B008GMVYA4 EBOK (37 page)

Alex appeared in the doorway of the hall, followed slowly by
Trace. 

 “Let’s go” Gabby ordered walking towards the hallway.

The two boys followed a few paces behind, both walking in
the same motionless, identical fashion as they usually did.

Andy stepped forwards pulling Madison alongside him, her
feet shuffling and stumbled along the floor.

Madison awoke from the seatbelt pitching her flesh as the
car screeched to a halt. The journey from the nightclub to The Coven seemed to
past by in a mass of blurriness. She had slipped in and out of conscious
through the whole car journey, only remembering flashes of colour and snippets
of conversations throughout the whole car ride. Her body using the time to
rebuilds its strength. Madison opened her eyes slowly, her vision returning to
normal. Her body still weak from the ordeal, but she was more coherent and her
thoughts less jumbled.

A feeling of guilt and sorrow clouded her thoughts,
Stephanie was gone and the newborn Vampire which had been left in her place had
now been abandoned.  Even with everything that was happening, Madison felt
little fear or worry for herself but her thoughts and concerns were with the
friend she had lost and the friends she could still loose.

She wiped the condensation away from the back passenger
window and peered out onto the street below.

The black 4x4 had pulled up alongside the sidewalk of a
street that Madison had not seen before. It was still dark outside and the
street lights lit up the road in an orange glow allowing Madison to see the
building they had pulled up next too.

Six large, wide grey concert steps led up to large black,
double glass doors of a modern office block. The building wasn’t far off the
size of a sky scraper and every window was tinted black. It was one of the
tallest, glassed, offices Madison had seen since arriving in London. Brick
flower bed with shrubs and small bushes lined either side of the steps which
led up to the entrance of the building. From the outside the building looked
like a telesales company or something - nothing suspicious about it at all. A
building in plain sight with no suspicious surroundings or features would be
the last place someone would look if they were trying to locate The Vampire
Coven of London. Sometimes the most obvious is the hardest to find.

Andy who sat in the middle of the back seat of the 4x4 gave
her a nudge, gesturing for her to pay attention rather than gazing out of the
window.

Alex who sat on his left side stared at her suspiciously as
she looked around the car gathering her bearings. Trace sat in the driver’s
seat, he unbuckled his seat belt. Gabby sat in the passenger seat, day dreaming
out of the window. The two hooded boys (The Black Orchid) were nowhere in
sight, Madison hadn’t noticed them hanging behind when they left the nightclub
or quietly slipping off unnoticed.

Trace turned off the engine and shifted in his seat to face
the twin Vampires who sat in the back next to Madison. Sensing his movement,
Gabby also twisted around to face the back seat.

Andy nudged Madison again and gestured for her to get out of
the car, she threw him an annoyed look and then reached for the door handle.
She opened the door and stumbled out onto the sidewalk. Madison took a few
steps forwards until her arm caught on something which prevented her from
moving any further. She turned quickly to see Andy clutching her elbow.

“Wait for me” he said softly, slowly releasing his grip.

Alex jumped out of the car behind him, stretching his legs
from being cramped up for so long.

Madison was sturdier on her feet now, she felt slightly
light headed from stand up quickly, but the majority of her strength had
returned.

The wind was ice cold on her face and it quickly woke her up
from the fuzzy feeling she felt from just waking up. It made her feel better,
more alive. Waves of shivers flowed over her body making her skin tingle and the
small hairs on her skin stand on end.

Madison studied the street, looking up and down the quietly,
dim, sidewalk. The road was empty. No one roamed the streets like they did in
other parts of London and there was a silence which seemed spookily unreal.

She contemplated running for a second, but she knew there
was no way she would make it two feet without all four Vampires pouncing on her
– it was futile. 

Gabby and Trace joined Madison and the twin Vampires on the
sidewalk.

