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Mina’s POV
Everything is tuned out except for the screaming voice of the bitch who murdered my father in cold blood and now screaming in how Vlad is bleeding after she just shot him. Vlad is on top of me, protecting me if she pulls the trigger again. She still has the gun on us, unsure if she would pull the trigger again on us until I hear the click of the trigger. The gun goes off but I do not feel the bullet hit me or Vlad. My eyes go to see a man came out of nowhere; his hand grabbed her hand holding the gun. The gun goes off several times in attempts to put a bullet into the man who is saving us but fails.
I do not know who the man is but he fights her off while screaming, “RUN!!!!”
Vlad struggles to stand up when Matthew and Claire run to us in terror of what is happening. Matthew puts Vlad right arm over his shoulders to help him move faster. I feel like everything around me is a blurred out and distorted until my eyes focus on the good bystander fighting off my father’s murderer. All of the fear, shock, and disbelief drain out of me immediately into a fury of rage toward the bitch.
I get to my feet screaming with all of my might, “Murderess Bitch!!”
Her focus turns to me as she tries to fire off another shot at me. However the man flips the murderess bitch over, using her own weight against her. I’m about to charge over there and kill her until Vlad cries for me, “Mina! Please don’t! We need to go now!”
Matthew screams the same and we need to get to a hospital now. Claire comes over to me, grabbing me by the arm and she is attempting to drag me away if she has to. I look back to see the woman that killed my father in cold blood. I want to know why and kill her with my bare hands until the gun goes off a few more times in our direction.
We all duck down in the hopes that none of the bullets managed to hit us; I snarl wanting to kill her but I see Vlad is starting to bleed out. I yell out in anger knowing I need to do the right thing before I do the worst. All four of us go to the car but Matthew cannot hold him up on his own as he passes out.
“No, Vlad. Wake up. You need to stay awake right now.” I go over to him, cupping his face in my hands.
“Mina, slap him across the face. He needs to stay awake right now.” Matthew tells me.
I am about to slap him across the face to wake him up until I see blood drenching the left side of his chest. Matthew sees what I see and we both gasp in horror. He has been shot near or at his heart! I scream of Vlad being dead but thankfully he is not in how he groans when I place my hands over the bullet wound.
“Mina, start the car now! We will get him in the car!” Matthew shouts to me.
I cannot let Vlad die the same way my father died. I look around knowing the fastest way we can get back to the car. Claire picks Vlad up at his feet while Matthew carries him under Vlad’s arms. We move as quickly as possible to the car and get to it.
I am grateful that we drove out his new 2015 Porsche Macan S, black vehicle for the night. I unlock the car, opening both of the back doors so they can get in easily. They manage to get Vlad into the car, closing the doors as I get into the driver seat however Vlad still remains passed out.
Claire is crying in all that is happening while Matthew takes off his coat, tying the coat around Vlad’s waist to stop the bleeding from the first bullet. Then he places both of his hands on the bullet wound close to his heart. It seems like Matthew knows enough to help keep Vlad alive for now.
“Vlad! If you can hear me, stay with us! We are going to get you to a hospital! Claire call the hospital so they can have it prepped! Mina, drive!” Matthew yells at the top of his lungs.
Claire gets out her phone and calls up the hospital, “Yes! My friend has been shot twice and the shooter is after us! We are driving to the hospital now!” She keeps on talking to them answering their questions of where he was shot at and how his shots are being addressed until we get to the emergency room.
I turn on the car when in the rearview mirror I see the murderess bitch coming around the corner to finish the job in killing me or anyone else that stands in her way to get to me. I shove my foot onto the gas pedal and the car takes off with smoke coming off the tires as it lurches forward. I peel us out into the street when the bitch literally manages to jump on the car and hold onto the roof.
I suspected her to continue to shot at me but she does not. She must not have the gun on her anymore but I can a street light reflecting on the front window to see that she pulls out a freaking sword and drives it into the roof, trying to do everything she can to get to me. Claire screams in terror of the woman still trying to attack.
I make a wild turn onto a dark street then I feel a piercing, cold steel strike me. I cry out in agony when she manages to cut across my right shoulder and I can hear her laughing from the rooftop. She pulls the sword out, ready to drive it down again to finish me off.
All of the pain is snuffed out when I see an oncoming car in the other lane. I immediately speed straight toward the oncoming car in the hopes that the bitch will let go. However the oncoming car moves out of the car while honking their horn at me. I snarl when hearing her evil laugh from the rooftop of the car. My eyes see another turn to get us closer to the hospital.
I immediately turn the stirring wheel, cutting another sharp turn. Matthew and Claire hang onto whatever they can while screaming as the back end of the car hits into a parked car. Then a sudden thud goes over the front of the car and I see the utter terror of shocking going over her face before she goes over the hood of the car.
I feel myself become numb in the feeling and sound of the car running her over is violently shaking with a splashes of blood going all over the front bumper, the cracking of bones when the back wheels go over her body. I cannot resist in giving a smile as my eyes go to the review mirror to see the murderess bitch limp on the road. I want so terribly to stop the car and run her over several times in a row but Vlad needs to get some help.
I drive on as the inside of the car is in complete silence in the process of what is happening. I continue driving through traffic, not caring if a police was to start chasing us. I begin to feel the pain from my injury that hurts to use but I yell over the pain in driving faster in passing cars even driving in and out of the opposite lane.
I feel myself going on auto pilot to get us to the hospital. I feel like something else has their hands on the wheel, almost like I am sleep driving. The engine of the car is roaring in the speed I am going until I hear Matthew and Claire shouting at Vlad. Matthew even slaps him in the hopes he will wake up. Vlad does wake up from the slap, trying to stay awake but the loss of blood and shot twice is making it beyond difficult for him to do so.
I cry out to Vlad but he is not responding at all as Matthew continues to keep pressure on his upper chest wound. Matthew stares at me in horror when Vlad goes unconscious and not responding to any of us this time.
