Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (14 page)

“I told you, its cranberry juice, remember?” Kyli’s playful tone had come back. However, she was hiding something from him.

“Okay. Then what’s wrong with my eyes?” Zack was trying to adjust his glasses up and down, change the angle, anything to help get things into focus. Nothing helped.

“Sure, close your eyes and open them the second I ask you to without any delay or complaints like you normally give.” Kyli sat next to Zack on the couch.

“Complaints? I don’t complain.” Zack replied.

“Less complaining, more complying.” Kyli instructed.

“Why aren’t you helping me?” Zack asked impatiently.

Kyli stood, silent. She was waiting for Zack. She wanted him to say something that would let her continue helping him with his focusing issues.

Zack thought about it. “Okay, you can go on.”

“What? I don't speak half-assed apologies.” Kyli was playing hardball.

“Sorry.” Zack said quietly.

“What was that? I didn’t quite here you. You were mumbling.” Kyli’s wit was sharp. She wanted a full apology, not a flimsy placation.

“I’m sorry for complaining, Kyli. Can you please help me.” Zack gave Kyli what she wanted.

“Close your eyes.” Kyli commanded.

Zack closed his eyes tight. “Sure.”

Kyli swiftly and quietly lifted Zack’s glasses off his face without a sound or reaction from him. “Now open your eyes and look right at me!”

Zack flung open his eye lids and focused on Kyli immediately. “What’d you do? I can see you so clearly, so vividly.” Zack was admiring her. He absorbed every part of her being as he looked her up and down. She had changed clothes since last night. She was wearing a thin black low-cut tank top with navy blue boy-leg shorts. Zack knew she was tall, but her milky legs were far longer than he imagined. The skin was just as flawless as he had dreamed. Kyli’s shirt left little for him to fantasize over. The ribbed cotton fabric was light and hid only the most intimate features from Zack’s sight. She appeared slimmer than in the club.

Kyli leaned forward. Suddenly, her scent filled the air. Cherries and lavender overcame Zack as the smell rushed through his lungs. This girl, this goddess was far more seductive when she was relaxed at home than buttoned up at any Gothic night club. Zack’s eyes were staring at every inch of her body. He couldn’t stop himself.

“You’re doing it again.” Kyli crossed her arms in protest, blocking Zack's view.

“Doing what?” Zack's eyes rose to meet Kyli's. Glimpsing her cleavage as his eyes passed by her.

“Staring where you shouldn’t. And after I helped you too.” Kyli snickered at him.

“You are so… beautiful.” Zack continued to scan her up and down.

Kyli's black hair showed darker than normal. Her eyes a fresh blue. Zack was in awe of Kyli.

“Thank you, Zack. You’re cute too.” Kyli leaned over and kissed Zack on the cheek. “Now I don't hate you anymore.”

“You hate me?” Zack blushed.

“Not anymore. Not with that face.” Kyli chuckled. “But it’s part of being a vampeal.”

“How so?” Zack couldn’t get her scent off his mind. It was overwhelming.

“What do you remember about the vampires you've read about in books? The facts they mentioned. Everything and anything you can think of concerning vampires.” Kyli propped her head on her hand, with the elbow pushing into the back of the couch as she laid down.

“For real? You mean those popular fiction books?” Zack cleared his throat, it felt much better. The soreness was gone. Zack actually felt stronger than before he was kidnapped.

“Yeah, everything, all of it.” Kyli stared at Zack's face. “Start with the basics. Tell me what you think you know.”

“Well, there’s the need for blood and stakes. I remember something about stakes, and sunlight too. They burned in sunlight.” Zack’s eyes were surprisingly sharp this morning. He was noticing things about Kyli’s face that were even cuter than he remembered. Zack tried adjusting his glasses. He realized they were gone. “Hey, when did you take my glasses?”

“You don’t remember the part about self regeneration? Powerful healing abilities?” Kyli was holding Zack's glasses and taping them on her very toned bare right thigh.

“Hey, give those back! I need them to see.” Zack lunged for the glasses and Kyli jutted backwards. The glasses were millimeters out of his reach. Zack fell onto Kyli.

