Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (89 page)

Damien could see the face of a young girl amongst all the flowing blond, speckled red and orange hair. She was fairly attractive, more stoic than sexy. The black cloak blew up in the sudden wind. She wasn't wearing any other article to keep warm. A fact that made Damien blush. As a wisp of snow dusted over her location, she was gone. She reappeared twenty feet from Damien, at the edge of the furthest lights Yugo had set up. She had closed the longest distance yet. She moved more than five hundred feet in a split second. She was not human, that much was clear. It was Salas.

The girl walked past the line of torches. The lights showed her true age for the first time. Damien saw before him a very young girl, beyond puberty, but not far. She stood, staring at him. She was examining Damien for his next action while her face remained expressionless.

The girl pulled at her coat, near the neck and exposed her left shoulder.

Damien blushed again.

“I'm surprised you can afford embarrassment in a situation like this. Modesty should be the last thing on your mind while you come to face me.” The girl tied her cloak shut.

“I'm not accustomed to sexuality in children.” Damien said sternly.

“I'm not either.” The girl said innocently in a dead tone. “Regardless, this body has been well versed though. Love suited her well.”

“Then you are Salas?” Damien asked the young girl.

The girl was amused by the question. She chuckled, then began to speak again. “I'm surprised Fear didn't tell you as much. He must have been more humiliated than I had expected to leave out this much of the story. He has become senescent.” Her voice had changed it was no longer hers. It was dark, black. It grumbled with a demonic tone. It was the demon's voice. It was Salas.

“No, he left out the fact that you were in a girl's body.” Damien studied Salas' face carefully. “It doesn't matter though. My job hasn't changed.”

“Yes, I know all about that. We'll get to that in due time.” Salas walked further in to the lighted circle. He came closer to Damien. “Do you know how I managed to trick him?”

“That doesn't matter, does it?” Damien wanted to get down to it.

“You don't know, I can tell.” Salas smiled. “I asked him for blood. Being as selfish as he was he-”

“None of that matters! You slaughtered him. All you're doing now is flaunting it! Stop this! What the hell do you have to gain by telling me what sick things you did to fool such a sadistic man!?” Damien shouted at Salas. He didn't want to hear any of it. He knew Yugo was almost in position, he needed to spring the trap soon.

Salas laughed, his voice was softening to a stable, normal tone. “It matters because you will be the last ones to hear about it before he dies.”

Damien stared at Salas, he was agitated now. Fear was the one that murdered him. Damien was always a man that respected people regardless of their foolish actions. He had forgiven Fear a long time ago. Letting Salas insult him was wrong in Damien's eyes. “You won't be able to kill him, he's too-”

“Too what?” Salas interrupted Damien.

Damien wanted to call out for Yugo. “Then I'll-”

“Do what? Spring your little trap of distraction?” Salas moved three feet suddenly to the left.

Yugo landed from above. He hit the ground hard. Thinking he was about to slam into Salas instead.

“You don't get it do you?” Salas took a hold of Yugo's left calf. “I know all about your pathetic plan to ambush me.”

Salas swung Yugo into the air and over his head with immense speed. Yugo smashed into the ground on the other side. His leg broke off at the knee upon impact.

Damien swung at Salas. His right fist stuck a glancing blow. Damien ended up pushing Salas, more than striking him.

Salas rolled to avoid any major contact. He was surprised at Damien's speed and power. He wasn't able to read him. The thoughts about their initial plan were an open book. His actions were wildly different. Salas jumped up to avoid Damien's next attack.

Damien caught Salas' foot, mid way and pulled him back down. As Salas slammed into the granite below his face was crushed in on the right side. Blood oozed from underneath the dark cloak.

“See, you can be injured after all.” Damien smiled.

“You gloat too soon.” Salas got up, punching at the left side of Damien's abdomen.

Damien shifted too late. Salas sliced his left hand through the skin, ripping flesh away as he closed the swing.

