Stephan's Monster [Vampires of Vadin 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Shelby Rhodes

  Tilting his head back, he took in the fresh spring air. Over the last five years, Jayden had taken to wandering around the forest every time he felt close to the edge—which meant he’d been here too many times to count.

  He had explored many areas of the forest, often going off the carved paths. The more agitated Jayden was, the longer he hiked and the more distance he covered—he would go far today.

  As he started his trek into the forest, branches and fallen leaves crunched under his boots. It was calming, being surrounded by so much life. A bit odd considering how deadly his urges were.

  For hours all Jayden heard were the soothing sounds of nature—the movements of small creatures, the twittering of birds, the wind sighing as it blew through the trees. But his calm was eventually interrupted.

  A man’s booming voice had him tripping over a tree root. His hands scraped on the ground as he fell. On his knees, Jayden gasped, grabbing his head as it rang—the voice echoed in his mind.

  No…no one else should be out this far.

  “Yes, scream, little girl…doesn’t matter, no one will hear you…you’re mine.”

  A little girl did scream, and it wasn’t in his head.

  No, no, no, no—this couldn’t be happening. Still clutching his head, Jayden began to rock on the ground.

  “Please, someone help me!”

  The girl’s internal cries for help forced him to his feet. Jayden couldn’t do nothing. He couldn’t just let her die. He would save her and turn the man in—that’s what he would do.

  Jayden closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He could do that. Stephan showed him there were other ways. He could do this…

  “But killing him would feel so good.”

  Though his eyes were closed, he found himself staring into eyes that mirrored his own. A chill ran through him—standing before him, barely discernible from the darkness, was himself.

  “No!” Jayden cried in denial at the voice. But it was his own. It was inside him—it was his monster’s.

  “No one would know. Stephan wouldn’t know…we can finally release our rage!”

  Jayden began to sob. “No! Please. Oh, God no…”

  He had to fight it—he couldn’t give in.

  How was this happening? Why was this happening? When had Jayden’s monster become something more? Separate, but yet still him. Though his monster was before him, there were thoughts of killing that were his own. Had Jayden finally gone completely insane?

  “He deserves to die! We need to kill him! We can make him bleed…the joy we would feel…the pain and terror we could inflict, it would be worth it!”

  “No, no, no! Bad Jayden. You can do this…we are stronger than this!”

  His monster began to pace in his mind, his movements jerky from agitation.

  “We’re not. We need this, Jayden.” His monster’s pacing stopped, and he stood still, staring once again. “It’s what we do. We need to kill! We need this. It’s who we are…nothing you do can change that.”

  Jayden felt his control slipping, his urges growing by the second. Ever present were the voices of the man and little girl—pushing Jayden closer to his breaking point.

  He had tried so hard to be good…he had struggled through—it wasn’t fair! All his efforts, Jayden couldn’t waste them now. He couldn’t!

  “I won’t!” Jayden cried.

  Opening his eyes, head in hands, he stumbled onward. Jayden could do this…he could do this.

  “I can do this. I can, I’ve gotten this far…I ca—”

  “We can never be what Stephan wants us to be. Why keep trying?”

  The words stopped his forward trek. Jayden’s hands fell to his sides.

  The voice was right. Jayden could never be what Stephan wanted. He had tried…God, Jayden had tried. But he couldn’t do it forever.

  Even with his eyes open, in his mind, Jayden could still see the other him. Fainter than before, but still there. But his monster’s expression was almost sad.

  “We can’t run away from ourselves, Jayden. We can’t be someone we’re not…not even for the person we love…”

  Jayden leaned against a tree. Biting his lip, he choked back a sob. His monster was right. He couldn’t keep doing this, not even for Stephan. Holding back every day had become a struggle. Trying to avoid places that might set him off—trying to swallow down all the rage inside him. Jayden just couldn’t.

  He wanted to, so badly did he want to. Jayden wanted to be what Stephan wanted him to be.

  The last bit of hope he held on to of ever being normal slipped away. It felt as if something inside him had died. At one point Jayden had foolishly started to believe that just maybe he wasn’t a monster…

  “I’m sorry. I held back as long as I could. Tell him that. If I could just disappear, I would…but I can’t.”

  As those whispered words floated up, it was as if he and his monster merged. Jayden’s mind was his own again—no one there to talk back, only darkness. So much darkness.

  He straightened, moved away from the tree, and brushed the pieces of bark and dirt off of him from when he fell. His cheeks were damp, but his tears had dried up.

  Marching forward, Jayden followed the direction of the voices.

  “I’m sorry, Stephan…” His soft apology, heard by no one, was quickly swept away by the wind.

  Chapter Nine

  Stephan chewed on the end of his pen as he read through the new client contract for his cybersecurity firm.

  Yawning, he stretched, a move that caused his back to crack. Grimacing in pain, Stephan continued to stretch his stiff joints.

  With a huff, he dropped the pen on his desk, leaned back, and stared up at the ceiling. The idea of selecting someone to take over for him here was looking better by the day.

  Stephan knew nothing about cybersecurity, computers, or even programming. Not to mention, he also found it all boring as hell.

