Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects

by Melinda Clark

  Her sister’s face displayed annoyance as she crossed her arms and spoke above the radio, "Are you in a fight club or something? Is that where you go almost every night? Don’t think I haven’t noticed that small cut on your forehead that you cover with your hair."

  Avery continued pummeling the bag, "Always with the questions."

  "Never with the answers. Why can't you just tell me what’s going on in your life?!"

  Avery muttered under her breath, "The truth can be dangerous."

  "What?"

  Avery stopped a moment, the bag still swinging from momentum. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? Tonight I got plans."

  "You have plans every night! Why not spend some time with me? We could watch a movie or something. Have a girl’s night."

  "Some things you have to do, and I have to do this, okay? Like I said, tomorrow."

  "You know what? Don't even bother," Kyrie left Avery's room, slamming the door behind her.

  Avery punched the bag one last time as hard as she could. She knew she couldn’t please everyone, but she felt pretty guilty right now. Kyrie was the only family she had, and she did tend to ignore her, especially when she was worried about stuff; which was most of the time. Avery told herself that it was to better keep her secrets from her sister. That it was a necessity for her to have a hard edge and give tough love. She didn't want Kyrie exposed to the dark world that lingered within the human one. It was horrid and ugly. But could Avery protect her sister forever? She would damn well try. But maybe a little trust in their relationship could go a long way.

  She contemplated what it would mean to tell her sister everything the entire bus ride out of town. It took almost half an hour to get to someplace ten minutes away, but other passengers’ stops and pickups had come before hers. As soon as she stepped off the bus and started her walk up the long dirt drive, her mind turned back toward the job. Or Talon, more or less. Why was she here? Could she ever see him as a man instead of a monster? Surely having a different aura than other vampires meant something, but that could be one of his tricks or special powers as well. She just couldn’t be one-hundred percent sure of him. And yet here she was, at his house, hoping this wasn’t a huge mistake.

  Avery knocked on his front door. When he didn't answer, she jiggled the knob. It was unlocked, so she let herself in. The whole house was eerily quiet, just a dim light on in his kitchen. Maybe he was still asleep? Did vampires sleep while the sun was up? It had set nearly an hour ago. She questioned all the things she thought she knew about vampires. Again coming back to the question as to why she was even here. She supposed her curiosity overwhelmed her good sense. She felt her way through the dark and to the staircase, while her nerves wound up tight. She looked up the stairs and could make out a soft glow on the upstairs ceiling. She noiselessly climbed the stairs and found herself in a dark room with a huge four-post bed, a trio of candles lit on a nightstand near it. It was a simple room, but elegant and modern like the rest of the house. Talon lay on his back, an unmoving paleness in the center of the black bedding. She was drawn to him. She slowly floated over to his side to wake him, while trying not to look at the parts of him that the satin sheets did not conceal.

  "Talon..."

  In an instant, Talon awoke and grabbed Avery by her shoulders, pulling her on top of him. She was met with deep red eyes and panicked. They focused on her and changed slowly back to his icy blues, as he fought his hunger.

  His teeth extended, "Back away from me slowly. I need to have my breakfast, and I don't want it to be you."

  His grip loosened and Avery pushed herself away from him. She backed away slowly and stopped when her hand had found the railing of the stairs. Talon looked ashamed as he studied her. No doubt her face was fearful. She was never too good at concealing her emotions from those who could read her. She knew anything that could have happened would have been her fault. He could have done anything to her at that moment, and she would have deserved it too, for being anywhere near a vampire, and weaponless at that. It had brought her back to that night in the alley, where the vampire had almost done more than just bite her. She doubted her ability to take on Talon after seeing his strength. Maybe she shouldn't have come. She wasn’t sure if it was bravery or stupidity that left her standing in that spot when she should be fleeing. It was time to put the hard-edged, ‘not bothered by a thing’ Avery back in charge. She recited the mantra she had convinced herself of repeatedly in her head, Friends close, enemies closer.

