Hi there!
Can you believe it? We're into Chapter 10 already... *shakes head*. This one is dedicated to LoveIsAllWeNeed, my first real fan! Thanks for the feedback. It's great to know that someone likes my story! Anna will get herself into a lot of trouble in this one. But (without telling you too much in advance), I think it's safe to say that this is only the beginning of her troubles...
Read, comment, vote - do whatever you like! I'm happy if you like the chapter, if not, let me know where you think it needs fixing. Thanks :D
Lara
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Chapter 10
Our room was at the very end of the corridor, and, if I wasn't completely mistaken, it faced the front of the mansion. The servant handed Alexander the keys and closed the dark wooden door wordlessly, leaving me staring up at the head vampire.
We were completely alone. Apart from my breathing, there wasn't a single sound that penetrated.
As the servant pointed out before taking his unceremonious leave, the room was soundproof. Not comforting. Not when I was in one room with the freaking undead Godfather of New York.
My eyes swept the room. It was more like an apartment and actually consisted of four rooms. I released a breath I'd been holding. There had to be at least two bedrooms. Apparently not every master vampire liked to share and get between the blankets with his or her human servant.
The bedrooms were designed to face each other, the living room like a buffer zone in the middle. The anteroom was full of surprises. Not gray, black and the colors of blood. To the contrary. I spotted white walls and deep blue drapes. The group of black leather couches, arranged around a glass table in the middle, looked lonely and lost in the spacious room.
The spell of normalcy didn't last long. When I entered the bedroom Alexander had told me to take for myself, former expectations proved to be true. The bed sheets were crimson and made of silk. Figured. On the plus side, I had an extra bathroom. Its walls were crimson as well, but I wasn't going to complain about it.
I wandered back into the main area, catching a glimpse of the entrance to Alexander's bedroom. Would it be even more hideous than mine?
The sensation washed over me, a prickle, a touch of something. It was cold and fused with power, as if it could make me stop by force alone. And maybe it could.
I stood in front of the door, muscles locked up and stiff. My eyes went astray, right where I didn't want them to go: the middle of the room. The head vampire had assumed a casual position on the couch, and he was watching me. His posture, the way his ankles were stretched out and crossed in front of him – it had an unmistakable scent. It reeked of arrogance and power. I saw him for what he was. He looked like a regent, an autocrat used to having absolute power over the lives of his subjects.
"You pretended to trip, didn't you, little witch?"
Was that a streak of amusement on his face? Something coming close to a smile?
What was I to him? A walking joke? The thought stirred something inside of me.
"You're wrong. I didn't pretend anything," I said. He could stare at me as much as he wanted, I wasn't going to fill him in on how I was going to investigate.
Blue eyes regarded me with deliberate disregard for privacy. Again I was caught unawares. The feeling that Alexander could see right through me, right into my soul, like a portent force hummed in my veins.
"You may lie to anyone else, but you will not lie to me," he said. "I believe there was a misunderstanding about the details of our accord and this business relationship. If you were not pretending, as you claim, it would imply that you are clumsy. Remember that tripping over your own feet will get you killed in the world you entered. Remember that I have no use for weakness."
The change happened from one moment to the other. The air grew thicker, vibrating with power and unspoken words I didn't understand.
"I think, little witch, that you have underestimated the task ahead."
Humanly slow. Time stolen. I blinked and the head vampire was standing a few feet in front of me. I hadn't even seen him move.
He was staring down at me, packing a punch that carried the weight of centuries with his eyes alone.
"As long as we are in Pennsylvania you will fulfill your duties as a human servant with utmost devotion. If you show an ounce of defiance, even if mute, the consequences will be dire for you, I assure you. Do you understand that?"
I kept staring at him, knowledge of what he, of what the whole vampiric race was capable of, like a pulsating vein behind my eyes. Something inside of me trembled and hardened. I wasn't going to back away.
Alexander cocked his head. "I remember our conversation in Joe's Pub, little witch. You turned your back on me and walked away – just like that. Did you believe, even for a second, that you were the one in control? You walked away because I let you, little witch," He said, ever so slowly.
