Rise of Midnight

by SARA FREITES

  The next morning, with the gruesome images still tailing my every thought, I couldn’t eat breakfast. I sat there cutting my bacon into tiny pieces while withholding the urge to vomit. The tender meat reminded me of how easily the haviden’s flesh had torn apart the night before.

  I could hear Thade talking to someone in the next room. It wasn’t normal for him to be above ground so early in the day. I guessed he and a few others had been up all night sparring with Blake on the rooftops like the night before. I left the kitchen after putting my plate in the refrigerator for later. I paused on the staircase and listened to Thade and the others just out of sight.

  “He’s been ill-treated in some manner, too,” Thade piped up. “He has quite a bit of scarring, which is odd. Makes me wonder what could’ve caused those wounds. He also needs to learn a little technique, how to control his anger in a fight. Aside from those things, he’s a marvelous fighter. Now that he’s fed—I’ll add that he doesn’t seem to have to as often as we do—he’s become frighteningly stronger than I expected, far stronger than we are. He’ll make an outstanding addition to the clan guard. However, I wish we could discover his origins. It’s the only thing keeping me from fully understanding him.”

  “Are you saying that he, himself, doesn’t even know what he is?” Terry asked, his French accent unmistakable.

  “So it seems,” the clan leader responded.

  I lightly shook my head in confusion and went up to my room. Late in the evening after I’d gone to bed, I awoke in the middle of the night with a hunger greater than I’d had in weeks. I didn’t let myself lay that way for long. It was 2:45 AM when I rolled out of bed, got dressed and made my way down for a snack. I hoped I wouldn’t run into Harper as I moved through the hallway. In the living room, a handful of vampires huddled together. They listened closely to Thade who spoke to them in a hushed voice. I pulled a loaf of bread, a slice of cheese and a container of sliced ham from the refrigerator. I’d just finished nibbling on the last of my sandwich when I took my plate to the sink. I was stunned to find a man leaning against the doorway of the kitchen. His striking features caught me by surprise.

  “I thought I heard a human heartbeat,” he said quietly.

  It took me a second to realize who he was. I hadn’t seen him up close in almost two weeks. I only recognized him by his vibrant eyes and his scars. His skin appeared remarkably human, olive in tone, and the hardened expression he normally held had softened dramatically. It looked like he'd had a close shave, and his hair was cut short with a little length on top that he probably hadn’t bothered to brush.

  With his hair out of his eyes, I could see the extensiveness of his facial scarring. It divided his face into two halves. The lengthy mark looked as if an artist had intricately carved it down the contours of his bone structure. It began its course at his hairline high above his left eye, then trailed through his eyebrow, only fading at his eye socket and deepening again across the bridge of his nose, through his cheek and down the right side of his face.

  The clothes he wore didn’t fit as loosely as the ones he’d worn before, and I noticed that his lean and muscular form was unmistakable. I was surprised by how remarkably handsome he was now. I wouldn’t have guessed Blake could clean up so nicely.

  Stop it, I told myself.

  I couldn’t let myself be so easily distracted. He was just Blake, the grumpy prisoner from cell 3a. His bad attitude outweighed his good looks by a long shot. As my eyes followed his hands when they fell by his sides, I remembered how he’d used them so violently the night before, what he’d done to that haviden. A shiver ran down my back. That and the memory of his blood-rage helped put any pleasant feelings I had of him to rest. He was like a wild animal, intriguing and mysterious, but also deadly and unpredictable.

  “Hey, Blake,” I greeted him as I tried regaining my composure.

  His brow line dropped. “You okay? Your heart rate just went up—” he began innocently when Thade’s voice boomed in the next room.

  “Blake? Come here, please.”

  It was as if the vampire leader knew Blake and I were alone. Without a word, Blake left me with my stomach tied in unexpected knots. I washed my plate and headed to my room. I glanced over my back on my way to the stairs. Among the vampire group in the living room, I found Blake’s piercing eyes on me. Nervously, I looked away.