Salas smiled and quickly spoke. “The fight never stops. Blood will continue to flow whether you pay attention to me or not.” Salas was ruthless.

Yugo groaned, he tried to get up.

“Yugo, stay down!” Damien screamed the warning.

“Too late.” Salas said softly as he flipped backward. He landed his right hand on Yugo's other remaining leg, clenching it. Salas cut it with his fingers, severing Yugo's leg completely at the thigh. He landed ten feet opposite Yugo.

Yugo screamed out in pain. He had realized only too late how removed he was from the conflict. Salas was in another world that he could barely watch. He had no chance against him. As things were, Yugo was going to be the first to die.

“Your friend is smarter than you are Damien. He already knows he's going to die tonight. You should have never come here to face me. His death will be your first lesson.” Salas moved to kill Yugo. He dropped to the ground, almost on his knees. He leaped forward.

Damien moved to intercept. Yugo raised his hands. He was up to something. Salas stopped, he hesitated. Yugo reached for Salas as he ran back in the other direction. Damien was confused as to what was going on. He was able to get to Yugo in time. That's all he cared about.

“Did you really think that would work?” Salas remarked.

Damien lunged forward and caught up to Salas. He was able to make contact with a right hook across his left cheek. Salas felt the connection. He recoiled, and backed away slightly.

“I know what you are Salas. I know what you want.” Damien was trying to reason with him.

“So you know I'm an abomination? How does that change anything? I doubt you could ever understand what I truly want. But let's hear your best guess.” Salas readied himself for another fast paced attack while he listened to Damien's answer.

Damien checked Yugo, he was bleeding heavily. “You want revenge for what they did to you.” Damien stared intently at Salas. “More than that, you want to see them pay for what they did to you.”

“WHAT THEY FORCED THIS ON ME!!!” Salas yelled at Damien. “You can't know. No book can let you feel what they did to me.” Salas calmed down. “What Fear did to you was nothing.”

Damien paused. He wondered how Salas could know what had happened to him all those years ago.

“Yes, I know everything that Rebekkah, Fear, and most importantly Love, knew. I saw through Fear's eyes what he did to you. In a sense, I know more of what happened to you that night than you do. Do you want to know how long it took Rebekkah to make up her mind to turn you?” Salas was pressing Damien's buttons. He was agitating him on purpose. “Do you want to know the moment when she regretted ever knowing you?”

Damien clenched his teeth in anger.

“Do you want to know how much she admired you?” Salas smiled. “During the late hours of the night, while she was all alone in her bed. Do you want to know what she was up to father Damien?” Salas' voice changed back to Love's for a moment. “Do you want to know what she was thinking about doing to her sweet, loving father Damien?” Salas struck a pose with his hands together, looking innocently up to the sky above. He knew exactly what to say to entice Damien at this point.

“You truly are a demon, playing on the emotions of others.” Damien said bluntly. He ran at Salas, hoping to rip his head off for debasing his view of Rebekkah while under his care at the monastery.

Salas anticipated the advance and pivoted around Damien with ease. Salas sprang forth towards Yugo, knowing Damien would quickly follow. Salas turned around as Damien faced him, mid strike. Salas swung his left leg at Damien's left ankle, breaking it instantly. Damien fell down, unable to put weight on his foot.

“You are powerful.” Salas commented again. Making a full turn with a sweeping action. He stood up, landing a clean hit on the exposed portion of Damien's lower chin.

Damien was knocked off his feet, with certainty.

“But power is not all it's cracked up to be. In the end speed wins.” Salas smiled at Yugo. “Speed and aggression are painfully beautiful, when used with war-like attrition.”

Damien recovered, rising to his good right foot. “You have no right to kill nameless people for the sake of your unobtainable revenge. You will die alone if you keep this up Salas.” Damien was preaching to Salas.