Oh, that. I almost forgot about that one. So this is what this is all about? Was this a vampiric pissing contest?
"Do you believe that you can enter this conference without the least bit of respect or manners, for that matter? Do you believe I will allow you to act as anything else than a human servant? Not a shadow of a doubt will remain as to the nature of our relationship. Remember that, and remember it well, little witch. Favors can be returned. Step out of line and I will walk away from you, leaving you to the other guests, ready for the taking," the vampire said.
Another change in the air – subtle, sweet, and suffocating. The beauty of the vampire was destructive and lifeless. Eyes the color of the most beautiful gems in liquid sub-terra were mirroring mine. Like his voice, they were filled with an emotion of a less human nature.
The blood in my veins staggered and froze as the past tried to overtake me.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Never give them the satisfaction of evoking fear. You are who you are. Let no one take that away. The memory made me open my eyes. I swore it to myself and to her. And I was not afraid.
"Go on, do it then. Right now. But if you do that, the deal with Brown will be off and whatever you two agreed upon on will be made public to the Council." The last words came out as a whisper. My throat didn't seem to work properly anymore.
I was sloppy in my reading of the lapdog files, but I knew something about the political set up of the undead. The Council was the highest authority of the Vampire League and an organ to guide the coalition of all American vampires.
Maybe the vampire council would not pose a death sentence on him, but, sure enough, working together with witches in an unauthorized operation would have consequences. It would make his life hell, maybe cost him something, like his position within the Vampire League – whatever it was. He would definitely have to answer threats to his power hold. After all he brought me to a gathering of the Vampire League. Technically speaking, I could kill a few of its attendees. Not that they could be killed by much.
"Are you threatening me, little witch? That would be very ... unwise." He paused for a moment. "Remember this: In here you are nothing but a human servant. My human servant."
He vanished in front of my eyes. For a moment I blinked against the semi-darkness in the room.
"I have had many female human servants before." The vampire's voice blasted holes into the calming veil of deceitful absence of sound. He was behind me. He was walking a circle around me, the weight of his eyes an assortment of brick walls on my shoulders and back. His steps were slow, precise, controlled.
"Do you know what I kept them for?"
The question threw me off course, forced me into shock-induced numbness like nothing else could have.
A shadow of stirred air in front of my eyes. The vampire moved to stand in front of me, too fast to see, outlines blurred.
"You have not answered my question. What do I keep my female servants for?"
The vision of his face up-close slammed into me, our bodies so very short of touching, I could feel the cold of the grave seeping through the fabric of my shirt. Goose bumps spread, mocking me with electro-shock-typed intensity. My neck felt unbelievably exposed and vulnerable. Alexander's eyes grazed over it without showing any reaction, before focusing on my face.
"Answer me."
Blood. He was talking about blood. I knew it. But the word wouldn't cross over the threshold of my lips.
The ghost of a breath stole a touch upon vibrant nakedness. Was I imagining things again? It felt as if someone was breathing down my skin. I blinked. The vampire was still standing in front of me, hadn't moved an inch.
What was he trying to do? If he wanted to show off with his power, he could have let it be after our first unhappy meeting in the Blood Line Hotel. I had my share, thank you very much.
"I like the scent of your blood. Even without having tasted it, I can tell that its bouquet is promising," the vampire said.
I glimpsed sparks of something in his eyes and wished I hadn't seen it. Cruel, cold desire; hunger, in its most basic from.
"You have not answered my question." The eerie softness of his voice was more threatening than a physical attack could have been.
I tried to come up with something, but for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything to say. My mind was like a dirtied cotton swab. I stared at the vampire.
"If you defy me again, be it in private or in public, I will treat you like one of my real female human servants," he finally said.
Treat me like a real human servant. The vision in my mind was surreal, and yet it was crystal clear.
Fangs sinking into flesh.
"The right answer was blood, little witch. Remember that," he said in a low voice.
