"What the fuck?" David asked.
"Get out of here," Chris ordered.
"Shut up," David said as he removed his backpack from his shoulders. He dropped next to his friend. "It's time to get you back in the game."
"Get away from me. I'm not what you…"
David ignored him. He opened his backpack and removed a large bottle of blood. He removed the stopper and forced the bottle into Chris' mouth. In his weakened state, the vampire hunter could not stop him. David pinched Chris' nose and forced the vampire to drink. Seconds later, he screamed and started to convulse. Moments later, Chris opened his eyes.
"How did you know?" Chris muttered as the holy water infused blood slowly restored his battered body.
"We found the people that you hid in the tunnels. They told us of a vampire who rescued them. It wasn't hard to figure out who it was. The Difference is leading them to safety," he said as he smiled.
David didn't have time to rejoice as he heard Rowlett scream. They turned their attention in time to see Rowlett flying towards them. David didn't have time to protect himself as the battered warrior flew directly into him. Their breath escaped from their lungs. The muscular African man knocked David into the wall. Both men collapsed to the ground. They breathed rapidly as they tried to regain their breath. Chris tried to get to his feet, but he collapsed too. Viktor laughed.
A crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder. The vampire howled in pain. Larry smiled as he saw the bolt strike home. Viktor grabbed the sleeve of his robe and pulled. The fabric ripped away easily. The tiny oak dart protruded from the vampire's muscular shoulder. Tiny green lines crept along his skin. Viktor threw his head back and screamed. Larry smiled until Viktor's scream turned into a hideous laugh.
"Mongolian oak," he said as the lines began to retract, "Has a wonderful effect on the vampire body."
He pulled the dart from his shoulder licked it. He snapped it between his fingers. Larry swallowed hard.
"However, I'm much more than just a vampire," he said evilly as he leered at Larry. "Much, much more."
Larry fumbled with his belt for his cross. Chris sat up as he saw his friend reaching for cross. He tried to get to his feet but his legs still had not recovered. Viktor extended his hand and Larry flew across the cavern and into Viktor's outstretched hand. The vampire lifted him by his throat. He held out his cross but Viktor squeezed. The cross slipped from his fingers. Viktor raised his other hand. His fingernails extended. Larry's eyes widened. Viktor hissed and he plunged his hand into Larry's chest. Larry uttered an agonizing scream. Viktor ripped his heart from his body.
"NO!" Chris bellowed as he reached for his friend.
Viktor laughed as he threw Larry aside. He turned to Chris and he smiled. He plunged his teeth into the still quivering organ. He drained it before tossing it aside.
"As you can see," he taunted, "I am much more."
Chris leapt. Anger filled him. His vampire face returned. His yellow eyes burned with hate. Viktor smiled as the vampire hunter charged. Chris pounded the vampire with his fists. Over and over and over again, his blows hit home. Blood flew from the vampire's face. Chris was relentless. His kicks and punches struck home until the vampire collapsed to a knee. Chris moved in for the kill.
Viktor extended his hand and Chris stopped. Viktor rose. He had placed his hand on Chris' throat and he lifted. He pushed and Chris flew through the air. He slammed against the cavern wall. He slid down the wall as pain filled his body again. He looked at the vampire who slowly walked towards him. Lord Blackraven had mysteriously, as before, appeared at Viktor's side. He smiled.
"Kill him," Lord Blackraven commanded.
"As you wish," Mikhaeli said.
Viktor turned his attention to the beautiful vampire queen. She smiled as she swayed towards him. The ancient vampire was puzzled. Her eyes were locked on him. She walked directly at him.
"Stop!" Viktor commanded.
Mikhaeli stopped. She stared directly ahead. Viktor smiled.
"I see that I have some unfinished…"
She looked at her dress. She frowned. She tried to dust some of the dirt from her expensive gown, but it would not come off.
"Oh damn," she said. "I hope that the cleaners can get that out."
"What?" Viktor asked. "How can you?"
She smiled sweetly. She licked her lips. She blew him a kiss.
Viktor glanced at Chris. "You will wait."
He pointed at Mikhaeli. She winked at him. She licked her lips slowly. She sucked on her finger as she swayed from side to side.
"You have to learn your place, woman," he growled. "I can see that I have to…"
"Stop," she said with a mischievous smile.
Viktor froze. Mikhaeli swayed towards him. The three wounded council warriors, who had watched the exchange, remained motionless. As he had done to them, Mikhaeli had just taken control of Lord Viktor. She smiled as she approached. Lord Blackraven, who stood silently next to Viktor, formed a wicked smile.
