Into The Void (Vampire Hunter Book 4)

by S. C. Reynolds

  I caught a glimpse of someone running towards the front of the warehouse. Slowly, we started shuffling forward again. I was feeling dizzy, lightheaded. Like when you stand up too fast and everything starts to go dim.

  “Aurora!” And now I was hallucinating. I tried to fight the blackness that was washing over me.

  “Hey,” a voice hissed. I blinked and turned to look in the direction of the sound. Vaguely I remembered being told not to look around. But I couldn’t pinpoint why.

  “There you are.” Nicholas stepped in line in front of me. The fog in my head started to clear.

  “What’s happening?” I whispered.

  Nicholas stood on his tiptoes, peering towards the front of the warehouse. He stepped back so that we were walking side by side. “Okay, that was a close one,” he said nervously. “They wrenched us apart and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I think we have a minute to talk. This warehouse is huge and the gatekeepers and check-in machines are at the opposite end.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Just before the lights were turned on. Didn’t Lucas tell you that vampires can see really far distances in the dark?”

  I shook my head.

  “We only have a minute,” Nicholas said worriedly. “There are two gatekeepers. When we get to the front, just walk forward with me, even if they try to usher you to the other side; we can’t get separated again.”

  “I’ll try,” I hissed. “I felt like I was going to black out before you found me.”

  “Hopefully it will get easier when we’re at the actual meeting,” Nicholas whispered. “Right now they’re herding us along as fast as possible. Emmett was right – they need Matthews’ spells to keep everyone under the mind control.”

  “If I lose you, I’ll be useless. It wasn’t like the blackouts I used to have – those were so sudden. This was gradual. But I couldn’t think; I could feel my mind slipping away.”

  “We won’t get separated,” Nicholas said grimly. “I told my brother I’d protect you, and I plan to do just that.”

  His brother. I was starting to understand their connection, their loyalty to each other. “Has Lucas talked about me much?” I asked Nicholas. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t the best time to ask the question, but what if I didn’t have another chance?

  Nicholas looked at me sideways and flashed his crooked smile. “You really think I’m going to answer that?”

  “It was worth a shot,” I muttered.

  “Lucas cares for you, but I think you already know that. Anything else you want to know is between you and him. I’m staying out of it.”

  “I know you wouldn’t betray his confidence,” I said. “I just had to ask…” my voice trailed off.

  “I think we’re getting close to the front. No more talking,” Nicholas commanded. “I’ll go first. Remember, just come straight through with me, no matter what orders they try to give you.”

  “Okay,” I managed to choke out.

  After walking forward for several more minutes, I could finally see the beginning of the line. There were two huge machines – they must have been about ten feet tall. They were side by side and it looked like the gatekeepers were leading everyone inside, a couple of bodies at a time. The top of the machine was curved. All I could see inside was blackness. It resembled a dark, creepy tunnel.

  Suddenly Nicholas was next in line. As soon as he started walking towards the gatekeeper on the left, so did I.

  “Hold on,” a harsh voice commanded. Ignoring the gatekeeper, I continued to walk forward, so close to Nicholas that I was almost touching his back.

  A hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. I resisted the urge to turn and look sideways, forced my body to stay relaxed. “Stupid zombies,” the gatekeeper muttered.

  He pulled Nicholas’ hair back and pointed a huge handheld scanner at his neck. It made a clicking sound and the gatekeeper stared at the display. “Go on, Raymond,” he commanded, giving Nicholas a small shove into the dark tunnel machine.

  I walked forward without being told to move. I was trying not to panic. Nicholas was still close by, but would he be there when I stepped into the machine? I couldn’t see anything past the entrance.

  The gatekeeper pushed my hair to the side and scanned my neck. “Ah, you’re the guest of honor, Aurora Stone,” he said aloud.

  “I don’t know what’s so special about her,” the other gatekeeper commented.

