B008GMVYA4 EBOK

by Drake, Rebecca Ann

  Madison stared around the elevator, frantically searching to an emergency stop button or some other means of stopping it, but there was nothing.

  The number 10 flashed red on the black screen of the elevator control panel. There were only fourteen floors of The Coven and Madison knew it was a bit too unlikely to be a malfunction with the elevator. Something unnatural was causing the elevator to climb and only The Black Orchid was strong enough to move the elevator at their-own accord.

  Madison was being to feel Closter-phobic, the walls felt like they were moving in and there was no air in the small space. Fear flooded through her veins like a powerful drug bleeding into her body taking it over with its black venom.

  She was beginning to hyperventilated, positive that the oxygen had been sucked out the small box elevator. Gripping the handle around the wall of the elevator, Madison hit the stop button on the control panel with the palm of my hand. Nothing happened. She hit the button again, more forceful this time. The elevator continued to ascend.

  She grabbed at her t-shirt, pulling the collar away from my neck as her clothes began to strangle her. The black control panel came in and out of focus as she began to feel faint from hyperventilating. Red arrows appeared on the control panel, stirring Madison from nearly losing consciousness.

  Madison took a deep breath, beginning to get some oxygen in her lungs as the elevator jolted to a halt. The number 14 now flashed on the control panel, the elevator had ascended to the top of The Coven. Part of Madison expected the elevator to plummet down to the basement of The Coven, killing her. However, this time the doors slid open like normal, revealing an empty corridor.

  Madison sucked in the oxygen from the fresh air; she began to breathe normally - the panic subsiding for the moment. She stared at the doors, half expecting them to snap shut if she was to walk towards them. Freedom suddenly crossed her mind and the last thing she wanted was to be stuck inside an elevator within The Coven. She had to take whatever opportunities came her way. Madison leapt forwards, dashing through the entrance of the elevator out into the corridor.

  As soon as the fresh air in the hallway hit her, Madison felt instantly better. The tightness in her chest disappeared and the lightness in her head began to ease.

  The elevator doors automatically slid shut behind Madison as she stopped in the center of the corridor. She scanned the corridor suspiciously, it was silent.

  The walls were large transparent glass that stretched along the top half of the wall. The glass windows looked over meeting rooms and various offices.

  In the room ahead of her, stood a large dark brown table with a dozen black leather office chairs circled around it.

  The bottom of panel of the wall was white plaster, giving a very corporate feel to the building. The floor was carpeted a soft beige colour and the opposite wall was a mirror image of the right wall but the windows looked out over London.

  Shops and restaurants dotted around the streets which then led into the suburban parts of London. The city was still and dark, not even the moon had made an appearance tonight. There was something quite odd and frightening about how quiet London was on this night, it was if tonight was going to be a memorable night for London and as a result, the whole of London was waiting patiently for something. Something had changed within London and Madison couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was like the turning of a tide, a dark new wave rolled over the dark city.

  The offices on the top floor were dark and deserted, but they appeared normal – like something you would expect to see in a high-end office block. Nothing to suggest the building was run by Vampires. Madison imagined the above floors of The Coven ran like any other type of offices during the day, disguising what the lower parts of The Coven contained. The whole building was huge; the lower parts of The Coven larger, probably housing over a thousand Vampires’. Madison had only seen a very small proportion of The Coven and there were many other doors within the depths of The Coven that led to places that Madison couldn’t even imagine.

  The lights in the corridor were movement operated, as Madison began to move within the corridor the lights flickered on – lighting her way.

  The silence unnerved her and she had been brought to the top floor of The Coven. The Black Orchid wanted her there and she knew that somewhere within the maze of offices they would be waiting for her. Something was always lurking in the darkness, waiting to grab her.

  A flash of movement caught the corner of Madison right eye. She spun around towards the office, peering through the glass – searching for the movement. The room was pitch black, but Madison was able to make out the outline of about twenty desks and chairs - four rows of five desks all laid out in identical rows.