  "What are you doing here? Is it sundown already?" Talon tried to hide his teeth from her as he spoke.

  "Can't you sense it or something?"

  "Not really."

  Maybe everything she knew about vampires was wrong. "In your case, I suggest an alarm clock."

  "I don't like clocks. They just seem pointless when you're immortal."

  Talon got up. He had no sense of modesty as he dropped the sheets from around his waist, so he was naked-as-the-day-he-was-born before her. Avery quickly turned around and put her hand over her brow, to cover her peripheral vision. Talon picked up and put on a pair of dark wash jeans from the floor while smiling at her actions. "What? Am I that ugly?"

  Avery turned back around to face him as he leaned against the end post of his bed, buttoning up a black shirt in the flickering candlelight. "Yeah. Now let's go," she grumbled and started down the stairs before overhearing Talon laughing to himself, "She wants me." She couldn't believe his arrogance but had recalled the previous image in her mind for a moment of admiration that she, in turn, had hated herself for.

  Avery and Talon watched them from a distance. A group of vampires left the gated manor on Waldron and disappeared into the night. "That's our cue," Talon whispered, so close that Avery felt his cool breath in her ear. Goosebumps formed on that side of her body, and she shuttered. This old manor had always given her the heebie-jeebies as a kid, and now she knew why. She would have never dreamed that this place had been chock-full of vampires, and for the last couple years no doubt, according to Talon. She unconsciously started chewing on the side of her lip out of anxiousness. "So what's the plan?"

  "We follow them to what they're after, and we take it from them."

  Yeah, now was a good time to dish out some of her famous sarcasm. "Wow. You worked out all the details and everything."

  Talon ignored her and started sniffing around until he picked up their scent.

  "You can smell them? Like a dog?" Avery stifled a giggle.

  Talon sighed, "I'm a predator. It's one of our tools."

  "So then you can smell me? What do I smell like?"

  He came into her space, his chest barely touching hers. He smelled the air around her and Avery tensed up, uncomfortable with the closeness. Talon backed away from her, cringing.

  "What?" she stammered. What had him acting all weird toward her suddenly? Should she be insulted?

  He turned away from her. "You bit your lip...the blood is the only thing I’m picking up on right now."

  Avery instantly regretted her curiosity. "Oh...I'm...sorry." She tried to suckle the blood away, hoping and praying it would stop. Maybe working together was going to be too much trouble. For the both of them.

  Talon turned and prowled in the direction in which he had previously sensed the other vampires, while Avery kept up the best she could, practically running after him. In the blink of an eye, he had grabbed her by the waist, and they were at their destination. Avery wobbled on her feet a moment and scowled at Talon, "What did I tell you about that?!"

  "You're of no use if you're out of breath."

  His comment regarding her usefulness made her blood boil. She closed her eyes a moment, took a deep breath, and tried to find inner peace. When she opened her eyes, Talon was gone. Then suddenly in front her again.

  “Is that another perk of getting older? Because I have seen only one other vampire able to zoom around like that,” she recalled her childhood nightmare.

  Talon nodded and explained, “The reckle
ss ones you normally come across are newbies. They are not as strong nor have any of the attributes I, or someone as old as me, have.”

  That meant the vampire that had killed her parents was old like Talon. Judging by Talon’s capabilities, Avery doubted for a moment her ability to have her revenge. But she couldn’t think about this now, she needed to refocus on her current mission.

  They were in the Highland View Cemetery, near the elementary school. The two of them stuck to the narrow paths that traveled throughout the area, avoiding the occasional light posts that threatened to reveal them. Even at night, Avery didn't find cemeteries creepy. She always thought of them as somewhere to visit your fallen loved ones and feel at peace. A sanctuary. Not a place full of dead bodies, some of which tried to kill you. Avery strained to see in the night ahead of her. She couldn't make out if anyone or anything was even here. "So where are they?"