  “We may never know. We’re just guarding the meeting; too bad we can’t go in and find out what the big secret is.” The gatekeeper shoved me forward into the machine. My foot turned to the side. For a moment I thought I was going to lose my balance, but I quickly recovered. A door slid shut behind me.

  No wonder I couldn’t see inside. I hadn’t even realized this thing had a door on it.

  It was dark inside. My eyes were slowly adjusting. And there was Nicholas. Thank God. We were the only two people in the room. Surely Nicholas had seen me? But he wasn’t acknowledging me at all.

  Nicholas paced back and forth as though still in a trance. What the hell is he doing? Nicholas was walking straight towards me, a dead look on his face. What if they’ve gotten to him, and he really is under their mind control? I’d be lost without his help. I couldn’t face this alone.

  I was just about to start screaming at him, waving my hands in his face, when he was right in front of me. He raised his left hand up and quickly pointed towards the wall. I knew I couldn’t look in the direction that he was pointing, but if he was going to walk around pretending to be a zoned out zombie then so was I.

  I did my best zombie walk around the room, trying to study the wall he had pointed at without moving my eyes. It only took me a minute. There was a camera. Someone was watching us – or at least had the ability to watch us – while we waited in this weird tunnel.

  It’s a good thing I didn’t blow our cover. I had to be on my toes, to never assume it was safe to let our guards down.

  The door slid open and three more partygoers were unceremoniously shoved into the room. I stopped pacing. It wasn’t a large room, but it couldn’t comfortably hold much more than five of us. What were they going to do? Stuff us in like sardines?

  I wished Emmett had been able to tell us more about the gatekeeper and the process of actually getting to the underground meeting. I didn’t like not knowing what was about to happen.

  We didn’t have to wait too long to find out. The room went dark. I snuck a look at Nicholas, hoping the camera wasn’t trained on me. But he didn’t flinch. Then, suddenly, we were illuminated by a blinding white light and the most horrific shrill sound I had ever heard in my life. What if my eardrums rupture? I wanted to cover my ears, protect them, but I couldn’t.

  I’m not sure what happened, but I was thrown to my knees as the shrill sound intensified and the room we were in started violently shaking. And just as quickly as it had happened, it went black again.

  The others in the room with me, except for Nicholas, had also been knocked off their feet. I stood up, trying not to look frazzled. The door – the same one we’d originally come through, opened. I expected to see the gatekeeper, ready to push some more people into the room.

  Instead, we were staring into some type of underground cave. It almost looked like a stadium. It was huge, with a dirt stage near the front. I caught my eyes scanning the room and immediately forced them to stay still. Luckily, no one was paying any attention to us – yet.

  Then Mr. Matthews was at the doorway, ushering us into the massive arena. There must have already been hundreds there. I pressed close to Nicholas as we were led to stand in the middle of the pit, facing the stage.

  “Now that everyone’s here let’s get started, shall we?” A nasally, high pitched voice called from the stage. Tobias!

  Mr. Matthews was standing next to him.

  This was it. The meeting was happening.

  Chapter 5

  Lucas’ voice rang in my ears. What you
hear is going to be more useful than what you see tonight.

  It was almost impossible not to look around; it was such an involuntary action.

  Nicholas and I were several rows back from the ‘stage,’ but we were positioned almost in the middle of the arena. Tobias was practically right in front of me. I took the opportunity to study him.

  He was short, at least a half foot shorter than me. He looked around my age, which was odd considering he was probably a gazillion years old. He had a large, distinguished nose and gray, beady eyes. But what most struck me was his expression. It was so…harsh, so calculating.

  I mean, Lucas and Nicholas, and even Thomas and Bartholomew were all old and jaded. But they didn’t have that look. This was a look of pure hatred…pure evil.

  Tobias grabbed a microphone and tapped it. Screeeeech. Again, I resisted the urge to cover my ears.

  “Ladies and gentle-beasts.” Tobias paused, then let out a cringe-worthy cackle. No one reacted to his joke, of course, because they – we – were all under his mind control.