“Vlad! Vlad! No! Wake up! Please wake up!” I beg to Vlad as tears burst down my face.
He still does not respond so my eyes go to Claire in the rearview mirror. “Claire, call Luke and the others now! They need to get to the hospital as well!”
Claire reaches for my purse and grabs my phone; making the calls as I shift gears and jerk the wheel to barrel through the streets. Then I see a red light coming up and I tighten my grip on the wheel, heading straight toward the red light. I start honking the horn nonstop for others drivers to stop or dodge me; Claire sees what I am doing and screams at the top of her lungs when going into oncoming traffic.
I speed right through the red light; driving in between several cars that do anything they can do avoid us. Thankfully none of them crashed into one another when getting to the other side.
I speed over 85 miles per hour us the entire way there then immediately pull on the E brake to help turn right toward the hospital. I slam my foot on the brakes, stopping just in front of the emergency room entrance. I swiftly get out of the car to open both of the back doors. I see a few nurses and security guards yelling, “You cannot park here!”
“He has been shot twice, lost a lot of blood and he passed out!” I scream to the nurses as soon as I open the door to show them Vlad, Matthew and Claire.
The nurses immediately call for a stretcher and more hands to help with everything else they need for Vlad. They all work together to get Vlad out of the car and onto the stretcher like a team. All three of us go into the hospital, following them back. They get into a large room for them to start further work on Vlad. I stop to realize how much blood was drenched on Matthew’s hands that came from the shots.
The nurses go back and forth between each one saying, “Get a line started! Two GSW, chest through abdomen and abdominal! His stats are over 60 and dropping!”
I hear Vlad moaning when they start to cut his shirt and pants off so they can get to his wounds better. The main doctor sees how the coat was tied around his lower gunshot wound. “And good job to whoever did this tie-off to stop the bleeding.”
I would feel some relief to what the doctor said to Matthew but I notice that Vlad is not breathing properly, almost like he is choking by an unknown force. The main doctor screams, “He is hypoventilating! Hand me the bag!”
He is handed the bag by one of the fellow nurses and he starts to use the bag to try to help his breathing. “Come on, sir! Stay with us! What is his pulse?!”
“Tachy in the 140s! Dropped his systolic to 78!” One of the nurses said when they finish getting some lines into him.
One of the nurses comes up to us asking, “What is his name? Does he have any allergies? Is he on any medications? Anything we need to know about him right now to help him.”
I am frozen in seeing everything they are doing to Vlad as my heart is beating so fast that it could burst out of my chest. I feel like I cannot breathe myself as everything starts to become blurry around me when suddenly I look to the deep cut that bitch did to me with that sword. There must have been something on the blade and it is affecting me now.
“The sword cut me and I don’t feel right…” I tell them slowly, slurring my words just before the entire room starts to spin then becomes black.
I feel like I do not have the strength to stand and the weight goes out from under me. My body becomes limp like a noodle, dropping towards the floor. Thankfully I feel someone catch me in their arms instead of hitting the floor as the bright lights of the hospital shine over anything else in my sight. I feel my eyelids forcefully trying to shut. I try to fight off whatever it is that is making react like this but it overpowers me. As everything becomes black, my last thought is when I first met Vlad. He was smiling at me for the first time at the flower stand.
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Vlad’s POV
I feel myself flashing in and out of consciousness and everything is really bright. I feel my body being carried, moved from one place to another as bright lights go on and off above me. I hear unknown voices going back and forth just above me while my body is drenched in my own warm blood. I struggle to move my eyes around to find Mina but I cannot see anything with all of the bright lights surrounding me.
Suddenly the bright lights go out to show my life playing before my eyes like a movie I am watching on the side line. I see my father handing me over to the Sultan to join the Turks along with the other thousand boys. My life jumping to the very first man I killed, begging for his life so he can return to his wife and son. I drive my sword right into him, impaling him instead of giving him a swift death like the other soldiers did.
I stand with six other Turk soldiers in a rain storm among a battle, impaling every man who stood in my way. I advance on the next warrior to face me. And when the storm settled, I fall to my knees sickened with all of my monstrous acts, holding the cross pendant Mirena gave to me to carry and return home when I was done serving the Turks. I pray for the first time in years to my Lord and Savior for forgiveness in all the sins I have committed.
Then everything changes to Mirena and me saying our wedding poem, becoming man and wife. And after trying for so long, Mirena is pregnant with our first child. I fall to my knees kissing her stomach carrying our son, Ingeras every single morning when I woke up and every night before going to sleep. And I thanked God for every moment Mirena sinks into my arms especially when holding Ingeras for the first time. I never cried in so much joy in my life except that day I became a father.
After that, the feeling of Ingeras taking his first steps toward me and Mirena, his first words, riding a horse at a trot, canter to full gallop for the first time. Then the first time he liked one of the many girls chasing after him and going horseback riding together as father and son is something every good father or mother will forever keep in their hearts.
Then my memories keep on flashing in and out like bright lights being turned on and off. I feel like my insides are being moved around by several hands. I do not understand what is going on as I try to open my eyes but I still cannot see anything. I feel my eyes moving around but I cannot open my eyelids to see what is going on around.
The flashing happens again that I see the shooter aiming the gun at Mina. I immediately stand in front of her. I stare at the shooter when a bullet casing falls to the ground. I look down at my chest, touching my fingers to a wound with bright red blood covers my fingertips. I feel my body go out from under me, falling to the ground on my backside in shock that I have been shot and bleeding.
Mina’s voice is muted when I see the shooter still holding the gun on her, ready to pull the trigger again. I don’t know where I found the strength to grab Mina. I place myself on top of her before the possible chance of the shooter firing again; I will take the next bullet or bullets. The shooter is screaming something but I am unable to understand what all of the voices are saying. The only sound I can hear is Mina’s panicked breathing in my ears.
