At the bottom of the staircase there was a wooden door with a brass handle. Kara touched the brass and her senses kicked in. From the room beyond she could sense a lingering feeling of longing and pride. It was the faintest of emotions, nothing like the guilt she’d felt from the Celtic Butcher's home, but it was still there.
Kara ignored the memory and opened the door. Damien and Kara entered the room, and the scent of blood hit them in a wave.
The room was a long wine cellar of brick and stone. The cellar had to be sealed, considering the stale smell of the air and the lingering blood, but as with most cellars the stone floor was perpetually damp. The source of the coppery smell came from the wine racks which, instead of wine, held bottles of blood on their arched frames. In one corner of the cellar there was a fireplace with an ornate chair and an end table in front of it. On the end table there was a wine glass and a book gathering dust. The longing and pride Kara felt was emanating from those items.
Damien brought Kara back to the here and now when he reached out and grabbed a bottle of blood and started drinking from it.
"What are you doing?" she asked in a harsh whisper.
"I'm trying to recover."
"We should be getting out of here, not drinking."
"You still think we have a chance to leave? No matter where we go now, Dalton is going to come after us. We need to kill him."
"No, we don't," Kara replied. She grabbed the bottle from Damien and put it back on the shelf. The blood called to her, but she ignored it.
Kara pulled Damien back and started dragging him through the cellar. There must be another way out.
She and Damien went between a set of wine racks towards the back of the room. The low ceiling and poor lighting at the back didn't give much visibility, even for their eyes. When they reached the end of the rack, they looked to their left and right, but there was no exit, only brick walls.
"You won't find escape there," a voice said from behind them.
Damn! Kara turned around, and Zaal Dalton was at the entrance of the wine cellar.
Zaal Dalton, the infamous ancient vampire, had a face like pure snow, and his jet-black hair was slicked back in stark contrast. His eyes, though menacing, looked as though he was just as confused by Kara and Damien being there as he was angry. He was favouring his left leg, and there was a cut in his side with a smudge of blood on his white dress shirt.
Kara put a barrier up in front of her and Damien. "Please stop, my friend made a mistake. He thought that you were involved in an attack against our companions. If you just let us leave, then we'll forget this happened."
Dalton gritted his teeth. "Hmph. A likely ploy. Once I put my guard down, then you attack again. I saw your friend's phone. Vasha sent you to kill me. There's no use denying it." Dalton pulled out a phone from his pocket, the same model as Damien's. "I don't know why a psychic is working for her, but after I dispose of you I will find out what she's planning this time."
Kara's jaw dropped and she glanced from the phone to Damien. His pursed lips and stone-straight stare said everything. Could it have been Vasha's favour? That's why he was so docile on the car ride. He received a text from Vasha right beforehand.
Kara turned around, and Dalton was ten feet from them, right in front of her barrier. Their eyes met, and his brows furrowed. Her mind went numb from his gaze. He was using the same power as Vasha on her. Her barrier broke as she went into a slight daze.
Before she could recover, Dalton sprung forward and slashed at her. Damien moved his arm away from her shoulder and pushed her off to the side. Dalton's hand came down and sliced at Damien's elbow. The razor-sharp claws ripped through his skin, and blood took its place. Damien fell to the floor and clutched his arm while suppressing a scream of pain.
Dalton stepped forward and raised his hand again, aiming to strike Damien one final time.
"Stop!" Kara screamed. She tackled Dalton and the two tumbled across the damp stone of the cellar.
Kara scrambled to her knees and held up her hand. She sent a probe into the depths of her mind, but the fog was still there. She could feel that it wasn't as thick or as penetrating as Vasha's power, but she still wasn't able to summon her powers. "Please stop," she begged. "We aren't with Vasha, we—"
Dalton's hand gripped her throat and snuffed out her voice. "Enough of your lies," he seethed.
She tried to force words out through her constricted neck, trying to tell Dalton about the allegations, but they wouldn't come. Would he even listen if I could tell him?
She pulled on his fingers, holding his full strength at bay and keeping herself alive. His gaze still suppressed her powers. She couldn't hold him back forever with her level of strength, and the lack of oxygen was getting to her. Her throat hurt, her eyes watered, and she was feeling fatigued.
"Pl… please…" she croaked.
Dalton didn't respond, and the cold look on his face didn't change with her plea. The confusion she saw earlier was gone, replaced by anger and excitement. Kara felt like she was witnessing something few people saw before they died: an ancient vampire's bloodlust.
The edges of Kara's vision began to fade. Black pulsed in on all sides with every slow beat of her heart. She could feel her heart throbbing in her ears as it lost its tempo. She was losing consciousness, and losing her life.
Dalton pulled one of his hands back, and still maintained his hold on Kara's neck. He was about to send his razor-sharp claws through her stomach, impaling her. Without her powers to protect her, she would be killed.
Dalton went for the killing blow.
Damien punched Dalton in the back of the knee. Dalton's balance crumbled and he went to one knee. His nails slashed the side of Kara's stomach a quarter inch in. Blood surged from Kara's stomach, and the pain was immediate and overwhelming even at the edge of unconsciousness. If her throat would have allowed it, she would have screamed.
