The Living Weapon (Davenport Manor Book 2)

by Melissa Zaroski

  Zachariah wept as he held that position, hoping Daniel’s body would respond. He muttered some inaudible prayers under his breath, begging God not to take his brother. During those short moments, all he could think about was having to tell Emma that Daniel was gone. He dreaded that task the most.

  He listened to Daniel’s breaths, which were now short and shallow. His heartbeats were few and far between, indicating that the end was near. Zachariah pulled his wrist away from Daniel’s mouth and simply held him, loosening his grip and letting him sink back down to the floor. He felt that death had defeated him, causing him to surrender and let Daniel go. He wept loudly as he hovered over him, feeling completely helpless for once in his life.

  He ceased crying for a moment when he heard a familiar sound. Daniel’s heart began to beat slightly stronger; becoming more regular with each beat. He remained silent and listened, hoping to hear the sound of air filling Daniel’s lungs. His pumping heart was speeding up to a regular pattern and Zachariah heard the magnificent sound he had been waiting for. Daniel took a deep breath in; the oxygen filled his lungs and began to bring him back to life. Zachariah examined Daniel’s neck and saw that the gaping wound was sealing shut.

  Zachariah let out a loud, single laugh of joy. God had heard his prayers, allowing him to believe that he wasn’t as damned as he always thought he was. Daniel’s eyes began to link open, frightened by what had happened to him. He was confused and disorientated, but much to Zachariah’s happiness, he was alive. He was so elated, he couldn’t help but hug him.

  “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” Zachariah exclaimed as he beamed from ear to ear.

  Daniel sat up on his own and ran his hand along his neck where the wound once was. “What the hell happened?” He asked.

  “I’ll tell you about it when this is over,” Zachariah replied. He heard a commotion downstairs and snapped to attention, standing up and motioning to Daniel to be silent. He looked out the window to see that unknown vampires were emerging from the woods, running straight for the house.

  He knelt back down next to Daniel and began to whisper with urgency, “I have to go downstairs now, but you stay up in this room until we come get you. You have to remain hidden, do you understand me?”

  Feeling anxious, Daniel replied, “Yeah, I understand.”

  Zachariah reached into the bag on his side and pulled out two of the blood balloons, handing them to Daniel. He explained, “If an unknown vampire comes in here to attack you, smash this into their mouth. All of our vampires are wearing masks, so you should be able to decipher who is who.”

  “What are these?” Daniel asked, examining the balloons in his hand.

  “Each balloon has a little bit of Todd’s blood in them,” Zachariah explained. “It will kill an enemy immediately. Do not hesitate to use it!”

  “Okay, I will. Just make sure that the door locks behind you,” Daniel said.

  “Will do. I gotta go, be careful and one of us will come get you when this is over.”

  Zachariah descended down the narrow stairway, but positioned his mask before exiting the door. He hoped he had enough blood balloons for the battle now that he had given away two of his stash. He pulled his dagger out of the sheath with one hand and armed himself with a blood balloon in the other. He slowly pushed the door open with his shoulder and peered around the corner, making sure that no one was there waiting for an attack. The coast was clear and he quietly slipped through the open door, pushing it shut with his butt. He made sure he heard the click of the lock before leaving.

  He ran out of the bedroom and began to go down the hallway and found himself face to face with one of the enemies. Before he could be attacked, he swiftly daggered him in the stomach and smashed a blood balloon into his mouth. The vampire’s eyes widened in shock and he dropped down to the floor in a crumpled heap. Zachariah quietly congratulated himself on his first kill. He continued down the long hallway and was met by a hysterical Kelly coming from the stairs.

  “Kelly, what is wrong?” Zachariah asked with panic.

  “I’m really freaked out!” She exclaimed while hysterically crying. “I don’t think I can do this!”

  Zachariah gently grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned down so his face was near hers. He gently said, “It’s okay, it’s okay. If you don’t think you can do this, go to your room and hide there until this is over.”