The shooter inches her finger on the trigger when her arm is jerked up, firing the bullet into the sky. I cannot see who stopped the shooter when I feel everything around me go black, losing consciousness in finally hearing Mina scream my name over and over again. I take a breath in fear that Mina is going to die and I cannot protect her. I need my vampire side to come back right now…
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Matthew’s POV
Mina is in my arms knocked out. I see the cut from whatever that shooter dosed the blade of the sword that cut Mina. A few nurses come over to tend to Mina and the deep cut. They take her to another bed just a few feet away from Vlad. Claire is crying in horror in all that has happened. I take her into my arms and she buries her face into my shoulders.
One of the nurses came up to us asking, “What are their names? Any allergies? Any medications they are taking?”
I was about to answer until Luke runs into the room saying, “His name is Vlad Tepes. Her name is Mina Barnes. There are no allergies or medications for either of them.”
“Who are you?” One of the nurses asks him while filling out the paperwork.
“I am his Handler and friends to both of them. Matthew and Claire are good friends to them as well. Here are both of their medical histories in these folders.” Luke says while handing two folders to the nurses. The nurses take them and show gratitude to Luke for giving them all they needed to help Vlad and Mina.
“Alright! What is the update for the OR?!” The doctor screams once he stabilizes Vlad’s breathing.
“It is good to go!”
“Alright! Red line to the OR now! Go!” The doctor screams for all to hear and a path is cleared for them.
They prep the stretcher for Vlad and start making their way to the OR. We all look to Mina to see what is going on. They cut off her shirt and she is down to her pink lace bra. They look at the deep cut to see an infection of some kind is slowly spreading around the cut.
Luke goes forward to take a look but the nurses yell at him to leave. Luke does not when he tells them, “Give her activated charcoal. It will stop it from going any further into her blood and reverse its effects. Then a sedative so she can sleep it off while the poison leaves her body. Do a blood test and an ECG to be safer than sorry that the poison is out of her system entirely.”
The nurses’ freeze in what Luke said and one of the nurses check to confirm with everything Luke said. And they start doing all he said to help Mina without a moment to lose. Luke steps back then looks to me and Claire. He pulls us to the side asking, “Are you both alright? Are either of you hurt?”
“We are ok; in shock but ok. We are not hurt.” I tell him as Claire remains in my arms.
“None of that blood is yours?” He points to my entire shirt and stained hands.
“No. It is all Vlad’s blood.”
“Ok. I am so glad you both are safe now and thank you for helping Vlad and Mina here safely as well.”
“That makes two of us however Mina is the one who drove us here. I tried to stop the bleeding and keep Vlad awake. Claire made the calls to everyone to come here. Lucy and Draven should be here any minute now.”
“Mina drove here?” Luke asks almost in shock.
“She did and her driving was like a demon escaping out of hell the way she drove. She drove like she has done it a million times.” Claire answers him and the look on her face was terrified when talking about Mina’s driving. Luke notices the look on her face as well.
“Tell me everything that happened.”
Claire is shaken up terribly in what happened so I tell him everything and I do not leave a single detail out. Luke sees the amount of blood that stained my hands up to my elbow as I tell all. Then when I finish telling him, several officers come into the ER room along with Vlad’s old friend, Draven. The officers want a statement of the shooting.
The nurses want to check Claire due to how much shock she is in and they want to check and clean me up as soon as I am done making a statement to the police. Luke and Draven go to Mina and follow the nurses into the separate room they are placing Mina. I stay within view for Claire to see me as I continue to make a full statement about the shooting and the driving to the hospital.
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Draven’s POV
We watch the nurses make sure the lines connected to Mina are good as well as her vitals. We remain silent waiting until the nurses leave the room. We thank them on the way out of the room and I close the door behind them. We wait two minutes to make sure we are clear then I nod my head to Luke. He sets down his black brief case and opens it to find what he is looking for to help Mina. I stay at the door to ensure we are still safe.
Luke takes out a syringe filled with a sort of liquid unknown to me. He makes sure it is good to go then moves the hospital gown off of Mina’s shoulder. My eyes see the deep cut that looks like the work of a sword on Mina. Luke sticks the needle directly into the wound. Mina does not react due to the seductive to let her sleep through it.
Luke pushes it all into the wound and once it is all gone, he pulls the needle out of her. I come over to see that the wound on Mina is already beginning to truly heal. I’m filled with relief to see a difference in how Mina is sleeping to know it is working. However the relief is changed to anger in wondering who tried to kill her and Vlad.
I know it failed but who knows if whoever did this will be back tonight even though they are in the hospital. Or they will wait until they are out of the hospital to strike again. I know for now, they are safe and Mina is out of danger with Luke’s way of medicine.
“What was that you gave her?” I ask him.
“I am sure you can smell the poison to know it is wolf’s bane, aconintine. Several compounds are toxic to humans. It mainly affects the heart but also affects the nervous system. She would have been dead by now but the adrenaline of the shooting and driving to the hospital managed to fight it off until now. I gave the nurses advice of what they could do for her until I could be alone with her.” Luke says preparing another dose because she will need one more in her IV line.
“You have a cure for wolf’s bane?” I am shocked that he knows this.
“A cure for humans, yes but for the supernatural, no; not even close. Check to make sure we are alone before we talk any further.” Luke says placing the needle into the line then pushes it.
I watch him empty the syringe into the line. He takes it out then wraps it up and places it back into his briefcase. I sense all kinds of tonics and antidotes in his briefcase if any of them were needed. Luke may just be Dracula’s handler but he is far more than just his handler. Luke is starting to grow on me the more I am around him. We watch Mina get all of her vitals back to normal.
“Please check to make sure we are alone before we talk any further.” Luke says to me.
