by Hall, K R
~ ~ ~
On awakening the next morning, Alana found herself in a cell. Nothing but a bed and a blanket were present. There were no candles to light in the room. She rose and went to assess the bars that blocked her path. They were solid iron. Alana remained still, listening, trying to hear if anyone was around. The sound of footsteps made her stop her work on the bars.
She could hear Halberd walking around above and mumbling. She thought there was another voice, female. Sitting with her back against the wall, Alana decided to attempt to contact Victor through their mate bond. She lost track of how long she tried to contact Victor, but she had reached no one. She crawled into the bed and resigned herself to sleep and prayed that wisdom would come through in her dreams.
The smell of food roused her from sleep. There were a table and a chair, along with eggs, bread, fruit, and some type of sausage, all warm. Alana was famished, but she suspected the food might be poisoned.
“The food is fine. You are safe to eat, so please, be seated. I fear we have gotten off to a poor start. Allow me to correct the situation,” Halberd said.
“Well, you have been so very kind in preparing a lovely meal,” said Alana, trying not to fly off into a tantrum.
“Sarcasm will get you nowhere,” Halberd said.
“I thought I would try to be nice. Excuse me if I overstepped my bounds.” Alana turned her back to him and began ‘the upset woman routine,’ but no response came from behind.
“I have told you before that I am not a man to toy with. You made this all very easy for me. Now, we can be civil and friendly, but try more tricks, and you’ll find that I can be as nasty as I must be. It is your decision— make it.”
With those parting words, he was gone. Alana was left trembling, alone, and realizing that her life mattered not if her unborn child was in danger. Absentmindedly, she rubbed her stomach. She tried to think of a plan that could get them safely away.
Chapter 22
Chloe was dead. She was supposed to have met Halberd in town at their favorite bar. When she didn’t show up, Halberd went to the back of the bar and pulled out a small scrying mirror. It took longer than it should have, but, eventually, her face appeared— dirty, eyes glazed and still. Her mouth, chin, and neck looked like she had gargled with acid.
Chloe had been fun and he had almost loved her, as much as a demon could. They’d known each other over one hundred years and had had plenty of romps in that time. Such a waste of such a wonderfully conniving keshalyi.
~ ~ ~
“What do we do with her?” the first voice asked.
“You should have thought of that before you hit her on the head with the baseball bat,” the other voice said. “Halberd isn’t going to like it. We were supposed to keep an eye on her, not hurt her.”
“It was all a big misunderstanding, Jasper,” the first voice said.
“Horace, we aren’t supposed to be using our first names,” Jasper said.
“Aw, gee, Jasper, I forgot,” Horace replied.
“If the boss hears you using our names, he is gonna be pissed,” Jasper said.
“I don’t think she’s breathing,” Horace said.
“What? Are you sure?” Jasper asked.
“All that blood on the floor, maybe she’s dead,” Horace said in a shaky voice.
“Do something!” Jasper shouted desperately.
“We need to get rid of her body. Let’s bury her somewhere,” Horace said.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Halberd shouted.
He looked at Jasper and Horace noticed Alana on the floor between them. She had lost a lot of blood and appeared dead. “Pack your things and get out of here,” Halberd growled.
Horace and Jasper grabbed their bags and ran. Halberd opened a portal to Hell under Horace and Jasper. It swallowed them before they knew what happened. He went through the cabin and removed all traces of them and left her there to rot. He was a demon and he had no compassion.
~ ~ ~
After receiving a text from Ladinas, Victor laced the acetaminophen tablets with a sleeping drug. It wouldn’t kill him but incapacitate him long enough for Victor to get some answers. Christian was the only other person in the building the day he saw Chloe’s body be moved, it was a simple matter of checking security footage to confirm.
Victor walked down the hall to his office to check in with everyone trying to help him find Alana. Looking at the door, he could smell that Christian was inside. He had no desire to deal with him at this time. Sighing in exasperation, he turned the doorknob.
“Christian, you look very comfortable in my seat,” Victor said.
Christian thought that Victor finally figured out who he truly was, but when Victor made no move to attack, he relaxed. He began to stand up when Victor motioned for him to remain where he was.
“No need to move, this won’t take long,” Victor said. “I am sure Chloe will be here soon. After we confront her about our evidence that she has been the one behind the attacks on Alana, we will give her a choice to turn herself into the High Council or we will take her to them. I know the High Council gave me permission to kill her, but after two centuries of friendship, I just can’t bring myself to do it.”
“I am ready. You have nothing to worry about,” replied Christian. He was thinking about the surprise he was going to spring on Victor.
“Good to know,” Victor said, keeping up the appearance that he was still unaware that Christian killed Chloe.
“I will let you know the moment she arrives,” Christian said.
The deliciousness of his betrayal was making him feel more alive than he had in years. All this time living for the sole purpose to avenge his family, knowing he was the one to take Victor down made him feel invincible. It only reinforced the fact that he was the man for the job.
