Indulgence

by Liz Crowe

  A smirk spread across Lucious’s face. “I see someone fancies a descendant,” he said as he turned towards his vehicle, Delilah’s face still fixated on the window I had opened. “Don’t get too attached,” Lucious warned.

  “Transform her if you must, if she’ll even agree, but we’ll be back for her either way,” Delilah added, winking at Vincent.

  Lorenzo had to hold Vincent back from attacking. The duo stepped into the Rolls Royce. Casper slammed the door, his eyes never leaving Vincent’s except for a momentary glimpse at the window before he entered the car and pulled away.

  “Not good,” Felix announced.

  “Not at all. We need to keep an eye on Vincent,” Max added.

  My head was spinning from the ordeal I had just witnessed. I had so many questions in my head that I could barely organize them. The hollow of my throat was distracting me, aching more and more, and the tingling sensation was spreading from my toes up my legs.

  “Who are they?” I asked, unable to see the three siblings who were still behind the monitors. “And why do they think I’m just a mortal?”

  “You are a mortal, Allison,” Marlo responded, emerging from around the corner. “They do not know what you are. Well let me rephrase that. They know you are a descendant of Cain’s family; that, they can smell. Only you and your ancestors carry the scent of the garden. They would have to see you to suspect that you are possibly half vampire. That, they could not pick up through your scent.”

  “So they don’t know about Cain’s affair with a mortal?”

  “No, they don’t. No one outside of the Secret Coven knows that. They think you are one of Adam and Eve’s descendants.”

  “Great, another reason I have no choice about my transformation. If they see me, they’ll know something is up. See what I mean about not having a choice?”

  The room fell silent. The two brothers remained hidden behind the monitors.

  “Are you okay,” Marlo asked me. “You don’t look well.”

  Max poked his head around the corner.

  “No, you don’t look good at all,” Max added.

  “How would you look after learning all this?” I snapped. “So, what’s the deal with Lucious and Delilah? Do they have some sort of vendetta out for me?”

  Marlo and Max exchanged a glance. “How much did Vincent tell you about your family’s beginnings?” Marlo asked.

  “He told me about Cain, how he met Ina, she disappeared, he found Amelia and conceived a child,” I stated.

  “Did he tell you about any of Cain and Ina’s transformations or anything about how the Secret Coven was formed?” Max asked. Felix was now peering around the corner.

  “Vincent said that Cain never transformed anyone but Ina didn’t have the same willpower. They killed as few humans as possible. He never told me how your group was formed, only that you all consented to Ina.” My confusion swelled but the feeling wasn’t able to compete with the fire in my stomach and throat and the other sensation washing over my body. I started to feel like I was going to shake.

  “Wait, wait, wait…he said Cain never transformed anyone?” Felix asked, as he walked to the center of the room. The three of them formed a semicircle around me.

  “Is that not right? What’s going on?” I demanded. I pulled off my gloves hoping that would cool me.

  “Well, it’s not true. He must not have wanted you to worry about…” Marlo started, but Max cut her off.

  “Maybe he had a reason,” Max said.

  “Would someone please tell me what you are talking about?” I demanded as I pulled the tiara from my wig.

  “Allison, when Cain and Ina were young vampires, they tried to kill as few mortals as possible. But their novice attempts to kill their prey sometimes went in vain. They did transform some mortals without realizing it,” Marlo explained.

  “And one of those accidental transformations was Lucious,” Felix added.

  “What?” I asked in disbelief. I reached around my neck to free it from the necklace.

  “That’s right,” Marlo continued. “Lucious emerged from his transformation and was confused. Once he figured out what he had become, he was enraged that his creator had left him for dead and therefore leaving him to fend for himself. He then wondered if his creator knew that he or she had transformed him, so he set off to find them.”

  “So did Lucious find Cain and Ina?” I asked, now tugging at my wig.

  “You are familiar with the story of Noah’s Ark, correct?” Felix asked.

  “What?” I asked. “Of course. What does Noah’s Ark have to do with any of this?”

  The door flew open and Vincent emerged, Lorenzo right behind him.