“You can see me fine right now, can’t you? I know I can see you.” Kyli was flirting with him. Zack’s body was pressed against hers. His weight fully on her. Kyli used one hand to push on Zack’s chest, she lifted him with ease. “Next is strength. All the books always talk about how strong all the vampires are.”

Kyli set Zack back in the couch. She got up and went to the middle of the room. Zack could feel Kyli's fingertips. They were warm, like hot knives on his skin.

“About finesse and agility.” Kyli turned and bent over into a full handstand, facing Zack. Her hair fell loose to the floor, long and black, shinny and straight.

The color in Kyli's eyes were piercing to Zack. “Such blue.” He managed to say.

“What was that? You like my shorts?” Kyli bent her legs and twisted them to the side. “Do they really look that good?” Kyli straightened them out.

“No, I didn't mean that.” Zack continued.

Kyli pouted. “You don't like my legs?”

Zack knew he should have seen it coming. “Really?”

“Okay. I'll stop.” Kyli relaxed as she held the position.

Zack was skeptical. “Yes, a handstand is impressive, but I don't see what that has to do with proving-” Zack stopped mid sentence.

Kyli lifted herself onto her fingertips, and then took the left hand away.

“But you’re only a little more than a hundred pounds, that would be easy for someone in shape that knew what they were doing.” Zack was defending the fact that Kyli's acrobatic prowess was skilled, but still very human. Zack focused on her face. She wasn't even exerting herself.

“And this?” Kyli supported herself with five finger tips, then shifted to her index alone. She was balancing on one digit. “Hurts just looking at it, doesn’t it?” With her other hand Kyli put on Zack’s glasses and pivoted into a standing position. Shifting her legs down and lifting her head back up. She sat next to Zack again. “Still think I’m merely talented?” Kyli smiled as she wore Zack's silver glasses proudly.

“What about speed? Aren’t vampires supposed to be really, really fast?” Zack raised his eyebrows with doubt.

Kyli quickly blitzed and pinned him into the couch. The actions unfolded as Zack was taking in a single breath. Before he was able to exhale, she had overtaken him. It was slower than the feats Orhn had performed in the warehouse. There was a trace, a hint of motion with Kyli. It was fast, far faster than he could easily follow. He was able to make out a slight blur as Kyli moved, but it didn’t help him react to it any quicker. Kyli held Zack's wrists behind his head. Her body pressing on his. Her warmth affecting him.

“What about speed?” Kyli’s hair dangled down in Zack face, whipping across his eyes and nose. Acting like a tunnel directly to Kyli’s face. It was captivating. There was stillness in the moment.

“I still want them back.” Zack said sternly to Kyli.

“When I'm done with them.” Kyli responded. Not letting him budge an inch.

“Do vampires have gifts, supernatural abilities?” Zack softened his voice, pacified by Kyli’s face. He didn't care that she was holding him down. He was starting to enjoy it.

“Yes. There are three very different types. Focus is a gift that enhances some aspect of the vampire. Either physical or mental it hones that part of the person.” Kyli tucked her hair behind her left ear. Letting go of Zack's right hand.

“You mean it’s not a focus ability if it does something to anyone else?”

“Yes, we call those alteration gifts. Or in some cases, psychic gifts. An ability activated at will by the mind that affects an individual other than the user. That covers most of it.” Kyli sounded like she was reading from a vampire text book on the subject. “And then there is the demon gift.” Kyli broke eye contact. It sombered the mood. “A gift like that has real power.”

“Real power? Like picking up a car?” Zack asked.

“Zack, I can pick up a car.” Kyli sighed. She let his other arm go. Kyli crawled back onto the couch. She pulled Zack over to her with one arm. Leaning into his shoulder. “Think bigger.”

“A gift that can stop bullets?” Zack threw it out.

“No, that’s an alteration gift.” Kyli was quick to correct Zack.

“The ability to control the elements? Weather and fire, something like that maybe?” Zack tried a little harder.

