by Hall, K R
“You startled me. I was in a deep sleep. How are you doing?” he clumsily uttered.
Alana was giggling with that remark. “I’m fine. You’ve been asleep for an hour. We had lunch.”
Grigore and Dorin began to laugh as well. They were all laughing, which brought Victor great relief. It was nice to be laughing for change because he had not done that for quite some time.
“Dorin, why don’t you begin by sharing some of your theories with Victor?” Grigore said.
“On that note, I shall leave you men to your business,” Alana said as she left.
Dorin stopped laughing and took the look of a serious man. His eyes confirmed that what he was about to say was something that he believed in wholeheartedly. That caught Victor’s attention.
“Make fun of me and call me foolish all you want, but don’t underestimate what I believe. Do you remember the partial fingerprint we found around the door to the balcony of Alana’s room after she was attacked?
“Well, we finally got the results back. They belong to a Christian Woodard. I have also discovered Christian West and Christian Woodard are the same man.
“I’ve managed to uncover a little about Christian’s family history.”
“Are you sure about all of this, really sure? Can I see the documents?” Victor asked.
“Yes, I brought them with me,” Dorin said, handing the folder to Victor.
Victor skimmed the pages, making mental notes. Christian had three brothers and two sisters and his family was very wealthy. His oldest brother was power-hungry. One sister married while the other vanished, I can find no trace of her after her eighteenth birthday.
His parents and two younger brothers were mysteriously killed; his remaining brother assumed the role as head of the family. He and Christian did not share similar views on how to run the family estate. Reports related that things around the house grew problematic. Christian began to stay away from the house.
Finally, Christian disappeared. Most rumors say that the brother killed him; however, to this day, centuries later, an heir to the family estate has remained. This heir has always been male and always look like Christian’s brother.
“So, the brother was a warlock?” Victor asked, shocked.
“Yes. Oh, I think that the family is full of witches and warlocks and they have formed an evil coven.”
Grigore, now wearing a smile, urged Dorin on. “Now, tell him. The part that I find so funny. Please regale him with this.”
Dorin’s eyes fell to the floor, “All right, but he will laugh, too. Well, the brother’s name was Gannon, the sister that married was named Olive, and their sister that vanished— well, she shares the same name as your friend, Chloe. I just thought it would be possible that they were one and the same and that we have an enemy in our midst.
“Grigore assures me that he has known her a long time and that she is a keshalyi, not a witch. He swears that my imagination is overreacting, but you must admit the similarity is a little eerie.”
Victor truly could not believe what he was hearing. His brother was wise and would not make up tales, for he had no vested interest in this scenario at all and no reason to slander anyone.
“Grigore looked at the folder and said everything seems authentic, but nothing more than a coincidence. He must be right,” Dorin said.
Victor heard Dorin downplaying his thoughts, but deep inside, he knew that he was on the right track, even if he didn’t want to believe this. Things just didn’t make sense. He needed some time to sort this all out.
“Grigore, what do you make of this?” Victor asked.
“I think this is nothing more than you walking to town and calling the name Sean to see six men and women turn around. A name is a name and I think Dorin’s theory is inaccurate. I think that the history is useful and that his theory on the coven may be correct. I know that Dorin is wise beyond his years and I agree that there is or was a sister named Chloe, but I do not believe that they are one and the same. Though it could be hard to prove either way seeing how long ago she disappeared and our Chloe has been around us for two hundred years. It was easier to change a name and a life story that long ago,” Grigore said.
“I see. I wonder if it would offend either of you if I asked to spend some time with these documents.” He wanted to see the facts in black and white for himself.
“Of course, you may. Maybe you can discover something yourself that we have been unable to locate. Come, Dorin; I’ll take you home.”
Victor wanted time with Dorin; he would understand his concerns. He could help them sort all of this out. His brothers were the force in his life that was unconditional and nonjudgmental.
“No,” Victor said to Grigore. “You’ve done too much already. Please, allow me and don’t worry, I’ll take good care of these documents. I’ll take them with me and I will be back here shortly.”
“Victor, the eternal gentlemen— don’t be out too late. I need you here in the morning.” Grigore gave a warm smile and turned to leave.
“I’ll be back soon,” Victor assured him. With that, Victor took the documents in one hand and held the door open for Dorin. Afterward, he hurried out the door.
“Hey, slow down, baby brother, what’s the big hurry here?” Dorin was practically running to keep up with him.
“I think we have a problem that is much bigger than we could have dreamed. If I’m right, you are the only one who can help.”
Chapter 14
Victor had been donating to charities and creating fundraisers as well as jobs for the people of Carver. Every spare minute he had, he dedicated to helping someone that needed it. It was the best way that he and Magnus had come up with to redeem himself from what he had taken part in during the wars. The new hospital went a long way toward redeeming himself for accidentally bringing the plague to America. This dinner was meant to bring the people of Carver closer together.
“Thank you all for coming tonight. Before we eat, I must address somebody here. Someone that I thought I knew, who has transformed into someone new,” Victor said.
The gathered guests murmured softly in confusion while looking around.
“Chloe,” he said. “Come forward.”