With this he turned his back on me and went into his bedroom, not bothering to close the door.
I could move again. That much I knew. I tried to relearn how to breathe and slow down my pulse, finding small bits and pieces of myself on the way there. The thunder-like beating of my heart, wild and flushed, was a perpetual sound in my ears. For an indefinite amount of time all I could do was stare and breathe. Breathe and stare. I shook my head, slowly regaining my composure.
Get a grip, Anna.
I had known it all along. Alexander was a vampire after all. Blood, huh? And the way he stared at my neck, the way he talked about my 'bouquet' as if it was this century's biggest turn on. And yet, I knew that he was not physically attracted to me. Knew it with a certainty I couldn't quite explain to myself.
This had been about intimidation. The head vampire probably had centuries to perfect the art of forceful persuasion. Somehow he believed that his threat was enough to stop me from stepping out of line.
I swallowed. Well, I'd definitely try to avoid that. But, given that he didn't want me to leave his side, when I had to snoop around, wasn't obedience a virtual impossibility?
Faint noise penetrated. The familiar sounds of water drumming out of a shower head. I moved away from the wall, turning to stare at the half open door to Alexander's bedroom. The idea of pulling a Hitchcockian shower scene on him didn't sound promising enough to tempt me.
And there it was again. Sarcasm. My sanctum and universal remedy for everything that went bump in the night and scared the bejesus out of me.
I spent three months in Italy, researching in documents depicting senseless and cruel deaths through the Inquisition, read about unspeakable atrocities and sins committed in the name of God. Once, during my physical training for the Circle, I was accidentally hunted by a pack of shape shifters in the dark, ice-cold forests of Alaska. Worst of all, I witnessed the death of my colleague, and my family. Yeah, fear and I went way back.
No matter what...
The words echoed in my mind. I raised my head, gritting my teeth in a forced, icy grin. I had been threatened and harassed by a master vampire. I survived.
I went over to the window and stared out into the night. The sky was vast and dark, spotless and empty, like a void of black. Shafts of moonlight drifted through blackness, dipping the world into shadows. I was all alone here. New York city and the Circle were miles and miles away. I remembered my last conversation with Brown, staring at him over the meticulously clean desk when my mind was in a mess the world had yet to see.
"Did you realize that Alexander could be playing a double game? Who's to guarantee my safety?" I said, leaning forward.
"He gave me his word," Brown said, his eyes meeting mine without blinking.
I stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate on the cryptic statement, or even better: take it back. But his facial expression stayed the same. Either I had just seen an Oscar-worthy performance, or he really was confident that the master vamp would not betray him, or us.
"It's the word of a vampire," I pointed out.
"Anna, all I can tell you is that we have a deal. He can't afford to break it. You'll have to trust me in this."
I simply stared at him. Trust. What he was asking had nothing to do with trust. It was madness.
"Don't make this any more difficult, Anna," he finally said.
There are times, mere seconds, when our mouths are faster than our brains. Instants before we mess up and say things we shouldn't say. Things that come back and bite you where you least expect it. This was one of those moments.
"Difficult?! I'm making things difficult? " I raised my hands in a clichéd give-up-posture. "You know what? I'm out. Maybe you should take someone from the Force, someone with close combat experience. I'm pretty sure they can handle undead pissing contests better than someone from the research department."
Brown sighed and folded his hands, making me feel like the child I wasn't anymore.
"Anna, what is this really about?"
Stupid. Just plain stupid. Why couldn't I have simply let it go?
I let out my breath and asked the one question that had been bothering me for months. Petty, but essential.
"I want to know why. I was one of the best in magical combat in the Academy. I worked for years to get into the Force. Why didn't you give me the chance? You knew how much it meant to me. Wasn't I good enough? Is that it?" I kept staring into his eyes.
Brown refolded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Because I believed your vision was too narrow. When you began the training as a witch, you were set do destroy the vampire race altogether because of what happened in your past.
