by Lainy Lane
“Yet you accused me of being an amateur?” I cut him off.
“If you want to hear my story, then the snide comments and interruptions are going to have to, at least, be kept to a minimum.” His arm tensed underneath mine, out of frustration.
I warned myself to back off before pushing him to a point we might all regret. I had enough regrets for the night, I didn't need to add more to the list. “Sorry,” I responded, surprising even myself at how quickly an apology spilled from my lips.
Ember and Ethereal remained silent behind us. The fog grew denser as the brush began to disperse. The closer we got to what we called home, the higher my nerves built. Which was likely the reason behind my irritation and cross remarks increasing as well. I wanted a distraction, but I didn’t need one. I needed to figure out what our next step was. I had nothing figured out other than getting home with our new prisoner. Eventually, his clan would come after him. I was sure of that much, even if I refused to admit it to him. How long it would take them to do so, and how many there would be, were the things I needed to be focusing my attention on figuring out.
“Well, as you can imagine,” Phoenix pulled me out of my daze as he returned to his story for the third time.
I vowed to keep my mouth shut this time, as long as my brain would remind my mouth to stop before anything came out. Its track record of accomplishing that task wasn’t a good one.
“Being new comes with quite a few disadvantages. It’s an adjustment, one that my clan hasn’t exactly made very easy on me. I can’t keep up with them, and they use it to their advantage. So, I figured having a little full moon witch blood in me would speed up the process for me, even if it was only temporary.” Phoenix sighed slowly, and I couldn’t tell if it was due to the stress of telling his story or he was getting fatigued from our journey through the woods. There wasn’t exactly an accessible path to our dwelling, a choice we had made intentionally.
A twinge of sympathy swelled in my chest for him. Sympathy for the prisoner couldn’t be good hostage ethics. I sucked in more smoke and allowed it to suffocate the emotion that was trying to overcome my better judgment.
“So, what?” I added an extra dose of hate to my voice to make sure none of the sympathies crept in. “Were you just planning on feeding on witches every full moon until you were finally strong enough to keep your head above water on your own?”
“I didn’t say I had the entire plan figured out.” He shrugged, his voice sounded a bit wounded, and his shoulders slumped over.
“Well, that’s just stupid!” I scoffed and was ashamed at my own hypocrisy, but refused to admit it.
“Well, what’s your plan then?” he pointed out what I desperately wanted to avoid.
I wanted to have a smart comeback to that, but he was right. I too had acted on a plan without figuring out the whole thing first. I knew it was stupid when I did so, but it hadn’t stopped me from getting us in this awkward predicament.
“Thought so!” He smirked and pulled his posture up a bit.
“Amateur mistake I guess.” I chuckled.
He laughed, and I felt his entire body shake under my grasp on his arm. Something inside me jumped in response, and that scared me much more than the fact that I still had no plan figured out.
Our ‘house’ stood in front of us, and Phoenix tensed up when he saw it. The mausoleum was gray, vast, and intricate. It was a beautiful work of stone with crosses surrounding it along the perimeter. The door had crosses etched into it, and the handle was formed from a stone cross protruding from the door. I opened the heavy door slowly and stood aside waiting for everyone else to enter. Phoenix seemed bewildered and shaken as he walked in. I pulled the door closed behind me. The inside didn’t look like much. It was a small square room and in the middle, was the stone basin that held the coffin encased in a stone vault. There was just enough room to walk around and not much else.
Phoenix raised an eyebrow at me. “Who is buried in here?” he asked reluctantly.
“Ember,” I stood over the basin that held her coffin and watched his face as it washed out and his jaw dropped.
“As in—her?” He pointed to Ember, who stood to my right.
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of a long story.” I sighed my frustration and squished another cigarette out on the stone floor.
“Hey! Respect my resting place!” Ember squealed.
“Yeah, because that’s the worst thing that’s been done in here,” Ethereal smirked.
Embers cheeks blushed. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again before anything actually came out.
“Guys!” I scoffed. “Can we get down to the house before we draw attention to ourselves?” I looked at Ember and Ethereal. My anxiousness to be in our own space was growing. I was hoping I’d be able to piece together the rest of my plan once my personal belongings surrounded me.
The three of us straightened our posture. Ember and Ethereal walked to the other side of the basin and stood at each end while I stood in the middle of the side I was on; we had formed our magical pyramid where we all felt comfortable. Phoenix stood aside, watching with his jaw still dropped, which really wasn’t a good look for him…not that I cared.
Our arms lifted in unison and as we raised them, the mahogany encrusted vault rose from the basin as well. Once it was over our heads, we stopped the quiet chanting of our spell and relaxed a bit, without moving from our positions. Underneath the hovering vault was a set of midnight marble stairs that led to our area underneath the mausoleum.
“Coming?” I smiled at Phoenix.
His face was surprised, yet curious, as he peered into the hole in an attempt to see what was located below. I couldn't tell whether it was curiosity or disgust written on his face.