  Talon paused to listen. "Spread throughout. But the ones we want are in there," he pointed to the mausoleum near the entrance that was built in the 1700's. Avery wordlessly followed Talon to the entrance of the tomb to find the door slightly ajar. They stopped to listen to the voices within.

  "Is this it?"

  "Yeah. Lilith’s ring."

  Talon stepped in on the four of them, with Avery behind him. "Thanks for finding it for us."

  The vampires whirled around and hissed at them. Talon went straight after the vampire who possessed the ring and the one closest to the ring bearer as well. That left Avery the other two.

  She twirled to the side to dodge both her attackers. She pulled out a six-inch dagger from her duster that billowed out around her. Though sometimes she felt more clumsily lucky than graceful, like a dance, the motions were ingrained in her mind and body. Over and over she dodged them. She was looking for an opening that came in seconds, though it had seemed longer with her adrenaline pumping. She forced the blade into one vamp's chest and twisted before pulling it out. She watched him turn to ash in confirmation of the kill. Another vampire swiped at her, catching the side of her face. Avery's cheek welled up and thrummed with a stinging heat. She roundhouse-kicked the vampire upside the head, sending him flying into Talon’s path, who thrust the end of a crucifix through its chest. When the vampire was ash, Avery picked up the cross and placed it back on the coffin from which it came.

  "Looks like I'm clocking out early tonight," she muttered.

  "So this cheap looking thing is it?" Talon held the ring, becoming entranced with it. Avery inched toward him, unsettled by the look that suddenly flashed across his face, "Talon...why don't you give it to me."

  He continued to stare at the ring. It was like a powerful magnetic force wanted him to put it on; to use its power. Avery touched his arm, disrupting the energy flow that seemed to connect the ring to his mind. He reluctantly handed it over. "You can feel its power. So strange..."

  "Really? I don't feel anything,” Avery fumbled with it in her hands. “The ring of Lilith. I wonder who she was….”

  “She was a female demon said to be Adam’s first wife, you know, before Eve,” Talon explained stories he had heard from his youth.

  Avery, before taking her leave of the tomb, quirked her face at him, “A demon? How did that work out?”

  “Well, obviously it didn’t,” Talon joked as he started to follow her, pausing when he caught the smell of something delicious in the air.

  "Whoa, wait a minute," he moved in front of her and put his hand on the side of her face, where her swollen cheek was bloodied with three scratches. "You're hurt," he studied her cheek a moment and then moved a silky, chestnut-colored curl from obstructing his view. He had managed to keep his eyes from going red this time, controlling the hunger that was ever-present. What was so sweet smelling to vampires about that metallic liquid? If only Avery knew how hard it was for him to control himself this way. But he did it for her sake. He never wanted to be the cause of terror on that beautiful face again.

  Avery backed away from his caress, "It's nothing. Control yourself. "

  Talon mentally kicked himself. Of course, Avery wouldn’t see that he was genuinely concerned rather than captivated by the sweet scent of the bleeding. If he had not been distracted by her lip earlier, he would have been able to tell her how beautiful she smelled to him. The vanilla of her hair and skin, the mint of her breath, the lavender scent from her clothes detergent, and that underlying smell he couldn’t describe as being anything but her. Her scent alone had lured him to an alley when he was on his way to the bar, where he saw her for the first time, fighting vampires the night they met. That night he had caught onto the heavy stench of blood, though realizing it was too late for whoever had lost that much. He watched her from the shadows, impressed by her strength and grace as she had slain her prey. He knew right away that she was a slayer yet he still saved her, and stupidly took her on a date thinking she wouldn’t figure him out. He couldn’t help but feel something for her, though he hadn’t come to know her yet. Something he hadn’t felt in centuries.

  Before Talon followed Avery out of the tomb, he realized that her blood was on his thumb. His eyes turned red. He knew if he tasted it and liked it, it would be all he could think about until he got some more. His willpower won over his urges, and his eyes became normal once again. He wiped his hand clean on the leftover clothing that was strewn in ashes on the ground.

