Deamhan (35 page)

His eyes flickered and he dropped his chalice. “Now.” He opened his eyes and his pupils disappeared and his eyes turned stark black. “It’s time to eat.”

“I’m declaring a Decretum against you and your followers,” Selene stated loudly. Again, the crowd laughed.

“This is my city, Selene,” Kei replied back belligerently. “And these Deamhan are my brothers and sisters.” He held his arms out to the crowd in response to the crowd’s cheering. “We’re tired of Ancients telling us what to do. We’re tired of rules and laws.”

Veronica looked to Selene, waiting for her next move.

“The only way you could get rid of Lucius was to ban him with dark magic,” Selene said forcefully.

Kei non-caringly shrugged. “So fucking what,” he replied.  

“Kill her!” a female voice from the crowd blurted out.

“In time, brothers and sisters.” Kei waved.

“Lucius loved you like a father loves his son.” Selene stepped forward trying to keep a dialogue going. “And you repay him back by betraying him!”

“His mistake.” Kei mused, as he began to pick at his fingernails in deviance and utter disrespect.

Veronica clearly saw the problem that Selene, Silvanus, and even Lambert saw in Kei. How could Lucius sire someone as defiant as that? He didn’t care about anyone but himself. While he assimilated himself into human society he managed to perfect what the Deamhan were truly like. The Deamhan in the crowd; Ramanga, Metusba, Lamia, and Lugat, latched onto every word that came from his mouth. He was their God.

Finally he looked at Selene. “You didn’t even exist until you came rolling into my city.” He looked back at the crowd. “Ask them. You don’t exist, but I do. I exist.”

“Yeah, you’re really famous,” Veronica said in a sarcastic tone. “You’re the child who wasn’t strong enough to kill your own sire.”

“She can’t protect you from me, human. No one can,” Kei said in a lowered voice. He clapped his hands again, and the front door behind the crowd opened. A trail of naked humans entered, walking in a single line toward the stage. Their wrists were tied together with rope, and they each wore a dog chain around their neck that kept them connected to one another. They passed through the slithering crowd, and when they reached the stage they stopped and turned around.

They treated humans like cattle, being led out for slaughter. Just pieces of meat, chained together like wild animals.

The sight didn’t bother Selene, nor did it bother anyone in the venue, besides Veronica. A massive curdling scream came from Kei’s mouth and the crowd moved in unison, toward the innocent victims to devour.

“It’s time to feast!” Kei yelled out to the crowd. He then pointed to Selene. “Kill her and the Ancient. Leave the vampire and the human for me.”

Just then the front door opened unexpectedly.

Everyone turned around and watched the body of one of the bouncers fall, landing in the doorway. No one said anything and Kei, confused about the cause of the commotion, walked around the table to get a better look.

His eyes slowly bulged and he remained dazed, watching Lucius slowly walk through the door. Veronica saw that Lucius now looked fully re-energized. He wore a long blue shirt and saggy black jeans. He swiped back his hair. His eyes were solid black.

Veronica turned to look at Silvanus and Selene. Their eyes danced at the sight of him. The assault was about to begin.

“Now, Lambert!” Selene called out.

Silvanus jumped onto the stage and he pushed the long table forward. It slid across the stage, stopping only inches from the front of the crowd. The chalices flew across the floor, and many in the front of the crowd jumped, caught off guard by the sudden movement.

“Kill them!” Kei screamed. “Kill them all!”

For seconds no one in the room moved at the sight of Lucius. Veronica then felt Selene’s hand wrap around her wrist, and in moments she found herself in a corner of the room.

“Stay hidden,” Selene whispered to her. Veronica nodded, mute and dumbfounded. Selene ran back into the crowd. In the distance Veronica saw Lucius, cutting through the horde in ease, slashing whoever stood in his way. He paid little attention to the chained humans huddled together on the floor.

The windows shattered as several vampires jumped through the broken glass and began to attack the Deamhan crowd.

Selene moved toward Kei, but he proved to be just as fast. They blurred together as they fought, smashing against the table and chairs around them. Silvanus moved in, but a female Deamhan lunged at him stopping his attack. He wrapped his hand around her neck and twisted with force, detaching her head from her body.