  Madison pushed down on the door handle to the office. Normally she would stay clear of dark, creepy rooms but everything that had occurred over the last month had pushed Madison to find a new sense of confidence she had been missing before.

  She pushed the door open, stepping inside the dark room. The motion-sense lights flickered on, lighting up the four corners of the room.

  The room was empty; she must have imagined the movement before. The office room had motion-sensitive lights, they would have activated if there had been any type of moment within the room. However, The Black Orchid had already made themselves renowned for controlling electrical equipment (the stunt with the elevator).

  Each desk had a flat screen computer on it, wireless keyboard and a black corded phone. Every desk was identical; there was no paperwork or pens insight. The office was neat and tidy, almost unused.

  At the back wall were two large grey filing cabinets. Madison headed towards them, curiosity kicking in and she wanted to know more about The Coven. She pulled the open the top draw, brown files filled the top draw – she started to examine them. The files were filled with different types of bank account statements and details, some for business accounts others were for personal accounts. She pulled out one of the folders and scanned the statement.

  “Madison… ” said a familiar voice.

  She jumped, dropping the folder on the ground. The statements scattered to the floor, making the tidy room begin to look untidy.

  Leon stood in the door way, he eyed Madison nervously.

  “Leon. You scared me…” she said catching her breath “Where’s Brendan?”

  “He’s downstairs in reception. He came looking for you but you had disappeared, so we split up” Leon said walking towards her.

  “The Black Orchid chased me. Then something happened with the elevator, it brought me up here. I was looking for a staircase when you found me” she said.

  “Looks like you were snooping to me” Leon smiled.

  “No. Well, It doesn’t matter anyway; we need to get back to Brendan. He needs to know about the Black Orchid. They seemed… ”

  “Pissed?” Leon offered.

  “Yeah...” Madison agreed.

  “Of course their going to be pissed! Your boyfriend destroyed their plans! Their master doesn’t like to be let down…” Leon protested, a little too harshly.

  “I think we should find Brendan” Madison said ignoring the harshness in his voice, pushing the draw of the filing cabinet close, but leaving the papers scattered on the office floor.

  “What’s with the rush? You’re safe with me.” Leon smiled a little strangely.

  Madison eyed him wearily. There was something not quite right about the way Leon spoke and his posture. Leon was normally light hearted and joked a lot when he spoke. Now, his voice was serious and almost lifeless, a harshness to it which wasn’t like Leon.

  “What’s wrong…?” Madison started.

  The door to the office flew open, Brendan stood in the door way, concern and panic spread across his face.

  “Madison” he said running towards her and cupping her face in his hands.

  Leon shifted nervously on the spot, his eyes glued on Brendan.

  Madison continued to watch Leon for a second before she became d
istracted by Brendan’s enchanting crystal blue eyes. Gazing into his glorious eyes brought back the wave of warmth that ran up and down her spine. Her heart fluttered as the smooth cold skin of his fingertips grazed her cheek. Blood flowed into my cheeks from his touch. She shivered from the coldness of his touch, but it felt pleasant.

  “What happened?” Brendan asked, concerned tilting her head to the side to examine the cut to her chin.

  “The Black Orchid chased me. They are really not happy. They knocked me over and made the light bulbs in the corridor explode on me. Then, I got caught in the elevator, it took me up here. It must be broken or something. Anyway, I was looking for a way down and came in here. Then Leon found me.” Madison said, looking back towards Leon.

  Brendan blinked hard at Madison’s explanation, absorbing the information – the story she had come out with would have sounded completely insane to anyone normal. Slowly, he let go of Madison’s face and turned towards Leon who stood motionless.

  “That was quick? Did you know where Madison was?” Brendan asked, relief lifting his expressions.

  “Umm… yeah, I heard her” Leon said, his dark eyes fixated on her face.

  “You should have called, man. I was only along the corridor” Brendan said casually.

  “Yeah, sorry about that” Leon said, a flicker of sarcasm in his voice.

