Crimson Knight (Crimson Series Book 0)

by K. L. O Johnson

We entered into what appeared to be a large area, it was spaced widely with nothing in the middle instead of a railing overhead and several different automatic doors that I knew would lead to different parts of the ship or why else have them?

  It was sterling and spotless. Weapons sat in the metal mesh locker while vehicles were chained in place opposite us—under the bridge. Everyone fanned out and moved to stand in cliques. They discussed the potential life threatening danger they were apart of and the relief they felt to no longer be in that dangerous place.

  I heard someone call my name and glanced up at the railing to spy David waving down at me. Beside him was Bella and Marcus. David slipped away from them and bolted over to me. His arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into a surprised embrace. “You’re alright, I was so scared.”

  I hesitated and returned his affection, taking in barely the shocked expression that masked Zarlach’s features. He didn’t know that David and I made out and he will never know, from my end that is. His I wasn’t all too sure but had to have faith, in the man I knew he could be. “I’m okay,” I repeated over and over again until he was satisfied with my answer.

  “Okay,” he mused with a bob of his head and I smiled. He really did seem to relax now, then from a few minutes ago. He stayed by my side and I preferred he did, I didn’t like the vibe radiating from Zarlach. Then again when did he not give off a threatening vibe?

  David stayed by my side and smiled, I returned the kind gesture and felt his fingers touch mine almost asking for permission. I threaded my fingers through his and he squeezed. The crowd stilled and I realised a voice swept over us. “You have all endured much and will be safe upon this ship.” A familiar silver haired woman declared. “Given the recent incidents, a combat log will be created, each of you will be asked to recount the events. Should things be difficult; we have a trained psychologist and therapist on board.”

  “Why do we have to recount? All or one?” a blue skinned man asked, his yellow eyes locked onto the Nefaliem woman who I now realised was Kal’s mother. His sentence didn’t make any sense to my ears and I noticed it was the same for Kalverya’s mother. Her features slightly frowned in confusion but only briefly, her confusion disappeared very quickly. Something which was only expected of noble blood as mother had said. We weren’t allowed, to show the world how we truly felt otherwise we’d be betrayed by all under us.

  “You will be required to recount all events, anything that involved the Dark Cartel,” she diplomatically answered. A familiar man stood off to the side, his eyes vigilant as she spoke and I realised that was Dante. “That will be all, until further notice. Rooms are available. Rooms which you will be allocated, there you’ll find what you require.” I noticed after the Empress disappeared with Dante following.

  Several short haired Nefaliem woman, surrounded us with transparent clipboards and began taking notes. Then allocating rooms. David remained with me when it was our turn, we were required to report to the bridge. I glanced over at David who shrugged. I figured that this was our recount we were to undergo. I felt my stomach queasy with fear and we turned our heel and headed to the bridge, passing several other knights.

  Up the stairs we huddled and to the bridge we headed, remaining hand in hand. I felt the energy that bounded off of David. And I was happy to know he was happy. We made it the bridge when I noted a heavily armoured Nefaliem Knight sat at the haul and I watched as his silver armour was layered, revealing the years of training and power he possessed. Beside him appeared, Kal’s mother this time without her traditional Nefaliem clothing as she had worn when she spoke to us both at Castle Haven and here. Instead, she wore her scales tightly fitting her femininely muscular physique and moved over to the man who I noticed, was her husband and the Emperor of the Nefaliem.

  SEVENTEEN

  Interspace

  His eyes were firm with concentration and the empress remained silent as she moved gracefully to stand by his side. It must have been five minutes later that the Emperor spoke. “I need you, young princess, to recount the events after the hover-copter crash.” he declared as his eyes turned from the monitor and to me. His eyes darted to David then to our linked hands, then to me. I felt my cheeks heat as the realisation of our romance was open to everyone to see. With as much persistence, I pushed it down and began to recount the event and recalled as much detail as possible aware of the eyes in the room.

  “And this Ivan Dohnasova wanted to attack you why?” the emperor asked who was the captain of this ship and his wife the commander.

