Chapter 18
The house was a mess, vampires were running everywhere, shouting and ordering each other around, nobody seemed to know what to do, or who to turn to for guidance. Ly saw and heard none of it, however, his only focus were the words that had just come out of Val's mouth.
It felt like the world had dropped away, leaving only Ly and those words. At first he thought he didn't hear Val properly. There was no way Tristan could be...it just wasn't possible. Tristan was one of the most powerful vampires in the world. He couldn't possibly...
Ly started to panic.
“No,” the raven haired vampire said firmly, taking a step away from the doctor. “No! I don't believe you! Is this someone's idea of a joke?! Where is my brother? I want to see Tristan right now! Don't argue with me Val! Take me to him, RIGHT NOW!”
Val took a step back and held his hands up in front of him, as if to protect himself from Ly's growing anger. “All right, all right,” he said, a terrible look of sorrow on his face. “I'll take you to him, just please calm down a little so I can explain the situation.”
“I don't want your explanation,” Ly said, his voice dropping several degrees and making Val shiver. He had to be sure, he had to see Tristan, to confirm that he was alive. “I just want to see my brother! Take me to him now!”
Without another word, Val consented and led Ly into Tristan's bedroom, where a small crowd of aristocratic vampires had gathered around the bed. The room fell silent as Ly entered. As one, the crowed moved aside to give Ly a clear path to the bed. There he saw Tristan.
The young vampire lord was still, not breathing, not moving at all. His usually cheerful face was pale, lifeless. From a distance his stillness could be confused with sleep. The only real sign that he wasn't just sleeping was the blood that stained the front of his dark blue shirt.
Ly moved slowly towards the bed, as if in a dream. Nothing seemed real, the others in the room faded away, leaving only blackness and Tristan. There was no sound, as it it too had died with Ly's brother.
Eyes wide with shock and pain, Ly made it to the bed, knelt down and reached a shaking hand out to touch Tristan's skin. “No,” he breathed. “No, what is this? What happened here?” No-one answered. They all seemed too shocked or afraid.
Ly balled his hands into fists, shock was quickly being replaced with anger of an intensity he had never felt before. “No!” He yelled. “There's no way Tristan's dead! I don't believe it! What happened?” Again no-one answered. “WHAT HAPPENED? ANSWER ME!”
Val took a breath and stepped forward, the only one willing to explain. “Damon was the only one that was there who got away uninjured,” he said slowly. “He said he had driven Lord Tristan and Cassian to a house just outside the city, he didn't know why they were there or who they were going to see. Lord Tristan told him to wait outside while he went in with Cassian, but after a short time he...he heard a gunshot, that's when...”
“That's when I ran inside,” Damon finished off Val's sentence for him as he stepped into the room. The older vampire was looking very shaken, pain and shame clearly displayed on his face as he struggled to tell the story. “I'm...I'm so sorry Lord Ly, I failed! I was meant to protect him but...I ran inside after I heard the first shot...I couldn't see anything, I couldn't find him! Then I heard two more and I ran towards them. That's when I saw Cassian on the ground bleeding and Lord Tristan...” his voice gave out. “I'm so sorry. If I had been doing my job properly...”
Ly got to his feet and everyone in the room took a quick step away from him. His eyes were blazing and his voice was hardly even a whisper as he spoke. “Did you see who did this?” he hissed, eyes fixed on Damon. “Did you see the man who killed my brother?”
Damon looked around the room, hoping to find someone who would help him. He was one of the few who had ever witnessed Ly's true anger. Val gave him a sympathetic look, but could do little else. He knew everyone in the room was waiting for Ly to snap and kill someone.
“Yes, I did,” Damon said finally as he wished for a way out of this situation. “I saw the man who did it, but I don't know if...” he trailed of, looking worried. “I don't want you to do anything dangerous Lord Ly, you are the last of the Aleron family and...”
“If you don't tell me who did this, I swear, on the memory of my family, that you will not leave this room alive,” Ly growled, haunted eyes seeming to burn whatever they fell upon. “Tell me Damon, or you will join my brother in the afterlife.”
“It was...a vampire hunter,” Damon said, he was sweating now. “I only saw his face for a second, but I know he was a hunter because he used a silver bullet and...he...he took Lord Tristan's teeth.”
Ly's body stiffened, the vampires in the room suddenly wished they were all somewhere else, somewhere very far away. “A name Damon,” Ly's eyes flashed silver for a second. “Give me a name.”