~ ~ ~
It was difficult to wrap his head around the idea that Chloe and Christian were dead. Victor didn’t understand why Christian had murdered Chloe, review of the security tapes for the last few months had shown Chloe coming to the office and then going fuzzy once she reached Christian’s office door multiple times. It wasn’t hard to figure out the meetings coincided with attacks on him and Alana.
~ ~ ~
Christian felt a headache coming on. He pulled out a desk drawer, looking for his acetaminophen. He popped two in his mouth and chased it down with a shot of bourbon. He wanted to be able to enjoy taking Victor down.
Victor waited for the sleeping drug in the pills to start working on Christian. With his strigoi’s heightened sense of smell, Victor was able to smell the change in Christian’s body. He walked to Christian’s inner office door then let his strigoi take over. He lunged toward Christian, slashing his claws into his chest; opening him up and making him bleed.
Christian tried to shield himself with his hands, but all he could do was feebly try to block the blows. The strigoi kept coming, not allowing him to have a breather. The strigoi kept attacking until, finally, Christian fell to his knees and dropped onto the floor on his face.
The strigoi gave Victor back the control— it had gotten his revenge for Christian’s part in the attacks not only on himself but Alana. Victor watched as the shroud of death filled Christian’s eyes. Then he was gone.
“Nicolae, I need a cleanup crew in Christian’s office immediately,” Victor said as he retreated to his office bathroom to freshen up.
At least Christian hadn’t gotten away with it. Victor had no regrets in killing Christian. Couldn’t do anything about the regrets at this point, anyway. Victor closed his eyes and massaged his temples for a moment.
Chapter 23
The one thing he couldn’t get out of his mind was Alana. Her unwavering faith in him and her undying devotion to him made it all the harder to stomach the idea of her dying. Maybe that’s why this all happened. Perhaps karma was finally paying back the debt he owed.
Will make it through this, his inner strigoi said to him.
~ ~ ~
With the problem of Christian behind him, he could now concentrate on finding Alana. Everything pointed to her being dead, but he clung to the idea that she was alive. It was the only thing that kept his strigoi under control. His brothers traveled to the Bran castle in Romania as Magnus said that’s where Halberd had taken Alana.
Victor tried to join them, but his brothers convinced him that he needed to stay in Carver and take care of the family businesses. He reluctantly gave in when they promised to notify him as soon as they found Alana. He would use his strigoi powers to fly to Romania. If he only stopped once to eat and rest, Victor could fly there in under twelve hours.
~ ~ ~
Victor heard Alana’s voice, “Save me.”
“Alana, where are you?” Victor asked in desperation.
Magnus waited in the doorway of Victor’s office looking concerned.
“Victor, are you okay?” Magnus asked.
“I am losing my mind,” Victor replied. “I swear I heard Alana calling me to help her.”
“It’s not too late. Your love is the only thing that can save Alana. Don’t let her be buried while there is still hope. I received an ancient spell from Sunat that will bring Alana back as long as it has not been more than two weeks,” Magnus said.
~ ~ ~
“I thought that she was dead back there,” Magnus said. “When there was all that blood, I thought that was it. It’s been almost a week since she was taken, but luckily she has only been lying here for about a day.”
“So, did I,” Victor admitted. “I can’t get those images out of my head, of her lying there on the floor. Thank you for the spell to bring her back to me.”
Victor looked up and saw a fresh-faced man dressed in a blue shirt and slacks. The stethoscope around his neck told him that he was a doctor.
“Victor?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Doctor Jaffraint.” He held out his hand to shake. “I’m the doctor looking after Alana.”
Victor took his hand, his heartbeat quickening in anticipation.
“Is Alana okay?”
“I think it’s better if we talk privately,” Doctor Jaffraint said, maintaining his poker face. Victor followed the doctor to a private room.
“There is good news and bad,” he began as he sat down behind the desk. He leaned forward, glancing at the door every few seconds as if readying himself for a hasty retreat. Victor scrutinized him for clues as to just how bad the bad news was going to be, but his expression gave away nothing.
The air in the room was stifling hot and stale. After a few painful moments, Doctor Jaffraint seemed to have gathered his thoughts.
“The good news is that Alana is alive,” announced the doctor, without a hint of celebration. “It was touch and go for a time, but the team worked very hard and, fortunately, Alana also did her fair share of fighting, which always helps.”
“And the bad news?” Victor prompted, not really wanting to know the answer but desperate to find out everything and get it over with. He watched the doctor ready himself for a time.
“I’m afraid the bad news is that Alana has slipped into a coma.”
“Right.” Victor wasn’t surprised by the revelation. Although he hoped it wouldn’t be that serious, the extent of Alana’s injuries and the fact that she had remained unconscious throughout the journey to the hospital pointed to possible coma. But at least she was still alive.
“The MRI shows that Alana has suffered from subdural hematoma— a bleed between the surface of the skull and the brain. The pressure that this puts the brain under can lead to a coma.”
“Will Alana and the baby be all right?” Victor asked in an anguished voice. “How long does a coma usually last?”
“It is uncommon for a coma to exceed two to four weeks. However, there is no limit to how long a coma may last under certain conditions. Some patients have remained in a coma for decades,” Doctor Jaffraint said. “I’m afraid it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen. It’s possible Alana could come out of her coma with no problems.”
