screamed, as I fell backward, causing the loose floor board to shift onto the board that adjacent to it. Once I calmed myself down, which took some doing; I peered into the space where the floorboard had been placed. I realized that the hideously hairy spider, as black as freshly poured tar, had scurried somewhere into the foundation of the flooring beneath the floorboards. I was thankful that the creepy thing was gone. Ugh. I didn’t really care for the whole ‘It’s more afraid of you than you are of it’ theory.
Suddenly, my eye caught a glimpse of something else in the open space between the floorboards boards. Something was tucked underneath the floorboard which was parallel to the loose one. I siked myself up, and lowered my hand slowly and carefully into the open space, hoping that the nasty spider was long gone and weaving a web elsewhere. Whatever was wedged under the board felt like a box or a block or something. I tugged and slid the object toward the opening, and then wiped the icky dust off of my hands and onto the skirt of my dress. It turned out to be a stack of chocolate brown, leather bound books. There were four in total.
The stack was tied with an ivory silk ribbon the way you would tie up a gift. I untied and removed the delicate ribbon. Before I opened one of the books, I listened to hear if there were any sounds coming from anywhere around the house. Other than my rapid breathing, which was probably due to the excitement of finally finding something in this huge house, there wasn't another sound. I wiped the dust off the books with the hem of my ruffled skirt. The leather was worn and supple. I moved the lamp closer and saw that the pages were edged in gold. I opened one of the books. Although the first page was blank, I realized that it was a journal. When I turned to the second page, I was stunned by the penmanship. It was in my handwriting.
I flipped through each of the books from cover to cover. The entries were all written in my hand. When I looked at the back covers, I found my very own signature. It was flawless; an exact match. The diaries were mine. Obviously this must have been my room. I guess it made perfect sense that I loved the wallpaper.
I had to take the diaries with me, but didn’t want to have to explain the diaries, or worse, give them up. So I gathered the journals, and wrapped the stack in the skirt of my petticoat, tying the ribbon around them as if it was a sack. The makeshift sack hung against the outer side of my thigh. No one would ever detect that I had a stack of books under my skirt if I got busted leaving my house, or entering the Capius’ mansion. I put the loose floor board back in its place. I could see how someone could miss that floor board. You would have to step deep into the closet and step onto the board to know that it was loose. It appeared perfectly positioned between the four other boards surrounding it.
I quietly headed back down the stairs, this time with a bit of urgency. My mind was preoccupied with those little leather bound journals. I knew that they would help jumpstart my memory, and I was dying to know what had been written in them. Maybe some or all of my questions will be answered at last. Maybe it was a real mirror of who I really was and am. Neither Bethany nor Evan could possibly know my deepest thoughts.
As I made my way down the long staircase, I was suddenly jolted by a thunderous rumble. The noise caused the house to momentarily vibrate. I paused at the bottom of the stairs. Then I heard a horse’s neigh. My heart began to race. Someone was in front of the house. Why would someone come here at this time of the night? Why would someone come to an empty house? I didn't know what to do. Don’t panic, I told myself over and over. I couldn’t let anyone catch me here, although it was my house. I had been ordered not to leave the Capius’ estate. I was told over and over how I would be in danger if I left the mansion, alone. Now they’d be proven right.
I thought to hide, but where?
I heard the doorknob turn from left to right then back again, but the door didn’t open. I was certain that I hadn't locked it from the inside. I turned out the flame in my lamp, and ran into the parlor. I couldn’t hide behind any furniture because there wasn’t any. Why the hell had I chosen to hide in here? Obviously, because the parlor was the closest room. If I had tried to make it to the rear of the house, the person on the other side of the door would definitely be in the foyer by then, and would have surely heard me or worse, seen me scurrying through the house.
I leaned against the far left wall where I wouldn't be seen from the archway. I prayed that the visitor would bypass the parlor all together and head towards the back of the mansion, into one of the other numerous rooms, or even better, head upstairs. That way I could flee out the front door, and escape the danger I had been warned about all along. Damn it, I could kick myself right about now. I had to wonder if the risk of coming here was worth the chance of getting captured or, I dread to even think it, killed…again. Finding the journals had yet to prove their worth. I wished like hell that I would live through this night to find out if they were.
I heard the doorknob click open. A long and slim shadow of an overcoat blowing in the dry breeze was cast onto the floor of the foyer by the cascading light of the moon. I nervously held onto my medallion and involuntarily pressed my body firmly against the wall. Suddenly, the wall melted away and I fell through it. I landed hard on my back, on the cold and rough dirt floor. It took all of my strength not to shriek in pain. Amazingly, I still had a firm grip on the oil lamp. I set it down on the ground next to me, and sat up. Where ever I was, was pitch black, and had a faint smell of burnt coal. My vision was having a hard time adjusting to the darkness. I reached into my pocket for another match.