  Brendan eyed Leon suspiciously, picking up on his unusual tone. Brendan’s usual soft expressions harden quickly.

  “You found her” said another voice at the far end of the room.

  Leon shifted to the side, giving Madison and Brendan a clear view of the doorway. Leon stood in the doorway his eyes wild with confusion as he looked from Brendan to Leon. Brendan and Madison stared in astonishment, their eyes flickering between the two Leon’s. Leon had met Madison in the office room before Brendan had turned up, but now Leon was standing in the doorway – there was two Leon’s

  “What’s going on?” Madison muttered, throwing Brendan a concerned look.

  Brendan pushed Madison back protectively, standing in front of her. Brendan stared at the two Leon’s, confused and concerned.

  Madison’s heart thumped loudly in her chest from the anxiety and fear which was beginning to creep in once again. Both Leon’s stared at each other, the Leon in the doorway had a confused, shocked expression on his face whereas the other Leon seemed less surprised or unconcerned.

  “Leon? What’s going on?” Brendan asked staring between them both.

  “Who are you?” said the Leon in the doorway, confused.

  The other Leon did not respond his body remained motionless, a smirk twitching the corners of his mouth.

  “Brendan, take Madison and get out of here!” Leon said taking a large step into the room towards the other Leon.

  Brendan squeezed looked confused for a second at the Leon in the door way, slowly he began to pull Madison sideways, past the filing cabinet towards the other door at the end of the room.

  BANG! The loud sound of three heavy wooden doors slamming echoed around the room.

  Brendan stopped dead in his tracks, ensuring Madison was still directly behind him – using his body as a shield to protect her.

  The Leon that stood in the centre of the room started to violently shake. His whole body trembled as if he was about to explode.

  His form faded into a translucent jelly like substance, It bubbled and rippled over his image, distorting it, changing it. Thick layers of translucent jelly slipped away from his form, falling down onto the floor and vanishing.

  Madison peered around Brendan in shock as the form that once resembled Leon’s had now transformed into the form of one of The Black Orchid boys.

  His black hood hung over his head, cloaking his face in darkness. The pale white skin of his hands stood out from the black hooded jumper and his black jeans.

  His hood shifted towards Madison and Brendan, although his eyes were not visible, they could fill the empty pits of darkness staring at them.

  Brendan nudged Madison further behind him until her whole body was covered with his, only her head visible, peering around the side of his side.

  “I don’t think he wants us to leave, Leon” Brendan said.

  The hooded boy stepped towards them, his head hunched over and his posture slumped forwards.

  “Leave them alone” Leon shouted, anger breaking into his voice.

  “This does not concern you, seer. Stay out of this and you will not be harmed. Our master has other plans for you” the boy said, stopping and cocking his head towards Leon.

  “I’ve never been very good at minding my own business, always sticking my nose in where it wasn’t wanted. Good job I did too, because that lucky son of a bitch wouldn’t be here now” Leon gestured towards Brendan.

  “You have been warned” the boy said to Leon.

  “Oh no, I have been warned. How about we make this about me and you! What’d you say?” Leon said sarcastically, baiting the boy.

  The boy remained silent, he turned and began to pace toward Leon his head hung low covering his ghastly face.

  Leon held both hands out to the side, the palm of his hands flat, directed towards the boy. Blue sparks of static electricity crackled at Leon’s finger tips.

  The boy seemed unalarmed by this, his pace quickened towards Leon.

  Leon forced his hands forwards toward the boy, like he was pushing away an invisible barrier. Two balls of blue electricity erupted from Leon’s palms. Streaks of lightening flew towards the boy, striking him in the chest. He flew across the room, spinning in mid air. His small body slammed into the two large grey filing cabinets a few feet to the right of Madison and Brendan. He fell to the ground with an almighty thud, his head slamming into the hard, grey carpeted floor.

  Brendan grabbed Madison’s hand, pulling her behind him until they were safely behind Leon.