“But some never do,” Victor said flatly.
“Some never do recover, that’s true,” he admitted. “But a lot do. I know it’s difficult, but you must try and be as positive if possible. The first few weeks are crucial. As for the baby, the best thing to ensure survival is to let the pregnancy continue.”
Victor nodded, lost in his thoughts.
“It’s a good thing she’s got you to be by her side. Plenty of research shows patients in a coma respond to external stimuli: familiar voices, smells. You could help greatly in her recovery. As I said, try and stay positive, even when you don’t feel like it.”
“Her family and mine will be there for her,” Victor said.
“If you’d like a few minutes by yourself, you’re more than happy to stay here,” Doctor Jaffraint said.
“Is she stable enough to fly back to America? I have a private plane and can hire medical staff to take care of her on the flight.”
“It’s not common, but I don’t see why not. As long as you have medical staff to monitor her.”
What the hell am I going to tell everyone?
Pulling out his cell phone, he punched in the number and took a steadying breath, feeling lightheaded and nauseous. The phone was answered on the second ring.
“Hi, it’s Victor,” he said, leaning back in the chair. “Something terrible has happened. I don’t know what the hell am going to do about it.”
It was traumatic, seeing Alana in such a state without being able to do anything about it. All Victor wanted to do was run over and wrap his arms around her, pull her close, and tell her everything was going to be okay. She looked so vulnerable laying there unconscious. It was knowing that he couldn’t protect her from the pain that made him feel sick inside. He was the one who should be comforting her, not the medical staff.
“Don’t worry, Alana,” he said, looking down on her sleeping form. “Everything is going to be okay.”
~ ~ ~
“Victor, where have you been?” Grigore asked, as his brother appeared from around the corner. He looked even more exhausted than he had before he left.
“I went for a walk.” Victor slumped into the seat with a thud. “I didn’t plan to, but I just ended up walking out of the hospital and down the road. Before I knew it, I was near the offices. I’m just on edge. Think I might’ve been in a trance.”
“You do look pretty rough,” Grigore commented.
“Thanks,” Victor said, deadpan, staring at the ceiling in Alana’s hospital room. “I feel worse.”
“Did you get a hold of the rest of the family okay?”
“Yeah,” Victor replied, looking at the ceiling tiles. “It took me a while to get any sense out of them. They were pretty shocked.”
“That’s okay,” Grigore replied. “They had to find out some time.”
“Adelaide and her friends wanted to come to the hospital, but I told her it was too late and we didn’t need a big crowd here. The hospital staff said just immediate family. Her parents are already in her room.”
“You did the best thing,” Grigore said. “We can keep them up-to-date with what’s happening from here through the night.”
“Was there any more word from the doctor?” Victor asked.
“Doctor Wilde said they are still doing tests and won’t know how bad it is for a while yet.”
“I hope so,” Victor said. “I do. I also hope the baby will survive this.”
“No matter what happens, Victor, I will be here for you,” Grigore said.
~ ~ ~
Victor opened his eyes and it took a few seconds for reality to settle in. He glanced around, first at Alana, then at the medical equipment attached to her. She was hooked up to the ventilator to control her breathing. He noticed Walter and Atanase sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chairs, waiting.
“What time is it?” Victor asked, kneading at his stiff neck.
“Nearl
y one o’clock in the morning,” Walter said.
“Funny how things don’t turn out how you expected,” Victor noted. “Who would’ve thought we’d be sitting in a hospital tonight?”
“A nurse met us at the entrance,” Atanase said. “She said we could come in and see her. It’s nice to see that she is in a private room.”
In many ways, she looked iller now than she had when they found her. Her head was bandaged, hiding the injuries, and her face was ashen.
“Can she hear things?” Walter asked as a nurse came in to check on Alana’s vitals.
“We don’t know,” the nurse admitted. “But people who have come out of comas do say that they remember things from when they were unconscious, so it’s always better to assume they can hear everything you say. We also recommend that you try not to talk about the person indirectly while you’re in the same room as them.”
“How long can we stay?” Atanase asked.
“You can have a few more minutes, but then I’m afraid the doctor will need to come back in. Sorry.”
“That’s okay.”
Walter got up from his seat and stepped closer to the bed and grasped the handrail. His face was solemn.
“It’s so good to see her.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” replied the nurse, leaving the room.
“Thanks,” Walter said, not looking back at the nurse and keeping his gaze on Alana.
“Hi, my sweet girl,” Walter said. “It’s good to see you. We thought you might be…”
Suddenly, unexpectedly, Walter broke down.
“It’s okay, Walter,” Atanase said. Behind him, his voice was also cracking with emotion and he had tears in his eyes. Atanase loved Alana as if she was his daughter as well.
“Maybe we should come back tomorrow. It’s been a tough day for all of us,” Walter said.
Victor walked over to Walter and Atanase, hugging them. There was too much going on in his head, too many thoughts swimming around in there.
When will she come back to us? His strigoi asked, but he had no answer.