Hello there. For those of you who have followed this story since day one, welcome back. For those of you who just joined us, welcome to the family. We've got a pretty close-knit group of readers here, almost a fan club of sorts. LOLZ!! People have written in to me with their comments, concerns, and questions, and in the next two chapters I hope to answer them all.
"Suffering? You haven't seen anything yet."
-- Jigsaw
Though inspired by true events, the following and previous chapters are completely fictitious. Any actual event, either past or present, is depicted. All characters are borne of my own imagination. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead, real or imaginary, is entirely coincidental. This story contains graphic imagery of violence to the body and mind, as well as graphic sexual scenes between two female characters (among others). If you are not of legal age, or if this sort of thing offends your delicate sensibilities, then leave now. The author does not assume any responsibly for any damages brought against the reader for any and all punishments for viewing this material. This chapter, and those preceding, is the property of the author. If you would like to download it for your own enjoyment, or for that of your partner's, or both, all the reader must do is ask. To put it another way: it's mine, don't steal it.
Once again, I believe some acknowledgements are in order. Ellen, Jamie, Memrie, Frank, Karenza, Korina, Sam, Peter, Kaylin, Ana, Jake, Anna, Sher, Jerry, thank you for your support through all of this.
Now sit back, curl up with your favorite person, and enjoy chapter 18 of Abandoned Blood.
Chapter 18
I hated waiting. Other than hospitals, waiting was what I hated most. One would think if a man invites a lady out to a God-forsaken place like this then he'd have the goddamn common courtesy to show up on time. The misty wind not only bit at my skin, but it smelled like shit. Literally. I could have sworn I was standing over an open sewage trench.
The air wasn't the only thing giving me chills. This whole situation had me on edge. From the dingy, shit-house buildings to the smell to the person I was here to meet--nothing about this was good. Adriel always had a knack for showing up in the most unexpected ways, and with the most unexpected company. It made me wonder who was gonna be dripping from his mouth this time.
I heard footsteps down the street. I didn't recognize the cadence, but it was still enough to make me tighten my heavy denim jacket around myself. My vision changed over just in time to see whoever it was pass by. I let out a subconscious sigh of relief. The less people in the area the better.
The sound of someone breathing heavily caught my ear. I willed my heart to slow down, the last thing I needed to was to give away just how nervous I really was. What came next made my blood turn to ice and my stomach roll: the sound of flesh being ripped from the bone. The stench added to the already putrid air. "Greetings little one. Did you come for a game of fun?" That raspy, growling voice is something that I will never get used to. Or his insufferable need to speak in rhymes.
"No, Adriel," I said, tilting my head up towards the direction of his voice. I still couldn't see him, but at least he was busy with whoever he was eating this time. I could have sworn I heard his lips smack. "I came out here because I need to talk to you."
He emitted a taunting laugh, building up to a maniac hysteric. "She wants to talk after such a long walk. Why must you go and seek the one with whom you wish to speak?"
I felt the bile building in my gut. I covered my nose and mouth with the hem of my collar. "I've come across something that you might find interesting." The master vampire landed directly behind me with enough force to crack the sidewalk. I squealed and covered my chest. I spun around to watch him stand upright. He was dressed in his usual street-bum outfit, but his posture was completely different. He rose slowly and deliberately. His arms hung loose at his sides; when his back was fully straight, he stood a good head taller than Father Darien. Weird that this is the first time I've ever seen him in a full upright position.
Our eyes locked onto each others. He smiled that same crimson smile he's so famous for, but now it took on a whole new meaning. "So then, little morsel, what do you have to tell?" Shit, there's only one person who calls me that. "My dinner is waiting, and you're hesitating," he warned, pulling one side of his mouth further into a lunatic's grin.
"I'm trying to think of where to start," I stammered. The guy was scary as hell, especially since I've never seen him act this... normal. "I just found out that I'm related to Father Darien."
He stepped into the amber glow of the street light. His steps were that of a pride long forgotten, smooth and graceful, powerful and with purpose. I think my heart stopped for a second when I saw him in the extra light. "Is that so?" he asked slowly, looking me up and down. I couldn't help but notice the slight high class accent. In that one question his entire vagrant veneer vanished. "And people say I'm insane."
Caught off guard by the lack of rhyme, I did the only thing I knew to do. I challenged him. "Aren't you?"
