Wake of darkness, p.21
Wake of Darkness, page 21
“My foster mother was absolutely mortified. Thankfully, she believed me when I told her it was Danny who’d left me there like that…who’d done those…horrible…things to me,” she sighed. “I’ll always remember his thoughts; when he’d decided to attack me,” she said quietly, to herself as much as to Alexander, “…and I'll always remember when he decided not to kill me.”
She cautiously glanced back at Alexander’s face. His jaw was like iron, clamped shut; his eyes were burning. For the first time, she saw something terrifying in his face, something that made her believe that he was part vampire, something that would have made her back away from him if it hadn’t been his face etched with such fury.
She stared at him and reached for his hand. “It’s in the past,” she whispered, trying to be soothing. “It’s painful, but it’s done.”
He stood and walked away from her. He suddenly turned, walked back towards her and then turned away again. He was pacing, and deep in rage. She watched him warily as he growled under his breath, pacing towards her and away, stewing and plotting.
“What happened to him?” he demanded in a roar, giving her a glimpse of the violent anger she’d thought only she was capable of before then.
Sophie shook her head. “I didn’t know; he ran away afterwards,” she answered. “I was moved to another home and the one I’d been in was closed. I went to a therapist for a while.”
Alexander looked back at her—glared at her, actually—and an absolutely lethal thought crossed his mind.
“Oh, no you don’t, Alexander!” She declared, standing immediately after hearing what he was thinking. “Just leave it alone.”
He exhaled roughly and crossed his arms, not pleased.
Seriously, Alex, leave it alone. It’s in the past, she thought firmly, glaring back at him. She stepped forward, which caused him to take a step back.
“But he hurt you!” He roared back, the mirror on the wall behind him shaking with the sound. He moved a step forward as she stepped back. "He raped you!"
“And I lived through it,” she yelled back. “Just…leave it.”
Jim was suddenly in the room. “What’s going on?” He demanded.
The room quickly filled with the rest of her family. Sophie held her hands up as she watched the rage churn inside Alexander.
“Stay back,” she ordered. Laney backed slowly away and Catherina stood silently in the corner looking on.
“Why shouldn’t I?” Alexander demanded through violently clinched teeth, glaring at her. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t hunt him down, choke the life out of him, and make him regret every last disgusting thought that’s entered his head and every horrid thing he has ever done!”
“Because, there’s no point!” She yelled back. “So much for superior self-control…Get a hold of yourself, Alex!”
His nostrils flared and his mind ran at breakneck speed through the possibilities in a thought stream that only Sophie could hear. It wouldn’t be difficult to find him. No one would know. I have done it before…
Sophie snarled and pushed him back with a mighty shove delivered to his chest. Jim and Zoey exchanged a worried look while Dante stepped forward as if to intervene.
“That's enough. Drop it!” Sophie ordered. “Get a grip, Alex. It doesn’t do any of us any good to go that route. Leave. It. Alone!”
She pushed him back again when another determined look came into his eyes. She shook her head in warning and kept him at an arm’s length. She could feel his heart beating under her hand where it rested on his chest.
He glanced over at Catherina who still stood like a specter in the corner. Sophie followed the glare in Alexander’s eye to the other woman. Catherina looked warily at Sophie; as if she had something to fear from her. She bowed her head, and instantly Alexander and Sophie were alone in the room as the others quickly followed Catherina’s lead.
Alexander sighed and closed his eyes. He rested his head on the wall behind and took a slow, deep breath.
“Are you okay?” She asked briskly, still too keyed up to sound calm.
“Hmm,” he replied, nodding his head, but not opening his eyes.
Sophie took a step back from him.
He finally opened his eyes and looked at her questioningly. “You think about him often.”
“No,” she replied. “Just lately, and remembering is the better word. Something about dredging up personal histories and all the talk about violence has done it.”
“And…” he began, studying her, his eyes narrowing. “When I touch you? Does that conjure up demons?”
She sighed and smiled gently. She felt suddenly deflated.
“No. Not at all,” she promised him, reaching for his hand. “It’s completely different, Alex. Being with you is nothing like that day, nothing at all. And I don’t even think about all that when I’m with you.”
She looked deeply into his eyes in a needless effort to convince him of her honesty; he knew she was telling the truth.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s actually easier now that you know.”
“I can appreciate that,” he said and silently pulled her against his chest and simply held her there. “I am so sorry that you had to endure that,” he finally said.
She shook her head quickly to chase the thoughts away, hopefully for a very long time. She looked up at him with a reserved smile.