  “Allison, are you okay?” Vincent dropped to his knee to inspect me.

  I was irritated. “I’m fine.” I snapped. “Your brothers and sister are giving me a history lesson, if you don’t mind.”

  Vincent stood up and looked at Marlo, Felix and Max.

  “It’s fine,” Max reassured.

  Vincent stepped back and Felix continued the story.

  “You see, Cain and Ina roamed the earth and one day came upon a man, Noah, who was building a huge ship on top of a mountain.”

  “Wait,” Vincent interrupted. He looked worried. “Why are we talking about this now?”

  “Because I want to hear the story,” I snarled. “Felix, please continue.”

  “Noah was the Lord’s favorite descendant of Adam and Eve. The Lord had asked Noah to build the ship and ensure it held a male and female of every species because the Lord was going to create a great flood to wipe out the evil he saw man was doing.”

  “The evil that the Lord saw, that was Lucious, wasn’t it?” I asked.

  “Yes, but the holy book doesn’t tell you that. Lucious fully embraced his new existence and was wrecking havoc on man. He didn’t care who he hurt, how or where. The Lord knew He had to stop it and the great flood was the answer.”

  “Only it wasn’t the answer, obviously,” I said.

  “Right,” Max picked up the next part of the story. “Cain watched Noah for several days as the ark was built, but couldn’t understand why Noah was undertaking such a huge task, especially on the top of a mountain. Well, a few weeks later, he got his answer.

  “One by one, an animal of every species paired up with a mate and boarded the ark. Cain was still confused until he saw the water rising up the side of the mountain. He realized that the earth was being flooded and only one pair of every species was going to be spared – as long as it was on the ark.

  “Cain grabbed Ina as the last animal was about to enter the vessel. They flew over the water and snuck onto the ship. It was Cain’s hope that the flood would destroy the evil he and Ina felt haunted them. Although they did not know him by name, tales of Lucious’s wrath spread to Cain and Ina’s ears.

  “The two settled on the lowest level of the ship to ride out the flood. The great flood lasted several weeks and when it was over, the ship settled and each animal disembarked. Cain was sure that any evil he or Ina had created would have been wiped out in the flood. He was sure no one or nothing could have possibly survived it. So the animals went on their way to reproduce, as did Noah and his family. Many descendants of Adam and Eve were born over time. Unfortunately for them, Lucious created a huge army.”

  Marlo continued the story. “You see, Lucious survived the flood. In his vengeful pursuit of Cain, he witnessed him and Ina board the ark. Unfortunately for Lucious, he did not have time to sneak on the ship. He was swept away in the flood, but as you now know, there is only one way to destroy a vampire. Seeing Cain desert him once again, Lucious was filled with even more rage. He swore that he would create a following whose sole purpose would be to destroy Cain, Ina and all of Cain’s family. This following included vampires like Casper whose sole purpose is to serve as scouts locating descendants for Lucious to destroy.”

  “Which would include me,” I choked out, the heat billowing from my stomach up my throa
t. The tingly sensation had spread to my upper body and I almost felt like I was going to lose consciousness. I fought the sensations to hear the rest of the story.

  “Yes,” Felix chimed in. “The Bible documents some of Lucious’ evil doings but disguises them as the plagues – water that turned to blood, sick animals, plagues of boils, so many locusts that a black out resulted, darkness for three days – all Lucious; not a natural phenomenon or plague sent by the Lord.”

  “Allison, are you okay?” Vincent asked, rushing to my side.

  “I, uh,” I stammered.

  “Her history must be too much for her,” I heard Marlo say in the background. Her voice sounded so distant to me. “Someone get her some water.”

  “Wait,” Lorenzo warned, holding up a hand to silence the commotion in the room. “Do you hear that?”

  I tried to concentrate on what Lorenzo was hearing, but could not overcome the feeling in my body. The others in the room listened as well.

  “Who is it?” Felix whispered.

  The door slowly creaked open and Jenna’s face appeared.

  “Hey,” Jenna said sheepishly. “I, um, was just looking for Lorenzo. I thought I saw him come up here.”