"Absolutely. No sane man ever born of this world could have done the things I've done and live to tell about them. But if you're asking me whether I'm crazy or not, then my answer is most definitely no. There is a difference, young morsel, between insane and crazy."
I don't know which scared me more: the way he was acting, or the fact that he said that with the practiced grace of royalty. My brain went stupid trying to process it all. The only thing I could think to ask was, "So the whole petty-street-bum-thing was all bullshit?"
He laughed a little. Great, the self-proclaimed insane vampire found ME amusing. "No. It's a lifestyle befitting me for the sins I've committed."
"And the whole speaking-in-rhyme-thing was all part of the gag?"
"Pretty cleaver, yes?" He stepped out of the light. Before I knew what happened, he was in my face, his breath smelling of death and decay. The madman scooped me up in his arms and jumped to the roof of the nearest apartment building. Yeah, it all happened that fast. When he looked down at my now-pale face, I got a glimpse of his true eye color. I stifled a gasp. "My apologies. I didn't need some renegade listening in on our conversation."
He set me down and stepped back. As he slumped into his usual posture, I expanded my aura and senses, and, sure enough, someone turned the corner twenty feet behind where I was standing. At least up here the air wasn't as foul. "Um, thank you?" He only nodded in response. "Adriel, would you please fill me in with all of this? I don't have a clue what to say right now."
"I will do nothing of the kind." I tossed my hands up and turned around. "Is it your wish to take down Father Darien's coven?"
I paused. Sighing I said, "No. I don't want to take down the coven, just the man in charge of it."
"What are you hoping to accomplish with this?"
I turned back towards him. "I'm going to kill the man responsible for ruining my life and the lives of my friends. The man is a fucking sadist." He nodded in agreement. "He told me himself that the Order has sent in people to kill him, but have given up because everyone of them failed."
Adriel fell back against the stairwell door and laughed even harder. "Those people were trained professionals. What chance do you think you have against a man like that?"
"I know how to use his pride against him." That only made him laugh harder. "What's so goddamn funny?"
"You are, Charlene. You are attempting to bring down who is arguably the most hated vampire in the entire world, and your only weapon is his pride? You half-breeds crack me up."
That took me by surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're not the only dhampir to try to take him down, you know. During my time in this world I've counted six who have tried and everyone of them ended up much like Harold." I swallowed back that image. "Yes, you should be afraid, little morsel. Nadia was the one who killed the last one. That's why she failed to see you as one of us. After she killed him, she thought the genetic defect that causes only half the virus to manifest was extinct. We all did. That's why Father Darien was overjoyed to find you. Having a vampire on the crust of emerging into a master class vampire is exciting enough, but to find that her Watcher is one of the last surviving dhampirs was too much."
He started laughing again. Now he was insulting me. I didn't doubt it for a second that Nadia would have defended that bastard like that, but to imply that she and I wouldn't get along was pissing me off. "So," he continued, "none of us knew what to do with you. Nadia least of all. We all know she's gay, so when she confessed her love for you to Father Darien wasn't of itself surprising; what surprised us was the fact it was you. Personally, I think it's sweet, but Father Darien was less than amused."
"Yeah, I gathered that much." There was a moment of silence between us. I took in the sounds of the city for a moment. The cold air flowing around us like the shroud of winter; the people in the building below arguing over the most stupid things, gun shots being fired for some stupid reason. A moment of clarity came to me when I looked back at him. "What's your role in all of this?"
"I am an outcast myself," he said evenly, making a gesture. "I'm not a member of the coven, but I'm not a renegade either. But I needed a way to gain the respect of my fellow vampires, so that's when I created the Adriel that people know today."
"You mean so people would fear you," I corrected.
"Call it what you will. I call it surviving." I've never lived on the streets so that kind of thinking was beyond me, but based on what I've seen in my short tenure in this world I had to believe it. Sometimes killing is the only method of survival. "Are you afraid of me?"
"I'm not sure exactly," I answered, taken aback by the bluntness of the question. "The only time you've ever threatened me was when you chased me down Nadia's hallway with a knife in your hand."
A nostalgic smile spread over his lips. "The first time we met," he mumbled to himself. "Why were you so afraid of me?"
I shot him one of my 'duh' looks. "You were chasing me down a hallway with a kitchen knife. Is there a reason to not be afraid?"
"You knew I was a vampire by that point. If I wanted to kill you, I promise I wouldn't need a knife." As true as that was, it still didn't make me feel any better. "I picked up the knife, in case you're wondering, as a show that I meant you no harm. I thought that if I swung it at you and missed deliberately then you would know that you had nothing to be afraid of."