Kyli put her head down for a second. She was losing faith in Zack.

“What did I do this time?” Zack wanted to know.

“If you have to ask, it doesn't matter.” Kyli buried her head back into Zack's arm. “I'm talking about the power to control the minds of a thousand people at once, or the ability to lift land masses on command.”

“You mean demon gifts can lift islands?” Astonished, Zack gawked.

“No, I said land masses, not islands. They have the potency to overturn continents if they choose to do so.” Kyli informed Zack.

“That’s impossible, right? That kind of power doesn’t exist and even if it did, why wouldn’t they have used it already?” Zack asked fervently.

“Blood, they need oceans of it to use those brands of gifts.” Zack was speechless. A chill ran through Zack's body. He knew what an ocean of blood looked like. It seemed too eerie that Kyli would mention such a gruesome thing.

“Are you alright Zack?” Kyli felt the change in Zack's skin.

“No, it's okay. I was just thinking of what that would take.” Zack became pale.

“Hundreds of thousands of people would have to die to let them evolve that far. To let them accrue that much power.” Kyli let go of Zack's arm. Turning him to face her, she pushed Zack back down on the couch.

“That sounds terrible.” Zack responded as he tried to not star at Kyli's body.

“There's a catch too. The demon gift’s ability isn’t the worst part. They absolve their hosts in time.” Kyli eased her grasp of Zack’s shoulders. Resting her head on his chest.

“They? These are abilities we’re talking about right? Not actual demons?” Zack was worried. Kyli's head was so close to his heart it was soothing, but her words were terrifying.

“Demon gifts are abilities, Zack. Not people. They have grown with each incarnation, with each vampire they appear in. Taking on new attributes as they evolve. The longer a vampire lives and drinks blood, the more powerful the gift becomes until it asserts dominance. It forces the vampire’s mind out and controls the body directly. In essence it kills the vampire host. That is why they are called demon gifts, they embody true power, but are considered curses by everyone. Since they come with the ultimate cost.”

Zack's mind was blown. He didn't want to accept it. He had to. There were too many things that Kyli had said that made sense to him. Zack gave in. “I give up, I believe you. I don’t want to talk about that any more, it’s too depressing to think about.” Kyli let him up. “But considering, what does that make me?”

Kyli sighed slightly. “I know you believe me. You just have a bad memory. So I'll give you some slack. You’re a vampeal Zack, just like me.”

“But I can’t do what you just did.” Zack argued.

“Eventually you will. Look at your leg, arm, finger, and eyes for instance. You’ve completely healed Zack. That's not because of me. It's all you.” Kyli was slowly driving home her point. She was right and Zack had to cope with that.

Zack surveyed his body. There were no scars, no tenderness, nothing to suggest that yesterday he needed to be hospitalized. He was in a surprisingly great condition. Kyli was still wearing Zack's glasses. She pointed to them, tapping on the edge of the frames. Reminding him about his vision. Which was fine now, perfect even. He had been nearly blind since the end of 4
^th
grade. Now his eyes were better than they were when he was wearing the prescription itself. Not only did his body recover, Zack was revitalized to a better state of being. He had energy, boundless energy. Zack felt as if he could run a marathon. There was a sensation of strength that Zack had never had before. So he decided to test it a little and have some fun while doing it.

“Kyli.” Zack said in a devilish manner. He leaned into Kyli for once.

“Yes?” Kyli inquired. She was receptive to Zack's forward advance.

Kyli was distracted for a second. She was locking into Zack's eyes. Thinking about how attractive he was in the shadow of the couch, pressed against her left shoulder. In a quick motion, Zack used all his might to lift her up. Trying to throw her across the room to display his newfound strength. Kyli saw it coming, but was still flung into the air about a foot above Zack. Kyli spun with a twist into another handstand on the couch this time. Her knee knocked the nearly empty cup out of Zack’s left hand, spilling it on the hardwood floor. The other leg kicked him flat on his back. Kyli never fell, she merely pivoted and gymnastically took advantage of the situation. To Kyli, it was effortless.