Once I had the lamp lit, the medallion picked up its glow which ricochet the rays all over the walls. I could see my surroundings. I was in a small cave like place. The walls were of dirt and clusters of rock; unfinished and uneven. I stood up, and stepped closer to the wall where I had fallen in. The panel I had fallen through must be a secret passage to somewhere, or in my case an escape from someone or something. I pushed against the area of the wall where I had fallen through, and it wouldn’t budge. I pressed my ear against the cold, dirt wall. I could hear the continuous tip tap of footsteps across the parlor’s marble floor. The footsteps were coming closer and closer. I stepped back from the wall and stopped breathing. The footsteps stopped once they were directly in front of the spot where I stood. I continued to hold my breath.
I wished I could see what was on the other side of the rock wall. Then as if looking into one of Nikolas’ mirages,
I looked into the parlor. I observed a shadow of a man that reminded me of the one I had seen approaching me in the thunder storm. It was tall, and wore a dark, long over coat. I was unable to see the face because he wore the collars of his coat turned upward. The figure turned its head upward, and I could see the strong contrast of the paleness of the skin and it was paler than the moon.
The caped figure walked around slowly, and stopped every few steps as if it was aware of me. Then it suddenly turned around as two other shadows appeared from nowhere. The second one was a shadow of another man, taller, wearing a Stetson, and the third shadow was a figure of a woman. Their faces were as pasty as chalk. I finally saw glimpses of their faces, and they were unfamiliar and uncharacteristically flawless – perfect cheek bones and thin lips. Their eyes were liquid pools of onyx, void of any white.
“Someone is here Matthias. I can smell the blood. It smells like a scrumptious nectar, perfectly ripe.” The woman’s voice was a low and raspy drawl. Definitely a Nickel City native.
“Yes my love, I can smell it as well. If someone is here, we will find him or her.” The first man answered.
Apolluon vampires.
Ugh! They could actually smell my blood.
“I am so famished. I must feed. You know what I need, lover. The smell is intoxicating.” The woman’s voice was filled with rapture.
“Patience, Driella.”
“Split up and search the house. There was a light in the window on the second floor that was quickly extinguished. Someone is here. Find them now!” The three Apolluon vampires practically spun as they began to hunt for me.
After a brief moment that felt like a couple of seconds, the footsteps resumed their crisp tip tap across the floor. My heart was beating so hard and fast that I was sure that the Apolluon vampires could hear it pounding.
At certain moments they appeared to lock eyes with me, but it was obvious that they couldn’t see me. It was like I was watching them from behind a two way mirrors. Finally they floated away with their footsteps gradually fading away. It wasn’t until I heard the faint sound of the front door slam shut that I believed that they were gone
I was astonished by the turn of events. I had escaped death tonight. I had a dull feeling in my gut that this was just the beginning of my treacherous fate.
I held the lamp up high and looked up at where a ceiling should have been. It was as if there was no ceiling. The cave seemed to go on forever. I decided to try the wall again. I put some light pressure against it, and the wall melted away as if it was made of air. I blew out the oil lamp, and stepped back into the parlor. I spun around to look at the panel that I had just walked though. There wasn’t one. The wall was one individual panel.
Unconsciously, I ran my hand over the wall papered wall, pushing against it firmly, trying to prompt the wall to open up again, but it was futile. The wall was just that; a wall.
I tiptoed over to one of the tall windows that faced out onto the street. I pulled back one of the drapery panels just wide enough to allow my eyes to survey the front of the house. I wanted to be certain that the Apolluon vampires were gone. I didn’t see anyone or anything, but I was fearful of leaving the house – the same house I had been deathly afraid to enter. There was one thing that I knew for sure, I wasn’t spending the night in this house. Think, think, I told myself. Maybe I should leave out the back through the rear of the house, and through the abandoned garden. But what if those gates were locked? I had to go out the same way I had come in.
I crept through the foyer, as if at any moment I expected the Apolluon vampires to pop out, and eat me alive. I couldn’t catch my breath, and shivered uncontrollably as I faced the front door. My right hand shook violently as I tried to grip the doorknob. I gulped a few times to slow down my breathing, and erratic heartbeat before turning the knob. The door knob released, and I slid it open slowly. I surveyed the porch, the front walk, and barren garden and saw nothing. No movements. With a deep breath, I slipped out the aperture, and closed the door behind me.
They had waited.
The three ravenous looking shadows with stark pale faces stared me down, hungry and delighted. They glided toward me at an alarmingly fast rate as if they were riding magic carpets. They were thirsty. Their gleaming white fangs were exposed and partially stained with the blood of their last victim.
“Get her!” shouted the vampiress.
One of the Apolluon vampire’s eyes glowed like coals in a barbecue grill, edged in flames.