Now it was my turn to laugh a little. "You've got a pretty fucked up way of thinking, old man."
He chuckled, "Yes I do. To think like a madman, it's best to become a madman." I just stared at him. I didn't like the implication of that and he knew it. "You really have no idea why Father Darien wants you dead, do you?"
I made an ugly face. "The very fact that you asked me that question proves that I don't. I thought he wanted to kill me because he had nothing better to do."
He laughed again. When did I become so goddamn funny? "That may be true, in and of itself, but the heart of the matter escapes you even now. Do you even know what relation you have with the man?"
"I'm his daughter." Those were the nastiest three words I've even spoken. They didn't have the effect on Adriel that I hoped they would.
"And you think you can just go into his coven, armed with only that bit of information and hope to kill him? For a woman you've got a pair of huge brass balls." His foreign accent sounded so weird saying that phrase. "But just know that it won't save your friends."
"What?"
"Nadia did him a favor by killing your parents--it spared him the trouble. But Tiffany, Travis, Henry, Sven, Sylvia, Amber, Marianna, Marcus, and Ben are nothing but playthings to him. He will use them to get what he wants. We can agree that he's a sadist, and that's his biggest weakness. Not his pride."
"Whoa, whoa, dude. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Adriel stood up and took two firm steps towards me. He shrank down into his usual crouched position and smiled his usual maniacal smile.
"One cannot see what lies ahead when sun has failed and moon is dead." Great, now he's back to playing the part of 'Adriel'. My pulse hammered, my frustration burned. I cursed under my breath. "It's best to be filled with dread lest you find your friends already dead."
I ran my hand over my forehead. "Fuck off, Adriel." And just like that, he was gone. "Why can't these people ever just give a straight fucking answer?"
No one bothered me on my way back to Nadia's house. Not even the random renegades roaming the streets tonight. The looks they gave me were a mixed bag of emotions--curious, lusting, anger, hatred, loathing--but they all had one thing in common: fear. They were afraid to come near me. Funny, I thought Nadia said that they'd tear me apart despite her warnings. Not that I was complaining.
The front door was unlocked when I got there. That wasn't too unusual considering that we get at least one break-in a week in this neighborhood. Leaving the door unlocked was Nadia's way of saying, "Enter here and you die," a statement that she took very seriously. And so did the humans of this street. The last few people, or should I say renegades, that came here uninvited are scattered across the backyard with their individual parts ripped open for the world to see.
"Nadia, I'm home," I called out as I shut the door. I stepped through the living room and into the kitchen/dining room. The house was pitch dark and deathly silent. "Nadia?" I put my purse on the table and headed for the back bedroom. "Nadia, are you home?" I asked the stark nothingness of the house.
I changed my vision over. The azure haze allowed me to see my way through the hallway though I didn't actually need it. I knew the exact number of steps it took to get me from there to here. Adrenaline coursed through me when I didn't get an answer. My pulse hammered in my head and chest. "Hello? Henry! Travis! Sven!" A scent caught my attention. It was an odor that made me want to throw up, something that hit a little too close to home: Nadia's blood, and sex.
I looked into the bedroom. The walls were dented and scratched, the bed was a mess. One of the posts was broken in half. Blood stained the sheets and comforter. My heart stopped. I'm not sure if I cried out or not--my brain just went numb. Tears streamed down my face as I stepped further into the room. I touched the broken bedpost. Scant images of what happened in here flashed through my mind's eye. I tasted the bile in my mouth. I saw Nadia's pained face pressed into the mattress with a bloody hand pinning her down. The sound of blood-ecstasy came from whoever was behind her. I turned and ran for the bathroom.
I puked up what I had and then some. My ribs were on fire by the time I was finished. I doubled over and started crying. My fist kept hitting something solid, but I didn't stop pounding it. My knuckles cracked and bled. My throat was hurting from my screaming. I don't know how long I laid on the floor, but I felt something hit at the edge of my awareness. "GO AWAY!"
"Damn it, Charlie, I'm not gonna hurt you." The voice was soft and masculine. I opened my eyes and looked up. Henry's beaten face was looking down at me. In his hands was the other half of the bedpost. The oakwood was stained red. After what I just saw, that made me feel better. He didn't go gentle into the night.
"What happened here?" I managed to get out. I used the toilet bowl as a crutch to pull myself up. Henry beat me to the lever.