A brief gust of wind blew Veronica back. She covered her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, she felt cold hands wrap around her neck. A male Deamhan pushed her to the ground. She opened her mouth to scream, but he immediately placed his mouth over her own and he began to feed.

The man suddenly jerked and let go, glancing at a piece of wood sticking out from his chest. Anastasia stood behind him. She pushed the Deamhan to the side and helped Veronica to her feet.  

“A Lamia,” Anastasia said in a monotone voice. The sound of flesh being ripped open grabbed her attention, and Anastasia quickly turned around to watch Lucius, covered in blood from head to toe. His hair, once washed, now dripped with clots of blood and dust. A male Deamhan stood on his knees in front of Lucius, begging for his life. Lucius raised his right arm slowly and swiped with his nails across the Deamhan’s throat.  Another man tried to run past Lucius but he was caught and killed within seconds.

Lucius opened his mouth and screamed. The high pitched echo vibrated and drowned out the screams coming from the other Deamhan in the room. It shook the window panes and made the disco balls sway back and forth on the ceiling. It also rattled the chalices on the ground.

Near the back of the room, Veronica saw a group of Kei’s followers attempting to dive through the windows to safety. Those who were still alive ran for the exits but were cornered off by Lambert’s vampires who guarded the doors. Another Deamhan dressed in a black tuxedo dropped to his knees in front of Lucius and began to caress his feet. Lucius kicked him aside and continued forward.

Anastasia jumped on stage to join Selene against Kei. Kei quickly darted across the stage, passing Lambert. He jumped over the cauldron, his foot skidding across its edge. The cauldron fell, pouring its bloody contents on the floor.

“You’ll pay for what you did, Kei.” Selene launched herself toward him, pushing Kei onto his back. Kei pushed her off and in Deamhan speed he barreled toward the back of the room.

Silvanus followed in pursuit but stopped unexpectedly.

“You’re letting him escape?” Lambert screamed out to him.

Silvanus looked over his shoulder at Lucius. “Lucius is letting him escape.”

“You want him to run?” Anastasia asked in disbelief while watching Lucius finish off his last victim.

The room filled with an eerie silence.

Veronica stepped out of the corner to watch Lucius lifting a Deamhan in the air by his throat. A loud crunching sound followed, and the victim’s body went limp. He dropped the Deamhan to the floor.

“Lucius?” Anastasia approached him. “Why let Kei run?”

Lucius held up his hand and Anastasia immediately stopped her questioning.  The chained humans still cowered in their small huddle in the corner but their presence was ignored. Lucius slowly walked by them, stepping through the pool of blood and up to the stage. The bodies of dying Deamhan were strewn around the room. The smell of blood ravaged the air.

Selene examined the long scratches and fight wounds over her forearms and watched them slowly heal. “Why did you stop Silvanus from catching Kei?”  

Veronica cautiously took a couple of steps forward and covered her nose and mouth with her hands. She too became curious as to why Lucius would mentally tell Silvanus to stop his attack.

Lucius didn’t speak. He slowly walked along the stage and he looked to the ceiling then to the back of the room at the remaining vampires who waited for Lambert’s command. “It’s not always about revenge . . . not yet.”

“This is revenge,” Selene replied. “For what he did to you!”

“Selene.” Lucius motioned for her to approach him. She stepped up to him and he placed his hand on the back of her head. “Don’t carry my hate for me.” He then motioned for Anastasia to also approach him.

“Let us do this for you.” Anastasia walked over to him.

Lucius shook his head. “No, you won’t.”

Veronica looked at Lucius. She wanted to ask, and she wanted to know, what had really happened to her mother. Yet she remained afraid. She watched Lucius gently kiss Anastasia on her forehead followed by Selene. She understood somewhat why her mother researched him. He seemed different than any Deamhan. Besides his age and his attractiveness, he also showed the human trait of compassion.

Thoughts about her mother filled her mind and she didn’t bother to block them. Picking up on these thoughts Lucius turned to face her. “I will speak to her alone.”