  Harper came out of nowhere. He knocked into me harder than normal. I stumbled into the shallow notch under the staircase, catching myself on the wall. I went from having my feelings hurt to so pissed off I couldn’t see straight. My mind went blank. I bit into my bottom lip. Adrenaline rushed through my system. I could feel my entire disposition change, and the nervousness I felt disappeared, replaced by a level of confidence I’d only experience after casting Latresma’s feline guardian spell.

  “Why can’t you ever watch where you’re going?” I barked at Harper.

  He was in my face before I could finish my sentence. “Who do you think you’re talking to, human?” he snarled. His intense graphite-colored eyes penetrated me.

  “Go to hell,” I sneered.

  I moved around him. He took my arm. His harsh and icy grip froze me in place. He slung me into the wall. The side of my head broke a small wooden shelf with a glass ornament adorning it. I felt my shoulder make an impression in the wall. He could have thrown me much harder. In fact, he had the strength to put me entirely through the plaster and wood, to kill me if he wanted to. Tears filled my eyes when I hit the ground.

  “Harper!” Thade shouted.

  Blake appeared behind Harper. I started to sit up but stopped to watch Blake take the vampire by his shoulder and propelled him across the foyer and into the sitting room. There, Harper’s back hit the glass coffee table. It crushed under him. The young vampire lay motionless in the rubble while holding in a laugh deep in his chest. Blake stood over me, watching Harper. Thade called their names thunderously.

  “That’s enough!” Thade’s voice surged again as he approached.

  Harper sat up, continuing to laugh while he brushed glass from his clothes.

  “Outside, both of you! Now!” Thade shouted.

  Blake looked down at me as I sat embarrassed in his shadow. He offered me his hand. I hesitated before taking it. Glass and wood crackled under me as he helped me to my feet. He stepped away. The huddled group of vampires peered in our direction.

  “Are you alright?” Thade asked me.

  I nodded, watching Blake and Harper as they glared at one another while Blake passed by him. Harper growled under his breath, but Blake ignored him and left through the back door. Thade went straight to Harper.

  “What the hell are you thinking, Harper?” he hissed. “That girl is the only thing we’ve got in this fight against our enemy, and you could have killed her just now! Do you not understand her importance? Throw aside your prejudice for now before you do something you’ll later regret! I should have you demoted! Take a walk! I don’t want to see you until you can learn to control yourself!”

  With that, Thade went to follow Blake outside. The clan leader held open the back door for Harper, but Harper walked away from him. He briskly passed me, tore the boards from the front door and forced it open so hard the lock snapped. When he stomped out, he slammed it closed. The walls shook. A picture fell from its nail just beside me. It shattered on the hardwood floor. The gathered vampires dispersed. Thade shook his head and walked onto the back porch with Blake.

  “I’ll get you some ice,” Eden announced as she dashed to the refrigerator.

  Thade’s voice could be heard just outside. “Blake. Remember what I’ve taught you thus far. You have to think before you react. You can’t let yourself get so angry.”

  “Did you miss that?” Blake replied to him with a pitched tone. “He just threw a human girl half his size into a wall. I wasn't going to stand around like nothing happened.”

  “I understand,” Thade sympathized. “But you are no better than he is right now. You have
to be able to control yourself. Your reaction of instant violence is a learned behavior that can be changed, but only if you allow us to help you.”

  “A vampire against violence,” Blake scoffed. “I’ve seen everything now.”

  “There is a time for violence, Blake, but not in this safehaven. I forbid it!” Thade’s voice faded as he spoke.

  Careful not to step on the glass, I made my way upstairs and fought a mild dizziness that nearly overcame me.

  Eden rushed after me with an ice pack in hand as I sat on my bed. “I’m so sorry,” she cooed. “Here, put this on the side of your face. It’s already bruising.”

  My failed attempts to put the ice pack over the swollen area drove her to take it from me and place it there herself. The entire right side of my face had gone numb by then. I heard someone enter the Sanctum.

  “We’ll need to get that damned front door fixed and boarded up immediately!” Thade called. His voice resonated, and I heard him ascend the stairs.

  “I’ll get that taken care of right away,” a woman’s voice answered back.