"I was glad that you accepted the offer for the research field, because it seemed to hold your interest as well. I thought you would realize by yourself that the world can't be drawn in black and white. There are those gray zones in between we all have to deal with somehow. If your rage for the vampiric race affects your judgment, and I believe it has done so in the past, I can't let you into a team that must make difficult choices. It's a fact: We have to cooperate with the vampires. It takes a cool head and good understanding of human nature to find out who you can trust."
I stared at him blankly. "And you think I don't have that kind of ability?"
When he didn't say anything I looked away. "I understand enough of human nature to know the vamps are all but human. Look at them. There's not an ounce of real emotion in there. They might have been promoting their sipping from multiple-humans-policy like a new religion, but I've seen it. I know what they are."
I kept staring at him, willing him to understand.
"It's in their nature to hunt and kill. A few Times Square placates and TV commercials won't change that. They're only cooperating with the Circle because it's part of their fool-the-general-public-strategy and you know it. How can we put lives at risk just to prove a point that was moot from the beginning? How many more people have to die before you get that?"
Brown watched me calmly. "Remember the parables about human religion you were taught in the Academy? So it's right that two sinners condemn a whole race?"
He was talking about Adam and Eve, the first people in what humans worshipped as the history of creation. I'd heard the lecture often enough to know where he was heading to. As if their sin could be compared to murder. I shook my head.
"If you believed that, it would mean the potential for violence alone was enough for a death sentence. We'd have to arrest humans, witches, shape shifters and vampires alike just because of their potential to become murderers. Is that what you're trying to say?"
"That's not what I said."
He leaned forward. "Never generalize. It's not that easy. It's never easy. You should know that by now, Anna."
He was treating me like a child again and it made me lose my nerve.
"Unlike human murderers and criminals, vampires need blood to survive. Their whole existence is about blood, about the hunt. About the death of the other. Vampires enjoy being what they are. There's potential for you. So what makes you think you can trust a single one of them?"
Brown frowned at me. "Anna, lethal vampire attacks only make up about eight percent of the crime rate in New York. You know that."
Something in his eyes softened. "You have to stop it, Anna. This kill-them-all approach won't get you anywhere. What happened in your childhood was a horrible tragedy." He took a deliberate, slow breath. "You have to let it go. Open your eyes, and try to see that there's more than black. There is white and there are so many different shades of gray in between that it's hard to distinguish between them. That is what a Force member has to do. Go with Alexander and see for yourself. See the vampiric nature. All of it. The good and the bad."
I stared at him, unwilling to believe that this was his final word. It turned out that it wasn't.
He shifted his position slightly, sighing. "You have great potential, I don't want to have to watch you wasting it."
'...see for yourself. See the vampiric nature. All of it.' I snorted. I saw enough for this night.
I moved closer to the window, pressing my palm against the cold surface. I could make out huge gardens stretching away from the Heron mansion. There was no movement. A dark mass of green silence, mocking me with deep shadows that might or might not had been moving.
The sharp, dark shape of a mountain range loomed in the distance, a single ridge in the flat, naked lands around us. Space and silence widened and stretched, shadows elongated.
The emotion smacked into me, sudden and unexpected. I felt small and insignificant, utterly lost in this stifling mausoleum of rooms and halls. I was stuck in a mansion crammed with vampires and humans that were barely alive – puppets on strings, hung up on something that wasn't even real. Was I the only living creature in here? The only one alive, with a mind of her own?
I felt my hands flex, fingers curling and uncurling ceaselessly. I wanted my magic. Air. My element. I wanted it so bad, I thought I was going to choke on the feeling of vacantness inside.
If I had it; if I could use it as I wanted. I wouldn't have to rely on someone else for protection. I would have the power to decide who and what would reach, touch me. Decide what was real to me. Alexander would never have been able to do what he did, if I had my magic.
You sure about that?
I stifled the voice inside my head. It felt natural to live in my magic, to use it. I hugged myself. Magic was an essential part of who I was. Now that my magic was gone I felt lonely, and incomplete. Vulnerable. How long would I have to remain this way? And, more importantly, would I survive it?