“It’s okay now,” she replied. “I’m okay now.”
He nodded as Laney bounded back into the room, pulling their attention from painful memories and to the more important present. She said nothing, but quietly took her place at the piano, trying her best to distract them with a melody.
Chapter 24
Jim and Alexander strode down the wide stairway to find Dante waiting with Catherina and the others in the front living room. Laney was sitting at the piano again, her fingers lightly dancing over the keys, a tentative tune coming out of the instrument. Sophie looked up when she sensed Alexander entering the room.
Dante immediately rose and met them in the entryway. They spoke in hushed tones. Sophie watched curiously, the book in her hands forgotten.
“Head west on St. Charles,” he said. “Begin searching in the Quarter. It is very populated. Catherina believes that you may find something or someone useful there.”
Alexander nodded.
Dante clapped him on the back “Respice finem,” he said: Look to the end.
Alexander shrugged. “Audaces fortuna iuvat,” he replied: Fortune favors the bold.
“God willing.”
Alexander chuckled under his breath.
Sophie stood and began walking towards them. “Mind if I come along?”
Alexander abruptly turned to look at her. “Yes, I do actually,” he answered briskly.
She rocked back on a heel as if he’d physically struck her. Her lip curled in anger, but she said nothing. Alexander grimaced; he regretted his words the moment they escaped his lips.
Jim looked warily from one to the other. “Uh, we’re gonna be out really late and we don’t really know what to expect,” he interjected quickly, trying unsuccessfully to salvage the situation.
Alexander quickly walked over to Sophie. He grasped her by the arms. “Please understand that I want you to be safe. Remain here with everyone else. You’ll go with us soon, I promise.”
“Fine,” she replied curtly, her eyes on fire. She turned on a heel and took her place in the oversized chair next to the piano. She picked up the book she’d abandoned a moment before without another word, and she didn’t look up at Alexander.
Alexander frowned at her, but didn’t say anything.
Jim clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on.”
They closed their eyes and were in the garage when they opened them.
“I’ll drive,” Alexander said quickly.
“Aw!” Jim grumbled, disappointed. “Alright man.”
They slid into the Audi and were on the road in moments. He headed north on First to St. Charles, and then headed northwest towards the French Quarter.
“Geez, how long’s it been?” Jim quietly asked after a minute, looking around at the scene outside of the windows.
“A little more than five years,” Alexander replied.
“Really? It seems a lot longer.”
“It does.”
The city was typically festive, just as any other Crescent City evening. This time of year, with the approaching holidays, it seemed to have an added undercurrent of excitement. Alexander was reminded that he would need to find a Christmas gift for Sophie.
“Yeah you do,” Jim agreed.
Alexander nodded. He steered the car to a metered parking place where he and Jim slid out to continue their search on foot.
“Let’s go this way,” Alexander suggested.
They swiftly passed bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. The smells of Cajun food and alcohol saturated the air as they scanned the crowd. They walked perhaps a bit too fast for humans, perhaps a little too quietly, but in the highly-congested streets they were still able to go largely unnoticed. They were dressed as inconspicuously as possible and nothing about the two revealed that they were not what they appeared to be.
“Hey man!” A youthful voice called out.
Alexander and Jim froze mid-step and turned at the exact same time. The youth who had called out to them jumped back at their synchronized movement.
Alexander glared at the group through focused eyes. “May we help you?” He asked, coolly.
“Yeah, man! Come here a sec,” he said, gesturing to them.
Alexander and Jim looked at each other. They surveyed the group before them, clustered unnaturally in an alley. They were dressed in black, with pale makeup and black eyeliner distorting their facial features.
More damn vamp kids, Jim thought dismissively.
Wait, Alexander replied.
What is it? Jim thought back, scrutinizing the group.
They’re not all human.
What?
Third from the left.
You’ve gotta be kidding me.
Unfortunately not.
Wonder how long he’s been hanging with them?
It is anyone’s guess. We need to get him away from them.
How?
Just follow my lead.
The swift mental exchange, taking less than two seconds, was followed by the uncertain shuffle among the group waiting at the back of the alley. The vampire in the group leered at them, a nearly imperceptible tension rippling down his limbs. He recognized Alexander and Jim moments after they’d figured out what he was.
In truth, the vampire was not conspicuous in his little band, and most humans would not have guessed that he was different. Yet he was there in their midst, hidden in plain sight.
