Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (83 page)

Damien and Yugo plotted what their next move would be while in the same carriage Yugo had when they left his home village. The decades had not been kind to it. The wood cracked, splintering, it was in shambles. Damien and Yugo were riding down a long dirt road, heading for the next town.

“Did you ever develop a gift?” Yugo asked Damien.

“No.” Damien answered quickly.

“Are you sure? Do you even know what type of gifts are out there?” Yugo posed a good question.

“No, I've only met two others.” Damien replied.

“What were their gifts?” Yugo was searching.

“The command over the sensation of fear.” Damien said

“And the other?” Yugo was carefully listening to Damien's words.

Damien thought about it. “Well, I'm not sure.”

“What do you mean?” Yugo asked.

“She didn't really have a gift. She looked human. She walked in the daylight and ate normal food for more than a week.” Damien scoured his mind for any more clues. “That's it. She really didn't do anything special.”

“That's her gift. It's to be human as a vampire.” Yugo proclaimed.

“That can't be it.” Damien wasn't convinced.

“Why not? If someone can cause you to be frozen with fear without laying a single finger on you, why not?” Yugo was convinced. He was opening up Damien's mind to new possibilities. Yugo was smart and a detective at heart. Being a vampire had tempered him, forcing him to lament the little details. He was deconstructing the abilities of vampires when he didn't have one to call his own.

“Then how can you explain the absence of mine?” Damien made his counterpoint.

“Then that must be a type of gift. Did you notice anything different when you became a vampire?” Yugo was onto something.

“No, I was just stronger. That's it.” Damien answered.

“That's your gift, a focus on your own strength.” Yugo hit the nail on the head.

“No, that can't be it.” Damien was doubtful.

“No, that has to be it. What else is there?” Yugo was set on his idea.

“Maybe that God didn't mean for me to share the same gifts of the other more sinful vampires?” Damien was trying to justify his position.

“And why would God make the distinction between you and any other damned husk of a vampire? Regardless of what we do in our useless lives, what hope do we have in his eyes. Really, we are abominations as any other vampire is. The only difference is what we choose to do with our lives.” Yugo was beginning to get a little prophetical. “You should have a gift, just like all the other damned ones. You shouldn't be special.”

“Then how do you explain yourself?” Damien fired back.

“I can't. Not yet, at least. Give me some time.” Yugo smiled. “Give me time.”

A crackle of thunder rang across the sky. Rattling the carriage as they rode onward.

“Speaking of, I think that's our sign.” Damien noted.

Damien and Yugo opened the top cargo doors of the carriage. They fell off. The wood was rotten from years of weathering. The wheels shattered. The attachment to the horses broke away. The entire carriage came to rest on a mound of old dirt. It was at a slight slant and was about to fall apart by anyone's terms. The horses ran off. They were alone.

“I think this means we need a new place to sleep during the day.” Damien remarked.

The rain started falling down hard. The carriage quickly flooded. The roof gave in, water poured through several small openings that had developed from the constant dry days and cool nights. Suddenly it collapsed in on itself. In a moment of true uneventful awe, Damien and Yugo were now homeless. The clouds above dissipated, giving way to a clear night sky.

“No, I'd say that's our sign.” Yugo commented and laughed.

Damien chuckled. “Let's go. There's no reason for us to stay here.”

“Where to?” Yugo asked.

“Further west. To Moscow.” Damien pointed into the distance.

“Moscow? Really? This should be fun.” Yugo smiled.

“They say the only thing you have to fear in Moscow is losing your life.” Yugo burst out laughing. “And we've already lost those!”

Damien was not as cheerful about mocking their own deaths. He still considered them both damned first and foremost. To list that as a benefit was unnatural to him. “Never-the-less, that's where we're headed.”

Yugo began walking west. “Then we should get going.”

Damien followed suit and joined Yugo's gait. “Aren't you going to ask why?”

Yugo turned to Damien. “
Me
? Ask why?”

“Of course. You are always so inquisitive about everything. I'd figure you'd ask.” Damien was trying to hold back. He had originally wanted to hold the knowledge over Yugo's head for a few miles before telling him. Now that wasn't an easy option.

“Okay, if that's all there is to it. Let's be on our way.” Yugo nearly skipped along. He was blatantly ignoring the obvious question.

It was driving Damien insane. “Okay.”

“
Okay
, what?” Yugo asked, trying not to grin.

“We're going to find an order that may know more about other vampires and their gifts.” Damien admitted.

Yugo stopped walking. “You mean you've known of this for a while? Why didn't you tell me? Why haven't we gone to see it earlier?”

Damien turned to Yugo. “Because.” Damien was sheepish about answering. “We may have to hurt some of the monks before they will let us inside the gates to do our research.”

“You mean they won't simply open their doors and invite two vampires in for some tea?” Yugo was being an ass and he knew it.

“You don't have to say it like that.” Damien started up on the walk ahead again.

“Yes I do.” Yugo caught up to Damien. “If we have to break a few arms, then that's their fault. As long as we don't kill them or drink anyone's blood while we're there. I don't think either of us will have that much of a problem. Or do you know something else you're not telling me?” Yugo was right on everything.

“It's rumored that they know how the first vampires were created and why.” Damien said under his breath. “Now let's be on our way.” He said quickly.

“Oh, hell no. You're trying to track him down aren't you?” Yugo was right again. “You think that this temple we're headed towards has information about him and where he's from.” Yugo was spot on. “You want to find him and get even. Don't you?”

Damien struck Yugo on the left side of his cheek with a fast right back hand. They both stopped silent, staring at one another. There was anger in Damien's eyes. His breath was heavy, his muscles were stiff. He was about to strike Yugo again.