I go over to the door if I need to stop anyone from coming in aside from nurses, Matthew, Claire and Lucy. I use my senses to make sure that no one is going to enter the room or listen in. I nod my head to Luke when I know we are clear and Mina truly is asleep so she cannot hear what we are speaking about.
“What in the hell happened tonight? You called me to say Vlad was shot? Did the shooter use silver or wolf’s bane designed bullets?”
“Not sure since none of the officers have gone over to get any shell casings. I know we will find out more when they go to the scene. He took the bullet for her. Whoever the shooter was, they were prepared against the supernatural. And no worries, the main doctor working on Vlad is with the Order. So any hospital public record is safely changed for the human public record.”
“Ok. But do the police or the Order have any leads? Or was it Marishka?” I ask him in anger that someone targeted Dracula and Mina tonight of all nights.
“Matthew described the shooter but it was nothing fitting Marishka’s description.” Luke says to me when he stands by Mina’s bed side.
“There is only one way to fully see what happened. Is Matthew or Claire bleeding?” I ask him.
“No. Do not even think of it, Draven.” Luke knows exactly where I am going with this and he does not want me to drink from the others.
“It will get the answers we need. At least see if there is something with their blood on it.” I whisper to him in the hopes he will be convinced.
Luke takes a few minutes to think about it then leaves the room in a huff that he is actually agreeing with me. We do need answers. I stand by Mina’s bed as fifteen minutes pass by. Hopefully he gets something with their blood on it. Although if there is nothing Luke can find for me to see the shooting, there is only one person that can give me the answer I need.
My eyes go to Mina who is sleeping deep from the sedative they gave her. I listen to her heart rate to hear it is calm, steady and her blood purged of the poison. Her blood is singing a calm melody through her veins. I study her beautiful face possibly for the first time. My eyes truly see her as more than the face of Dracula’s wife, Mirena. She has fair skin that would shine like a rare diamond in the sunlight and her blonde hair with some curls that also shine like the sun.
If she and I had met in another life, her lips would destroy all the sins from my lips down to my bones. I continue to admire her as I gently bringing her left hand into mine. I press my lips together not wanting to drink from her since she is with Vlad and she is a good woman. I never drink from good people, only the bad ones that deserve to be drunk from. I shall ask for death if I am not permitted forgiveness in what dreadful sin I am about to do.
“Don’t even think about having a single drop of her blood.” Luke says in a fury, slamming the door shut behind him without a worry of waking Mina.
“Luke, I am in sorrow more than you are in doing this but we need to know what happened. I will only prick her finger, enough to see who did this. You can tell Vlad as soon as you are able to and I will gladly take whatever punishment he sees fit to give as long as the murdering bitch is captured or dead.” I tell him honestly.
Luke paces back and forth knowing I am right; no matter how much neither of us wants to do this. He shakes his head yes and stands at the door to keep watch. I still have Mina’s left hand in mine as I bring her hand to my mouth. I turn her hand and kiss the inside of her wrist. I bless her blood in what I am about to do while my fingernails transform into vampire claws. I trail them to her left index finger and under her fingernail.
I gently stick one of my claws under her nail, enough to break skin. I smell the freshness of her blood slowly pour out. I feel myself overcome by my bright red vampire eyes in her heavenly red blood. I place her finger to my mouth. I drink enough that I feel her memories come to me like a sudden wind. I swiftly place my finger over the cut to help stop the bleeding quickly as if I never took from her.
I close my eyes, sinking myself further into her memories. The hospital room changes into a lite up street with a few parked cars and Mina walking hand in hand with Vlad. My eyes see Matthew and Claire are a few steps ahead laughing in joy before kissing one another. I stride behind them as if I am a part of this memory.
Vlad stops Mina about to tell her something important. I realize the words every man and woman wishes to hear true once in their lifetime. However the words are stopped when a woman walks right up to them with the gun in hand. The shooter is not Marishka but a woman all the same; she aims right at Mina.
Mina recognizes the shooter just as she recognizes Mina too. The trigger is pulled without hesitation. There is a shattering gunshot to break the joyous night. Vlad stands in the way of the bullet. Mina is in frozen shock until Vlad falls to the ground bleeding. My eyes go the shooter is shouting in shock that Vlad was bleeding.
Why is the shooter in shock that Vlad is bleeding? Does she know Vlad is a vampire and knows the risk of shooting Dracula? The risk of anyone harming Dracula will bring the whole wrath of the Master Vampire and the Order. But their wrath is nothing compared to mine once I see the result of the shooter in these memories. I shall hunt her to the ends of the earth if not time.
I walk over to the woman holding the gun to get a glimpse of the bullets but I cannot sense if the bullets are dosed in silver or wolf’s bane. Only Vlad will be able to confirm what the bullets were once he is out of the surgery performed by the Order doctor. My eyes go to the face of the shooter still shouting at Mina when Vlad puts himself over Mina ready to take more bullets if he has to.
The unknown woman pulls the trigger but her arm is jerked up, causing the bullet to go away from Mina and Vlad. My mouth drops when I see the one who stopped the shooter. It is Shkelgim who intervened, fighting the shooter. Shkelgim manages to fight the shooter however she lets off more bullets and one hit directly into Vlad’s chest, close to his heart. The others carry Vlad to the car when he passes out. They struggle to get in while Matthew is tending to Vlad’s wounds. Mina drives away like a mad woman as Matthew stops Vlad from bleeding out on the lower bullet wound.
I am in the front seat of the car to keep watching the memory. I see both bullets are entries but no exit. It explains why Vlad is not able to heal properly while the bullets are still in his body. Vlad is in and out, trying to stay awake. He yells and slaps Vlad to keep him conscious. Matthew did everything he could to keep Vlad going in all of this. I am not a fan of Vlad being friends with humans but I’ll consider Matthew because he is a real one.