They all stood for a moment staring at the large black glass
office block. All four Vampires seemed reluctant to enter, realisation that
they were betraying their Coven setting in. For the first time since Madison
had had a run in with Gabby, she thought she saw sincere fear and guilt in her
features. Regret was something Vampires were not used to feeling and it was
becoming clear that all four Vampires were beginning to feel this. They looked
like naughty school kids coming home to accept their punishment for their crime
and of course their punishment would be their lives.

Alex was jumpy, his hands shook at his sides and his eyes
darted around the black tinted windows of the building.

“Gabby, I don’t think this is a good idea. I mean, The
Coven, their kill us when they find out!” Alex said worriedly, his eyes
fanatically scanning the windows of the building.

“What! You heard the Black Orchid, they won’t see us coming
we’re be in and out before they even notice we’re there. No one will even know
it’s us!” Gabby reassured, but it sounded like her efforts were more for her
own doubts.

“I don’t know, Gabby? What happens if someone see’s us? When
I agreed to help you find the girl, I didn’t intent to die because of her. We
were just following the rules of The Coven! Brendan broke those rules when he
told a human about her, we were meant to deal with her and then go home and go
to bed, but this? This is crazy! If I knew we were going to go against our
family and steal from them, I would have never of agreed to this!” Alex argued,
looking helplessly into Gabby’s eyes.

“Then why did you?!” Gabby asked angrily.

“Because… because I thought I was helping you, you are my
friend! We are all meant to abide by the code of the Coven. I was trying to do
the right thing!” Alex sighed.

“And it’s not because you thought doing this, you will get
to bone Gabby?” Andy blurted, a large smile creeping across his lips.

“What! No! Gabby, I never said that” Alex protested
innocently, his words were genuine but his eyes lied.

“Ewe….in your dreams” Gabby cringed.

“Stop it all of you! No one’s leaving, we’re in this
together!” Trace shouted, speaking for the first time.

Both Alex and Gabby fell silent at once, they looked
nervously towards Trace. Even Andy’s satisfied smile which had been spread
across his face just a moment ago slowly faded. Gabby threw an angry look at
Alex, her bright green eyes piecing through the darkness. The three Vampires
followed Trace’s demands with little protest, since he was now showing his
dominance. Madison had jumped at the sound of Trace‘s authorial voice and she
now eyed him warily.

Trace’s face was softer than before, but he still seemed
deep in thought. His long dark brown hair which was pulled back into a pony
tail flapped around in the wind. Trace had a rugged handsome look to him, one
that Madison might of even been attracted too if he wasn’t trying to help Gabby
kill her. Some people might even say he was better looking than Brendan, if you
like that dirty biker kind of look. There was a spark of unpredictability with
Trace, something Madison had felt from the very first moment she had clapped
eyes on him and deep down, this scared her more than Gabby. Madison knew little
about Trace which made her feel even more uncomfortable. She had no knowledge
of what kind of Vampire Trace was or why he had agreed to help Gabby in the
first place. It was becoming apparent why Alex had decided to help Gabby, he
had some kind of crush on her and Andy probably agreed because his brother had
or because he had nothing better to do. Gabby was the only Vampire that had a
real vendetta for Madison and the other Vampires just seemed to be along for
the ride. Stephanie and Faye had just been obstetrical in her way, which Gabby
removed with her minions. Brendan would surely serve the same fate if he were
to stand in her way.

It is human instinct to judge a person of their strengths
and weaknesses from their outer shell before even allowing you to get to know
someone. In the wild that must be how the animals pick their pray, juggling
their strengths and weaknesses to determine which is the best kill. In this
instance, Gabby and Trace had made it perfectly clear that they did not like
Madison – that they saw her as some kind of threat. When Trace had seen Madison
that night in the nightclub, he looked at her like a wild animal weighing up
his options.

 “Where’s the Black Orchid” Trace asked, his eyes still
focused on the glass doors of the building.

“We’re here” said two unnatural voices to the right.

Everyone span around to look towards the two boys who stood
in the center of the sidewalk - their postures identical. Their heads arched
over towards the floor and their hoods shadowing their facial features.

“Let’s go!” Trace said to the hooded boys.

Both boys nodded together and walked towards the Vampires
and Madison.