“Don't ever say that I want revenge on the man that killed me.” Damien was seriously infuriated at Yugo.

Yugo put his right hand to his face. The skin had blistered from the impact. There was enough friction that it partially caught fire when Damien made contact. “Fine, lesson learned, I won't say it again.” Yugo rubbed his cheek. “I just want to ask one thing and I'll shut up.”

Damien was slowly calming himself. “What is it?”

Yugo stepped right up to Damien's face. “Tell me everything.”

* * * *

Rebekkah's left foot poked out from underneath a thick woolen blanket that writhed atop an old unpainted bed. Sounds of quickened breaths echoed the room as it seemed to sway with a linear motion. The pace hastened, the breathing became heavier. Rebekkah's foot twitched with feeling, revealing more of her leg as the blanket slipped off. Her smooth leg was gliding across the coarse sheets.

The room bellowed with constant effort from under the fabric. Strands of long blond hair peeked out form near Rebekkah's left hip. The ever revealing winter accessory gave away more of the scene. A dainty elbow jutted out next to Rebekkah's knee. It was light skinned, fine and unmistakably female. The bed moved, the earth shook around the two figures embraced under the remaining covers. Rebekkah's left hand grabbing, twisting the bedding around it. She let out only gasps of emotion filled with unworded songs. Her breath now parched, exhausted from the conductor playing the fevered symphony below the blanket.

The thin, long blond hair under the sheets shifted to the other side of the bed. The covers slide down as the figure moved towards the bed post. It was a beautiful young girl. She was tall, on the edge of five foot ten. Her face was long and almost frail. Her chest was flat, but shapely. Her amazing skin was glowing from the recent covert exercise. She opened her eyes. The dark, deep brown had a speckled pattern. She was haunting. Her hair reached just past her stomach, concealing most of her body after she flung off the rest of the sheets to cool her sweat. Her right hand lay limp, hanging off the side of the bed, slick and damp.

Rebekkah's breath stabilized. Her still short red hair was frazzled, almost puffed into a ball. She looked extremely content. Her exposed left side, was exceedingly red. Her cover fell off the bottom left of their bed. Rebekkah lay with her eyes unfocused on the ceiling.

“That was.” Rebekkah wasn't able to find the words to describe the feeling that was still overtaking her body. The small quakes she endured were astounding. “You are
Love
, sweet, sensual Love.”

The girl at Rebekkah's side smiled. “
Love
?” Her voice was soft, silky. It complemented Rebekkah's ear with its presence. It was high, lofty. “I like that name.”

“I didn't say it as a suggestion.” Rebekkah turned to the girl. She leaned on her right arm, propping herself up. Her red hair bobbed about. “Haven't you remembered your own name by now? The fire was days ago.”

“But I like it. Besides, we haven't exactly been doing things to jog my memory. I like Love, it sounds right.” The young girl took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Then you're
my
Love.” Rebekkah leaned in to steal a kiss.

With a fervent gaze, Love kissed back, savoring the moment. Finally pushing Rebekkah away to speak a minute later. “What now? What about him?”

“Fear? I don't know. I guess I'll leave him.” Rebekkah was unsure of her ability to do so.

“You think we can escape him?” Love asked, turning to Rebekkah. Her blond hair was sliding off her thin shoulders, quickly exposing her back and side.

“I-” Rebekkah's sentence was interrupted by a crash coming from downstairs.

The inn that they were rooming at was being attacked. Rebekkah and Love were on the second floor. It was only an hour after dark. Love sat up in the bed, waiting for the unknown. Rebekkah huddled into a ball on her side, knowing what was to come.

The wooden door shattered as a man in black stood with a disappointed face. It was Fear. There was fresh blood caked on his black cloak. There was more pooling at his feet. His green eyes stared into Rebekkah's soul. Love sat, letting Fear make the first move.

“You must be the one she left me for.” Fear said to Love.

“You must be the one she left for me.” Love said to Fear.

Fear turned to Rebekkah. “Get up, we're leaving.”

Rebekkah didn't say anything.

Love put her left hand on Rebekkah's right hip to give her support.

“What's the matter? Is she holding you back?” Fear looked down at his cloak. There were several small nails in it from the men that attacked him. They were from when he started killing people at the front of the inn. Fear pulled one out. “Shall I end her life now? Or after I kill you for causing me so much trouble?”

Rebekkah didn't know what to do. She scrambled to think of something, nothing came to her. If she left with Fear, she would never see Love again. If she sided with Love, Fear was going to kill her.

Fear tossed the nail up into the air and caught it. “Tik tok.” Fear eyed Love. “She is beautiful, I must admit. You've got quite a catch there. If you'd prefer, I can-”

“-I'LL GO WITH YOU!!!” Rebekkah screamed. She jumped out of bed, naked and crying. She walked over to Fear.

Love stared at Fear with discontent. He was taking what she had spent days to get. Someone that saved her from a fire that wiped away all memory of what she was in the neighboring town. Fear was robbing her of the woman that found the happiness she didn't see in herself.

Fear turned his back to Love. Rebekkah walked with her head held low beside Fear.

“What was it that you wanted me to do?” Love asked Fear with a curious voice.

“Exactly what Rebekkah does. Lure men out into the open so that I can kill them without a scene.” Fear kept walking down the hall.

Love called out from the bed. “What would happen if I said, yes?”

Fear stopped, he turned back. Rebekkah didn't, she didn't want to hear what Love was about to say.

“You would become my second slave.” Fear told Love.

“But slaves don't volunteer. If I did this, would you still hit her?” Love was bargaining.

“What?” Fear didn't expect this young frail thing to be negotiating.

“Answer me. Will you hit her if I join you?” Love was about to make a sacrifice she didn't fully understand. Love got up and walked into the hallway.