Mina drives when the shooter climbs to the roof but ran out of bullets. The unknown woman then takes an actual sword, driving it through the roof a few times before she manages to get Mina. I feel the pain of Mina when she cries out from the sword piercing her. Then I see something awaken in Mina to get the woman knocked off the roof. She rolls over the front of the car. My mouth drops in utter shock and amazement that she is ran over. I cannot resist in smiling that the bitch was ran over. I hope she died from impact.
I keep my focus on the shooter but the memory does not let me see what happens however I see the street name so I know to go there after all of this. I sense that Mina wanted to stop the car and back up to kill the woman but getting to the hospital to save Vlad meant more to her than anything else right then. Claire called the hospital then Luke.
Mina starts to drive like something has taken over long enough for her to get to the hospital and nothing to stop her. She speeds right through a red light, speeding by vehicles to the point of getting into the opposite lane. She is breaking the law all over the place on the road. I am honestly surprised that no cops pulled her over on the way.
Mina drives right up to the hospital and Vlad is pulled out of the car onto a stretcher into the hospital. Mina follows behind him however everything starts to become blurry once the wolf’s bane takes effect on her. I see her last thought is meeting Vlad for the very first time at her favorite flower stand. She smiles to him and he smiles back before her world goes black.
I open my eyes in a rage when the memory ends. I growl in feeling all that Mina was feeling. Luke comes over to me asking, “Who was the shooter?”
“She looked like a homeless junkie solely sent there to kill Mina. Mina was the target, not Vlad. Vlad took the bullets. And you will never guess who stopped the shooter.” I tell Luke doing my best to keep my rage contained.
Suddenly someone knocks on the door of the room that makes me and Luke turn to see who it is. The door opens to reveal who it is. Luke’s mouth drops open and I snarl to see it is Shkelgim himself. He walks into the room when I notice he is cleaned up with nice clothes and shorter hair than the last time I saw him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Luke manages to say in the shock that he is even here.
“I’m here to help; nothing more.” Shkelgim tells us closing the door behind him.
I snarl at him knowing he is only here for his own selfish reasons even if he says he is here to check on Vlad. “Luke, he stopped the shooter. He was watching Dracula for who knows how long.”
“Why were you watching him?” I get in his face expecting him to cower in a corner like he always did centuries ago but he stood his ground against me like never before. I am not thrown off by him doing this however Marishka has already done enough to risk vampires. He will do the same if he remains here any longer.
“It possibly involved Marishka. I have been enlisted by the Order to help and my task was to keep an eye on him in case she attacked. Not sure if she sent the woman to kill Mina and Vlad. If she did, Marishka is going to get the sunlight chamber or a death from the Master Vampire’s hand himself. All in all, Marishka is finished if she is involved with the shooting in any manner.”
I take a step back in how solid he is with all he has said. He has never lied and never will when it comes to Dracula himself. I lightly shake my head being impressed with all of this. I do have to doubt his means of joining the Order. That will come back to bite him sooner or later.
“I never thought this is something I would utter out loud but here goes. That is one thing we can agree. What do you know?”
“Before I go into details, where is Lucy? She needs to be here for this as well.” Shkelgim says looking around for Lucy. Luke and I look to one another not realizing that Lucy is not here yet.
Luke asks me, “Where is she?”
“I called her. She said she was on her way.” I tell him.
Then all three of us start to worry that something may have happened to Lucy as well. Then suddenly my phone rings. It is Lucy calling. I answer her saying, “Where are you at, Lucy?”
I hear silence on Lucy’s end but I freeze the moment I hear Lucy speaking to Marishka. She must have called us to let us know she is there now. Marishka almost sounds possessed when saying Lucy’s name when a thunder storm erupts throughout the night sky out of nowhere.
“Luke, stay with her. I am going to Lucy’s. Keep me updated.” I say to him.
Luke agrees and does not question me as I open the door to leave. I stop when Shkelgim is right behind me. “Where are you going?”
“Oh like I am going to miss this?” He says to me like he is getting a front row seat to Marishka’s public execution. We both exit the hospital then take to flight.
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Lucy’s POV
I get on my velvet black jacket ready to leave when suddenly I feel someone in my apartment. I take out my phone and I call Draven. I lower the phone volume all the way down so they can hear me but whoever is in my place cannot hear them. I see the phone call is answered when use my senses wondering who it is while I walk into my living room with my phone in my back pocket.
I freeze when the presence is one I have not felt in centuries. I smile in joy to turn to find Marishka in the corner by the big windows with the view of the city.
“Marishka.” I say in joy.
“Lucy…” Marishka snarls to me in a way I have never heard before.
I’m about to walk over to her but stop in my tracks when I see she is terribly wounded. Marishka looks like she has been torn apart by some kind of animal, covered in claw marks, parts of her flesh ripped and chewed apart down to the bone. I hear the torn fabric of her black dress dragging along the floor. She limps toward me as a dying woman willing to do anything to get Dracula back.
Marishka looks as insane on the outside as she does on the inside. If someone was to see her on the streets, anyone would think she just walked straight out of a murder sight or a bear attack as she smiles a murderous, sinister grin directly at me.
“Lucy, I expected feel hatred at the sight of you. However I am so glad to see you all the same, my beloved vampire sister.” She says limping over to me and wraps her barely together arms around me.
“I wish you had come to me sooner. Please sit down so I can tend to your wounds.” I gently start to walk her over to my couch but she refuses to do so.
“Leave me, Lucy. I want him to see me like this. Dracula needs to see the result of releasing me. I know he will take me back if he sees the sight of me with you by my side.” Marishka says when I realize a part of her jaw was broken in how she moved it when she spoke.
I take a step back to truly see how much of a mad woman she looks like. I know I cannot change her mind about Dracula right out of the gate. I am going to try a different approach in the smallest hopes that she will at least think about it.
“Marishka, look at your position in doing everything you did to get him back. I know you cannot resist because he was your love after your husband passed. And it has gotten you to become a literal walking corpse. You have hit rock bottom but you are going to keep digging until you reach the earth’s core and burn yourself away.”