  The sparks of blue electricity vanished, just as quickly as Leon was able to conjure them. His hands were limp by his side. His eyes stared towards the space where the boy had fallen behind a desk. Leon’s face was hard with anger, his posture stiff as he waited for whatever defense the boy would come at him with.

  A small pale white translucent hand gripped the edge of the desk. Brown razor sharp fingernails dug into the solid wood, scratching off the mahogany vanish.

  He pulled himself to his feet, the hood of his jumper still pulled forwards over his face.

  “You may have more power than me. But I know how to kill you, seer” the unnatural voice spat from under the shadow of his hood.

  He slowly stepped around the desk until he was face to face with Leon - only the distance of the room parted them. They were dueling, like some type of western movie, ten feet apart, intimidating each other until one of them drew their guns.

  Leon’s eyes hardened as he tried to read what move the boy would make.

  Brendan shifted on the spot, shielding Madison with his body.

  Blue sparks cracked from Leon’s finger tips. A burnt smell flooded Madison’s nostrils, she watched in astonishment at the power that Leon had.

  The boy flinched suddenly. He raced across the room so fast that if Madison barely had time to blink. He ran faster than anything she had ever seen, passing the room in a blur, too fast for anyone human to see. As a vampire Brendan could run fast, probably faster than any human, but nowhere as fast as what the boy could move.

  He ran straight into Leon, disappearing as he slammed into Leon’s medium build.

  Leon’s torso lunged backwards as if a canon ball had hit him directly in the stomach. He placed both hands over his stomach, as if he was trying to stop himself from tearing in half. He gasped for air, like the wind had just been knocked out of him. His body became limp, and his legs buckled beneath him.

  Brendan managed to catch him before he hit the ground, he pulled him up right, supporting all him weight so he could stand.

  “Leon, Leon, what happened?” Brendan asked frantically, panicked.

  “He
’s. He’s in me. He’s trying to take over. Brendan, he’s so strong. I don’t think I can….” Leon struggled to say, his face red and distorted.

  “It’s okay. We can sort this, right? Just tell me what to do” Brendan said panicked, eyeing Leon with concern.

  Madison watched from Brendan’s side, panicked and concerned for Leon, studying his face frantically.

  “We can’t. There’s nothing you can do….” Leon strained to say.

  Leon doubled over in pain, an agonizing scream erupting from his throat.

  He looked up towards Madison, his face redder from the strain of keeping the boy from taking over his body. Brendan gripped him more tightly, tears forming, panic stricken. Big red vein’s bulged out of the whiteness of his eyes. A droplet of blood fell from him right nostril and ran down his neck.

  Madison’s eyes widened as she watched the strain on Leon’s face, he looked like he was about to explode. Terror roared through her body, causing her hands to shake at her side. Her heart raced in her chest, the familiar dry, large lump grew in her throat.

  “There has to be something!” Brendan asked desperately, a tear spilling out over his cheek – his voice weak with emotion.

  “No it’s too late. I know he was capable…” Leon chocked, blood creased the corner of his mouth and coloured his teeth.

  “Don’t try to talk, I’ll ring Fred. She’ll get some help” Brendan said, his bottom lip quivering.

  Brendan unbuttoned his grey jacket and reached his hand inside his pocket to pull out his mobile phone. Leon stopped him before he could pull it out completely. His eyes were focused on something that was attached to Brendan’s belt. Brendan followed his gaze, until he found what Leon was staring at.

  The silver handle of a hand gun stuck out from the waist of Brendan’s trousers.

  “What? No! Leon, No” Brendan said staring into Leon’s blood shot eyes.

  Brendan’s face was twisted in pain and terror; his beautiful crystal blue eyes were fiery as they scanned the whole of Leon’s face.

  “There’s not much time. Listen closely. Being in my body has drastically weakened the boy. He can’t regenerate until he has taken over my body. At the moment he is in his demon form. He cannot survive on this plain without a host. I think I can kill him before he is able to regain control.” Leon whispered.