The vampires left the room followed by Lambert. Silvanus disappeared from Veronica’s eyesight in an instant. Anastasia hesitated but also left. Selene bit her lower lip before she walked out of the room.

“You look just like your mother.” Lucius motioned for Veronica to come up on the stage.

Veronica haltingly stepped forward, stopping just inches from the stage. She gathered her thoughts and she took a deep breath. She climbed the steps and she walked over to him.

“My mother researched you and followed you,” she said in a hushed whisper. Her nose caught the iron scent of blood still dripping from Lucius’ clothing.

“I remember your mother.”

“What happened to her?” Veronica asked in a shaky voice. She felt her eyes beginning to tear and she looked away for a moment. She didn’t want him to see her crying.

“I will show you.” He placed his arms on her shoulders.

She felt her head beginning to tingle, and before she could stop him from piercing her thoughts, it was too late. She braced herself for the pain, but it never came.

She then heard his voice in her mind.

I loved your mother.

Loved? A Deamhan couldn’t love? Impossible. Yet she wanted to know more.

What happened to her? She thought.

He opened his mind and she began to see his thoughts and memories.

They were brief and skipped frantically from scene to scene. Veronica saw her mother smiling and laughing. The scene changed and she now saw her mother standing on the shores of the Mississippi River, the moonlight glistening off the dark waters.

It changed again. She saw her from a distance, the same way Lucius saw her, cautiously walking alone down a dark alleyway. Veronica sensed her panic and she smelled her lilac perfume. Something or someone was following her.

Suddenly Lucius stood behind her mother and he placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned around and whispered his name.

He lifted her in his arms, staring into her eyes and wiped the sweat from her forehead. A sense of compassion overcame him, and he stood silent and confused. For the first time in centuries, he was beginning to love again.

He fed her, making it as quickly and painless as possible. When she was barely on the edge of death he cut himself on his forearm and he placed his wound close to her mouth. He then dragged her further into an alley and placed her body on the wet concrete, watching his blood beginning to turn her.

But something happened. Lucius grew weak and Veronica felt it. His senses grew numb and he failed to detect them as they came from all sides; behind, in front, and above. He struggled against them but the humans dressed in black trench coats managed to hold him down. Their smell was strong and reeked of The Brotherhood. They were there to take him but they didn’t expect Veronica’s mother to be in the alley with him.

Kei stood over her, glancing at Lucius’ new creation. His hair was much longer then. He mocked his sire and he leaned over Veronica’s mother and gently placed his mouth over her own.

Veronica pushed herself away from Lucius’ thoughts. She took a step back, leaning against the wall for support. She didn’t want him to continue, she didn’t want to see anymore. She knew what happened next.

Her eyes slowly filled with tears and she felt her feet falter under her. She couldn’t comprehend that Lucius had tried to sire her own mother. She feared her mother lost everything that made her human, especially the ability to love Veronica as her own flesh and blood, but Kei made sure there was no time for that. He killed her right there, in that alley. They both killed her. They were all responsible.

“You both killed her!” Veronica cried, holding her face in her hands. She felt his thoughts pushing again, but she turned her head. Nothing he could say or show would make up for what they both did.

Her mother was gone, truly gone.

Veronica held her head low in silence.

EPILOGUE

The office was small and confined. Frost covered the corners of the glass windows due to the Minnesota winter. Nothing on the outside of the building signaled that The Brotherhood had set up shop in this location except for Anastasia’s keen sense of smell.

Anastasia described it to Veronica as a bland odor mixed with human blood, deodorant, and surprisingly, ink and coffee. The aroma tingled her nose, like a sneeze that had not manifested itself yet. It was milder than the other smells of Deamhan, vampires, and demons. It was also more pleasurable to inhale.

The front door was unlocked, and it didn’t take much force for Veronica to push it open. The sound of bells clinging echoed through the front room signaling their entry. The waiting area was vacant. The red carpet brightened from underneath them and a huge welcome sign nailed to the wall, surrounded by scenic pictures of Minnesota, seemed almost too much to bear.  Veronica’s eyes glowered over the room.

The office looked different the time of her mother.

Near the receptionist desk, a group of young researchers gathered around a computer, but their attention now focused on them.