by Simone Pond
We were basically walking through hell.
I jerked my attention to Matthias. “You really come here on a regular basis?”
“It’s the best place for the rebellion to hide. It’s where we can make our plans in secrecy,” he said.
“Is it worth it?” I asked, cringing as a female shrieked in some back alley.
“Freedom’s worth any cost, wouldn’t you say? Besides, with you around, things are starting to look up.”
Though his smile was genuine, I think we were both still confounded by my role as the Chosen One. I’d been so occupied by getting to the Madlands, I hadn’t actually considered the colossal task of leading an entire race of docile people to freedom. The logistics seemed impossible to manage by only human will. Obviously, I’d need to call on the supernatural big guns. The vision I’d had on the cargo ship implored me to go see him. So, I was counting on the Ancient One to hand over specific instructions on how to get the entire left bank to leave Mysterium.
My brooding was abruptly interrupted by a voluptuous woman with long silver hair who had glided in front of our caravan, blocking the path. Her pale skin shone more radiantly than any pearl I’d ever seen, and she exuded and intoxicating scent of beguiling musk. Every curve of her body was smooth and provocative. This kind of flawlessness could only mean one thing: vampire.
“There you are, my darlings,” she purred, stroking her long red nails under Abe’s chin.
I pulled the boy closer and tucked him into the crook of my arm. I tried to pull up my magic, but protecting Dandrek on the pier had siphoned every last drop. My operative training might’ve been somewhat useful, but without any magic or devices, the practically indestructible vampire would’ve most likely crushed me. The guiding star was nowhere in sight, so the giant was our best source of defense at the moment.
“We’re not going back there,” Abe told the vampire without a stitch of fear in his voice.
She inched closer, but Dandrek stomped his foot down, knocking her back a bit. “Not happening,” he said.
“Oh, darling. You have it so wrong. So fantastically wrong.” With a blur, she was standing across the street with Abe in her grip.
I started to run after her, but Matthias grabbed my arm. “Don’t. Not without your magic.”
The vampire and Abe vanished in a flash. Where had she taken him? His family started calling out his name. How could I just stand there and do nothing?
“We have to do something!” I shouted.
Then in quick flashes the other family members began to disappear. The vampire was picking them off one by one, hiding them somewhere so she could return them to Pyre, where they’d once again become slaves. Matthias held onto the matriarch so when the vampire came back for her, she also took Matthias. Now it was just me and Dandrek standing in the street.
The giant picked me up and threw me onto his back. I clung to the collar of his burlap shirt as he began stomping down the middle of the street, everyone frantically diving out of his path to avoid getting flattened.
“You know where they are?” I yelled.
He sniffed the air. “I can smell your beau.”
“Beau?! Who says that? He’s not my beau!”
Dandrek tore through the street like a tornado until we came upon what looked like a hovercraft hearse. He set me down on the rough pavement and seized the sleek black hearse by its front bumper. Blue fire shot out of the exhaust in streams, but this didn’t deter the giant in the slightest. He held on tight and began marching down the side street with determined purpose, the hearse in tow. I ran behind, doing my best to keep up. Some onlookers glanced over from their affairs to check out the scene, but went back to whatever awful thing they were doing. Nobody cared about anything in the Madlands. Some giant thundering down the street dragging a vampire hearse? No big deal …
“Where are you going?” I called to Dandrek, but he proceeded forward without a word.
He made it another block before the gorgeous vampire vaulted out of the hearse. She stood in front of Dandrek and halted him with just one arm; her strength was phenomenal. Her eyes gleamed red and her fangs glinted under the street lamps. Rage isn’t a strong enough word to describe her disposition.
Dandrek let the vehicle drop with a heavy thud. I ran over and tried to open one of the doors to free Matthias and the others, but it was locked. All the doors were locked. I tried to peer inside, but the windows were tinted black.
Behind me, the ground rumbled as Dandrek swung at the vampire, flinging her across the street. He ran toward her to take her down, but she jumped back up and with her slender arm, she swept her long nails across Dandrek’s chest, slicing deep into his skin. Blood saturated his shirt and he teetered backward in shock.
Someone pounded on the windows from inside the hearse. I caught the faint sound of Matthias’s voice, though I couldn’t make out the words. Something else was inside there with them. I needed to break them free. Then I needed to kill this vampire bitch. I reached for my magic, but it was still on a low simmer and not at all ready to employ. I was basically useless unless I got a hold of some silver.
Silver!
“Abe!”
He had the knife Matthias had given me in the tunnel. Unfortunately, Abe was trapped inside that hearse. But Dandrek could break into the vehicle the same way he saved me from the Alpha’s yacht earlier, by smashing through the windows.
“Dandrek!” I shouted.
He grunted as he flung the vampire farther down the block, giving us a few precious seconds to conspire.
“Smash through the windshield. Abe has a silver knife,” I said.
The vampire came rushing back and drop-kicked Dandrek, but he rolled to his feet and stomped over to the hearse. He pulled back one of his fists and punched right through the front windshield. Glass shattered everywhere, and a noxious stench poured out from the interior of the vehicle.