She walked up to Lord Viktor as she had done to Jackson. She placed a sharp fingernail on his exposed right arm. She started to drag it across his skin, but she paused. She looked at her soiled fingernail and frowned. She paused to clean it and she wiped her hands on his robe. The vampire continued to stare directly ahead. Satisfied that her fingernails were presentable, she started to drag her fingernail across his body. The sharp fingernail drew blood on exposed skin and shredded cloth where it wasn't.
"Kneel," she commanded.
As commanded, Lord Viktor knelt on both knees. His eyes stared directly ahead. Chris, David, and Rowlett all watched intently. Blackraven continued to smile.
"As you can see, like you, I am more than what I seem," she said as she whispered in his ear. "I'm not that little girl that you seduced centuries ago and that you can control. I am not your mate, I am your queen."
She moved behind him and leaned over to his other shoulder.
"When you were reading on how to raise your sire, you should have turned the page," she said coldly. "Lord Blackraven left notes on what happens when you raise your sire. The re-born vampire becomes more powerful than ever before. But, and this is my favorite part, if that vampire is permitted to regain its strength, the vampire that feeds on their re-born sire will become…unstoppable."
She tilted his head. She licked him slowly. "One more thing, you were never his heir. It was me."
Her vampire face formed. She hissed loudly. She plunged her fangs into his neck. She broke her control over him. His eyes filled with fright. His blood pumped into her mouth. She inhaled. The powerful Lord Viktor began to shrivel. She moaned loudly as his powerful blood filled her body. She drank until she drained him. She pulled away and sighed. She licked the remaining drops from the holes in his neck. The gaunt body of Lord Viktor slumped forward. It rapidly decayed and burst into a cloud of dust when it hit the cavern floor.
Mikhaeli licked her lips and moaned loudly. "A girl could get used to that," she said as the powerful vampire blood sent shivers down her spine.
Chris struggled to his feet. She smiled and she walked towards him. David and Rowlett glanced at each other. Rowlett started to stand, but David held out his hand. Rowlett nodded. They were all injured. David knew that they needed to find an opening if they were going to have any chance of stopping her.
"Now, I think we have a ceremony to finish," she said to Chris.
"So that was what this was all about?" Chris asked.
She frowned. "You don't seem too happy with me," she said sweetly.
Chris took a painful step forward. "So now I know why you didn't kill me. You needed me to raise him."
"Your blood," Blackraven corrected.
Chris ignored him. He stared at her. "Why not just kill me then?"
She looked sheepishly away. "Because I couldn't."
He reached out and touched her face. She kissed the palm of his bloodied hand. She looked at him. He was bruised and in pain. However, his eyes held a warmth
that she had not felt since she was a child. She stared at him. He stared back at her. She smiled.
"Stay with me," she begged.
"I cannot," he said.
"You are my prince."
"I know."
She looked away. He turned her chin to face him.
"You could come with me," he said.
Blackraven smiled evilly. "Your power or your prince. You must choose."
She kissed his hand. She looked longingly into his eyes. He looked back. A tear welled up in her eye. She stepped backwards and shook her head. He tried to hold onto her hand but she slipped through his bloodied grasp. Tears streaked her face.
"I can't," she said as she stepped backwards towards Lord Blackraven.
"Excellent," he said.
Chris stared at her as the vampires stepped backwards. Tears streaked her face. Blackraven stepped away from her. He extended his withered hand. She looked at the extended hand and then back to Chris. She softly took the extended hand. David and Rowlett glanced at each other again. They looked back at the scene that was playing out in front of them. Chris stood alone in the flickering torchlight.
The vampires had disappeared.
EPILOGUE
DENVER, COLORADO
Seven days later…
The holiday season was rapidly approaching. Colorado streets were lined with strands of clear and multicolor flickering bulbs. The weather, as customary in Colorado, had changed with the season. The air was crisp and bitterly cold. Cars had struggled to start during the early morning hours as commuters prepared to start another day. Tiny snow flakes tumbled to the earth. It added to the misery of the frigid weather. People bundled up as they exited their cars.
Students at a local university shuffled through the hallways. They hugged their books to their chests. Some of them had their books in backpacks or shoulder bags while they absorbed the warmth from their coffee cups. Sniffles were coupled with rosy cheeks. Watches were checked as they prepared for hours in the library or a last minute run to the cafeteria for a coffee refill on the late autumn day.
Dean Daniel Campbell smiled as the students passed by him. Most ignored his subtle greeting but a few returned the smile. A select group, those students who had taken one of his advanced classes, offered personal greetings. He sipped his own cup of coffee. Part of it was for the warmth, but it was mostly for the effect. He had barely slept a wink for the last week since receiving a phone call in the middle of the night. Larry Efron, his employee but also one of his dearest friends, had died.