  Everwood Enterprise had ventured into so many different fields, Stephan was sure he could find one that wouldn’t bore him to death.

  Well, he did enjoy financing new projects—something he hadn’t done in years. There was just something about watching a plan come together that was satisfying.

  Though, the last project had been a fiasco—fucking Edwin Ebersole. To this day, he still had a strong urge to destroy the man. Stephan wouldn’t, even if he really, really wanted to.

  But boy, had Stephan jumped for joy the minute Blue Sky Seaside Resort was up and running.

  Financing aside, maybe he should try something new. The publishing branch would be a good choice. Stephan enjoyed reading.

  Or maybe his film production company, though the things they filmed were really something. Something he wasn’t interested in, that is. Stephan had been shocked, to say the least, when he found out his parents owned a company that produced porn.

  Yeah, he couldn’t see himself working there. Not to mention that it was located in Bram—the shifter kingdom—and he had no interest in moving.

  Of course, it would probably be best if Stephan didn’t interfere with his other businesses. They already had experienced people watching over them. The problems he may cause by trying to take a greater role, ownership aside, wouldn’t be worth it.

  Stephan’s main involvements focused on his security firm and Everwood Investments, which dealt with a lot of joint ventures—such as the resort—acquisitions, and the buying and selling of assets, etc.

  He should definitely get someone for the firm and just focus on investments. Maybe he just needed a pet project. The resort had been a bit of a pet project, but one that had become stressful due to the money and people involved.

  Considering his substantial wealth, it didn’t need to be profitable. Possibly one that helped others…

  Stephan sat up when his phone rang—a phone that was nowhere in sight. He immediately began to rustle through the papers scattered on his desk. Papers, pens, and whatnot fell to the floor in his search.

  After
letting out a shout of triumph when he found it hidden under a pile of documents, Stephan answered without checking who it was. “Hello, this is Stephan Everwood.”

  The heavy breathing he heard told him someone was there. However, whoever it was remained silent. “Hello?”

  He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked down at the screen. His brows scrunched up when he saw Jayden’s name. Was it a pocket dial?

  Bringing his phone back to his ear, Stephan asked, “Jade, is something wrong?”

  When Jayden’s voice came through, it sounded hollow. “I…I need you…”

  His muscles tightened up, panic filling him as his imagination ran wild. “What happened? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m sorry,” Jayden sobbed.

  “Jayden, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  There was no answer, but Stephan could hear Jayden softly weeping. “Jade, don’t cry. Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I tried…I did, Stephan, but I can’t anymore. I failed…I failed.”

  “Jade, please, tell me what’s wrong.”

  “There’s so much blood. It’s bad, Stephan. I didn’t mean to go so far, but it’s been so long. So long, and my rage.” Jayden let out a choked laugh. “I’m sorry. You won’t be able to fix this one.”

  Stephan’s heart fell and then began to race. He knew this day would come. Deep down, Stephan had known it wouldn’t last. “Jayden…what happened?”

  Jayden ignored his question and instead murmured, “I need your help. There’s a little girl—she needs your help. I can’t do anything, besides killing that is…”

  “Where are you?”

  Stephan listened and winced at the location. “Where in the forest?”

  “There’s still signal out here, so the tracker should work. Find me through it. Just look for a bloody mess. That’s where I’ll be.”

  * * * *

  Thirty minutes later

  “It’s right here. Turn here.” Stephan pointed to a sign that said ‘Glayd National Forest.’”

  Liam steered the car down the gravel road. “Do you know what we’ll be walking in on?”

  Stephan sighed. “A dead body…he said it was bad, Liam. I can’t even imagine how it must be for Jade to think so.”

  “Whatever happens…or happened, we can get through it,” Liam said softly as he parked. Wasting no time, they immediately started into the dense forest—hours later, they still hadn’t found him.

  Stephan growled when a tree branch caught in his hair.

  “Having issues, Stephan?” Liam reached over and picked a leaf out of his curly locks.

  “Don’t. Just don’t…”

  Ignoring Liam, with as much dignity as he could muster, Stephan marched forward, pushing through the brush and trees—only to get snagged by another branch. Swearing, he batted it away in frustration. His shoulders sagged once he was untangled.

  “It was foolish of me to think he would stop forever. I should have been looking for a real solution. I asked too much from him.” Stephan bit his bottom lip. “I just wanted to believe that…that…”

  “That his urges could be controlled?”

  “Yes…”

  “I don’t think he can control them. I’m actually surprised he’s held back for so long.”

  If it wasn’t something he could control, then how could they help him? Stephan should have done more, tried harder to…to what? What was the solution? Was there a way to make this work? There had to be.

  The problem went round and round in his head as they continued farther into the forest.

  About an hour later, a solution came to him. It was so obvious Stephan couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before. Or maybe…he had never tried to find another way.

  There would be some issues they would have to deal with…but it could work. Probably because of what Jayden hadn’t done. Though, the possibility of it going horribly wrong was significant.

  He cleared his throat to gain Liam’s attention. “If he ca—” Stephan let out a yelp when his foot caught on a rock. Luckily, his godfather grabbed his arm, stopping his fall.

  “Are you all right?”