  Kelly frantically nodded in agreement as Zachariah gently shoved her in the direction of her bedroom. He continued on toward the stairs, but took a moment to look over the railing at the battle going on in the foyer. There were unknown vampires everywhere fighting with the Royals. There were several vampires dead on the foyer floor with blood stains on their mouths, but none were anyone that he knew. He did a quick headcount and saw that so far no one he knew was dead.

  He jumped over the railing and landed right in the middle of the war going on in the spacious area below. A female vampire quickly charged him before he was fully prepared and tried to rip his mask off. Emma flew up behind her and daggered her in the back, giving Zachariah the opportunity to shove a blood balloon in the enemy’s mouth. The girl dropped to the floor at his feet, leaving him face-to-face with Emma. She didn’t need to ask, he could see the question written all over her face.

  “Daniel’s okay, it was a close call though,” Zachariah revealed much to the relief of Emma.

  “Watch out!” Emma yelled as she shoved him out of the way and reached her dagger into the air.

  A vampire had charged Todd, but he was well prepared. Just before the vampire made contact, Todd ducked down and then shot back up, catching her with his shoulder. She went flying in the air behind him, unable to control her fall. Her chest landed on Emma’s awaiting dagger and she used the vampire’s own momentum to throw her to the floor. She popped a balloon in the vampire’s mouth, killing her instantly.

  “You okay?” Emma asked Todd while they had a moment of calm.

  “I’m doing good,” he replied and turned to Zachariah. “Is Daniel okay?” He was fearful of asking the question, fearing the news would be the worst. However, he needed to know.

  Zachariah nodded his head with a satisfied smile and replied, “He’s alive, but we almost lost him.”

  Meanwhile, Kelly sat in her room and had an inner debate with herself. She was upset that she had given up so quickly, allowing her fear to overcome her. She had made a promise to Todd, Emma, Zachariah, and all the others to be as helpful as she possibly could. She knew they needed all the help they could get and she was letting them down. However, her own uncertainty caused her to believe that she was useless and as good as dead out there. After performing horribly during her training session with Aidan, she believed that she would be useless against an entire group of attacking vampires.

  She felt sick just sitting there, allowing them to defend themselves downstairs, especially since she was one of the deadliest weapons on earth. She told herself over and over that one drop of her blood would bring a vampire down, no matter how strong it was. In retrospect, they were no match against her. She left Todd out there alone to defend himself and the others; they were supposed to be partners and she abandoned him. She had promised him that she would be there to back him up, but instead she ditched him at the time he needed her the most.

  She stood up with a sudden surge of confidence, convincing herself that she was ready to take these guys down. With a balloon in one hand, armed and ready to use, she quietly opened the door with her other hand. She peered out into the hallway and saw that it was empty and eerily quiet. As she exited the room she pulled the dagger out of the holster on her leg and began to power walk down the hallway toward the stairs. Her eyes darted from side to side, making sure that no one was going to jump out and surprise her. As she reached the stairs, she flattened herself along the wall and slowly looked around the corner down at the foyer. All she saw were bodies of dead vampires everywhere, thanking God that it was no one she knew.

  She heard
rustling around and occasional groans and screams outside the front door, which was wide open. She quickly ran down the stairs to join the others in the fight outside. When she appeared in the doorway she saw that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was before. Many of the attacking enemies were either killed or had accepted defeat, running back toward the woods. Still, there were those that lingered and weren’t about to go down without a fight.

  When they caught the scent of a new human they became distracted, giving the Royals an opportunity to shove a balloon in each of their mouths. A vampire ran up behind Todd and grabbed both of his arms, linking them behind his back. His dagger was still in his hand and pointed backward as he weakly and blindly stabbed his captor. The vampire was attempting to overtake Todd, who struggled against him, thrashing around and kicking his legs. Bravery hit Kelly in the gut and she propelled forward, ready to use her first blood balloon that was gripped in her hand.