“I am alone, Damien. I will always be alone. That's the nature of my curse. As for dying.” Salas stepped closer to Damien. He was moving slowly. “What do
I
have to fear from dying?
I
, unlike
you,
am eternal. Death means as much to me as a sunny day does to you.” Salas let his guard down. His voice returned to the dark tone it had been after they initially met. “You say I will never reach my goal? That it will gain no fruit? You are wrong. Time kills. The people protecting the elders today are washed up three hundred years later due to inactivity. Thanks to lack of blood, the more time they spend in hiding, the greater edge I gain. The larger the opening becomes. You say I want revenge? You say what they did to me was wrong?” Salas stepped a few more feet closer. He positioned himself on the edge of a gigantic stone slab that came to a peak where he was standing. “Damien. What he did to you was
wrong
. They killed my brothers in front of me and tried to reward me by telling me I was the last one to die by their hand, by his hand. They bound me to a tree and planted me at the center of their ritual. While I screamed for them to kill me and let me join my family, they kept chanting. When they ignored me, I cursed their names, damning their actions. I destroyed my voice screaming for them to let me die. They continued to ignore me. They just kept chanting. Finishing their ritual on time was all that mattered to them. My pleas meant nothing to them. Just when I thought I was going to die, they would splash blood on me to keep me from fading away. They forced me to live for nearly twenty seven years as I remained lashed to a decaying log, my arms and legs long broken from the original binding process. I have welcomed death before. I have welcomed it since.” Salas regained his anger. “When they were done, I cursed them again. With my last physical breath, I vowed that I would come back again and again to haunt and torture them all.” Salas paused. “So you can forgive me when I tell you I can't.”

Damien didn't have the words to counsel Salas after what he said. He was speechless.

“That's what I thought. No one ever has an answer to that. No one should ever go through what I have. No human, no vampeal, no vampire, no soul should know what I do. No one wants to become a demon, it just happens. Until then, I'll keep killing. I'll reach the golden number I seek in this body. I'll find them, all twelve of them. Even that noctivagant bastard Fear. I will use the greater gift they infused in me. I will inflict justice upon them all for what they have done.”

“I can't let you kill that many people Salas.” Damien made his choice. He stood ready for Salas' response.

“That's what I thought you'd say.” Salas stamped the ground with his foot. The six and a half foot long slab of granite tipped up on end between Damien and Salas as a wall.

Damien jumped back, thinking Salas might use the three hundred ton stone as a projectile.

Salas had another plan in mind. He thrust his hand forward and through the rock. Through a solid foot of granite, Salas took hold of Damien's chest. Sinking his fingers past his clothes and deep under his skin, grasping the breastbone itself. Salas held Damien's sternum tight and firm in his closed hand. Damien flinched for a second, not knowing how to comprehend such an attack. Damien could feel Salas' eyes in his mind piercing through the granite as a horrid feeling washed over him. Salas wasn't done yet. There was more.

“Of course there's more.” Salas said as he pulled Damien to him with massive, insane force.

Damien crashed into the granite slab. His body was fracturing as the lines of the rock cracked, splitting away from the center where Salas' hand had protruded. The stone gave way only when there was nothing left to crush. Damien's sheer mass and sudden impact reduced it to rubble at his feet. Damien's limbs were smashed. He was barely able to breathe. His blood was seeping from every open wound, and every slice of torn flesh. His black robe, lay hanging from his frame, a small reminder that there was once a human figure wearing it.

Damien looked at Salas. He tried to speak, nothing came out. Salas' fingers were still deeply lodged into his chest. His heart was struggling to beat. His lungs had both collapsed. He wasn't able to form a sound. He had no chance at words. His only communication was the expression on his face. Damien had been sufficiently beaten.

“Don't worry, you'll die from these injuries long before I kill your apprentice.” Salas was being purposely cruel again. His victory was almost assured.

As Salas was about to tear Damien's entire chest from his body, Yugo laid his hands on Damien. Salas dropped Damien as soon as he felt the slightest difference in weight. He then stepped back from Yugo's crawling posture.