Everyone turned as Chloe rose and walked up the aisle and waited next to Victor with a huge smile on her face. She looked like the cat that ate the canary. She looked up at Victor and he was silent for a moment.
“You have broken the bonds of our laws,” he began. “You have repeatedly attacked Alana. My true love and my mate. As your punishment, the council has allowed me to exercise my right to terminate you.”
Gasps were heard throughout the crowd. Chloe began to cry and attempted to grab onto Victor. He scowled and removed her hands from him and stepped closer to Alana.
“I will not terminate you as you have not succeeded. I will banish you from Carver. If you step inside the town limits again, you will be terminated on the spot,” Victor decreed.
“You were my friend! I trusted you. I cared for you. And this is how you repay me, attacking my mate. You are nothing to me anymore. You’ve lost all my trust. You are dead to me. Get out! Your presence makes me sick,” Victor said, his voice full of rage and disgust.
“You can’t do this,” Chloe screamed, her face distorted with rage. “I was supposed to be your mate!” She turned to Alana. “This is your fault!” Chloe said, reaching for her. “You bitch!”
Chloe began to run toward Alana, but Victor grabbed her. Victor handed her over to a shifter police officer. The officer cuffed her and marched her away.
“You’ll pay for this!” Chloe threatened; her cold fury burnt with dangerous intensity. Her shouting rent the air. What was once a peaceful dinner became polluted with rage. Everyone tensed.
The officer pushed her forward and disappeared out of Victor’s home. Everyone sat or remained standing silently, taking in the scene that unfolded in front of them. What they had witnessed in the last fifteen minutes was shocking, to say the least. Murmurs began spread
ing through the dinner guests as they discussed what happened.
Victor remained silent for a moment, seething. Alana walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. Her touch was the only thing able to calm him and his strigoi.
“Please, let’s enjoy our dinner,” Victor said after he had regained his composure.
As the guests began to eat, Victor could sense that they began to relax. The evening didn’t last long. Most of the guests left after they finished eating.
~ ~ ~
Later that evening, as Alana went for her routine walk in the gardens, Chloe popped up in front of her, startling her. A group of keshalyi surrounded them.
Chloe swung her fist at Alana and she heard a sickening noise as her head snapped backward. She felt her eye start to swell shut. The second blow connected with her jaw and she tasted blood. Anger pulsed through Alana and she came at Chloe with all her fury, pushing into her chest with her shoulder.
Chloe staggered backward and tripped over a tree stump, causing her to fall to the ground. Alana took off toward the safety of her home. As she ran, she discovered the dead bodies of her guards.
“She must vanish! Make her disappear,” Chloe said to the other keshalyi before she disappeared.
~ ~ ~
Alana was taking her evening walk through the garden. There were still some winter plants as the snows had been mild so far this season. With her guards watching, Victor felt she was safe. However, Victor wished he could get the feeling of impending doom out of his gut.
He forced himself to remain seated in the wingback chair. After the dinner guests left, Victor and his brothers moved to the den to talk about what to get their parents for Christmas.
Once they agreed to give their parents a trip to Romania, Victor changed the subject to ideas for Alana’s first Christmas with him. He wanted it to be special.
A housekeeper burst into the room with a torn and dirty piece of cloth. “Victor!” She threw the fabric on the small table in front of him. “Alana has been taken! They murdered her guards.”
Victor smelled the blood on the maid’s hand. As he picked up the fabric, a feral growl erupted from his throat so loud that it shook the windows in the room. He could smell Chloe on the fabric. He drew in a deep breath, hoping he could maintain control of his beast. He failed the promise he made Alana to keep her safe.
Ladinas called in his security force to get the hunt started to find her. “Alana has been taken. A housekeeper said that the men guarding her have been murdered,” Ladinas growled into the phone, his lips spread thinly across his teeth. “We need to find her.”
I will destroy whoever took her, Victor’s strigoi said to him.
There will be a punishment severe enough for Alana’s kidnapper to regret his actions. This will ensure that no one else would ever try to retake Alana, Victor replied to his strigoi.
Victor ran to the garden in hopes of finding any evidence or Alana’s scent. Cristofor, being a priest, gave the guards their last rites. When done, he contacted the coroner’s office to retrieve the men. The murders and kidnapping were a paranormal issue and would not be handed over to the local police. There was an agreement between the Carver police and the paranormals in the area. If humans were involved, they would have contacted the police.
~ ~ ~
Alana was tired of being treated like an object. She was tired of not having any say in what happened to her. Everything in her world had been turned upside down and inside out several times in the last month or so. She would ask what next but was afraid of fate’s answer.
“Why?” Alana croaked. They had been walking for hours in the dark with no rest and no water to drench her parched throat. The keshalyi— a death squad, she had learned— had canteens, but they never offered her any water.
“Why what?” the keshalyi guard asked in an annoyed tone.
“Why did you take me? Where are you taking me?” Alana asked, making another attempt to free herself from his grip. But he only grabbed tighter to her arm.
“To Chloe,” he replied gruffly.
Panic started to well up inside her. She couldn’t be taken to Chloe, who knows what would happen this time. The more Alana tried to move away, the tighter he gripped her. That didn’t stop her from giving up. She pulled her arm once more, but this time, the keshalyi turned in frustration, pinning her against a tree.