Dalton's grip on Kara's neck never weakened despite Damien's attack, and he looked over his shoulder before kicking Damien in the face. When Dalton looked away, though, the power of his gaze faltered, and she felt her psychic energy returning. She used that time to enhance her strength, protect her neck and body, and close the wound on her stomach. She coughed as she tried to pull air into a damaged wind-pipe. Her vision and consciousness returned in a flash.
Dalton turned back around and stared at Kara with his psychic-suppressing eyes again. She felt a haze creeping its way back into her mind, and her psychic powers dulling, but she pushed back against it. She forced her eyes open wide and returned Dalton's stare back at him. It took all her concentration just to keep from losing the protection on her neck, but she knew from experience it was possible to break whatever power he and Vasha used.
Kara focussed on Dalton and pushed against him with her telekinesis. The memory of near death, the pain on her stomach, and adrenaline drove her mind to fight, and all thoughts of flight were gone.
There was something else that drove Kara to fight, and she didn't understand it. She felt a passionate rage bubbling within her unlike anything she had felt before. With the return of her powers, staring into Dalton's eyes, into the eyes of death, she felt like she wanted to fight.
She wanted to kill, and the feeling was overwhelming her.
Kara and Dalton fought a stationary battle. She pushed against him with her psychic powers, and he focussed his penetrating gaze on her to suppress her. To an onlooker it would seem like they were only staring at each other, but the exchange of force was plain to feel in the air around them.
Sweat beads formed on their foreheads and snaked down the sides of their cheeks and noses before falling to the stone floor of the cellar. Their teeth were clenched, their brows furrowed, and their muscles taut as each strained themselves for supremacy.
With each passing second, the feelings inside Kara intensified and enhanced her psychic prowess. She couldn't even feel the wound on her stomach anymore. When she’d faced the Celtic Butcher, she’d still been fat
igued from stopping his bullet, but now she was fresh and focussed. She was stronger than his gaze, she could feel it.
Kara broke Dalton's hands free from her neck. His hands were thrust to his sides from her enhanced strength. She used her telekinesis to lift him in the air and made a similar choking gesture as he did. Dalton gripped at his neck, trying to pull against the invisible force pressing on his wind-pipe. The anger in his eyes faded and fear took its place when his struggles bore no fruit.
Kara squeezed tighter and tighter with her powers. She could feel his muscles contracting under the weight she applied, the bones bending under her control. She was stronger than his vampire body, she could feel it.
A piercing crack echoed in the cellar. Dalton's head went limp and his chin hit his chest. His neck had snapped under the stress of Kara's psychic binding. The glazed look that passed over his eyes told her he was dead, even if his posture hadn’t already.
She’d killed Zaal Dalton, just as Vasha had wanted her to.
Kara dropped the arched body of her victim to the floor and he hit it with a thud. His arms and legs fell into odd angles; he looked like a ragdoll.
She caught her breath, and the adrenaline subsided. The battle was over, and her body no longer needed it. Despite the adrenaline leaving and her previous excitement and anger waning, Kara didn't feel anything from committing murder.
It was not more than a week ago that she’d openly wept over the death of someone she hardly knew. Now, she’d killed someone and she didn't feel anything close to the guilt she knew she should have.
Kara looked at her trembling hands. They were shaking, but not out of fear or remorse. Why? she thought. Why don't I feel the same? What's wrong with me?
Her gaze moved to Damien, who was still lying unconscious on the floor of the cellar. She shook her head and pushed away the confusion, and then picked him up off the stone.
She used her powers to hold his wounds closed as best she could, and also to carry him over to the exit of the blood cellar. Before she went though the cellar door, she took one last look at the vampire she’d killed.
As she climbed the rusty spiral staircase and left the castle-like mansion with Damien in tow, another question lingered in her mind: Had Dalton really been behind everything, or did Vasha lie to them so they would kill him?
Kara decided then and there that she would find the answer, no matter the cost.
THE END
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About the Author
Shawn Wiseman credits his love of reading and writing to his parents, who taught him how to read from an early age, and fostered his creativity.
After almost becoming a boring businessman, Shawn decided to try his hand at writing, and found his passion. He likes strong characters, lots of action, and punchy dialogue. Some of his vices include video games, swearing like a sailor, and fast food.
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Table of Contents
The Vampire's Vision 1. Two Bites Are Better Than One
2. Vasha, The Woman Who Never Died
3. The Need to Feed
4. The Third Eye Opens as the Fangs Close
5. Written in Blood
6. Biting Words
7. Ten Minds Are Better Than One
8. Psychics vs. Vampires
The Vampire's Rescue 1. Missing Fangs
2. Supernatural Evidence
3. Undead Detectives
4. Force Majeure
Epilogue
The Vampire's Omen Prologue
1. An Ill Omen
2. Plasma Potion
3. Return to the Scene of the Crime
4. Sense of Guilt
The Vampire's Victim 1. The Reluctant Helper
2. Fangs in the Night
3. Suspects
4. Kneel Before Zaal
About the Author
Psychics Vs. Vampires Episodes 1-4 (Psychics Vs. Vampires Collection) Page 17