LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: The End and the Begining

Nicholas waited for the night to come as he paced around in his room. When he spied darkness outside the window, he grabbed his mother's jeweled dagger, a lighter and a gallon of kerosene he had wrapped with his jacket to conceal the scent. He needed to do something before he would meet Lira tomorrow night.

He ran, cutting through the woods, and outside the academy walls. In less than five minutes he made it to the grand gothic-like mansion, situated on top of a hill—their ancestral house. He leaped over the high walls and landed effortlessly on the ground. There were enforcers standing guard over every entrance. So easy to delude, he mused. He went to the back of the mansion and leaped towards the balcony three stories high. He opened the French doors leading to his room. The tomb below would be heavily guarded, but he could easily get in since the only ones who could gain access were him and his father.

He went on his way towards the ground floor and climbed down the narrow curving bricked-steps. As he went down farther, the air became thin. Torches on the wall lit his path as he made his way past the hallway. He halted on his track as the wide archway revealed a narrow white concrete walk that led to the opening of Lazarus' lair as well as his father Magnus'. Between the walk was nothing but a bottomless abyss. The bridge-like pavement was lined with uniformed Enforcers whose sole duty was to guard the lair.

"Leave. I need to speak with my father," he commanded. They did not question Nicholas as they formed a queue and marched their way out of the walk. Of course even though his father was asleep, Nicholas could still speak with him through their minds as long as he was near him. As soon as the Enforcers left, he made his way through the walkway and stood before a massive white double door. He pushed open the door to reveal a large circular marbled room, the ceiling supported by pillars surrounding the mausoleum. Like outside, the room was illuminated by torches. A large golden star was etched in the middle of the marbled floor. He stepped forward, facing a marble figure attached to the wall, as if it was sculpted as part of the wall. It was Lazarus, asleep in his dried statue form. Not far from him was a white rectangular tomb that housed his sleeping father, Magnus.

He was about to do what every sane but hopelessly-in-love-vampire-but-will-never-admit-that-he-is-hopelessly-in-love would do: end the source of his girl's misery. In Lira's case, it was Lazarus. When his brother told him a group was trying to awaken Lazarus, Nicholas just shrugged his shoulder and said, "Let them." When later he was informed again by Philip that the same group was trying to reinvent the vampire kingdom Imperial and make it exist in its literal sense, he just dismissed the notion and said, "It's my kingdom to rule someday, anyway."

However, when he realized that the same group was making armies of mindless vampires, he became alarmed, considering that Lira was harmed by those creatures twice already. And now that Philip had informed him of the true scenario, he couldn't let Lazarus rise. Lazarus reign would ruin Lira and the rest of the things he came to care about in the human world. Not to mention those vile creatures intended to use Lira as an offering to Lazarus. No. He could not let that happen.

He unsheathed his dagger and drove the sharp blade towards Lazarus' marbled neck, forcefully slicing it until the head detached from the wall and rolled on the floor with a resounding thud that echoed through the white walls. Nicholas eyed his dagger then back to the statue. That was strange. There should be blood coming out from the statue even if it was in a marble-like state. Unless...

He took a step back and suddenly someone from behind kicked his knees, causing him to bend and dropping his knees on the floor. Sharp and pointed spears appeared beside his neck, ready to plunge and sever him if he made even the slightest movement.

"What is the meaning of this!" he demanded the Enforcers. An outline emerged behind the pillar. The torches' flame revealed Magnus' impassive face as he stared down at his son with his black menacing eyes, his silver hair created an illusion of halo around his head as the light from the torches touched his hair.