“Don’t you dare to do that again,” he exclaimed as he wrapped his hand in Alana’s hair, pulling her head back hard enough to force her to cry out in pain.
“You are not to be questioning me,” he demanded. He let Alana go, pushing her down onto her knees. “Bow down before me, show some respect,” he ordered with his head held high. Keshalyi thought they were far superior to humans.
Alana stared up at the keshalyi through unshed tears. She couldn’t believe she heard him correctly. She tried to convey her anger through her eyes.
“Bow!” he hollered as he leaned into her face.
Alana stared at him and gathered all the saliva in her mouth and spit on his shoes. Before she could even think about running away, the blows came in one after another. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach; it was like her insides were being tied in knots. They were all beating and kicking her.
Her face burned and her back felt like it was being crushed. Alana was down on all fours, gasping like a fish out of water. There was blood all over her and she had no idea how it got there. As fast as it began, the beating stopped.
“ENOUGH!” shouted the head of the keshalyi squad as he arrived. Or, at least, Alana thought that was who he was when everyone else stopped and bowed.
“Chloe will be the one to take her life. Not any of you,” he said, looking at her in disdain.
The keshalyi species didn’t deserve to be alive. First, Chloe and now these males tried to kill her. They had to pay. For the first time in Alana’s life, she wanted revenge. Then everything went black.
~ ~ ~
Victor, his brothers, and his men followed Alana’s scent through the night. They knew that the keshalyi had her, but they hadn’t picked up Chloe’s scent. Victor didn’t believe for one second that Chloe was innocent in the kidnapping of his mate. He knew they were getting closer as their scents were stronger.
Magnus appeared in front of them. “Victor, you must be prepared for what you are about to see,” he warned. “Alana has been severely beaten and is unconscious.”
“How far are they?” Victor growled. He held his strigoi back, but only by a thread. Anything could set it free.
“They are passing the reservoir,” Magnus said as he pointed. “They are heading toward the wildlife sanctuary. If they make it that far, we will lose them.”
“Agreed,” Victor said. Looking around at the men, he added, “We can’t let them make it to their home turf. We may never find Alana of they do.”
Victor’s eyes blazed red as they continued walking. His body shuddered as he fought the emergence of his angry strigoi. There was no subduing his beast any longer. The strigoi was his other half. They completed each other, and they both hungered for revenge.
Victor’s arms and legs elongated and wings protruded from his back as he lost control. He was transforming into his strigoi. His skin turned chalky white as his eyes turned red. Its fingernails grew longer and stronger— Freddie Kruger would have been jealous. Its incisors grew longer like vampire fangs. The strigoi was a sight to strike fear into any heart.
The strigoi clenched its teeth. The keshalyi dared to hurt its mate. Their deaths belonged to it. Its breathing slowed and it began to prowl. A dozen heartbeats thudded in the distance, eleven belonging to those of the keshalyi that harmed its mate. They would not be beating for long. The strigoi licked its lips at the thought of ripping their hearts out of their chests.
~ ~ ~
It spotted the keshalyi standing around with amused smiles on their faces looking down at Alana’s beaten body. The strigoi’s face split into a crazed grin thinking about the pleasure it woul
d give him to rip that smile from his face, literally.
A fist raised above Alana’s prone body and it was like a bomb went off. The strigoi launched itself with all intentions to kill. Pleasure surged through the creature. Teeth were snapping in the air, waiting to bite something. It tasted iron in his mouth.
The only sounds heard were the crunch of bones and the screams of the keshalyi echoing in the clearing. Next, silence.
The only heartbeat to be heard was Alana’s.
The strigoi licked every area to get the savory goodness of iron against its tongue, craving even more of it. The strigoi imagined how satisfying it would be to go out and get more keshalyi blood. They’re a bunch of killers. Who would care? It would be doing the world a favor.
The strigoi gently lifted Alana from the ground and let out a deafening roar. Alana was not in good shape. Thank the heavens she was not dead. If she had died, there would be nothing that would be able to stop the strigoi from destroying the entire race of keshalyi. They needed to take responsibility for what they had done to his mate.
“Let me hold her, brother, while you change back,” Dorin said as softly as he could. No one wanted the strigoi to continue his destructive path.
The strigoi could tell from the scent that Dorin was its brother and would not harm Alana. It stood looking at Alana’s limp body as it held her. Slowly, the strigoi handed Alana over to Dorin. In the blink of an eye, it was gone.
In the far distance, they could hear shouts of alarm and subsequent cries of pain. The strigoi was not done seeking its revenge over the species that had harmed its mate. Victor was forced to be nothing but a spectator while it wiped out everything in its path.
Chapter 15
Days later, Alana was still in the hospital tired, but all healed. Thanks to the paranormal doctors, there was no trace of her being beaten to near death. She would probably feel broken inside or scared after all she went through. She knew the strigoi was angry at the world for what happened to her.
She was so fed up with fighting every second for survival. She just wanted to close her eyes and never wake up. Her rest was suddenly interrupted by whispers outside her door.