  “He wants my power, Sir.”

  He was quiet for some time and I noticed the empress was keen on listening to his next orders. “You are free to leave.” The empress seemed down for a little then discreetly whispered in his ear. “Hang on for a second, Princess.” I turned over my shoulder and spied our current Commander and Chief. “Tell me, you have no information about my daughter?”

  I felt my throat constrict and my eyes burn. I blinked back the pain and declared, “None sorry Sir.”

  He sighed, “You are free to leave.”

  So leave we did. Once we were several corridors away and David presumed we were safe he asked, “The emperor does seem down.”

  “Can you blame him; his only daughter has vanished to only God knows where.” David commented. This was true, no one knew where Kal was and the fate of her race depended on her. I just prayed that she wasn’t dead, that would be something beyond any heart ache. “But well get there,” David motioned and I smiled still prayed deep down that Kal was okay. Before I could take another step a flash of images flooded my mind; a container filled with species, lightened in green liquid. A hand smashing against the glass before planting a palm flat on it then vaguely a sound of a voice.

  It was muddled and morphed and confused, “Cecelia . . . Run.” I felt study hands grip my shoulders and I relaxed. David was handling me delicately and I smiled. Easing myself from his grasp, my mind clouded in thought.

  “What’s the matter?” he enquired.

  “I don’t know,” I managed my head ached and I felt David’s presence closely. There was another buzz in my ears and a voice—Kal’s voice.

  “Cecelia. Run!” she yelled, through what sounded of permeable static.

  “Princess!” the voice yelled and my head smashed against the wall, shattering the metal wall under impact.

  “Cecelia!” David called and I felt him tense beside me. Steam smoked, my head buzzed and I felt a hand cover the top half of my features. He yanked taken my aching skull with it as it repeatedly slammed my head against the metal. I felt my Vampieruz Form smoke along my skin human skin transforming it into one of the hardest substance in the galaxy, my scales.

  “I’ll be sure to kill you this time; you’re really ticking me off!” the demon commander spoke. “Regardless of what Ivan says. You’re too much trouble to keep alive.” I faced the eyes that I knew were bound to destroy me. They were eyes that I knew wanted to not just destroy me but my very existence.

  He pressed his foot against my stomach and pulled away to kick me harshly through the wall. I felt my body bounce along the ground and I knew my body ceased to roll against the wall which I used as support; it was the only thing that felt sturdy.

  Between my tresses of hair, I spied the demon commander hover towards me, pressure of his energy sliding away at his feet, presenting his power. He flew with a curled fist ready to strike. I evaded his punch in time as his fist was swallowed whole by the metal partition that divided us from the various other rooms. “Hold still brat,” he gargled with a frustrated grunt.

  I rolled to my feet and stood a hand leisurely at my hips, “Sorry boogieman but I have a task to do and I refuse to be held up by the likes of you.”

  He pulled his hand out of the wall, slowly. His blood red eyes were trained on me. “You’ve got guts kid; I’ll give you that. But I’ll show you why demons are feared.”

  I noticed something changed. It was the background noise from
the fight David was having. It was something different but recognisable.

  Shinq. Bahd. A silver sterling arrow sat inches from the face of the demon commander. His red eyes burned with anger and something else as he pulled his gaze from me . . . and to David. “Back off, blood sucker,” he motioned, darkly.

  The demon urged a small smile.

  I stepped away from him and towards David, cautiously—taking my eyes off of this monster. I stopped beside him and eyed the handheld crossbow he carried. “Isn’t that was Humans class Vampieruz as?” the demon mocked.

  The sound of hurried footfalls rang and I peered over my shoulder to spy Dante with armoured Knights behind him. “What happened?” he asked, eyeing the debris carefully.

  “Cecelia was attacked again,” David said.

  Dante’s gaze fell on me, “She can speak for herself, David.” I felt David tense beside me. I touched his forearm, an attempt to relax him.

  “Yes,” I began with one too many nods. “I was attacked by a demon.”