  The vampire was so focused on subduing Todd that he thought nothing of the little human running toward him. Powered by adrenaline, Kelly slapped him in the mouth with all of her strength, causing the balloon to explode over his mouth. His surprised eyes locked with hers as he loosened his grip and collapsed on the gravel driveway.

  With gratitude in his eyes, Todd panted, “Thanks, love! Where have you been?”

  Kelly replied, “I was being a chicken up in my room, but I realized I was breaking my promise to you. I told you I would be here to back you up, so here I am!”

  “Well, you missed all the good stuff! But we’re kicking ass!” He replied with a laugh. He wiped his brow of the sweat that was dripping, unknowingly smearing the dirt and blood on his face.

  Emma had just taken down the last remaining vampire, looking around at the aftermath on her driveway. “Where are Aidan and Declan? I haven’t seen either of them since the vampires rushed into our house.”

  Mackenzie replied, “The two of them never made it into the house. The last time I saw them they were fighting on the driveway.”

  Franklin sniffed the air searching for Aidan’s scent and turned his head toward the woods. “It seems they went into the forest, I’d be willing to bet Aidan’s hunting him down.”

  “Okay, everyone pair up and we will fan out into the woods to search for them,” Emma ordered. “Todd and Kelly, the two of you stay here. Go inside, lock the door, and don’t let anyone in unless it is one of us.”

  The two of them turned around and went up the steps leading into the house, shutting the door and locking it behind them. Emma paired up with Zachariah, James and Alejandro went together, Cassie and Michael, Thomas and Tiffany, and Franklin and Mackenzie teamed up. Each pair fanned out in a different direction to search for Declan and Aidan.

  Emma and Zachariah carefully moved through the woods but the late autumn leaves crunched beneath their feet.

  Zachariah mouthed, We need to get off the ground and tree hop.

  Emma nodded in agreement and leapt upward into the nearest tree, grabbing hold of the closest branch. Zachariah followed her up and allowed her to take the lead as they jumped from tree to tree, trying to remain is quiet as possible. They occasionally paused and inhaled deeply through their noses, concentrating on the surrounding aromas in the air. They caught a faint trail of Aidan and Declan, but judging by the weak scent, it was not recent.

  They could hear far off footsteps in the woods that sounded like running, but they couldn’t be sure who they belonged to. Emma motioned to Zachariah for him to follow her as she leapt from one tree to the next. They continued tree skipping, trying to follow where the footsteps were coming from, but they came up empty.

  Meanwhile in the house, Todd and Kelly paced around the parlor feeling useless while waiting around. They avoided the foyer due to the bodies of their enemies scattered about. Todd especially wanted to put his training with Aidan to use, more so against Declan rather than the intruding vampires from before. They occasionally paused to listen, their minds creating noises that weren’t really there. The sun had finally set and the night’s dark blanket had covered the property. Todd wanted to turn on the porch light, but was afraid that it would give away the fact that there was someone in the house. They kept the interior lights off and carefully peered out the windows in an attempt to see anyone outside. Unfortunately, all they could see was a hint of the driveway that faded into the darkness. The several minutes that had passed felt like an eternity as they waited, they felt like they should be out there helping in the search.

  As they crouched down to peer out the parlor window, they failed to see the blur that was Declan running toward the house. They heard the front door crash open and the sound of quickly-running feet going up the stairs. Their eyes locked with alarm as they didn’t know who had just run into the house. Todd slowly rose, armed with his dagger and blood balloon, never taking his eyes off the stairs. Kelly followed his lead and did the same, but allowed him to make the first move. It was no use trying to walk through the parlor while attempting to remain unseen as a vampire’s vision allowed them to see in the dark.

  They reached the bottom of the stairs and were about to take the first step up when they heard someone running through the already-open front door. They whipped around with their weapons in front of them, preparing for an impending attack. Standing in the doorway were Mackenzie and Franklin, who paused for a moment to sniff the air. Their eyes shot over to Todd and Kelly who were silently watching them. Todd shrugged at them, silently asking who they were following. He walked over to them so that they could mouth their conversation.

