A Shade of Halloween

by Robin Todd

  In that moment, every part of me was repulsed by him... by all of them. I stood there watching their every action, knowing I would do everything in my power to defend Selena - even if it cost me my last breath. Granted, I was gravely outnumbered. There was no way I could take on them all without paying the ultimate price. But there was also no way I could stand down and watch them kill the love of my life. My existence would have no meaning without her. It was indeed, a tough call. The second Ros gave the order, all twelve vampires rushed at Selena. I rushed to her myself but my intention was quite the opposite of theirs. I wanted to reach her and run. There was no time to decide where to run to, but I didn’t care. I was prepared to run to the ends of the earth if that was going to save her from the clan. With everything that was going on, my attention was completely distracted from Trina. I believe it was the same with everyone else in the room because I could feel the shock and anger from the other vampires when Trina picked Selena up and sped out of the house.

  It took less than a second for them to recover from the initial shock. They immediately gave chase just like I did. The difference now was that I knew I had two girls to save. Knowing the Council members on their chase, Trina was going to suffer the same fate as Selena if I didn’t get them away in time - and I couldn’t let that happen. The vampires had a head start from the house because they gave chase first but regardless of that fact, I ran with all my might. I had just gotten in front of Ros when I saw Trina trip on the walkway, sending both girls crashing to the ground. I stretched out my hands to grab them, just as the Council vampires who were barely inches behind me roared in anger. I never made contact. Selena let out a charring field of force that sent us all flying into the air, only to land several paces away from her location with burns that hurt like crazy. I felt my strength wane by several degrees and when I turned around to the other vampires, I could tell they were affected in the same way. They sluggishly picked themselves up from the ground and rushed back to the location the girls fell but they were too late. The girls were gone, completely disappeared into thin air. For a moment, I shook my head in disbelief. I quickly recovered when I realized what that meant. The girls were safe, at least for now.

  I let out a thankful sigh of relief as I dragged my body up from the ground, waiting for the slow healing process to take the pain away. Whatever was in that blast was powerful enough to reduce the healing ability of all the vampires around and I knew that was something the clan would relentlessly fight to destroy. Selena was in more danger now than she ever was, and I desperately needed to be the first one to find her. If the Council found her first, everything would be over - and that was something I couldn’t accept.

  I looked back at the spot where the girls fell and tried to comprehend what had happened there. Did they run off while we were being blasted away? That didn’t seem likely. If my strength was depleted from the blast, then Trina’s must have been as well. There was no way she could have picked Selena up after that and still made it out of there fast enough to not be noticed. But if they didn’t run, then where did they go? I didn’t have the time to think up possible places. I noticed I had been surrounded by the Council vampires, and they looked at me like I unleashed the blast. Ros was standing right in front of me, staring me down in a way that told me just how pissed he was. I raised my eyebrow at him and plastered a smirk on my face. I loved the fact that Selena got away and could care less about the way he felt about it.

  “It seems you’re going to have to come with us.” Ros sneered.

  Before I could protest, I felt a painful stab behind me. Someone had driven a silver stake through my heart and everything went cement cold after that.

  Chapter Three

  Ros’s POV

  I expelled a forceful breath that felt like my face had just broken through the surface of a large body of water where I had been drowned. The force of the breath caused my body to jolt awake, and I sat up immediately. My eyes caught sight of the first image around me, a person whose neck I immediately clutched. I pulled my fingers together, almost crushing his larynx in the process.

  “Benjamin?” I asked, looking skeptically at the Council vampire who was holding a silver stake in his gloved hand. “What the hell are you doing here... and why are you holding a stake over my body?”

  My eyes surveyed my surroundings and from the colors and arrangement of the furniture, I could tell exactly where I was - Ryan’s house. It looked exactly like mine, a direct result of the twin bond we shared. While we tended to like the same things, we didn’t exactly go about them the same way. I let go of Benjamin’s neck before he could reply. My memory completely coalesced and I remembered exactly what happened before I was staked out.

  “I... um… I” Benjamin tried to answer my question but I stopped him.

  “Never mind, Benjamin. I remember now. Where the hell is my brother?”

  “I don’t know. Viktor asked us to get you first. He said you were going to be in here, just like he sensed the sorceress was here.” He replied.

  I immediately knew who he was referring to. If I was in Ryan’s house, then Selena Ryder was most likely going to be here too. But why did they refer to her as a sorceress? She never manifested her powers in any lifetime before this one, neither did she show any traces when I tried to kill her at the cathedral. I didn’t bother about it too much because I knew Viktor would have answers for me.

  “I see. Let’s go, Benjamin.”

  We exited the room, and I met three other Council vampires waiting at the door. We all walked down the stairs and entered a room where a loud argument was taking place. As soon as we got in, I knew why there was so much noise. Viktor and Ryan were having their usual disagreement over who knew what this time.

  “Brother, brother, brother!” I smirked, taunting my dear little Ry.