  Thade came into my doorframe. I took the ice pack from Eden’s hand and dropped it in my lap.

  “I want out of here,” I said to him gruffly, my throat tightening.

  Eden took the icepack from my lap and placed it back on my bruise.

  “I apologize for Harper,” he said as if he’d apologized on Harper’s behalf before. “He has a deeply rooted hatred for humans. He and his sister were tortured by vampire hunters in Norway just a few years ago. He was able to escape, but she didn’t make it. It’s seldom, but these groups of humans can be a threat to us. Harper has not yet recovered from the way he was treated nor from his sister’s tragic death, but that doesn’t excuse his behavior.”

  Blake rounded the corner just behind Thade and stopped there, looking in after us.

  “Why am I still here?” I asked with a raised voice. “Everyone walks around here like I have some kind of disease they can catch. No one wants me here, and I don’t want to be here. I want to go home,” I broke as more tears filled my eyes.

  “You’re not leaving, Autumn,” Thade asserted.

  “I can’t take it here another day. Something has to change,” I fought back.

  “If this is because of Harper’s behavior, then I can assure you this will never happen again,” Thade began.

  “This isn’t just about Harper! I’m sick of this place! If I’m forced to stay here another day, I swear to God, I will make you regret it. I absolutely refuse to stay here any longer! From this point on, expect me to act like a prisoner because that’s exactly what I am to you!”

  “Lower your voice,” Thade retorted. “There is no need for all of that. We’ve been over this. You’re safest here.”

  I took a quivering breath, wiping tears I hadn’t realized I’d cried. I grabbed the ice bag from Eden and held it to the side of my face myself. My other hand balled into a fist as I bit my bottom lip. My eyes found the vanity mirror were I caught sight of my reflection. My nose blushed the color of a cherry. The darkening around the outside of my right eye had me looking twice to be sure.

  “I’m safest here?” I yelped at Thade, exposing my bruise again. “I have a black eye!”

  “As I said. That or anything like it will never happen again,” Thade assured me.

  More tears surged in my eyes, but I blinked them away. And then, it dawned on me. I think I’d known deep down that I couldn’t just leave, even if the vampires allowed me to. Not even with Blake at my side could I escape what might happen to the world—according to the vampires, Arlos would put an end to everything even if I could run away and hide from the vampires. There was no point in escaping the Sanctum if everyone I knew would die when Arlos opened his hell-portal. If my family could live out the rest of their lives without the threat of Arlos, then that would be a fair trade for my humanity. But if I could just see them one more time.

  “I just want to say goodbye to them. That’s all I’m asking for,” I burst through uprising tears. “I haven’t accepted the fact that I have to give up my humanity for your race and live forever as a vampire, but if it’s unavoidable, then seeing my family one last time is the only thing that will make all of this easier for me.”

  “Know that you’d potentially put your family’s lives in danger if you went home,” Thade explained. “Arlos won’t have a second thought about harming your family if he finds you there.”

  I couldn’t say anything to that. Thade was right. I would never dream of putting my family in any danger.

  “Eden, can you—” Thade began.

  “I’ll take care of it,” she cut in coldly.

  “Thank you. Blake, let’s go talk,” Thade said to him and walked out.

  Blake watched me before going with Thade.

  “I’m so sorry, Autumn,” Eden whispered. “I’m upset for you.” She took the ice pack from me, placing it on the side of my face and over my eye. I sat quietly while she nursed my bruise.

  Alone in my room the next morning, I found myself unable to give up as I desperately read through incantations in Latresma’s spell booklet again. I told myself I would escape…but only long enough to say goodbye to my family. And I knew I had to do it fast. I could practically sense my time running out, that Arlos would show himself any day now with everything that had been happening. I would make my visit home and return within the hour to keep my family from falling victim to Arlos or anyone else who meant me harm.

  After a short time of reading, I found a handful of spells that might help me. The first was a spell for levitation. All I needed was a feather and a drop of human blood. Simple enough. But after searching the house for anything even remotely close to a feather, I couldn’t help but wonder how I could convince Eden to bring back a bird feather on her next trip to the store. But then, it came to me.