  Declan came in here, Franklin mouthed.

  Todd pointed upward, indicating that Declan had gone upstairs. The vampires took another deep breath to follow Declan’s trail, leading the way with Todd and Kelly behind them. They slowly and carefully went up the stairs and followed Declan’s trail down the hallway of bedrooms. The group quietly ran at a human speed so the living weapons could keep up. The trail stopped in front of Emma’s bedroom door, telling them that Declan was hiding inside.

  The girls stayed out in the hallway as Franklin and Todd carefully opened Emma’s bedroom door. Both were armed and ready to end Declan. They went into the room and quietly searched, ready for Declan to spring out at any moment. Emma’s room was so large and full of furniture that there were several places he could’ve been hiding. Franklin and Todd were on edge, anticipating a surprise attack. However, there was no scent of Declan in the bedroom, which left the both of them confused.

  Mackenzie stood in the hallway looking around the area, trying to make sense of the odd trail of Declan’s scent. She looked around to discover that his scent did not lead into the bedroom. Before she had a moment to look up, Declan had already let go of the beam on the ceiling and jumped her from above. Kelly screamed, frightened by the surprise of Declan dropping from the ceiling.

  He had gripped Mackenzie from behind, pinning her dagger-wielding arm down beside her and grasping the top of her hand that held the blood balloon. Due to her young age compared to his, she was no match against him. He squeezed her hand, causing the blood balloon to pop and cover her hand in the lethal liquid. He used his ancient strength against her, pulling her hand toward her face. She fought against him with all of her strength, but it wasn’t enough, and she ultimately succumbed to his power. He pushed her blood-covered hand to her mouth, killing her instantly.

  Kelly was barely able to see what had happened as it had taken place in the matter of a second. It happened so fast that she never had a moment to react. Franklin and Todd flew out of the room to find Declan still holding onto Mackenzie’s lifeless body. He dropped her to the floor with a smile, opening his arms to invite his next attacker.

  Without hesitation, Todd made the first move and charged Declan, ready to dagger him and end his terror. Declan was prepared for Todd’s impact, and crouched down with his arms open, ready to take him on. Todd tried to dagger him, but he grabbed his arm and pushed it away.

  “Nice try. What else do yo
u have?” Declan taunted.

  Franklin ran up behind Declan and tried to pin him from behind. Declan fought against him, thrashing around and almost causing Franklin to lose his grip. He noticed the blood balloon in Todd’s hand, and flung his leg in the air, kicking it right out of his grip. Just as Declan was about to wiggle away from Franklin’s arms, Todd took his dagger and sliced his own hand, slapping it onto Declan’s mouth before he could get away. Declan tried to purse his lips shut, but it wasn’t enough and a single drop of blood had seeped into his mouth. He looked at Todd with alarm as he felt his body quickly shutting down, locking eyes with the very living weapon he had planned to use against others. Franklin let go of him as he collapsed to the floor, sprawled out like a murder victim next to Mackenzie.

  Todd backed up and leaned against the wall and allowed himself to sink down to the floor as his legs began to give out. He put his face in his hands and panted, relieved that the nightmare was finally over. His hand was still bleeding profusely and the pain from the deep cut was now making itself known. He was shaking from adrenaline as he wound his shirt around his hand to control the flow of blood.

  Franklin walked over to him as he bit his own wrist, kneeing down to allow Todd to take a sip to heal the wound on his hand. Todd had done this so many times now that he knew how much was enough. He sat in silence and watched the cut on his hand seal up, still unable to move after the events that had taken place. He quietly thanked Franklin for healing him while looking over at Declan and Mackenzie lying in the middle of the hallway floor. He already feared Aidan’s reaction when he would see his beloved second-in-command dead.