Bitter Sweet (25 page)

              "I thought that would be your reaction." I was looking forward to this fight to see just what my children can do.

              "Aaliyah, they are here," Ceil called out, next to me again. At that moment, eight figures appeared around us all in black cloaks, their faces in the shadow despite the bright moonlight all around us. I looked around with a smile on my face. "Shall I…" started Ceil, clutching her staff taking a step out of my shadow.

              "They are big boys and girls; they can handle themselves. Vanessa, please come over here; it will be safer for you if you were with Ceil," I beckond, I didn’t want her to threaten the show Alik could give with trying to protect her.

              "No, I can handle her guard; I brought her here," Alik said, moving for Vanessa. Another figure appeared to block his path.

              "Ceil, stay and watch over Vanessa. She is not to be harmed in the slightest, understood?" I said moving next to Alik. "Alik, love, rest assured that Vanessa is completely safe." I wrapped my arms around Alik's neck like a lover. "You may kill all those that wish to do her harm without restraint or worry for her life." My fingers were now tracing the definition of his face "Now, go and remove them from my sight." He would do this for me, not her I thought.

              "You think you can stand there talking theatrically and smiling, you stupid bitch? You will die like the rest of this outdated vile pile of ash," spat one of the figures from the roof. "Age and title no longer rule the human world, money and power do. It’s time the vampire world followed,” he said with passion.

             
“A vampire following a human. You call our way outdated, well

I call yours weak,” Alisa retorted. June and Lilith seemed bored with

his little speech.

             
“We are not weak,” the figure claimed; he was obviously angry now. Then another twenty vampire appeared. “I will personally drain that human of her blood for that," he sneered, pointing to Vnessa and his shadowed face turned to Alik's. I saw Alik's soft expression of concern for Vanessa turn black and clod, the look of a true vampire, but the look in his eyes after those words sent a chill through even my body; I couldn’t help but hug myself slightly for the brief instant it took for him to master himself.

              "You are Jack, aren’t you? Yes, I know who you are. You will regret you ever said that," Alik threatened and the cold, fierce anger in his tone caused some of the other newcomers to visibly tremble. Even Jack leaned back for a moment.

              "My brothers and sisters! It is time to erase the old and begin anew!" yelled Jack after recovering.

Vanessa Stanton

Chapter 34.0

              Lilith had told me to stop limiting vampire to my ideas of human weaknesses, but I still wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Lilith spun and flung the silver blade she had been carrying toward Alik; it passed through a vampire that was in mid-attack when Alik caught it. With a flick of his wrist the blade was unsheathed and he brought the blade up through that vampire and the separate pieces flew around him. Two others had advanced at the same time behind him, but he spun and a silver arc lit up the night. The vampire fell in pieces, some parts of them still twitching. The sounds of growling monsters filled the air as other battles raged. More vampire charged from the surrounding rooftops; they moved like wild beasts, swift but jagged and untamed. The ground began to tremble. Numbers seemed to be how they really wished to win this fight; overwhelm and conquer had to be their strategy. I had never so much as thrown a punch in my life, but I could tell these were no fighters.

              Aaliyah had said Lilith's words were powerful, but they did not seem to take effect in the eyes of everyone at the gathering. Now, the traitors at the gathering and those who lusted after the Elders’ power saw their chance to act. Black shadows moved around the battlefield swiftly, but these weren’t the jagged rough movements of Jack’s force,

they were controlled and precise. Glimpses of vampire I had seen in the hall flashed as the hoods of cloaks fell away and they surrounded the Elders who stood with their backs to each other. There were nine figures that surrounded them in total. None of the Elders seemed bothered.

              “Is this the side you wish to take?” sighed Lilith.

              “This is a chance too good to pass up,” one of the figures responded.

              “You are outnumbered and vulnerable; we have lived under your orders to stay behind the veil for decades,” said another.

              “That has ruined some very profitable business deals. With you three gone, vampire can take their places of power and no longer be the weak creatures who hide in the dark you force us to be.”

              “Once you are dead, we shall take care of your so-called mother; she is another relic of the old that must be removed,” said another figure, and at that, Ceil’s hands gripped her staff tighter.

              “Followed by your son and his human,” the figure directly in front of Lilith finished.

              Lilith calmly walked toward the cloaked vampire in front of her and the others around the circle attacked Ayara and Ario. The cloaked vampire snapped and the two on his left and right attacked Lilith. I didn’t even see her move or even break her stride, but they hit the ground hard and never moved again. The cloaked vampire in front of Lilith took a step back, but then seemed to steady himself and bared a set of claws. He made a swipe at Lilith’s face; she simply slapped his hand away and he screamed, his arm now facing the wrong way. In the same motion, she took her right hand and gripped the vampire’s throat, slamming him to the ground. There was a fierce look in her face and she hissed. “No one threatens my child.” A snap broke through the growls and thuds of the battle around me and blood splattered Lilith’s face.

              More and more entered the fight, but they fell just as soon as they entered. June was ruthless as she moved. Body’s fell around her, barely recognizable as ever once being human or vampire. Alisa called

out orders to the few from the hall that turned to help out our side; her makeshift army quickly removed the threat of any newcomers to the battle. Jeremy and Lasatt struck like snakes with bodies falling around them covered in vampire blood; they seemed to be enjoying the fight. This battle, more than any other, showed me the power of the vampire, and a shiver ran down my spin. The battlefield began to grow cold as more died. Aaliyah, who was out of sight, watched the fight from a corner, drinking in the death with a smile on her face as she breathed in deeply, as if she was sucking the last of the energy from the dying vampires. My eyes widened and Ceil must have taken my growing fear to be caused by the battle around us.