“No!” the vampire screeched, running over to the hearse, fumbling with her keys, and finally opening the driver-side door.
Dandrek and I shrugged at each other in confusion, then darted over to help the runaways and Matthias. I opened one of the back doors and released more of the rancid smell. The runaways scuttled out onto the pavement, covering their faces with pieces of wool fabric, choking and gagging.
“What happened?” I asked Matthias.
His face was pale. “Abe killed her lover. And he was old. Real old.”
I covered my face and pulled him away from the hearse. “Nothing like the stench of century-old vampire rot …”
Abe stood among his family with his shoulders back and chin lifted, no longer looking like a young boy. The tenderness in his eyes had transformed to steely assuredness; he’d crossed over into manhood.
The vampire knelt next to the vehicle, clasping handfuls of dust and wailing. “All of you will pay!” She leered at me. “Starting with you!”
Not sure why she singled me out, but before I could ask, she knocked me against the side of the car and seized my neck, digging her long fingernails into my skin.
Abe ran over to us. “Stop! I was the one who killed him. Not her!”
With her free hand, the vampire swatted Abe back about fifty feet. She sneered at me with her dark red lips. “You smell delicious, darling. What are you?”
I grasped for my magic but only felt a dim flicker, like trying to get a flame from an empty lighter. This was getting to be a nuisance. Face to face with the stunning creature, I could see the complete deadness in her eyes. The life-sucking savage had been gone for centuries, draining the life force out of humans to extend her own. Her existence was a total sham. My insides recoiled and I head-butted her, regretting that decision immediately. The immense pain reverberated down my spine and overwhelmed my body. She grazed her tongue over the trickle of blood dribbling down my neck from where her fingernails were puncturing me. Her eyes glazed over in a trance.
She moaned. “Oh, you are delicious. I must have more …”
&
nbsp; I wriggled under her impossible chokehold as she went to bite down on my neck. She opened her juicy red mouth, revealing her sharp fangs, and that’s when I felt something in my hand: the silver knife. Abe’s magic trick! I thrust the blade directly into her heart. First her eyes ignited with fury, but then glazed over with fear as she realized what was happening. She was about to join her long-time lover in a pile of rancid dust.
“Oh … darling …” were her final pointless words.
I shoved her off of me and watched as her body withered into what looked like rotting fruit and quickly turned to a pile of dust.
“You all okay?” I asked the group.
Matthias laughed. “We’re good. Just some minor bumps and scrapes. Are you okay? Lemme see that neck.”
I wiped away the trickle of blood with my sleeve. “I’m fine.”
A thunderous roar came from the street as the ground shook. I turned to see the giant had fallen. I dropped the silver knife and quickly ran over to where Dandrek lay on his back, his shirt soaked through with blood. So much had drained from him that he was as pale as the moon above. The vampire’s cuts had gone deep into his chest. Too deep for him to survive the blood loss.
“Dandy!” I cried, shaking his shoulder.
He squinted his eye and a huge teardrop rolled down his cheek and splashed to the ground.
“I’m finished, Chosen One,” he grumbled softly.
“No. You’re just getting started …”
“It was an honor helping you …”
“We’re friends—we help each other. I’ll get you some help … you’ll be okay.”
He smiled. “Friends …” He closed his eyes.
“Come on, Dandy …” I was trying not to lose it.
“Don’t forget to tell the Ancient One,” he said faintly, then let out one final sigh.
I rested my forehead on his big shoulder and allowed my tears to fall. Eventually, the footsteps of Matthias and the runaways made a slow approach.
“Gone?” Matthias asked.
I nodded, keeping my composure.
He nodded, patting the giant’s colossal shoulder, and said, “Let’s hurry and get to the safe place. That’s what he’d want.”
CHAPTER 22
“Come on, guys,” Matthias said, then turned to begin walking to the main strip.
The matriarch reached for his shoulder, stopping him. “This is where we part.”
“Part?” he asked.
“Thank you for saving us from those bloodsucking leeches. You have done an incredible kindness, one which we can never repay. But we must go our own way from here,” she said.
Abe stared at the ground. I’d grown attached to the kid in the short amount of time we’d spent together and I didn’t want to part ways. Not after just losing Dandrek. My insides felt hollow and heavy. But they had their purpose to fulfill, and I had mine.
“You should take the hearse,” I said.
Matthias pulled me aside. “It’s out of commission.”
“I’ll use my magic to get it started,” I said.
“Your magic isn’t recharged … almost got you killed back there …”
“Ye of little faith,” I said. “Come on.” I pulled him over to the hearse with the family trailing, curiosity piqued.
“I know what you’re thinking and it won’t work,” he said.
“Stop being so negative. If you can restore my energy, why not try channeling your power into my magic reserves? Spark it back to life?”
He huffed. “Negative? I’m not negative. Just realistic.”
“I have a feeling if we work together it’ll happen. No harm in trying. Okay?”