“Lucy, I do not want to talk about-“
“Marishka, we need to talk about this because you are just going to do the same damn thing as you have many times before. You set your mind, play your games to keep things forever the same and the best vampire to do it all but are you really? Should you really keep this up? Because it is not going well for you.”
Marishka looks surprised in my words of how I am approaching her when I manage to get her to the couch. She finally sits down and I feel my entire body ache of her muscles and bones tearing and cracking in the movements she makes to sit on the couch.
“I believe you need to give something else a shot. There is nothing wrong with a late immortal life change. This is a good opportunity to learn from your mistakes and become a different and better vampire.”
“I do not know how to do that like you, Draven and Dracula do with your new lives. All I see is that you are hiding from yourselves to keep up this fantasy prison you created.” Marishka says lightly shaking her head.
“We are not hiding from ourselves. Do you want to know why we are able to live in our new lives?” I ask her and kneel down before her.
She remains silent, not wanting to know the answer to that question. “You could care less about this however it is too bad. I’m going to tell you all the same, Marishka. Dracula, Draven and I surrounded ourselves with genuine, good friends who care about us and we care about them. We see their worth as well as our worth. The good friends we have sees, honors and appreciate our values. You can have that too. You can have healthy attachments with others even humans that will help you to be happy and content. That is one of the many reasons why we are able to live our new lives. I want the same for you, Marishka.”
Her eyes stare at me like I am nothing more than a blind child living in blissful ignorance in my own words. She yells out in agony of standing back on her feet and is a foot away from me. Her eyes turn to met mine when I stand to my feet as a thunderstorm is now all across the city and pouring rain outside.
“I have that with Dracula, Draven and you but you all betrayed me by allowing him to be with that vanilla mouse blood bag! We all need to return to the darkest shadows of the night is for the best. We all know that the smallest glimpse of the light will be the death of us. You all have become reckless and I am here to get things in order like I always have.”
Marishka is speaking to me like she is a chaos coordinator but she is the chaos. My eyes go down in no surprise or disappointment since I expected this from her. She truly has gone over the edge with her games however she has no idea that I do not play games anymore. My eyes go directly to her and I get right in her face. She is surprised and struggles to step away from me.
I growl in anger saying, “You are one to talk, Elizabeth Bathory. You literally threw men and women in the river on the land Dracula owned in the hopes he would go back to his old life. Talk about the lowest of pathetic and reckless. You cannot bring back the past no matter what you do. We are in a different world and Dracula will never love any of us like he did centuries ago.”
“He will, Lucy. He loves me. He loves you. He loves Draven. He loves us all.” Marishka starts to cry in my words. She will say and do anything to believe that Dracula she knows is still in there.
“You cannot return our old life bringing death and misery to others. I already see where you are going. You had your chance to have a new life, a new eternity shelter and you blew it. Everything you have done has led you to disaster and now death for you.” I tell her, waiting for the exact moment needed to keep her distracted.
Marishka cries as I hear her messed up bones cracking terribly in every movement she does. I keep a few steps back as she is crying uncontrollable when suddenly Draven appears behind her. I give a small smile as Marishka struggles to me. She grips onto the collar on my velvet jacket while sobbing, “What do I have now? I have nothing left.”
“You had me and Draven! And now that is all gone the second you endangered all vampires with your final love act to Dracula! You have no one to blame but yourself for this! All three of us could have still been together, our own coven with no master! Instead you would rather be waiting for a master for all damn eternity! It is over!” I unleash everything on Marishka.
Marishka shouts back in my face, “It is never over!”
“Don’t bet on it.” Draven says in anger with his arms crossed and a death glare to Marishka.
Marishka immediately tries to flee; Draven stops her before she could get away. He turns her around, forcing her against the wall to entrap her. He growls in her face with anger like I have never seen in him before. I stand behind him as lightening lights up the night sky followed with several booms of thunder. Marishka attempts to break free but fails against Draven’s strength. Marishka begins crying uncontrollable again.
“What is the rush? Stay a while. Explain to me how you would rather risk all vampires to the Order ran by the humans than be with us, your fellow vampire brother and sister?” Draven questions her mercilessly.
“He is everything to me, you and Lucy! If none of us can have him again then no one can!”
“So you arranged for a random woman to kill Mina and Dracula tonight all because you could no longer have him?! I am going to drag you to straight to the Order myself!” He grabs her by her hair then starts to pull her through my living room windows to fly her to the fate the Order has for her.
“I would drive a stake through my heart before even thinking to kill Dracula! I would kill that vanilla mouse blood bag myself without a second thought!” She shouts in between her agonizing cries.
Draven literally grips both of his hands on her head, dragging her up to her feet. He gets in her face asking in a fury, “Dracula stepped in front of the bullet to save her, nearly killing him! So whoever it is you sent to kill Mina and Dracula, you are going to take me to her now!”
“I never sent anyone to kill Mina nor Dracula! I would kill her myself! I would never send someone else to do my killings!”
Draven and I look to one another wondering if Marishka truly orchestrated the hit on them. Marishka is the kind of woman that would do it herself. She would never use another to do her killings. She has used others to cover up her killings plenty of times. However Marishka always delivered the death to her victims.
It is enough for Draven to let her go but he has a chuck of her hair in his hand. He drops the pieces of her hair in disgust. Marishka is on her side, moaning in pain from her wounds and dragged around like a rag doll.
“You speak the truth. You have always done your own killings but even vampires can change their ways of killings. So I have one question that will determine what happens to you after this and you better answer honestly. If you did not send someone to kill them, where were you?” Draven asks her, not wanting to play anymore games with her.
Marishka does not answer him until he stands over her, wrapping his right hand around her throat to look at him. “If you did not send someone to kill them, where were you?” Marishka still does not say a word. “Answer me or I will tear out your rib cage and hand you over to the Order like the rotting corpse you are!”