              "You are safe here, you know?" Ceil said to me, and I jumped, turning to look at her. Behind her, I saw a vampire closing on her fast.

              "Look out!" I screamed, dropping down and covering my head. Her staff spun and she made a twist. The white staff was now joined by a silver gleam that flashed in an arc, which slammed to the ground. A large silver crescent shaped blade was at its tip, impaled in the vampire that attacked her. He struggled to remove the blade and Ceil smiled slowly, pulling the blade through his body. He screamed in pain until the blade reached his neck. Then he went silent and stopped moving.

              "As I said, you are safe here, so do not worry. Your mate is more than a match for anyone here. He fights four at once constantly; I believe he could handle many more than that though. The ones that replaced the fallen are just next in line to die," she said somewhat longingly. I turned to look where Alik was fighting and couldn’t believe I had taken my eyes off him.

              Alik was in the center of the rock garden with four shadows around him. With each movement he made, a shadow would hit the ground now solid. No more than ten minutes passed and the invading vampire all laid on the sand of the rock garden. Only Jack remained, surrounded by Alik, the Elders, June, and Alisa.

              "I saved you for last as I want to enjoy killing you," said Alik, a cold smile on his face. He undid the buttons on his shirt cuffs rolling them back and loosened his tie as he walked towards Jack.

              "You think that killing those weaklings mean anything? You

are as blind as those you follow; I have a promise to keep so I’m going to drain your little pet. I think I will keep you alive to watch her die." He flashed his fangs in my direction, which was the last mistake he ever made by taking his eyes off of Alik.

              Alik moved so fast. For a moment, he was in two places at once. "Now, you will die slowly," said Alik behind him, grabbing his arm and the crack and cries of pain were deafening. Jack ripped away and his arm was facing the wrong way. "I’m not done." Jack’s other arm now matched his right, twisted and disfigured, and dripping blood. Jack dropped to his knees, and taking both his arms, Alik placed his foot on his back and pulled both of Jack’s arms off; they were no longer a part of his body. Jack’s cries filled the garden. He squirmed away, using his legs to try and push himself along the ground. Alik slowly walked behind him and placed his foot on his leg and crushed it. Jack screamed and turned over, scared. He looked into Alik’s face. "Leaving so soon?" Alik asked, standing over him.

              "Kill Alik now!" yelled Jack and five figures appeared around him. They fell as quickly as they appeared.

              "Jack, your attack was in vain; your leader lies dead, and your force ruining the scenery. Although, none of this amounted to how fucking stupid you were when you threatened Vanessa." The cold in Alik's voice made me shiver now. He knelt down, placed his hand over Jack’s heart, and his fingers slowly dug into his chest as Jack screamed and thrashed.

              "Very good. You want to see him suffer, don’t you, Alik?" Aaliyah’s voice suddenly chimed in. Her arms were around his neck and all childishness was gone from her voice. It was now cold and calculating. "Use your hate as power to draw out his suffering," she whispered into his ear and black smoke began to crawl up Alik's arm from where his fingers pierced Jack’s chest. Jack's soul was being ripped from his body. Alik's fingers closed around Jack’s heart and he pulled it from his body along with the rest of his soul. "See how easy it is to control life and death? The power is sitting in the palm of your hand, yours to command. Now crush him," Aaliyah hissed, then Alik closed his fist slowly and then one final scream filled the air. Then, it was silent. "Dwell on the power I have shown you, allow it to wash over you and adept it to your will." She took a step back and was gone; Ceil too had left as well. Alik stood there looking down at his palm,

what was left of Jack’s heart still in it as the sun began to rise. Screams filled the air as the vampire who lay wounded began to burn; we were surrounded by fire, a cleansing black fire that removed all traces of the battle. Alik looked around, not at the flames, but at each of the surviving members of the battle until his eyes met mine. There was a struggle going on within him; his eyes were wide with fear and pain. He took a step toward me, but then Lilith spoke and he turned to look at her.

              “Ugh, I got blood in my hair,” Lilith complained.

              “This will take forever to get from under my fingernails,” Alisa said. Holding her hand out to the light.

              "Alik!" I screamed as I ran for him; I reached up and placed my hands on his face and he looked at me and tried to smile.

              "I promised to protect you, but I left you alone," he said in a shaky voice.

              "I'm fine Alik. Look at me, I’m fine." I said trying to be calm.

              "After what you just saw, how will you ever be fine?"

              "I am; it’s all a part of a life with you; a life I want."

              "A life I don’t want you to have, but I’m too selfish to keep you away from it. Do you forgive me?"

              "Yes, this is a life I’ve chosen."

              Alik turned to Lilith who was still assessing the damage to her hair and face in a window, but it felt like she was watching him in the reflection. “Where has Aaliyah gone?” he asked.

              “Who knows? She often left us without notice during the short time we had with her after our creation. Well, I need to wash and this year’s gathering is pretty much ruined, seeing how some of our guests are dead. Vanessa dear, can you come with me? I’m sure the human staff will have heard the fighting. I need you to speak with them.”

              “Of course.” I started to head toward her, but Alik didn’t let go

of my hand and I turned to look at him.     

              “I will come with you.”

              “You can’t, you’re covered in smoking blood. You clean up; I will be okay.”

              “I will be waiting for you in the room, then.”

              “I will join you soon; don’t worry,” I tried to comfort him. He let me go and I joined Lilith who had a story for me to tell the staff. Reflected in the glass, I saw Alik watch me for a moment and then slowly move toward the room.