Taking a seat in front of me, he said, "Father Darien showed up with some of his cronies. We fought them off as best as we could, but we were no match for them. I managed to beat one into submission before someone smashed my face in. They were looking for you." His hair was matted with dried blood, and I couldn't help but notice that he walked with a limp. He winced and grabbed his right side as he sat down.
I started crying again out of guilt. "Why?"
"Why do you think?" he snapped. "They all told you this would happen, Charlie. You weren't here, so they took it out on the rest of us. He said something like 'I won't be taken down that easily,' or something to that effect." My blond troll moved to take a seat beside me. I felt his arm on my shoulder a moment later, followed by his cut lips in my hair. "I'm not blaming you, Charlie. This is a fucked up world full of fucked up people."
Had that come from anyone else I don't know what I would have done, but coming from Henry meant that he spoke for everyone. He was the only one who could tell me things like that and make it stick. "Where is everyone? Do you remember anything else?" I asked after sobering up a bit.
"Not really. Like I said, I took a pretty good beating to the head. Travis, Sven, Marcus, and Ben were nearly killed immediately. I don't think they bit anyone, but I haven't seen any one of them since I woke up. All I remember after smashing in that bastard's face was the sound of the girls screaming. Nadia, Amber, Sylvia... all of them were screaming."
I looked him in the eye, his eyes that were barely open. "Did anyone bite you?" He shook his head no. I had to fight with my better self to reach out and touch the blood-stained club. But when I did, I saw whose face it was that he shattered. It was the same guy that Nadia beat the shit out of when I first met Father Darien. Echos of the fight bounced in my head. Demonic growls, helpless screaming... cries for help that would never come.
I saw Sylvia get smacked around like a rag doll. Her legs slammed against the closet door, most likely breaking one of them. Her attacker started molesting her semi-conscious body as if she were his favorite blow-up doll. Amber clawed out the eyes of her attacker, but was overcome by the pheromones of doing so. She was soon begging the higher class vampire to have his way with her--she beat him to his belt buckle. I had to swallow back the dry heave from watching her pull his dick out of his pants and start sucking it.
Nadia entered the picture, grappling with the only person in this town that could overpower her. She hissed, growled, and sunk her teeth into his neck. And that was her undoing. The pheromones and blood changed everything about her from enemy to lover. His blood seeped past her lips. Her tormentor reached between her legs and started massaging her through the denim of her jeans. In a flash, I watched him rip her pants and panties from her body as if they were paper. That demon backhanded her onto the bed, just on this side of blacking out. He grabbed and pulled her ankles apart. The look on her face was a mixture of both pain and ecstasy. I watched him enter her. I watched him force his vileness into my vampire. I watched him rape the one I love. And that rat bastard was laughing the whole time.
I don't know what happened. Everything inside of me changed by looking at her face. I felt something in my head snap. I finally understood what it was that she has been saying to me this whole time. How she would never truly be free from him and his lot, how easily it would be for her to slip back into his fold. Henry felt my shift in mood and inched away from me, but not before the the ball atop the broken post cracked under my grip.
"Charlie, whatever you're thinking, do not do it." He was now standing at the door, ready to hit me if he felt the need. "This is what he wants."
"Get out of my way, Henry," I hissed. I stood up and pushed at him with my aura. It hit him with the force of Mac truck. His back made an indentation in the wall. I didn't know where that kind of power came from, but at least that was one down. I stepped closer to him with the grace of a predator. "Don't follow me," I ordered, kneeling beside his unconscious body. "Stay here and get the place cleaned up for our return. That fucking son of a bitch wants me, he's gonna get me."
I went down stairs and changed into something more appropriate. I picked out Nadia's favorite outfit and threw it on. I couldn't stop the smile that formed over my mouth when I looked at the mirror wall. I looked so much like her. I ran out of the room and was up the stairs with three steps. Henry was still lying on the floor. Good, it's all for the better. Nadia's favorite coat was hanging on the wall by the garage door. I grabbed it and headed out into the night. My watch dinged to tell me that it just struck midnight. "This is gonna be a fun Halloween."
******************** To be continued...
Next time on "Abandoned Blood":
Charlie meets up with Father Darien, but the night is full of surprises. At long last, she gets the answer to the one question she's been wanting this whole time: "Why me?" And that answer will come at a price.
Credits: Adriel's line, "One cannot see what lies ahead when sun has failed and moon is dead," is a direct quote from Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.