“Matthew Scott,” Damon said. The older vampire was tall and very well built, but, even though Ly looked small and skinny in comparison, Damon knew Ly could kill him without even trying. Besides, with Tristan gone, Ly was their leader. He wasn't able to withhold anything.
There was a collective sigh as the name was uttered and all the vampires in the room began to whisper quietly to the others around them. Matthew Scott? Everyone knew that name could cause trouble for them. The room fell silent again as Ly spoke.
“Are you sure it was him?” the young vampire was having trouble processing this information. Matthew Scott, Melissa Scott's father, was a vampire hunter. Well that wasn't hard to believe. That he had killed Tristan. Good, strong, reliable Tristan, that was what he was having trouble with.
“Yes sir,” Damon answered the question put to him without a second thought. It seemed Ly had calmed down slightly, so he didn't want to do anything that would would raise his masters temperature back up to boiling point.
It seemed that nobody had to do anything however, because, before anyone in the room could move, Ly had turned and punched the wall as hard as he could, leaving a fist mark in the stone. “I'LL KILL HIM!!” he screamed, pounding his fist into the stone wall again and again. “I'LL KILL THE BASTARD!!”
Five vampires rushed forward and grabbed Ly by the arms to hold him back, concerned that he would damage himself. Part of the wall was crumbling and they could see smears of blood where Ly had cut himself on the shards of stone.
“No, Lord Ly,” Val cried, trying to keep hold of the struggling vampire. It wasn't easy, Ly was incredibly strong, possibly as strong as all the other's in the room combined. “Stop! Think about what would happen if you retaliated in that way. This will never end if we keep on killing. Lord Tristan would not have wanted...”
Ly threw the man off so hard he hit the wall behind. “Don't you dare try to tell me what Tristan would have wanted! I will have revenge for this Valentin! They took his teeth, the sick freaks!” he cried, rounding on the grounded man, who cringed. “I can't just let this go! MY BROTHER'S DEAD! Do you understand that! He's dead...he's...” Ly trailed off.
It had finally hit him completely. Tristan was gone. Never again would he hear his brothers reassuring voice, see him smile or watch him go about his work with a certainty that he was making the world a better place. He would never see Tristan again.
Ever since their parents had been killed, even before that, Tristan had been there for Ly. When their father was too busy with the peace movement or their mother with family affairs, Tristan would spend his free time with his little brother. Even after Ly had left, joined up with Nicator and become a monster despised by all other vampires, Tristan had still come after him.
Ly owed his life to his brother, and now Tristan was gone.
Slowly he sank to the ground and put his head in his hands. For a time no-one moved or said a word, they just stood in an uncertain silence, waiting for Ly to give them their orders. Orders that usually came from Tristan.
“Get out,” the raven haired vampire said softly, his voice harsh from shouting. No-one moved. “Get out,” he said again. “Get out! GET OUT! GET OUT!” One by one the room emptied, until only Ly and Val were left. The doctor was about to go as well, but was afraid to leave Ly alone.
“What will you do now?” Val asked after a long period of silence. He could hear the younger vampires heavy breathing from across the other side of the room, and was worried that he would do something in anger, that he would later regret.
“Nothing,” Ly whispered back, his head still in his hands, which were now shaking. The cats from the stone had already healed. “There's nothing I can do that will make this situation any better. I would kill that bastard without another thought, but you're right, Tristan wouldn't want me to. He would tell me to think of the future, but my future just go a lot more uncertain.”
“I'm sorry to have to bring this up,” Val said, sounding like he really was. “But you are Lord Aleron now and therefore must release a statement about this. You will have to tell the country that we won't tolerate vampire hunters and you must tell them of Tristan's death and Cassian's almost fatal injuries.”
“I know Val,” Ly said. Val had never heard him sound so distressed, so defeated. “Just leave me alone.”
Val did as he was told. He bowed low and left the room. Outside Damon was waiting, looking anxious. It was strange to see the nervous look on the big vampires face, he was usually so calm and composed.
“Will he be all right doc?” Damon asked as he fell into step beside Val. “I would hate to think of him doing anything stupid, like going after the bastard who killed Lord Tristan.” he stopped for a second. “This is all my fault. If I had only been watching more closely, if I had only gone in with them...”