  I could immediately see his apprehension. He already knew why the Council vampires were in his home and was probably already worried for his dear Selena’s sake.

  “Poor little brother.”

  I turned around to the stunned gaze of Selena Ryder and for a fraction of a split second, my heart melted. She looked just as innocent and just as beautiful as the girl who charmed my heart several centuries ago. My thawing heart immediately coalesced back into ice, complete with the sharp shards at the edges. The hurt of her betrayal and rejection rushed to me again, and I was barely able to keep my composure. I felt like I was going to explode from within if I didn’t snap her neck and spill her cheating blood in front of the one she picked over me - brother or not!

  When Viktor launched the memory where he’d sensed Selena’s powers into my mind, I knew exactly what he wanted. I gave the orders without hesitation. I knew Ryan was going to be hurt by my decision but it wasn’t completely personal. We were all well aware of the prophecy given hundreds of years ago about a sorceress, who if allowed to reach the peak of her power manifestation, was going to become indestructible. The divide between sorceress nature and vampire nature would make sure that sorceress wiped out all vampires - and as leader of the biggest clan of vampires, I couldn’t let that happen. I was responsible for every vampire under my command, including Ryan and myself. Every leader knew that the call of duty trumped everything else – including the cravings of one’s heart. At first, I thought Sophia was the sorceress in the prophecy and my clan kept a close watch on her. We tried to keep her from going against us by making her daughter one of us. It was the hidden agenda behind our peace treaty. Selena Ryder was given to me as a human bride but I was meant to eventually turn her. That way, Sophia would have no choice but to spare at least some vampires whenever her sorceress nature took over completely and she felt the need to destroy us all. Unfortunately, my misguided heart fell for Selena. I no longer wanted to turn her. I wanted her to be with me for a while before deciding what to do with her or rather, how to convince the Council to spare her - but she rejected me. Selena Ryder sealed her fate, not me.

  When I attacked Sophia that day in her tem
ple, I acted out of a broken heart. I didn’t expect to be able to kill her because she was supposed to be the indestructible one. The fact that she died told us something - Sophia was not the sorceress in the prophecy. The question became who was the sorceress? We watched and waited, putting Viktor’s abilities to good use. He looked out for anyone that showed traits of strong magic similar to Sophia’s. We never found a person with such abilities and now I knew why. I killed Selena Ryder on the eighteenth year of her life, in every lifetime. I believe that was just before her powers began to manifest. While I killed her for a different reason, I didn’t know I was stopping something much bigger than my anger. From what Viktor showed me, Selena’s powers were much stronger than that of Sophia - and they were just beginning to manifest. Knowing how powerful Sophia was, the chances of Selena being the Sorceress in the prophecy were greatly increased. I did what any vampire leader in my position would. Selena Ryder had to die. Besides, her death had the advantage of giving me my brother back. I knew he would hurt for a while but he’d eventually forget, probably fall in love with another human beauty and all the bad blood between us will be history.

  “Don’t do it!!!” I heard Ryan loud and clear in my head.

  It had been forever since he said anything in my head and I kind of missed that. However, there was no way I could listen to him. It would be better for everyone if there was no Selena.

  I explained why the Council could not let her live, to the hearing of everyone and with that, all twelve of us attacked. I had completely forgotten about the bratty blonde in the room until she did the most stupid thing ever. She picked Selena up and made a run for it. I understood the fact that she was experiencing the hormones of a new vampire, but her little heroic act only put her at odds with us. There was no way she could get away from us. Not with the speed and strength advantage we had over her.

  We gave chase to the racing blonde and had just about caught up to her when Selena blew us into the air with her magical powers. It was the confirmation we needed to be sure we were doing the right thing. Someone already so powerful at the inception of manifestation would surely be indestructible at its peak. At this point, I had no doubt that Selena was the sorceress in the prophecy. Unfortunately, Selena Ryder got away – to nobody knows where. Probably one of those sorceress havens I heard existed in higher planes. With her escape, the timer started for us. We needed to find her before she reached the peak of her abilities and the surest way to do that was to take the one person she cared about the most.

  There was no way she wouldn’t come back for him and as such, my dear little Ry would serve as bait to lure his sorceress girlfriend back to us. There would be no turning back this time. Selena Ryder was surely going to die.

  Chapter Four

  Selena’s POV

  I stood out on the street with Trina, trying to figure out what to do. Normally, I’d have freaked out by now but for some strange reason, I felt perfectly calm. Maybe it was because of the fact that the vampires were gone and I was safe again.

  “Why don’t we go back to my place?” I asked Trina.

  “Like that’s not the first place the vampires will look.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Come on. It’s better than staying out here.” I pouted. I knew Trina was right but the way she rolled her eyes made me feel so dumb.

  “You know what I think? We should go to Jason’s. No one will think of finding us there.” She stated.

  “How do we get there?” I asked.

  “Good question.” Trina laughed.