Such foolish humans, Alexander thought. Other animals shy from their hunters, yet here the prey wrap their arms around their killer and find him mysterious. He shook his head in disgust.
If they only knew, Jim thought.
The vampire’s scent was too subtle for human senses to find repulsive. Alexander and Jim weren’t immune to it however, and the putrid scent of sugar-coated death brushed off of him and churned up Alexander’s and Jim’s noses in the same instant. Its rancidity flowed into their lungs and threatened a natural wave of nausea.
Who are they? A girl with hot pink hair asked in her mind.
How does Trent know them? A boy in all black wondered.
Aren't they the guys with the drugs? Another thought to himself.
Jim smiled at Alexander. Follow my lead.
“What do y’ think you kids are doing?” Jim asked sternly, puffing his chest out.
Each individual panicked as they exchanged glances between themselves again.
Ah, the good cop, bad cop routine, Alexander thought. Well done. “New Orleans P.D.,” he suddenly lied, knowing of course that none would have the presence of mind to ask for his non-existent identification.
The crowd scattered, leaving the vampire alone facing the two “police officers”. He slowly backed himself against the wall as his lips stretched over his gleaming teeth. Alexander reached him before he had taken two steps, grasping him around the neck, and pinning him against the same wall.
“What do you want?” The vampire hissed.
“Aw, what’s wrong?” Jim mocked over Alexander's shoulder. “Did we spoil your fun and chase dinner away?”
The vampire hissed at him. Jim rolled his eyes.
“Where is Jacques?” Alexander asked in an eerily calm voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” he replied, his black eyes flat.
Alexander gripped his neck tighter and knocked his head against the wall. The vampire hissed and spit in his direction.
“Oh, come now…Trent is it? Surely you know what we are and you probably even know who we are. Do spare us the theatrics and tell us where Jacques’s coven is hiding,” Alexander said.
Recognition flashed in the vampire’s eyes before they narrowed into deadly slits.
“You can go to hell,” hissed the vampire in response and he lunged forward, attempting to strike at his throat.
“Not today,” Alexander replied, before his hand shoved a stake through the vampire’s chest so hard that the bricks in the wall behind him cracked with the force.
The vampire gasped as realization hit, right before he slumped over the stake. Alexander stepped back and Jim tore the head off with the knife he carried in his belt.
“Good riddance,” Jim said.
Alexander flipped the top of his silver lighter back, ignited a scrap of wood and set the body ablaze. They slipped out of the alleyway unnoticed.
“Well, so much for that,” Jim said, disappointed.
“It was productive,” replied Alexander. He shrugged, pleased with how it had gone.
“How’s that?”
“He would have honestly claimed innocence if Jacques were really not here, of that I am sure. Instead he cursed us, confirming that Jacques and his coven are indeed here in New Orleans,” Alexander quickly explained.
“So what now?”
Alexander’s jaw clinched, but he didn't answer.
“We need Sophie,” Jim said.
“Yes,” Alexander replied grimly. “As much as I want to keep her from this, it can’t be avoided.”
Jim patted him on the back. “It’ll be okay, you know.”
“Always the optimist.”
Jim laughed. “Well…we could always wait for them to come to us.”
Alexander raised an eyebrow at him. “You know the best defense is in taking the offensive.”
“Yeah, I know. I just thought I’d try.”
“Let’s look around some more,” Alexander said.
“And then?” Jim asked, for he detected hesitation in Alexander’s voice.
“And then I am afraid we’ll need Sophie.”
*
Dante, Zoey, and Sophie greeted them when they walked through the door. It was a few hours past midnight, but they had been strategizing while Alexander and Jim were gone.
“Well,” said Jim, “if they didn’t know we were here yesterday, they do now!”
“What happened?” asked Sophie.
“Let’s just say we deprived the city of New Orleans of a few of their more menacing citizens,” Jim answered with a grin.
“How many?” Dante asked.
“Three,” Alexander replied; they had encountered two others before returning home.
Dante exchanged a look with Zoey and Sophie before he turned back to Alexander. “Were you able to glean any information from them before dispatching them to the devil?” asked Dante.
Alexander nodded with a smirk. “From one female: we learned that Jacques’s coven typically congregates in the warehouse district near the waterfront.”
“Anything else?” Zoey asked.
“They’re planning to come after us, but not yet. ‘Course, we already knew that,” Jim explained. “Looks like Jacques’s crew is already here, but without him.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow.
“He gave them explicit orders to refrain from attacking until he returns,” Alexander continued.