  I stood up and glowered at Jenna. I opened my mouth but words escaped me. I clamped my jaw shut and took a deep breath. A scent so fresh and mouth-watering filled my nose. I could smell sweetness and saltiness that was more tantalizing than a candy store. I could hear murmurs all around me but the voices sounded like they were off in the distance. I think I heard Marlo ask me if I was okay yet again and Vincent asking me something as well. But I couldn’t hear them because I was concentrating on the scent filling my nostrils. I closed my eyes to concentrate on the smell, stretching my neck to determine the source. It was so clean and pure, like nothing I had experienced before. My mouth began to water yet the liquid that chilled my tongue tasted odd, somewhat bitter and numbing like Novocain. I opened my eyes and glared at the source of the scent. I could still hear the murmurs all around me and then a male voice boomed, “Get her out of here!” Lorenzo wrapped his arm around Jenna, the fragrant object of my desire. I twisted my head to analyze her, my mind calculating its next move. Then my mind went blank, my body went numb, and I lunged at my prey.

  Chapter Nine

  Mid-lunge, I was aware my mouth was open and venom dripped from my teeth. My stomach swelled with a burning that quickly turned to desire that clawed its way up my throat. A horrific, ear-splitting shriek spilled out of my mouth. I could feel I was about to reach my target and the thought of my teeth sinking into her neck was more than my body could handle. I cocked my head for the kill.

  Something wrapped around my waist, stopping my forward momentum and my pursuit of my prey. I came slamming down against the stone floor but felt no pain. My mind was on one thing and one thing only. Her scent filled my nose and created such desire that I trembled for her blood. The venom circled with excitement in my belly and my mouth watered for just the slightest taste of her, but the burning in the back of my throat wanted more – it needed to be quenched.

  I sat up but couldn’t see a single solid object. Nothing around me had a defined shape; everything had been reduced to bits and specks of color. I inhaled deeply, searching for her, and caught a whiff. Her scent was quickly disappearing but I could hear her voice. “What’s happening?” she asked. “Allison isn’t feeling well but she’ll be okay,” a male voice responded. Their voices were growing more distant; she was moving farther away from me. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to have her.

  I dug my nails into the stone and lunged forward but was stopped by a solid object in front of me. I was trembling. I needed to have her and I needed to find her. I couldn’t even imagine what her blood would taste like but I desperately wanted to find out. I tried to move again but was stopped. Vincent’s face appeared before mine. Although everything else around me was a swirling pool of color, Vincent’s face appeared with perfect clarity. I breathed shallowly, not understanding what he was doing or why he was standing in my way. I shoved his shoulders but he didn’t move. I couldn’t hear her anymore. I shoved again but Vincent drew closer. He appeared to be saying something to me but I couldn’t hear him. My mind was consumed with the need to find her!

  I opened my mouth but words escaped me. I looked over Vincent’s shoulder in an attempt to signal that I needed to go. But instead, Vincent wrapped his arm around my waist and held me securely in place. I couldn’t understand what he was doing or why he was keeping me from my mission. Then I saw his mouth open and the tips of his fangs emerge. Then I felt it.

  His cold teeth pressed against my neck. I was dumbfounded for only a split second but before I could fight back his venom was in my system and began paralyzing me.

  The sensation of his teeth penetrating my skin wasn’t painful; in fact, his mouth on my neck felt quite pleasurable. The sensation reminded me of a lover gently kissing his lover’s neck. But that warm sensation lasted momentarily. I gasped for breath as I felt two icy cold spots sting my neck under the warmth of Vincent’s mouth. The two spots merged into one cold spot and then spread like a spider’s web over my neck. The coldness crawled over my face, them my shoulder, then over my chest and immobilized my breathing. I felt it wrap around my waist and up my spine and then down my legs. It felt as though I had just plunged into a frozen lake and my entire body was in shock.