“It would really make more sense to inspect our home once we get into it, don’t you think?” I chuckled, feeling nervous for some reason. We had never invited guests into our space, it had only ever been the three of us that even knew of its existence. That must’ve been what was causing my heart to flutter and my stomach to flip into knots.
“You guys live here?” His voice shook.
“What’s wrong, vampy?” Ethereal broke in, “Scared of the cemetery?” She arched her eyebrow at him, which turned the question into a challenge.
He sneered and climbed over the walls of the basin to walk down the stairs. He watched every step he made carefully as if he was afraid it might be his last. Ethereal and Ember followed after him. I took an extended strengthening breath before I began my own descent. My heart lifted as I reached the bottom of the stairs and I felt the relaxation wash over me from being in our home. I raised my right hand and motioned for the vault to return to its rightful place and cover our hideaway once more.
The floors were nothing but earth, but it was packed tightly enough that there was no dust or movement of any kind. The kitchen sat to the right of the stairway. It was a small open area with a fridge, stove, microwave, and a little bar area. It was all simple and outdated stuff, leftovers from different places we had lived in the past or abandoned buildings, but it worked. The living room held nothing but a TV, a small black couch, and a single, black end table. There was a tiny powder room behind the living room space. To the left of the stairs were three separate hallways that led to our bedrooms. Ethereal and Ember had rigged up electricity and plumbing to the area, so we lacked nothing, despite living underground. These were just a few of the advantages of having magic and affinities.
Our bedrooms were the only places we had spared no expense. We each had all of our favorite things and lavish décor in our bedrooms, each one reflecting the differences in our personalities. Ember and Ethereal both hurried off to their rooms, leaving Phoenix and me alone. I walked into the kitchen, with a need to do something with my hands.
“Is there anything I can get you?” I asked, trying to sound pleasant for the first time since his captivity began.
“How about you explain a few things?” He took a seat at
the bar and leaned back against the stool, seeming to take comfort in the action.
I turned my back to him and dug through the refrigerator for something, anything to distract me from his request. I settled on a can of soda and leaned on the opposite side of the bar from him.
“And just what would you like explained?” I asked and immediately found myself regretting it. I had never been good at the small talk of conversing with people outside of Ember and Ethereal. It was part of the reason why finding test subjects had proved to be so complicated. I generally failed at politeness.
“What do you plan to do with me from here?” he asked.
I shrugged as I pulled the tab off of the can and slurped back a few gulps.
“What’s the point of taking a hostage if you’re not going to use them for some sort of leverage?”
“To say that I out powered a vampire?” I countered.
“On a full moon. Not surprising or impressive in the least really. Let me take you on during a new moon and let’s see what goes down.” He smirked.
“Wouldn’t you love that?” I smiled, and it reached my eyes in a way I’d never experienced before. I immediately reverted to my more grave expression.
“So, what? Do I have to stay in this rope with my arms behind me forever?” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I couldn't decide how to react to the action.
“Oh sorry.” I jumped over to the other side of the bar and untied his hands, my own trembling in the process.
“Not afraid I’m going to leave I guess?”
“You couldn’t even if you wanted to, dear.” I seized my drink and began walking away from him. “It takes a spell to move that coffin, so you’re trapped!” I chortled.
“And just where do I get to sleep? The sun will be coming up soon, and I am drained from the drama you turned my life into today.” His voice was on the border of fatigue and irritation.
“I guess in my room." I didn't see another choice in the matter. "Come.” Without meaning to, I swayed my hips as I led him down the hall to my room.
CHAPTER FOUR
“So, you’re telling me that you’ve never done it before?” I asked again, finding myself shocked at the revelation for some reason.
We sat in my room, which was your average ‘girly girl’ room. The walls were a shade of brilliant lavender. Thanks to a spell Ember had concocted we had been able to paint the walls despite them being dirt. A white four-poster bed stood in the center of the room with a sheer white canopy and a pink lemonade, frilly, quilted bed set. The rest of the furniture matched the bed and consisted of a dresser, two end tables, and a vanity. There was a small midnight blue couch that stood out amongst all of the girly colors against one wall. It had been the first thing I had acquired when I’d set off on my new life with Ember and Ethereal and despite it no longer going with my décor, I simply couldn’t part with it. I had a single photo in an intricate silver frame on one of the end tables. It was the first photo Ethereal, Ember, and I had taken together, just a few days after I joined the fold. For a long time, that single picture had been my lifeline. It was the reminder of the hope I had, the future I had to work toward; it resembled the reason I was still alive at all.
We sat on the bed, facing each other, as we talked. “Why is that so hard to believe exactly?” His eyes questioned the reasoning behind my shock at the conversation.
“I guess because you were so dead set on doing it tonight. I just figured that meant you’d done it before.” I shrugged, trying not to be concerned about it any longer. There was no point in feeling any interest for my hostage.
Phoenix glanced down and began fiddling sporadically with my bedspread. “We all have to start somewhere, right?”