Trace took the first step, followed quickly by Gabby then
reluctantly by Alex and The Black Orchid. Andy stayed behind trying to usher
Madison forwards by pulling on her arm, but she protested keeping her feet
firmly on the ground.

Andy pulled her again, this time more forcefully causing
Madison to be thrown forwards almost losing her footing. She threw a frustrated
looked at Andy and allowed him to lead her towards the stone steps.

Madison’s legs wobbled as she took the large steps one by
one.

As they reached the two large glass doors, Trace reached
inside his jacket pocket and pulled out an electronic swipe card. Gabby and
Alex hovered by the door, both of their postures were slightly arched as if
they were about to be attacked. Brendan had done a similar pose when he had
been attacked by the Skin Crawlers.

Trace held the swipe card out towards the small black box by
the right hand side of the door.

“Wait!” one of the hooded boys said in haste, before Trace
could swipe the access card.

Trace looked at the boy confused for a second and slowly he
lowered his hand to his side.

“Allow me” one of boy said in a husky unnatural voice.

The boy took two steps towards the black swipe card reader,
his hand lowered towards the floor. His back arched like a man of eighty
instead of a boy of about fifth teen/sixteen. He stretched out his arm towards
the swipe card reader, the baggy sleeve of his black hoodie flapped in the
wind. Slowly, he lifted up his hand and placed the palm of his hand flat onto the
swipe card reader.

Madison watched the boy curiously.

The boy’s head twitched a few times and sparks flew out of
the swipe card reader in different directions - the device popped and cracked
quietly.

There was a loud clicking sound, and then the two glass
doors opened a fraction.

“They won’t be able to trace the intrusion back to your key
card” the boy said to Trace.

Trace stared in amazement, nodding with thanks.

Madison stared at the doors in amazement, but a flicker of
terror dried out her throat. She was beginning to realise she was about to set
foot in The Vampire Coven of London, a place where humans were not meant to go.

She knew she would be going in, but she was almost certainly
would not be coming back out.

 “All the doors in the Coven are now unlocked. Our
master has blocked us from the cameras of The Coven and the Seers” the boy said
lowering his hand and twisting to face Trace.

Trace looked confused for a moment; he wasn’t sure whether
to trust The Black Orchid or to trust his instincts. The Black Orchid was
natural enemies of The Coven, but on occasions, like the night Madison had
first met Brendan The Coven worked alongside them.

Trace’s eyes were blood shot and his pupils were huge almost
colouring the whole of his Iris black – he was drunk.

A shiver flew up Madison’s spin making her whole body shake
uncontrollably. Andy tightened his grip on her arm, pitching the skin.

Trace nodded slowly his eyes lowered, locking onto the boy.

“Gabby, Alex, get rid of the guard” Trace ordered, his eyes
still glued to the boy.

Gabby nudged Alex’s arm, gesturing him to go in first. She
now seemed happy to follow Trace’s orders, probably because if they got caught
Trace’s punishment would be worse if he was seen as the instigator.

Alex did not budge. He stared into space, his face full of
hurt and betrayal. He eyes were wide and watery, his head twitched in attempt
to restrain himself from being emotional. Gabby hovered at Alex’s side, her
eyes hard with disappointment. She stared at Alex then her eyes wandered over
to Trace, who also looked disappointed. He lowered his eyes and sighed deeply.
The posture of his body tightened and he parted his lips, shaking his head
gently.

Trace turned to face Alex his movement was extremely fast,
causing Madison to jump and resulting in Andy tightening his grip on her arm
yet again. Madison whimpered as he twisted her flesh, leaving her upper arm
throbbing. Although the burning sensation distracted Madison slightly she
couldn’t take her eyes off Trace. His eyes were now a blood red and his pupil
had decreased rapidly in size - almost animal like. His posture defensive and
his back arched.

Alex jumped back at Trace’s reaction, his body tense,
defensive and his back arched over in the same manner of Trace’s. Panic flashed
over Alex’s face, he looked from Trace to Gabby, then to his twin brother who
looked away in shame.