  I gasped for air, my eyes wildly scanning the room searching for some explanation as to what was happening to me. I kicked my legs but it did nothing to free me from my attacker. I could hear murmuring around me but it was barely audible. The coldness intensified and it now felt as if every cell in my body was freezing individually. The iciness finally settled in my stomach as my eyes frosted. My body was a solid piece of ice.

  My vision was blurred and my hearing muted but I could faintly hear some voices.

  “Vincent, no!” a male voice shouted.

  “What in the hell are you doing?” another asked.

  “You can’t! She never consented,” a female shouted.

  Somehow, the coldness was getting even worse, like I was naked in a blizzard and pieces of snowy ice were striking my flesh. My toes and fingers stung with what I imagined would be frostbite and the sensation spread through all of my appendages. The pressure at my neck disappeared and I fell to the floor. I heard a door slam and more scuffling. I couldn’t see what was going on nor could I make sense of the voices. The room was black and spinning. Then, I couldn’t see or hear anything at all.

  I didn’t know how long I lay frozen. It could have been hours or days or a century. Though my body was a cold, hardened block, my mind was still aware – painfully aware – of my frigid surroundings. I couldn’t hear or see anything so my mind could only focus on the stinging bitterness. It was incomprehensible. I didn’t know if this was what it felt like to be buried alive in an avalanche or to be locked in a meat freezer. All I knew was that it wasn’t enjoyable in the least. Every part of my body tingled with a burning coldness and there was nothing I could do about it other than hope it would go away soon.

  And then, something shifted in my core. The solid mass of ice slowly began to melt, splinters of ice now swirling in the warming liquid.

  Slowly, the iceberg in the pit of my belly began to liquefy and the gentle warmth starting to emanate from my core was welcome relief. The warmth leisurely spread over my chest and through my arms and legs. As my body began to thaw, a new tingly sensation overcame me; it felt like I was dipping my chilled limbs into warm water. The cold had been completely replaced by warmth, to the point that I almost felt normal. My mind was conscious but I still couldn’t move, talk, hear or see.

  I lay there, trapped in my comatose state, enjoying the welcome warmth. It was comfortable, almost like sitting on a beach, the sun’s rays putting me to sleep. This serene feeling lasted for some time, or it at least felt that way. My senses were completely blocked so I had no comprehension of time. Then, the heat began to i
ntensify. I felt it first in my core, like a hot sun in the middle of the universe. My core became hotter and hotter, almost unbearable. Just like the cold, the heat began to spread over my body, but more rapidly than the coldness. It ferociously launched through my chest, down my arms and was particularly painful on the left side of my neck like I was being stabbed in two distinct spots. The heat shot in the opposite direction down my legs. The pain was indescribable; it was as if scalding water was being rammed through my veins with a fire engine hose.

  The heat rippled through my body. I could feel it circulate, always seeming to end up at my core where it picked up more heat to spread throughout my body. The heat escalated to an inferno. I was boiling from the inside and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any hotter, it did. The pit of hell was festering in my stomach, its flames scorching every inch of my body.

  I heard a wail. It was the first sound I had heard in what felt like an eternity. It sounded like the source of the sound was in terrible pain and I had to wonder if it came from me. If it wasn’t me, the pain in the noise reflected the torture I felt. I started to faintly hear other sounds.

  “Hold her down.”

  “I’m trying but she’s boiling hot!”

  “She might be coming through.”

  “Get her something to drink.”

  My body started to convulse, violently contorting in unnatural ways and something was attempting to restrain me. I could feel my limbs shaking and trembling and thrashing about but this pain paled in comparison to the immense heat.

  There was sudden relief in my stomach as the heat backed off a few degrees. As my scorching hot blood returned to my center, it was replaced with a cooler blood. It spread over my entire body giving immediate relief. My body transitioned from inferno, to blazing, to hot, but a hotness like nothing I had ever felt before. The convulsions stopped.

  My eyes sprang open. Lorenzo was above me, hands on my shoulders as he straddled my chest. He was apparently the restraint I had felt earlier. Pressure eased from my legs and then I could see Felix peering over Lorenzo’s shoulder. Marlo was on my other side. I could see her lips moving but I could barely hear what she was saying.