  Stabilizing himself, he clucked in disgust. “I am…but you know, I really, really don’t like nature.”

  Liam chuckled. “I know. As your mother hated it, as well, your father always lamented the fact that he had no one to go camping with.”

  Stephan stopped walking and peered at him. “How come you never went with him?”

  Grinning, the man admitted, “Because I hate it, too. It’s too messy for my liking.”

  “I see.” Liam’s words put a smile on his face. However, it quickly slipped away. Their current situation was nothing to smile at.

  “Anyway…what I was going to say was that if he can’t control it, then maybe there’s a way for him to do it legally.”

  Liam’s eyes lit up with understanding. “It may work.”

  “It might, but there are a few landmines for us to dodge.” At a familiar scent, he paused and inhaled deeply. “I smell blood.”

  Liam nodded. “A lot of blood.”

  Up ahead, Stephan could see light breaking through the trees—an outcrop lying just beyond. The closer he got, the stronger the scent of blood. At one point it overwhelmed his senses.

  Breaking through the trees, Stephan gasped. It was like a scene from a slasher film—body parts and blood everywhere. A scene of great violence, and not something he’d thought Jayden capable of.

  The man tortured and even killed, but it was usually done coldly. Stephan would even say Jayden was meticulous in his task. The scene before him was nothing like that. It was the aftermath of uncontrollable fury.

  Oh God, had he done this? Had Stephan pushed Jade to this? Had he driven him to such violence?

  Jayden was sitting against a tree. The sun shone on him as he stared blankly into the distance. The blood covering him stood out starkly on his pale skin. It didn’t appear as if he had heard them, or anything at all for that matter.

  As Stephan slowly approached, stepping around the carnage on the ground, Jayden’s head snapped up.

  “Did you see what I did?”

  “Yes…Jade, you mentioned a girl…” Stephan’s voice faltered.

  He lifted his arm and pointed. “Behind that tree.”

  Stephan looked back at Liam. The man nodded and started toward where Jayden had pointed.

  Crouching, Stephan took one of the man’s blood-soaked hands in his.

  Jayden jerked violently away, screaming, “Don’t touch me!” He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling on the strands. “God, just don’t…I don’t want it to get on you.”

  Stephan grabbed his hand firmly this time. “Jade, it’s dry. Don’t worry. It won’t get on me. Even if it did, it’s okay.” Gently he coaxed, “Jade, what happened?”

  “I had to get away…the city. It was too much. I wanted to be alone. That’s all I wanted. And usually, it’s fine. But it wasn’t this time. He was here. The little girl was here…and the screaming, she was screaming. I had to help. I wanted to do it your way. I wanted to be good, but I couldn’t. He showed me that. He told me the truth. We couldn’t hold back anymore.”

  Jayden’s words confused him. As far as he knew, besides Liam and him, the man didn’t have any other friends. “Who…who told you? Who are you talking about?”

  “My monster.” He laughed and tapped his head. “He’s in here. I saw him, heard him. He’s real, Stephan. He’s real. He’s me. I knew I was crazy, that I was a monster. I just hadn’t realized he was me, yet not. He told me to tell you he’s sorry, that he couldn’t hold back anymore.”

  Stephan clutched his chest with his free hand, his heart stuttering for just a moment. Breathlessly Stephan asked, “You heard him?”

  Jayden nodded.

  Guilt assailed him. Had he done this? Stephan had heard of it happening. He’d heard of inner entities being created d
uring times of great trauma or stress—it had even been documented.

  Had Stephan done this? Had he backed Jayden into a corner? Did his meddling bring forward a part of Jayden that had been hiding?

  Oh God, what had he done? Instead of putting him back together, Stephan had just broken another piece off. He knew Jayden couldn’t stop. He knew it! In his denial, in his push to make Jayden normal, he had ignored what was staring him in the face. He’d ignored what Jade had been trying to tell him. Stephan had ignored the very reason why Jayden did what he did.

  It wasn’t out of a need for justice. No, it was out of a need period. The young man Stephan met all those years ago hadn’t seen anything wrong with what he was doing because it was something he needed to do.

  Stephan had beaten his own rage. He had locked it away, refused it. But Jayden’s had consumed him—become him. It would never go away. Stephan should have been looking for a solution that would work for Jayden, instead of one that worked for him.

  In his selfishness, he had forced Jayden to swallow his rage, leaving him with no way to release it. It had built and built until it created another part of him. And then all that anger had released and created the scene around him.

  “I’m sorry, Jayden. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard. I did this…and I’m sorry.”

  Jayden sputtered. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I pushed for the impossible. I should have looked for a solution that worked for you.”

  “Stephan, this isn’t your fault. None of this is. It’s me. I’m a monster.” He slapped his chest. “While I never meant to go this far, I feel nothing when I look at it. No horror, no disgust, no regret at all. The only thing I regret is upsetting you and letting you down. Do you know what I’m thinking right now, Stephan?”

  “No…”

  “I’m thinking about the mess I made. That next time, I’ll have to take more care. And, I’m telling you now, there will be a next time.”

  “I know.” Stephan released Jayden’s hand and stood up. “But I’ll fix this, an—”