Her eyes move to me like she is ready to kill me where I stand. I see she reaches into the built in bra of her dress to pull out a phone covered in blood. She opens it and starts to dial a phone number when she growls at me, “Your smell was all over him…”
I freeze in her words when my phone starts ringing. Draven looks to me as well wondering where Marishka is going with this. I do not want to answer it if it is Luke however Marishka tells me to look at my phone. I notice the phone in her hand is calling exactly in between my phone ringing. I pull my phone out to see it is Kiral’s phone calling me.
My eyes go to Marishka when it is Kiral’s phone she has in her hand. I stop the call and the phone in her hand stops too. I feel nothing but fear fill me up when I ask her, “Where is he?”
Draven questions on who we are speaking of, “The hunter?”
“I’ll admit he smells sweet. And just by how he carries himself, he knows his way around pleasing a woman but to join a wolf and betray all of us for? That is the lowest of the low for you, Lucy.”
I use my speed to take Draven’s hand off her throat and I shove my right hand straight into her chest with my hand around her heart. Marishka screams that I will rip her heart out at any moment and eat it in front of her as she dies. I can feel the inside of her body literally almost decaying away to know she is dying already but I will speed it along right now.
“Where is he?!” I roar with all my might that my entire apartment shock like an earthquake.
“You actually care for that mutt?” Marishka actually looks shocked to see I care about him. I tighten my hand and slowly start to pull on her heart. Marishka cries out saying, “His corpse is rotting in the deep caves of Broken Tooth Mountain like so many others.”
I immediately release her saying, “It is all over, Marishka. Draven, take her to the Order. If you bring her in yourself, your name will be taken off the top five on the List.”
“That is a very good idea and I would like that very much.” Draven says to me in agreement.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Marishka says with a sinister look to us.
“Dare with me.” Draven says with pleasure.
He drags her up to her feet while I grab Kiral’s phone to smell his blood all over the phone in worry when Draven tells me, “Go, Lucy.”
I do not hesitate in taking flight out of my apartment, flying as fast as possible to Broken Tooth Mountain. The fear of him being dead is all that fills me up so I continue to fly my way through the dark night skies.
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Draven’s POV
I am ready to take to flight with Marishka when suddenly she says, “How is Diana?”
“Diana who?” I snarl at the mention of her name slipping out of Marishka’s poison lips so I wrap my hands around her throat again.
“The caster you are secretly in love with, Draven. Do you truly believe I was only watching Dracula since I returned? I have watched Dracula, you and Lucy. I would have watched Anastasia as well but she is very well protected to know when another vampire is watching her. Let me go and no one will know about your witch lover.”
I decide to play my own game. “Why should I believe you? What if I let you go then you get captured by the Order later to tell them about her?”
“You have my word. Even if I get captured by the Order without any involvement of you having me captured, they will not hear it from me. Decide right now, Draven. Let me go or you and Diana will be killed right along with me.” She says to me.
I stare right into her cold, dead eyes knowing she will deliver her word in telling the Order about me and her. I cannot risk Diana’s life knowing what her fate will be in being with me in any way shape or form. However I could kill Marishka right here and now. No one would ever know about Diana.
“And if you kill me, I have a fellow vampire ready to tell the Order about you with Diana. And Lucy with that wolf hunter. And to go to the Master Vampire to tell him all about that vanilla mouse copycat of Dracula’s wife, Mirena. He will take Dracula well before his Immortal Game of Revenge begins while the rest of you will be ashes right along with me. Decide now, Draven. Let me go and everyone else lives or kill me and risk all of your lives. Decide!” She screams into my face for me to know that she is playing a game with all of our lives.
I snarl in anger knowing she will deliver on her threat if I turn her in or kill her. However I want her to know one thing before I let her go, “I will let you go but if you ever tell the Order about any of us or kill another innocent human being, I will kill you. I won’t care what happens to the rest of us. The world will be better off without us. And I want you to know that you are disgusting and worthless. You always have been. Dracula never should have turned you. She should have been left to rot away that in your chambers bricked up for your crimes. You are disgusting! Get away from here and don’t come back!”
I stare down at her vampire gown and rip it right off her. The very gown Dracula gave to her as a gift I becoming his vampire bride. I stare at the old rag while Marishka cries out, falling on the floor next to the couch. I do not a beautiful naked woman before me. I only see a broken, beaten up corpse before she grabs the black velvet blanket from the couch. She wraps up her body then watches me use my vampire strength to tear apart her dress.
“No! Please stop, Draven!”
“You are no longer our vampire sister known as Marishka! You are Elizabeth Bathory! Now Go! Get out before I change my mind and kill you now!”
Marishka manages to use whatever strength she has left to flee from me and this area. I stare down at the remains of her dress feeling nothing but rage and sorrow for Marishka. I know how much Lucy and Vlad are going to beat me down for letting her go. But I could not take that chance to let her take all of us down with her. I release the dress and it drops to the floor. I bury my face into my hands for a few moments realizing I forever condemned her as Elizabeth Bathory; no longer our vampire sister.
But the feeling that is becoming torture is the fact that she found out about Diana. And if she can find out so easily so can others, I pull out my phone, wanting to play my own game against Marishka. I feel my fingers struggle to dial the phone number I have memorized by blood. The phone rings five times and she picks up.
“Are you alone and safe?” I immediately ask in worry.
“Yes to both. Are you alright?” Her beautiful, kind hearted voice fills me up with relief that she is alright.
“Elizabeth Bathory knows about us.”
She remains silent in my words for at least a minute and I can hear her heart rate doing what it can to remain calm. I focus on her breathing while she is thinking of what to do. I cannot see her however I know she is pacing back and forth when she comes up with a plan. And she certainly is a clever one to figure a way out so we are not caught.