  "What do you mean someone stole it?!"

  Gunner growled at the moron who dared to bring him the upsetting news. The blonde minion that had delivered him the scroll was now kneeling with his head toward the ground, "Yes my lord. They said it was a woman and a vampire. He was not of this clan."

  Gunner rose from his seat and snapped the vampire's neck. "Never be the messenger of bad news," he grumbled as he grabbed the sword that sat beside him at all times, and drove it through the insubordinate’s chest, turning him to ash. He pointed to a nearby startled vampire, "You, clean this up."

  Gunner stomped his way up the grand staircase, his subordinates steering clear of him as best as possible. They were all children compared to him, and they knew not to be in his way when he was in a foul mood. He considered them all to be idiots because of their lack of knowledge and experience. Next, to him, the second oldest vampire here was only turned a decade ago. They all still had a lot to learn, but many of them would not progress, because of these slayers. Gunner was constantly trying to compensate for those he had lost, which meant even dumber replacements. Damn millennial. He exploded through the door to the room where his witch was chanting.

  "How is it, that someone else knows of the sacred objects?!"

  The door finally cracked off its hinges and hit the floor. Daedra grimaced and stood before him.

  "I am uncertain how anyone else would know without the translated text, or how they could benefit without the help of a witch."

  "I was told a rogue vampire, and a human had slain my search party and stole the Ring of Lilith."

  "Sounds like a coincidence to me. An opportunistic killing, perhaps? That is unless you have a mole in your midst… "

  “They’re trying to fuck up my plans!” Gunner exploded, then composed himself, lowering the tone of his voice. "Their scent has already dissipated from the area. You need to do a locator spell so we can retrieve the ring. I've worked too hard to have this taken from me now."

  "I can only focus on one thing at a time, or the results may be corrupt. My magick is still in search of the fourth item. After we retrieve it, I will locate the ring for you, Master."

  The agitated vampire grit his teeth, "See to it that you do."

  Avery placed the ring in her silver jewelry box, then set the box back on her dresser. She recalled fondly her mother giving her the heirloom jewelry box on her sixth birthday. She sat on the edge of her bed, carefully examining an old family picture she kept in her nightstand.

  When her parents died, she and her sister were put into the system. No one would adopt them, at least not together. Neither one would will
ingly leave the other. They were put into a foster home together, and that's where she grew up, waiting for the day she could leave and take her sister with her. Their foster parents were nice enough, but nothing like her parents of course. Avery always felt that they were in it for the money rather than the ‘sharing of their love.’ When Avery turned eighteen, she was able to prove financial stability and miraculously became the legal guardian of Kyrie. They started their lives with almost nothing and ended up where they are now, though it wasn't near as nice as Talon's house. Avery currently lacked an income, but they weren't as bad off as they could be. They had a roof over their heads, food in the cupboards, and clothes on their backs. That's all she could ask for.

  She found herself in the kitchen, peeking into the fridge, inspecting the stock and deciding on orange juice. She opened the jug and took a swig before putting it back and wiping her face with her sleeve. She noticed something unfamiliar on the counter. Tarot cards. Was Kyrie getting curious? That seemed odd considering how religious her sister was. The card on top of the pile was face up. The shield. Is that a sign or what? No time like the present for that talk. She couldn't deter from it forever, or she'd just drive the wedge further between her and her sister.

  She approached her sister's bedroom door nervously and looked through the opening. Kyrie was lying on her bed, reading. It wasn't schoolwork, so Avery had no more excuses for avoidance. She took a deep breath before opening the door and made eye contact with her sister. "Hey. I wanna talk."

  Kyrie’s sarcastic defense, similar to her own, showed itself, "Are you sure? This is a pretty big step for you...."

  Avery flinched at her sister’s sarcasm, well, if she was gonna be snooty about it, then…. No. Just take it in stride. You deserved that. Avery sat on the princess style bed next to Kyrie.