  I flicked my eyes slightly to the right, knowing I was going against orders. But I had to catch a glimpse of Henry’s father. His head was down, staring at a book that was laid out on a small table in front of him. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear the words. Probably speaking – chanting – in tongues. I quickly returned my gaze to the center of the auditorium, towards Tobias.

  “I am your one true ruler, your one true God,” Tobias announced. He raised his arms up triumphantly. “Together, under my leadership, we will expel the ghastly humans from our earth, and rightly overtake it, as is our destiny.”

  Again, no one reacted.

  Why is Tobias hamming it up for a crowd that’s basically in a coma?

  Mr. Matthews walked over to Tobias, placed his hand over the microphone, and said something to him. I tried to read his lips, but sadly, that apparently was not one of my dead girl powers.

  “It is time!” Tobias bellowed. David Matthews walked back to his podium and continued reading from the huge book.

  “Let’s see if the prophecy of the living dead girl is fact or fiction,” Tobias continued.

  I hadn’t realized there was anyone in the room besides those of us summoned here, plus Tobias and Mr. Matthews. But as soon as the words were out of Tobias’ mouth, my elbows were grabbed from both sides and I was pulled in the direction of the stage, towards Tobias.

  “Does Aurora Stone live up to her reputation?” Tobias asked, sneering.

  Chapter 6

  I stumbled forward. I couldn’t think, didn’t know how I was supposed to react. I knew the farther they pulled me away from Nicholas, the greater the chance I was going to succumb to their mind control.

  I planted my toes in the dirt, trying to slow the pull away from Nicholas. But my resistance was futile. One of the minions effortlessly scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. I briefly locked eyes with Nicholas. His face registered pure panic. This was the first time I had seen him break ‘character.’

  We were fucked.

  Just like what had happened in the warehouse, my mind started to crumble. It took immense concentration to remember where I was, to understand I was being carried onto a platform, right in front of Tobias

  I was dropped to the ground with a thud. Hands groped under my arms, pulling me to my feet. My mind was spinning. I struggled to stay upright.

  “Go!” Tobias screamed.

  Is he talking to me? The darkness was washing over me. I couldn’t fight it.

  “Why isn’t it working?” someone yelled. Maybe Tobias?

  I felt myself teetering. Don’t fall! Was that voice in my head or had someone yelled the words aloud?

  And then the fog was starting to clear. I blinked. Right in front of the platform I was standing on, was Nicholas.

  The creeps who had carried me onto this pedestal had faced me outwards, towards the crowd, with my back to Tobias and Mr. Matthews. It was what I needed to be reassured, to not blow my cover. I could trust Nicholas

  He must have risked everything to get closer to me! Nicholas and I had been at least ten feet away from the stage. He was protecting me by coming closer. No, protecting his brother. He would do whatever Lucas asked of him.

  I regained my balance. Tobias was speaking again. “You told me this time it would work,” he shouted.

  “You have to be patient.” I recognized Henry’s father’s voice, although I couldn’t see him. “It may take one more session. Her powers are still forming.”

  “But I want to do this now!” Tobias was infuriated. “Why did I call off the order to kill her? I didn’t even give the order to begin with! I don’t care if she lives or dies! There was no reason for our meddling, if she’s going to stand there like a paralyzed monkey! You told me she could be of use to us!”

  “She can,” David Matthews boomed. He didn’t sound intimidated by Tobias. “Her power will be ready for the next meeting. I also told you to give it time! She will be the one to defeat Senara. Stop doubting the prophet’s prediction!”

  Tobias didn’t speak. I felt a slimy hand run down my back. “May-be…” he said slowly, “I will make her my bride. She’s a pretty one, I must admit.” He laughed. “A bit tall though. And her neck is too long; like a giraffe.” Tobias laughed again.

  Pfft. I guess any girl is too tall if you barely reach five feet. But I wasn’t offended. The last thing in the world I needed was for Tobias to think I was a good candidate for his bride. Eww.