Then she stops pacing when she has an idea. “I got it. She can be captured without the risk of anyone knowing about us.”
“Whatever it is, do it now.” I tell her in full trust and confidence to anything she has planned.
“Ok, Draven. Are you alright?”
“Yes and no.” I do not hold back with her.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” She asks like always in the rare times we speak or see each other.
“Please keep an eye out and remain safe, Diana. I love you more than anything, my blossom.” I tell her like it is the last time I will ever be able to tell her these words.
“You do the same, Draven. I love you too, my shadow prince.” She fills me up with love, relief and hope like I never imagined in her words.
Diana remains on the phone with me for another minute like she does every single time; knowing her heart beat calms me down unlike anything in my long life. I continue to listen as I never imagined I would be in love with an amazing woman much less a caster who I am undeserving of having but she is mine and I am hers all the same. I can feel it in my bones that I would walk through fire for her.
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Lucy’s POV
I land in front of the cave entrance of Broken Tooth Mountain. I freeze when my senses get a massive tidal wave of smell of rotting bodies and death coming from within. I have seen my fair shares of dark places but never have I been to Broken Tooth Mountain. It literally feels like I am at the depths of Hell standing here. I shudder knowing I need to go in there no matter what the mountain makes me feel.
I close my eyes knowing Kiral would do the same for me if I was in there. I focus my senses onto Kiral, casting aside any other corpse smell. I focus on every inch within the mountain until I hear what sounds like a low song singing to me. It is Kiral’s blood I hear barely singing to me and I dive all of my senses to where he is located. They go straight to where Kiral is deep within the cave. He is alive!
I open my eyes growling, ready for whatever dangers lay within the depths of Hell. I go in and immediately find him. I gasp to smell all of his black clothes are drenched in his own blood and next to him is a man dead with a gun in his hand. I notice Kiral has bullet holes on his left rib cage but he has not healed. How could a simple gun injury him?
I pick up the gun but I cry out in feeling the silver residue all over the handle. The gun was loaded with silver bullets. I heard stories that the Order designs their guns to only be designed to their own; no vampires or wolves can use it without nearly killing themselves using a whole magazine of bullets. It does explain the injuries to Marishka’s hands going up her arms.
I put my focus on Kiral as I bring him forward to see if he is awake. I rest my forehead on his when I notice I can see him under his black hood which means he added me to the spell or the spell has come undone. I cup his face into my hands and he is starting to become cold, his pulse and blood pressure has gone down from the silver bullets.
“Kiral, can you hear me? Kiral, please wake up!” I cry out to him but he does not respond with words however his blood reacts in a higher note, almost like his body knows I am here but his injuries are too great for him to wake up. I need to get him help even if that means I have to get him to Vlad’s handler, Luke to help save him.
“Kiral, keep fighting! Stay with me!” I shout to him as I place his right arm over my shoulders. I use my strength to get him to his feet despite he is unconscious. I use my speed to get him out of the cave and when I do, I see a random woman standing at the entrance of the cave.
I gentle set Kiral down and stand in front of him. I roar at the stranger woman, ready to protect Kiral with my life however the woman holds her arms up to show she is not here to fight. “Lucy Westenra, I am here to help. I am the one he called that night when he asked me to look into your family history.”
I freeze in her words and I can hear her strange heart to know she is telling the truth. I stand down in fighting her and she runs over to Kiral. She is in horror to see the state he is in. I wonder if this is his caster he mentioned before leaving. I do recognize her voice in the few times he talked with her on the phone. I know I cannot trust her with my life but I can trust her with Kiral’s life.
“There is another man in the cave. He is dead but I can tell he is with the Order.” I tell her.
“Please go get him. He deserves the right to be buried.” She tells me.
I cannot argue with that so I go back into the cave. I pick his corpse up in my arms however I leave his gun, knowing it will injury me more than it already has. I bring out the body of the man and place him a foot away from Kiral. The random woman looks shocked in the dead man saying, “Lucas. That fucking bitch! I’m going to kill her myself!”
“I am afraid you will have to get in line for Marishka.” I tell her out of honesty.
I take off my jacket as she takes the entire black drench coat off so she can take a closer look at his injuries. I place my jacket under Kiral’s head however I stop when she rips open his shirt and he is covered in deep claw marks all over his body but most of all his neck. It looks like Marishka tried to rip into him but he didn’t give her the chance to drain him dry.
I notice his caster is nearly crying however she keeps it together when seeing three gunshot wounds directly into his side. She looks at me and I can tell she is not sure how she can help him right now and I am her only option. “Lucy, you were a nurse and you care a great deal about him. Use your knowledge to save him.”
I do not hesitate to see if the bullets were through and through. But one bullet is still ringing inside of him, just below his heart. If the bullet was one inch higher, he would be dead by now. “Thankfully two bullets left him however the last bullet is lodged into him. It is causing him to get worse rather than heal. This bullet needs to come out of him otherwise he will die within the next hour. Do you have a safe place to take him with remedies and medicine?”
“Yes but you cannot speak of this place to anyone else.” She says in trusting me with where she is about to take me when she extends her right hand to me and her left is on Kiral’s neck. I take her hand in mine knowing we are about to travel the way a caster does. I never thought it was possible for me to experience myself but I am about to see this amazing thing.
“Please place your right hand on Lucas. I want to take his body back right now and not left here alone.” She says to me in great sadness.
I do so without a second thought knowing she is going to use her magic to take us where Kiral needs the medical care and remedies to get the silver bullet out and heal. My mouth gaps open in amazement as I see a swirl of lilac purple almost like the northern lights surround her then to the rest of us like a cloud. Then before I know it, we vanish away from Broken Tooth Mountain in a flash.
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Author’s Note - Hey everyone! Hopefully the chapter made you feels like you are on the edge of your seat and hit all the right places in feelings. The next chapter coming soon. XOXO – Faith Hammett
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