As a tribute to his friend, who they had laid to rest yesterday, he had not opened his office. He told several friends and colleagues that he would not open the door, let alone begin the process of emptying his office, until his friend had been laid to rest. Last night, he didn't sleep at all. As he sleepily staggered through the hallway towards his friend's office, millions of memories filled his brain. A tear welled in his eye as he remembered his friend. He became lost in thought. Moments later, he had arrived at Larry's office. He sighed.
He looked at Larry's office door. The name plate read 'Dr. Larry Efron, PhD'. The gold lettering on the black plate brought back even more memories. He remembered his friend's bright smile as he proudly placed the name plate on the door. He vividly remembered Larry's words that day. He stated that his name would only come off that door when he had left the mortal plane. With a heavy heart, Daniel Campbell reached up and slid the name plate out of its holder. He removed his keys from his pocket and he slid the key into the lock. He turned the handle and pushed the door inward. He paused. He didn't want to enter, but he knew that he had to do it.
He entered the office and closed the door. The room was dark. Larry always kept the blinds closed so he could lose himself in his work. Being away from distractions, he found that he would be at his peak. As he closed the door, Daniel knew that he would get a glimpse into the world that was Larry Efron. He turned on the lights and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest. David Spires, one of Larry's prized students, was sitting in Larry's chair with his feet on the desk.
"I couldn't find the light switch," he said.
"How did you get in here?" Daniel Campbell demanded.
"Like you did, Doctor," he replied as he held up Larry's keys.
Daniel Campbell walked towards the desk in Larry's small office. "I think that you should leave."
"I think that you need to sit your ass down and hear what I have to say," David said coldly.
Daniel Campbell scoffed. "There is nothing that you can say that will convince me to do anything other than calling security and having your ass thrown out of here," he replied.
David gave a sarcastic smile as he motioned to the only empty chair in the room. "I'm sure that the council would love to hear how their money is being used at this institute of higher learning."
Daniel paused. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Then why did you pause?" David asked.
Daniel placed his coffee cup on the desk as he reached for the office phone. "I am calling security."
"Bury any empty caskets recently?" David asked.
Daniel paused again, but he began to dial numbers. David pressed the lever and disconnected the call.
"I am tired of your games. I am finding security," Daniel said as he dropped the receiver.
David grabbed his arm. "I watched him die," he said coldly.
Daniel looked at the hand that firmly gasped his arm. David pointed to the chair as he released his grip. Daniel slowly hung up the receiver. He picked up his coffee cup. He walked to the chair. He removed a newspaper that Larry had left there many weeks ago and he tossed it onto the desk. He sat down and stared at David who returned his icy stare.
"How did he die?" Daniel asked as he sipped his coffee.
"I will spare you the details. I'm sure that you can surmise how it happened," David replied.
"Did he…"
"He died honorably," David said.
Daniel nodded. "He was a good man who…"
"Who died for a cause that he believed in which is why I am here," David said.
Daniel sat forward. "You are here to remind me that I recruited Larry and that he died so that in some way I am responsible for his death."
"Partially."
"Then I must remind you that he was given the choice. He accepted it."
David glared at him. "The same choices that I was not given," he stated.
Daniel smirked and sat back. "So this is what this is all about. You're here to force my hand into some sort of apology. It isn't going to happen. This is a war. You were conscripted."
"I'm not here for an apology. I'm here because I need something."
Daniel scoffed again and he stood. "You will get nothing from me. The last that I heard, the council threw you out like a soldier with a dishonorable discharge. The fact that you sit in his chair dishonors his memory."
Daniel turned to leave. He reached for the door.
"I'm sure that the council would love to know about that off-shore account that you are keeping," David said.
Daniel paused and turned around. "Excuse me?" he asked.
It was David's turn to smirk. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Some friend you are," he said sarcastically. "Larry recruited me because of my computer and research skills. You should have known that. A few code alterations here and there and I found some very interesting things on the council computers. I'm also wondering what your wife would think about those various trips on council money to Vegas too. What is the Black Diamond Club anyway?"
Daniel turned pale. He cleared his throat. "So how can I help you?"
David put his feet up on the desk again. "Well, as you so nicely reminded me, I am no longer with the council. However, I need access to their network."
"Why do you care since you are no longer one of us?" Daniel asked.
David sat up. "Larry taught me many things: You fight for what you believe in and you die for it to
o. I am going to continue what he started. I just need a base of operations and access to what I need so we can finally take the war to them."
"And where would that base operation be located?"
David eyes wandered around the office where he had spent many hours talking to his mentor. He had borrowed many of the books that lined the shelves of the tiny room. His eyes returned to Daniel.
"I think that I have an idea," David answered.
Daniel scratched his chin. "People will ask questions about why you are always hanging out here."
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