  I looked around and realized people were not the only thing missing. There were no cars or buses on the road, and everything was deathly silent.

  “Vampire speed!” Trina rolled her eyes again.

  This time, I launched myself at her. She easily grabbed me and raced to Jason’s house. In my defense, I knew nobody thought of vampire speed as their first transportation option when stranded. 

  We got to Jason’s front door and found it unlocked. That was kind of strange but what bothered me more was the fact that his street was just as deserted as all the other ones we passed through on our way there. It was either the government had a city evacuation and left us behind or something really weird was going on.

  “Is it just me or is all of this really creepy?” I asked Trina as we walked into the house.

  “It’s not just you, Selena.” She replied. “Something weird is definitely going on.”

  “Hello! Mrs. Harold?” Trina called out.

  There was no response. We checked every room in the house and the result was the same - empty.

  “Wait a minute.” Trina said after checking the last room. “What if there’s no one in this city?”

  “How can there be no one in the city?” I asked confused. “We live here.”

  “You know what? Wait here. I’ll check all the other houses on this street. I’ll be back before you say Trina’s awesome!” She grinned and dashed off.

  I waited in Jason’s living room and a few minutes later, Trina came back.

  “Did you find anyone?” I asked.

  “Nope. Told you. We’re stuck on some alternate witchy universe.” Trina replied.

  “How?” I asked.

  “I should be asking you.” Trina smiled. “I think it has something to do with the force field you released but don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. Trina placed her hand around my shoulder and began walking out of Jason’s house.

  “So where are we going now?” I asked.

  “To the only place that might have some answers.” She replied.

  I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “...and where’s that?”

  “Your mum’s temple, duh!” She replied.

  “You know, if you weren’t so helpful, I’d have snapped your neck by now, Trina. You can be so annoying!” I lashed out.

  “Wishes aren’t horses, Selena. You should be the scared one. I’m a big bad vampire now. Ha!” She rushed so close to me that I screamed and jumped back. She caught me in her arms and laughed.

  “Don’t be such a scared-y cat. I’d never hurt you.”

  “I wish I could say the same.” I grinned and launched a punch straight at her face.

  Trina caught my hand effortlessly and pouted.

  “Do you know how slow you appear? It’s like I’m watching you trying to punch me in slow motion.”

  “Whatever.” I smiled. “Thanks for cheering me up, Trina. Really.”

  “Anything for my BFF.” She replied.

  “So which way is the temple?” I asked.

  “I thought you knew.” She replied.

  “Are you kidding me right now, Trina? You acted like you knew the way!”

  “Um... how am I supposed to know the way? I’ve never been there. Besides it’s your mum’s temple.” Trina protested.

  “Yeah, a mum I’ve never met.” I rolled my eyes. “What now?”

  “Selena...” Trina called.

  “What?”

  “Over there!” Trina gasped, pointing to the sky behind me.

  Her face looked several shades paler, like someone had drained all the blood from it. I frowned and turned around and was completely shocked at what I saw. A pitch black cloud had formed, and it was moving towards us... really fast.

  “Run!” I yelled.

  Trina picked me up and ran in the opposite direction. It was useless. The dark cloud caught up to us in less than a second, regardless of the speed with which Trina ran. We cuddled each other and closed our eyes in fear, screaming at the top of our lungs.

  The dark cloud enveloped us and apart from the dark hue which formed over my closed eyelids, nothing else happened... at least to me.

  I heard a loud cry from Trina and was forced to open my eyes. Surprisingly, I could see in the darkness but what I saw was heartbreaking. The cloud had formed a circular ring around Trina’s neck and was choking the breath out of her. In less than a split second, she could no longer scream, and her suspended body
dangled in the air. Her skin broke out in flames - blue flames that looked very similar to the ones that came out of my hand back in Ryan’s house. It peeled away at Trina’s skin and while the circular ring around her neck stopped her from screaming, I could see the pain in her eyes. They were pleading with me to do something... anything.

  “Trina!” I yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her to myself with all my might.

  It was useless.

  “Please... Stop... Please...” I begged whatever was hurting Trina, as tears made their way out of my eyes.

  I noticed the flames didn’t feel hot against my skin, neither did they hurt me in any way. Whatever it was only wanted to hurt Trina and I wondered why. I couldn’t let whatever was in the dark cloud kill Trina. Not after everything she had done to help me. She had become my best friend and the only other person in the deserted city we found ourselves.

  “Water!”

  I swung into action the minute the thought crossed my mind. If I could just get some water to put out the flames like Ryan did back at his house, then we would only have to bother about the circular ring. I ran into the closest house from the street and came back with a bucket of water. I lifted the bucket up and poured the water over Trina’s body with a splash. It was a horrible idea. The water only intensified the flames. Trina let out a muffled, pain-filled cry which pierced right through my heart. I couldn’t believe that after everything we had been through together, Trina was going to die right in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Feeling helpless, I fell on my knees in front of a blazing and suspended Trina, and balled my eyes out.