“Work together, huh?”
I grinned. “Appalling, right?”
A smile curled on his lips. “I’ll give it a shot.”
I leaned into the hearse and brushed the pile of reeking vampire dust off the front seat, then got in behind the wheel. After a few deep inhales and exhales, I was ready to test our experiment.
“Now,” I told Matthias.
He placed his hand on my head and that familiar trickle began to flow through me. I concentrated on his energy, trying to move it toward my center, where the source of my magic resided. The slight twinkle of violet light flickered and sparked, and when our magic touched an eruption as brilliant as a billion light particles exploded. The charge pulsated through my limbs. I placed my hands on the vehicle’s console and let my magic do its work. The computer mechanism rebooted and the engine purred back to life.
Matthias yanked his hand away.
I collapsed against the seat, panting. “Whoa … Did you feel that?”
He didn’t say anything. He just leaned down and kissed me, long and hard—and I found myself kissing him back. When our tongues met, prickles of hot electricity pulsed through me. Matthias reached around my waist, his strong hands pulling me closer to him, unable to get enough. Both of us devoured each other. A rush of excitement flooded through my cells and I felt reborn.
The matriarch abruptly cleared her throat. Matthias pulled away and jumped out of the driver’s seat. He reached down to assist me out of the vehicle, his gray eyes dancing.
“Now I get it,” he said.
I stood next to him and swiped my sleeve across my mouth, not looking in Abe’s direction. “What’s that?”
“Why you’re the Chosen One.” He laughed.
The matriarch moved past us and nestled into the driver’s seat of the hearse, waving to her family to join her. They all got inside, except for Abe.
He stood in front of me and held out the silver knife. “Thank you, Chosen One.”
I lifted his chin. “I should be thanking you, since you saved my life.”
Abe continued offering the knife, but I knew he didn’t want me to take it.
“That’s yours now,” I said. “You’re the only male in your family, so it’s your job to help your mother protect the others. Okay?”
He nodded, his eyes glistening. But he pushed back his shoulders and said, “I hope we meet again one day.”
I patted his shoulder like I would any brave warrior. “I hope so too, my friend.”
Abe hopped into the back seat. Matthias leaned down and asked the matriarch if she knew how to drive the hover hearse. Her reply was a string of laughter followed by a blaze of blue fire from the exhaust as the vehicle sped away.
“That’s that. Time to get to the safe place before something else screws with us.” Matthias started walking toward the main strip.
After one last nod of thanks to Dandrek, I followed after him.
Dawn was breaking and things seemed less psychotic in the streets of the Madlands. I could see why people chose to get inside during daylight hours—the city was a depressing shambles. Ramshackle buildings, broken glass everywhere, decaying bodies, and garbage. So much garbage. Piles and piles on every corner. Maybe that’s what they were burning all night. The Madlands made the left bank look like a 5-star luxury resort. I couldn’t wait to get to the safe place, though I wasn’t expecting it to be much better.
I tried to ignore the constant buzz in my body left behind from that kiss that still burned on my lips. My insides were smoldering like the embers of a fire. Standing close to Matthias made it impossible for me to just forget about what had happened. I realized I couldn’t. Nor did I want to. It was a beautiful moment. Like a gift. But did he feel the same way?
“So, are we gonna talk about what happened?” I caved from the pressure of needing to know what Matthias was thinking.
He stopped in front of a giant blue door of a dilapidated warehouse that looked abandoned. “Do you want to?”
“Nah,” I said, lying.
“You continue to perplex me, Temple.”
“I could say the same about you,” I joked.
He typed a few numbers into a keypad that I was shocked still worked, and the blue door made a loud clicking sound. I followed him into a dark corridor through puddles of what I hoped was wate
r. The place echoed with repetitive noises like drips and creaks and rustling leaves, or maybe it was loose trash. Neither of us spoke as we walked down the murky hall toward a rickety metal staircase.
“Is this safe?” I asked before putting any weight on the first step.
“You’re not afraid of some stairs, are you? After slaying a vampire?”
I shoved him forward and we clanked up the staircase. It wobbled as we made our way to the second floor, but we got there in one piece. Matthias walked along the balcony toward another blue door and typed in some more numbers, then waited for the click. When we crossed over the threshold and entered the long-awaited safe place, I nearly collapsed with relief.
Matthias pulled me inside and shut the door. “You okay?”
“It’s so … nice,” I said as I slowly paced around the huge warehouse.
The walls were armored, but the skylights let in lots of sunlight to brighten up the place. In the center of the space was a living room with a few black leather couches and handmade rugs. They’d set up computer consoles with hi-tech equipment along one of the walls and a workout/training area along another. The kitchen was fully stocked with modern appliances and in the center was a counter surrounded by stools. In the back corner, they’d partitioned off an area for sleeping.
“Not too shabby, eh?” Matthias startled me as I stared longingly at the marble-tiled shower.
“Is any of this real?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“No wonder you don’t mind coming here. If you can get through that hell out there, this place is heaven.”