  Dante peered into the shadows. “What demon?”

  I turned over my shoulder to find he was right. The demon was gone and Ivan wanted my blood. Something I knew would upset the balance of this universe.

  Several hours later, I watched as Dante pressed the holoscreen. A two-dimensional holographic touch screen before pushing it aside, his eyes were like a piercing ocean blue. Something like all Nefaliem, compelled power like Vampieruz but something much darker and much more dangerous. Vampieruz a term used to describe Vampiere like beings. They were just that Vampieres but I prayed to think we were different. Not perfect just different. Similar but different. “I’m going to run this by you again. What happened is the honest truth?”

  “Yes.”

  “And there was a demon?”

  I groaned. Not this again. When was he going to not treat me like a criminal in some kind of interrogation? “Yes! For the hundredth time!”

  I knew we were being watched otherwise why else would I be in one of PASA’s Silver Order’s Interrogation room. “Miss Rusakova. I’d like for you to refrain from such a tone. I’m trying to help.”

  He dared. “Then why am I being treated like a felon?” I demanded not at all happy about this current predicament.

  He sighed and stood. “You’re free to leave miss.” I wanted to bounce freely but I feared if I did they’d try and give another reason to keep me shackled here. Instead, I bolted out of the room and down several bare halls only to stop by the glass that looked out to the many, many tessellations of constellations within this quadrant sector. I sighed happily. Peeling my eyes from the glass, I walked down the halls in a peaceful bliss. I knew I should be scared but I’ve come to realise that feat wasn’t the way to live. Finally, stopping at my room, I pulled out my key card and swiped in the keypad and the doors automatically slid open.

  Entering my room, I placed my key card on my desk as the lights turned on. A comforting welcome and a reminder I was alone. “Care to explain your little escape?” my mother’s voice range clearly throughout my room. I froze realising I wasn’t as alone as I’d like.

  “Mom?” I asked, pressing against my desk chair as I wished I could control my intangibility power escaping would have been so easy. My mother sat with one leg over the other as her arms cross over her chest revealing the disapproving anger surrounding her.

  “I specifically told you not to leave,” she stated almost darkly, “And you deliberately disobeyed me.”

  “Mom,” I began, “I can explain . . . wait . . . how did you, get on the ship?” I asked aware we couldn’t perform warp magic over a large span of space.

  “Don’t try and change the subject,” she replied.

  “No. I’m genuinely curious. How?” I asked, buying time to forge a lie. Lying wasn’t something I enjoyed or wanted to do but it was better than wasting precious time.

  “Teleporter Pads.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is that all?” she asked with her fingers mimicking the rhythm of a moving caterpillar. Daunting and slowly each tip pressed against her exposed folded inner arm.

  “. . . Where’s dad?” My lie almost formulated.

  “With Zarlach,” she obviously replied as Zarlach and my dad always spent time together. Or rather too much time—I hardly spent any time with him but like the others we had to have limited contact with our pre-destined partners. Something about how they were shackled to our parents and the United Council’s laws as they were the superior. “Is that all?” my mother asked again.

  “Is that all what?” I innocently questioned. Then an image of Kal in a biomedical synthesiser zipped into my mind. I gasped in surprise and jerked away from my mother. She looked hurt but I knew she now understood as I did, what her question truly meant.

  Without another word, I glanced at my mother before sprinting out of the room and towards the medical ward. I passed several Nefaliem nurses and doctors. I didn’t know how. I just knew Kal was found. The room I entered was like the others silver walls, ceiling and floors but instead the double doors opened under my presence and I entered to find Bella smiling at me, carefully hiding the pain, I saw dab along her features. She glanced back down to eye Kal hovering six feet in the air.

  In a familiar tropor condition. “Kal.” I gasped, sensing my mother’s fluid entrance behind me. I acknowledged her calming presence and knew she watched in silence.

  “You took your sweet time,” Bella motioned. She stepped away from Kal and over to me. She held out her arms and engulfed me into a comforting embrace.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “She called out to you as often as she could,” Bella whispered in my ear and pulled away, “She needed you.”