  But what was this about my power? Superhuman running skills weren’t going to win a war. What the hell were they talking about? And who was Senara?

  “What a waste of time,” Tobias snapped.

  “Calm down,” David commanded. “We needed to have this meeting so that I could condition your army. Ideally the girl would have been ready to give us a demo tonight. But the prophet’s never been wrong before. Everything we’re doing gets us one step closer to the end goal.”

  “To annihilate all humans.” Tobias cackled. “And what about that son of yours? When is he going to start practicing magic? I thought he was going to help us.”

  Henry!

  “Leave my family out of this!” David bellowed. “You promised that they would be safe. Don’t make me doubt my loyalty to you, Tobias; I could always offer my services elsewhere.”

  “Fine,” Tobias muttered. “Your son and wife will be protected, as per our agreement. But the sooner you can start training him, the better.”

  “I’ll be the one to decide that.” I could hear Mr. Matthews turn and start walking. Then he began reading from that book again. I couldn’t understand the words, but this time I could at least hear them. He definitely wasn’t speaking in English, but it didn’t really sound like Latin either.

  I wonder if Nicholas can hear him from where he’s standing? He’d been around forever. Maybe he’d understand what Mr. Matthews was reading.

  The reading and chanting went on for what seemed like ages. It was so difficult to stand there and force my eyes to stare lifelessly forward. I wanted to look around, check out the other undead things in the room. But I didn’t dare. I wasn’t sure where the guys who’d dragged me onto the stage were standing, and we’d come too far, had too many close calls, to slip up now.

  Just when I was thinking this might go on all night, the meeting abruptly ended. I almost jumped out of my skin when Mr. Matthews suddenly slammed the book shut.

  “That’s all for tonight,” he said.

  “How long until the spell wears off?” Tobias asked.

  “Plenty of time for them to all be returned. And they won’t have any memory of this,” David assured Tobias.

  Several men stepped forward from the crowd and started scanning everyone’s necks. They were pushing the creatures towards one of the four corners of the auditorium. It was then that I realized there were multiple machines like the one Nicholas and I had been in at the warehouse. They’re scanning us in to make sure they put us in
the right machine, to go home.

  I stepped off the pedestal and hurried (as much as possible while pretending to be a zombie) over to Nicholas. One of the men scanned our necks and led us to the line for our machine. This time, when we got inside, at least I’d know what to expect.

  Going back to the warehouse was the same as the ride over. Even though there was a camera, I figured they probably weren’t watching us. I braced myself against the wall just as the room became illuminated with that blinding white light. The violent shaking was worse than it had been on the first ride in this contraption, but since I had prepared myself I managed to stay upright this time.

  The whole thing couldn’t have taken more than a minute. We were back at the warehouse. And no sign of the two gatekeepers. Was there no one guarding us?

  Apparently Nicholas was thinking the same thing as me. “I don’t think we’re being watched. But either way, let’s go before they teleport these bastards out of here,” he hissed, shooting me a sideways glance.

  Everyone else in the room was just standing around lifelessly. At first Nicholas walked in that slow, dazed, stagger, but as we got closer to the door at the other end of the warehouse, he picked up the pace.

  With a quick look behind us, Nicholas grabbed the door handle. We were almost to freedom!

  “Shit,” he muttered. He turned to me. “The fucking door is locked.”

  “So use that key to open it,” I said shrilly. “The one that works on every lock!”

  “Do you see a keyhole? Because I sure don’t.”

  I leaned down to study the doorknob and frame. “Oh no,” I moaned. “It only locks from the outside! What now?”

  Nicholas’ expression was hard, unwavering. “We’re getting out of this hell hole. That’s what.”

  Chapter 7

  “What are you going to do?” I asked despondently. Nicholas was walking again, back towards the center of the warehouse. I looked around nervously. By now, if anyone were watching us, they would surely notice we weren’t under the mind control.