“True, but why now? Why tonight?” I couldn’t figure out why I was so interested in understanding his reasoning. It shouldn't matter, the only thing that should matter is that he had intended to drain me for my magic. For some reason, I couldn’t stop asking questions to delve further into what had led to his actions. The actions that very well could have killed me.
“I had a bit of a tough day with some of the clan members, so I was set on finding a way to become stronger to show them up. I went to the bar looking for a witch. I was already out before I realized it was a full moon, which made the idea that much better.” His eyes searched the room for anything to focus on that wasn’t me.
I found myself astonished, once again, at his honesty in his decision to try witch blood. Seeing as we had prevented him from doing what he’d planned, and were now holding him captive, I guess he didn’t have much reason not to be forthcoming.
“How long does it take for you to reach your full strength?” I asked before I had a chance to stop myself.
Why I was suddenly curious, I hadn’t figured out. For some reason, I felt sympathy for him. That wasn’t supposed to be an emotion you had for your prisoners. I was apparently not built for this particular task. Maybe it was a learning experience. Although I hopefully wouldn’t be in this position again, so I shouldn’t need any expertise on the subject.
“About a decade.”
“And how long have you been—a vampire?” The word felt hard to say for some reason.
“Almost a year.”
“How did it happen?” The question was out of my mouth before I could even consider stopping it. I bit my bottom lip; afraid I had tapped into a part of the conversation that would be off limits.
He smiled and eased away my concern immediately. “I was curious. I went out looking for a clan. I tried to pretend to be a vampire already, but, of course, they knew I wasn’t. After a few years, I finally found a clan that just so happened to be in the market for new members. They wanted a few members that had been turned by them to become the future of the clan. They wanted people they could morph and mold into exactly what they wanted them to be. I was stupid enough to oblige, and now here I am.” He shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes conveyed a different emotion.
“Did it hurt?” The question had to be the dumbest thing I’d ever asked anyone.
His eyes widened. “Does getting bitten hurt?” he asked with a smirk. “Of course it hurt, although the pain from the actual bite doesn’t hurt for long. Vampires have a venom that spreads to our victim's blood system and numbs the pain. It’s kind of like getting your blood drawn, ironically enough. There is a painful prick, and then you don’t feel much other than your blood draining from you. The torture comes from the transition. Our entire body morphs into a new being. Every single one of your bones and organs dies before slowly changing into those of a vampire. It’s a week of excruciating pain and then a month of insatiable hunger as well as other— desires.” He winked at the last word, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was serious or just pulling my leg.
“Do you regret it?” Why was I so curious about all the intimate details of his life?
His shoulders slouched over slightly. “I guess I sometimes wonder why I did it and what my life would be if I were still human. But I can’t make myself hate it; there’s both good and bad that comes with it. I have to accept all of it and just deal with this being what I am now…forever.” There was a pain in his eyes that made me wonder if the speech was meant to convince himself or me.
“What about your family?” Seriously Acqua quit sympathizing with the enemy!
“They were dead anyway; my parents died in a car crash when I was eighteen.” He continued fidgeting desperately with the bed cover, and I began to think he might pick a hole straight through it.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
I wasn’t sure how to deal with these types of situations. Being someone who had parents that never wanted me. Parents whom I despised with every part of me, I knew nothing of the grief that most people felt upon losing their parents. It was a mystery to me, yet still intriguing.
“Don’t be. They weren’t that great of parents anyways. Besides, it’s not like I would still be allowed to keep them around anyhow, the clan is my family now.” He shru
gged, but his eyes revealed that he cared more than he wanted to let on.
There was an awkward silence that filled the air. I twiddled my thumbs wondering where we were supposed to go from here. “I was blessed with pretty crappy parents too,” I finally decided to give up some of my own story. It was a sorry attempt to even the score.
“Gotta love it right?” He chuckled, lighting the mood a bit.
“There’s pain in the world, that’s life as a human.” I shrugged my shoulders, brushing it all away before my emotions had a chance to respond to the piece of my past being brought up. I was already screwing up this situation, the last thing I needed to do was also show the frailty that discussing my parents would inevitably put under a spotlight.
“How did you become a witch?” His voice was softer, weaker, this time. His fear in bringing the topic up laced into his words.
“I was born,” I laughed.
The majority of people assumed that being a witch was a choice of some sort. Some even believed it was a curse that you brought upon yourself by doing evil things or practicing Wicca or any number of equally ridiculous suggestions.
“No one has a choice in the matter. It just happens to some people. We are born with magic, and we can choose to either ignore it or embrace it and learn how to use our powers. Whether we choose to use them for good or bad is another story.” I smiled, halfheartedly.
“Was anyone else in your family a witch?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I only knew my mother really, and I wish I could say I didn’t even know her. Judging by how disgusted she was when she discovered my powers, I’d assume the answer is no.”
“How do you know the other two girls?” he asked.
“I came across Ethereal and Ember shortly after I left my home, or was kicked out, more or less. I was in a pretty bad spot. Ethereal and Ember saved my life.” My smile now was sincere, discussing my sisters always brought on a sense of real happiness.