  “Kal needed me?” Even as I said it, I didn’t believe it. Kal never needed anyone.

  “Yes,” Bella only confirmed. I glanced at Kal’s catatonic body and over to Bella and back again wondering if I heard her right or better yet if this was real.

  “Go ahead honey,” my mother gently whispered. I craned my head over my shoulder and regarded her carefully. She only smiled and silently urged me on, taking a deep breath, I stepped forward.

  “What do you want me to do, mom can you help her?” I asked.

  My mother crossed her arms, and truthfully spoke, “You know I can’t. Not at this level. They’ve done something . . . something serious to her, something not physical.” My blood froze, not physical? Did she mean . . . experimentation?

  “But how can I help?” I asked unsure if I could help.

  “By clairvoyance just the Vampieruz version,” Bella prompted.

  “What’s the Vampieruz version?” I asked not exactly catching on.

  “Cecelia hasn’t been trained in that just yet, if it was something else along the lines of telepathy then she could help a little but . . . this. I fear, she’s under experienced for such a pandemic.” A Nefaliem nurse walked in and instructed us to leave. So I did, leaving my mother with Kal as she attempted to peak into her subconscious sate.

  Bella’s fingers shackled my wrist, leading me out of the room and continued to pull me after her. I was certain she wouldn’t release me, any time soon. I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings as my thoughts jumped back to the sight of strong Kalverya in a chronic condition. It just wasn’t believable. Bella turned over her shoulder and ordered, “Sit.”

  I did and she left. I watched the holographic projector play scenes from America, China, Japan, England and Australia. The sight made my heart race and blood boil in fear. Fires, bodies and explosions reigned. I stood absently and began to walk towards the monitor. I knew I wasn’t the only person in this side of the ships’ cafeteria regarding the latest news. I transitioned into my Vampieruz form, the ground beneath my feet began to lessen and before I knew it my fingers moved through the screen; touching but not touching, feeling but not feeling.

  A sound, high pitched frequency weaved through my mind, aching painfully. I lost ground and hit the flo
or hard on my knees it hurt. My mind went blank and I felt my body didn’t respond. My eyes moulded an image behind my lids.

  Ivan.

  He stood mere metres from me. He gaited forward, his movements were glitchy and his face seemed to dissolve in pixels before they reformed his features mere metres from me. “I’m coming for you, Princess!” I gasped and moved to push him away. But he wouldn’t move and my hands fell through him.

  “Get away from me!” I yelled. “You can’t be here! It’s not real!”

  “Oh, I’m very real!” he yelled his face crashing through mine. My skin prickled and my body shivered in disgust but he seemed to have held onto me. He continued to vigorously shake me. “I’m very real . . . Princess.” he yelled before whispering, “I’m coming for you.”

  “Cecelia!” Bella yelled and my eyes sprang open. The heat of her fear filled gaze burnt against my and the reality I faced. “It’s okay,” she said trembling, “I’m not going to let him ever hurt you.” I nodded and wrapped my arms around the hope that was her.

  “I know,” I muttered. “I know.” Hours passed but this wasn’t anything I was expected to be a part of when a light siren rang out once again. I noticed everyone carried bags filled with all necessities. I asked my mother what was going on, and she replied:

  “Cryogenesis.”

  Cryogenesis a frozen form of reanimation—frozen in time was what some said. As everyone got prepared, I knew what was needed to be done. I pulled my messenger bag strap over my shoulder, Bella had gotten for me and squeezed, certain my knuckles pruned white. I walked forward, towards a spiky haired Nefaliem woman—images flashed before my mind of my abduction and the words, “Identification, please.” Pulled me back to the present. I did as was ordered. Pulling out my ID screen and handed it to her, something my parents quickly organised. “Proceed.” she stated and I did. I filed after the others. I regarded my mother high up with my father. I wanted to go after them but knew they were busy consulting with others instead I followed the railing and passed many other Resoncreatlians piling inside an elevator module—an elevator cocoon that held only one person.