“I can almost taste her…” He seethed in a growling tone.
They moved as fast as I had seen Evan, Bethany, and Nikolas move; as fast as a flash of light. I was frozen. My heart was in my throat. The vampires blocked the gates. I thought to sprint back into the house, but when I turned around to run they were in front of me again, facing me off. The angry hissing sound they made left me paralyzed. I wasn’t sure if it was because they wanted to express their annoyance that I tried to escape, or interest in feasting on me. Either way they scared the crap out of me.
All three Apolluon vampires were within a few inches of me and edging closer. I finally swallowed the knot in my throat, and thought that I would pass out. They began circling me like vultures ready to snatch their prey.
“I want her Matthias.” The vampiress drawled and panted. “She is different.. Her blood…hmmm… smells delicious.” She reached out, and touched my hair. The vampireress coiled a tendril of my hair around her finger without actually touching it as though she controlled every single strand.
Her eyes were black, and were widening as the edges engulfed in flames. “I must have her.” She said salivating. “She is mine, you boys can feed elsewhere.”
Before I knew it, the vampiress pounced on me, leaving the other two vampires snarling in her wake. The sharp points of her fangs punctured through the skin of my neck. I had expected searing pain, and screamed out, but something else happened instead. I felt the heat surging from within me, and the lightening nearly blinded me when it shot out of my eyes, ears, fingertips, chest, and through the puncture marks that the vampiress inflicted on me.
Driella threw her head back, retracted her teeth and screamed out, “I’m burning! I’m burning up… inside me. I’M BURNING!” The sparks took over Driella’s body and she sizzled and popped and shriveled up in electric currents, and then in flames.
“What is she!” Her voice faded while she spun around like a blazing tornado. The vampiress turned into ashes that had electric current snapping through them as the ashes dissipated in the breeze. The lightning burned out as quickly as it had ignited. The two other vampires looked at me for a moment. They cocked their heads to the side, yet seemed to know the answer to the vampiress' question.
The one the Apolluon vampiress called Matthias, actually voiced it.
“She is the lost Empress of the Gods, The new Queen of Ischera!” I watched the second vampire make the full realization. They both spun around, and then disappeared.
And just like that… I was a believer.
But damn it, how do I control this lightning bolt thing?
I stood motionless, still in shock, in the barren garden, and wanted nothing more than to feel safe in the Capius’ house. All of a sudden, with that thought, I was across the street in a split second, and at the Capius estate’s gates even faster than that. I didn’t even remember arriving at the Capius’
front door but somehow I was now standing in the foyer.
The house was dim, due to a glimmer of light coming from down the long hall. I didn’t care to know from where exactly, or who was still awake.
It wasn’t until I closed the double doors to my bedroom that I realized what had just happened. The reality hit me, and I was forced to take a seat on my chaise in order to collect myself. I didn’t know how I did it, but I just killed an Apolluon vampire.
Fourteen
Dear Diary
Could killing an Apolluon vampire really be considered an evil act? I mean, they were already
dead, so it wasn’t really killing; just ending their immortality. They had smelled my blood. They were thirsty for it and that was beyond what I considered to be scary. There is something to be said about being the object of one’s desire, that you have all the control, but being craved by a blood thirsty vampire is the doom of any soul.
The vampire’s words were etched into my brain forever. I still couldn’t grasp how I had escaped them, death altogether, really. Bethany’s words ricochet in my head like a bullet hitting several points before its target. I think I finally got it now. Kill or be dragged into the Underworld.
Emotionally, I was a mess. I feared the consequences of the abysmal act of killing an Apolluon vampiress, yet I felt invigorated because I had the ability to. Somehow my instincts set off powers to protect myself. Mentally, I was still trying to make some sense of what I escaped tonight, and what I did unknowingly. Physically, I felt incredible, pumped up like a prize fighter. I felt like I could take on the strongest and most evil opponent even if I wasn’t able to control the power. What happened tonight was as extraordinary as it was appalling. I needed to talk to someone about it.
I wanted to seek advice from Evan, Bethany, and Nikolas, but couldn’t. That would mean revealing the fact that I had left the house tonight.
Thaddeus would have a fit if he ever found out that I had defied him. He would, without a doubt, dub me as selfish to have risked the empire.
Right now, the house was quiet. I believe everyone had gone to bed. I had to take advantage of the time that I had alone. In all the weirdness, and absolute craziness of what just transpired, I had forgotten all about my discovery. I remembered when I felt the warm stack of journals nudge my thigh. I’d been desperate to read the journals since discovering them. Perhaps, they would conjure up a memory. Hopefully, the diaries would lend me some insight on this family, and all the things that they needed me to remember. I was prepared to devour the diaries for what was left of the night.
Betrayal Page 20