“You would have died too,” Val said softly. “There was nothing you could do Damon. This was obviously a professional job. Lord Tristan was killed by a single shot, a silver bullet straight through the heart. I assume the only reason Cassian lived was because Lord Tristan was there. But still, a shot through the shoulder and one through the leg, both silver. I'm really surprised Cassian's alive.”
“I don't care if there's nothing I could have done,” Damon growled. “I would have gladly given up my life in service of the Aleron family, I should have died protecting him. Has...has anyone told Lady Tricia yet?” He was really hoping that, now he had brought it up, he wouldn't have to be the one who informed the young woman that Tristan was dead.
Val shook his head. “I sent someone to tell her as soon as you brought Lord Tristan in,” he said sadly. “But no-one's been able to find her, in fact, no-one even remembers seeing her in the past few days.”
Damon looked confused as Val pushed open the door to Cassian's room. The wounded vampire was still unconscious. He hadn't woken up since being brought in by Damon. Val had worked on his wounds for some time and managed to keep them under control, though they still worried him.
“Vampire hunters are scum,” Damon spat as he watched Val inspect Cassian's shoulder. “I can't believe the human government hasn't made their clubs illegal.”
“Human politics is ridiculous,” Val replied, not looking up from his work. “The clubs are allowed to exist, but technically their members aren't allowed to do any killing. But then, it's only illegal if you get caught, right?”
“Do you think the guy who did this to Lord Tristan will get caught?” Damon asked slowly.
“By the human police,” Val chuckled darkly, there was no humour in his voice at all. “I hope so, for his sake, if nothing else. If Lord Ly gets to him first they won't even be able to identify the body.”
* * *
Rome was worried. After the formal she had gone straight home and spent the night and the whole of the next day wondering if Ly was all right and if he would call her. She hadn't seen him at the university, which was strange because she knew he had tutorials which he couldn't miss. She began to wish she had gotten his number instead of only giving him hers.
She tried to put him out of her mind, telling herself that he wouldn't call her, even if he was perfectly fine, because it wasn't like him to do something like that, but she knew something wasn't right. She could feel that he was in trouble again.
Sighing deeply, she dropped onto the lounge in her tiny living room and flicked on the television, hoping to find something worth watching. Instead the evening news appeared on the screen.
Just great, Rome thought. She was about to change the channel when she realised the news anchor was reporting on another vampire related incident.
“...locals heard two to three shots fired late last night,” the woman read. “When police went to investigate they found an excess of blood, but no wounded and no witnesses on the scene. Just hours ago a tape was released by a vampire spokes person who we assumed was the man named Jarlan, however, we were surprised when we listened to the tape.”
There was a slight pause as the tape was played. “I would say good evening,” the disguised voice said. He sounded angry, which was odd in itself. She had heard many announcements from Jarlan, but he had never really shown any emotion before. “I would say it, but it's not a good evening. Last night the vampire you know as Jarlan, was shot and killed and another was seriously wounded by a vampire hunter. Hunters will not be tolerated! They exist only to murder! If the government insists on using hunters than they will have a war on their hands, and I assure you, the cost of the battle will be high. It is a battle that Tristan Aleron, Jarlan as you know him, wouldn't have wanted.”
There was another pause as the speaker tried to calm himself. “To the hunters I say this, let me tell you about the man you killed. Tristan Aleron was the leader of the vampire community of this entire country, he was also the head of the peaceful coexistence movement. He worked for peace his entire life and never once lay a hand on a human. He was innocent and was killed last night in cold blood. We have witnesses! I can not sit back and let this atrocity go unpunished! We know who did this, he will not be hard to find as he is well known. If Matthew Scott isn't caught and charged in the next week your government better be prepared for the consequence! You will all curse the day Tristan Aleron was murdered, because I'm in charge now and I am nowhere near as tolerant of your kind as he was.”
The news reader reappeared on the screen, but Rome was no longer listening to what the woman had to say. She had her hand over her mouth, unable to believe what she had just heard. Tristan, the man who had come to see her that day, it must have been him. Ly had rushed off after getting a call involving him. Tristan was dead, murdered.
But that wasn't all. Tristan Aleron, the man who had been so concerned about Ly and about her own safety, the man who had found out where she lived and had come to her apartment to see her, was a vampire. The leader of all the vampires in the country.
Rome couldn't stop the thought that appeared in her head. If Tristan was a vampire, what did that make Ly?