  “Hey, Eden,” I greeted her, stopping her in the hallway on my way to make lunch that afternoon. “When you go to the store tonight, can you get a down pillow for me? The pillow I have is uncomfortable. I’m used to sleeping on down pillows,” I lied.

  “Oh, sure. I’m sorry, Autumn. You should have told me sooner,” she sweetly replied.

  That night when she returned, I eagerly took the pillow she brought to my bed and cut it open. After pulling out a handful of feathers, I spread them across the comforter in search of the largest one I could find. Carefully, I held Jacoby’s pocketknife against my finger and let its sharp edge pierce my skin. At the sight of crimson liquid, I winced and allowed it to roll down my finger. I smeared the blood across the feather before holding it close.

  “Léger comme une plume,” I whispered the French words for “light as a feather” from the spell book’s page.

  I felt a floating sensation. My feet went numb, and I levitated off the floor. I rose above the bed, unable to gain control over my ascent. I cursed as panic set in. My body gradually glided through the air and into the hallway. I floated over the staircase railing where a group of vampires came into view just below. A cold sweat broke out across my skin. Among the pale, unfamiliar faces was Thade’s. Blake’s. My stomach twitched at the sight of them. One of the vampires sniffed the air around him and glanced about as my back brushed against the ceiling.

  Thade’s eyes casually swiped over me, moving away just as quickly—then in an instant, were back on me. This time, they were wide with shock. He unfolded his arms in slow motion to let them hang by his side. Blake’s eyes were on me next, but then, he looked away. A smile spread across his face while he withheld a laugh. Because of their reactions, the other vampires took notice of me. All eyes were on me now. I grew hot and tingly as my stomach kept churning.

  “Hey, guys,” I greeted them, shyly waving.

  A cold hand gripped the bottom of my shirt and tugged. I caught a glimpse of Terry’s face. He had latched onto the wall beside me, and now, he guided me in closer like a Macy's Day Parade balloon.

  “Autumn, what—” Thade began.<
br />
  I could feel myself turning red. “I can explain,” I blurted.

  Terry inched down the wall with me.

  “That you will,” Thade agreed in a stern voice.

  The spell wore off at the same time I dropped the feather. Terry and I reached the hardwood floors just in time. Thade’s eyes trailed the feather while it drifted from side to side until it sank to the ground. His accusing eyes jumped back to me.

  Convincing Thade that I was harmlessly testing Latresma’s spells didn’t work. He had the feathers cleaned from my room and thrown out along with the down pillow. He said he was pleased I wanted to practice Latresma’s spells but warned that even if the book rightfully belonged to me, he wouldn’t hesitate to take it away if he felt I was putting myself in any danger. After lecturing me, he told Eden that she was no longer allowed to bring back anything I asked for from the store unless he approved of it.

  Whatever. It didn’t matter. The levitation spell itself was useless anyway, but it was a relief to know I had many more spells to look over. I just had to keep studying the book. I knew I’d find something soon.

  The next spell I stumbled upon the following morning was gold to me. The words read “pluie torrentielle” across the page, and it called for a genuine crystal submerged in a cup of liquid. Again there I was, wandering around the Sanctum. I searched about nonchalantly as I made my way to the kitchen. I filled a glass of water and took it to my room, hoping I would find the other ingredient for the spell around the house. It wasn’t until later that night when the lights in the house were on that I found what I was looking for. As I came downstairs for dinner, the light and sparkle of the crystal chandelier hanging over the hallway caught my eye. I could only pray the crystals dangling from it were real.

  I felt a smirk spread across my face when I went to the railing. Warily, I peered over to be sure no one lingered in the entryway below. I stretched over the old wooden railing that creaked under my weight. I curled my fingers around an iron arm of the chandelier. Ever so slowly, I reeled the dusty chandelier in, pulled out my pocketknife and wedged the blade’s tip into the ring of a crystal. The ring bent and I pinched the crystal from it. I was anxious and excited at the same time as I let go of the chandelier. It swung back and forth as I made my way to my bathroom—the only suitable place to try out this spell. After all, the spell translated to the word “rainstorm”.